All the cultivators who had pursued the white-robed young woman were long overdue, and after Yan Tantuo went after the enemy alone, all news of him was lost as well.
The family sent voice transmissions to Yan Tantuo, but each one was like a stone sinking into the sea, met with complete silence.
By dawn of the second day, not a single person had returned, and the cultivators left to guard the family residence grew anxious.
The cultivators tracking the Gu-insects only realized something was wrong after receiving a voice transmission. They, too, had tried to contact Yan Tantuo, but it was like sending a stone ox into the sea.
They had initially thought he wanted to claim the spoils of battle for himself and was ignoring them. Although they were disgruntled, they didn't dare to voice their complaints.
Several of the Foundation Establishment cultivators were already discussing whether they should first kill these strange insects and then return to the family's location to check on the situation.
Now, upon receiving the voice transmission about Yan Tantuo's disappearance, an boundless fear bloomed in their hearts. They knew the situation had changed, evolving beyond their imagination.
They all felt as if the young woman in white could appear beside them at any moment.
Under such circumstances, how could they dare continue tracking the Gu-insects? They didn't even dare to kill the ones right in front of them anymore.
If the white-robed young woman had killed Yan Tantuo and was now using the connection with her Gu-insects to track them down, none of them would be able to escape. They would all perish here.
In a state of panic, the group dared not linger for another moment. They fled in haste, not even daring to touch a single Gu-insect.
...
A Spirit Stone in Zhao Min's hand was rapidly turning grey. She glanced down at it, her brow twitching. She felt a sense of helplessness; the Spiritual Energy here was far too thin, forcing her to rely on the constant consumption of Spirit Stones to replenish her power.
But at this rate of consumption, the number of Spirit Stones in her Storage Pouch was dwindling fast.
Most critically, due to the continuous condensation of Spirit Power liquid, Zhao Min's meridians had begun to ache and swell as if they would rupture, and her Sea of Consciousness was becoming turbulent. These were signs of an unstable realm.
It was only because Zhao Min cultivated the Qiongqi Purgatory Art, which granted her an exceptionally resilient Divine Soul and meridians, that she could endure. Any ordinary cultivator would have likely suffered a drop in their cultivation realm and fallen into a coma by now.
Zhao Min had reached her limit. Forcing down the discomfort within her body, she tossed aside the now-gray stone and closed her eyes to begin her breathing exercises.
Her own injuries had not yet healed, but Li Yan's condition gave her no time to recover. She could only pile new injuries upon old ones, forcing herself to carry on.
After using the condensed Spirit Power liquid to dredge Li Yan's physical body, his life force could be sustained for about three to four hours.
Each session of condensing and transferring the liquid took at least half an hour. Along the way, Zhao Min was either channeling energy into Li Yan or meditating to recover herself.
Even with three to four hours of meditation in between, it was only enough for a slight recovery, let alone healing her own injuries.
Zhao Min's condition was deteriorating. Apart from growing increasingly haggard, her face remained as cold as ice and snow, devoid of any worldly emotion.
She had always been just as cold and merciless to herself. Anyone watching would only see her stubbornly repeating the same action over and over, as if devoid of any feeling.
At this point, she was trapped in a vicious cycle. Her injuries were constantly worsening, yet she stubbornly continued to heal Li Yan. The market they were heading to was still over ten thousand li away.
This was the information Zhao Min had obtained after ambushing a Qi Condensation cultivator, once she had decided to head to a market.
She was not yet capable of Soul-Searching. So, under the cultivator's terrified gaze, she had simply fed a Gu-insect into his stomach and stated impassively, "If the market you spoke of does not exist, then no one can save you! I don't care what methods you use, if you do not appear at that market in seven days, you know the consequences!"
The Qi Condensation cultivator, trembling, kowtowed like a pestle grinding garlic, but Zhao Min had already flown away.
Her action was meant to force him to tell the truth, while not giving him time to summon reinforcements.
The reason she didn't bring the Qi Condensation cultivator along to verify his words was to avoid a great deal of trouble.
Although she had him under control, Zhao Min didn't have a Spirit-Storing Pouch to hide him in, making him a very conspicuous presence on their journey.
It was possible they might run into his acquaintances, and if he secretly tried something, it would only create more problems.
Zhao Min had no energy to spare a wisp of her Divine Sense to watch him constantly. One mistake, and she could be the one who was schemed against.
By leaving him behind, with his Qi Condensation realm cultivation, it would be a fool's dream for him to catch up to the Emerald Gourd. He would have no choice but to desperately rush towards the market while trying to find a way to get help.
Another half-day passed in a flash. A strong wind began to whip across the land.
A short while later, the sky turned dark and murky. A downpour, as if a lake had been torn from the heavens, drenched the entire world.
Zhao Min had rarely seen such a heavy rain in her life. She had grown up in the southwestern part of the Desolate Moon Continent, where the four seasons were not clearly defined.
The weather there was sunny more than seventy percent of the time, the air moist, and the vegetation lush and green.
Even when it did rain, it would be over in a very short time, not like the deluge before her now, where the wind rose abruptly and the curtains of rain were endless.
The rain screen seemed to block off the entire world. Like pearls from a broken string, large raindrops hammered against the formation protecting the magical treasure, creating a relentless "thump, thump, thump." The gloomy sky felt as if it were collapsing.
Along the way, Zhao Min sped forward without rest. Her manner of flying had already attracted the attention of quite a few cultivators.
But the Emerald Gourd was incredibly fast. Even if someone wanted to approach and investigate, Zhao Min would have already sped far away, or even avoided them from a great distance.
Even some Golden Core cultivators had noticed Zhao Min, but after a flicker of consideration in their eyes, most of them gave up on tracking her.
A cultivator who possessed such a flying magical treasure was most likely from a major sect. More importantly, it would take a great deal of effort for them to even catch up, which would only attract more attention.
If the other party truly had a powerful background, the potential loss would far outweigh the gain. Nevertheless, some still followed quietly in the shadows, waiting to see if an opportunity to strike would present itself.
Although Zhao Min had avoided a lot of trouble this way, trouble, in the end, was unavoidable. Just as the Emerald Gourd, transformed into a dense fog, was streaking through the pouring rain, a very faint white light shot through the rain screen seven hundred li away from her. It streaked across the sky, heading in a certain direction.
The white light caused no spatial fluctuations at all. Due to its extreme speed, the curtains of rain it passed through remained as they were.
There was no sign of breakage or distortion; they continued to fall along their original paths, leaving the cultivators passing by completely unaware.
Within the white light, a young madam in a pale, ink-colored palace dress stood atop a white Jade Ruyi, traveling on the wind like a celestial fairy from the ninth heaven.
Her figure seemed like a mere phantom, swiftly gliding over one pillar of rain after another. A fleeting shadow would flash across the raindrops, impossible for the naked eye to capture.
The palace-clad young madam was deep in thought, her brow furrowed.
'The two Supreme Elders of the clan joined forces to investigate, but they could only detect that numerous cracks had appeared in the grand formation surrounding the Black Demon Clan's 'God's Road'.'
'This time, the other side actually deployed three late-stage Demon Marshals to repair it. The hidden details of this matter are of great importance.'
'However, the moment the two Supreme Elders' Divine Senses drew near, they were discovered by the other party, so they weren't able to probe the situation inside the 'God's Road'.'
The palace-clad young madam thought back to when she had returned to the clan. Her report had not kept her waiting long; it was sent to the two Supreme Elders in the shortest possible time.
The two Supreme Elders had been stuck at the late stage of Spirit Transformation for at least three thousand years. Their cultivation was unfathomably deep. If not for the long lifespan of the Demon Clan, they would have probably passed away from old age long ago.
Although there were five other early and mid-stage Spirit Transformation cultivators in the clan, the final decision on all major clan affairs could only be made by the two Supreme Elders.
Upon receiving the news, the two Supreme Elders had immediately summoned the palace-clad young madam to explain in detail.
After listening to her detailed report, the two Supreme Elders had joined forces at once to investigate the Black Demon Clan's "God's Road."
The final result still flashed in the young madam's mind. After being discovered by the Black Demon Clan's late-stage Demon Marshals, the two Supreme Elders, without a blush or a flutter of their hearts, had struck first.
They questioned why the other party had allowed a large amount of Demonic Qi to appear at the border between the two clans, leading to an incident where ferocious Demonic Beasts crossed over and injured people.
The late-stage Demon Marshals on the other side knew full well that the two Supreme Elders were making false accusations, but while blocking their investigation, they offered an explanation in their anger and requested that their Divine Senses leave quickly.
For subsequent matters, both sides would arrange for their designated representatives to negotiate. Compensation would be paid where it was due, what was owed would be returned, and a clear explanation would be given to them.
Although the two Supreme Elders had failed to investigate the situation inside the "God's Road," they had still sensed a few things from the aura emanating from the cracks in the damaged grand formation.
The Demonic Qi inside was extremely chaotic—so chaotic that a cultivator below the Nascent Soul realm probably couldn't stay inside for more than half an hour. This spoke volumes.
More critically, for a split second, the two Supreme Elders didn't sense the aura of the "God's Road" inside—not a single path.
"A mutation has occurred in the 'God's Road' within the grand formation!"
This was the final conclusion of the two Supreme Elders, but they were not certain which realm's "God's Road" it was.
However, they couldn't be sure if their investigation was accurate. After all, the moment their Divine Senses approached the cracks of the damaged grand formation, they were blocked by the other party and couldn't investigate in detail.
But just from the fact that the grand formation protecting the "God's Road" was riddled with cracks like a sieve, it was clear that even if the "God's Road" wasn't severed, it was definitely severely damaged.
"In the negotiations with them this time, we must make them pay a bloody price!"
The palace-clad young madam thought to herself, a faint smile appearing on her cold face.
When the anomaly appeared at the border of the two clans this time, she had immediately realized that the problem might lie with the "God's Road" and had immediately rushed to the Black Demon Clan to confirm.
Then, she decisively returned to the clan and reported her speculation to the clan elders. All of her actions had been perfectly correct.
This was a great merit. The two Supreme Elders had been quite appreciative of her.
The existence of the "God's Road" was a hidden danger to the entire Demon Clan. It was just that the Black Demon Clan had acted willfully, and the palace-clad young madam's side was weaker, so they could only acquiesce.
Now that there was a problem with the "God's Road," her clan could come up with new countermeasures. This was very likely an opportunity to change the balance of power between the two sides.
"The clan elders have requested that I return to the border. As long as I handle the matter of the Black Demon Clan's compensation properly, they will transfer me back to the clan ahead of schedule. All of my judgments this time were correct."
Thinking of this, a slight curve finally appeared at the corners of the palace-clad young madam's cold lips.
"If I can take this opportunity to gather some specific information about the 'God's Road', then I will gain even more appreciation from the clan elders, and more cultivation resources will be awarded."
The palace-clad young madam continued to ponder, but as for this last thought, she was just thinking about it. She would do her best, but her hopes were not high.
The "God's Road" was the core, vital ground of the Black Demon Clan, and its secrets were never revealed to outsiders. Even the two Supreme Elders of her clan were unable to probe its inner workings.
"I wonder which realm's passage is having problems?"
The palace-clad young madam thought about the "God's Road," connecting it with information she had previously obtained, and couldn't help but speculate.
The "God's Road" was a sacred place that the Black Demon Clan had poured their entire clan's strength into building over generations. It was said that there were passages there leading to other planar realms.
She wasn't sure exactly how many there were. Some said seven or eight, others said two or three; there was no precise number.
Some of these passages led to large planes similar to the Forsaken Continent, while others led to very small, remote minor planes. All of them were important sources of cultivation resources for the Black Demon Clan.
As the palace-clad young madam was lost in thought, her flying figure suddenly felt a jolt in her mind. She had discovered something!