These two men were also tall and sturdy. One had short, inch-long hair like steel needles and wore a sleeveless, tight-fitting suit made of some unknown demonic beast's fur. The muscles on his exposed shoulders were like two small mountains, bulging up. The sinews on them were like angry dragons coiled around them, and his limbs were as thick as a bear's. At a glance, he gave people the feeling that he could pull up mountains and tear tigers and leopards apart with his bare hands.
The other person was as thin as Ai Sang and the others, and his skin was a dark green color. He wore a square scarf on his head and held a string of jade beads in his hand, which he was constantly fiddling with. His handsome features had a touch of femininity, and he was staring at the man and woman whose figures were slowly solidifying opposite him.
The two who appeared were both of ordinary appearance. It was just that the woman's figure was curvaceous and her skin was as white as jade. But after seeing her face, one couldn't help but feel it was a great pity.
There was still one person standing with his hands down in the great hall, not seated. It was A Guxi, who had rushed over after just receiving his clansmen. He was not qualified to participate in the conversation here, but he was the strongest of the remnant Giant Wood Clan on the Tianlan Prairie, so some matters naturally needed him to confirm.
"You two are the fellow daoists who saved my clansmen. Please, take a seat! A Guxi, you sit down as well. To have the help of you two fellow daoists this time, my Giant Wood Clan and the other six clans are endlessly grateful. I am the clan chief here, Ting Bixiao. Below are two elders of my clan, Ting Shan and Wusitu!"
Seeing the figures of Li Yan and Zhao Min appear in the great hall, the green-robed burly man on the seat of honor immediately stood up. With a smile on his face, he gestured for Li Yan and the others to sit. Then, with a sweep of his arm, he pointed to the sturdy burly man and the feminine man below, respectively.
'Ting Bixiao, Ting Shan, Wusitu. This clan chief and that Ting Shan are likely from the same branch. According to A Guxi's simple voice transmission before, this Giant Wood Clan originally had four Golden Core cultivators, and two were captured and killed a few days ago. This means that all the experts of the Giant Wood Clan are gathered here. However, if one were to guess based on A Guxi's description, that would be a big mistake…' Li Yan was quickly digesting the content of A Guxi's previous voice transmission, a faint smile also appearing on his face.
"I am Zhang Ming. This is my Senior Sister Zhao. We accidentally entered deep into the prairie during our training and happened to run into A Guxi and his people. The reason we saved them, apart from the fact that the Tianlan Clan's slaughter of mortals violates the rule that immortals and mortals should not cross paths, the rest was just a transaction!" Li Yan cupped his hands slightly and then sat down. He did not take any credit at all and stated his original intention from the outset. For Li Yan, saying too much else was useless. In the end, it all came down to the two words "interest," and what he demanded was the most practical reward.
"Don't you think it's impolite to repeatedly scan others with your Divine Sense?" And at this moment, Zhao Min's cool and pleasant voice sounded, causing everyone to pause.
After sitting down, Zhao Min was now looking coldly at the feminine man opposite her, the Golden Core cultivator named Wusitu. Among cultivators, one would usually not carefully scan the other party with their Divine Sense. If one's cultivation was low, they would easily be killed. Cultivators of the same rank would also just give a quick scan. After one scan, however much you could sense was however much you could sense. You couldn't make any further detailed probes.
Just like when Li Yan and the others had just met, they had all just swept their Divine Senses over the other party. Li Yan had already confirmed that the clan chief of the Giant Wood Clan was a Pseudo-Nascent Soul cultivator, and one who had been in the Pseudo-Nascent Soul realm for a long time. Such a person undoubtedly had a certain understanding of Core Formation, and his cultivation was naturally of a very terrifying kind. And the sturdy man opposite him had also reached the Mid-stage Golden Core, while the feminine man was at the Late-stage Golden Core.
Similarly, the other party had also made a preliminary judgment of Li Yan's and Zhao Min's cultivation. One was at the Initial-stage Golden Core, and the other was at the mid stage. Li Yan had actually long since sensed that the feminine man's gaze toward the two of them was a bit cold, which made him quite displeased. That person's Divine Sense had swept over him and then passed, but had focused on Zhao Min. This was easy to explain: he had directly ignored Li Yan.
Seeing the coldness in Zhao Min's eyes, a look of disdain flashed in Wusitu's eyes opposite her. Ting Bixiao's tiger-like eyes on the seat of honor seemed to glance over inadvertently, then moved away. Wusitu felt as if he had been fiercely glared at by a ferocious beast. He was shocked in his heart, but his face remained impassive. Although he did not stand up, his upper body bowed slightly toward Zhao Min. "It is my first time seeing a human cultivator, so I was a little curious. I was indeed rude!"
Ting Bixiao immediately laughed as well. "Indeed. It is rare for you human cultivators to come to the Sparrow Plume Pagoda Domain, and Wusitu rarely goes out. This is the truth. His actions were indeed abrupt. I hope you two fellow daoists will forgive him. Since you have come to my Giant Wood Clan, then please taste our clan's 'Snow-Covered Clarity Tea.' This is a spiritual tea that is also very beneficial to us Golden Core cultivators!"
As he spoke, he pointed to the tea table by Li Yan's and Zhao Min's side. On it were two jade-colored tea cups from which wisps of steam were rising. "By the way, A Guxi, you have a cup too. Drinking it will have a good healing effect on some of the old, stubborn injuries in your body!" Then, Ting Bixiao said to A Guxi, who was sitting on the edge of his chair, somewhat apprehensive. He very naturally changed the subject.
At this time, A Guxi no longer had the desperation of a few days ago. He had finally led his clansmen back to their ancestral land, and they now had the hope of a new life. At this time, his whole person was no longer sharp-edged. He needed to consider more things and no longer had the thought of dying if he had to!
Li Yan, on the other hand, had taken in all of Ting Bixiao's actions. He then glanced faintly at the man named Wusitu. "Clan Chief, is this our clan's 'Snow-Covered Clarity Tea'?" A Guxi's excited voice sounded from below.
"Oh? You've heard of this tea too?" Ting Bixiao looked at A Guxi with a smile.
"Of course, I have. I heard that this tea is a precious spiritual tea unique to our clan. It needs to be refined from the autumn morning dew collected from spiritual wood that is over a thousand years old. It has an extraordinary effect on strengthening the tendons and bones and removing impurities from the body. If one can drink a cup every day, the magical power in the body will be continuously purified, its power will be doubled, and the bones and tendons will be tough, clear, and free of impurities. However, I heard that this tea is most effective the first two or three times it is drunk. After that, the effect can only be accumulated bit by bit!" A Guxi looked at the transparent tea in the jade-colored teacup by his side, which had a faint green color. His eyes were filled with a fiery heat.
The old, stubborn injuries in his body were very deep. Although he had been given medicinal pills by Li Yan during this period, refining that medicinal power was not something that could be successfully done in just a dozen or so days. If he drank the legendary "Snow-Covered Clarity Tea" of his clan, then not only would the medicinal power in his body be refined at a multiplied speed, but the tea would also wash away the impurities in his body, greatly improving his physical body. And just as he had heard, this tea was most effective the first two or three times. Later on, the effect could only be realized through long-term drinking, but this idea was undoubtedly a fool's dream.
A Guxi did not immediately pick up the teacup. Instead, he raised his head. "Clan Chief, this tea is a gift to this disciple. Can this disciple dispose of it himself?"
"Hehehe, A Guxi, I know what you mean. You want to bring it back for Ai Sang and Ai Ni, right?" Ting Bixiao chuckled.
"Clan Chief is wise!" A Guxi did not deny it.
"You don't have to have such thoughts. As some compensation for you all, each of your more than thirty people, including those mortals, will be given a cup. It's just that the amount of tea for the mortals will only be one-tenth of your cup, but it is enough to make all their stubborn diseases disappear and their vitality to flourish. I think you also know how precious the 'Snow-Covered Clarity Tea' is and how difficult it is to refine. Besides, their physical bodies cannot withstand too much cleansing from the spiritual tea. Too much will be counterproductive. Similarly, the spiritual wood morning dew contained in your cup is also the appropriate amount for a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Of course, it cannot be compared to the two cups of Fellow Daoist Zhang and the others. Otherwise, you would also be frozen to death! As for all the cultivators among your returning group, there will be two more opportunities later, but this will require meeting some conditions to be rewarded. Don't worry, those conditions are not very difficult for you. I will explain them to you in detail later!"
Ting Bixiao waved his hand at A Guxi, then looked at Li Yan and Zhao Min again. 'Although this A Guxi hasn't seen much of the world, he is very shrewd!' Li Yan thought to himself. After Zhao Min had questioned Wusitu, that A Guxi had clearly not wanted to make the relationship between the two sides tense. He had just seen a glimmer of hope.
Since he had inherited the magical arts of the Giant Wood Clan, he should have long known about the clan's treasures, but he still deliberately asked about it. Then he took the opportunity to explain it to Li Yan and his companion. Not only did he explain the efficacy of this tea, but he also diverted the unpleasant scene from just now, distracting Zhao Min's anger.
But Li Yan could also see that A Guxi might not have really known that the tea was "Snow-Covered Clarity Tea" before. His later desire to leave the tea for Ai Sang and Ai Ni was also a genuine expression. For a cultivator who had always been selfish, this was very rare. From this, Li Yan also thought of Meng Zhiyuan and his four senior brothers and sisters. They also supported each other.
"Having gone through life and death together, the people around you are the most trusted people. They are people who are willing to die for the other party. They still retain a kind of simplicity that is rarely seen in cultivators in the outside world!"
Seeing Ting Bixiao look over, Li Yan smiled slightly, picked up the teacup, and took a sip directly. At the same time, he transmitted a voice to Zhao Min. "Senior Sister, don't drink it in a hurry!"
Li Yan's action made Ting Bixiao's smiling face freeze. He had not expected this Initial-stage Golden Core cultivator to be so "frank," or even "reckless." The tea he had taken out was the real "Snow-Covered Clarity Tea," and its efficacy was indeed as A Guxi had said. As for Li Yan's own purpose, that could be put aside for now. But the other party had really saved his clansmen, and he was grateful for this.
However, he had just had a wait-and-see attitude. Anyway, the spiritual tea had been taken out, and he had made his words clear. This was actually what was called an opportunity in cultivation. If you didn't drink it, Ting Bixiao would not explain any further. That would only make Li Yan and the others more suspicious. At that time, if these two cups of tea were taken back and rewarded to his clansmen, it would be something many people craved.
But if you were going to drink it, you had to risk your life!
In his view, Li Yan and Zhao Min would probably at least wait until A Guxi had finished drinking, or after carefully examining it with their Divine Senses, before making a further decision. But this Zhang Ming before him, he had only sensed the other party's Divine Sense lightly sweep over the tea, and then he had picked it up and taken a sip directly. This could no longer be described as "bold"; it could be said to be completely without scruples.
Ting Shan and Wusitu opposite Li Yan were also stunned. Then Ting Shan opened his mouth and laughed, while Wusitu's eyes flickered, and the expression on his face also quickly returned to normal. 'I really don't know how this person cultivated to the Golden Core stage. Shouldn't this kind of character have died a thousand times already?' Wusitu thought to himself. If it were him, he would definitely not drink this cup of tea. However, he would also try his best to see if he could take this cup of spiritual tea with him.
Li Yan took a sip of the spiritual tea. He immediately felt a line of icy coldness go straight down from his throat to his stomach. Wherever the cold passed, his bones and tendons seemed to be frozen and tightened, and the magical power in his body was also the same. Then, with a slight circulation of his magical power, a breath of air was sprayed out from his mouth. A stream of white air shot out for about a foot before dissipating.