Li Yan's calmness was so profound that after several moments of internal struggle, the water ghost-like demonic beast ultimately did not dare to make a move. But he also had his bottom line. If Li Yan had said he wanted to investigate his cave residence just now, he would have definitely attacked.
'Could this person be an enemy of the Feng family? Recently, the Feng family has been under heavy attack from those ghostly creatures in the tombs. It's very possible that an enemy has taken the opportunity to come looking for trouble.'
After crouching on the reef for a while, the water ghost-like demonic beast mulled over Li Yan's origin and connected it to the Feng family's situation. He was, of course, aware of the great commotion from the continuous battles over there in recent days, but he couldn't just keep probing with his Divine Sense. That would arouse the suspicion of the two Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Feng family. For a Foundation Establishment cultivator to be constantly staring over here, could it be that he had some untoward intentions? So, he was unaware of the arrival of Fang Guangjun and the others.
'Should I notify the Feng family?'
The two Feng ancestors actually had a decent relationship with him. They would occasionally come over to discuss the Dao, so they had a certain friendship. Although the water ghost-like demonic beast had this thought, when he recalled Li Yan's emotionless eyes, a chill ran down his spine.
'Forget it, less trouble is better than more. If I was confident in dealing with this person, I would have already attacked. Whether the Feng family's fortune is good or bad is up to the heavens.'
He quickly suppressed this idea. Then, his gaze turned to a certain place, as if he wanted to see the situation there through the lake water.
"Attracted by the killing intent? Hmph, not even a child would believe that. However, there's just a pile of useless, discarded, broken things there. It's not of much significance to this person. What is he going to look for?"
The water ghost-like demonic beast stroked his smooth chin and fell into deep thought.
At this time, Li Yan had finally reached the bottom of the lake. After descending all the way, no more demonic beasts had come to attack him. Even if a demonic beast appeared nearby, it would just glance at him before swimming away.
At the bottom of the lake, what came into view was a scene of ruins. In the water, it looked somewhat blurry and unreal.
Li Yan stood at the bottom of the lake, feeling waves of overwhelming killing intent washing over him. In an instant, his mind seemed to be filled with all sorts of cries—impassioned, resentful, or mournful.
"Kill, kill, kill!"
"Kill them all, don't let a single one escape!"
"You inferior beings, you have offended the might of heaven! All of you, die..."
"Slaughter all of you worthless dogs and ants..."
For a moment, it was as if countless phantoms were pouncing on Li Yan, making his mind sway.
Li Yan just stared ahead. As the Spirit Power in his body circulated, his sea of consciousness immediately cleared.
"This is... an ancient battlefield?"
As Li Yan's Divine Sense quickly searched, he did not find the aura he had sensed before. Instead, he saw many broken spears, shattered swords, shields, and other such things flashing with faint spiritual light. Even though these things were submerged at the bottom of the water, they still emitted light of various colors. Amidst the ruins, the bottom of the lake was reflected in a myriad of colors, appearing magnificent and eerie.
The next moment, Li Yan strode forward, walking amidst the bizarre and motley interweaving colors. As he walked, he beckoned with his hand. A tattered yellow banner flew out of the mud with a "swoosh," stirring up the lake water and sending sand and mud flying.
The banner came into his hand. The yellow was no longer bright, and the banner was tattered. On its surface, only the pattern of the hindquarters of a creature was embroidered. Because the banner was missing half, Li Yan couldn't tell what kind of demonic or beast it was from this half of a body. From its two hind legs, it felt like the body of a tiger or a lion.
When was this battlefield from? And what races fought in this war?
Li Yan wondered in his heart. He couldn't determine anything from the pattern on the banner. The lake bottom was a huge battlefield hundreds of li in size. Judging from the surrounding environment alone, this place should have been formed by the changes of time and not by someone using great supernatural powers. As for someone who could achieve such a feat, Li Yan had not reached that realm and did not know what kind of cultivation would be required.
The half-banner in his hand was a low-grade spirit artifact. From the slow flow of Spirit Power on it, Li Yan could guess that if this banner were intact, it should have been at least a magical artifact.
Spirit Power began to slowly pour into the banner, and the yellow on it grew brighter and brighter. And as the color of the banner deepened, some of the invisible killing intent around it actually pounced on the banner and began to circle around it, as if they were guards.
Killing intent, in a sense, was a form of consciousness, just that it contained deep resentment or some kind of obsession, rather than normal thoughts. As Spirit Power was injected, the banner in his hand grew brighter and brighter.
After just five breaths, the moment the banner in Li
Yan's hand turned bright yellow, it suddenly disintegrated into specks of starlight, which then merged into the lake water in the next moment. The killing intent that had been circling the banner first froze, then became agitated. The next moment, as if possessed, they all rushed towards Li Yan's sea of consciousness, determined to kill the person who had destroyed the banner.
Li Yan was not concerned about this. He just snorted lightly and released his powerful Divine Sense. Before the killing intent could even reach his body, they had already let out shrill screams in his consciousness, turning into invisible qi in the instant they pounced on him. The killing intent behind, feeling Li Yan's Divine Sense like an unsheathed sharp sword, let out unwilling roars. After circling a few times, they finally began to slowly retreat.
Although the killing intent here was thick, no particularly powerful killing intent had appeared. Li Yan had anticipated this. Otherwise, even that water ghost-like demonic beast wouldn't have been able to survive here, let alone those low-level aquatic demonic beasts, whose seas of consciousness would have long been shattered by the killing intent, turning them into puppets that only knew how to kill.
Looking at the disintegrated banner in his hand, Li Yan did not stop. As he walked, he immediately beckoned again. A broken silver spear, stuck diagonally in a patch of lush aquatic grass, flew towards Li Yan's hand with a "buzz."
The moment the broken spear was in his hand, Li Yan did not hesitate this time. He poured Spirit Power into it, and the silver light on the broken spear immediately shone brightly. But after only about three breaths, with a crisp "crack," the broken spear once again turned into specks of light, which then merged into the water and became invisible.
"Just as I thought. They must have been submerged for too long. Not only is their grade constantly dropping, but their material has also decayed, and they can no longer withstand too much Spirit Power. Although these are all broken weapons, they were still weapons used by cultivators. They should still hold a fatal temptation for some low-level cultivators. To be discarded like worn-out shoes like this is a bit unreasonable. Even if that water ghost-like demonic beast occupies this place, there are as many cultivators stronger than it as there are hairs on an ox. They could take them back for Qi Condensation disciples to use, or even re-melt and re-forge them. At the very least, they could get a lot of artifact refining materials. So it turns out these broken things only have a golden exterior."
When Li Yan first saw the ground littered with broken weapons emitting a faint spiritual light, he felt that something was wrong. In his eyes, these things had no value at all; he wouldn't even want them if they were given to him. But for some small sects, this would be a great fortune. This was too strange. After testing them, he found that they were indeed just trash.
Just as Li Yan was observing the environment here, a faint Divine Sense quietly appeared not far away. The big man Li Yan had transformed into suddenly turned his head to look in one direction, letting out a "hehe" cold laugh, but then immediately continued walking forward.
In a cave residence underwater, the water ghost-like demonic beast abruptly withdrew its Divine Sense, his heart filled with shock. This time, he was finally certain that the other party was someone he could not afford to provoke.
'What a powerful Divine Sense. He discovered it the moment it touched him. However, in that fleeting glimpse, I could also tell that this person must be visiting the 'Thousand Mountain Ancient Battlefield' for the first time. He is testing those piles of useless things. Good, good. Since he has no intention of coming over, I'll let him do whatever he wants. There's nothing good there anyway. I really can't see through this person's cultivation. If I probe again, I might anger him.'
The water ghost-like demonic beast decided not to bother with Li Yan anymore. In any case, he had been to the Thousand Mountain Ancient Battlefield countless times. There was nothing left there that could catch his eye.
Li Yan walked through the bottom of the water, where light interweaved. Seeing that the other party was sensible enough not to release his Divine Sense again, Li Yan snorted lightly. This was the best situation. Although he could easily kill this demonic beast, its aura disappearing would still attract the attention of others afterward. He was just here to check some things. As long as no one disturbed him, it was fine.
After walking for a distance, Li Yan's brow furrowed. The aura had not appeared again. Subsequently, Li Yan stopped. He immediately closed his eyes and stood there motionless, as if he had fallen asleep.
After nearly another incense stick's time had passed, Li Yan's eyes shot open. A sharp light flashed in them, and then his figure began to shuttle quickly through the water. Various faint lights of spiritual energy swept past Li Yan's body. Under the distorting effect of the water, the advancing Li Yan shuttled between mottled patches of light and shadow, his figure flickering between solid and illusory. Li Yan completely ignored the various mid and low-grade spirit artifacts that appeared under his feet from time to time.
This ancient battlefield under the water was truly huge. After walking for more than a hundred li, a large patch of algae-like weeds appeared before his eyes. These long weeds, dancing in the water, occupied Li Yan's entire field of vision, seeming endless.
Li Yan did not stop, and flew straight towards the patch of weeds. But as soon as he approached, the long leaf stems, which had been swaying like a gentle song and dance, suddenly whipped towards Li Yan like a multitude of whips, with a rapid shake. In an instant, a dense "swish, swish, swish" sound filled the air, showing that the leaf stems were unusually fierce. Even in the water, the speed of these leaf stems was not affected.
Li Yan had long since propped up his Spirit Power shield. For a time, it was like rain hitting a banana leaf, with a continuous "pat, pat, pat..." sound. After feeling it for a moment, Li Yan discovered that the attacks of these weeds actually carried a trace of scorching heat, which made his heart stir. If this scorching heat were to invade the body of a Qi Condensation cultivator, it would make their Spirit Power boil and become uncontrollable in a moment. But Li Yan turned a blind eye to this, letting these weeds attack his body as he continued to fly forward rapidly.
Soon, he stopped in front of a clump of weeds.
Without any delay, Li Yan gently waved his palm. The weeds that were attacking him, as if swept by a sharp blade, were instantly sent flying in a chaotic mess of leaves, cut from their roots. The large patch of weeds that had been attacking him instantly became rootless things, drifting in one direction with the current.
Just as Liayan waved his hand, his Divine Sense picked up "yiyi yaya" sounds from the weeds, as if they were crying out in pain. After the palm wind stirred up a surge of water, a patch of sand and the roots of several clumps of weeds were exposed at Li Yan's feet.
Li Yan's gaze swept around, and soon his eyes settled on one spot. There was a very dense cluster of weed roots there. After the leaf stems above had been cut by Li Yan, a large clump of roots like a hedgehog was exposed below. It occupied an area the size of a tabletop, and it was also the clump of weeds that had felt the most ferocious in the attack just now.
"This is it!" Li Yan's eyes lit up.