When the Deacon spoke those words, Li Yan clearly saw a kind of contempt in his eyes. It was a look that said, 'Do you really think we don't know what kind of cultivation methods your little vassal sects and families have?'
Of course, Li Yan had no intention of being the bird that sticks its neck out and appears different. He would naturally follow the instructions and cultivate the "Shattered Star Ice-Fire Manual" to deal with the assessment.
'So, the next step is to secretly inquire about how to get access to the Earth Fire Spirit Vein. This is not something that can be rushed!'
He had spent over a year preparing to enter Falling Star Valley. Now that he was here, he could not afford to be hasty. The Forsaken Continent was teeming with foreign clans, a place where only the fittest survived. Any sect that could take root here would surely have cultivators with extraordinary combat strength.
Li Yan's current strength only gave him some confidence in dealing with ordinary initial-stage Golden Core cultivators. For anything else, he would have to rely on schemes and luck. The slightest carelessness could lead to his immediate demise. Falling Star Valley still had a late-stage Golden Core expert. Faced with someone of that level, if he were to be locked onto, Li Yan might not even have a chance to escape.
Moreover, and most critically, Li Yan sensed that a Divine Sense was secretly observing the new disciples like them. Although he didn't sense any killing intent, Li Yan could roughly guess that this was surveillance on the new disciples, and he himself was likely a person of key interest.
For the time being, he needed to spend his time here peacefully. He couldn't act rashly, nor did he dare to.
As for the other items on the table, Li Yan had no interest in examining them; they were all low-grade objects. The other jade slip contained the detailed rules and regulations of Falling Star Valley, which was also nothing worth looking at.
Sitting in the courtyard, Li Yan gently flicked his sleeve. A pillar of wind suddenly appeared out of thin air and rolled into the room behind him. A short while later, looking at the clean room, Li Yan nodded in satisfaction. Then, with another wave of his sleeve, a small purple flag appeared in the air, flashed, and disappeared into the ground.
The entire courtyard instantly flickered with a faint purple glow before everything returned to normal.
As the purple glow vanished, the Snow Mosquito King appeared in the courtyard, its eyes crimson and still somewhat dazed. Since killing those few Foundation Establishment cultivators last time, it had become even more frenzied about cultivating the "Thousand Beasts Devouring the Dao." Although each cultivation session brought it excruciating pain, it persisted, its eyes crimson, its body trembling, muttering things Li Yan couldn't understand.
"Master, who are you planning to kill this time? I'll make sure he's finished in an instant!"
Upon seeing Li Yan before it, the Snow Mosquito King's expression changed like a thousand-faced man. It immediately put on a servile and fawning look, its change of face faster than flipping a book.
"No need. For this period, you will stay in that room and help me keep an eye on things outside. If someone comes, you must wake me. Also, after a month, you need to wake me one day in advance. Later, I will enter the space to cultivate. You just need to give me a timely warning."
Li Yan sized up the Snow Mosquito King, sensing the malevolent aura emanating from it. He was quite satisfied. He pointed a finger towards the cultivation room at the back of the courtyard and then spoke faintly.
Although it had been nearly two years since he arrived on the Forsaken Continent, the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant had still not awakened. However, its soul body had already solidified by more than half. In another year or so, it should wake up.
For nearly two years, Li Yan had no idea how Zhao Min was doing either. He had been preparing for over a year, putting his heart and soul into improving his strength. Now that he finally had a relatively safe environment, Li Yan planned to refine the essence blood of the Undead Nether Phoenix.
The protective restriction of this small courtyard he lived in was fine for blocking some ordinary cultivators, but it might not be very effective against Foundation Establishment cultivators. And if the fluctuations from refining the Undead Nether Phoenix's essence blood were discovered by other cultivators in Falling Star Valley, Li Yan would be forced to flee to the ends of the earth. For a cultivator of his level to sneak into a sect like this, even if he tried to explain that he had no ill intentions, the other party would have to be willing to listen.
Previously, when the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant's Divine Soul was intact, if Li Yan set up the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" in his room, it was estimated that he could even deceive Golden Core level cultivators. Now, without the Formation Spirit, its power was greatly reduced. Li Yan didn't dare to cultivate here just like that.
He could only set up the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" and then place the Snow Mosquito King here. That way, if someone came, someone would be able to wake him in time. Alternatively, if the one-month deadline arrived and Li Yan was still cultivating and failed to attend the sect assessment, it could expose him.
But even so, Li Yan was still not at ease. This time, he planned to enter the "Earthen Patch" directly to cultivate, leaving the Snow Mosquito King outside merely as a warning. The Snow Mosquito King could not freely enter or exit the "Earthen Patch" space, but it had been refined by Li Yan and was connected to his mind. The "Earthen Patch" was also connected to Li Yan's Divine Soul. As long as the Snow Mosquito King kept calling out, Li Yan would naturally be able to sense it.
"Master, please rest assured. My work has always been the most reassuring for you..."
When the Snow Mosquito King heard this, although it was reluctant, its face showed a look of extreme surprise. Having now experienced the pleasure of a significant increase in strength, it had originally wanted to surpass that remnant soul while it was recovering from its injuries. Now it seemed it wouldn't be able to cultivate properly and would have to act as a "watchdog." It was quite unwilling. But before it could finish speaking, only Li Yan's faint words remained in the air as his figure vanished without a trace.
"Good. It seems you can cultivate another type of potent poison next time!"
The Snow Mosquito King sullenly swallowed the rest of its words. But then it heard Li Yan's follow-up and couldn't help but feel both joy and fear. For a moment, it looked rather distressed. This meant he was planning to let it cultivate another kind of potent poison, which meant its strength could increase significantly again. But thinking of the pain involved, now that it was clear-headed, it shuddered. After thinking for a moment, the Snow Mosquito King's eyes suddenly narrowed.
'Wait, this time this fiend entered that mysterious space with his main body, not just his Divine Sense. That means the mysterious space should have been left outside. Where is it?'
The Snow Mosquito King couldn't help but scan the entire room, but after a short while, it sighed. It hadn't noticed any place with an unusual aura. That was because it hadn't appeared here in the first place to memorize the entire environment. Now, even if something extra had appeared in the room, it would have no idea.
As for that mysterious space, the Snow Mosquito King was just curious, wanting to figure out what kind of treasure it was. Even if the "Earthen Patch" was placed right in front of it, it couldn't enter or exit on its own. Even if it wanted to seal Li Yan inside, as long as Li Yan's strength was greater than its own and he wasn't dead, the Snow Mosquito King could never erase the Divine Sense imprint Li Yan had left. Besides, if Li Yan died, could it, having been refined by him, still live?
At this moment, for the first time, the "Earthen Patch" had been wiped off Li Yan's body. It was now an inconspicuous speck, resting quietly on the small purple flag underground, as if it had been there all along.
How could Li Yan easily let his life be controlled by others, even if it was a demonic beast he had refined himself?
...
There are no years in cultivation. Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, half a year had passed. Apart from coming out in the first month to pass the assessment, Li Yan rarely appeared in front of others again.
This was because his first layer of the "Shattered Star Ice-Fire Manual" was mediocre at best, barely passing, which perfectly reflected the aptitude of his four-element Profound Spirit Root. After he passed the assessment, no Foundation Establishment cultivator offered to take him as a disciple. On the contrary, another Profound Spirit Root disciple who had entered the sect with him broke through to the first layer of the "Shattered Star Ice-Fire Manual" after only half a month of cultivation. It was said that he was temporarily taken as a Nominal Disciple by a Foundation Establishment cultivator in the sect and had already moved out of the area where Li Yan and the others lived.
As for the other two, since Li Yan had returned directly after his assessment, and their assessments were scheduled after his, Li Yan didn't know their results. Besides, he didn't even have the interest to sense if their auras were still in this area.
Very few cultivators in Falling Star Valley had seen Li Yan. Only a few deacons had seen him when he occasionally went to collect his two monthly spirit stones for cultivation. In their eyes, Zhang Ming was a cultivator with average aptitude but who was very hardworking, just that his natural talent was too ordinary.
Ten months had passed, and Zhang Ming, who was at the fourth layer of Qi Condensation when he entered, had finally, and barely, reached the fifth layer of Qi Condensation. This might be related to him abandoning his previous cultivation method and switching to the "Shattered Star Ice-Fire Manual." Because Zhang Ming had been unable to break through the third layer of the "Shattered Star Ice-Fire Manual," his realm progression was extremely slow.
At this moment, in Li Yan's courtyard, he was sitting by the stone table, one hand stroking his chin, his eyes slightly narrowed, deep in thought.
Right now, his speed of refining the Undead Nether Phoenix's essence blood was not very fast. After half a year, the drop of essence blood, which had a little over eighty percent remaining, still had eighty percent left. His realm was still at the Pseudo-Core stage, but his aura had solidified considerably, and the toughness of his physical body had improved again. The "Qiongqi Purgatory Art," however, had reached the mid-stage peak of the second layer, advancing a small realm.
Now, Li Yan could feel his physical body growing stronger by the day. He felt that he should be able to withstand an attack from Teng Wuji at fifty percent power once without dying. He thought this because Li Yan was a person who held grudges. Teng Wuji had nearly caused his death, and it was the longest he had ever fought against a demonic cultivator. Every time his cultivation advanced, Li Yan would unconsciously think of Teng Wuji. For no other reason than that the impression was too deep. However, it was a pity that guy was killed or captured by his master, so Li Yan had no chance for revenge.
Over the past six months, although Li Yan's magical power had progressed, it wasn't particularly fast. He couldn't peacefully refine the essence blood in the "Earthen Patch" and needed to go out every once in a while. He had to collect the two spirit stones distributed by Falling Star Valley every month. Given his current identity and corresponding wealth, it was a necessity, otherwise, he would attract attention.
At the same time, Li Yan's purpose for entering Falling Star Valley was to refine the Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike. He needed to go out to inquire about the situation regarding the Earth Fire Spirit Vein in Falling Star Valley to get access to the Earth Fire as soon as possible.
Li Yan had just returned from collecting his spirit stones today. He sat at the stone table, constantly pondering the news he had gathered. The Earth Fire Spirit Vein of Falling Star Valley was located underground in the "Shattered Star Grotto" at the core of the valley. There were twelve "Shattered Star Chambers" for alchemy and artifact refining, where the earth fire was most abundant. Above the "Shattered Star Grotto," there were also thirty-six "Lesser Shattered Star Chambers," where the earth fire was an extension of the Earth Fire Spirit Vein. In terms of both flame temperature and purity, they were simply incomparable to the underground "Shattered Star Chambers."
However, whether it was the underground "Shattered Star Chambers" or the "Lesser Shattered Star Chambers" above, the earth fire within them contained Fire Poison. The higher the grade of the earth fire, the more intense the Fire Poison.