Within the palace-clad young madam's Divine Sense, quite a few cultivators and Demonic Beasts had appeared in the vicinity.
She paid them no mind. But just as she was flying forward, a stream of pure Spirit Power suddenly entered her range of perception.
'Someone is actually condensing Spirit Power liquid to heal another person. This person is the epitome of foolishness. It's obvious that person's Essence Soul is already dissolving.'
'And she is still toiling in vain like this, merely prolonging his dying breath. Hmph, her own realm is about to fall too. Utterly foolish. These two seem like a pair of lovers...'
With just a light sweep of her senses, the palace-clad young madam saw the scene unfolding on an Emerald Gourd within the rainy mist.
With her cultivation, the dense fog and restrictions around the Emerald Gourd were useless against her. She instantly saw the situation inside clearly.
'This flying magical treasure isn't bad. They are two human cultivators. I wonder which sect's disciples they are. Are they in a hurry to return to their sect?'
After a clear look, the palace-clad young madam retracted her Divine Sense. Although the other party's flying magical treasure was not bad, to her, it was merely 'not bad'.
Moreover, her clan was not allowed to attack human cultivators at will. Only cultivators like her, who had reached the Nascent Soul stage, knew the reason why.
However, just as the palace-clad young madam retracted her Divine Sense, she suddenly seemed to recall something. The next moment, her flying figure came to an abrupt halt in mid-air.
Instantly, her Divine Sense once again swept towards the rain screen, finally locking firmly onto the white-robed young woman who was condensing Spirit liquid.
"This... This is the 'Ice Soul Blue Jade Body'! This woman has the 'Ice Soul Blue Jade Body'!"
At first, she thought her senses had deceived her. But after carefully staring at the ice-blue liquid slowly condensing at the young woman's fingertips, and confirming it several times, she finally determined that it was not mutated water-attribute Spirit Power. A wave of wild joy surged through her heart.
'This is the perfect candidate for cultivating the 'Heavenly Demon White Jade Plate'! Where did this person come from?'
'If I can bring this person back to the clan, even without the matter of the 'God's Road', I will be immediately transferred back. At the same time, I will receive a massive amount of cultivation resources. It's even possible I could obtain some heavenly materials and earthly treasures.'
As the palace-clad young madam's beautiful eyes flickered, her figure suddenly vanished from the sky.
Zhao Min, who was recovering her magical power, suddenly opened her beautiful eyes.
She constantly kept a wisp of her Divine Sense on Li Yan, sensing the changes in his aura, to prevent herself from losing track of time while cultivating.
At this moment, the Spirit Power in Li Yan's physical body was once again on the verge of complete depletion. Zhao Min had no choice but to immediately interrupt her cultivation.
There was no fluctuation on her snow-white face. After letting out a light breath, she immediately began to extract her own Spirit Power again, condensing the Spirit Power liquid.
But at this moment, every time she circulated her Spirit Power to condense the liquid, it felt as if ten thousand tiny knives were piercing through her recently-nurtured meridians.
Zhao Min knew this was a sign of damage to her meridians. If she did not stop condensing and continue recovering, it wouldn't be long before her realm dropped.
She merely frowned. They were still about four thousand li away from the market the cultivator had told her about. To get there at this pace would still take the better part of a day.
So what if her realm dropped? As long as she recovered slightly, she would be able to circulate Spirit Power and cast Immortal Arts. With her Gu-insects, she still wouldn't fear any Foundation Establishment cultivator she encountered.
Just as a drop of spirit liquid was slowly forming at her fingertip, a pleasant voice suddenly and unexpectedly entered her ear. Zhao Min's body couldn't help but stiffen, and the movement of her hand paused.
"If you continue to condense spirit liquid like this, in less than half an hour, your cultivation will drop to the late-stage of Foundation Establishment!"
Zhao Min slowly raised her beautiful eyes. A blurry figure had appeared in the rain screen before her.
As the Emerald Gourd rushed forward, this figure maintained a constant distance from her, as if it didn't exist at all.
Though the figure was blurry, Zhao Min could still tell it was a woman, graceful and full-bodied.
Zhao Min's hand only paused for a moment before she resumed condensing the liquid. At the same time, she warily released her Divine Sense to probe the other party.
She couldn't sense the depth of the other's cultivation at all. She couldn't help but sigh internally. The trouble she couldn't afford to provoke had finally come knocking.
However, she had long been prepared for this, so there was not much fear on her face.
"Senior, in that case, do you have a way to save him?"
How incredibly sharp-witted was Zhao Min? It was only her personality that was stubborn. The woman blocking her path had a cultivation so profound, she was at least on the same level as her father.
If she was willing to act, then Li Yan's life might be saved.
"This person's Essence Soul has already begun to dissolve, caused by an extremely severe injury to his physical body. Although you have helped his body recover, it's already unstable."
The voice in the rain paused for a moment, then continued.
"But, why should I save him?"
The voice coming from the rain screen was clearly audible, not at all disturbed by the downpour. But its tone was as chilling as the heavy rain itself.
"Then why has Senior stopped this junior? Is there something you need this junior to do for you?"
Upon hearing the other's words, Zhao Min showed no dissatisfaction at all. Her face remained as placid as water as she immediately changed the subject, her tone neither servile nor overbearing.
'What a calm, water-like state of mind this girl has!'
The palace-clad young madam saw that the other party did not continue to beg her, but instead switched to another topic. She couldn't help but think more highly of Zhao Min.
At this moment, she could be certain that the young woman before her was definitely not from some small family or minor sect. She couldn't help but feel a little worried.
If she was from one of the major human sects, things could get difficult.
Although those few sects were nothing compared to her own clan, they couldn't just clash with human cultivators without reason. This was a rule of her clan.
Even she could not break it. If that were the case, it would be difficult for her to take the young woman away.
"Which sect are you from?" the palace-clad young madam asked bluntly.
Zhao Min stared at the blurry figure that moved backward with her, her mind racing.
'After blocking the two of us, this powerful expert actually asks about our origins? Could it be she has discovered we are from the Desolate Moon Continent and has grown suspicious, and this is an interrogation?'
She had already obtained some information by questioning the mortal members of the Demon Clan, learning about some of the affairs on the Forsaken Continent.
For example, multiple clans coexisted here, with the Demon Clan being dominant and other clans being secondary.
There were human cultivators as well, and quite a number of them, it seemed. Thinking of this, Zhao Min relaxed slightly.
'As long as those mortal demons weren't lying, even if the other party knows I'm from the Desolate Moon Continent, it should be fine.'
'But there is always a chance of an accident. What if this person is related to the Black Demon Clan, or is simply a member of the Black Demon Clan herself?'
Her own cultivation was too shallow. A moment ago, she had risked offending the other party to probe with her Divine Sense, but it was fruitless.
Zhao Min couldn't see the other's appearance at all, just a blurry human figure, so she couldn't judge the other's identity based on looks.
However, her mouth had already answered immediately.
"Just an insignificant little sect, not worth mentioning. There are only my Master, my junior brother, and me. Master passed away to the immortal realms last year. Even if I told you, Senior would likely not have heard of it. This time, my junior brother and I went out, not expecting to be ambushed. My junior brother ended up in this state to save me."
"Oh? Tell me the name of your sect. Perhaps I've heard of it?"
"Unworldly Sect!"
Zhao Min said offhandedly.
"Unworldly Sect? Un... Worldly... Sect?"
The palace-clad young madam frowned and thought for a moment. She had truly never heard of such a sect.
She stared at Zhao Min's face for a short while, but unfortunately, she couldn't detect any unusual expression.
Zhao Min had come up with a prepared story after gradually becoming clear about her surroundings in the past few days. She had already repeated it to herself many times.
'This name sounds like it was chosen casually. Unworldly Sect, a sect that doesn't concern itself with worldly affairs? Did this person's Master have a heart filled with disillusionment, or is this girl lying to me?'
The palace-clad young madam thought to herself, but she couldn't be certain that the white-robed girl before her was just spouting nonsense based on this point alone.
Perhaps her Master had truly seen through the mortal world, retreated from society, and chosen such a name. That was not impossible.
At the same time, she felt a little glee in her heart. If that was the case, then there was no great power behind the white-robed young woman.
But the palace-clad young madam still didn't believe it. From any angle, the white-robed young woman's temperament did not seem like someone from a small sect.
"Was your honorable Master also a Nascent Soul cultivator?"
"Senior, my master does not involve himself in worldly affairs. Have we two somehow offended you, Senior? But we rarely go out, so we shouldn't have offended a powerful expert like you. This time, when my junior brother and I were ambushed, we still don't know what happened!"
Zhao Min did not answer this time, but her tone had already indicated that it involved her privacy and she was unwilling to answer.
"Oh? Hehe, you're overthinking things. Where were you ambushed?"
The palace-clad young madam let out a light laugh. She was a Nascent Soul cultivator. If she didn't let you go, there was nothing you could do.
Zhao Min finally stopped condensing the Spirit Power liquid. As if remembering something, a murderous glint flashed across her face and disappeared.
Then, she named a remote mountain valley she had visited a few days ago, and then bowed slightly.
"Forgive me, junior is anxious to heal my junior brother and cannot linger here for long. If Senior has no other business, this junior must continue to treat my junior brother. Please forgive me, Senior!"
The palace-clad young madam was very familiar with this area. When Zhao Min mentioned that place, she immediately knew where it was.
'It's actually at the border between the two clans. That place is hard to say. Although it's remote, some sects from the Black Demon Clan often sneak in to commit murder and robbery.'
This was one of the reasons they guarded the border between the two clans. It was just that the border stretched for tens of thousands of li, and even with cultivator patrols, it was impossible to cover every single place.
Therefore, it was common for cultivators in this vicinity to be ambushed.
Including on the Black Demon Clan's side, the palace-clad young madam knew that cultivators from her side would also go over to search for resources and kill for treasures.
As long as nothing major happened, the border-guarding cultivators on both sides would turn a blind eye to such minor matters.
From this, the young madam was inclined to believe Zhao Min was telling the truth.
It was just that she had not yet returned to her army. If she went back, she might have heard about a peerlessly beautiful white-robed young woman who had recently been using strange flying insects to plunder sects at the border, and she would have immediately connected it to the person before her.
'It seems her Master was either a Golden Core or a Nascent Soul. He was probably a cultivator who came to the Forsaken Continent to escape disaster.'
Soon, the palace-clad young madam thought of a possibility. On the Forsaken Continent, apart from the Demon Clan who were native, the rest of the clans had basically migrated over later on.
The Forsaken Continent had a teleportation channel to the Verdant Continent. As long as one was willing to spend a huge amount of Spirit Stones, one could travel between the two continents from there.
Such an ultra-long-distance teleportation channel that spanned different continents was not something an ordinary person could use. Even for a Nascent Soul cultivator, using it once could lead to bankruptcy.
Similarly, the Verdant Continent also had open channels to other continents, but the Verdant Continent was very exclusive. Only the strongest could put down roots and flourish there.
So, some cultivators, when being hunted down or forced by other reasons, would spend everything they had and might end up fleeing to the Forsaken Continent to escape disaster, or live with a hidden identity in some uninhabited place.