In those years in the secret realm, Dao Yu had also witnessed the terrifying speed at which Zhao Min cultivated the "Heavenly Demon White Jade Plate."
He himself was considered a prodigy among the younger generation, though this was calculated based on the long lifespan of the Demon Clan.
Dao Yu's cultivation was already approaching the mid-stage of Nascent Soul, but he could assert that Zhao Min could form her Nascent Soul within a hundred years. At that time, he might not even be her match.
Even though he also cultivated a top-tier cultivation method of the White Demon Clan, his method still couldn't compare to the "Heavenly Demon White Jade Plate."
As long as the difference in their minor realms wasn't too great, she could likely suppress him with ease.
For various reasons, he became even more determined to become Dao Companions with Zhao Min. And when he emerged from the secret realm, a piece of good news came his way.
The Supreme Grand Elder of his lineage and the Second Elder had reached some sort of agreement, and the Second Elder had finally given up on competing for Zhao Min.
Without the check and balance of the Supreme Second Elder, the other few Spirit Transformation elders were simply not taken seriously by the Grand Elder.
In previous years, he knew that these people were secretly competing for this disciple with the Ice Soul Blue Jade Body, but he hadn't had the time to bother with them.
Dao Yu finally received a message from the Grand Elder, informing him that the news would be announced in four days.
As for why it wasn't announced immediately, Dao Yu guessed it would take some time to appease the other Spirit Transformation old monsters.
However, after receiving the message, Dao Yu already considered Zhao Min his personal property. Like Dongli Qing, he began to have people secretly monitor Zhao Min's every move, not wanting anyone to get close to her.
But on the surface, he still wanted to play the part of a perfect gentleman. So, when Zhao Min interacted with others, he wouldn't directly intervene but would find trouble for them afterward.
Although Zhao Min had only been out for two days, he had already warned several of his fellow clansmen.
Although those people were unconvinced, they were still very wary of the terrifying lineage behind Dao Yu, especially after hearing that he and Zhao Min would soon be announced as Dao Companions.
At first, they didn't believe it, but then they heard some rumors. The lineage of the Second Elder, the only one who could contend with the Grand Elder, also let slip some news that Dao Yu would become Dao Companions with Zhao Min.
Today, after Zhao Min left the palace, someone immediately informed Dao Yu. Hearing that Zhao Min had actually left the palace alone, Dao Yu was puzzled and personally followed her.
He followed her all the way and saw her enter a courtyard.
Although his Divine Sense did not forcibly break through the restriction, with his powerful cultivation, he could still vaguely sense the presence of two people in the courtyard.
One of them, by his movements, should be a man.
He couldn't help but burn with jealousy, but to leave a good impression on Zhao Min, especially since the two seemed to be staying in the courtyard and not entering a room, Dao Yu suppressed his anger and did not alert them.
He had planned to wait for Zhao Min to leave and then enter the courtyard to capture the man. Whether to perform a soul-search would depend on the man's identity.
But to his surprise, while he was waiting impatiently in hiding, at a certain moment, one of the auras in the courtyard suddenly vanished from his Divine Sense.
He had been monitoring the situation the whole time, and he was certain that no one had walked out of the courtyard gate.
At this, Dao Yu was immediately taken aback. Releasing his Divine Sense with all his might, he was shocked to find that the vanished aura belonged to Zhao Min.
Just then, a Voice Transmission Talisman suddenly flew out. How could Dao Yu let it escape?
Although the Voice Transmission Talisman possessed the power of space, he was a Nascent Soul cultivator, and he was fully focused on the courtyard.
The Voice Transmission Talisman had just taken flight and had not yet fully entered the spatial void when Dao Yu managed to intercept it.
His Divine Sense probed it, and he was immediately disappointed. It was just a list of cultivation materials; he couldn't see anything special about it.
Thinking about Zhao Min's sudden disappearance, he could no longer control his emotions and anxiously broke the restriction to enter.
What made him even more suspicious was that it was as if Zhao Min had never been there.
Li Yan's face wore a hint of fear, and his voice trembled slightly as he spoke.
"Senior, if anyone else has entered this place, you can find them and see if this junior is lying. Otherwise, I must ask you to leave!"
At this point, Dao Yu's gaze had fallen back on Li Yan.
He didn't need the other party's reminder; his Divine Sense had already searched every inch of this place several times over.
His only suspicion now was that Li Yan possessed a magical treasure capable of holding living beings. He simply couldn't believe his senses had been wrong.
The next moment, his Divine Sense landed on a Spirit-Storing Pouch at Li Yan's waist.
Li Yan suddenly felt a piercing pain in his Divine Soul, and in the next instant, blood spurted from his mouth and nose.
With a muffled groan, the opening of the storage pouch at his waist made a cracking sound. A faint light flashed and disappeared, as a tyrannical Divine Sense plunged in without any restraint.
The man didn't care about Li Yan's life or death. The Divine Sense Li Yan had left on it was instantly shattered.
Although this Spirit-Storing Pouch was just something Li Yan casually wore at his waist for camouflage, he had indeed left a Divine Sense imprint on it.
With the imprint forcibly dispelled and torn apart, Li Yan's Divine Soul was instantly shaken violently. The blood from his mouth and nose was not intentionally forced out.
However, what was revealed to Dao Yu was merely an empty Spirit-Storing Pouch.
Dao Yu's expression faltered. Although the Spirit-Storing Pouch had a decent amount of Spiritual Energy, it was just an ordinary one, and it was currently empty. This was completely different from what he had imagined.
Normally, a Spirit-Storing Pouch was what cultivators used to store their companion Demonic Beasts, but some would also use it to temporarily store other living beings, such as injured companions in battle.
So, even if a Spirit-Storing Pouch was empty, it wasn't suspicious for a cultivator to wear one at their waist. But where was Zhao Min?
His Divine Soul shaken, Li Yan stumbled backward. Before he could even wipe the blood from his face, he suddenly saw an illusory hand grabbing for the crown of his head.
Seeing that he couldn't find Zhao Min in the only place on the man's body that could hide a living being, Dao Yu didn't give Li Yan any chance and immediately tried to capture him for a soul-search.
Although cultivators were not allowed to fight wantonly in "Sacred Demon City," Dao Yu was now filled with shock and anger and paid no heed to the so-called rules.
To make a mistake while tracking a Golden Core cultivator was a huge joke for a Nascent Soul cultivator with heaven-defying magical power.
Moreover, his backing was immense. At this moment, he even believed that the other party had used some method to trick Zhao Min, whether it was trading treasures or some other connection between them.
For this person to make Zhao Min disappear in an instant, it must have been done when Zhao Min was completely off guard.
Dao Yu confirmed that this man's strength was only at the mid-stage Golden Core. Based on his understanding of Zhao Min's combat power, the person before him couldn't have killed her instantly.
This meant that there was something strange about this person, that he might be hiding a secret unknown to others, which was how Zhao Min had fallen into his trap in an instant.
In a fit of rage, he immediately moved to capture the other party for a soul-search.
Seeing the large hand reaching his head in the blink of an eye, a cold glint flashed in Li Yan's eyes. In a flash of thought, he decided against using the Fragmented Poison Body.
He hadn't reached the final moment yet; he couldn't use it.
First, he had once used the potent poison of the Fragmented Body to kill Dongli Qing. To kill him, he had laid out his most powerful poisons in traps.
Those old monsters from the "Sacred Demon Palace" must have carefully examined Dongli Qing's body back then. If he were to use it now, the chance of being exposed was as high as sixty or seventy percent.
At that time, even if he could escape in advance, the "Falling Star Valley" would definitely be annihilated.
Second, the time was too short. Li Yan quickly calculated and found that even if he used several of his most powerful poisons without time to carefully set them up, the probability of killing his opponent was less than ten percent.
Thinking of how Dongli Qing had withstood a combined attack of his many poisons with just his powerful body and had only died after a long time, Li Yan immediately gave up on this idea.
The next moment, right under Dao Yu's cold gaze, his hand suddenly grabbed at empty air. A look of disbelief and stupor appeared on his face.
"Hmm?"
The other party had vanished in the blink of an eye. This was something Dao Yu had never dreamed of.
At this moment, Li Yan had appeared at the courtyard's main gate. He began to detonate the formation's restrictions. With just one more step, he could rush out into the street.
However, the formation remained silent. At the same time, as Li Yan took a step, he seemed to crash into a wall.
A cold shout reached his ears.
"Boy, I see you've cultivated a rather impressive movement skill. If you can escape, I'll let you go!"
The moment Li Yan was hit by the invisible wall of air, his face changed drastically, and his figure suddenly blurred.
With a "chi" sound, Dao Yu's somewhat surprised voice rang out again.
"Eh? Indeed, something is amiss!"
Dao Yu retracted his long arm, staring at the three tattered strips of azure cloth hanging from his fingers, then turned his head with a strange look in his eyes.
Behind him, in front of a row of houses at the back of the courtyard, an illusory figure was rapidly solidifying. It was Li Yan.
At this moment, three long tears ran down from his left shoulder. His high-grade spirit artifact-level azure shirt was ripped, but no blood seeped out.
He had dodged quickly. Otherwise, if it had been any deeper, the other party would have directly torn into his flesh.
Li Yan's expression was grim. Although he had luckily dodged the attack, he couldn't get out of the courtyard gate; the other party had already set up a restriction.
Without a doubt, the other party had intended to kill him from the start. Not only had he prevented his escape in advance, but Li Yan had also lost his connection to his own restriction.
This made it impossible for Li Yan to detonate or activate it, which would have created a disturbance and attracted the attention of others.
'To be so cautious when dealing with a Golden Core cultivator, this man is very sinister!' Li Yan had already figured out this person's character.
"A mere Golden Core cultivator like you actually dodged my attack. Hehe, interesting. I want that divine ability."
Dao Yu flicked his hand, shaking off the tattered cloth from his fingertips. A strange smile appeared on his face. Initially, he had only wanted to know how Zhao Min had disappeared and where she had gone.
But now, as a cultivator, he had become greedy for this strange and incredibly swift movement skill.
If he could cultivate this technique, he wouldn't dare say he could face a late-stage Nascent Soul grand cultivator—after all, those were powerful experts who had already comprehended a sliver of the laws of heaven and earth, and he would likely still be unable to resist them.
But if he were to face a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, he could even manage to turn the tables and kill his enemy.
The White Demon Clan were body cultivators. What was the best art to complement body cultivation attacks? Of course, it was a movement skill.
In an instant, Dao Yu threw several punches in succession. Suddenly, the entire courtyard was completely enveloped by his dense, mountain-like fist shadows.
Although the courtyard seemed large, under the cultivator's enveloping attack, it was like a tiny pellet of land. Fist shadows rained down from the sky.
A Nascent Soul cultivator's indiscriminate attack meant that there would be basically no gaps between the attacks.
This "basically," of course, was from the perspective of a cultivator below the Nascent Soul stage.
If Dao Yu were to encounter a cultivator of the same level, his opponent would be able to see the gaps in his dense, rain-like attacks and use them to counterattack.
But he was facing Li Yan, a mere mid-stage Golden Core cultivator. This was undoubtedly a dense, inescapable net of death.
Streaks of silver light suddenly erupted from Li Yan's body. He simultaneously used his hands and feet, also creating a sky full of fist and leg afterimages.