Li Yan knew this was because there were countless peerless experts hidden in the dark, giving him this terrifying feeling.
Under these circumstances, to take a thousand steps back, even if Li Yan could see Zhao Min, wanting to take her away was undoubtedly a fool's dream. Even if they didn't want to act personally and let him leave the "Sacred Demon Palace," they would only need to say a word, and someone from below the halfway point of the mountain could probably come out and slap Li Yan to death. Not to mention the old monsters hidden in those sects and families, Li Yan had seen Golden Core cultivators as numerous as ox hairs just in the city.
Before coming, Li Yan had still held a sliver of hope. Although he knew how vast the "Sacred Demon Palace" was, he still wanted to give it a try. Otherwise, he would never give up. But as soon as he entered the city, he knew it was just wishful thinking; all his hopes were extinguished without a single trace left.
"Strength! I need powerful strength!"
Li Yan, in mid-flight, clenched his fists inside his long robe. At this moment, he felt his helplessness and insignificance more than ever. He now needed to properly plan his next steps.
This trip to the "Sacred Demon Palace" was not entirely without gain. He had still purchased many Jade Slips about the Forsaken Continent, as well as several good defensive talismans and three bottles of medicinal pills. Li Yan did not lack magical treasures; he still had several on him, all obtained during the great war with the demonic cultivators on the Desolate Moon Continent. However, those magical treasures were not very suitable for him. They could only play some auxiliary roles. The immortal arts of the "Gui Water Immortal Sect" were not very compatible with other magical treasures. Although Li Yan had also seen some good-looking magical treasures in "Sacred Demon City," he ultimately did not buy any.
On this trip, Li Yan had gained a direct understanding of the "Sacred Demon Palace." At the same time, he had also clarified much about the relationships between some of the races on the Forsaken Continent. For example, although they were enemies with the Black Demon Clan, in the entire western region, Demonic Crystals could be used as a substitute for Spirit Stones in transactions. A single Low-grade Demonic Crystal was worth about four Low-grade Spirit Stones. Moreover, it was often a case of having a price but no market. This was related to the White Demon Clan's superficial control over the private trading of Demonic Crystals. This item could only be mined by the Black Demon Clan in the eastern part of the Forsaken Continent.
The Demonic Qi within the Demonic Crystals was dense. It could be used to assist in cultivation, but if one were to use it for direct cultivation without restraint like Spirit Stones, the entire western region would probably have long been overrun with rampant Demonic Qi and overflowing killing aura. This situation was not allowed by the White Demon Clan. They adhered to their ancient cultivation methods; the Demonic Core within their bodies was a gift from the heavens and could only possess the purest Demonic Qi, not the chaotic devouring of tyrannical Demonic Qi.
In addition, Li Yan saw in "Sacred Demon City" that the status of human cultivators was still very high. There were many human cultivation families and sects in the city. Compared to the White Demon Clan's attitude towards cultivators of other races, those White Demon Clan cultivators were clearly more polite when they saw human cultivators. For example, when Li Yan himself went up to the front of the "Sacred Demon Palace" at the halfway point of the mountain and was reprimanded, he was immediately warned by a human cultivator through a secret voice transmission not to be reckless again. If it had been a low-rank cultivator of another race, it was possible they would have been killed on the spot. After all, when entering the city, the guards had spoken about the forbidden areas and some rules in the city. Although that human cultivator did not explain the reason to Li Yan, from this, it could be seen that the status of human cultivators was somewhat special.
Afterward, Li Yan tried to use other methods to obtain news of Zhao Min, but to no avail. He did not want to stay in "Sacred Demon City" for long. Although a small matter like him trespassing near the "Sacred Demon Palace" would certainly not be reported to that Nascent Soul cultivator, constantly asking about the "Sacred Demon Palace" under their noses was not a good thing. That Nascent Soul cultivator had set up numerous obstacles, and her meaning was already very clear: she wanted to secretly sever the connection between Li Yan and Zhao Min. For you to chase all the way to "Sacred Demon City" and constantly ask around, once or twice might be fine, but a few more times, and you would be targeted.
After all, this was the core sacred land of the White Demon Clan. To say that there were no informants or hidden agents in the city was absolutely impossible. If the other party found out that Li Yan had tracked them here, it would undoubtedly touch the bottom line of a powerful expert. If they casually lifted a finger, Li Yan might not even know how he died.
"It's time to refine my natal magical treasure. My current strength is pathetically low. I must find every possible way to raise it quickly."
Li Yan constantly calculated his next plan in his mind.
Before seeing Zhao Min, even if he had the ability to return to the Desolate Moon Continent now, he could not go back. The refinement of the "Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike" must be put on the agenda. If not for the sudden great change at Windy Cool Mountain, Li Yan should have already returned to the Malevolent Spirit Sect and successfully refined it by now. At the same time, he had to start refining the "Undead Nether Phoenix" essence blood again. These two cultivation methods were the means by which Li Yan could rapidly increase his combat power in the shortest amount of time.
However, this so-called "shortest amount of time" was also relative. A single session of closed-door cultivation could often last for several years. At the same time, he had to figure out a way to leave the Forsaken Continent as soon as possible. This matter had to be prepared in advance. Although Li Yan now knew that the Forsaken Continent had a super teleportation formation to the Verdant Continent, where was it? What were the conditions for teleportation, and so on, he knew nothing about.
This kind of thing was only known to high-level cultivators. A low-level cultivator like him only knew that such a thing existed; there were no related Jade Slips or classics passed down. Li Yan didn't even need to ask to know that the cost of such a super teleportation formation would be a huge and terrifying amount. It would be very easy to empty the entire fortune of a Nascent Soul Old Monster in one go.
At the same time, Li Yan could not place all his hopes of returning to the Desolate Moon Continent on this one path. What was the situation on the Verdant Continent? Even if he got there, he might not be able to return to the Desolate Moon Continent. At least when he was on the Desolate Moon Continent, he had not heard of any inter-realm teleportation formations connecting them. The Desolate Moon Continent seemed like an isolated island. Only after reaching the Nascent Soul stage could one cross the chaotic flows and barriers of space with formidable strength.
In mid-flight, Li Yan's mind was racing, thinking of one plan after another, and then rejecting some of them. Just like that, a plan slowly became clear in his mind. When he slowly turned his head, he only saw a "Sacred Demon City" that had already turned into a series of mountain shadows.
Li Yan took a deep breath.
"Senior Sister, I will be back! Wait for me!"
Zhao Min had entered the White Demon Clan for his sake, and it seemed she had also obtained a great Immortal Fortune at the same time. But Li Yan was well aware of Zhao Min's stubbornness regarding family affection. Although her relationship with their master and martial mother seemed cold, Zhao Min would absolutely not want to stay here.
...
"Falling Star Valley" was located eighty thousand li due south of "Sacred Demon City," covering a radius of one thousand four hundred li. It was a relatively famous second-rate human sect for alchemy and artifact refining. The Sect Master's strength was only at the mid-stage Golden Core, but his alchemy skills were superb. He could even open a furnace and form pills for Rank 5 medicinal pills, making him a renowned alchemy grandmaster. At the same time, his attainments in the way of artifact refining were also extraordinary. Although he had not yet reached the level of a grandmaster, he could refine magical treasures for use below the Golden Core stage with ease.
However, it was rumored that the great elder of "Falling Star Valley" had already reached the late-stage Golden Core realm, only a step away from Pseudo-Nascent Soul. Due to his perennial closed-door cultivation, news about him from the outside world was becoming increasingly scarce.
"Falling Star Valley" had been established for over two thousand six hundred years. The founding ancestor, "Xuan Xingzi," was an artifact refining grandmaster. After his cultivation reached the initial-stage Nascent Soul, he went out to travel the world and never returned. His travels ultimately caused "Falling Star Valley," which was about to be promoted to a first-rate sect due to his successful Nascent Soul Formation, to remain at the level of a second-rate sect.
Around "Falling Star Valley," there were also many scattered small human cultivation sects and families attached to it. At the same time, a large number of mortals had built towns. These mortals were all from the surrounding cultivation families and small sects, and some were even blood descendants of some "Falling Star Valley" cultivators.
When cultivators formed Dao Companion pairs, it did not mean that their descendants would definitely have spirit root aptitude. It just meant that compared to the offspring of mortals with mortals, or mortals with cultivators, the probability of having a spirit root was a few percent higher. Due to their lack of spirit root aptitude, these descendants were expelled from the cultivation families and sects, living the lives of mortals for generations. It was not until a cultivator with aptitude appeared among their descendants that the family would be blessed again.
For this reason, over the past two thousand six hundred years, a large number of mortals had gathered and settled around "Falling Star Valley." They were also different from the mortals of the Desolate Moon Continent; they knew a lot about cultivators. After all, their ancestors were all cultivators, and some of their ancestors even remained in the cultivation sects. So, these mortals all knew about spirit roots. When a baby was born among them, they would go to a nearby sect and spend some Spirit Stones to test if the baby had a spirit root, hoping that their child would one day leap over the dragon gate.
On this day, six young men and women appeared on the mountain path outside "Falling Star Valley." Some of them in the middle were talking and laughing, their faces filled with excitement, as they followed the stone path towards "Falling Star Valley."
The six consisted of four boys and two girls. The youngest was a young girl who looked to be only twelve or thirteen years old, with a naive face, still a child who had not shed her childishness. She was looking around with a somewhat constrained expression, while listening to the others beside her talk excitedly. The other five were all between fifteen or sixteen and eighteen or nineteen years old.
Among them, three of the young men were constantly telling the sixteen- or seventeen-year-old girl rumors they had heard about "Falling Star Valley," each trying to outdo the other. Although the young girl was not a national beauty, she was still pretty. Her body, nourished by Spirit Power since childhood, exuded a faint virginal fragrance, attracting the several young men.
"Zhang Ming, I heard you come from a cultivation sect far from here. Have you been to 'Sacred Demon City'?" a very burly-looking youth suddenly turned and asked a person behind him.
Along the way, apart from the twelve- or thirteen-year-old girl who was too constrained to speak, only the youth named Zhang Ming, dressed in coarse cloth, followed behind the five of them. He hadn't said a word the entire time, just walking with his head down single-mindedly.
The person named Zhang Ming was the one who looked the oldest in this group, about eighteen or nineteen years old. His skin was dark, and his features were very ordinary. Thrown into a crowd, he would quickly disappear among the masses.
Zhang Ming raised his head upon hearing this, smiled lightly, revealing two rows of white teeth.
"No, my previous master was only at the Foundation Establishment cultivation level. Two people can hardly be called a 'sect.' This is the farthest I have ever traveled. My master brought me directly here, so I haven't been to any 'Sacred Demon City'."
"Oh, well, I went to 'Sacred Demon City' with my great-grandfather two years ago. The cultivators there look strange and even terrifying. Some have wolf heads and snake bodies, some drag long..."
After hearing this, a look of pride appeared on the burly youth's face. He took the opportunity to say what he wanted to say. He looked passionately at the young girl beside him and started talking, instantly forgetting about the youth named Zhang Ming. He had only used the other person as an excuse to show off in the first place.
The coarse-clothed youth named Zhang Ming was none other than Li Yan in disguise. It had been nearly a year and a half since he had left "Sacred Demon City."