Li Yan could guess that in the past twenty-odd years, Zhao Min must have tried to sense his location more than once. But because they were too far apart, Zhao Min could only sense a general area of his whereabouts.
Moreover, given the arrangements made by that Nascent Soul from the Demon Clan, there must be certain restrictions or surveillance on Zhao Min's freedom. He figured Zhao Min couldn't leave too far from Sacred Demon City.
On this point, Li Yan would never have dreamed that Zhao Min's importance now had far exceeded his expectations.
The ones who valued her now were not just one Nascent Soul cultivator, but two top-tier Spirit Transformation experts, and they were the Supreme Elders of the White Demon Clan, the highest cultivation level.
'She probably sensed that the distance between us was too great over the past twenty-plus years, making the possibility of meeting minuscule, so she no longer actively casts the sensing art as often. However, it has been half a year, and Senior Sister hasn't sensed me even once. Could she have entered seclusion?'
Faced with this situation, Li Yan carefully deliberated and guessed. But he didn't doubt for a second that Zhao Min had forgotten her identity and wanted to permanently stay on the Forsaken Continent.
With Zhao Min's character, it would be very difficult for her to do so. So, the only thing Li Yan could think of was that she had entered seclusion.
But how could he contact Zhao Min? Li Yan fell into deep thought for a time.
As darkness slowly painted the entire room and the interior fell into pitch black, Li Yan slowly raised his head. The sharp glint in his eyes was like a bolt of lightning streaking through the dark room.
'There can be no other way. Even if my relationship with Cultivator Chu gets any better, it's impossible for him to take me deep into the Sacred Demon Palace. And once Senior Sister enters seclusion, the duration is unknown. It could be ten, twenty, or even fifty years. The only way is...'
He muttered to himself, his voice almost inaudible.
The next moment, a purple light flashed in his hand. A small purple flag flickered and then disappeared into the floor of the room. The entire room was briefly illuminated by a rising purple glow before everything returned to normal.
Li Yan had once again deployed the Great Dragon-Elephant Formation, isolating the room from the outside world.
After doing all this, Li Yan sat cross-legged on the spot and began to regulate the Spirit Power in his body.
Suddenly, he gently raised his right hand, his index and middle fingers together like a sword. A dark, gloomy glow lit up at his fingertips; it was the condensation of Gui Water True Qi.
Staring at the gloomy glow on his fingertips, Li Yan's eyes narrowed slightly. Suddenly, without any warning, he ruthlessly jabbed towards the area of his heart.
At the same time, he had completely dispersed the protective Spirit Qi over his left chest.
With a muffled "thump," Li Yan's sword-fingers had fiercely struck his own left chest.
But because his physical body was too tough, even though he had dispersed the Qi over his left chest, his finger-sword still felt as if it had struck a piece of refined steel mountain rock, leaving only a faint white mark on his body.
However, the powerful Spirit Power contained in his fingertips had already seeped into his body, heading straight for his heart.
Li Yan felt his heart twitch violently. His entire being immediately fell into a semi-conscious state. His seated body slowly bent forward, his consciousness starting to dissipate.
As his body bent forward, he spat out a mouthful of blood, which shot out like an arrow.
In the darkness, the purple light flashed again. The arrow of blood hit the defensive barrier of the Great Dragon-Elephant Formation, emitting a series of "hissing" sounds.
That one finger strike just now would have been enough to make an ordinary Golden Core cultivator's physical body burst into a bloody mist, their Golden Core forced out.
Li Yan was also extremely ruthless to himself.
At this moment, if his consciousness were clear and he were to inspect his body with his Divine Sense, he would find a patch of white fluid gushing out from his heart.
In his blurred consciousness, Li Yan seemed to hear a sharp, shrill cry, but it all felt like the dizziness and ringing in his ears caused by the violent convulsions of his heart.
...
In a secret chamber deep within the Sacred Demon Palace, Zhao Min sat cross-legged, her figure tall and straight. Her long black ponytail hung down, gently following the curve of her back and scattering over her rounded hips.
Her ten slender, fair fingers each formed a different manual seal, palms facing up, resting on her long legs.
Long lashes veiled her beautiful eyes. A blue glow flowed erratically around her body, reflecting off her snow-like skin with a kind of ice-soul magnificence, dreamlike and fantastical.
She had been cultivating like this for more than three years. In the mountains, there is no calendar; when the cold ends, one does not know the year. She was completely unaware of the passage of time.
Her breathing was almost non-existent, yet her aura was vigorous and rich.
Suddenly, Zhao Min's slender body, in the midst of cultivation, trembled. Large beads of sweat rapidly appeared on her forehead.
The Spirit Power that had been circulating steadily in her body instantly fell into disarray, crashing about everywhere. An incomparable stinging pain shot through her meridians.
But Zhao Min couldn't be bothered with the loss of control over her Spirit Power. The wrenching pain from her heart surpassed all other agony.
'He... how could he... again... again be in a life-or-death... crisis!'
The moment Zhao Min was startled awake, she understood what had happened. This situation had occurred once before.
That time, she had thought she was going to explode and die, but after several dozen breaths, everything returned to normal. She guessed that Li Yan might have been hunted down or had accidentally strayed into some perilous land.
However, as long as she didn't die, Li Yan had naturally overcome the crisis.
That time, after the pain disappeared, she had quickly cast an art to investigate, only to find that her junior brother was still roughly more than fifty thousand li south of Sacred Demon City. Even if she had wanted to go and check, it would have been impossible.
For the next few days, she had waited without sleep or rest. Only when there was no further abnormality from the Heart-Entangling Twin Gu in her body did she finally feel at ease.
Unexpectedly, today the Heart-Entangling Twin Gu in her heart was once again struggling on the verge of death. This nearly caused Zhao Min, who was in the middle of cultivating, to suffer from cultivation deviation. She tightly gripped the lapel of her clothes over her chest, her knuckles turning white and creaking, as she gasped for air.
However, this time it was very short. Two breaths later, the Heart-Entangling Twin Gu in her heart surprisingly returned to calm.
'This... is... what's happening? He... he resolved the crisis so quickly?'
Zhao Min forcefully suppressed the chaotic Spirit Power in her body and stretched out a slender, fair hand to quickly form a manual seal.
Immediately, a phantom image of a Gu-insect with a large head and a slender body appeared in the air. Ripples continuously spread out from its body. With a flash, the phantom image disappeared into her left chest, at the location of her heart.
Ignoring the beads of sweat rolling down her forehead, Zhao Min immediately used her Divine Sense to communicate with the Heart-Entangling Twin Gu inside her.
Just a moment later, Zhao Min abruptly opened her beautiful eyes. They were first filled with shock, then slowly, a shimmering light appeared.
"You! You've finally come!"
Li Yan didn't know how much time had passed. The darkness before his eyes slowly receded, but an intense dizziness still clouded his consciousness.
His entire body was soaked in sweat. In order to make the Heart-Entangling Twin Gu feel the crisis of death, he had nearly shattered his own heart with one finger.
And just as Li Yan regained consciousness, his body suddenly trembled. Then, with a wave of his sleeve, the door to the room quietly opened amidst a flash of purple light.
Under the starlight of the night, a hazy, slender white figure stood on the pavilion railing, as if floating in mid-air. A pair of bright eyes stared fixedly at Li Yan, who was still sitting cross-legged.
At this time, everyone else in the shop had fallen into a deep sleep.
The young man was the same as ever, his appearance identical to the one in her memory, just like when he held her in the crevice of Devil's Cliff. Only his temperament had gained a bit more freedom and otherworldly grace.
"Senior Sister, I hope you've been well."
Li Yan smiled and slowly stood up. He reached out to gently wipe the residual blood from the corner of his mouth. At the same time, his Divine Sense swept around, and he immediately felt relieved. Su Yuan, Xie Tongyi, and the others had merely fallen into a deep sleep.
The white figure flashed, and like a fairy, she gracefully stepped into the room.
"Yes. Have you been searching for a long time?"
"A very long time. A very, very long time!" Li Yan said slowly.
They gazed at each other, their words casual.
"But your method this time was really crude. I nearly suffered a cultivation deviation from the backlash!"
A rare smile touched the corners of Zhao Min's mouth.
"But it was very effective, wasn't it?" Li Yan said with a smile, holding up his finger. There was still a trace of blood he had wiped from his mouth. With a flash of Spirit Power light, the bloodstain vanished.
"Will it cause trouble?"
"No!"
Li Yan asked simply, and Zhao Min answered simply. Li Yan didn't press further. Zhao Min was equally meticulous in her actions.
"Senior Sister is already close to the peak of the Initial-stage Golden Core. At this speed, even Eldest Senior Brother might have to concede defeat!"
Hearing Li Yan mention Li Wuyi, the corner of Zhao Min's mouth twitched up again. That smile, in the dark room, was like a winter plum blossoming in the snow.
Li Yan's words made her think of her family in the Malevolent Spirit Sect, and long-sealed memories flooded her mind.
"But I imagine I'm still no match for you!" she said, her red lips parting slightly. Li Yan was not concealing his cultivation at that moment, but the feeling he gave Zhao Min was as if he were an unfathomable, boundless black hole.
"And you, how have you been?" Li Yan asked after a brief silence, a question that was both simple and held a meaning only the two of them could understand.
"Shouldn't Junior Brother offer me a cup of tea?" Zhao Min gently glided past Li Yan and sat down in the chair by the window.
A vast expanse of starlight poured in from the window, falling upon the tabletop and upon the side of the young woman's heroic and unparalleled face, which was as smooth and cold as jade, carved without a trace.
Li Yan rubbed his nose with his hand, then turned and sat in the other chair opposite the table, casually picking up the teapot.
"There's only cold tea here. It would be better if we had Senior Sister Li's Gu wine!"
"That wine was specially brewed by Senior Sister Li for Eldest Senior Brother. The most we could hope for was to freeload a taste!" Zhao Min blinked her beautiful eyes, for once shedding her cold elegance and proud aloofness, replaced by a playful charm unique to a young woman.
For a moment, it was as if they had returned to the courtyard on Little Bamboo Peak, back to the old days of drinking and laughing together...
An hour later, Li Yan knew everything that had happened to Zhao Min over the years, and Zhao Min also learned of the several near-death situations Li Yan had faced.
Neither of them sighed with emotion over it. This was the way of cultivators. To be able to see each other alive was the best comfort.
"Now we both only know one way to leave this place, but it first requires supreme-grade Spirit Stones or a massive amount of high-grade Spirit Stones to activate. And according to you, the cultivation method you practice is too important to the Sacred Demon Palace. It's one thing if you don't leave the city, but once you do, you will definitely attract the attention of those two super experts. I'm afraid we wouldn't be able to escape even if we had wings!"
After Li Yan and Zhao Min exchanged information, they found that if they wanted to leave the Forsaken Continent and escape the grasp of the Sacred Demon Palace, their only option was that super cross-realm teleportation grand formation.
And after they entered the cross-realm teleportation grand formation, they would still need the protection of a Nascent Soul cultivator.
Otherwise, with their strength, their physical bodies would be unable to withstand the load of ultra-long-distance teleportation and would be torn into countless fragments during the process.
"Junior Brother, we don't necessarily have to go to the Verdant Continent. The goal now is to escape the control of the Sacred Demon Palace. After that, even if we arrive on another continent, no one else will notice us!"
Zhao Min had clearly been pondering this question for a long time.
"Yes, I have been considering this problem as well. But from the information I've gathered, I haven't found any other way to leave this continent!"
Li Yan shook his head. He had already exhausted all his efforts and had only managed to find out the location of the cross-realm teleportation continent; other information was pitifully scarce.