"Senior Sister is absolutely right. So we can just go ahead and make our move. They also want to sound out our true strength; their minds are quite busy as well."
"In any case, that Nascent Soul senior is still a bit reluctant to part with the Wood Essence Pool. Otherwise, he could have just suppressed that Wusitu directly. Would Wusitu have dared to even let out half a squeak?"
Zhao Min's face flushed red, and she couldn't help but spit lightly.
"Pah, when did you become so vulgar!"
"Oh! Hehehe, a slip of the tongue, a slip of the tongue!"
Li Yan raised a hand to scratch his head and chuckled.
"There are still some things that can be inferred. The other six clans might also have Nascent Soul cultivators."
"But as for how many, A Guxi doesn't know the details of the recent events, so it's impossible to speculate further!"
"If even the Giant Wood Clan can have a Nascent Soul cultivator, it's natural to guess that the other six clans might have Nascent Soul old monsters as well. But what did you hear from A Guxi that made you think so?"
Now that Zhao Min knew the Giant Wood Clan had a Nascent Soul cultivator, she wouldn't be surprised if the other six clans did too.
But that Li Yan could guess this from some of A Guxi's descriptions made her very curious.
She thought about it carefully. With a cultivator's memory, she naturally remembered clearly, especially since A Guxi had only told them this two hours ago.
But Zhao Min couldn't recall anything particularly special that would lead Li Yan to guess the other six clans had Nascent Soul cultivators.
"A Guxi said that after the Giant Wood Clan's Clan Head had a secret meeting with the clan heads or elders of the other six clans, those six clans also purged the dissenters upon their return!"
"Yes, what's wrong with that?"
"Has Senior Sister not noticed? He said the clan heads or elders of the six clans, not the six clan heads or the six clan elders."
"This means that Ting Bixiao was selective about the cultivators he notified in the six clans, choosing only those he believed he could trust, not necessarily the most powerful people in their respective clans."
"This undoubtedly suggests that it's highly likely the returning branches that had betrayed the six clans in the past have now become an extremely powerful faction within their own clans."
"As the Clan Head, Ting Bixiao, of course, knew who had returned back then. He didn't want to startle the snake, so he only contacted the clan heads or elders he deemed appropriate."
"And for these individuals, upon returning, to be able to immediately eradicate the dissidents in their own clans, this means that a more formidable power exists within those clans."
"The most likely explanation is the existence of Nascent Soul cultivators. What other reason could there be?"
As Li Yan spoke, his brow furrowed slightly, a hint of hesitation in his voice.
Zhao Min pondered for a moment before also replying via voice transmission.
"What if the current Nascent Soul cultivators in those six clans are descendants of the very cultivators who betrayed their clans in the past?"
"That is the one flaw in my speculation. It's just like if this Nascent Soul senior of the Giant Wood Clan hailed from one of the two branches that betrayed the clan."
"Junior Brother, I am no immortal who can truly divine the future. I can only say that all things have their own destiny. Perhaps it is simply the cycle of cause and effect!" Li Yan could only shake his head slightly.
In truth, his speculation was already sixty to seventy percent accurate. The most powerful factions in several of these seven clans were indeed descendants of the former traitors.
But as the Heavenly Dao turns, it just so happened that the three Nascent Soul cultivators who appeared in these few clans were not among them.
The seven clans had always been an alliance for mutual defense. The ancestors of the traitors who now held power in their clans had also participated in that long-ago plot.
Thus, the three Nascent Soul cultivators directly intervened in the affairs of the other clans, and everything became bloody and decisive.
All of this had to be said to be A Guxi's good fortune, though he had been gambling from the start.
He had prepared for the worst. If his challenge had failed, Ai Sang and Ai Ni would have already fled far away. On a fifty-fifty chance, he had won his bet!
This was also the difference between mortals and cultivators. If such a thing happened in a mortal clan, mutinies, counter-killings... all sorts of outcomes were possible.
Among cultivators, a single powerful expert was enough to decide everything!
"How should we fight tomorrow?"
Seeing this, Zhao Min didn't press further on the topic and instead thought about the next day's events.
"I will still fight Wusitu, and you will deal with Ting Shan..."
Just as he said this, Li Yan suddenly stopped his voice transmission, a sneer appearing at the corner of his mouth.
Seeing Li Yan's expression, Zhao Min immediately and quietly released her Divine Sense. Her reaction was so natural and in perfect sync. A moment later, she too was stunned.
"What is he doing here?"
Her Divine Sense was not as strong as Li Yan's, but it was on par with a Late-stage Golden Core cultivator's. By paying close attention, she had discovered the newcomer, even though he had concealed his aura.
"Who knows? But we'll see what he's here for soon enough!"
With that, Li Yan suddenly rose to his feet. With ghost-like agility, he circled the courtyard in less than half a breath.
Even Zhao Min, sitting so close, only felt a brief shadow pass before her eyes, and then Li Yan was sitting opposite her again, perfectly fine.
Li Yan had already raised his hand and beckoned lightly. The several formation flags buried underground flew back silently...
After returning, Wusitu had been sitting alone in his room. Though he was a sinister man, he was not reckless.
He was plotting how to smoothly win against his opponent tomorrow to vent the frustration that had been building in his heart for the past few days.
However, he also knew that he absolutely could not kill his opponent. The Ancestor would surely be watching in secret, and that was the person he feared most.
So, all he had to think about was how to severely injure his opponent. That would suffice.
'It would be best to injure her Dantian's Purple Mansion. Even if they possess sacred healing medicines, it would take them at least a hundred years to recover... they could even be cripples for several hundred years!'
'After a Golden Core cultivator's cultivation is delayed for so long, trying to form a Nascent Soul would be nothing but a fool's dream!'
Wusitu thought viciously. He had naturally considered Zhao Min his opponent, not even sparing a thought for that Zhang Ming.
Though the other's magical power was pure, he might at best be able to put up a fight against Ting Shan. Against him, the difference was like heaven and earth.
'However, the cultivation method these two practice is quite impressive. One can tell just from the impurities that Zhang Ming expelled after drinking the Snow-Covered Clarity Tea.'
'Although my realm is higher than theirs, in terms of the purity of magical power, I'm actually somewhat inferior!'
Wusitu pondered ceaselessly. He only had one chance to severely injure his opponent. The Ancestor would certainly not allow him to strike again.
"No, I have to go and probe. I might learn something!"
At this thought, he could no longer sit still. He and Ting Shan were much stronger than their opponents in terms of realm.
That Zhang Ming and the other would surely be contemplating tomorrow's battle after returning. He might be able to glean some useful information.
He especially knew that the clan's Ancestor would not casually sweep his Divine Sense over the clan's territory. He was usually engrossed in cultivation, at most sensing for the aura of any strong intruders.
Otherwise, everything that happened in the clan would enter his consciousness, and the sheer annoyance would be overwhelming.
Crying children, arguing cultivators, practice duels, even the matters between Dao companions—their own Ancestor was not so bored as to monitor his own clansmen at all times.
Before Wusitu even got close to Li Yan's courtyard, he had already concealed his figure, suppressing his aura to the absolute minimum.
In Wusitu's mind, he was already overestimating Li Yan and his companion. He believed this was more than enough.
He had guessed mostly right, but no one could have predicted the existence of a freak like Li Yan, who simply couldn't be judged by his realm.
If not for Li Yan's reminder, even if Zhao Min's Divine Sense was a sliver stronger than Wusitu's, she might not necessarily have discovered him.
As Wusitu first approached the courtyard, he was still thinking to himself.
'If the other party has laid down a formation restriction, it could be troublesome!'
Although he felt the two of them were weaker than him in cultivation, formations were another matter entirely.
Some things were not about one's own cultivation level; it was possible to obtain treasures stronger than oneself from markets or sects.
He quietly extended his Divine Sense, attempting to approach the courtyard bit by bit. After a few breaths, joy rose in Wusitu's heart.
'Are these two really fledglings just out from some sect for training? They've only activated the courtyard's own restriction, with no other precautions.'
The restrictions in these courtyards provided for outside guests by the Giant Wood Clan only offered basic soundproofing and defense.
While they could block the prying of Foundation Establishment disciples, for Wusitu, who was familiar with the clan's restrictions, his Divine Sense penetrated it without any trouble.
"Senior Sister, can you tell what kind of techniques they cultivate from the fluctuations of their magical power? You're the most adept at this!"
The moment his Divine Sense entered, Wusitu sensed two faint auras in the same room.
At the same time, he heard Zhang Ming's voice. He couldn't help but rejoice inwardly, followed by a jolt of surprise.
'I was right to come!'
They were, just as he had guessed, discussing tomorrow's duel. And from what Zhang Ming said, that woman surnamed Zhao was actually skilled in some secret art that allowed her to discern others' cultivation methods.
He had only ever seen descriptions of such techniques in ancient texts and had never encountered such a cultivator.
However, he immediately grew wary. The content of their conversation matched his expectations so perfectly that the suspicious Wusitu felt it might be too much of a coincidence.
He immediately used his Divine Sense to carefully observe the surroundings again. He was currently five zhang from the courtyard wall, his body blended into the night, his aura completely gone.
After a thorough check, Wusitu was quite satisfied with his concealment method, confident that it would be very difficult for anyone to discover his presence.
After finding nothing unusual with his Divine Sense, Wusitu relaxed a little, feeling he might have been overthinking things.
Just then, his Divine Sense inside the formation relayed more information.
"The aura of those two... one is more on the yin-soft side, the other is more profound and heavy. Ting Shan is likely of the earth attribute, while that Wusitu should be of the water or ice attribute."
"However, they are both Giant Wood Clan cultivators, so they should also have the wood attribute. I just don't know if it's their primary attribute..."
The woman's voice sounded softly.
'This woman is truly formidable. Just from a single meeting in the main hall, and with her Divine Sense only briefly sweeping over us at the beginning, she has already discerned Ting Shan's impressive defense.'
'Ting Shan's cultivation method is indeed primarily earth-attribute, supplemented by wood and metal for offense.'
'It's just that they don't understand our Giant Wood Clan well enough. I don't have any water-attribute...'
Wusitu thought to himself. He possessed a Heaven Spirit Root, of the wood and earth lines, with even better aptitude than Ting Shan.
This was also one of the reasons why, despite his close relationship with the purged branch, he had not been implicated. A Heaven Spirit Root was extremely important in any cultivation sect or family.
Wusitu found it perfectly normal that Zhao Min had judged wrongly. The technique he cultivated was the clan's top-tier "Yinwei Corpse Wood Art."
This was a cultivation method that utilized a type of yin-cold tree that grew in graveyards, thriving by absorbing the yin qi from the graveyard and the corpse qi from the dead.
At the stroke of midnight, the slender leaves of the tree would be wreathed in black qi, a black qi that even Golden Core cultivators wouldn't dare to touch, let alone directly inhale.
Therefore, the wood-attribute techniques Wusitu cast were usually tinged with corpse poison.
Those who knew of him would be unwilling to fight him unless they had no other choice.
"Who cares what technique he cultivates. Tomorrow, as soon as I bring out that magical treasure, even a Pseudo-Nascent Soul cultivator will suffer a major loss!!"
Wusitu's heart suddenly jumped!