Li Yan finally got the information he wanted.
First, he confirmed that this stone platform was a teleportation formation. He had to see the other party use it with his own eyes.
Second, he also saw the object used to activate this teleportation formation: a jade tablet. One side of the jade tablet was carved with a heroic-looking man in full armor, astride a dragon-like creature, thrusting out a long spear with one hand, his aura imposing. On the other side of the jade tablet was a single character: "Saintly."
When he saw this character, an ominous feeling rose in Li Yan's heart.
'Could the force behind the Hundred Dao Heavenly Treasure Pavilion be the 'Sacred Demon Palace'?'
Li Yan thought to himself, and then he considered the financial resources needed to build this teleportation formation, and a chill began to run down his spine. Through his continuous study of Jade Slips these past few days, he had gained some understanding of the Forsaken Continent, but he hadn't learned from the Jade Slips what kind of identifying mark the "Sacred Demon Palace" had.
'Perhaps it means something else, it's not certain.'
Li Yan thought this to himself, but it was really just a sliver of wishful thinking. Of course, he felt unreconciled.
What were the "Sacred Demon Palace" and the "Demon God Hall"? They were on the same level as the Four Great Sects of the Desolate Moon Continent, the largest sects on this continent, two behemoths. Li Yan's scalp tingled just thinking about it, and a sense of powerlessness welled up inside him.
If Zhao Min had really been taken as a disciple by an old monster from the "Sacred Demon Palace," trying to leave the "Sacred Demon Palace" would be harder than ascending to the heavens. Even if Li Yan were a Spirit Transformation stage cultivator, he couldn't possibly shake them much, and might not have the strength to contend with them. Although he didn't know how many Spirit Transformation cultivators the "Sacred Demon Palace" had, there were definitely no fewer than two.
Just from the fact that the Black Demon Clan sent Demon Marshal Tu Tai on an expedition for the Desolate Moon Continent without hesitation, one could infer many things. If the other party could let a Spirit Transformation cultivator leave the Forsaken Continent, could the "Demon God Hall" possibly not have left a Spirit Transformation powerhouse behind to counter the "Sacred Demon Palace"? That was impossible to imagine. At the very least, they had to maintain a combat force equal to that of the "Sacred Demon Palace." From this, one could also see that the "Sacred Demon Palace" would not have too few Spirit Transformation cultivators.
Deducing from various angles, Li Yan had already reached many conclusions.
Li Yan stood by the stone platform for a long while, his expression constantly changing. Afterward, he let out a long sigh and still walked towards the door. First, he covered the door with the "Heaven-Stealing Kerchief," and a small hole quietly formed. Li Yan carefully extended his Divine Sense to investigate. Seeing the black-robed middle-aged man still sitting in the main hall, drinking tea and reading a book, Li Yan silently left the Hundred Dao Heavenly Treasure Pavilion the next moment.
Not long after, Li Yan's figure appeared in the sky somewhere outside Mingdu City. Entering the city required an identity check, but leaving did not. The temporary identity token was a one-time use item, equivalent to buying one's way in.
At this time, Li Yan had already transformed into a burly, rugged man. He swept his Divine Sense across the area in the sky and then flew off in a certain direction. After flying for about two hundred li, Li Yan landed in a mountain forest. When he landed, a mottled mosquito the size of a baby immediately flew towards him. The next moment, that mottled mosquito directly pounced at Li Yan.
There was no trace of panic on Li Yan's face. He just stood there quietly, letting the mottled mosquito pounce at his face. Just as the mottled mosquito's long proboscis was about to pierce Li Yan's eye, its body swirled and landed smoothly on Li Yan's shoulder. Immediately, the Snow Mosquito King's complaining voice entered Li Yan's ear.
"Master, this thing tastes awful. Can I give it back to you now?"
Seeing Li Yan nod, a black light flashed on top of the mottled mosquito's head on his shoulder, and a Demonic Core appeared in the air. In an instant, it was caught by Li Yan. With a surge of Spirit Power in his hand, the core vanished without a trace the next moment. The dense Demonic Qi emanating from the Demonic Core was contained by Li Yan's deliberate control of his Spirit Power, not even managing to spread three inches forward.
At the same time, a faint white light also emerged from the mottled mosquito on Li Yan's shoulder. When the white light dissipated, the crystal-clear Snow Mosquito King appeared there.
"Master, those people are still searching nearby. They've been searching for more than two hours and still haven't left."
Li Yan nodded upon hearing this. He had noticed those few fish-headed cultivators just now. Only after their Divine Sense had just left this area did he come down to retrieve the Snow Mosquito King.
After discovering the Hundred Dao Heavenly Treasure Pavilion last night, Li Yan immediately came up with a plan. He had to figure out the true purpose of the stone platform in that room. If it was indeed a teleportation formation, then as long as he left Mingdu City, under normal circumstances, the black-robed middle-aged man would likely pass this news on to the other party. If he could hide in that warehouse of the Hundred Dao Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, he might be able to get the information he wanted.
Since this plan had a chance of success, he might as well do it.
Originally, this matter should have been quite simple. He could have the Snow Mosquito King, a Rank 2 Demonic Beast, transform into his likeness and leave the city, while he quietly stayed behind. After all, only a few interested parties would be paying attention to him. But the trouble was that those few fish-headed cultivators had been staring at him. If the Snow Mosquito King went out, it would definitely be followed, and if it wasn't handled well, it would be exposed. At that time, the black-robed middle-aged man would likely realize that he hadn't left Mingdu City and would only be more careful in guarding against him.
Because of this, Li Yan even considered getting rid of those few fish-headed cultivators in the city, but after thinking of several methods, none were appropriate.
In the end, Li Yan gave the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" and a Demonic Core to the Snow Mosquito King. He instructed it to transform into his appearance and leave Mingdu City at the fastest speed at dawn. He himself used the "Stealthy Night Art" to quickly return to the Hundred Dao Heavenly Treasure Pavilion and quietly infiltrate the warehouse with the stone platform once more.
The Li Yan that the Snow Mosquito King transformed into quickly left the city, and sure enough, he was followed by the Cangyu Sect cultivators who had been watching him, unable to shake them off. However, because the Snow Mosquito King left Mingdu City very quickly, by the time the cultivator surnamed Min and the others chased him out of the city gates, he had already flown nearly a hundred li away.
Immediately, during its rapid descent, the Snow Mosquito King followed the incantation Li Yan had taught it and activated the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" in a mountain forest. Afterward, under the cover of the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation," the Divine Sense of the cultivator surnamed Min and the others was isolated for a short time.
The Snow Mosquito King, with a bitter look on its face, wrapped the Demonic Core in Spirit Power and swallowed it. Then, it immediately deactivated the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation." By this time, "Li Yan" had already disappeared, and a mottled mosquito "Demonic Beast" emitting a faint Demonic Qi appeared, lying low in the mountain forest below. Now, no matter how the Cangyu Sect cultivators searched, they couldn't find any trace of "Li Yan."
If the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant were awake, there wouldn't have been so much trouble. Under its control, the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" could almost completely blend in with the surrounding environment, making it very difficult for Foundation Establishment cultivators to see through. But without it as the Formation Spirit, the defense and illusion capabilities of the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" were greatly reduced. It was possible to cover the Snow Mosquito King's tracks for a short time. But Li Yan was afraid that these fish-headed cultivators, who had been mixing around Mingdu City for years, were too familiar with the surrounding environment. The Snow Mosquito King's sudden disappearance would definitely attract a careful search from them. In that case, they would only need to look for a while, and the illusion might not be able to fool them.
Therefore, he could only use the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" to make the Snow Mosquito King disappear for a short time and then have it transform into a "Demonic Beast" to be safer. The Snow Mosquito King didn't dare to directly swallow that Demonic Core. What the consequences would be then was unknown. So, it could only wrap the Demonic Core in Spirit Power and place it in its body, then slowly force out a trace of the Demonic Qi from the core. This way, in the eyes of the Cangyu Sect cultivators, it would just be a worthless, lowest-rank Demonic Beast, not even worth the interest of killing it. The value of the bones and blood of such a lowly Demonic Beast might not even add up to a single Low-grade Spirit Stone. This could be seen from the Demonic Qi on its body, which was so faint it was almost completely transparent.
On the other side, Li Yan had also made an unexpected gain. Usually, activating a teleportation formation required a restriction token or other matching refined items. However, some teleportation formations could be activated simply by embedding Spirit Stones and casting a technique. Not only did Li Yan see the other party use the stone platform, confirming that they were indeed using a teleportation formation to send out the Jade Slip, but he also unexpectedly discovered the pattern on the jade tablet used to activate the teleportation formation. He firmly memorized the appearance of the jade tablet.
Next, as long as he could find out the origin of this jade tablet, he could basically determine Zhao Min's whereabouts.
After listening to the Snow Mosquito King's rough account of what happened, Li Yan, with matters on his mind, originally didn't want to get entangled with these fish-headed fellows. But at this moment, a thought suddenly struck him, and he changed his mind.
The next moment, his Divine Sense once again firmly locked onto the few of them.
'Since you all want to kill me so badly, hehehe...!'
A stern light flashed in Li Yan's eyes, and at the same time, an idea quickly formed in his mind. His figure suddenly shot up into the sky, and he instantly released a bit of his aura. Immediately, Li Yan transformed into a streak of black light and fled into the distance.
The cultivator surnamed Min felt that the human cultivator had likely used some kind of treasure to conceal himself and had already fled far away. They had repeatedly searched a two-hundred-li radius several times without any leads, and had almost gotten into a fight with other passing cultivators.
'Consider yourself lucky, kid. You won't be so lucky next time we meet!'
The cultivator surnamed Min was both angry and regretful. Angry that his group had watched for seven days, only to let the person escape. Regretful that the kid definitely had a high-grade escape treasure or a mid-to-high-grade escape talisman, something that should have been his. Now it had been used up by this kid.
Just as he was about to send a voice transmission to gather the others and return to the clan, his Divine Sense suddenly detected someone fleeing into the distance at an extremely fast speed. At the same time, the two Cangyu Sect cultivators near the streak of light also discovered Li Yan at the first moment and excitedly sent a voice transmission.
"Senior Brother Min, it's that kid! After him!"
The suddenness of the event made the cultivator surnamed Min hesitate for a moment. He didn't understand. His side clearly hadn't found the other party and was about to retreat, so why did that person suddenly appear? He first used his Divine Sense to scan the two Cangyu Sect cultivators closest to Li Yan; it was they who had sent the voice transmission.
'Could it be that they were discovered, and he couldn't hide anymore?'
Those two were not too far from where Li Yan had ascended into the sky, but the area where Li Yan was before had also been repeatedly searched by them several times. This was something the cultivator surnamed Min couldn't figure out, and he muttered to himself in his heart.
'Or is it that the person's concealment technique has a time limit?'
Although he thought this, his figure was not slow. He had already shot out like lightning, while simultaneously calling out to the other four Cangyu Sect members.
"Everyone, lock onto him with your Divine Sense. Don't let him have another chance to escape this time."
Li Yan, flying away in front, swept his Divine Sense behind him. Seeing that the six people were already chasing him from several directions, he couldn't help but sneer inwardly. If he wasn't concerned that this was too close to Mingdu City and that cultivators were appearing nearby from time to time, he would have attacked directly just now.