Li Wuyi sat in the main hall, seeming somewhat restless. Beside him, Miao Wangqing was staring at Li Wuyi's handsome, jade-like face with her large eyes. As she looked, for some reason, her pretty face instantly turned red. But seeing that Li Wuyi seemed not to have noticed her, she let out a sigh of relief. Then she asked with some curiosity, "Eldest Senior Brother, Eldest Senior Brother, what are you thinking about? There are still many things here that need you to handle."
She called out several times before Li Wuyi came back to his senses. He couldn't help but give her an embarrassed smile. This smile made Miao Wangqing pout her small lips. "Eldest Senior Brother, you look like you've lost your soul. Are you thinking about that bug girl from Never-Parting Peak again?"
"Bug Girl" was the name she had given to Li Changting.
"Oh, no. Fourth Junior Sister, did you notice that Senior Sister Six and Junior Sister Min were a bit off yesterday? Later, after they went out, they both looked dejected when they came back."
"You said Senior Sister Six and Junior Sister Min were off? What was off? I didn't see anything. Eldest Senior Brother, are you not yet sober from last night's drinking? I heard the two of them grew up together since they were young. You should know this better than anyone. Their relationship is closer than that of blood sisters. I wouldn't be surprised if someone said they would marry the same husband in the future, but Junior Sister Min wouldn't like Third Senior Brother..." After hearing Li Wuyi's words, Miao Wangqing immediately started chattering away, giving Li Wuyi a massive headache. He quickly waved his hands.
"Stop, stop, stop! What nonsense are you talking about? I was just asking if you felt that the two of them weren't as casual as before yesterday. Why are you talking such nonsense?"
"When did I talk nonsense? Don't you know them better than I do? Senior Sister Six is practically half a master to Junior Sister Min. What could possibly make the two of them fall out? I didn't feel anything was wrong yesterday. Hmm, they did go out alone for a while to talk. They must have been talking about some private matters. Ah... that's right! Weren't you drunk at that time? How did you know they went out? And how did you see that they looked upset when they came back? Aha! So you were pretending to be drunk! No, I have to go tell the bug girl about this... Hmph hmph hmph."
Miao Wangqing's large eyes blinked as she counted on her slender, scallion-like fingers, one thing after another. Suddenly, she let out a loud cry. This cry instantly made Li Wuyi jump. He then saw a pair of sly eyes staring at him, a cold laugh coming from her mouth. He couldn't help but sigh inwardly, as if he had forgotten something about last night.
But in his chaotic mind, he also remembered a sentence from Miao Wangqing. "Marry the same husband?" But the next moment, he threw it away. There was no way Third Senior Brother would be liked by Junior Sister Min. That would be the biggest joke in the world.
...
The small courtyard was silent. A long time later, Gong Chenying was the first to speak. "Li Yan, I'm going into seclusion soon."
"Oh. Senior Sister Six must have gained something from this trip to the secret realm," Li Yan replied casually, still pondering Gong Chenying's earlier words.
Not everyone entered the secret realm just for the rewards. An important aspect was that the rich spirit qi and the pressure of life and death inside made it easy for people to break through. Even if they couldn't break through at the time, it would solidify their cultivation and lay a foundation for breaking through to the next level in the future. Another point was that after going through the life-and-death trial, everyone's mental state would undergo a qualitative change. This was often more precious than a direct breakthrough. A change in mental state would make one's realm more stable and allow one to perform immortal arts with greater ease, unlike Li Yan's previous continuous breakthroughs, where his mental state and comprehension had already fallen far behind his realm. Even though the immortal arts he performed were several times more powerful than before, they were still clumsy and stagnant, unable to achieve a state of perfection. This was fine when dealing with cultivators of a lower realm than himself, but in a life-and-death struggle with someone of a similar realm, a moment's hesitation could instantly cost him his life. That one instant of stagnation was enough for the opponent to kill him more than a dozen times.
After Li Yan finished speaking, he didn't get a reply from Gong Chenying for a long time. He couldn't help but look up. He saw Gong Chenying looking down. As if sensing Li Yan's gaze, she let out a mosquito-like sound. "A... A... A Ying."
Li Yan didn't hear clearly at first. After thinking about it carefully, he finally understood. His face couldn't help but heat up. When had he ever called a woman by such an intimate name? He couldn't help but scratch the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Then... A... A Ying, A Ying, are you going into seclusion this time to break through to the next realm, or to consolidate your comprehension and cultivation?"
Listening to Li Yan's stuttering words, Gong Chenying's pretty face flushed red. She couldn't help but secretly glance at Li Yan. When she saw Li Yan scratching the back of his head and calling out "A Ying" with that silly, dazed look, she couldn't help but burst out laughing with a "puchi."
Her laugh was like melting ice and blooming flowers. Her teeth were like gourd seeds, her beautiful eyes full of charm, her red lips lightly pursed. The slight curl of her lips was like the scorching sun. Li Yan was so captivated that for a moment, he felt as if he was lost in the clouds, not knowing where he was.
The moment Gong Chenying laughed, she felt it was inappropriate. She quickly lowered her head, her shell-like teeth gently biting her lip. A few strands of short hair slipped from behind her ear onto her silk-like cheek. Her crystal-clear earlobe shone like a semi-transparent agate.
A pair of jade-like hands on the stone table wanted to retract, but felt it would be too abrupt. Her hands crossed, her long, slender jade fingers gently twisting together, showing a slight state of unease.
When had Li Yan ever seen such a heart-stirring scene? For a moment, his face and neck also turned red. The courtyard was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. It seemed only the sound of their own heartbeats echoed in their minds.
After a long time, Gong Chenying raised her head again, a residual shyness on her face. She bit her lower lip and said, "It's not about comprehending my mental state. It's that your pill has a lot of residual medicinal power. I was originally going to go into seclusion yesterday when I came back, but because of... I feel that this time in seclusion, it's very likely I can break through to the fake-Core realm." Halfway through her words, her voice became even lower.
"Oh? You're saying that healing pill still has so much medicinal power left?" When it came to the "True Essence Pill," Li Yan's spirits were instantly lifted. He hadn't expected that pill to be so domineering. Not only were its healing effects shocking, but it actually had an effect on improving cultivation. This was something he really wanted to know about. After all, he still had a "True Essence Pill" in his hand. The more he understood, the better he could gauge when to use it in the future.
"Mm. I feel that this pill is not a fifth-rank pill. It should be at least sixth-rank, or even sixth-rank, high-grade is possible. Even after healing, the medicinal power in my body is still surging. I feel that I'm about to be unable to suppress it. I must go into seclusion as soon as possible. I think breaking through to the peak of the late stage of Foundation Establishment should be no problem at all." Thinking of such a precious pill, that Li Yan had given it to her "without hesitation," a trace of sweetness arose in Gong Chenying's heart. But how could she know that Li Yan hadn't been without hesitation at all? He had been heartbroken for a while, but had no other pill that could save her, so he had used it on her, and had even been worried for a while.
However, if a similar situation were to occur now, Li Yan truly wouldn't have any hesitation. Li Yan was especially generous to his close ones. He would give what he had to the other party without any stinginess. But for the people he had to deal with, he would often rack his brains, even resorting to unscrupulous means to achieve his goal.
Li Yan was on one hand, a person of deep affection, and on the other hand, ruthless. When he was young, when he killed Strategist Ji, it was his first time killing, yet he hadn't had the slightest softness or fear. And he was also a contradictory person. In matters of emotion, he had a very strong possessiveness, yet he had to be able to let the other person into his heart before he could accept them. Otherwise, even if they were stunningly beautiful and charming, he would not be moved in the slightest. When it involved his fundamental interests, he would strike a fatal blow without any pity.
'Sixth-rank, high-grade? If I were to say it's an eighth-rank pill, would you jump up? But, even Pingtu still uses this medicinal power for healing. It should be more than just helping her break through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment or the fake-Core realm. This is much higher than the 'Dustless Pill' that Master gave to Eldest Senior Brother. The only thing to worry about is whether her mental state and comprehension can keep up, just like me now,' Li Yan thought to himself with some complacency, smiling at Gong Chenying, while saying out loud.
"This, I really don't know. So you came here today not only for the previous matter, but to tell me you're going into seclusion? You could have just sent a voice transmission for this; you didn't need to make a special trip."
After saying this, Li Yan thought of Zhao Min again, and sighed in his heart. He wanted to sort things out, but the more he tried, the more chaotic it became. He also thought about whether he would be the same as before if he saw Zhao Min again in the future, and hoped not to make things worse. This was actually because from the bottom of his heart, he didn't want to break off contact with Zhao Min. It was like when someone gets along well with a friend, perhaps without any romantic involvement. If one day they were told not to interact and just broke off contact, it would be very hard to accept.
In terms of familiarity, in the sect, besides Li Wuyi, Lin Daqiao, it was Zhao Min who he got along with the best and was one of his earliest friends. He liked talking with her in the quiet, a sentence here, a sentence there, as if time had stopped. Occasionally, after saying a sentence, they would fall into a short silence, as if immersing themselves in that last sentence, able to recall it for a long time, to savor it carefully.
Gong Chenying was extremely intelligent. Hearing the slight pause in Li Yan's voice when he said "the previous matter," she also sighed in her heart.
The river of stars fills the boat, how far is the distance between us...
"I will go into seclusion immediately after I return today. It could be as short as a few months, or as long as a year. But before I go into seclusion, there is one more thing I need to tell you. Whether you do it or not is up to you," Gong Chenying took a deep breath, then looked at Li Yan with her beautiful eyes.
Seeing Gong Chenying's solemn expression, Li Yan was stunned, not knowing what could make her so serious.
"Do you want to learn the 'Qiongqi Purgatory' art?"
The moment Gong Chenying said this, Li Yan was shocked. He knew that the body refining secret art Gong Chenying cultivated was called "Qiongqi Purgatory." But why Gong Chenying had suddenly said this surprised him. Gong Chenying had briefly mentioned this art before. It was a top-tier secret art of the Tianli Clan, on the same level as Shamanic Arts. It was the most powerful cultivation art in this world, and only the core members of the Tianli Clan could access it. From this one point, Li Yan could also guess that Gong Chenying's status in the Tianli Clan must be very high, so high that Gong Chenying was completely unwilling to mention it. Now, for no reason, she seemed to want to let him cultivate this art. When did secret arts become so easy to obtain?
However, to say that the current Li Yan didn't want to obtain this top-tier body refining art would be a lie. After witnessing Gong Chenying's prowess in this trial, he had long wanted to find a body refining art for a high price after he returned.
In fact, he had also read about body refining arts in the records before. The Malevolent Spirit Sect also had body refining arts, but they were extremely rare. There were only a few, and they were all elementary and intermediate. There wasn't a single high-grade body refining art, let alone a top-tier one. And this was in a super-dominant major sect like the Malevolent Spirit Sect. Those first-rate and second-rate sects would probably consider having an elementary body refining art or a fragment of one as a top secret, definitely regarded as a treasure to protect the sect.
The few body refining arts in the sect, he heard, could only be cultivated to the Golden Core stage. There were no subsequent cultivation methods for higher realms. And these few body refining art cultivation methods, even the elementary ones, required a huge amount of spirit stones to purchase. At that time, Li Yan could be said to be penniless. The spirit stones he received every month were not even enough for his own cultivation. In addition, the records had emphasized that those who walked the path of dual cultivation of law and body would have a very slow overall progress in cultivation due to having to divide their attention. So he had put the matter aside.
But this trip to the secret realm, after personally witnessing Gong Chenying's attacks and the prowess of the demonic cultivators, his understanding of body refining arts had been turned upside down. His heart was already filled with extreme desire. He had been calculating before that with the few hundred spirit stones he would be rewarded by the sect this time, plus the sale of his spoils of war from the Wheel of Life and Death, especially the several hundred flying swords of Miao Zhengyi, he might be able to purchase an elementary body refining art. He had never expected Gong Chenying to propose it so easily, which left Li Yan stunned on the spot. But he secretly felt that it wouldn't be that simple.