Li Yan remained motionless, merely maintaining the dense black mist around his palm. The rays of purple light flashed and vanished into the purple flag before him, as if being sucked in by its rotation. After a short while, the flag stopped spinning, and no more purple light emanated from the cave walls. The flag simply hovered silently in mid-air.
Next, two streaks of blue, ethereal light shot out from the black mist and struck the ground at the cave entrance. First, the cave trembled slightly, and a large entrance revealed itself on the wall. Then, a ball of yellow light rose from the ground. When the light dissipated, a small pit appeared on the floor. Lying quietly in the pit were four storage pouches and a palm-sized, crystal-clear block of ice. Embedded in the middle of the ice was a long, thin object, slightly thicker than an adult's thumb and about two inches in length.
Ignoring the four storage pouches, Li Yan carefully examined the small ice block. The object embedded within it resembled a small, slender bamboo shoot, covered in fine patterns like overlapping sheaths.
Li Yan glanced down at the ball of black mist in his hand and nodded in satisfaction. The Snow Sprite Lord was indeed a sensible creature. By intervening to slow the burning of the pure yang flames, he had given it a respite, and it had not tried to escape. Instead, it had opened the three formations in the cave, revealing its hidden treasure.
After all this was done, no more sound came from within the black mist. The Snow Sprite Lord's Essence Soul seemed to have fallen silent, as if awaiting Li Yan's final decision. Li Yan stepped down from the ice throne and slowly walked to the cave entrance. He first scanned the area repeatedly with his Divine Sense and, finding nothing unusual, made a grasping motion. The block of ice flew into his palm.
Gazing at the small, bamboo-shoot-like object embedded in the center, its surface a milky white, Li Yan was reminded of the stalactites found in the deep caves of his homeland. A heavenly material like this should have been stored in a specially made jade bottle or magical artifact. But there were no artifact refiners in the Melting Cave, so it must have been preserved using ice.
"The Melting Bamboo Shoot was obtained from the previous Snow Sprite Lord. For such a precious item, severed from its root and preserved in this manner, I wonder if some of its effects have been lost," Li Yan worried. He didn't immediately smash the ice to retrieve the Melting Bamboo Shoot. Instead, he held it in his hand, observing it carefully, as if admiring a rare curio.
After a long while, Li Yan slowly raised his head, his face devoid of joy or sorrow. His gaze finally fell upon the four storage pouches in the pit. Throughout this process, the Snow Sprite Lord's Essence Soul had not made a single sound.
With one hand maintaining the dense black mist to temporarily halt the yang fire's corrosion of the Essence Soul , and the other holding the ice block, Li Yan swept his Divine Sense over the four storage pouches. He quickly confirmed the Snow Sprite Lord's words. It had not tampered with them; they only bore the marks of previous refinement. His Divine Sense easily penetrated the storage pouches. Inside, apart from Spirit Stones and some jade slips, there were no porcelain bottles for medicinal pills, not even a single spirit artifact, let alone a magical treasure.
Li Yan paid it no mind. With a flick of his Divine Sense, thirteen jade slips flew out from the storage pouches and hovered in the air. Soon, a smile appeared on Li Yan's face. He had easily found a jade slip that recorded the control methods for three formations.
The "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" and two others—one defensive, one illusionary. Li Yan naturally looked at the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" first. He quickly saw from the control incantations that it was an extraordinary formation. After examining the descriptions of the other two, he could only say they were decent.
The "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" was an offensive and defensive formation refined from the souls of ten Purple God Dragon-Elephants. Li Yan knew that the Purple God Dragon-Elephant was an ancient, variant species of heaven and earth, now said to exist only in extremely remote places. A few thousand years ago, a Nascent Soul elder from the Spirit Insect Peak had a Purple God Dragon-Elephant as his spirit pet. This beast could tear apart dragons and tigers, possessing immense strength, but its greatest asset was its defense.
When that Nascent Soul elder fought, the Purple God Dragon-Elephant could even withstand a full blow from a Nascent Soul cultivator without injury. After enduring the attack, the beast would immediately launch a ferocious, close-range assault, catching the opponent off guard. The elder from the Spirit Insect Peak would then seize the opportunity to strike, almost always heavily injuring or even killing the enemy Nascent Soul.
This Nascent Soul elder was a major threat to both the Jingtu Sect and the Supreme Mystery Teachings. Only the sword cultivators of the Ten-Pace Courtyard could suppress his advance with long-range attacks. But if he hid behind the Purple God Dragon-Elephant, even sword cultivators couldn't quickly kill the beast, especially since it wouldn't just stand there and take hits, and it had a Nascent Soul master providing additional protection.
'Refined from the souls of ten Purple God Dragon-Elephants at once... what a powerful sect. Which ancient sect did this fallen cultivator belong to? I know there are many ancient sects skilled in formations just within the territory of the Malevolent Spirit Sect. Some have declined, others are hidden too deeply. But just from the fact that they would give such a powerful formation to a Foundation Establishment cultivator, this sect must either be so declined that its talent has withered, or this cultivator's status in the sect was extremely important, which is why he was given this formation to enhance his combat power. But this jade slip only records the control manual, with no mention of its origin,' Li Yan mused.
When he had entered earlier using the Heaven-Stealing Kerchief, the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" had not yet been activated, so he didn't know its true power. Although there was no living Purple God Dragon-Elephant, a grand formation controlled by the essence souls of ten such beasts filled Li Yan's heart with anticipation.
"Fellow Daoist, I have given you everything. So, you..." Just as Li Yan was pondering, the Snow Sprite Lord's indifferent voice came from the dense black mist in his hand. The voice seemed to be a reminder, but also as if it were awaiting its final fate. If Li Yan went back on his word now, there was nothing it could do.
Li Yan glanced at the black mist but said nothing. With a thought, he collected only the jade slip recording the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" and the hovering purple flag into his own storage pouch. The remaining jade slips, which he hadn't examined closely, shot back into the four storage pouches in the pit, each returning to its original bag without a single mistake.
Li Yan was meticulous. He wanted to deal with the matter at hand first, then later match the jade slips with their storage pouches to see if he could find anything else.
Li Yan didn't answer the Snow Sprite Lord's Essence Soul. He simply shifted his gaze to the ice block in his other hand. This time, he channeled his Spirit Power, and cracks began to appear on the ice. Shards of ice rained from his palm. Just as the block was about to shatter completely, Li Yan suddenly condensed his Spirit Power, forcefully halting the process. All that was left was a small ice bar in his palm, the outer layer of ice no longer crumbling, with only a thin film remaining.
At that very moment, the black mist in his right hand surged, and a streak of ethereal light shot out from within. Simultaneously, Li Yan let out a cold laugh. "Fellow Daoist, where do you think you're going?" The ethereal light was none other than the Snow Sprite Lord's Essence Soul. Its face was now filled with panic and despair. It had abandoned its Demonic Core , letting only its Essence Soul escape.
As Li Yan's voice rang out, he had already opened his mouth and spat out a jet of crimson flame. Like an arrow loosed from a bowstring, it shot directly at the Essence Soul, which had already reached the cave entrance. A piercing shriek followed. The ethereal light, struck by the flame, ignited instantly like lamp oil. The Snow Sprite Lord's Essence Soul only had time for one scream before it was cut short. A puff of blue smoke flashed in the air and then gently dissipated, leaving the cave residence in utter silence.
All of this happened suddenly, yet Li Yan stood in place from beginning to end, not a hint of shock on his face. Instead, a trace of mockery appeared. He had genuinely considered letting this wisp of Essence Soul go. He didn't particularly covet the Snow Sprite Lord's Demonic Core, and he had felt a certain appreciation for the decisiveness it had shown earlier. But this Snow Sprite had tried to be clever, attempting to lure him into a trap. How could Li Yan be someone who easily trusted others?
Withdrawing his gaze from the cave entrance, he opened his mouth and inhaled. The flame formed from his Spirit Power flew back into his mouth. His expression was impassive as he looked down at his left palm, where the shoot-shaped ice bar, still clad in a thin layer of ice, rested. He gently tossed it into the air. Then, with a sweep of his left sleeve, as if time were reversing, the ice shards that had fallen from his palm shot back up from the ground, re-coating the ice bar layer by layer. At that moment, the shoot-like object within the ice bar seemed to squirm, and a faint, weak voice emerged.
Li Yan heard only one word: "Save..." before he forcefully shut down his six senses. The ice shards from the ground re-formed around the ice bar at an even faster rate. The shoot-like object within squirmed more rapidly, but in just a moment, the ice bar once again became a palm-sized block of ice, and the object within fell silent again.
Seeing the ice bar return to its original state, Li Yan's expression remained grave. He slapped his storage pouch again, and several more talismans flew out, which he pressed onto the ice block. Only then did Li Yan let out a long breath.
"What in the world is this thing? Its form, its initial aura... they're identical to the 'Melting Bamboo Shoot' described in the records. There's no way a level two demonic beast could have sealed it. The aura fluctuating from it is chilling, so powerful that I have no confidence I could deal with it! And this ice block is strange too. It's easy enough to damage from the outside, yet it can seal this unknown thing." Gazing at the ice block floating in the air, covered in talismans, and the milky-white, shoot-shaped object embedded within, Li Yan still felt a lingering fear.
Since it was resealed, Li Yan temporarily ignored the ice block of unknown origin and turned his attention to the surging black mist in his right hand. He circulated his Spirit Power, and the dense black mist slowly dissipated, revealing a cluster of blue, ethereal fire with a crimson edge. It was the Snow Sprite Lord's Demonic Core, the very thing Cheng Wenming and his companions had wanted. But now, this cluster of blue fire was no longer restless, simply allowing the pure yang flames at its edge to intertwine with it.
Feeling the outer layer like a scorching sun and the inner core a mass of cold yin, Li Yan's Divine Sense stirred, and a jade box flew out from the Earth-Spot. This jade box was a gift from Su Hong . Knowing that Li Yan was going out to seek treasures, Su Hong knew that different types of heavenly materials required different magical artifacts or jade containers for storage. Li Yan, on the other hand, was ill-prepared. Given Su Hong's status, she naturally kept such things on hand and had a complete collection. She had unhesitatingly given Li Yan dozens of magical artifacts and jade boxes, explaining their respective properties and uses.
The Snow Sprite Lord's Demonic Core was a fire of extreme yin. Li Yan, of course, knew what to use to store it. If not for the jade boxes Su Hong had given him, even if he knew what to do, he might not have been able to properly preserve it.