By the time Li Yan returned from Lord Lao Peak, his face was already filled with pleasant surprise. After finding Elder Peng on Lord Lao Peak, Elder Peng was quite amiable to him, a complete change from the dignified demeanor of a Law-Enforcement Hall elder. After asking about the recent situation of Li Yan's Fragmented Poison Body, and learning that as Li Yan's cultivation advanced, the twelve variations of the Fragmented Poison Body were showing a tendency to continue to split and upgrade, he couldn't help but show a happy expression, which made Li Yan a bit confused. Then he began to ask if Li Yan had any free time in the next few days. After learning that Li Yan was going to continue his seclusion immediately, a look of disappointment appeared on his face.
It wasn't until later, when Elder Peng told Li Yan that he must go to Lord Lao Peak to find Elder Mei when he had time, that Li Yan finally understood why his attitude toward him was so amiable. It was because Elder Mei of Lord Lao Peak, after hearing his great-great-grandson Mei Bucai's constant praise of Li Yan's poison skills, that he could even kill a Foundation Establishment cultivator of a higher realm with ease, had run over to ask Elder Peng and the others again, and had become interested in Li Yan's Fragmented Poison Body.
Elder Mei was a late-stage Golden Core expert. Not only was his magical power sky-high, but he also had extremely high attainments in alchemy. He was extremely obsessed with the path of medicinal pills and poisons. So he wanted to borrow Li Yan to perform his immortal arts to study the Fragmented Poison Body, in the hopes of being able to cultivate one or two types of potent poisons similar to those produced by Li Yan's Fragmented Poison Body. What's more, he had also heard that although Li Yan's Fragmented Poison Body was powerful, Li Yan had no antidote. When he used it, it was indiscriminate. Anyone below the Golden Core stage who touched it would die. He, of course, also wanted to concoct some antidotes for future use.
After hearing this, Li Yan was extremely reluctant. This was clearly just using him as an experiment. He couldn't help but hate Mei Bucai in his heart. This little fatty had a loose tongue and had sold him out. But he couldn't refuse directly in front of Elder Peng. After agreeing, and promising to go to see Elder Mei as soon as he had time, Elder Peng finally nodded. What Li Yan didn't know was that if not for his performance being too dazzling this time, and the sect feeling that he had a promising future, plus being a bit afraid of Wei Zhongran, they would have just directly taken Li Yan over for research long ago.
As for the matter of Mei Bucai, Li Yan had wronged him a bit. The moment the little fatty came out, he was captured by his direct great-great-grandfather to see if he had made any progress in the secret realm, and also to have Mei Bucai tell him what he had encountered in the secret realm. Mei Bucai was already very afraid of this great-great-grandfather. Wanting to finish speaking as soon as possible, he quickly said what he knew. But when it came to Li Yan poisoning a Foundation Establishment cultivator to death, and foiling the plot of the three sects of the Ten-Pace Courtyard, because Elder Peng and the others had already issued a gag order, he glossed over it. But this way, some things couldn't be explained clearly. This Elder Mei was an old fox. The moment he heard it, he felt that it didn't make sense. What's more, he had privately heard that the three sects of the Ten-Pace Courtyard were secretly plotting something. He had just been refining pills and hadn't met with Elder Peng and the others. After hearing his great-great-grandson's jumbled and irrelevant account, he couldn't help but be furious and gave him a sound beating. Mei Bucai howled incessantly, and in his pain, he couldn't help but let it slip that Li Yan had poisoned Liang Liang and a Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Supreme Mystery Teachings, and that was how they had passed the third trial. This immediately piqued Elder Mei's interest. Under further questioning, Mei Bucai didn't dare to say anymore. He could only mumble that Elder Peng had issued a gag order, and that if he spoke, he would be violating the sect rules.
Elder Mei kicked Mei Bucai away. With a miserable cry from the fatty, the two of them flew up at the same time, but in different directions. Elder Mei flew excitedly to find Elder Peng. Golden Core cultivators had the right to know such things. Elder Peng then told him the whole story and stated that he had already reported the events of this trip to the two ancestors, Da Cen and Mo Qing. But Elder Mei didn't care about the report at all; he just kept asking about Li Yan's Fragmented Poison Body. Elder Peng was helpless. He knew this was a pill fanatic. Helpless, he had to tell him about Li Yan in detail. The more Elder Mei listened, the brighter his eyes became. Especially when he heard that Li Yan could actually use his Fragmented Poison Body to resist that terrifying giant black shadow, he was so anxious he was wringing his hands, just wanting to go and grab Li Yan for research right away. But he was quickly pulled back by the sleeve by Elder Peng, who said, "Junior Brother Wei is extremely protective of his own." This immediately extinguished Elder Mei's rising fire. How could he dare to provoke the peak master of Little Bamboo Peak? But he had already taken a liking to Li Yan and had asked Elder Peng that when he saw Li Yan again, he must have Li Yan go to his place, and that he could pay Li Yan a very high reward.
Whether for public or private reasons, Elder Peng wanted the sect to possess a potent poison like the Fragmented Poison Body, which was without a trace and unpredictable. So when Li Yan came this time, he began to persuade him, and said that Elder Mei was willing to pay a very high price. But when Li Yan heard this, although he was very interested in these rewards, he rejected it after a little thought. Even if the reward given by a late-stage Golden Core was beyond his imagination, how could he want to be used for research by others? One careless mistake and he would reveal the whereabouts of the Gui Water Immortal Sect. What's more, his time was very tight, not even enough for cultivation. And the Fragmented Poison Body was also a killer move for him when he was weak at the moment. It was not a good thing to be repeatedly studied.
Li Yan already regretted coming to Lord Lao Peak, so he wanted to leave as soon as possible. But what happened next almost made him cry out in excitement. When Elder Peng took out a storage pouch and handed it to Li Yan, a happy smile appeared on his face. This made Li Yan think for a moment that because he had superficially agreed to Elder Mei's matter, Elder Peng was very happy, so he showed this expression. He couldn't help but feel uneasy. But when his Divine Sense sank into the storage pouch, he was stunned by the large pile of shining spirit stones. How could there be just three hundred low-grade spirit stones in the storage pouch? In Li Yan's Divine Sense, that large pile of spirit stones occupied a large area, at least one or two thousand of them, emitting an alluring light and an astonishing amount of spirit qi. For a moment, Li Yan was a bit dazed.
Looking at Li Yan's silly expression, Elder Peng smiled and told Li Yan that although their team did not get the top three rewards this time, in view of Li Yan's contribution and Gong Chenying's correct judgment at a critical moment that saved Gan Shi and the others, the sect had decided to give the two of them generous rewards.
Li Yan was rewarded with two thousand low-grade spirit stones, three bottles of "Spring Sun Pills," ten "Ghost-Chariot Talismans," and an opportunity to go to the Treasure Pavilion to learn an intermediate-level cultivation method or immortal art for free.
These words from Elder Peng left Li Yan unresponsive for a long time, as if in a dream. Just the two thousand low-grade spirit stones were already unbelievable to him. It was uncertain whether Miao Zhengyi's three hundred flying swords could sell for that much.
Ten "Ghost-Chariot Talismans." This was a good thing that had a price but no market. This time in the secret realm, Li Yan had truly experienced its powerful defense, comparable to a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator. This time, the sect had actually rewarded ten of them. How could he not be overjoyed?
And that "Spring Sun Pill." This was an extremely precious item for Qi Condensation stage cultivators. This pill had a great effect on condensing and compressing spirit power, and was to make full preparations for the liquefaction of spirit qi during Foundation Establishment. Without this pill, Li Yan would need to repeatedly perform the great heavenly cycle of spirit power, and painstakingly cultivate and compress his physical spirit power. With this pill, it would at least have a multiplier effect. Before coming to Lord Lao Peak, Li Yan had been thinking that if he sold what he got from the secret realm this time, he would want to buy a few of them. He had never expected the sect to give him three bottles at once. One bottle was five pills.
Not to mention the sect's generosity in giving him a chance to learn an intermediate-level cultivation method or immortal art for free. This solved the problem of Li Yan needing to find a body refining art if he were to cultivate "Qiongqi Purgatory."
Li Yan just felt dizzy, as if in a dream. He didn't even know how he had left Lord Lao Peak, how he had returned to the small bamboo courtyard. It wasn't until he had sat in the courtyard for a long while that he finally let out a heavy breath.
"Now I don't have to rush to sell the things I got from the secret realm. These spirit stones and pills are enough for a while. As for going to the Treasure Pavilion to choose a cultivation method or immortal art, I'll decide after I've cultivated the 'Qiongqi Purgatory' art." Li Yan slowly calmed down, carefully planned again, and made this decision.
So he took out his token and first sent a message to Lin Daqiao, telling him that he was too busy with cultivation recently, and would go to find him after a period of time. At that time, if he was free, they would set a time to go to the trading city. But Lin Daqiao seemed to have something to do and did not reply to him.
A little later, after some hesitation, Li Yan also sent a message to Gong Chenying. He had learned from Elder Peng that Gong Chenying had not attended the reward ceremony either, and had not received her reward items. It seemed she had not come out of seclusion. So he briefly told her about his consolidation of his mental state during this period, and that he was about to cultivate the "Qiongqi Purgatory" next. He also told her about the sect's extra reward for the two of them. As for what the sect had rewarded Gong Chenying with, Li Yan certainly didn't know, but he thought it should also be very generous. After the message was sent, he waited for a while, but Gong Chenying did not reply for a long time. It was clear she was still in seclusion.
Li Yan gave a light laugh. He knew how hardworking Gong Chenying was. Several times when he went to the Spirit Plant Garden, he had seen her cultivating single-mindedly, either meditating or body refining. Li Yan thought for a moment and also sent a message to Zhao Min, telling him that he had been consolidating his realm during this period and would continue to cultivate in seclusion soon. Not long after, a message came back. There were only two words on it: "Understood." Then there was no more message. Li Yan stared blankly at these two words in his Divine Sense.
After a long time, he put away the token. Li Yan walked to the cultivation room with a calm expression. With a soft sound, the bamboo door of the cultivation room closed again.
Placing the token in her hand to one side, Zhao Min's jade-like face showed no expression. At this moment, she was only wearing tight-fitting short clothes, her fair and slender limbs exposed. Her upper body was in a short-sleeved top that reached her shoulders, and her lower body was in shorts that tightly wrapped her full, jade-like thighs. The vertical muscles were round and bulging, forming several smooth, vertical undulations. Under the tight clothes, she stood tall and graceful, her figure like a mountain range, her devilish curves exquisite. Her whole body was dripping with sweat, and the sweat had soaked her clothes, making them cling even tighter to her body.
Looking at the token, Zhao Min was in a daze. A little while later, she came back to her senses, her eyes as calm as ever. Next, she began to cultivate again. First, she made an extremely strange movement. Under this movement, her already explosive figure made one feel a surge of blood. But if Li Yan had seen this movement, his first feeling would have been familiarity. It was very similar to a movement he had seen in a certain jade slip.
Li Yan sat cross-legged, his face devoid of joy or sorrow. He reached out and wiped his left wrist. A pale yellow jade slip appeared in his right hand. Gong Chenying had warned him to be very careful, so he had placed the "Qiongqi Purgatory" cultivation method jade slip in the "Earth Mark."
Li Yan sank his Divine Sense into the jade slip. But this time, he first focused his attention on the three sentences of incantation below the first diagram.