Hearing Li Yan's question, Li Wuyi glanced at him.
"That's hard to say. A fight depends not only on the realm and strength of both sides but also on the right time and place, the comparison of our strength versus the enemy's, and even luck. For example, well..." After some thought, Li Wuyi continued.
"During a harvesting in the Secret Realm, I was alone and encountered three monks from the Pure Land Sect. These three were skilled in combined assault and encirclement tactics. Chan cultivators have profound magical power and are tough as leather. Cultivators of the same realm find it extremely difficult to break their defense. I was attacked by the three of them together and tried to break through several times but couldn't escape their encirclement. At the same time, I deployed no less than forty different types of potent poisons, illusionary poisons, and strange poisons. Although each of the monks was hit by two or three potent poisons, they unexpectedly had a treasure like a sarira on them. That's a magical artifact usually only possessed by those at the Golden Core realm or above. Besides its great power, it's also a supreme treasure for suppressing all yin-type entities and dispelling poison, left behind by a Nascent Soul ancestor after their passing. This extremely rare item shouldn't be in the possession of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but one of the three was carrying it. During the fierce battle, they took turns using the sarira to dispel the poison. Although they couldn't completely remove it at once, they managed to hold me back. In the ensuing fight, my right side was struck by a Chan staff, and half of my body went numb. I was basically trapped. But it just so happened that the battle was taking place by a river, and in that river lived Intestine-Eating Fish. These fish grow no longer than an inch and live in schools. A single one has the combat power of a third or fourth-level Qi Condensation cultivator—extremely weak. But when they attack, they come in tens or hundreds of thousands. They like to attack any living creature near the water's surface. Once targeted, they leap out of the water by the thousands and attack the target, using their extremely sharp mouths to pierce the creature's body. Their mouths are like needle-like tubes, exceptionally sharp. Even a Foundation Establishment cultivator's flesh would be pierced directly without the protection of a spiritual light shield. I guess you could call that one of their innate talents. Once pierced, the Intestine-Eating Fish will suck forcefully. Whether it's flesh, blood, or meridians, everything in the attacked creature's body is sucked in, piece by piece, through their tube-like mouths. Because everything that goes into their needle-like mouths looks like a long intestine, the beast got its name. With thousands of Intestine-Eating Fish clinging to a creature, it takes less than a single breath for them to disperse, leaving behind nothing but a clean, translucent skeleton, without a shred of flesh or blood."
As Li Yan listened to this description, the scene of the battle appeared in his mind. The thought of thousands of Intestine-Eating Fish leaping about made him shiver with dread.
Li Wuyi continued his voice transmission calmly, without a hint of emotion, as if he were talking about the most ordinary thing imaginable.
"When we were fighting in that area, these Intestine-Eating Fish were constantly looking for a chance to attack us, but both sides deliberately stayed away from the river, so we never gave them an opportunity. In the end, with half my body paralyzed and seeing no escape, I quickly moved towards the riverbank. The three monks realized my intention and were half a step too late to stop me. Unwilling to let me go, they followed close behind. Of course, they thought that with their Foundation Establishment spiritual light shields, they could easily fend off a school of Intestine-Eating Fish for a while. And they were right. But I was in extreme danger at that point, with no strength left to fight. So I released the powder of the 'Spirit-Lure Grass' into the stream below and sprinkled 'River-Dwelling Willow' on myself. The former has a stimulating effect on demonic beasts; low-level beasts can't stand the smell. Once they inhale it, they lose their minds and attack with even more frenzy. The latter is the bark of an ancient willow with an extremely foul odor that few creatures are willing to approach. Its smell can seep through the pores even if you hold your breath, making you emit a nauseating scent for a period of time. So, people generally don't carry it, afraid that if a little bit leaks out and gets on them, they'll become a beacon in the night, easily found by enemies."
Li Wuyi continued slowly, "But at that time, I had no other choice, and I didn't know if it would work on the Intestine-Eating Fish. If not, it would only mean I'd die faster. After using these two herbs, I withdrew my protective spiritual light to let the 'River-Dwelling Willow' spread more easily and then plunged into the river. The countless frenzied Intestine-Eating Fish in the river, stimulated by the scent of the 'Spirit-Lure Grass,' shot up into the sky like a tidal wave, almost knocking me back into the air. But most of the fish that jumped up later avoided me and swarmed the protective light shields of the three monks. After I fell into the water, although many Intestine-Eating Fish tried to attack me, they all swam away when they got close. In the end, I swam away underwater, found a deep area far from the fish, and managed to cast a 'Water Evasion Art' to hide for nearly ten days until the smell on my body slowly faded.
"As for the three monks, two escaped. But one of them succumbed to the poison he had been hit with earlier. It was his turn to use the sarira to dispel the poison again, but his body was already covered in Intestine-Eating Fish. He didn't have the strength to take flight and escape. After holding on for a while, he died there.
"So, tell me, what did I rely on to win that time? There was the favorable location, being near the Intestine-Eating Fish. There was the opportune moment, because I happened to be carrying those two herbs. But more than anything, it was luck. My guesses about the two herbs were both correct. If either had been wrong, I wouldn't be here today."
Li Yan fell silent. Anything could happen on the path of cultivation. Even mortals believed in something like fortune. It seemed it truly did exist.
In fact, cultivators valued fortune even more. There were even cultivators who specialized in this aspect. They relied on the power of faith to enhance their own cultivation. For example, some Confucian schools had the Righteous Aura, which was naturally generated after long periods of studying poetry and books to become a great Confucian scholar. Buddhism and Daoism were staunch practitioners of the power of faith. They built temples and monasteries for people to worship and believe in. Over time, the statues in the temples and monasteries would generate Buddhist Willpower and Daoist Votive Power. When cultivators practiced in these temples and monasteries, they would gradually accumulate this Willpower or Votive Power. Whether it was the Righteous Aura, Willpower, or Votive Power, none of them were the spiritual energy of cultivation but a special kind of existence. In some aspects, their power even surpassed that of spiritual energy. So when fighting against great Confucians, monks, and Daoists, one had to guard not only against their cultivation techniques but also their other methods of attack. The most difficult attacks to defend against were generally those like the Righteous Aura, Willpower, and Votive Power. Their attacks were strange and extremely difficult to detect with divine sense.
Li Yan knew Li Wuyi was telling him this to prepare him mentally. When one did not have absolute strength, one should not underestimate any opponent. Strength might not be everything. Even he couldn't be sure who would make it out of the Secret Realm Harvesting.
At the same time, he was also telling him that in the Wheel of Life and Death, he had to rely on himself. Calmness and using the right environment at the right time were the keys to survival.
For the remaining nine days, Li Yan spent eight consolidating his realm. On the last day, it wasn't that he didn't need to consolidate, but as more cultivators came out, news of what was happening inside the Secret Realm slowly spread, drawing more people into discussions and making them lose interest in cultivating.
At this point, the total number of light dots on the Heaven's Heart Compass was less than eighty. The number of Foundation Establishment cultivators and Tier-2 demonic beasts from the four sects and three teams who had come out was only one hundred and eleven. This meant that even if no one else died, out of the original three hundred and forty-three cultivators and demonic beasts who had entered, more than one hundred and fifty had already died, accounting for over forty percent of the total. The casualty rate was astonishing. Of course, these cultivators who came out early had brought a large number of treasures and medicinal pills for their respective sects or races. These would be handed over to the leaders of their sect or race and recorded. After returning, they would be rewarded according to their merits. No one dared to hide treasures here unless they were confident their storage spirit artifacts could deceive these old monsters who had lived for hundreds of years. If discovered, not only would their desperate efforts be for naught, but they might even lose their lives.
At this time, the faces of the leading elders from each sect were grim. Although they went through this every fifteen years, the cultivators who entered were all elites painstakingly nurtured by their sects. They might not be the absolute top tier, but they were a major force. Although the losses were heavy each time, no sect was willing to give up this opportunity. The heavenly materials and earthly treasures brought out were extremely rare in the outside world. Besides, what was the use of having a large number of cultivators who had never been tempered by trials? In the end, they would just become vassals to others.
Li Yan looked up. Apart from the seventeen cultivators from the Malevolent Spirit Sect who had already come out, only fifteen black dots remained on the Heaven's Heart Compass. He could tell from the other light dots that the Supreme Mystery Teachings had ten, the Pure Land Sect had twelve, and the Ten-Pace Courtyard had thirteen. Among the three demonic beast teams, one was in a miserable state with only five beasts surviving. But the other two teams had a high survival rate, with one having fourteen and the other twelve. Their combined number was more than any two of the four human sects combined. It could be said that on their home turf, the demonic beasts had a slight advantage.
At this moment, compared to the three demonic beast teams, the cultivator side was eerily quiet. From the demonic beast side, a few roars could be heard from time to time. The Foundation Establishment cultivators and Tier-2 demonic beasts who had been teleported out and had recovered or awakened were now looking at each other from a distance, their eyes filled with overwhelming fury. Some were sneering coldly. The Tier-2 demonic beasts were growling at the human side, as if ready to attack at any moment. It was clear that life-and-death grudges had been formed inside the valley.
But under the watchful eyes of the leading Tier-3 demonic beasts and the dozens of Golden Core elders, no fight broke out. They were all clearly suppressing their anger. If this were anywhere else, a world-shaking battle would have already erupted.
Time ticked by. The air in the valley, already heavy with a silence that drove people to the brink of madness, grew even more solidified. Everyone's lips were sealed tight as they stared at the Heaven's Heart Compass. It was now evening, less than half an hour before the final exit. When the time was up, the light dots within the bodies of everyone inside the valley would automatically activate and teleport them out. It was impossible to stay behind.
But since noon, the number of colored light dots on the Heaven's Heart Compass had stopped decreasing. It was likely that the people inside knew they were about to come out and had tacitly stopped fighting, instead focusing on finding as many spiritual herbs and treasures as possible.
The hour of Xu (TN: 7-9 PM) finally arrived, much to the anticipation of everyone outside the valley. Instantly, the sky above the valley entrance lit up brightly. Amidst the flashing lights of various colors, the entrance resembled a meteor shower. Colorful lights flickered and jumped. After each light disappeared, a human figure would be revealed. Once the figures became clear, they still maintained a vigilant posture, their spiritual light shields not yet withdrawn. Only after seeing their surroundings did some show expressions of relief, but they still kept their shields up. After identifying their direction, they all rushed towards their own sect's area or the demonic beast side. Only after entering their sect's area and standing before their elders did they withdraw their protective shields, their faces showing fatigue as they finally relaxed their guard.
Li Yan noticed that whether human or demonic beast, everyone who came out had a tense and guarded expression. Even after recognizing their surroundings, they showed no excitement. Some were exhausted, some were covered in blood, some were seriously injured, and some were already unconscious upon arrival. It was unknown whether they had held on with their last breath inside or had been attacked just before being teleported.
The teleportation process was very short. Almost all the light dots appeared above the valley entrance at the same time, with no more than three breaths between them. Then, the flashing lights at the entrance ceased.
At this point, no one in any area was looking at the other sects or races anymore. The people who came out were all at their elders' side, handing over storage pouches or receiving treatment. The Qi Condensation disciples did not move about randomly; they all stared at the elders' side, not daring to go forward to watch or ask questions.