"Perhaps I won't live to see him again!"
Gong Chenying's Divine Sense once again detected the tide-like figures of the "Wind Beasts." She took a deep breath. This incessant slaughter seemed to have no end. Her father had also lost contact. She no longer felt the optimism she once had for the future of the Tianli Clan. The territory of the Tianli Clan was constantly shrinking, and now it had shrunk to the edge of the village.
But how could the Tianli Clan surrender to the "Wind Beasts"? They would fight to the last person, to make the "Wind Beasts" fall with them. This was the bloodlust in the bones of the Tianli Clan, regardless of men, women, old, or young.
Reaching out and pulling out the green halberd from her back, Gong Chenying's long, slender jade palm slowly stroked it, feeling the coldness on it. This calmed her mind in an instant. This halberd had been re-refined by her for the third time. Battered and scarred, it had drunk the blood of countless "Wind Beasts."
"Beast~ attack! Seven breaths, everyone return to your defensive positions!"
As Gong Chenying's voice fell, many powerful auras surged from the various mountain peaks. Most of them were Golden Core and Foundation Establishment cultivators. Unless a fourth-rank demonic beast appeared among the "Wind Beasts," the remaining three elders of the clan would not act. They had been conserving their strength, always on guard against the appearance of high-level demonic beasts.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Roars of anger erupted from behind the Great Wall!
Figures either soared into the sky or galloped behind the Great Wall!
"With my blood, I protect my clansmen!"
"With my body, I cast the clan's soul…"
Among the mountains, a monstrous bloody qi soared into the sky!!
...
The Sea of the Northern Abyss.
On this day, a long rainbow broke through the sky. Within the rainbow, on a huge, verdant willow leaf, stood three people. It was Li Yan, Zi Kun, and Qian Ji. It had taken them more than two months to reach the Sea of the Northern Abyss from the sect. Along the way, they had used the ultra-long-distance teleportation arrays without hesitation whenever possible. Li Yan did not hold back on a single spirit stone.
In places where the teleportation array could not reach, Li Yan piloted the "Cloud-Piercing Willow" at high speed. With Nascent Soul cultivators rarely appearing in the world, and with the Golden Core realm auras of Zi Kun and Qian Ji on display, no one was willing to provoke them. The journey was smooth and unobstructed.
After arriving in the territory of the Pure Land Sect, Li Yan did not want others to notice his whereabouts. He still activated the "Tidefall" cultivation method to further conceal his aura and cultivation. As a result, even after entering the Pure Land Sect for more than ten days, no Nascent Soul cultivator came out to stop or question him.
"Master, the spiritual energy here is getting thinner and thinner, and the lower the rank of the demonic beasts the further north we go. What kind of perilous land is this!" Qian Ji looked at the boundless ocean and said with some discomfort, feeling the thin spiritual energy around him.
"What do you know? The deeper you go into the Sea of the Northern Abyss, the less spiritual energy there is. At first, don't look at the low rank of the demonic beasts. Later, you can only see some birds and sea beasts that have not yet opened their spiritual intelligence. But when you really get to the depths of this sea area, powerful demonic beasts will appear. Back then, my master and I were chased by a late-stage third-rank 'Blue Demon Flood Dragon' here for half a year, and we almost died in its mouth several times," Zi Kun said contemptuously.
He and Qian Ji had not entered the "Earthen Patch" since leaving the Malevolent Spirit Sect. They had enjoyed the changing scenery of the mountains and rivers, which was different every ten li and every hundred li. It was a rare moment of leisure after a long time of tense cultivation.
"A late-stage third-rank demonic beast? Shall we go and kill it!" Qian Ji's spirits were lifted when he heard this.
"Hehehe... as we go deeper, we might encounter other high-rank demonic beasts, but we might not necessarily encounter that 'Blue Demon Flood Dragon.' Its location is not on our flight path this time. If we were to go and find it, we would have to take a detour. Another point is... after two hundred years, perhaps that 'Blue Demon Flood Dragon' has also reached the fourth rank..."
Li Yan glanced at Qian Ji as he said this. He had no interest in looking for a demonic beast that might have already advanced to the fourth rank. There was no benefit in fighting it.
Hearing Li Yan's words, Qian Ji shrank his neck and laughed dryly twice. Zi Kun, on the other hand, let out a sneer.
"Even if it hasn't advanced, you probably can't beat it. The spiritual energy here is not enough to support the use of high-powered arts. When the ranks of both sides are similar, the speed at which magical power is consumed in a fight is astonishingly fast. You might not have time to replenish it..."
"Hmph! As if you could beat it..." Qian Ji also let out a sneer, not to be outdone.
Li Yan just smiled and looked ahead at the bickering of the two demons.
A month later, looking at the boundless ocean with its surging waves below, the two demons had long lost interest. Only when a demonic beast attacked from below or in the air would they get excited…
Another five months passed. On the "Cloud-Piercing Willow," only Li Yan was left, sitting cross-legged. The two demons had already gone to the "Earthen Patch," feeling that cultivating was much better than looking at the scenery.
At this time, Li Yan had pushed the "Cloud-Piercing Willow" to its limit. Each flash of green light was a thousand li away.
Suddenly, a wave a thousand zhang high rolled toward the "Cloud-Piercing Willow." Li Yan, sitting cross-legged, showed no surprise or joy on his face. Without any movement from him, a streak of black light circled from his body and shot into the thousand-zhang wave in front.
"Ooh..."
A pained and muffled sound came from the huge wave. Then, a giant claw like a mountain peak emerged from the towering wave. At this moment, there was a hole the size of a finger on it!
If Li Yan didn't know the position of his attack, the small hole, compared to the giant claw of several hundred zhang, was not even the size of a hair on nine oxen, and would not have attracted any attention at all. But this small hole not only caused the seawater below to churn violently, but at the same time, an island in the sea with a radius of four thousand zhang shook violently.
A large number of rocks and trees on it instantly fell into the sea in the tremor, raising a towering wave. Many of the seabirds, snakes, and insects that inhabited the island either flew high in terror or dived into the sea one after another.
"What a huge body!"
Li Yan narrowed his eyes. The four-thousand-zhang island below was actually lying on the back of a giant crab, and what had just attacked him was one of the giant crab's claws. But with a single pass of his Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike, such a large target had no way to dodge. Even though this giant crab's body was extremely tough, it was still pierced through by the infusion of Li Yan's Nascent Soul stage magical power.
The Wave-Hiding Soul-Slaying Art instantly invaded, immediately pulling at the giant crab's divine soul, causing its huge body to tremble violently in the sea in pain. It immediately stirred up the heavens and earth in one area, turning the river and sea upside down!
And after this one strike, the "Cloud-Piercing Willow" had already disappeared into the gloomy and boundless horizon. He had no intention of getting entangled with this demon.
Seeing Li Yan flee, the giant crab let out a series of angry roars. But after suffering a loss once, it also knew that the human cultivator was not to be trifled with, so it did not pursue him through the waves.
...
In a torrential downpour, a giant claw, even wider than Li Yan's entire body and covered with coarse scales, grabbed down!
Just as it was about to grab the spiritual power shield outside the "Cloud-Piercing Willow," a fist suddenly appeared under the giant claw.
With a "bang," a shrill bird cry came from the downpour.
A pair of wings with a wingspan of fifty zhang, casting a huge shadow, cut through the continuous rain and quickly swept past the top of the "Cloud-Piercing Willow," sliding somewhat unsteadily to the other side.
Li Yan stood with his hands behind his back on the "Cloud-Piercing Willow," slowly retracting his fist. On his knuckle was a black spike, which was slowly retracting. This attack was very similar to the bone spike attacks that demon cultivators were good at. A trace of faint green liquid remained on this black spike.
As the black spike on Li Yan's fist retracted into his body, the faint green liquid also slid off. That black spike was a "Demon-Sealing Needle." And at the same time as the giant bird slid to one side, the "Cloud-Piercing Willow" had already passed through the layers of rain. With a flash, it disappeared again.
This giant bird had a beak over ten zhang long. Its wings shone with a faint light. As the rain continuously hit it, it made a sound like metal striking metal. And at this moment, the giant bird was looking down at one of its giant claws. There was a small wound under that giant claw, but it had caused one of its sharp claws to instantly lose all strength and feeling.
At this, a fierce light flashed in the giant bird's eyes. It let out a hiss, flapped its wings, and chased after Li Yan at high speed…
...
Zhao Min gently opened the door to her cultivation chamber. She had suddenly stopped her cultivation while in seclusion. She walked slowly to the courtyard and looked at the empty space. In her mind's eye, she saw a person and two demons by the stone table, chatting and laughing…
After a moment of daze, only her somewhat lonely figure remained in the courtyard!
Zhao Min walked calmly to the stone table and sat down gently, her expression as cold as ever. At this time, her figure was somewhat plump and clear, and her originally flat abdomen was slightly raised.
Feeling the beating aura in her body, Zhao Min subconsciously reached out and stroked it. It was the movement from her abdomen that had awakened her from her meditation. The higher a cultivator's cultivation, the more difficult it was to have children. But a month after Li Yan left, Zhao Min felt a change in her body.
This surprised her greatly. She, of course, also knew how difficult it was for a cultivator to have offspring. But thinking of the unrestrained days and nights of that year, Zhao Min felt that the chances were still very high, and a blush would appear on her face.
That kind of endless entanglement and demand, if not for her strong physical body, even a female Nascent Soul cultivator might not have been able to withstand Li Yan's indulgence during that period.
She sat quietly in the courtyard, staring blankly at the sky. No one knew what she was thinking…
In the blink of an eye, another two years passed. On the "Cloud-Piercing Willow," Li Yan was sitting cross-legged in meditation. On the other side, Qian Ji was piloting the "Cloud-Piercing Willow," while Zi Kun was vigilantly watching the surroundings.
Along the way, the deeper they went into the Sea of the Northern Abyss, apart from a few scattered low-rank demonic beasts that could be ignored, they would basically encounter a great demon every five to ten thousand li. The lowest rank was third-rank, and the highest reached fourth-rank.
For these great demons, Li Yan would often touch and go. He was not here to break through levels one by one. With that kind of fighting style, he would probably be exhausted to death before he could finish.
Especially half a month ago, Li Yan and his group encountered a peak fourth-rank "Sea-Overturning Toad." After Li Yan fought with this demon for a while, facing a demonic beast equivalent to a late-stage Nascent Soul great cultivator, he could only flee in defeat.
Li Yan, disregarding the great consumption of magical power, continuously used "The Five Elements Return to Primordial Genesis" and "Stealthy Night Art." After using three very precious drops of "Rongsun," and relying on the six "Illusion Poisons" he had set up, he finally escaped.
The first "Illusion Poison" had no effect at all on that "Sea-Overturning Toad," which charged straight through it. After the great demon entered the second "Illusion Poison" without stopping its pursuit, there was a one-breath delay. When it entered the third "Illusion Poison," it took three breaths to break out…
By the time the "Sea-Overturning Toad" finally broke out of the sixth "Illusion Poison," Li Yan had flown out of sight.
If this "Sea-Overturning Toad" had immediately bypassed the subsequent blockades after discovering the "Illusion Poison" at the beginning, although the pursuit time would have been slightly longer, with its divine abilities, it could still have locked onto Li Yan. It was just that in that sea area, it was already an invincible existence. It naturally disdained a mere initial-stage Nascent Soul cultivator who had intruded.
But what it didn't know was that although it had seemed to easily break through the first "Illusion Poison" blockade, its mind had actually already begun to be affected. The further it went, the more severely its mind was affected. With illusions sprouting everywhere, it was even less likely to bypass the "Illusion Poison." It even saw a scene of Li Yan being killed by it…
In this battle against the peak fourth-rank sea demon, Li Yan was still injured. Fortunately, he was not seriously injured. This was also his first time fighting a late-stage Nascent Soul great cultivator level opponent, which made Li Yan understand the gap between them. Even if his combat power reached the peak of the mid-Nascent Soul stage, he could still only flee in defeat.
However, Li Yan also finally understood his true strength. If he made good use of favorable timing, location, and other conditions, even a late-stage Nascent Soul great cultivator would not be able to kill him.
After being injured, he immediately summoned the two demons to protect him, while also having them pilot the "Cloud-Piercing Willow" to continue flying. When the two demons saw that even Li Yan was injured, they finally truly realized the danger of the Sea of the Northern Abyss and became even more cautious. In their fear and trepidation, Li Yan finally fully recovered half a month later. And during this period, they were lucky enough to only encounter some second and third-rank demonic beasts. This made the two demons finally breathe a sigh of relief!
And after Li Yan recovered from his injuries and looked back, he also found that he had been too successful in the previous period, and a sense of underestimation had grown in his heart.
"I've read in the classics long ago that even Nascent Soul cultivators are unwilling to cross this place. I was really a bit careless. The words of the predecessors are indeed true!"
When he thought back to how he had once entered this sea area with only the strength of the Foundation Establishment stage, it now seemed that he was truly fearless because he was ignorant. It was also fortunate that that "Blue Demon Flood Dragon" was located near the south of the sea area, which was how he had escaped death.
Now that he had personally crossed it, he also knew how vast the Sea of the Northern Abyss was. He had been flying at full speed until now and still had not reached the end. For those mid and low-level cultivators to want to cross it on their own was undoubtedly a fool's dream.
In the following days, Li Yan became even more careful. He also maintained a flight altitude of about ten thousand zhang from the sea surface. Although he would still be attacked, it was much better than before.
Time flew like a shuttle, and the days and nights passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, another seven years had passed. On this day, a dot of green light flashed and disappeared above the endless, gloomy sea. The next moment, it appeared a thousand li away. On the "Cloud-Piercing Willow," the figures of Li Yan and the other two were all present.
In these few years, Li Yan had not even encountered a single cultivator, which showed that even other Nascent Soul cultivators were unwilling to come to this place. The few of them were silent. In these few years, they had been in a state of fighting almost every day. The tedious and endless forward flight, if not for business, they had long lost interest in idle talk.