Seeing Marshal Li, who had just descended like a celestial god, looking so lost and helpless below, and hearing Kong Xiao's urging, the soldiers nearby, whose hearts had already turned to ice, couldn't help but get excited. They quickly ran to the side.
Kong Xiao sneered inwardly. He hadn't expected Li Yan to be so sentimental. This was something he hadn't anticipated.
Considering Li Yan's usual decisive and ruthless nature, treating life as if it were grass, he didn't know where Li Yan's weakness lay. What he did just now was an act of desperation.
Moreover, Kong Xiao didn't know whose jade ring it was. As he had said, he only felt that the ring was extraordinary. It would be good even if he kept it for himself. He didn't expect it to have such a miraculous effect.
But just then, the soldiers beside him fell into chaos. Kong Xiao quickly reined in his thoughts, tore his gaze away from Li Yan, who was standing below propped up by his sword, and looked over. He, too, was shocked by what he saw.
A lone rider had suddenly charged out from the side of the city. The rider was clad in silver armor, their entire figure concealed, and they held a long spear.
This person appeared suddenly, and their speed was incredibly fast. Just as everyone on the city wall was focused on Li Yan below, the silver-armored person had appeared.
By the time they saw this person, they were already moving as swift as the wind, and in a flash, had reached Li Yan's side below the city.
Then, the silver-armored person was seen hanging their long spear on the horse, while their other hand, like a long ape's arm, stretched out and snatched Li Yan up in one go, placing him horizontally across the horse's back. At this time, Li Yan was still lost in a daze, letting this person do as they pleased.
Next, the silver-armored person let out a clear whistle. Spurring their warhorse, the horse spun on the spot, gave a long neigh, and then galloped into the distance.
All of this happened too quickly, leaving everyone on the city walls somewhat stunned. Immediately, Kong Xiao let out a hoarse, sharp cry, "Heavy crossbows, attack the enemy!"
Kong Xiao didn't know who the person who had suddenly appeared was. Judging by their build and the parts of their face visible outside the helmet, he didn't recognize them either.
But as long as Li Yan was not dead, forget about a pincer attack, he feared that even if he were in the State of Meng in the future, no one could protect him. Li Yan's martial arts were too terrifying.
As soon as he spoke, the silver-armored person, who was riding away, immediately slowed down their horse. Seeing someone about to fire a heavy crossbow, they suddenly turned, and a cold glint appeared.
Kong Xiao's heart jumped, but he immediately saw that it was an arrow. He just sneered coldly.
That person had already galloped out a dozen zhang, and the walls of Green Mountain Pass were thirty zhang high. This person actually thought they could injure him with a stray arrow. Did they really think they were Li Yan?
At such a distance, even if the arrow was allowed to come, it would have lost its force by the time it reached the top. Though he thought this, he did not dare to be careless.
Because the arrow was coming with incredible speed. Almost as soon as he saw it, it was already in front of him. Kong Xiao dodged to the side, his long sword, infused with internal power, chopping down at the arrow shaft.
The next moment, as he expected, his long sword struck the arrow shaft. At the same time, Kong Xiao shouted, "Break for me!"
But suddenly, he felt a strange force transmit from his long sword, sending it jumping to the side. Then, the arrow vanished.
Kong Xiao was greatly alarmed. Just as he was about to look for it, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. Then, he heard a wave of startled cries around him. "General Kong..." "My lord..."
Then, an endless darkness flooded his vision.
...
The Bright Fire Qilin was listless and dispirited. It crouched in front of the crimson doors, its large eyes staring blankly at the passage from which black smoke emanated. Just now was its fourth attempt this month to enter, and as before, it was pushed away by an irresistible repulsive force.
"It's been a year and two months. How is that brat still not dead? This is impossible. This is absolutely impossible. Even a Pseudo-Core Cultivator, if they can't pass through within half a year, their Divine Soul will surely be unable to withstand the erosion of the black smoke and heat inside the passage and would have long since been annihilated."
The Bright Fire Qilin thought in a daze. The most terrifying thing in the black passage was not the scorching heat and black smoke, but the boundless solitude and the long-term confinement of the body. It was enough to drive a person mad.
Of the cultivators who died in the black passage, ninety percent died from a collapse of confidence, either going mad and committing suicide or falling into a pseudo-death state in their subconscious, and then truly losing their lives.
But Li Yan had been inside for over a year. The Bright Fire Qilin had gone from trying to enter the black passage several times a day at the beginning to trying once every five or six days now, unwilling to give up. But each time, it was sent flying.
To this day, the Bright Fire Qilin's sanity was already frayed. The benefits that wisp of Li Fire had brought it were too great, so great that it felt that as long as it devoured all the red flames in that fan, it could forever escape the shackles of the Flame Palace.
...
In a pitch-black passage where one couldn't see their own hand, only scorching black smoke like boiling water drifted everywhere. Li Yan lay quietly. He was still in the same posture: one hand raised high above his head, the other hanging down to his leg, his legs slightly bent in a crawling position.
At this moment, Li Yan's body showed no signs of life. His entire body had become thin and withered, just a layer of dry skin wrapped around a skeleton, like a desiccated corpse.
Only his messy black hair showed a trace of life. Of course, in this pitch-black passage, none of this could be seen by any eye.
...
Li Yan stared ahead, his heart filled with confusion and grief. Just now, he had seen that jade ring below the walls of Green Mountain Pass. But why was he now standing in this void, surrounded by an endless, distant starry sky? Even under his feet was a vast expanse of the night sky.
This left Li Yan without a sense of direction. North, south, east, west, up, down—all were starry skies. He didn't know how he had come here, nor where he was going.
"A Ying, Little Gong, Little Meng..." Li Yan's mind was a mix of clarity and haze. At this moment, his mind suddenly cleared a little, and he remembered his wife and children.
"No, I have to get into the city. They must be fine! And where did that Dongling Min go?" In that moment, he remembered some other things.
Looking at the endless starry sky around him, he let out a tiger's roar, suddenly gathered his strength, and stomped down hard. Since all directions were the same, then the ground beneath his feet was the only thing he could truly touch.
Then he would shatter it, break this cage. But Li Yan only felt his legs go weak. The internal power that could once move mountains and rivers could not be summoned at all. His Dantian was empty, and his descending foot was soft and powerless.
For a moment, Li Yan panicked. Power was the source of his confidence. He had never thought that one day he would lose this power that dominated the world.
In an instant, the confidence he had always had vanished. His heart grew even more flustered. Looking at the endless starry sky around him, he began to run wildly. He had to escape this place. Perhaps it was this strange space that had caused him to lose the invincible power he should have possessed.
Li Yan didn't know how long he ran. He only felt himself getting more and more tired, his mouth getting drier and drier. His body was exhausted to the extreme.
The originally dreamlike stars around him now looked like the eyes of ghosts in the dark night, glinting with a cold light that sent a chill down one's spine with a single glance.
It was as if, should Li Yan turn around, countless ghosts would pounce on him from behind, letting out sinister laughs that would fill this maddeningly silent space with the stench of death.
Finally, Li Yan had no strength left to run. He could only stumble forward step by step. Like this, he didn't know how long he walked. A month, or two months, he didn't know.
He could only move forward bit by bit with leaden feet until, finally, he fell heavily into the starry sky.
The moment he fell, he felt he was still walking, because his face was towards the ground, as if he were looking up at the starry sky.
He was going to die here after all, but he had finally understood one thing.
'Damn these heavens, toying with me like this. It turns out I was already dead, just a helpless soul wandering. Since I'm dead, sending me to the Hall of Yama would be fine too. At least I can get tossed in the oil cauldron a few times and hear some noise!'
Li Yan thought weakly. He had killed too many people in his life and had no hope of ascending to an immortal realm after death. Even a peaceful reincarnation was probably a luxury.
It was too quiet here, making him feel oppressed to the extreme. He wanted to shout a few times, but after opening his mouth several times, he found with despair that he couldn't make a sound.
'So be it. I can't get out anyway. Hehe, this is fine too. Maybe I can be reunited with A Ying, Little Gong, and Little Meng.'
'Pah, pah, pah, of course they are all fine. Why is there a need for a reunion, why is there a need for a reunion...'
Just like that, Li Yan thought chaotically. All sorts of strange thoughts flooded his mind. His consciousness grew increasingly blurry, and the various thoughts slowly left him.
Just as all of Li Yan's thoughts were about to dissipate, a familiar voice sounded in his ear. "Fifth child, fifth child..." Li Yan couldn't help but shiver.
"Is that mother?" Li Yan struggled to open his eyes and looked at the surrounding starry sky. It was still empty and boundless.
"Hehe, another illusion. Since I've been stationed at the border, I haven't been home to see my parents for a long time."
Li Yan stared blankly at the starry sky. He felt that being able to hear his mother's voice before he died, even if it was just an illusion, was very satisfying. Since ancient times, it has been difficult to be both loyal and filial.
Thinking of his parents, Li Yan's heart suddenly calmed down. 'Little Gong and Little Meng must be fine. They still have Li Er and Li Si to protect them. They will miss their parents too. I can't die, I can't die, I have to get out!'
...
In the pitch-black passage, Li Yan, who had been lying prostrate for an unknown amount of time, suddenly moved his body slightly, then fell silent again. After a short pause, a suppressed, low roar echoed in the black passage. Though dry and hoarse, it lingered for a long time.
Li Yan shook his head lightly. He found that there were tears on his face. Although they were quickly evaporated by the scorching air, he could feel that they had once flowed freely.
He wanted to wipe away the nonexistent tear tracks with his hand but found that his hands were bound, one up and one down. Only his raised right hand could barely reach the top of his head.
"Where is this now?" Li Yan felt that everything was changing too quickly. Just now he was in a starry sky, and now he was in this pitch-black place. His head was spinning, and he didn't understand.
After a long time, it was as if Li Yan's soul had returned. A bolt of lightning flashed through his mind.
"This is the black passage inside the 'Flame Palace'. But all that before..."
Li Yan suddenly remembered what he had experienced and couldn't tell what was real and what was fake. He even felt that being in the black passage of the 'Flame Palace' was the dream, and he was indeed a general.