As soon as this thought occurred to Li Yan, he had already made a decision. With a thought, a black and a white figure flashed out by his side.
"Greetings, Master!"
"Master!"
Qian Ji and Zi Kun curiously sized up their surroundings. Then, they were stunned to find that Matriarch Ying was gone. In order not to disturb Li Yan and Matriarch Ying's time together, the two demons had recently been cultivating in "Earthen Patch."
"This is underground in the swamp. There are some ghost-like things outside. Some of them have cultivation that has even reached the Nascent Soul stage."
"I will set up a formation later. You two are responsible for guarding and being on alert. If anything happens, just remind me in time. If nothing happens, I will focus my main energy on investigating the situation in the cave."
As Li Yan briefly explained the situation here, he began to set up a formation.
After a flash of faint azure light, a formation had already been set up around the three of them. It was the "Vital Qi Grand Clarity Formation."
After the eight passages had split into more forks, if Li Yan wanted to investigate carefully, he would need to continuously split off more of his Divine Sense to go deeper. There were even smaller forks in those forks, winding and twisting for an unknown distance.
Under such circumstances, he would have no energy left to pay attention to his surroundings. Although he had some guesses about the situation here, he was still afraid that the two men in the blood-dripping crimson scholar's robes outside the cave would suddenly rush in.
Therefore, Li Yan had to set up his own defense in advance, which could withstand at least one blow from a Nascent Soul realm cultivator. The "Vital Qi Grand Clarity Formation" was of course the natural choice.
And having Qian Ji and Zi Kun come out to assist in guarding was for even greater security.
Previously, when Li Yan was retreating, he had inexplicably entered the thick black qi. It was not guaranteed that some change would not quietly happen in this cave. It was best to do everything as meticulously as possible.
After Li Yan's simple instructions, Qian Ji and Zi Kun asked a few more questions and finally understood their situation.
The two demons couldn't help but look at each other, and then they looked at the entrance of the cave. There were actually two Nascent Soul-level ghost creatures there, and their attack methods were somewhat strange. They seemed to be able to use the yin-cold ghost creatures and the power of heaven and earth here to force Li Yan into the cave with one move.
What was Li Yan's cultivation? They of course knew better than anyone else. He was an existence that was not afraid of fighting several of the same rank. However, Li Yan didn't say that he hadn't used his full strength. He was not a person who liked to boast.
After giving his instructions, Li Yan immediately waved his large sleeve, and one by one, spirit stones flew towards the surroundings, instantly falling into the ground and disappearing. Then, he formed a hand seal, and the surrounding space distorted slightly before returning to normal.
After he activated the "Vital Qi Grand Clarity Formation," Qian Ji and Zi Kun stood in two directions, one facing the entrance of the cave and the other constantly observing the surroundings.
Then, Li Yan sat down cross-legged on the spot, and his Divine Sense once again covered the eight passages. This time, he was going to carefully investigate all the forks...
Time passed bit by bit. In the darkness, there was no sense of time or day. There was only the repetitive whistling of the wind coming from the deep and dark cave.
About an hour and a half later, Li Yan, who had been sitting still, suddenly opened his eyes. At this moment, a startling sharp light flickered in his eyes. He suddenly stood up, and the two demons also turned to look at Li Yan at the same time.
Li Yan waved his large sleeve, and with a flash of azure light, he had already put away the "Vital Qi Grand Clarity Formation."
"Let's go!"
He whispered to the two demons, and then had already swept them up and flew quickly towards one of the passages. qs
"Master, have you found Matriarch Ying?"
As they moved forward, Qian Ji, who was standing by his side, immediately asked.
"Not yet, but I've found something else!"
Li Yan, however, shook his head.
Qian Ji's words made him regret his misjudgment back then. He had originally been afraid that Gong Chenying would be in danger and had left her in a safer place above. Who would have thought that he would lose contact with her in the end.
Seeing that Li Yan didn't want to say more, Qian Ji immediately closed his mouth.
The three of them continued to move forward quickly in the darkness. Whenever they encountered a fork, Li Yan would unhesitatingly choose one direction and enter directly.
He had previously left a Divine Sense mark in the direction he wanted to go, so of course he looked extremely familiar with the way.
After flying for about another half an incense stick's time, Li Yan suddenly stopped.
At this time, a cave appeared in front of them. They were currently five hundred zhang away from the cave. Fortunately, the road here was no longer winding, otherwise they would not be able to see the end at all.
"Master, that's..."
The two demons were surprised to find that at the end of the road, there was a ball of something in the cave. The ball of something looked like a person sitting cross-legged. Even at such a close distance, they could not detect any aura fluctuations from the other party.
"A corpse?"
Qian Ji and Zi Kun looked at each other. Neither of them had sensed any life force.
"You two stay here for now. Don't move around. I'll go over and take a look!"
As Li Yan spoke, he had already strode forward. But when he was still a hundred zhang away from the entrance of the cave, he was blocked by an invisible barrier.
Li Yan's Divine Sense had also been blocked by this barrier when it reached here earlier, so he did not show any surprise.
There was a person sitting in the cave. That person also had short hair and was dressed in a black robe. He was tall, but the black robe was a few sizes too big, as if it were draped over a tall skeleton.
At this moment, he was forming a strange hand seal with both hands. His eyes were tightly closed, and his cheekbones were high. Even Li Yan could barely detect any aura from his body, as if he were a dead man.
"A not-so-weak formation restriction!"
After carefully observing for a while more, Li Yan suddenly took a step back, his stance like a bow, and then with a flash of gloomy light from his body, he had already thrown a punch at the invisible restriction in front of him.
Although this blow did not use much of the power of the Undead Nether Phoenix's Essence Blood, nor did it erupt with the full power of the "Qiongqi Purgatory Art," its momentum was still overwhelming.
"Boom!"
A yellow and a black ball of light burst out from under Li Yan's fist. A loud bang even shook the entire cave, and many ice shards and broken stones fell one after another.
Qian Ji and Zi Kun in the distance looked horrified and couldn't help but take a few more steps back. The current Li Yan was no longer an existence they could fathom.
After throwing this punch, Li Yan actually immediately withdrew his hand. Then, he stood there and looked ahead.
In the instant Li Yan withdrew his force, the person sitting cross-legged in the formation restriction suddenly opened his eyes, and his aura also emerged.
When he saw a figure standing in front of him, he suddenly stood up, and what followed was a powerful Divine Sense that instantly swept towards Li Yan.
At this time, Li Yan's hands were already tucked into his sleeves, but the cultivation he had hidden before also erupted, and his powerful Mid-stage Nascent Soul strength was displayed without reservation.
The man's Divine Sense quickly swept over Li Yan. When he saw Li Yan clearly, the vigilant expression on his face actually turned into a daze.
"Eh? A Mid-stage Nascent Soul, you... you are a human cultivator?"
"Greetings, Clan Head Gong!"
Li Yan's body leaned slightly forward as he performed a Daoist salute.
As soon as he said this, coupled with the salute he performed, the tall man in the formation was even more stunned. He said hesitantly.
"Hmm? Fellow Daoist, you... you know me? Who are you, and why have you appeared here?"
Although the man was exceptionally thin, and his aura was sometimes strong and sometimes weak, there was a domineering air in his eyes that looked down on the world.
Although the tall, thin man only showed a dazed expression, his heart was already churning with waves. How long had it been since he had seen a living creature here? To be precise, all he had seen were Ghost-Creature Wind Beasts.
How could a human cultivator suddenly appear today, and with two demonic beasts at that?
He could be sure that the one man and two demons in front of him were definitely not illusions created by the Ghost-Creature Wind Beasts. He had fought with them for so many years, and he still believed that he would not make a mistake in this judgment.
And, the person in front of him was clearly a powerful cultivator of the same rank as him. Why was there a hint of humility in the salute he performed? This was something that would simply not happen among cultivators of the same rank.
And what surprised him even more was that the other party actually knew him. But after carefully looking at the other party, whether it was his appearance or his aura, he had no impression of him at all.
Li Yan had already stood up straight again. He looked at the tall man's eyes and did not waste any words.
"I am Li Yan, a cultivator of the Malevolent Spirit Sect on the Desolate Moon Continent, the Little Martial Uncle of Gong Chenying of Little Bamboo Peak. I wonder if Clan Head Gong has heard of me?"
Li Yan looked at the man opposite him with a calm expression. Although the man in front of him was so thin that he was unrecognizable, when Gong Chenying had come, she had still carved the portraits of Gong Shanhe and the Sixth Elder on a jade slip for Li Yan to see.
This was to prevent any misunderstandings from turning into a fight if Li Yan had to take her into his Spirit-Storing Pouch and then encountered her father and the other in the perilous swamp.
"Li... Yan, A Ying's... that Little Martial Uncle?"
The tall man, who had been identified by Li Yan as Gong Shanhe, was still thinking and analyzing what was happening before him. He had thought countless times that a human cultivator might appear here.
But that should be a person from the Tianli Clan. But today, a strange cultivator had come.
When he had seen that the other party was a human cultivator earlier, he had still thought that the other party might be like him, perhaps having also discovered that there was something unusual about the swamp and had thus entered the underground, or had accidentally stumbled into this place.
But Li Yan's next sentence made him widen his eyes.
Even with his calm demeanor, even after being trapped here for so long, even after just seeing that the newcomer was a human cultivator, before he had only been surprised and puzzled.
But now, Li Yan's one sentence, all the information from before added up, was not as shocking as the meaning contained in his words.
Although the name Li Yan was unfamiliar, he had still heard of it. Back when he went to pick up his daughter, Wei Zhongran had told him that his daughter Zhao Min and his little disciple Li Yan had fallen into the Devil's Cliff Crevice during the decisive battle with the demon clan, their life and death unknown...
With a cultivator's memory, and with Li Yan adding a series of specific titles after introducing his name, Gong Shanhe instantly thought of who the other party was, Wei Zhongran's little disciple.
"But... but... wasn't he just a little Foundation Establishment cultivator when he fell off the cliff?"
Although Gong Shanhe was shocked, he was, after all, the head of a clan. He quickly reacted, but he did not speak immediately, but was quickly thinking about what Li Yan had just said in his heart.
Seeing the other party fall into silence for a moment, Li Yan waved his hand, and a token appeared in front of him. He raised his palm and gently pushed forward, and the token quietly floated outside the formation restriction.
"This is my sect token!"
The moment Gong Shanhe saw the token, a strange light flashed in his eyes.
He of course recognized the Malevolent Spirit Sect token, especially since the item the other party had taken out was the same Little Bamboo Peak token as his own daughter's.
He didn't need to take it over at all. Just after a careful scan with his Divine Sense, he had confirmed that the other party's token was a genuine Malevolent Spirit Sect token, and could not be fake.
The look of shock in Gong Shanhe's eyes had already quickly disappeared, and at the same time, his mind was quickly continuing to judge. But he still did not immediately withdraw the formation restriction.
"Weren't you killed in the great war with the demon clan?"
"Last time I went over, your master Da Cen told me about this matter. How could you suddenly come here today?"
Gong Shanhe asked with a puzzled expression. Li Yan, on the other hand, let out a soft laugh.
"My master is Wei Zhongran. I just fell into the Devil's Cliff Crevice with Senior Sister Min and was trapped somewhere. It wasn't until more than a hundred years ago that we escaped."
"I came here this time at the request of Senior Sister Gong, and also at the request of the Great Elder and the Third Elder, to try to find out the whereabouts of you and the Sixth Elder."
"In the outside world, the three Wind Beast clans are still in a continuous battle with your clan. As for the details, we can talk about them later when we have time!"
Li Yan briefly explained the purpose of his visit, and at the same time, seemingly unintentionally, also "corrected" some of the other party's "mistakes."
He of course would not think that Gong Shanhe had misremembered, or that the person in front of him was a Wind Beast in disguise, spouting nonsense here.
If Li Yan himself was an impostor, and he was only slightly familiar with the Malevolent Spirit Sect, then he might have fallen into at least one of these traps.
Without knowing Li Yan, with Li Yan's current cultivation, his master should be an existence at the level of Da Cen and Mo Qing.
And this time, Li Yan didn't call her "Sixth Senior Sister," but "Senior Sister Gong!", just to explain the situation as quickly as possible.
As he spoke, Li Yan had already raised his hand to recall the sect token and put it away.
After hearing Li Yan's words, a sharp light flashed in Gong Shanhe's eyes again, but his expression had also relaxed slightly.
Li Yan had not only "seen through" his "lie" just now, but had also deliberately pointed out the Great Elder and the Third Elder, but had not mentioned the other few elders in the clan at all.
This also explained one situation from another perspective, that is, the other party also knew the distribution of power within the Tianli Clan. Li Yan might have just come from the Tianli Clan.
A few breaths later, Gong Shanhe waved his large sleeve, and the space in front of him distorted slightly, and then everything returned to normal.
He cupped his fists at Li Yan and then also bowed in salute.
"The Wind Beasts here are also good at transformation. I had to be careful. I hope Fellow Daoist Li won't take offense!"
Li Yan could see that Gong Shanhe was a person who looked rough on the outside but was actually extremely meticulous in his thoughts. At the same time, he was also very decisive in his actions. Gong Chenying's character was very similar to his.
But seeing Gong Shanhe salute him like this, he couldn't help but rub his nose.
This was his father-in-law. Once he explained the situation, who knows what the other party would think of the current situation.