Li Yan already had some speculations, but they were about Shuang Qingqing, not Bai Rou.
He remembered that Shuang Qingqing had told him something before, that she had once traveled on the Verdant Continent and had even obtained the materials to refine the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape here.
But now it seemed that things were not that simple. Shuang Qingqing had appeared on this continent again after many years, and Bai Rou definitely couldn't have come on her own.
"When she was traveling on the Verdant Continent back then, did she make some enemies with that Late-stage Nascent Soul Grand Cultivator of the Tianli Clan?"
Although Li Yan couldn't tell what Shuang Qingqing's cultivation was now, just thinking about the realm of the helper she was looking for before, he knew that she should be trying to deal with that Late-stage Nascent Soul Grand Cultivator.
As long as Shuang Qingqing had her puppets, she was a fierce person. Li Yan had seen her prowess in the great battle at Windy Cool Mountain!
Even a formidable person like Shuang Qingqing needed to find help. It was clear how terrifying the strength of that so-called Tianli Clan Grand Elder was.
"But, if she came to seek revenge, why did she bring Senior Sister Bai with her?"
Li Yan immediately felt that his speculation was wrong, but at this time, Shuang Qingqing interrupted his thoughts.
"You should take the spirit stones first. You might be able to use them in the future."
"If I can come with Bai Rou in half a month, I can take you away from the Verdant Continent and see if we can return to the Desolate Moon."
"If I can't come, you will take Bai Rou and find a chance to leave this place."
"Wait here for three more days after half a month. If in the end Bai Rou doesn't come either, you can continue to find a way back."
"The matter I've encountered is not as bad as you think. It's just that Bai Rou is in the other's hands now. My opponent is only willing to come out of seclusion and talk after half a month."
"Now it seems that the other party wants to kill with a borrowed knife. This is not something you can participate in."
"I now regret bringing Bai Rou here in the first place. However, I have a fifty percent certainty that Bai Rou will be fine, and who will win and who will lose in the end is still unknown, hmph!"
Shuang Qingqing seemed to be explaining to Li Yan and the others, and also seemed to be talking to herself. Although Li Yan understood the meaning of her words, he also felt it was very convoluted.
The enemies in Shuang Qingqing's words seemed to be several people. Li Yan could see that Shuang Qingqing had a kind of desperation in her mind. Suddenly, a thought moved in Li Yan's heart, and he immediately sent a voice transmission to Zhao Min.
"Senior Sister, what do you think about this matter? Should we just wait here?"
"I know Junior Sister Bai. She is gentle and kind to others. You can decide everything!"
Zhao Min only pondered for a moment before giving her answer.
Everyone here understood that just waiting here for Bai Rou to arrive was extremely dangerous. The person that even Shuang Qingqing couldn't deal with could track them down at any time.
Zhao Min, who had always had an elegant character, still looked as desireless as ever at this time.
Li Yan still did not take the storage pouch in the air, which made Shuang Qingqing frown a little. Li Yan was being a bit wishy-washy today.
"Senior, can you tell me the whole story? This junior might be able to find some helpers for you!"
Li Yan's eyes flashed a few times, then he looked at Shuang Qingqing again. Although his face was still calm, the words he said were astonishing.
Even Zhao Min gave Li Yan a surprised look, but she quickly thought of a possibility. To this, she still remained silent.
She felt that as long as Li Yan thought it was feasible, it was fine. What she had to do was to accompany Li Yan, either to act, or to stay away, or to perish together.
Upon hearing this, Shuang Qingqing was first stunned, then a smile appeared on her veiled face. She shook her head helplessly.
"Little fellow, I've told you, you can't help. That person is of the same rank as me, not to mention the Late-stage Nascent Soul Grand Elder who is about to return."
"No matter how many Golden Core cultivators you find, it's useless. As long as Bai Rou is rescued, you can just take her away!"
She actually had one more sentence she hadn't said. There was also an Initial-stage Nascent Soul Third Elder in the Tianli Clan, who only listened to the Grand Elder.
If she couldn't even persuade the Grand Elder, she would be facing three Nascent Soul experts. Her own chances of escape would be extremely slim.
"Senior, I should have a thirty percent certainty of finding two Nascent Soul cultivators to act once. If possible, I might even be able to find a third!"
The smile in Shuang Qingqing's eyes, which had been there, froze.
"You... what did you say? There's a thirty percent certainty of getting at least two Nascent Soul cultivators to act? Didn't you say you've only been here for less than a month?"
"Oh, that little girl from 'Gui Qu Lai Xi' is very familiar with you. Can she even step in for you in such a matter?"
Shuang Qingqing had clearly misunderstood Li Yan's meaning. She immediately thought of the matter of Su Hong pleading for Li Yan before.
Instantly, a hard-to-describe meaning appeared in her gaze towards Li Yan.
This dark-skinned brat didn't look like much, but this devastatingly beautiful Zhao Min was clearly infatuated with him, and that alternate-generation disciple of hers also seemed to have a secret affection for him.
How did it come to be that even that little girl with a high status in "Gui Qu Lai Xi" was also in love with Li Yan?
Upon hearing this, Li Yan's face immediately flushed red. If he knew what Shuang Qingqing was thinking, he would be even more depressed. He had only treated Bai Rou as a friend.
He hurriedly waved his hand and said.
"No, no, no, Senior has misunderstood. I happened to help a few clans with a favor, so they owe me one."
"And I know that there should be three Nascent Soul cultivators among these few clans, but one of them no longer owes a favor."
"The other two clans have promised me that if I have a need, they can repay the favor. I think it should be no problem to have them act. It's just that I don't know the specific realm of the other party's Nascent Soul."
"Oh, to make them owe a favor that would require a Nascent Soul cultivator to act, and three Nascent Soul cultivators at that. Little fellow, you this..."
Shuang Qingqing still looked disbelieving. She herself couldn't easily make a Nascent Soul cultivator owe her a favor.
If she didn't know Li Yan's character, she would have wanted to slap him dead on the spot and leave.
"How would this junior dare to speak nonsense about such a matter!"
Li Yan said with a sincere expression.
Shuang Qingqing carefully confirmed Li Yan's expression again. It really didn't seem fake, and her spirits were slightly lifted.
Although she had not had much contact with Li Yan, she had long since seen that Li Yan was steady in his handling of matters, and his scheming mind was also particularly deep.
Back then, she had also inquired about Li Yan's affairs in the Malevolent Spirit Sect. Overall, she found that this person acted in an extremely low-key manner.
As one of the few disciples of Little Bamboo Peak, apart from cultivating, very few people could see his figure.
From this point of view, he was not a flamboyant and frivolous person.
"Tell me about it. I'll see which clans they are. I should be able to know their true realms. And also tell me the reason why they would act for you."
"This matter cannot be sloppy. Sometimes, you can treat a cultivator's promise as a fart!"
Shuang Qingqing, of course, would not immediately think that everything was feasible just because of a single sentence from Li Yan. She was not a three-year-old child. She had to thoroughly know the reason before making her own judgment.
In the years she had returned to the Verdant Continent, she had not only recovered a lot of memories but also had some understanding of the high-level cultivators on this continent now.
"Senior, have you heard about the recent destruction of the Tianlan Clan?"
"Hmm? The Tianlan Clan? You're not going to say this matter is related to you, are you?"
"This matter is known to even many low-level cultivators in the cultivation world. I, of course, also know about it. After all, seven Nascent Soul cultivators fought."
"Not only did a large area of the Tianlan Clan's grasslands turn into lakes and giant pits, but half of the cities in the Tingyun Kingdom were also destroyed."
"I know the reason for this matter is that the Tianlan Clan disregarded the rule that immortals and mortals should not travel the same path and slaughtered mortals in large numbers. Are you talking about those few clans in the Sparrow Plume Pagoda Domain?"
Although Shuang Qingqing knew about this matter, she herself had been in a terrible state recently.
The old people she had worked so hard to find, as well as the descendants of the families she had been on good terms with, so many of them had died at once. How could she still care about the detailed situation of the Tianlan Clan's great battle?
But now that Li Yan had brought this matter up, with her intelligence, she immediately guessed it. Li Yan had said a few clans, so it shouldn't be the Tingyun Kingdom.
After thinking of this possibility, she couldn't believe it. How could a small Golden Core cultivator stir up such a storm?
"Senior, this matter is indeed somewhat related to me and Senior Sister Zhao. Not long after we arrived on the Verdant Continent, because we were looking for a way back to the Desolate Moon Continent, we later entered the depths of the Tianlan Prairie..."
"Unexpectedly, we encountered a group of Giant Wood Clan cultivators who were being hunted down there..."
Li Yan briefly recounted the matter, but he avoided the location of the teleportation formation that passed through the Forsaken Continent.
Although he trusted Shuang Qingqing quite a bit, he had not reached the point where he could reveal any and all information.
A short while later, Shuang Qingqing finally understood the reason for the destruction of the Tianlan Clan. She then looked at Li Yan and his companion with the eyes of someone looking at an idiot. Li Yan was stared at until he felt a little uncomfortable.
"Truly audacious and reckless. Daring to run around in a clan with a Nascent Soul cultivator without knowing the situation."
"For the Giant Wood Clan's 'Wood Essence Pool,' you actually dared to do such a thing right under the nose of a Nascent Soul cultivator."
"I don't know if you are lucky, or if it's a case of a fool's luck. The power of a Nascent Soul cultivator is not something you can imagine."
"It's also because the other party didn't take you seriously that they only sent out a clone, and this clone's cultivation was only at the Golden Core level. Otherwise, you would already be two corpses now. I can only say that you are truly lucky."
Being told this by Shuang Qingqing, Zhao Min didn't feel anything and maintained her usual silence, while Li Yan sheepishly scratched the back of his head.
In fact, all of this was the result of him being unable to justify some of his words.
If Shuang Qingqing knew that Li Yan had come from the northern part of the Tianlan Prairie, a place that had long since ceased to be the focus of the Tianlan Clan's high-level cultivators in the changing years.
And that he had happened to meet Tie Lianggu, which was what had attracted a Nascent Soul's clone to hunt them down, she wouldn't have said that.
Then, a thoughtful expression appeared in Shuang Qingqing's eyes.
"I still roughly know of the experts on the Verdant Continent. Apart from that Mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator from the Giant Wood Clan, I also know of the Nascent Soul cultivators in the other six clans."
"However, those two clans both have Initial-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, but due to their own constitutions, their strength is much stronger than that of an ordinary Initial-stage Nascent Soul."
"It's just that on the Giant Wood Clan's side, you have already used the 'Wood Essence Pool,' so that Mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator might not act."
"However, if the Initial-stage Nascent Soul cultivators from the other two clans can agree, with the long-standing implicit alliance of these seven clans, even the Grand Elder of the Tianli Clan wouldn't dare to act rashly!"
"Senior, what do you think is the probability that they will be able to act?"
Shuang Qingqing pondered for a moment.
"Just as you said, about thirty percent!"
"What I actually want is a kind of reliance. I can't be directly besieged by the three of them as soon as we meet."
"With three Nascent Soul cultivators joining forces, I might have trouble even protecting myself, let alone splitting my attention to communicate with the other party."
"That Grand Elder of the Tianli Clan has been brooding over something for a long time, and with someone fanning the flames, I'm afraid this situation will occur."
"However, if the Nascent Soul fellow daoists from those seven clans are willing to act, that would be good. I don't expect them to help with all their strength."
"...Similarly, the situation I was worried about before might still happen. They might have a friendship with my opponent."
"But compared to the mysterious 'Gui Qu Lai Xi,' I am more familiar with the situation of these seven clans. Bai Rou was brought back here by mistake. I cannot let her die here."
"I was originally planning to go to 'Gui Qu Lai Xi' again tonight to find that Fellow Daoist Yang. Now it seems I don't need to. Since it's a gamble anyway, of course I should choose the side with a clearer situation!"