After obtaining this information from their soul-searches, Li Yan and Zhao Min abandoned the idea of going to the four core cities of the Tianlan Clan to buy maps and gather information. Instead, they decided to skirt around the periphery of the prairie to leave the area, intending to make further plans once they reached the Tingyun Kingdom. A Guxi also knew very little about the Tingyun Kingdom; he had only heard the old clan chief mention it a few times. The cultivators there were apparently not as bloodthirsty as those of the Tianlan Clan.
Under the setting sun, the Cloud-Piercing Willow flew lightly toward the southeast. Following the information gathered from their soul-searches, Li Yan and his companion had plotted a very remote route. After entering the southern Tianlan Prairie, as their route deviated, the number of cultivators they encountered indeed began to dwindle.
The Divine Senses of the cultivators they met along the way would sweep over them, but upon detecting the undisguised Golden Core auras of Li Yan and Zhao Min, and their cold, unapproachable demeanor, they would quickly move on without paying them further attention. As for the green-clad guards, they were deliberately avoided in advance thanks to Li Yan's powerful Divine Sense. This brought some relief to Li Yan and Zhao Min, who truly feared the appearance of a Tianlan Clan expert.
Ten days later, Li Yan and Zhao Min, flying rapidly through the air, gazed at the prairie under the afterglow of the setting sun, finding it vast and beautiful. According to the memories from their soul-searches, they should not be far from the southern edge of the Tianlan Prairie. As evening approached, they rarely encountered other cultivators. It was the nature of most living beings: active by day, dormant by night. Even for cultivators with Divine Sense, who could see the night as day, most were still unwilling to travel across such an open prairie at night.
"Such a beautiful place. If there were no slaughter, those mortals could spend their lives herding sheep on horseback and be quite content," Zhao Min murmured.
"The hearts of cultivators are the most greedy, the most heartless! For the sake of cultivation resources, they can lose their original intentions and abandon everything," Li Yan said, his face devoid of joy or sorrow as he watched the blood-red sun sink below the horizon.
"And you?"
"I don't know. Perhaps I haven't reached that point yet."
Zhao Min fell silent. As a cultivator's cultivation level increased, their personality could change drastically after a single session of seclusion. She was well aware of such occurrences.
"Senior Sister, no one can know what the future holds on the immortal path. Not even divination arts can tell, for revealing heavenly secrets comes at a great price. But at the very least, I will accompany you across a thousand mountains and ten thousand rivers, back to the Desolate Moon Continent, just as we journeyed all the way from the Forsaken Continent!"
As he spoke, Li Yan gently placed a hand on Zhao Min's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. At this skin-to-skin contact, Zhao Min's body trembled slightly, but she did not pull away. Her eyes, in her ordinary-looking face, were bright as she nodded gently.
"You two, stop right there!"
Just then, an extremely arrogant voice suddenly called out. Li Yan and Zhao Min both frowned. They had previously noticed a large white roc flying past them on their left. It was a second-rank demonic beast. Its snow-white head was topped with a tuft of gold, making it stand out. Its beak was like an iron hook, glinting with a cold light. Strangely, it had three Qilin-like hooves under its belly, around which swirled faint yellow cyclones. It had a very peculiar appearance; neither Li Yan nor Zhao Min recognized this demonic beast, but one look told them it was a rare specimen.
This roc-like demonic beast had a very broad back, upon which sat a young man with his long hair braided into many small plaits. His long robe, embroidered with flowers of various colors, was wide open, revealing his fair skin. At that moment, he had his arms around two lovely women, one on each side, his hands already sliding into the torn bodices of their half-exposed figures, exploring both high and low. From time to time, he would bury his head in their full, snow-white bosoms, take a deep sniff, and then throw his head back with a lewd laugh. The two women also had their long, smooth legs exposed, one bent and one straight, letting out soft laughs and sensual moans from time to time.
Behind these three stood an old man with a pale green complexion and a head of gray hair. He stood as straight as a spear, seemingly oblivious to the dalliance of the three in front of him. His hands were clasped behind his back, his gray eyebrows arched upward, and his pitch-black eyes stared straight ahead, now fixed on Li Yan and his companion.
A moment ago, Li Yan had already tapped the Cloud-Piercing Willow to change direction, wanting to avoid them. Now, being accosted, his mind raced, quickly assessing the other party's intentions. He had already recognized the unique attire of Tianlan Clan cultivators from their dress.
Seeing that Li Yan and Zhao Min were ignoring him, the bare-chested youth's face darkened, and he let out a soft snort. In the next instant, the white roc beneath him made a sudden turn, streaking across the sky like a flash of white light, and in the next moment, it blocked their path.
"Brat, didn't you hear me talking?"
Li Yan's eyebrows twitched. "Who are you?"
The bare-chested youth's hands continued to roam over the two women's bodies. "I'm the one asking the questions. Where did you come from? And where are you going?"
As he spoke, the bare-chested youth's gaze roamed wantonly over Zhao Min's body. But when his eyes landed on her face, a look of pity appeared. A moment ago, he had only caught a glimpse of Zhao Min's profile, but her stunning figure had immediately piqued his interest. From his experience, he could tell she was a top-quality specimen, so he had immediately called out to them. Now, seeing her up close, he couldn't help but feel a little regretful; her appearance was too ordinary.
However, he had long reached a stage of having been through a thousand flowers. As long as the other party didn't look like a ghost, he was more interested in the mountains and valleys of her figure.
Zhao Min felt a wave of disgust from the bare-chested youth's stare. She wanted to slap him across the face from a distance. This bare-chested youth's cultivation was quite impressive—Late-stage Golden Core. Although it was higher than both of their realms, either Zhao Min or Li Yan was confident they could heavily injure him. The two enchanting women, one at the Foundation Establishment realm and the other a mere Qi Condensation cultivator, were not worth mentioning.
What made Li Yan and Zhao Min somewhat wary was the gray-haired old man standing behind the bare-chested youth. His aura was as heavy as a mountain. If they were not mistaken, his cultivation had undoubtedly reached the Pseudo-Nascent Soul Realm. Some Pseudo-Nascent Soul cultivators were propped up by medicinal pills, and such people were not to be feared. But some Pseudo-Nascent Soul cultivators had means that could even rival Nascent Soul cultivators. Li Yan and Zhao Min could sense a bloody, murderous intent from the gray-haired old man before them.
Li Yan was well-versed in the world, and Zhao Min had similarly experienced life-and-death situations in the secret realm of the Sacred Demon Palace. They were all too familiar with this kind of aura. It was a killing intent that only an expert who had walked out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood could possess.
Li Yan subtly shifted to stand slightly in front of Zhao Min, blocking most of the youth's gaze.
"What right do you have to question our comings and goings?"
"Hehehe… hehehe…" Upon hearing this, the bare-chested youth suddenly burst into a series of strange laughs. The two women in his arms also giggled. The gray-haired old man behind them showed a hint of disdain in his eyes.
In their view, Li Yan was only an Initial-stage Golden Core cultivator. The ordinary-looking woman had a decent cultivation, having reached the Mid-stage Golden Core. Their overall strength was merely passable.
Li Yan was a master at capturing details and reading expressions. His heart skipped a beat. But he didn't speak immediately, merely staring quietly at the other party.
Sure enough, the bare-chested youth's laughter suddenly stopped. He sat up straight, his face turning grim. "There are very few who come to the Tianlan Prairie who don't recognize me, but at the very least, they've heard of my name. Now that I've said this much, who do you think I am?" he said, staring viciously at Li Yan. However, when his gaze occasionally swept over the sliver of fair neck exposed on Zhao Min, a lustful glint flashed in his eyes.
Li Yan remained silent, his gaze still calmly fixed on the youth.
"It seems you really don't know who I am?" As he spoke, the bare-chested youth pulled one hand out from the woman's bosom, brought it to his nose, and sniffed it, a look of satisfaction on his face. Then, he lazily slapped his waist. With a flash of white light, a green Fatou appeared in his hand. The Fatou was only the size of a palm, and the moment it appeared, it began to spin with a hum. As it spun, a cluster of vibrant green grass appeared at its top, glistening with dew. Li Yan and Zhao Min knew this was the token the other party was presenting.
"Is this some kind of token for Tianlan Clan cultivators?" Zhao Min transmitted her voice.
"To take out such a thing here, it must be. But we truly do not know what it is." Although they had soul-searched several Tianlan Clan cultivators, a person's experiences, especially a long-lived cultivator's, were too numerous to be examined in detail. Otherwise, just flipping through one person's entire memory could greatly damage Li Yan's and Zhao Min's own Divine Senses. So they usually only picked out things they were interested in to take a closer look.
"We just entered from the Tingyun Kingdom a few days ago. We were just checking to see if we could find anything we needed on the prairie…" Since he knew the item might be an important token of the Tianlan Clan, the bare-chested youth had likely brought it out simply to prove his identity. Li Yan guessed as much, so he pretended to know what it was. It was always better to avoid a fight here if possible.
The excuse Li Yan made up was also plausible. Many cultivators came to the Tianlan Prairie for a few common reasons. Besides trading for cultivation resources unique to the Tianlan Prairie, they came for training and to seek opportunities. The Tianlan Prairie was vast and boundless, and it was a growing ground for some precious medicinal herbs. Some cultivators who came would not enter the four core areas but would train on the prairie itself.
"Stop, stop, stop… Where did you enter the Tingyun Kingdom from?" After listening for a few moments, the bare-chested youth suddenly pulled his other hand out from the woman's clothes as well, his eyes fixed on Li Yan.
Li Yan's heart skipped a beat. In a flash of insight, he knew where his mistake lay. Before, he had always been very careful when speaking with the other party, deliberately slowing his speech and keeping his sentences short. This was because Li Yan rarely used the ancient immortal world tongue. Although he had committed it to memory with a cultivator's powerful recollection, using it in practice revealed some problems. Just now, when he had tried to talk his way out of the situation, he had inevitably said a few more sentences, and the bare-chested youth had immediately heard the problem: his pronunciation was not like that of a native Verdant Continent cultivator.
The bare-chested youth also immediately recalled that Li Yan's speech had been somewhat mumbled just before, and he pressed the question.
"I am from…"
Before Li Yan could finish, a powerful, explosive roar came out almost simultaneously.
"How dare you!"
Then, two consecutive screams rang out, echoing far across the empty prairie before fading…
And the figures of Li Yan and Zhao Min had already appeared where the bare-chested youth had just been!
Further away, the gray-haired old man, who had just released his hand from the bare-chested youth's shoulder, had a look of shock and fury.
The moment Li Yan knew his cover was blown, and since he knew nothing more about the Tingyun Kingdom and couldn't make up any more lies, he acted. The nearest cultivators were thousands of li away, so even if the enemy had reinforcements, they wouldn't arrive in time. Of course, Li Yan chose to kill the youth and flee immediately. So, while pretending to answer, he had already transmitted his voice to Zhao Min to make a move.
"Kill!"
The bare-chested youth had deliberately stopped them, bringing them to a distance of no more than a hundred zhang. At this range, Li Yan and Zhao Min could close the distance in an instant and launch their deadly assault!