After the first few attempts, and in the face of the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant's nearly desperate glares, Li Yan became increasingly familiar with the Outer Chapter of "Thousand Beasts Devouring the Dao."
Eventually, he knew exactly how much of a certain poison to inject into the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant at one time for it to refine over a set number of days, without harming its soul.
This way, he didn't need to constantly monitor the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant's cultivation progress.
Half a day later, the moment Li Yan's divine sense left the "Earthen Patch," he heard a series of piercing, tragic howls from the Snow Mosquito King that echoed through the heavens and the earth, along with the sight of swarms of startled snow mosquitoes trembling in the sky from fright.
Thinking then of the low, pained grunts coming from the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant within the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" flag, Li Yan pursed his lips.
"I told you it would be painful. And you claimed your will to seek the Dao was resolute. Just look at the little elephant, it's much stronger. Your screams are a bit too pathetic…"
Leaving these words behind, Li Yan departed without a second thought, not caring whether the Snow Mosquito King heard him or not.
Just as Li Yan had settled into meditation for a night, he received messages from both Bai Rou and Gong Yuantai simultaneously.
The Windy Cool Mountain waist token emitted a low buzzing sound, its light flashing continuously.
Li Yan's expression shifted. He quickly submerged his divine sense into it. The first thing he heard upon entering was an unfamiliar voice, tinged with a hint of exhaustion.
"All cultivators from every battalion, upon receiving this order, are to head to the Front Mountain to assemble!"
Li Yan guessed this was an order from a Golden Core cultivator. Immediately after, he heard the anxious voice of Gong Yuantai, followed by Bai Rou's still-gentle tone.
"Junior Brother Li, the Nascent Soul ancestors and martial uncles who went out to battle have returned. Please come quickly!"
"Junior Brother Li, Martial Uncle Wei and the others are back!"
Hearing this, Li Yan's spirits lifted. The last sentence was from Bai Rou, and from it, he gleaned a crucial piece of information: his master should have returned safely.
Li Yan quickly stood up, deactivated the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation," and flew out of his cave residence. The moment he emerged, he saw a slender white figure standing there—it was Bai Rou.
Seeing Bai Rou, Li Yan was momentarily stunned, not expecting her to have arrived so quickly. Seeing Li Yan emerge, Bai Rou spoke softly.
"Cultivators from all battalions no longer need to gather at their respective camps first. Apart from those on patrol and law enforcement duties, all other cultivators can proceed directly to the Front Mountain Entrance to assemble."
Only then did Li Yan understand. But seeing that Bai Rou had made a special trip to find him and explain the situation, he still offered his thanks.
Bai Rou had already taken flight, a look of anxiety on her face.
Seeing this, a thought stirred in Li Yan's heart, and he quickly followed, flying alongside her. Smelling the faint fragrance emanating from Bai Rou, Li Yan discreetly pulled back a little.
"What? You haven't received news from Elder Chigong in advance? Then my master…"
Li Yan had already guessed the reason for Bai Rou's anxiety. He left his sentence half-finished, but the meaning was clear.
"A martial uncle from my Four Symbols Peak just informed me. He left just one sentence and hurried off. He said the Nascent Soul ancestors and Wei Zhongran's group of Golden Core cultivators are less than eight thousand li away and will be back soon! As for my master, the martial uncle left before he could mention him. Perhaps he didn't know either."
As she spoke, a mist seemed to form in Bai Rou's beautiful eyes.
Seeing this, Li Yan quickly comforted her.
"Although Elder Chigong isn't the strongest among the Golden Core cultivators, in a great battle like that, what matters more is combat experience. The elder is a veteran of a hundred battles; his life-preserving skills might be beyond even my master's. You don't need to worry too much on that point."
Li Yan's words were half-truth, half-false. He had only met Elder Chigong once; how much could he really know about him?
However, it was said that this martial uncle had been in the Golden Core realm for many years. Especially in the decades prior, he was often away from the sect, roaming the world.
But there had never been any news of him returning to the sect injured. Based on this alone, Li Yan could surmise that this elder possessed some unknown, life-saving trump cards, a true veteran Golden Core cultivator.
Bai Rou was simple-minded. It was only because she had not received any news of Elder Chigong that her fear grew. She would never think to make such deductions.
After hearing Li Yan's words, she pursed her lips and continued to fly forward without a word. But from the fluctuations of spirit power emanating from her, it seemed she had gradually calmed down a bit, as if she quite believed what Li Yan had said.
Li Yan, however, gave a bitter smile in his heart.
'May the heavens bless Martial Uncle Chigong and keep him safe. Otherwise, this would be like Senior Sister Bai falling from the heavens to the earth. It would be better for her to be anxious like before; at least the psychological shock would be less severe then.'
On their way to the Front Mountain Entrance, they unexpectedly ran into Sun Guoshu. He was disheveled, his face groggy as if he hadn't woken up yet.
If he hadn't taken the initiative to greet them, neither Li Yan nor Bai Rou would have recognized him.
After a brief chat, they learned that Sun Guoshu had been spending the last few days and nights poring over and comparing the cultivation methods in his hands.
In the end, he was torn between three of them. All three suited his spirit root attributes, but they each had their own unique strengths. For a time, he was tormented by indecision, suffering great mental anguish.
Until just a moment ago, he still hadn't made up his mind, feeling that giving up any one of them would be a waste.
Upon hearing this, Li Yan and Bai Rou exchanged a glance, a look of helplessness in both their eyes.
This was a classic case of a poor man suddenly striking it rich. Rogue cultivators were even more pitiful than cultivators from small sects. They treated every spirit stone they obtained, every opportunity, as if it were their own life. They wouldn't waste a single bit of it. Even for a seasoned old fox like Sun Guoshu, when faced with a choice, to have been able to discard the other options and narrow it down to three out of seven or eight cultivation methods already showed great willpower.
Li Yan finally said just one thing, "The one that can make you stand out from the Outer Sect of the Malevolent Spirit Sect the fastest is the best one!"
At first, Sun Guoshu didn't understand, but after a brief pause, he slapped himself hard on the forehead.
Then, turning to Li Yan, he gave a deep bow right there in mid-air, causing the surrounding cultivators to look over, wondering what had suddenly possessed this person who had been flying perfectly fine just a moment ago.
Sun Guoshu was sharp, but his vision was limited by his perspective. Li Yan's single sentence had shown him how to choose.
'Only by shedding the identity of an Outer Sect disciple as quickly as possible will I get better cultivation methods. The Inner Sect surely has plenty.'
Sun Guoshu was suddenly enlightened. He finally understood. No matter how good these three cultivation methods were, at best they could only support his cultivation to the Golden Core realm.
If he wasted his golden years of cultivation because of this, then even if he mastered one of these three methods to its peak, he might lose the qualification to enter the Inner Sect due to his age.
He was no longer young; he only had about a hundred years left. What he needed to do now was use the cultivation method in his hands as a stepping stone.
A stepping stone to stand higher and obtain more and better cultivation resources. Having figured this out, Sun Guoshu's spirits lifted, and all traces of listlessness vanished.
Soon, the three of them followed the rolling streams of rainbow light in the sky and reached the Front Mountain.
At the entrance to the Front Mountain, a handsome, white-robed scholar stood on the ground. He was staring at the sky above the entrance with a stern expression, not saying a word.
An invisible stream of air seemed to circle around him. At his side, twelve Golden Core cultivators stood with their hands respectfully at their sides, each with a very deferential attitude.
Behind these Golden Core cultivators, on the open ground extending into Windy Cool Mountain, nearly a thousand people were already standing.
Li Yan just swept a glance over them. When his gaze passed over the handsome, white-robed scholar, he felt a sharp pain in his eyes, startling him into quickly retracting his gaze.
It felt as if a sharp sword had flashed through his chest, and he was horrified.
The aura of the handsome, white-robed scholar didn't seem particularly prominent among the large crowd of cultivators, yet one's gaze could not touch the area he was in. This was an extremely contradictory perception.
Li Yan even heard many of the cultivators who had flown over with him let out pained groans.
'Sword intent!'
A possibility immediately came to Li Yan's mind.
Just then, Bai Rou's gentle voice reached his ear.
"Junior Brother, don't be rash. That is Ancestor Gongsun of the Ten-Pace Courtyard. He has been stationed here for the past few days."
Li Yan's heart chilled. Although he didn't know all the Nascent Soul ancestors on the Desolate Moon Continent, he had committed the names of the Nascent Soul cultivators of the Four Great Sects to memory.
The Ancestor Gongsun that Bai Rou spoke of was named Gongsun Changxing. It was said that he had been in the Nascent Soul stage for over two hundred years and was a true inner sword expert who could traverse the world on his sword.
Taking a person's head from a thousand li away was a matter of a single thought. It seemed the sword pellet in his Niwan Palace was named "Bailiu," capable of traveling a thousand li in an instant and killing without a trace.
Li Yan then couldn't help but smile bitterly. Looking at Sun Guoshu beside him, the man was completely fine. Sun Guoshu hadn't even glanced once at the thirteen people in front, including Ancestor Gongsun.
However, in Li Yan's view, seeing a cultivator with an extraordinary bearing, especially when they weren't intentionally releasing a suppressive aura, glancing over was a normal thing to do.
Moreover, the cultivators here were all very well-behaved and didn't send out their divine senses to scan the others, merely casting a glance with their eyes.
But this old man Gongsun, whether he couldn't control the sharp sword intent around him or was doing it intentionally, had caused many cultivators to suffer a setback.
This was evident from the schadenfreude in the eyes of the cultivators on the ground who were looking at those in the air who had just groaned.
However, it was clear that those cultivators on the ground had also suffered a loss earlier and were now just enjoying the show.
"The forces left to guard Windy Cool Mountain are truly powerful!" Li Yan thought to himself. Just from the fact that one Nascent Soul and twelve Golden Core cultivators were defending a single mountain range, one could see their strength.
What's more, that old man Gongsun was a sword cultivator renowned throughout the world for his sharp attacks, not someone an ordinary Nascent Soul could compare to.
What Li Yan didn't know was that this very Gongsun Changxing from the Ten-Pace Courtyard was the one Mo Qing had been discussing the "Realm-Breaking Pearl" with, along with two other Nascent Soul cultivators from the Jingtu Sect and the Supreme Mystery Teachings, back when he was at the Xuanqing Temple.
Later, after Li Yan thwarted the Demon Clan's plan and Mo Qing obtained the "Realm-Breaking Pearl," he had even shown off this disciple of his sect to the other three. In a way, Gongsun Changxing had indirectly "come into contact" with Li Yan several years ago.
Of course, neither of them knew this now. Gongsun Changxing would never pay any mind to a minor cultivator. He probably wouldn't even remember the incident back then unless someone brought it up.
Li Yan and the others didn't dare to linger in the air. Just as they were about to find an empty spot to land, a book-boy on a slightly higher grassy slope looked up at the sky. Seeing Li Yan, he waved his hands repeatedly and sent a voice transmission.
"Brother Li, over here!"
Li Yan looked and saw that it was the cultivators of the "Green Sixteen Squad." There were also some cultivators with impressive cultivation who were not from the "Green Sixteen Squad" talking with Gong Yuantai and the others.
Li Yan smiled. "Senior Sister Bai, shall we go together?"
Bai Rou nodded, but her expression still held a hint of melancholy.