"Thud!"
Li Yan's body fell heavily back onto the bed. The fall made him see stars, and waves of dizziness washed over him again.
At this moment, the door was pushed open, and a tall figure cast a shadow inside.
The newcomer immediately saw Li Yan on the bed. The quilt had slipped below his abdomen, and his chest was heaving violently.
"Great Immortal Master, Great Immortal Master, you're awake!"
A rough voice entered Li Yan's ears, but in his buzzing mind, the voice seemed to come from the distant horizon.
Li Yan tried hard to open his eyes to see the person clearly, but in the dim light, his vision, which had once been incredibly sharp, could only make out a blurry figure rapidly approaching him.
After an unknown amount of time, Li Yan felt a warmth slide down his throat, and soon, a warm current rose from his abdomen.
This warm current quickly flowed to his four limbs and entire body. Slowly, Li Yan's mind began to clear.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself half-leaning against the bed. In front of him stood a person holding a large bowl.
Vaguely, Li Yan did not recognize the person's appearance.
Immediately, Li Yan was jolted with alarm, and countless thoughts began to flood his mind.
Devil's Cliff Crevice, Wei Zhongran, Zhao Min, the seven-colored space...
A white light... he had entered a white light, and then... right, Zhao Min, where was Zhao Min?
As these thoughts rose, Li Yan's pupils slowly began to focus.
The warm current in his body gave his weak form some strength, and the piercing pain in his head was not as bad as before.
"Great Immortal Master, Great Immortal Master..."
An urgent voice came from far to near, finally filling Li Yan's entire ear and pulling him back from his distant memories.
"Hm? Who might you be?"
Li Yan's gaze quickly focused on the person before him.
Li Yan considered himself quite tall, but this person was visually a head taller than him.
A thick head of black hair was scattered behind his head. He had a high nose and fair skin, a handsome appearance, and was around forty years old. A gray shirt was tightly wrapped around his bulging muscles. He truly had the appearance of a fine man.
"Phew, Great Immortal Master, you're finally awake. My name is Shan Yiyuan, and I am the chief of this village."
Shan Yiyuan said respectfully, holding a large bowl in his hands. He glanced at the remains in the bowl, his heart aching.
But he was also celebrating inwardly.
'He's finally awake. In these two days, I've already used up a large piece of the most precious preserved meat of the Profound Silver Chicken. That was some of the only good stuff left in the village.'
But thinking about what that lord had said—that as long as he took good care of this person until he woke up, when someone came to collect the Order Arrow, he could tell them to waive the village's resource tribute for ten years—his heart was filled with joy again.
The resources saved over ten years were in no way comparable to this large piece of Profound Silver Chicken.
Although Li Yan's body had not recovered, he could still feel that this person had no spiritual power fluctuations.
'A mortal!'
He couldn't help but relax. At the same time, he scanned the room but did not see Zhao Min anywhere.
And he felt that something was not quite right with the person before him. He couldn't put his finger on what it was for a moment.
At the very least, his address of "Great Immortal Master" seemed different from the mortals he had seen before, who all called cultivators "High Immortals."
So, he asked without a change in expression, "Where is my companion?"
"Companion?"
Shan Yiyuan was stunned for a moment, but he quickly reacted.
"You must be talking about the other two Great Immortal Masters. They placed you here to recuperate and left a day and a half ago."
'Two Great Immortal Masters? Could it be that after Zhao Min and I escaped, we ran into other people from the Malevolent Spirit Sect?'
'But why didn't they bring me back to the sect and instead left me here? Could it be that the great battle has become even more intense...'
Li Yan was inexplicably surprised. He hadn't had time to sort out the various thoughts that had just rushed into his mind, and now there was something new to confuse him.
However, with Li Yan's cunning, his face would not show the slightest hint of surprise.
He just nodded.
"Did they say where they were going?"
Li Yan pursued without courtesy. Knowing the other was a mortal, he no longer held back.
"This... this little one is not too clear. They probably returned to the army. It's just... there are too many armies stationed at the border, so this little one cannot know exactly where they went."
"Also, this little one dares not speculate. Perhaps the two Great Immortal Masters went elsewhere, that is also possible."
"However, since you have awakened, you should be able to reunite with the two Great Immortal Masters very soon."
Shan Yiyuan said uncertainly after thinking for a moment. At the same time, he felt a little strange.
'These Great Immortal Masters are omnipotent, able to ascend to the heavens and enter the earth. Don't they all carry magical treasures like voice transmission talismans? Why ask me about this?'
As the village chief, he had come into contact with cultivators quite a lot, so of course, he knew a fair bit about some of their common magical treasures.
But his words sounded even more wrong to Li Yan's ears.
'The army? The border? Are we now in a standoff with the Demon Clan? Even mortals know about this?'
'No, the border... the Human and Demon Clans have already divided the land and ruled. How long have I been in a coma?'
For a moment, Li Yan felt as if he had fallen into a fog, a sense of trance in his heart. But these thoughts only flashed past his eyes, his face remaining impassive.
"Alright, many thanks, Brother Shan. I have just recovered and still need to recuperate for a while. Afterwards, if I don't call you, don't come in."
"To be addressed like this by you, my lord, this little one is not worthy."
"Everything is as the Great Immortal Master arranges. Rest assured, this is my courtyard. The other villagers will not trespass. I will go and instruct my family members again right now."
Shan Yiyuan heard this and quickly agreed. He knew that as long as the Great Immortal Master was awake, he would be able to recuperate by meditating and refining qi on his own, and would no longer need him to worry about it.
If this were on the Desolate Moon Continent, those mortals would definitely want to talk to Li Yan for a while longer, to see if they could get on the good side of an immortal.
If they could be bestowed some immortal pills or spirit medicines, it would be a heavenly windfall.
But for the people here, they would not even think about it, nor would they dare to.
What kind of people were cultivators? One moment they could be pleasant and agreeable, the next they could slaughter your entire family. It was better to have less contact.
Moreover, with Li Yan's awakening, Shan Yiyuan had already received the greatest benefit. He just had to show the Order Arrow to the person who came to collect it.
Shan Yiyuan quickly bowed respectfully and was about to leave when Li Yan seemed to ask casually, "When I was in a coma, the thing you gave me to eat was not bad. I must thank Brother Shan again."
"Oh, that was a piece of Profound Silver Chicken meat treasured by the village. In order to help the Great Immortal Master wake up as soon as possible, we little ones did indeed do our best."
Shan Yiyuan, who was walking towards the door, stopped and replied quickly. His words did not hide the effort he had put in, without any euphemism. This was the character of the Demon Clan.
Li Yan smiled and nodded. Shan Yiyuan bowed respectfully again, quickly retreated, and gently closed the door behind him.
The moment Shan Yiyuan left, the smile on Li Yan's face vanished instantly, quickly replaced by a shadow of gloom.
His question just now was not a casual one. At this moment, the warm current in his body was still persisting.
Li Yan spoke in a voice so low it was inaudible.
"Profound Silver Chicken? How have I never heard of this kind of Demonic Beast?"
Li Yan was certain that what he ate was a Demonic Beast, not a wild animal, because the food he swallowed actually contained a little bit of Spiritual Energy.
Although it was very little, his physical body had been nourished by Spiritual Energy. Li Yan would absolutely not misjudge this point.
This was not something wild animal meat could possess. Of course, this was not absolute either. Some wild animals, by a stroke of luck, might eat a heavenly material and earthly treasure, and a trace of spiritual power would be generated in their bodies before they advanced.
And the most crucial point was that, besides Spiritual Energy, this so-called "Profound Silver Chicken" meat also contained an extremely small amount of Demonic Qi. Very, very little.
If not for Li Yan's abnormally familiar grasp of his own acupoints and meridians, he would have almost overlooked it.
"A Demonic Beast's body also contains Demonic Qi!"
This was what had put Li Yan on alert. For a moment, he even suspected that he had been in a coma for several decades.
Now the Desolate Moon Continent was in a state of confrontation between the Human and Demon Clans, which was why some Demonic Beasts were tainted with Demonic Qi.
As thoughts churned in his mind, Li Yan's gaze fell on his pillow. There lay a pure white Jade Slip, emitting a faint glow.
This was precisely the reason why Li Yan had sent Shan Yiyuan away. It was clearly left for him by someone intentionally.
Li Yan gently picked up the Jade Slip. As it drew closer to his face, Li Yan smelled a familiar cool scent.
"Zhao Min!"
Zhao Min's peerless face immediately flashed in Li Yan's mind, and several somewhat ambiguous scenes flooded his thoughts.
There were images of him holding Zhao Min's waist in the abyss of the Devil's Cliff Crevice, in the seven-colored space, and carrying her on his back as they slowly walked towards a white light.
These images flashed by. He had been so close to Zhao Min back then, so the scent on her body was still unforgettable. He recalled it instantly.
Smelling the cool fragrance on the Jade Slip, Li Yan was dazed for a moment, then he shook off some thoughts.
"The answer to my questions might be in the Jade Slip."
But then, he frowned and put the Jade Slip down again, sighing helplessly in his heart.
Just now, in the moment he woke up and saw Shan Yiyuan's blurry figure approaching, he had subconsciously tried to use his Divine Sense to probe, but the piercing pain in his head had almost made him faint again.
He couldn't muster even a bit of Divine Sense power right now, and even the Spirit Power in his Purple Mansion Dantian was nearly exhausted.
Just now, when he held the Jade Slip and the thought moved, his head felt as if it were being pricked by needles.
After putting down the Jade Slip, Li Yan's hand conveniently reached under the pillow, and two low-grade Spirit Stones appeared in his hands.
Looking at the Spirit Stones in his hands, and then at the tightly closed door, Li Yan's gaze flickered a few times.
After a few breaths, he forcibly suppressed some thoughts. Li Yan slowly got into a cross-legged position, placed the two Spirit Stones in his palms, with the five centers facing the heavens, and began to slowly circulate his cultivation method.
When dawn arrived three days later, in the dimly lit room, Li Yan's eyes slowly opened and closed. In an instant, a ray of bright light flashed and disappeared in the room.
"I've only recovered about twenty percent of my strength, but it's enough to open the 'Earthen Patch' and check the contents of the Jade Slip."
Li Yan looked down at the two gray Spirit Stones.
After he had cultivated for the better part of an hour, the Spiritual Energy within the two Spirit Stones had been completely absorbed by him.
But after that, Li Yan could already absorb the Spiritual Energy in the air here on his own.
Li Yan turned his gaze to the Jade Slip. The pure white Jade Slip had already floated up automatically and the next moment, it gently pressed against his forehead.
A moment later, the pure white Jade Slip floated back into Li Yan's palm, but the frown on his brow had deepened.
The Jade Slip was indeed left by Zhao Min, but she had not left many words, and the simple words were somewhat incomprehensible to Li Yan.
"Junior Brother, that you can view this Jade Slip means your injuries should have healed. I am greatly relieved."
"We were ambushed mid-journey, and you fell into a coma. Many treatments were fruitless, and your life was in peril."
"In a desperate situation, we received help from a senior. You are now out of danger, temporarily staying in a mortal Demon Clan village to recuperate."
"I have received the senior's favor and have become her disciple. My cultivation is pressing, and I cannot stay here."
"Due to sect rules, you cannot follow, Junior Brother."
"When you are well, you may attach a voice transmission Jade Slip and a passage from the opening chapter of the sect's 'Twin Chan Hearts' and send it to the Hundred Dao Heavenly Treasure Pavilion in Mingdu City."
"At that time, I will know that all is well with you, and I will be at ease."
"Afterwards, you may return to the sect to cultivate alone. Do not forget our Master's kindness in teaching us under the night sky on the back mountain platform."