Hearing Li Yan's words, Su Hong, who had been silent all this time, broke into a radiant smile, as if a hundred flowers had bloomed at once, filling the desolate mountain hollow with the vibrancy of spring.
"I will naturally obey your words, Fellow Daoist." Her words carried a sense of complete submission, as if she was leaving everything to Li Yan's will, giving one the feeling of having complete control over the beautiful woman before them. While Su Hong spoke thus, her gaze once again swept over Li Yan, but this time it was filled with doubt and confusion.
As Su Hong's Spirit Power and Divine Sense gradually recovered during their journey, she had determined from the fluctuations of Spirit Power emanating from Li Yan that his cultivation was, at most, the same as hers: the peak of Foundation Establishment. Yet, he had managed to successfully ambush a Golden Core cultivator. Another thought then arose in her mind: this man was clearly a poison cultivator, so how could he be so proficient in body refinement techniques? Furthermore, his level of body refinement was so high that he could contend with an initial-stage Golden Core cultivator. What kind of cultivation method could achieve such a monstrous level?
Seeing Su Hong speak this way but make no further move, instead staring at him again as if lost in thought, Li Yan grew impatient. "Fellow Daoist, you're not just going to talk, are you?" he said coldly. "I want to see something tangible."
"Oh, my apologies. I was a bit distracted. I'll give you the Crystal Bone Water right now." Su Hong seemed to snap out of her reverie. Her face flushed, and turning her cheek slightly, she raised a jade-like hand to her earring. A flash of light later, a delicate, green jade bottle appeared in her snowy white palm.
A fleeting look of surprise crossed Li Yan's perpetually cold face. He hadn't expected her storage Magical Treasure to be that inconspicuous earring. If someone were to capture her, it would be truly difficult to guess its location amidst all the ornaments on a woman's body. The earring resembled a drop of pale red water, only the size of a pinky fingernail. Li Yan's surprise was mainly because she showed no reservation in front of him, revealing her storage Magical Treasure without any attempt at concealment.
Gazing at the green jade bottle in her white palm, Li Yan felt a slight stir of excitement in his heart, but his face remained impassive. He didn't use his Spirit Power to take it directly, but simply watched Su Hong quietly.
Su Hong pursed her lips and smiled. "To be honest, it pains me to give away something I spent so much to acquire. However, since I was planning to hand it over to your Malevolent Spirit Sect anyway, giving it to you, Senior Brother, is no issue. It's just that this Senior Brother will have to acknowledge it."
Li Yan nodded slightly at the first half of Su Hong's sentence. One hundred and fifty thousand Spirit Stones for such a small bottle of Crystal Bone Water, and a grade-one material at that, was an outrageous price even to him. But the second half of her sentence made Li Yan's gentle nod freeze in an instant. His expression shifted repeatedly, and his gaze immediately turned chillingly cold.
This time, killing intent stirred in Li Yan. He truly wanted to kill Su Hong.
"What are you talking about? I know you've recovered some Spirit Power, but if you're thinking of coming up with some nonsensical reason to go back on your word, or even trying to destroy this item in front of me, do you think you can succeed?" Li Yan didn't know how she had seen through his identity so quickly, and it seemed she had known for a while. Killing intent rose in his heart. He had gone through great lengths to come here to the Jingtu Sect's territory; how could he let his tracks be exposed now?
Besides, what he said was the truth. At such a close distance, the meager amount of Spirit Power Su Hong had just recovered was pathetically weak in Li Yan's eyes. He was confident he could kill Su Hong the moment before her Spirit Power could destroy the jade bottle. But he didn't understand how she could have seen through his identity. This was his biggest concern at the moment. If he couldn't figure it out, even if he killed Su Hong, this vulnerability would continue to put him in grave danger within the Jingtu Sect's territory. So, Li Yan didn't snatch the jade bottle directly. Instead, he deliberately threatened her to see what she was planning.
"This Senior Brother need not worry. I have my reasons for knowing your identity. I also believe that with Senior Brother's cultivation, you could kill me in an instant. Furthermore, the poisons of the Malevolent Spirit Sect are unparalleled in the world, so you could easily do so without my knowledge. But what I said is also the truth. This item was meant to be handed over to the Malevolent Spirit Sect after I returned. I don't know if Senior Brother is here on a mission or just passing by, but the fact that you saved my life is true, and for that, I am eternally grateful."
Hearing her words, Li Yan's voice became bone-chillingly cold. "You have three breaths. If you can't explain, you won't need to speak again." He had wanted to see what Su Hong's true intentions were. His Divine Sense had already spread out a thousand li. The moment someone approached or she made the slightest move, he would kill her instantly. Yet, she still maintained an air of confidence.
Seeing that Li Yan hadn't acted immediately and was just watching her coldly, Su Hong let out a long sigh of relief. In truth, her heart was pounding, and she was not as calm as she appeared on the surface. She was genuinely afraid he would attack without reason, which was why she had immediately stated that she was a friend, not a foe, regardless of whether he would speak.
It wasn't that she was intentionally provoking Li Yan's hostility, but in her current state, if she didn't have someone to guard her while she meditated to recover her cultivation, she likely wouldn't be able to escape very far. Another point was that Malevolent Spirit Sect cultivators were not known to be benevolent. They acted on their whims. Once they had the item, whether they would kill her or not was another matter entirely. The reason he hadn't killed her before was that this Malevolent Spirit Sect cultivator knew the item he wanted was not in her Storage Pouch. Furthermore, higher-grade storage Magical Treasures were more likely to have imprints left by high-level cultivators when gifted to their juniors. This meant that even if the user died, the storage device would be very difficult to open. Forcibly opening it might even trigger the restrictions on it, allowing the high-level cultivator to lock onto the killer's position.
Su Hong had roughly gauged Li Yan's cultivation and didn't think he could easily break the restrictions on her storage Magical Treasure. Likewise, she believed that a cultivator from the Malevolent Spirit Sect would surely know this, which was why she was certain that as long as she didn't completely enrage him, her life was safe for the time being.
"Senior Brother, I don't know if you recognize me. I am the owner of the 'Gui Qu Lai Xi' shop..."
"One breath!" Li Yan's icy voice cut in.
"I was entrusted by the Malevolent Spirit Sect to investigate some unusual matters recently..." Su Hong hurriedly sped up her words.
"Two breaths! Your last chance to speak!" Li Yan's voice, devoid of any emotion, sounded out. He didn't believe for a second that she was on some mission for his sect. These were all meaningless words.
"I know you are a Malevolent Spirit Sect cultivator because of this!" Su Hong's heart was truly in a panic now, because she saw Li Yan's body lean slightly forward, as if he was about to strike in the next instant.
Just as Li Yan was about to move, his body froze. Suddenly, another item flashed in Su Hong's hand. It was a token, or more precisely, a Malevolent Spirit Sect token. However, this token was not the usual black one seen among sect disciples, but brown. Li Yan had never seen this color before, but he was extremely familiar with the ancient patterns on the token. He didn't need to examine it closely; a single glance confirmed it was no forgery.
Seeing the aura around Li Yan slowly stabilize, Su Hong's expression relaxed. Without another word, she tossed both the token and the green jade bottle containing the Crystal Bone Water to Li Yan.
Seeing her decisively toss both items to him, Li Yan did not stand on ceremony. He reached out and caught the token and the jade bottle. He first opened the bottle of Crystal Bone Water. A wave of coldness emanated from within. A sweep of his Divine Sense brought a flicker of joy to his heart. Inside the bottle, his Divine Sense perceived eight distinct, perfectly round beads of water, rolling around at the bottom like crystalline pearls. The beads were a deep blue, each one radiating a chilling cold. This green jade bottle was clearly no ordinary item; Li Yan could distinctly feel the fluctuation of restrictions within it. It made sense; if the Crystal Bone Water were placed directly into an ordinary jade bottle, the bottle would likely dissolve into liquid or be obliterated in an instant. Only by protecting it with restrictions could it be contained.
These eight water beads were exactly as described by Ping Tu, but their color was very deep, which was because it was only grade-one Crystal Bone Water. The more transparent the Crystal Bone Water became, the higher its grade. However, this was more than enough for Li Yan's use. Satisfied, Li Yan recapped the bottle. With a flash of green light, the bottle vanished from his hand. Only then did he turn his attention to the brown token.
Su Hong's crisp voice rang out at that moment. "The reason I knew you were a Malevolent Spirit Sect cultivator is because this token can sense the presence of other Malevolent Spirit Sect cultivators nearby. I was on the brink of death earlier, so I didn't notice the token in my storage space reacting. It wasn't until I relaxed and sent my Divine Sense into my Storage Pouch to get a medicinal pill that I discovered the abnormality with the token. The person it marked was right in front of me, so I was certain that you are a Senior Brother from the Malevolent Spirit Sect."
The moment the token was in his hand, Li Yan became even more certain it was genuine. Although the color was different, the material felt identical to the one he carried. It was unique to the Malevolent Spirit Sect and impossible to fake. Furthermore, a red dot was blinking on its surface. Startled, Li Yan dropped his disguise and, with a flash of light in his hand, produced his own black token. However, there was nothing on his token. Her token actually had the ability to locate others.
Li Yan's expression turned ugly. A surge of powerful Spirit Power erupted from him, immediately enveloping his own token. When he looked at the brown token again, the red dot on it had become somewhat blurry. Seeing this, Li Yan felt a slight sense of relief.
"Senior Brother, my token's senses are also limited. It will only react within a certain range. And it can only penetrate ordinary restrictions to find its target, like a common Storage Pouch." Li Yan had been clutching his token tightly in his palm, so Su Hong couldn't see which peak he belonged to. But she seemed to have read his mind, smiling as she voiced his thoughts.
No cultivator, not even those from the same sect, wanted their every move to be monitored, or at least to have someone know their whereabouts at all times. After hearing Su Hong's words and conducting his own test, Li Yan was certain she wasn't lying. He believed that if he placed his sect token inside Tu Ban, she would never be able to find him. That was a Magical Treasure from one of the Five Immortal Sects, refined by a mid-stage Body Integration cultivator. It was not something a cultivator from this realm could possess; even in the Immortal Spirit Realm, it would be considered extremely rare.
Li Yan thought back. The reason Su Hong hadn't discovered him at the Chant-Garment Assembly was likely due to the grand restriction formation there. Otherwise, being in the same hall, he would have been discovered long ago.
"Why did the sect give you this kind of token?" Li Yan didn't immediately return the brown token to Su Hong. Instead, he looked up at her. He now understood why Su Hong had become so calm during their flight and why her gaze had been so strange. He had initially thought she had the innate gift of "Scent-Discerning Art."
"Senior Brother, for you to be here now instead of back at the sect, you must have important business to attend to. In that case, you should know about the recent events concerning cultivators," Su Hong said with a serious expression.
"Oh? Are you talking about the matter of many sects mysteriously disappearing or being uprooted?" Li Yan had, of course, already heard a great deal from Daoist Gong of the Xuanqing Temple.