Gong Chenying continued, "If you fail to cultivate it in seven days, you must immediately destroy this jade slip. Even after you formally start cultivating the first layer, you must also immediately destroy this jade slip. Once it is lost, both you and I will be severely punished."
Originally, according to Gong Chenying's intention, she was going to watch Li Yan cultivate and decide based on the situation. On one hand, it was to strictly abide by the ancestral teachings and prevent the cultivation method from being leaked; on the other hand, it was to act as a protector for Li Yan. It was just that the medicinal power of the pill in her body could no longer be suppressed.
Seeing Gong Chenying's solemn expression again and again, Li Yan certainly knew that this matter was absolutely no joke. He placed the jade slip in his bosom with great care and slowly nodded.
Seeing Li Yan nod, Gong Chenying began to think about how to report the matter between her and Li Yan back to the clan after she returned, and how to phrase it to be safe.
Lost in thought, she had already stood up, her demeanor returning to its usual cold and stunning look. She even skipped the farewell and walked directly toward the courtyard gate. Li Yan couldn't help but smile wryly. He quickly took out the token from his waist and waved it at the courtyard gate. Amidst the churning white mist, a small path was revealed. Gong Chenying's figure slowly disappeared at the end of the path, until she was gone.
After Gong Chenying left, Li Yan did not immediately start cultivating the "Qiongqi Purgatory" art. Instead, he went to the Handyman Department in front again. There, he took a large box of delicacies and returned to his own small bamboo courtyard. When he passed by the main hall, he did not go in to see who was inside.
After returning to the small courtyard, Li Yan opened the food box, took out five small dishes and a pot of wine, and began to drink by himself in the courtyard. This meal lasted for a full incense stick's time.
After eating, Li Yan went directly into the house and fell asleep. He wanted to keep himself in an excellent state, both physically and mentally, before starting to cultivate. Although he had rested last night, he was too tired from this trip to the secret realm. Both his mental and physical energy had been greatly consumed.
He slept from morning until the next morning. When he woke up, Li Yan felt refreshed from the inside out, extremely satisfied.
After bathing and changing his clothes, Li Yan formally entered the cultivation room.
Inside the cultivation room, Li Yan calmed his mood and sat cross-legged. He still did not immediately start cultivating the "Qiongqi Purgatory" art, but began to consolidate his realm. He had gained a great deal from this trip to the secret realm. Just in terms of cultivation, he had soared from the late stage of the seventh layer of Qi Condensation all the way to the early stage of the tenth layer of Qi Condensation. His mental state and comprehension were extremely uncoordinated and needed to be adjusted as soon as possible. After taking a few deep breaths, Li Yan's face was devoid of joy or sorrow. He slowly closed his eyes, and black qi slowly swirled around his body. This black qi was much denser than before, and there was even a faint tendency to cover Li Yan's entire body. With Li Yan's every breath, the black qi outside his body expanded and contracted rhythmically.
...
In an endless dark space, a huge meteorite was slowly drifting in the turbulent flow of space. Sitting at the front of the meteorite were three people with hair that dragged on the ground. At this moment, the three of them were looking at a place in front of the huge meteorite with excited expressions. There seemed to be a horizontal line of light there, which was particularly eye-catching in this dark space.
The three long-haired people had withered faces. Their clothes, besides being in tatters, seemed not to have been washed for years, and their original color was no longer visible. They were greasy and black. The faces under their long hair could not be seen clearly.
But through the gaps in their disheveled hair and the trembling of their bodies, it was clear that all three of them were excited at this moment. One of them stretched out a withered finger, its nail nearly a foot long, the tip curved back, the dirt within layered. He let out a dry voice, as if he had not spoken for many years. "There. That should be the place that person spoke of!"
After he finished speaking, an old voice came from another person. "Let's hope they don't go back on their word. But can they really get the 'Void-Breaking Pearl'? I hope so, I hope so..." The voice slowly faded away.
After a long time, the dry voice from before sounded again. "This time when we go back, we will definitely make the heavens and earth flow with blood and achieve our sect's ten-thousand-year hegemony. It won't be long now, it won't be long now. Perhaps five years, perhaps ten..."
His voice was filled with endless resentment. As his voice gradually faded, a low chant suddenly sounded from behind him. "Having lost my home, the vast land; having found my body, a drifting duckweed in the bleakness; when the flying steeds come, the river of blood will surge..." The voice was mournful, the meaning filled with hatred. Looking over, behind the three of them were densely packed, a black mass of cultivators sitting cross-legged on the meteorite, chanting in unison.
The astral wind howled, the turbulent flow raged. From time to time, small meteorites carrying the force of a thousand jun would smash into the light curtain outside the huge meteorite, creating dots of light on the light shield, which made the faces of the cultivators on the meteorite flicker between light and dark, their eyes like blood. With every impact, the three people in front would tremble...
Inside the secret room, Li Yan opened his eyes. He felt the surging spirit power of the five spirit power vats in his body, which was endless. Every cycle was smooth and natural, without the slightest hint of the previous stagnation. The current spirit power vats were three circles larger than before he entered the secret realm. A thick mist was rising from each vat. This was a precursor to the condensation of qi into liquid. When all this mist turned into liquid one day, it would be the time he succeeded in establishing his foundation.
The transformation of spirit qi from a gaseous state to a liquid state, turning the virtual into the real, was the mark of Foundation Establishment. At that time, the power of immortal arts would be incomparable to that of a Qi Condensation cultivator.
Li Yan nodded with satisfaction. This time, he had been consolidating his realm and comprehending his mental state, but it had unexpectedly turned into a seclusion. A full three months had passed.
Li Yan stood up, and a little bit of dust fell from his body. Li Yan shook his head. With a wave of his hand, he cast a "Dust-Cleansing Art." A white light instantly flashed out in the entire room, immediately turning into a somewhat damp whirlwind that swept toward every corner of the room. A moment later, this whirlwind pillar vanished without a trace, and the entire cultivation room exuded a fresh air. This art was the very one that Lin Daqiao had used on the first day. Li Yan had liked this art at that time. Although this art could not be used for attack, it was extremely convenient for a cultivator's daily life.
But after casting this art, Li Yan was somewhat stunned. He looked at the neat and tidy room, then at his own hands, and for a moment, he was stunned on the spot. But not long after, Li Yan's laughter came from the cultivation room, the sound filled with joy.
At this moment, Li Yan was sitting at the stone table in the courtyard, thinking about the feeling of casting the "Dust-Cleansing Art" just now. Li Yan's heart was still filled with joy. Just now, when he cast the immortal art, it was as if his thought had become reality, the art forming with his will. It had almost become a subconscious action, cast with a casual wave of his hand. This was a world of difference from before, where he had to hold his breath, concentrate, and silently recite the incantation in his heart. This was the result of a great increase in his cultivation.
Li Yan sat at the stone table, recalling the process of casting the spell just now, and finally confirmed the reason. One was that his magical power was several times deeper than before, and driving these basic immortal arts was already like lifting a heavy weight as if it were light. The other was that his current mental state and realm were already in sync. With the birth of his will, his qi arrived. The comprehension of immortal arts was not something he could compare to before.
After figuring these things out, Li Yan reached out and slapped his waist. The sect's token had flown into his hand. Looking at the constantly flashing red dots on it, Li Yan's Divine Sense directly sank into it. His three-month seclusion this time was an accident, and some things were unexpected.
After a long while, Li Yan withdrew his Divine Sense and raised his head. This token contained messages from the sect, Li Wuyi, and Lin Daqiao. The message from the sect was sent within three days of his seclusion, requesting him to go to Lord Lao Peak to attend the reward ceremony for this secret realm trial.
Li Wuyi had sent two messages. One was urging him to attend the reward ceremony; the other was telling Li Yan that he had already informed the sect elders of Li Yan's seclusion, and also telling Li Yan that his reward could be collected from Elder Peng at any time in the future. Lin Daqiao's message was to ask Li Yan to go to the trading city near the sect. This was because Li Yan wanted to exchange the things he had obtained in the secret realm this time that he didn't need for spirit stones. He didn't have enough spirit stones, and he also owed the sect a lot. But Li Yan knew nothing about the surrounding trading city and trading situation, so he had asked Lin Daqiao for help.
After reading these messages one by one, Li Yan's fingers tapped a rhythm on the stone table. There was no message from Gong Chenying here. It seemed she was still in seclusion. She must not have attended the secret realm reward ceremony either.
Next, Li Yan was about to continue cultivating the "Qiongqi Purgatory" art, so he still had to have a plan. He would go to Elder Peng's place to get the reward this time, which was three hundred spirit stones. How many missions would it take to earn that? After returning from Lord Lao Peak, he planned to find Lin Daqiao and go to the trading city to sell all of Miao Zhengyi's hundreds of spirit sword magical artifacts, as well as the other things he had obtained. He thought the harvest would definitely be rich.
The next plan was to start cultivating again. If he couldn't successfully cultivate the Qiongqi Purgatory art after seven days, he would go to the Treasure Pavilion to find another body refining art. He thought that with the sect's three hundred spirit stone reward, plus the spirit stones he got from the trading city, it should be enough to buy a secret manual.
After making up his mind, Li Yan first sent a message to Li Wuyi, telling his Eldest Senior Brother that he knew everything, but would continue to cultivate in seclusion immediately, so he would not go to see him.
After doing these things, Li Yan directly stepped onto his flying sword and flew toward Lord Lao Peak. He was now flying not with the shuttle-shaped spirit artifact given by the sect, but one of Miao Zhengyi's flying swords. It was a mid-grade magical artifact, but he couldn't control it with ease. Miao Zhengyi's aura still remained on it. Although Miao Zhengyi was already dead, it would still take a process for the aura of a Foundation Establishment expert to dissipate, so Li Yan could only barely control it.
After flying for a short distance, Li Yan was overjoyed. Although there was still some of Miao Zhengyi's aura remaining on this flying sword, and it was a bit clumsy to control, a magical artifact was a magical artifact. It was not something his shuttle-shaped spirit artifact could compare to. The speed was at least four or five times faster. And this was the result of Li Yan not being able to operate it with ease.
'If I could control it freely, the flying speed should be eight to ten times that of that shuttle-shaped small boat. In that case, I can also sell my small flying sword and shuttle-shaped small boat, and get some more spirit stones. I can't just keep one of Miao Zhengyi's flying swords. I'll keep ten just in case. One is for flying, and the other is to be used as a weapon before it is refined into a 'Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike'. It's just...' Li Yan thought as he flew on his sword. But after feeling the crazy consumption of spirit power in his body, he couldn't help but feel helpless. Magical artifacts consumed spirit power too quickly. And Miao Zhengyi's flying sword was not specifically for flying, so there was no place to inlay spirit stones. He couldn't use spirit stones to replace it either; he could only use spirit power to drive it.
'It seems that shuttle-shaped small boat can't be sold for the time being. I have to improve my cultivation as soon as possible. Should I also find a sword manual to look at...' Li Yan flew away on his sword.