The one room shrouded in a formation had an extremely powerful restriction. Li Yan was not confident he could fully penetrate it, so he had only given it a cursory scan with his Divine Sense earlier.
But even that brief probe startled Li Yan. It was because seven or eight auras emanated from within the formation, one of which felt familiar, as if he had encountered it somewhere before, though he couldn't recall where at the moment.
In front of this room, a Pseudo-Core cultivator was continuously casting a series of hand seals.
'This is a protective formation. The cultivators inside that room are resisting an external attack.'
Connecting this with the killing intent the other party had shown the moment he appeared, Li Yan had already guessed some things. It seemed his appearance had disrupted something of theirs.
"I think I'll have to pass!" Li Yan stopped and said flatly.
"Hehe, my wife and I have lived in this remote place for years and rarely have guests. Why don't you, young friend, come to the manor for a visit? As it happens, I'd like to hear about recent events in the outside world. That shouldn't be too much trouble for you, should it?" the rough-looking man said with a warm chuckle.
The words were laced with a threatening undertone, but how could Li Yan be willing to walk into someone else's stronghold? That would be suicide.
"I'm afraid I can't help you with that. I've also been wandering this bitter, cold land for several years and know very little about the outside world," Li Yan refused resolutely.
"Father, Mother, why bother beating around the bush? Just kill him," the young man said, having long run out of patience. If not for this person's appearance, his good time would have already come to fruition.
This time, without waiting for the rough-looking man and the pink-gowned young woman to stop him, the young man's figure shot forward, crossing a hundred zhang in an instant. At the same time, he brought his hands together, and a golden circlet flew out.
In the blink of an eye, it was above Li Yan's head. The golden light from the circlet transformed into a ring of spinning short blades, aiming to decapitate Li Yan.
This time, the rough-looking man and the pink-gowned young woman did not intervene again, a slight smile gracing their lips instead.
The young man struck swiftly, having already unleashed his magical treasure before his words had even faded.
After he attacked, a bloodthirsty look appeared on his lips. Usually, when he used his magical treasure, Foundation Establishment cultivators of the same rank would be crushed by him almost instantly.
Seeing the dozens of short blades spinning rapidly towards his head, Li Yan simply flicked his sleeve. A spiritual power vortex appeared above him, and a massive suction force rapidly formed.
The young man saw the technique Li Yan used and couldn't help but chuckle. "You fool who doesn't know life from death. You dare to use the most basic Gravity Art when fighting me."
As he spoke, the hand seals he was forming changed. The dozens of flying blades, already spinning like mad, sped up even more, immediately merging into a blur of golden light, their individual forms no longer visible.
It slashed down towards the spiritual power vortex below. Even the pink-gowned young woman's pretty face showed a trace of a sneer. In the next moment, Mo'er's golden circlet would pierce through that person's Gravity Art and strike his head directly.
Had this person not cultivated any advanced immortal arts? To use a basic immortal art that only Qi Condensation cultivators practiced when fighting an enemy of the same rank.
But just then, the rough-looking man on the other side suddenly shouted, "Not good! Mo'er, be careful!"
Just as his shout came out, the golden circlet instantly pierced through the Gravity Art without any resistance. The golden ring formed by the dozens of flying blades directly slashed down onto Li Yan's head.
Hearing the rough-looking man's shout, the first to react was the pink-gowned young woman. She disappeared from her spot almost at the same time as the rough-looking man.
The young man, seeing his golden circlet about to decapitate his opponent, was about to laugh wildly when he heard his father's warning. At this moment, his face still held a trace of bewilderment.
In the next moment, he felt an unbearable heat on his back. His body was completely immobilized. A soft chuckle echoed in his ear, "Who says basic immortal arts can't kill?"
Then, he saw a figure flash past him. After that, his vision filled with a sea of red flames and the anxious, angry shouts of his parents. Subsequently, his body exploded into a ball of fire.
The rough-looking man's figure was the first to appear beside the fireball. Before he could even steady himself, a blast of icy wind had already struck the burning fireball. The moment the icy wind appeared, the fireball was extinguished.
Only then did the pink-gowned young woman appear. She stared blankly at the small, charred lump that remained, now frozen into a small chunk of ice only a few inches in size.
The rough-looking man and the pink-gowned young woman hurriedly sent their Divine Senses into the ice chunk. The next moment, they both looked up sharply at Li Yan, their eyes crimson and their breathing heavy.
"You are so vicious! You didn't even spare my son's soul! No matter where you come from, today I will capture you alive, refine you for a thousand, ten thousand years, and make you never see reincarnation, only then can I quell the hatred in my heart!"
The rough-looking man's breath came in ragged bursts as he stared at Li Yan, spitting out each word.
The moment the young man had launched his attack, Li Yan had cast the Gravity Art to attract the attention of the three. Then, he had used the Stealthy Night Art on the spot. With his cultivation greatly increased, the spatial fluctuations from using it at such a short distance, while present, were delayed by about a breath. By the time the rough-looking man noticed the abnormality and shouted a warning, it was already too late.
The exchange happened extremely fast. The young man himself was only at the Pseudo-Core realm, and with his parents beside him, the ever-arrogant youth hadn't even activated his protective spirit shield. He believed killing a Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator would be a piece of cake. Meanwhile, the rough-looking man and the pink-gowned young woman, though sensing something strange about Li Yan's cultivation, were also quite confident in their own. They had no idea that Li Yan possessed a divine art that could conceal his figure for an instant.
As the rough-looking man spoke, he flicked his sleeve. The ice chunk melted, revealing a small, shrunken ball of black, charred remains. The pink-gowned young woman let out a cry of grief and threw herself towards it.
Li Yan, however, had drifted a hundred zhang away. But before he could steady himself, he once again shot sideways.
The moment he flew out, a giant black net appeared where he had just been standing. The giant black net missed its target. Before Li Yan could get a clear look, the net rapidly shrank and disappeared in a flash.
In the distance, the rough-looking man's crimson eyes showed a look of astonishment. He hadn't expected the other party's Divine Sense to be so sharp as to dodge his sneak attack. But he was a seasoned warrior. After one failed attack, he immediately retracted his magical treasure.
At the same time he retracted his treasure, Li Yan, who had just flown out, flung his hands back repeatedly. Amidst a series of "clanging" sounds, the space behind him distorted again. Then, a jet-black giant rod, as thick as two men embracing, struck the void behind him with a dull thud.
The jet-black giant rod was now studded with ice spikes, which Li Yan had unleashed. However, his magical power could not stop the rod's offensive. After only a slight delay, it once again smashed viciously towards the back of his head.
The moment Li Yan attacked, his realm could no longer be concealed. The rough-looking man had sensed the strength of Li Yan's magical power.
"So you're just a Pseudo-Core cultivator, playing tricks. You can die now!"
He raised one hand and pointed at the jet-black giant rod from afar. The rod blurred and was already upon Li Yan. In his haste, Li Yan could only raise his arms behind his head.
As they fought, four more people flew out from the manor below. All four were young men and women dressed in black. Each had a formidable aura, most at the mid to late stage of Foundation Establishment.
When the rough-looking man and the other two had flown into the sky earlier, they had already started paying attention to the situation. The subsequent events had left them astonished. After giving instructions to the others in the manor, the four with the highest cultivation flew out, leaving only another Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator to lead the Qi Condensation disciples in protecting the Pseudo-Core cultivator.
Although they knew they would be of no use here, the young manor master had unexpectedly perished. They had to at least show their stance. Whether they were needed to fight or not, they had to come up.
From the young manor master's attack to Li Yan's exchange with the rough-looking man, only two or three breaths had passed. On the other side, the pink-gowned young woman was still desperately probing the black remains with her Divine Sense, hoping for a sliver of her son's soul to have survived.
But she had underestimated Li Yan's ruthlessness. The moment his sneak attack succeeded, he had first cast a hand seal to seal the soul within the opponent's body, preventing even a trace of it from escaping the physical form. Only then did he cast a fireball art. What was even more deadly was that while casting the fireball, he had silently communicated with the Li Fire Profound Yellow Fan.
The Li Fire Profound Yellow Fan had only peeked out of his storage pouch for a moment, but a streak of red Li Fire had mixed with the fireball and struck the opponent. If not for the rough-looking man's cultivation being close to the Mid-stage Golden Core and his swift reaction, perhaps not even that few-inch lump of remains could have been preserved.
Li Yan felt a massive force on his arms. The jet-black giant rod, carrying the force of a thousand jun, slammed heavily onto his arms. Li Yan spat out a mouthful of blood. (TN: A jun is an ancient unit of weight, about 15 kg.)
His body was sent flying forward like an arrow shot from a taut bowstring, but he had ultimately blocked the jet-black giant rod.
"He even knows a body refining art."
The rough-looking man was surprised that his sure-kill strike hadn't managed to kill Li Yan. He had expected this blow to kill Li Yan on the spot, allowing him to seal the soul the moment it left the body, to be taken back for slow torment. He never thought the opponent would actually take his hit.
The rough-looking man sneered inwardly. The opponent was at the end of his rope. Li Yan's body was flying towards him like a shooting star. In mid-air, Li Yan's face was ashen, and he looked as if his breath was about to give out.
'I can't let him die so easily. I'm going to extract his soul and refine it...'
Just then, the pink-gowned young woman raised her head, her face filled with despair and venomous hatred. Her shriek was an inhuman, piercing sound that made one's blood run cold.
The four disciples from the manor who had flown up were startled by the madam's cry and unconsciously retreated a few steps.
The pink-gowned young woman saw that her husband was about to kill the opponent, so there was no need for her to join forces. Her heart was filled with boundless resentment.
Seeing Li Yan flying towards them and hearing his wife's cry, with a thought from his Divine Sense, the giant black net that had vanished reappeared, casting itself down towards the approaching Li Yan.