"No, no, I must wait until they appear. What that senior said won't be wrong, they will appear..."
How could Meng Zhiyuan know the situation inside the "Celestial Spirit Grotto"? If he knew, he would have gone in long ago.
He turned a deaf ear to the words of his junior brother and sister, just kowtowing with a "thud, thud" sound. The stone surface in front of him had already cracked.
He kept repeating those words, as if muttering to himself, or as if he had gone mad.
Meng Zhiyuan naturally didn't know that there was a teleportation formation inside.
He understood Pei Buchong's words back then to mean that as long as someone could enter the "Celestial Spirit Grotto," it meant that their magical power was heaven-defying and they had the ability to take them away.
He believed that the cave residence was only so big. As long as Zhang Ming and that senior Daoist found the treasure, they would definitely come out, and what he had to do was to beg sincerely.
For the return of his clansmen, he could die, he could be humble, he could disregard any face.
He didn't want to watch his clansmen die like this one by one anymore. He didn't want to see them live only in this forbidden land, in darkness.
Many clansmen here didn't even know what the outside world was like, what the starry sky was, what green trees were, what warm sunlight was, what storms were...
He wanted them to know what the world outside was really like. This was the wish of his masters, this was his responsibility!
Time flew by quickly, and cries of pleading echoed around, but no one answered.
Meng Zhiyuan and the others became more and more anxious and sorrowful. The despair in their hearts had reached its peak. All hope had begun to turn into despair, and blood covered the stone surface.
The few of them just kept repeating their words and kowtowing, letting their foreheads be torn open.
Suddenly, a voice sounded in front of them without any warning.
"Fellow Daoist Meng, what is the meaning of this?"
The moment this voice sounded, the bodies of the five people kneeling in front of the gate were as if struck by a bolt of lightning. All sounds, all movements seemed to petrify and froze there.
Then, Meng Zhiyuan slowly raised his head. He let the blood from his forehead flow into his eyes, reflecting a blood-red world. He saw three figures.
"Fellow Daoist Meng, our previous matters are over. I am just passing by this place this time. You..."
Li Yan feigned ignorance, a trace of confusion on his face.
Hearing Li Yan's inquiry, Meng Zhiyuan suddenly woke up. He once again prostrated himself on the ground.
"Fellow Daoist Zhang, please save my clan, please save my clan!"
He didn't know Qianchong Zhenjun and Zhao Min, so of course he could only beg Zhang Ming. He could see that Zhang Ming's relationship with the other two was not shallow, and the most crucial one was of course that Daoist.
Meng Zhiyuan could of course also directly ask the Daoist for help. Even if he didn't know him, he could still state the situation.
But if Zhang Ming was displeased with their clan and said a few words on the side, then he would really be calling out to heaven in vain.
So, he had to move Zhang Ming.
"Oh? I save your clan? Fellow Daoist Meng, what are you saying?
Your clan is fine here, and you haven't encountered any strong enemies. Besides, do you think a mere little Golden Core like me can be of any help?"
Li Yan chuckled lightly and said unceremoniously.
In fact, when he was in the cave just now, he really couldn't hear what Meng Zhiyuan and the others were saying outside. Even if the other party kept repeating the history of the "Dark Spirit Demon Bat" clan, he couldn't hear a single sentence.
However, his rhetorical question was, of course, feigning ignorance.
At this time, Meng Zhiyuan didn't care whether Li Yan really hadn't heard or was pretending not to have heard. He eagerly and quickly explained.
"Fellow Daoist Zhang, Fellow Daoist Zhang, this matter concerns the lives of everyone in my clan. I hope you can listen to my explanation. We did offend you a lot before, but it was also our duty.
After you have heard it, how you deal with it is all up to you.
All the decisions to attack you back then were made by me and have nothing to do with my clansmen. Even if you kill me immediately, I will have no complaints. I only hope you can take my clansmen away!"
After speaking, he didn't care whether this person named Zhang Ming agreed or not. He eagerly began to speak, for fear that the other party would not give him any chance to explain.
He was actually also taking a gamble. They were traitors of the Forsaken Continent. If Zhang Ming's relationship with the Demon Clan was close, then what awaited them was immediate death.
Because with that Daoist there, they wouldn't even have a chance to resist.
However, as long as Zhang Ming was not a demon, he would take the gamble, gambling with the lives of his entire clan, because he could not wait any longer.
On the other side, the four "Dark Spirit Demon Bats," who had also transformed into human form, saw that Meng Zhiyuan had thrown all his dignity into the mud.
Where was the wisdom and dominance of leading the entire clan in the past? A sharp pain shot through their hearts. They just knelt silently on the ground, their heads bowed low.
As Meng Zhiyuan kept talking, Zhao Min's eyes kept flashing. Li Yan sensed a slight fluctuation in her aura and could only sigh lightly in his heart.
'Senior Sister's biggest weakness is the matter of kinship. If this point cannot be well controlled, it will be her fatal weakness in the future.'
He knew Zhao Min too well. Now that Zhao Min heard that the other party was watching their relatives die one by one, it should have touched a string in her heart from her lonely childhood.
Meng Zhiyuan watched Li Yan as he spoke. Seeing that the other party did not turn around and leave, but just stood quietly, and that Daoist did not show any signs of impatience, his suspended heart relaxed a little. As long as the other party was willing to listen, there was hope.
But the three people opposite them were all like timeless icebergs. He couldn't see any change in their faces at all, and for a moment, he couldn't guess what they were thinking.
'That Daoist is clearly also human. Is the human race so powerful on the Forsaken Continent now? Zhang Ming must be a disciple of a top-tier sect in this realm.' he thought to himself.
Soon, Meng Zhiyuan had revealed all the secrets.
"Fellow Daoist Zhang, this senior, that great power senior said so back then. The one who can save my clan is the one who can enter this cave residence with ease.
Please, this senior, save my clan. If we can return to our clan, senior and Fellow Daoist Zhang will definitely be greatly rewarded. I can swear a blood oath on the lives of my entire clan here."
As Meng Zhiyuan said this, he finally kowtowed heavily to Qianchong Zhenjun again. The four people beside him did the same.
"Fellow Daoist Meng, what you said was just that person's speculation back then. Besides, we don't have the ability to leave the Forsaken Continent. How can we help you?" Li Yan said coldly.
"Senior, my clan on the Verdant Continent is definitely a large clan now. As long as senior is willing to save this junior and the others, you will not be disappointed afterwards."
Seeing that he couldn't persuade Zhang Ming, and that Zhang Ming hadn't left immediately, Meng Zhiyuan kowtowed and begged Qianchong Zhenjun for help.
Qianchong Zhenjun finally spoke.
"According to what you said, your clan only had a few Nascent Soul cultivators when they went to the Verdant Continent.
Even after all this time, your 'Dark Spirit Demon Bat' clan's bloodline can only be considered slightly better. At most, one or two Spirit Transformation cultivators could appear. What can they offer to move me?"
The moment he said this, a loud roar sounded in the hearts of Meng Zhiyuan and the other four below, like a deafening thunderclap.
'Even a Spirit Transformation cultivator can't offer him anything he needs. Indeed, indeed, he is just like that white-robed man. His cultivation has long surpassed the Spirit Transformation realm and cannot be compared to 'Venerable Duanmu' and the others.'
For a moment, Meng Zhiyuan was once again shocked and at the same time, felt a sense of wanting to die.
Yes, their clan's bloodline was not some high-grade bloodline. It was also very difficult to break through to the Spirit Transformation stage.
In that case, what could they offer that would move the other party?
Especially with Meng Zhiyuan's realm, he didn't even know what a Nascent Soul cultivator needed. What attractive conditions could he possibly state?
However, there was one thing he could be sure of. As long as his branch could go back, the strong experts in the clan would definitely attach great importance to it.
Because the clansmen they left behind were not a certain branch of the clan, but the elite disciples of every branch back then.
If they wanted to abandon them, unless these branches had all disappeared and new branches had been born.
On the other side, Zhao Min's eyes flashed. She had already understood the matter. At this time, she thought of the conversation between Li Yan and this senior before.
She knew that this was Li Yan and the senior trying to manipulate the other party. As for what their purpose was, she still couldn't figure it out for a moment.
Meng Zhiyuan and his four junior brothers and sisters were speechless for a moment. They could only keep kowtowing, letting the blood continue to stain and spread on the stone surface...
After another ten or so breaths, Qianchong Zhenjun seemed to have made some decision after considering. He looked at Li Yan and said, "The white-robed cultivator they mentioned might be proficient in the art of divination. This kind of cultivator is quite troublesome. They can glimpse a sliver of heavenly secrets and calculated our current purpose!"
As he said this, his brows furrowed tightly.
Meng Zhiyuan and the others listened to the Daoist's soft words above, and were even more shocked by the divine abilities of the white-robed cultivator back then.
'So that person was not talking nonsense. He was really helping my clan to overcome a calamity...'
Seeing Qianchong Zhenjun pretending not to know that that person was Pei Buchong, Li Yan wanted to laugh in his heart, but his face wore a cautious expression.
"Ancestor, this..."
After thinking for a moment, Qianchong Zhenjun said, "So be it!! It's their good fortune. This time, you two are going out for training, especially since you have to make a trip to the 'Tianli Clan.' Those old guys from the 'Tianli Clan' are not so easy to talk to.
Then, you can let the experts of the 'Dark Spirit Demon Bat' clan help. I think this clan at least still has Nascent Soul cultivators."
As he spoke, he seemed to be weighing the pros and cons.
Meng Zhiyuan and the others had already sunk to the bottom of their hearts. Hearing the conversation above again, they immediately understood something.
That Zhang Ming and that extremely beautiful woman should be the core disciples of this sect. It seemed that their direction was to go to the Verdant Continent for training, and they also had to go to some "Tianli Clan."
Meng Zhiyuan didn't know much about the Verdant Continent. He only had a jade slip map in his hand, which only recorded the territory that the "Dark Spirit Demon Bat" clan had once been assigned.
As for what other races there were on the Verdant Continent and how vast the territory was, how would he know?
He was just a small demon back then. This jade slip map was a relic left by his masters in the forbidden land, treasured and enshrined in a secret chamber.
But all of this did not affect his thinking. He suddenly vaguely thought of a possibility.
'Could the Celestial Spirit Grotto have a formation leading to the Verdant Continent...'
He raised his head, his face full of blood and joy.
"Senior, Senior, my clan definitely has Nascent Soul cultivators. As long as Brother Zhang needs them, everything is fine..."
Qianchong Zhenjun just glanced at him faintly, then looked at Li Yan and continued, "Besides, I just looked. The restriction grand formation here is about to completely collapse. Although I can make a move to stabilize it, I need some materials to assist.
It will take a considerable amount of time to collect these materials. So, while this place can still be used, after you go over, I will destroy this place and completely cut off the possibility of others using it!
In the future, you two will need to return to the sect on your own, as the final assessment of this trial!"
The cross-realm teleportation grand formation in the "Celestial Spirit Grotto" was actually not related to the forbidden land's grand formation. At most, after the forbidden land's grand formation collapsed, it would directly expose the three sub-cave residences.