Next, Shuang Qingqing did not dwell on this topic, and the conversation took a turn.
"How is your comprehension of the 'Stars Askew, Ladle Athwart' technique coming along? This is the greatest secret of the Purple-Winged Ice Phoenix and the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape. I have no way to repair the Purple-Winged Ice Phoenix now and can only use the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape, but the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape will be passed on to you sooner or later."
"And after you have mastered the core formation within the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape, you will need to refine such a puppet yourself in the future to carry on the legacy of the Wood Flow Sect."
"After all, the Malevolent Spirit Sect has treated you well, supplying you with a large amount of cultivation resources that the Wood Flow Sect is far from being able to provide. Perhaps you will serve the Malevolent Spirit Sect in the future, but your responsibility to the Wood Flow Sect still exists."
"This disciple understands. I am now basically clear on the core formation within the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape, but I still need to comprehend it further."
"As for the 'Stars Askew, Ladle Athwart' technique, when I use it, I am always unable to control the timing of the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape's execution."
"For example, when an opponent's attack makes contact with the ancient ape's arm, by the time the core formation senses the attack and I activate the counterattack, it's already too late, making it impossible to transfer and neutralize the force of the attack..."
Bai Rou had been sitting there earlier thinking about the problems she encountered when using "Stars Askew, Ladle Athwart." Now that her Ancestor had appeared, she naturally raised all the doubts in her heart.
But as she mentioned the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape, an image of an ordinary-looking young man unconsciously appeared in her mind. Then, remembering her Ancestor's teasing, her jade-like earlobes turned a drop of pink.
'He left the sect over a year ago and his whereabouts became unknown. The item Sun Guoshu gave me is still with me, and he still owes me a lot of Spirit Stones that I paid for him...'
In the courtyard behind a market shop, the fragrance of flowers was intoxicating. Su Hong sat in a pavilion, quietly looking at the picturesque scenery outside.
She gently put down her teacup, her full red lips moist and vibrant. A small section of her snow-white thigh peeked out from under her skirt, appearing crystalline and round in the white daylight. Her gaze was fixed on the flowers and plants in the courtyard, as if she was lost in thought.
Just then, a gray figure flashed outside the pavilion, and a gray-robed elder appeared. He stopped, stood still, and bowed respectfully to Su Hong.
"Young Miss, all the necessary items have been packed. We can depart now!"
Su Hong sighed softly at his words, slowly rising to her slender height, and thought to herself.
'I still have to leave the Desolate Moon Continent. With the situation here, it's no longer suitable for me to stay.'
She had received a message from headquarters a month ago. The cooperation with the Malevolent Spirit Sect was to be handed over to someone else, and the "Venerable Lord" demanded her immediate return to headquarters.
She could no longer stay here. The seal at the Devil's Cliff Crevice had already loosened and expanded.
After receiving the order, Su Hong pondered for a moment and still insisted on staying to complete the last two matters she was tracking, so she delayed until yesterday. Her decisions on the Desolate Moon Continent were something no one dared to defy.
The "Venerable Lord" was urging her, but that was for Su Hong to explain.
In fact, although the information on these two matters was important, it was nothing compared to Su Lantian's safety. But with Su Hong's insistence, who in "Gui Qu Lai Xi" would dare to go against her wishes?
"The last two times I went to deliver messages to the Malevolent Spirit Sect, I still didn't see that Junior Brother Li return. Could he still be in the Jingtu Sect's territory?"
"I originally wanted to expose him in person to see his reaction, but now it seems I really won't have the chance."
Thinking of this, a playful smile curled Su Hong's lips. In that instant, it seemed to make all the flowers in the backyard lose their color.
Even the gray-robed elder standing with his hands down outside the pavilion was stunned. He couldn't imagine that his Young Miss, who had been so reluctant to leave, would suddenly be so happy now that she was really going.
'It seems the Young Miss misses the Venerable Lord too. When she returns this time, the Venerable Lord will surely be very happy,' the gray-robed elder thought to himself.
With the information-gathering skills of "Gui Qu Lai Xi" and Su Hong's methods, once she knew that Li Yan was a cultivator of the Malevolent Spirit Sect, the rest was much easier.
She had previously deduced that Li Yan was most likely a disciple of Lord Lao Peak, Little Bamboo Peak, or Spirit Insect Peak, and had first ruled out Never-Parting Peak.
So, she secretly made inquiries at Lord Lao Peak, and after finding nothing, she learned the names of the more prominent disciples of the younger generation skilled in poison from a Foundation Establishment disciple of Spirit Insect Peak.
Because Li Yan's reputation among the younger generation of the Malevolent Spirit Sect was mixed, many people had a fresh memory of his Fragmented Poison Body, and the poisons Li Yan used were also notorious.
So naturally, he was on the list of names Su Hong knew.
After comparing them one by one, Su Hong picked Li Yan out from the many images in the jade slip almost at first glance. Although Li Yan had disguised his appearance when he met her, the calm, still-water-like demeanor in the image allowed Su Hong to confirm it at once.
'To think that you were the little Qi Condensation cultivator who came to my shop back then. If I didn't know you had already reached Foundation Establishment, I still wouldn't be able to connect you with that Qi Condensation cultivator from before.'
'But this explains one thing. The items you were selling in the shop back then were not something another Foundation Establishment cultivator asked you to help sell, but what you personally obtained in the Four Great Sects' secret realm competition.'
'When you met me, you were able to barely fight a Golden Core cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage. Naturally, you could fight a Foundation Establishment cultivator at the Qi Condensation stage.'
'I can't believe the Malevolent Spirit Sect has a cultivation genius like you. Why are you still not famous, while only Li Wuyi, Baili Yuan, and the others are well-known? Is this the Malevolent Spirit Sect's deliberate attempt to protect you?'
Su Hong judged in her heart. If she hadn't spent some time with Li Yan, and given that women often judge people not by appearance but by words, actions, and demeanor, others might not have been able to identify Li Yan.
After discovering Li Yan's identity, a cunning, retaliatory thought arose in Su Hong's mind. She wanted to find Li Yan and then secretly reveal that she knew he was the cultivator who had even wanted to kill her back then. She wanted to see his shocked expression.
"And you even wanted to kill me to silence me back then!" Su Hong thought indignantly.
Once this thought arose, she could no longer suppress it. But to her disappointment, more than a year had passed, and the cultivator named Li Yan still had not returned to the Malevolent Spirit Sect. She had been unable to vent this frustration.
"Forget it. I'm going to form my core when I go back this time. Even if you can fight above your rank and deal with ordinary Core Formation cultivators, what about me? At that time, I'll get a few more good Magical Treasures from my father. Do you think you can turn the heavens upside down?"
"If I get the chance, I'll definitely capture you and give you a good scare to vent my anger. But you have to survive this catastrophe first."
A smile curled Su Hong's lips. Then, with her long legs, she slowly walked out of the pavilion, leaving behind a garden full of spring.
...
On a vast expanse of sea, there was an inconspicuous, uninhabited small island.
On this day, several rays of colored light flashed in the distant sky. Then, the lights streaked across the sky like meteors and soon landed on this small island.
When the light dissipated, five figures were revealed—three men and two women. The leader was a yellow-robed elder with an iron-like complexion.
His expression was sinister, and his hands were clasped behind his back. There was no spiritual power fluctuation from his body; he was just like a high-ranking official in the mortal world who had held great power for a long time.
The yellow-robed elder first looked around, then slowly walked forward. The four people behind him followed closely, one step at a time, their attitude extremely respectful, walking so carefully that they didn't dare make a sound.
The island was not large, but it was covered with dense weeds and trees. If an ordinary mortal were to come here, it would take enormous effort to walk on it, requiring a large machete to clear a path bit by bit.
But strangely, this yellow-robed elder just walked forward casually. With every step he took, no matter how large and sturdy the trees or how thorny the weeds in front of him, they instantly turned into ashes.
These ashes were blown far away by the sea breeze, disappearing over the vast surface of the sea.
Soon, the elder came to a more remote part of the island and then stopped. He lowered his head and carefully looked at a spot at his feet.
It was a reef. Although it was far from the sea, it was gurgling with water. Logically, even if the sea rose at high tide on normal days, it would be difficult for seawater to reach this place due to the steep terrain of some parts of the island.
Perhaps it was only due to occasional heavy rain that a puddle had formed around the reef here. Only a small, sharp tip of the reef was exposed from the puddle.
"This is the place. After I set up a formation around here in a moment, you four will act as my protectors."
"As long as no cultivator at the Nascent Soul level or above probes from a close distance, this formation can hide all movement here. Outsiders will not be able to detect the situation within the formation."
"You four only need to pay close attention to whether any cultivators or abnormal phenomena appear within a radius of several thousand li. You must inform me in a timely manner, as I need to concentrate fully on casting the spell."
"At other times, you must not disturb my spellcasting. This matter is of great importance. It will take half a year at the shortest, and a year at the longest, but the passage will definitely be opened."
Speaking of this, the yellow-robed elder turned his head to look at the four people behind him.
The four people who had been following the yellow-robed elder felt his knife-like gaze on them and their legs immediately went weak, a suffocating tightness in their chests.
The four of them quickly lowered their heads, not daring to meet the yellow-robed elder's gaze, and replied respectfully in unison, "We will naturally obey your command and will not dare to slacken in the slightest. Please rest assured, Venerable Wan!"
The yellow-robed elder, seeing that the four had braced themselves after his warning, withdrew his cold gaze, but he also sighed inwardly.
'If only there was another Demonic General accompanying me, it would be much better than these wastes. But on this continent, the two Demonic Generals he could contact both had important matters to attend to.'
'They were still needed to set up feints elsewhere to attract the attention of the Four Great Sects, so that I can act without worry. I could only choose these few Golden Core juniors to assist.'
In fact, even these four Golden Core juniors were the most he could spare. The other Golden Core and Foundation Establishment cultivators had also been dispatched to harass and likewise attract the attention of the Four Great Sects.
'Although those Golden Core and Foundation Establishment cultivators have restrictions placed on them, they are still not as reliable as our own Demon Lords and Demonic Soldiers.'
'But after so many years, there are not many Demon Lords and Demonic Soldiers left. More of them have lost contact under the pursuit of human cultivators.'
'In the past two years, in order to contact them, the demons who were exposed have also suffered heavy blows. What was gained was almost equal to what was lost, ai!'
The yellow-robed elder sighed in his heart, but then a flash of excitement appeared in his eyes. Since he had obtained that item last year, relying on its senses, he had finally discovered this place. He hoped everything would go smoothly.