Gan Shi didn't notice the change in Li Yan's expression. He discovered that his flying speed in this space was at least three times what it was in the outside world. This was an unprecedented experience. As he homed in on the purple band of light that was growing ever closer in his Divine Sense, a battle intent rose in his heart. This battle intent was a form of suppressed hatred. Once he could finally reunite with his fellow disciples, a climax of slaughter would be unleashed.
Soon, the two of them arrived before the dancing purple band of light. A dozen or so li away from this purple band was a black one, slowly approaching.
Baili Yuan looked at Gan Shi and Li Yan, who had suddenly appeared before him. With his honest and simple appearance, there wasn't a trace of surprise on his face. In contrast, Gan Shi and Li Yan's expressions were quite a sight to behold in the face of Baili Yuan's calm demeanor.
"Baili, you seem to have known we were coming," Gan Shi said, landing in front of Baili Yuan with a look of confusion. Li Yan followed, landing beside him. He glanced around. They were currently at the very beginning of the trial; Baili Yuan's group had just arrived. To his surprise, there were still twenty Qi Condensation cultivators here. People Li Yan was familiar with, like Du Sanjiang and Lu Qiutong, were all present. Upon seeing the two newcomers, only a few showed surprise. The rest just stared blankly at them with strange expressions.
Baili Yuan still had that same lukewarm expression. After seeing Li Yan, he gave him a brilliant smile. "To think it's Junior Brother Li from Little Bamboo Peak."
"Baili, I'm asking you a question," Gan Shi said, his face a mask of incomprehension as he cut Baili Yuan off.
Baili Yuan glanced at Gan Shi and then said slowly, "It's not strange, really, because I've encountered even stranger things. What happened on your end?"
...
Li Yan flew through the multicolored space, his Divine Sense constantly scanning, his face devoid of expression. In truth, his mind was racing.
'Sixth Senior Sister, I wonder how she is now? But according to what Senior Brother Baili said, could it be that a major change is about to happen here?'
A quarter of an hour earlier, Li Yan and Gan Shi had rendezvoused with Baili Yuan inside the passage. But the subsequent conversation with Baili Yuan had left them both in shock.
First, Li Yan had briefly explained the secret plot of the three sects—the Supreme Mystery Teachings, the Ten-Pace Courtyard, and the Pure Land Sect—to enter the Wheel of Life and Death. This part was what he had overheard from Wang Lang and Quan Jiuxing. Then he simply described the function of the blue rhomboid crystal and the green gourd, which seemed to bring a flash of understanding to Baili Yuan and his group. But Baili Yuan's next words left the two of them deeply moved.
Baili Yuan's group had fought their way through the previous trials in a bloody slaughter. This Baili Yuan was indeed someone that even Li Wuyi had to be wary of. His power was on full display in battle after battle, and after several trials, he had managed to preserve most of the Qi Condensation cultivators. But in the last trial, something had changed. At the bottom of the previous trial, inside the giant yellow sphere, they had encountered a team from the Supreme Mystery Teachings led by Qiu Jiuzhen. However, she only had eleven people left with her. When the two sides met, there were naturally no words exchanged. They immediately summoned their magical treasures and spirit artifacts. Just as a great battle was about to erupt, the giant yellow sphere suddenly shattered. At that time, the massive dark shadow in the sky had already covered the sphere's wall. Although it would still take some time to seep in, this sudden change scared the wits out of the dozens of people from both sides. Watching the massive dark shadow grow larger and larger as it invaded through the cracks in the sphere, everyone's hearts filled with despair, their faces etched with unwillingness. 'Could there be a problem with the Wheel of Life and Death?' This was the last thought in everyone's mind. Just as the seeping shadow closed in and everyone, on the verge of death, chaotically activated their talismans and protective shields, a bolt of lightning that lit up the world suddenly struck down from the dark shadow in the sky. It forcefully split the chaotic crowd of the two sides apart. Under the blindingly dazzling light, all they could see were arcs of piercing electrical energy dancing about. By the time Baili Yuan and his group could see clearly again, they were already at the beginning of their current trial. The Malevolent Spirit Sect hadn't lost a single person, but the cultivators from the Supreme Mystery Teachings were nowhere to be seen.
This sudden turn of events left everyone standing dumbfounded on the spot, completely clueless as to what had happened. A short while later, Li Yan and Gan Shi had also appeared. But for these cultivators whose minds were still in a complete fog, their arrival did not bring much surprise or shock. They hadn't even digested the previous shock, so why would they care about two people suddenly appearing?
After hearing Baili Yuan's words, Li Yan and Gan Shi had looked at each other, equally unable to comprehend what had happened. This made Li Yan even more worried about Gong Chenying's current situation. He didn't know if the actions of the three sects had changed the rules here, or if his own act of leaving the passage had caused a series of changes. But he had a faint feeling that it had to be one of the two. Otherwise, such a situation had never occurred in previous iterations of the Wheel of Life and Death.
After a brief discussion, the three of them concluded that the final trial would likely undergo a major change, and they had to be doubly careful. Looking at Rui Feikai and Dai Jing, who had been released from the Spirit-Storing Pouch, their Qi Condensation combat force now numbered twenty-three. Li Yan wasted no more time. He took out the green gourd he had obtained from Miao Zhengyi and handed it to Baili Yuan, once again explaining its use in detail. He believed this one green gourd would be enough for them to pass this final trial.
Baili Yuan considered it for a moment, then stopped Li Yan.
"Junior Brother Li, I think it would be best if either I or Junior Brother Gan went with you to find Junior Sister Gong."
Li Yan fell silent for a moment upon hearing this. He knew Baili Yuan was right. Whether it was for the range of their Divine Sense scan in the multicolored space or for help after entering a passage, that would be the best course of action. But in the end, he rejected the proposal.
"Senior Brother Baili, Senior Brother Gan, although that would be the safest way, there have already been changes here, and what happens next is unpredictable. Once we go out, it's hard to say if we'll even be able to re-enter a passage. The person who goes out might very well be trapped outside forever. If I go out, there might still be some guarantee, since I have a Miscellaneous Spirit Root and am somewhat familiar with the rules of the Five Elements. Besides, you only have one green gourd here for your use. Not to mention, Senior Brother Gan is not in the best condition right now," he said, pointing to Gan Shi and the now-dimming purple crystal in his hand.
Gan Shi gave a bitter laugh. "Baili, I have a three-element spirit root. I can't merge the Five Elements. I tried it before; injecting my spiritual power only makes the Five Elements space split faster. Alas, so if we go out together, Junior Brother Li would have to constantly expend his spiritual power to stabilize the Five Elements state in the other person's crystal. His consumption would be doubled!" At the same time, he sighed at his own current state. Although he had recovered somewhat, the side effects of the Aged Vigor Pill were kicking in. After a period of recovery, he would still need to divert a portion of his spiritual power to suppress it. In his condition, if he were to lead these twenty-three people, the casualties would surely be significant. This made Gan Shi's heart burn with even more anger toward the three sects. If it had been a one-on-one situation, he would never have taken the Aged Vigor Pill.
Hearing this, a light also flashed in Baili Yuan's eyes. He slapped the Storage Pouch at his waist, and a blue rhomboid crystal appeared in his hand. He first sent his Divine Sense in to confirm the state of the Five Elements space within, then circulated his cultivation art and quickly poured in his spiritual power. But a moment later, he too looked up at Li Yan, then at the green gourd placed to the side, his face filled with admiration.
"I really can't merge the Five Elements. Perhaps apart from someone with Junior Brother Li's constitution, only someone with a single Saint Spirit Root could do it." He was too embarrassed to directly say Li Yan's Miscellaneous Spirit Root, so he attributed it to his constitution. He also knew that Li Yan possessed the Fragmented Poison Body. Seeing Li Yan break through the sixth level of Qi Condensation, he had thought the Fragmented Poison Body played a key role. He himself possessed a Heaven Spirit Root, a rarity seen only once in a thousand years, with both fire and wood attributes—the best spirit root attributes for Lord Lao Peak.
"In that case, Junior Brother Li, be careful on your journey. If... there are any... changes... and you are still close, you can return here." Baili Yuan thought for a moment. Gan Shi's condition was very poor; he couldn't entrust this team of cultivators to him. In the end, he accepted Li Yan's suggestion, though his words were hesitant. After learning the specifics of the three sects' plot, he was now extremely worried about Gong Chenying's group. It had been over an hour since Li Yan had appeared; anything could have happened. But he was also deeply moved that Gong Chenying had decisively sent Li Yan to inform him.
Li Yan naturally agreed. Before leaving, so as not to waste the spiritual energy in the green gourd, he expended his own magical power to rebalance the Five Elements space in both Gan Shi's and Baili Yuan's blue rhomboid crystals. This was the most he could do to help.
Then, with a weary face, he shot out, skipping even the time to greet Du Sanjiang, Lu Qiutong, and the others. He didn't even stop to meditate and recover within the light band. The spiritual energy in the multicolored space outside was much richer. Li Yan estimated that by absorbing it as he traveled, he could recover seventy to eighty percent of his strength in an hour. But he probably didn't have that much time in the Five Elements space. For now, this was all he could do. He believed that Baili Yuan's group had also set off by now and wouldn't stop to rest. They had to take advantage of the balanced state of the crystal that Li Yan had just replenished to quickly clear the trial.
Li Yan flew on, his mind racing. The True Scripture of Gui Water circulated ceaselessly within him, constantly absorbing the extremely dense spiritual energy from his surroundings. But just as Li Yan had flown no more than two li from the passage, a heart-pounding sensation suddenly appeared in the sky behind him within this multicolored space. He couldn't help but turn his head to look. He saw that above the originally calm and waveless multicolored space, a giant vortex had suddenly appeared, as if a multicolored cloth had been stirred. The vortex, shimmering with a glazed light, was slowly turning above his head. Li Yan felt an irresistible suction force generating from the center of the vortex, as if it wanted to pull everything in this multicolored space into it. This caused the flying Li Yan to halt for a moment. The next instant, a powerful force pulled him violently backward. Li Yan's expression changed instantly. He frantically circulated his spiritual power, and a great light erupted from his body as he tried desperately to charge forward.
But just as he had charged forward a few steps, the suction from the sky behind him suddenly intensified, causing his advancing body to once again fly slowly backward. At the same time, in Li Yan's line of sight, several bands of light were being rapidly pulled toward him. And as Li Yan retreated, several more bands of light from the distance also flew rapidly over.
The veins on Li Yan's head bulged, and his dark green robes whipped about him. He had pushed the True Scripture of Gui Water to its absolute limit, but his body was still being pulled, bit by bit, toward the giant vortex in the sky behind him, and the pulling speed was getting faster and faster. This was something Li Yan could not resist at his current level.
Realizing this, Li Yan couldn't help but give a bitter laugh and simply gave up circulating his spiritual energy. 'I should have just stayed in the light band. Maybe there would have been a sliver of a chance.'
The moment Li Yan gave up resisting the suction, his body shot backward into the vortex like an arrow. And in the final moment, as he was sucked into the vortex that looked like a stretched and twisted scroll painting, his eyes suddenly lit up. He saw that among the various colored bands of light being pulled into the sky, there were, to his surprise, two purple bands. Then, these bands of light were fused into a giant ball of light before the vortex. In the next moment, Li Yan's mind went dark, and everything vanished from his sight.