Occasionally, Li Yan and Zhao Min would also enter the "Earthen Patch," sitting by the grassy riverbank for a long time, reminiscing about their shared life-and-death past on the Forsaken Continent.
Zi Kun had also been notified by Li Yan's divine will before the grand wedding and had chosen to interrupt his cultivation to attend. As for Qian Ji, since he was still in the process of breaking through to the mid Golden Core stage, Li Yan had not disturbed him.
More than half a year passed in the blink of an eye. On this day, in Li Yan's courtyard, he and Zhao Min sat facing each other.
"Mother is finally going to enter seclusion again. I hope she succeeds this time!"
The two of them had just returned from Wei Zhongran's place. When they were leaving, Zhao Zhi had told them her plan to enter seclusion again. Hearing this, Zhao Min and Li Yan had exchanged a glance, and both saw the joy in the other's eyes.
The most important thing for a person was to have fighting spirit. If even this was lost, then for a cultivator, the immortal path had come to an end. No matter what the result would be in the future, at least Zhao Zhi had truly regained her confidence.
"Mm, Master has also begun to prepare to refine the 'Bright Immortal Powder.' With the help of this medicine, Martial Mother will have a good chance of breaking through the realm bottleneck!"
At Zhao Zhi's request, Li Yan still used his previous form of address. Zhao Zhi felt that as a Nascent Soul ancestor of the Malevolent Spirit Sect, it might be acceptable for Li Yan to call her "Mother" in private out of respect for their master-disciple relationship. But in public, it would seem inappropriate. After all, it was the face of the Malevolent Spirit Sect.
After Li Yan mentioned Wei Zhongran refining the "Bright Immortal Powder," Zhao Min also nodded. With the support of such a pill, Zhao Zhi's chances would naturally be much greater.
"Then when do you plan to go to the Wind God Continent?"
Zhao Min raised her cold face and looked at Li Yan. Li Yan thought for a moment and knew that this matter was finally coming.
"Before that, I still have some things to deal with! By the way, try to see if you can refine this drop of essence blood!"
With a flip of his hand, a delicate jade bottle had already appeared in Li Yan's hand, which he then handed to Zhao Min.
"What is this?" A hint of confusion appeared on Zhao Min's ice-sculpture-like face.
"A drop of essence blood from the 'Undead Nether Phoenix.' If you refine it, your physical body should be strengthened quite a bit!" Li Yan said as he handed the jade bottle over. Zhao Min also walked the path of body refining, so the "Undead Nether Phoenix" essence blood was naturally useful to her.
Thinking of this, Li Yan couldn't help but glance at Zhao Min again. He remembered the amazing elasticity of her snow-like jade skin, and the few rounded and smooth places that made him linger and forget to return. A fiery feeling arose in his heart again.
Hearing this, a look of surprise appeared in Zhao Min's beautiful eyes. She hadn't noticed the somewhat lustful look in Li Yan's eyes. Having been intimate with Li Yan as husband and wife, she was used to his often fiery gaze. If she knew what Li Yan was thinking at this moment, she would definitely kick him away.
"This... this is the essence blood of the 'Undead Nether Phoenix'? Could it be that husband is..."
She had found it strange before. She and Li Yan both cultivated the "Qiongqi Purgatory Art," and she had been cultivating it for a longer time than Li Yan. At the same time, she had also cultivated the supreme treasure of the White Demon Clan, the "Heavenly Demon White Jade Plate," which was also a top-tier body-refining treasure in this realm. But in the end, Li Yan's physical body was slightly stronger than hers. She had previously thought it was a mutated effect of the Fragmented Poison Body.
But today, hearing the name "Undead Nether Phoenix," Zhao Min immediately thought of a possibility. She knew that the "Undead Nether Phoenix" was revered as a "holy beast" even among demonic beasts. Its rank was astonishingly high.
"Mm, this is a drop I obtained a few years ago. But because you were in seclusion, I didn't have time to give it to you!"
Since getting the three silver papers from Qi Jinghong's storage ring, by the time he saw Zhao Min again, their grand wedding was imminent. During that time, the two of them didn't even have time to cultivate, so he hadn't mentioned this matter.
"I don't need it. You can refine it yourself!" Zhao Min shook her head and politely refused.
"Min'er, you don't have to worry. I have another drop! You refine this drop of 'Undead Nether Phoenix' essence blood. I have to go out for a while recently because I got some news about other 'Undead Nether Phoenix' essence blood!"
"Is this the unfinished business you mentioned?"
"Yes, this matter can't be delayed any longer. Otherwise, a long delay may cause trouble."
"According to what you said before, I was in seclusion when you got the essence blood, so it must have been after you formed your Nascent Soul. You haven't gone for so many years. The place you're going to must be a perilous land. Are you confident?"
Zhao Min was extremely intelligent. From Li Yan's few words, she had deduced the approximate time when Li Yan had obtained the essence blood and the reason why he hadn't been able to go. However, she thought that the clue Li Yan had obtained was some secret realm or perilous land. Such a treasure would definitely be in an extremely dangerous place and not easily obtainable. Otherwise, Li Yan would have gone long ago and would not have waited until now. This was because he had felt that his strength was insufficient back then and had given up the idea.
She had not expected that the "Undead Nether Phoenix" essence blood had already fallen into the hands of others. That was because Zhao Min did not know that others could not refine the silver paper.
Li Yan placed the delicate jade bottle into Zhao Min's hand. He knew that Zhao Min did not want to occupy such a precious cultivation resource.
Although Zhao Min was holding the jade bottle, she did not put it away, just quietly looking at Li Yan. Li Yan was helpless. Zhao Min's personality was stubborn. If he didn't explain things clearly, she would not accept it. So he took her hand and, after some deliberation, roughly explained the origin of the "Undead Nether Phoenix" essence blood.
But when it came to the matter of refining the silver paper, Li Yan felt that it was better for others not to know about that mysterious blood river. This was not out of distrust for Zhao Min, but because there were too many strange and bizarre things in the cultivation world. It was best for things that even he himself could not judge to not appear in others' memories. Especially now that Zhao Min's cultivation was still inferior to his own. So he claimed that after repeated experiments, he had managed to dissolve the silver paper by combining three potent poisons.
After hearing Li Yan's explanation, Zhao Min finally knew that the place Li Yan was going to was some sects. Her cold face finally calmed down a little.
"Of these nine places you're going to, they either have a Nascent Soul cultivator presiding over them or there is a first-rate sect nearby. If husband wants to get the remaining four drops of essence blood, you can't use orthodox means. How confident are you?"
Li Yan smiled slightly, a confident look on his face.
"'Tidefall' I have already cultivated to the lesser completion stage, and I have another set of methods to conceal my aura. As long as I don't encounter a late-stage Nascent Soul great cultivator, no one should be able to discover me. To take a step back, even if I am discovered, there are very few people who can keep me here now. Besides, I have already investigated which Nascent Soul cultivators are near these nine places and have formulated a plan to deal with them in case of an emergency."
Li Yan said with a confident look. Zhao Min's eyes, however, were as still as water, unmoved.
"Then tell me your plan to deal with them!" Zhao Min continued to press. Li Yan could only shake his head in his heart, but a warmth rose in him. Then, with a light laugh, he began to explain his plan one by one.
The next morning, Li Yan quietly left the Malevolent Spirit Sect, while Zhao Min no longer went out and began to refine the "Undead Nether Phoenix" essence blood in seclusion…
Li Yan was gone for five years!
One day, five years later, Zhao Min, who was in the middle of cultivating, felt the token at her waist tremble slightly. When she came to the main hall, Li Yan was already sitting there, sipping tea.
They hadn't seen each other for several years. Li Yan's aura was still as imperceptible as that of a mortal.
The moment Li Yan saw Zhao Min, a light flashed in his eyes. Zhao Min also saw Li Yan's expression. She walked straight to one side and sat down.
"Husband, you can tell?"
"Your cultivation has improved somewhat, but the strength of your physical body doesn't seem to have increased much. Why is that?"
Li Yan looked at Zhao Min up and down with some surprise.
Hearing this, Zhao Min flipped her jade palm, and a delicate jade bottle appeared in her fair palm, which she then extended toward Li Yan.
"Hm? Min'er, what is the meaning of this? Since I gave this thing to you, it was for you to refine. Why have you kept it for several years without cultivating it?"
Li Yan recognized the delicate jade bottle. It was the same one that had held the "Undead Nether Phoenix" essence blood. His face instantly turned a little ugly.
"Husband, you've misunderstood..."
Zhao Min still had not combed her hair into a married woman's bun. Her appearance was almost the same as before, with a long ponytail of black hair hanging down her back. But there was an alluring maturity about her. However, the coldness that kept people at a distance still remained. This was her personality. Even with Li Yan, she would only show a smile on rare occasions.
Li Yan did not take the jade bottle, his black and white eyes staring at Zhao Min.
"It's not that I don't want to refine it, but that I can't fuse with it at all!"
Li Yan was stunned when he heard this.
"Hm? You can't refine it? This thing can be refined at the Foundation Establishment stage. How can this be!"
"When I tried to refine it, it was forcibly expelled from my body by my magical power. I've tried many methods, but it's no use!" Zhao Min said faintly, as if she was not disappointed at all that she couldn't refine the "Undead Nether Phoenix" essence blood.
"Expelled... by the magical power in your body..."
Hearing this, Li Yan's gaze focused. A few breaths later, he seemed to have remembered something.
"Could it be related to the cultivation method you're practicing?"
He was human, and Zhao Min was also human. There shouldn't be any problem with refining it. But to be forcibly expelled by magical power, this might be related to the cultivation method. And what Zhao Min cultivated was the supreme treasure of the White Demon Clan, the "Heavenly Demon White Jade Plate."
Zhao Min's beautiful eyes also glanced at Li Yan. Her husband's mind had always been extremely sharp. He had thought of the problem in an instant. She, on the other hand, had only come to a conclusion after careful thought and observation.
"After observing the reaction in my body during refining, it should be so! Although I still breathe in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth after cultivating the 'Heavenly Demon White Jade Plate,' it has already made my physical body different from that of a normal human. The Demon Clan is actually a noble bloodline of demonic beasts in a realm, similar to the powerful Undead Nether Phoenix clan. I think there might be some kind of mutual repulsion between the bloodlines of these two clans. Therefore, the 'Heavenly Demon White Jade Plate' does not allow the 'Undead Nether Phoenix' essence blood to enter, which is why I can't refine it!"
After hearing Zhao Min's simple explanation, Li Yan frowned and thought for a moment before nodding. Zhao Min's physical body really couldn't be judged by common sense.
Zhao Min extended her snow-white jade palm again. Li Yan sighed helplessly and could only reach out and take the jade bottle. He was quite frustrated that Zhao Min could not improve her cultivation through this method.
"Husband need not worry. Every time the 'Heavenly Demon White Jade Plate' advances, it will bring a substantial improvement, eventually becoming the most powerful cultivator of the Demon Clan."
Zhao Min's melodious voice, like the clash of ice cubes, came again. Li Yan thought so too. The physical bodies of those demon cultivators were notoriously strong. When the "Heavenly Demon White Jade Plate" was cultivated to a later stage, Zhao Min's path of body refining might not be weaker than his own. It was just that Zhao Min was currently stuck at the Pseudo-Nascent Soul realm, which was why her physical strength was weaker than his.
"How did your trip out this time go?" After retracting her palm, Zhao Min finally asked the question that was on her mind.
"I went to all nine places and actually found two more silver papers..." A smile finally appeared on Li Yan's face as he said this. He then briefly recounted the events of the past five years.
In these five years, he had used his most proficient skill of concealing his aura to sneak into these nine sects and families one after another. It could be said that since Li Yan had embarked on the immortal path, what he liked and was best at was actually stealth and assassination, which had also cultivated his calm and good-at-disguising-himself skills. Especially after reaching the Nascent Soul realm, there were very few people in this realm who could see through his true face.
In the span of five years, he had changed his appearance several times, and he had actually managed to find two more silver papers. However, he had tried his best not to kill anyone in the process. Li Yan was extremely satisfied with this result. The silver paper had been taken from the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda for nearly two hundred years, and too many things could have happened in between. Fortunately, as cultivators' cultivation increased, they mostly liked to go into long-term seclusion, which also reduced the risk of dying outside, which was how Li Yan had gotten his chance.
Although he had only gotten two sheets, it had already exceeded Li Yan's expectations. And during these five years, in his spare time, although he couldn't go into long-term seclusion, he had also refined the drop of "Undead Nether Phoenix" essence blood he had in several stages. Now, although his realm had not broken through to the mid Nascent Soul stage, his physical combat power had definitely reached the peak of the mid Nascent Soul stage.
To have made such great progress in just a few short years, Li Yan had to marvel at the power of the "Undead Nether Phoenix" essence blood. In fact, this was also because the fifty-ninth generation elder "Tatian," who had condensed the ten drops of essence blood, had a high cultivation level himself. Li Yan estimated that the other party was at least a Spirit Transformation realm existence. Otherwise, each drop of essence blood would not have had such a great help to a Nascent Soul cultivator, almost helping him cross a minor realm.
This was the Nascent Soul realm. Just by looking at how long people like Mo Qing and Chan Master Dajing had been stuck at the initial Nascent Soul stage, one could know how difficult it was to advance in the Nascent Soul realm. They were all geniuses of their generation, not mediocre people.
At the same time, during this period, Li Yan also found a supreme treasure and a related jade slip in the First Sir's storage ring. It was a set of formations, called the "Vital Qi Grand Clarity Formation." It was the same grand formation that had protected all of the First Sir's clansmen, arranged on the outside of a huge meteorite when they were drifting in the Chaotic Flow Space.