"Junior Brother, you brought that magical treasure from the sect with you..."
After Zhang Ming and his Senior Sister's conversation reached this point, the two of them in his Divine Sense suddenly switched to voice transmission, and Wusitu's Divine Sense could no longer hear anything.
He grew anxious. The other party actually had a magical treasure that could deal with a Pseudo-Nascent Soul cultivator. This piece of information was far too important.
Although this Zhang Ming and his companion were inexperienced, they still switched to voice transmission when discussing important matters, which showed just how crucial their words were.
Wusitu felt his Divine Sense immediately blocked by an invisible barrier.
"Damn it!"
A haze passed over Wusitu's eyes. In the next moment, his figure appeared atop the courtyard wall. The formation restrictions on the wall had little effect on him.
He just quickly formed a hand seal and pointed a finger. Then, his figure was inside the courtyard.
Gazing at the house before him, Wusitu carefully extended his Divine Sense, meticulously observing the restriction in front of him...
A few breaths later, Wusitu had already left Li Yan's courtyard. On his way back, he felt a little unwilling.
'The restriction they laid is very clever. Unless I tear it apart by force, it would take a very long time to break!'
He had only tried to break it for four or five breaths before decisively choosing to leave. Even if he did break the restriction, whatever they had to say would have already been said.
Inside the room, Li Yan smiled.
'That Wusitu came to probe for information. He didn't choose to act in secret, but is my information so easily probed?'
Then, he gave a thumbs-up to Zhao Min, who was sitting opposite him.
"Senior Sister has learned to act too. Brilliant!"
Zhao Min's pair of bright, dark eyes swept over Li Yan before she stood up. With a flick of her long ponytail, she had already walked out of the room, leaving only a faint fragrance behind...
The next morning, the entire Giant Wood Clan suddenly became lively.
Yesterday, after Wusitu returned, he had spread the news that someone was coming to compete for a slot to enter the Wood Essence Pool.
Normally, such matters were decided by a few Golden Core cultivators, and even if the clansmen below had opinions, they wouldn't dare to express them.
But after it came from Wusitu's mouth, many of the Giant Wood Clan members, who had initially thought the cultivators who rescued A Guxi were benevolent, now knew the great price they would have to pay for that rescue.
The Wood Essence Pool was a sacred place that every member of the Giant Wood Clan wished to enter. But it was only once a century, with only three slots. Who didn't want to rapidly increase their cultivation, who didn't want to ascend sooner?
Now, an outsider wanted a piece of the pie, which stirred hostility in many hearts.
When Li Yan and Zhao Min stepped into the Sparring Arena, they found three or four thousand Giant Wood Clan members of varying cultivation levels.
The gazes they fixed on them were filled with hostility, dissatisfaction, mockery, excitement, and also nervousness.
The nervous ones were A Guxi, Ai Ni, and Ai Sang, standing in a corner.
Their new lease on life was entirely thanks to the two cultivators before them. Although the two had their own motives, compared to these unfamiliar clansmen, they felt closer to Li Yan and Zhao Min.
This was especially true for Ai Ni, who held Zhao Min in the utmost reverence.
Although that white-robed woman had an extremely high cultivation level and maintained a cold demeanor all day, her heart was not truly so cold and unfeeling.
The first set of beautiful women's clothes Ai Ni had ever received in her life had made her feel like she was in a dream for the first few days. She only wished the dream would never end.
After returning to the clan, they received cultivation resources they could never have imagined in their wildest dreams before.
This, of course, included various spirit artifacts and spirit treasure-level clothing. The set of clothes Zhao Min had gifted her was carefully treasured by Ai Ni.
It was the most beautiful memory of her life. In that moment, she had forgotten the slaughter and bloodshed, filled with hope. In her heart, she had already made Zhao Min the goal she would pursue for her entire life.
'Senior, you will definitely get what you wish for!'
Ai Ni thought to herself. A Guxi and Ai Sang were also hoping that Li Yan and his companion would win against their opponents. Ai Sang even began to mutter to himself, ignoring the dissatisfied gazes from those around them.
"The two seniors fought their way here through all obstacles from the Tianlan Prairie. How could they possibly fail in a duel like this!"
Ai Sang didn't pay much mind to the increasingly provocative gazes from the people around him. In his eyes, he could kill a whole swath of the so-called masters among these clansmen with a single thrust of his spear.
While the Tianlan Clan cultivators were tempering themselves, were they not also forging the cultivators of the seven clans who walked on the edge of death?
The scene before him filled A Guxi with both helplessness and anxiety. The matters he had to consider were not as simple as Ai Sang's and Ai Ni's.
'The weakest of the two clan elders, Elder Ting Shan, is already at the Mid-stage Golden Core. The outcome of Senior Zhang and his companion's two duels is truly hard to predict...'
After returning yesterday, A Guxi had, of course, inquired about the cultivation levels of Wusitu and Ting Shan. He had gasped in shock, especially after hearing about Wusitu's strength.
However, all of this was now beyond his ability to influence. He could only silently pray for Li Yan and his companion!
Li Yan and Zhao Min paid no heed to the various emotional gazes around them. They had saved the people and should have been able to receive their "payment" directly. Now, it was as if they owed the other party instead.
They had already considered all the worst-case scenarios before coming to the Giant Wood Clan. After all, this was a treasure that could even tempt Nascent Soul cultivators.
They even considered that if the clan had an unprovokable Nascent Soul cultivator who simply stood up and declared that they could not use the Wood Essence Pool, they would be helpless.
They would have no choice but to remember this matter, save their own skins first, and wait until their cultivation was sufficient in the future to repay it several times over.
The current situation was already considered acceptable; it just required a few more twists and turns.
"Fellow Daoist Zhang, you've arrived quite early. Please, come over here!"
Just as Li Yan and his companion entered the Sparring Arena area, a majestic and rough voice called out.
Li Yan and Zhao Min had already swept their Divine Sense across the entire Sparring Arena. On a high platform at the periphery sat Ting Bixiao. Ting Shan was seated to one side, his burning gaze fixed on them.
The moment Ting Shan saw Li Yan and his companion, a slight fluctuation appeared in his aura. It was clear this man loved to fight.
Not seeing Wusitu, Li Yan smiled inwardly and, with Zhao Min, walked briskly towards Ting Bixiao's high platform.
As Li Yan and his companion took their seats, more and more Giant Wood Clan members gathered around the Sparring Arena. The clamor of their voices was deafening, with all sorts of comments being made.
With their hearing, Li Yan and Zhao Min could, of course, hear everything clearly, including some voices of discontent.
But given Li Yan and the others' high cultivation and Ting Bixiao's presence, they didn't dare to be too obvious.
Li Yan acted as if he heard nothing, continuing to converse in a low voice with Ting Bixiao.
Their conversation had nothing to do with the duel. Instead, Ting Bixiao was taking the opportunity to inquire about the detailed course of their escape from the Tianlan Prairie.
At first, Ting Shan listened with great interest, occasionally interjecting with questions, but how could Li Yan tell the truth?
In his telling, the journey out of the Tianlan Prairie sounded rather relaxed and carefree.
As time went on, Ting Shan lost interest and kept looking out towards the Sparring Arena.
Ting Bixiao, however, was not so easily fooled. They had been gathering news about the Tianlan Prairie for the past few days. Although time was short, they had obtained some shocking information.
Among them was the news that the Great Heavenly Master's arrogant disciple, Tie Lianggu, had suddenly disappeared some time ago and was no longer seen wandering the prairie as before.
Calculating the time of his disappearance, it was right around when Zhang Ming and his group were about to leave the Tianlan Prairie.
At the same time, another piece of news claimed that a Golden Core expert from the Tianlan Clan, skilled in assassination, might have perished. This news came from the Tingyun Kingdom, and the timing was also during those same few days...
And so, after about half an hour, Ting Bixiao also frowned, wondering to himself.
'Yesterday, Wusitu looked like he was determined to make these two look bad. How is it that he still hasn't appeared?'
He didn't think Wusitu would get cold feet. Wusitu was a sinister and ruthless man who had never shown fear towards anyone of the same rank.
Even if he himself pushed Wusitu too far, the man would not hesitate to strike.
"Clan Head, what's going on with Wusitu? This isn't like him!"
Ting Shan finally couldn't help but ask. He had been waiting impatiently. In his view, if there was a fight, they should just get on with it. After the fight, it would be over.
As for the slot for the Wood Essence Pool, even if the other party lost, he would have no problem giving them the slot.
After all, his branch was Ting Bixiao's direct lineage, and he followed his lead in everything.
Ting Bixiao was also getting a little anxious. Just as he was about to send someone to check on Wusitu, a tall Giant Wood Clan youth pushed through the crowd and walked quickly towards the high platform.
Seeing the newcomer, Ting Bixiao suddenly had a bad feeling. He recognized the man as Wusitu's eldest disciple.
As the man strode quickly onto the high platform, everyone's gaze focused on him.
The tall youth's face was anxious. He stopped a zhang in front of Ting Bixiao, gave a hasty salute, and said in an urgent, low voice.
"Clan Head, something has happened to my master!"
Although his voice was not loud, due to his identity and his hurried, unusual behavior, he had already attracted the attention of everyone present.
Though their cultivation levels varied, they were all cultivators. So, apart from some low-rank disciples who were too far away to hear clearly, the majority who did hear clearly showed shocked expressions.
"Something happened? What happened? Tell me quickly!"
Ting Bixiao was stunned. Seeing Ting Bixiao's expression, the tall youth relaxed slightly.
'It probably wasn't the Clan Head who did it!'
Recently, the Giant Wood Clan had been purging traitors, and Wusitu had openly shown his dissatisfaction with the killing of his clansmen. It was inevitable that people would suspect Ting Bixiao was behind it.
After hearing Ting Bixiao's words, the tall youth's gaze couldn't help but sweep over Li Yan and Zhao Min, who were seated to the side, only to see two calm, undisturbed faces.
This made the tall youth wonder if his other guess was also wrong.
"Last night, my master's magical power suddenly began to disappear. After he consumed various medicinal pills, not only did his condition not improve, but he has now lost most of his magical power."
"Furthermore, his breathing has become increasingly difficult, and he is now drifting in and out of consciousness..."
"What? How could this happen? I'll go over and have a look right now!"
Ting Bixiao's expression changed. This had happened too suddenly; for a moment, he couldn't even process it.
On the other side, Ting Shan also wore a look of utter astonishment. His mountain-like body shot to its feet, and he looked at Ting Bixiao with a puzzled expression.
He, too, suspected that his own brother had done it.
"Is his whole body taking on a grayish-brown color, and the faster he circulates his cultivation method, the faster his magical power disappears?"
Just then, Li Yan's voice suddenly cut in.
"What, Fellow Daoist Zhang, do you know what happened to Wusitu?"
Ting Bixiao whipped his head around, his aura suddenly exploding. The surrounding space faintly distorted, letting out a series of wailing whistles.
His pair of tiger-like eyes, filled with a chilling aura, stared fixedly at Li Yan, looking as if he was about to strike at any moment!