'Is... is this an enemy of the Shuang family, here for revenge?'
For a moment, the female cultivator felt her guess was correct. She had hidden her name and identity precisely to avoid these people and to search for her relatives who had been scattered back then.
She believed that some people in her family were still alive; it was impossible that she was the only one left in this world.
"Who is Shuang Chongshan? Hmph! You are not the masters of this place either!"
The female cultivator instantly calmed down. Had these people discovered her true identity long ago and tracked her here?
This person's actions now were not to save her. They were after her family's puppetry arts, so she had no need to be polite.
At the same time, a glimmer of hope rose in the female cultivator's heart. She had heard another meaning in the person's words.
If Shuang Chongshan had not self-detonated his divine soul, leaving the enemy with nothing...
Then that meant Shuang Chongshan was still alive. Otherwise, the enemy could have just used Soul-Searching to get what they wanted and wouldn't have needed to search for her like this.
Watching the person kill the "Dark Spirit Demon Bats," she also determined that he was not the master of this cave residence.
And to think these people had claimed this was their cave residence before. They had actually believed they had met the true owners. But now, seeing this person also being attacked by the "Dark Spirit Demon Bats," the previous lie fell apart on its own.
The female cultivator was extremely intelligent. From the dark figure's single sentence and actions, she had gleaned a great deal of information.
The dark figure in front of her was precisely Li Yan. He had snuck over after sensing the fluctuations of spiritual energy from this direction.
Seeing that it was the formation master from Jiang Baibi's group, he hadn't immediately launched a sneak attack. He was also somewhat interested in this person.
This person's mastery of the Dao of formations was very strong. Although an accident might have occurred when she was breaking the restriction on the cave entrance, he could not deny this beautiful woman's attainments in formations.
At the very least, Li Yan couldn't have seen through the outer layer of restrictions on the sea cliff outside.
Moreover, Xuan Caijun and the others had also observed it before, and none of them had any other way but to break it by force.
Therefore, after seeing her, Li Yan had been pondering whether to capture her and use a Soul-Searching Art to see if he could obtain her formation legacy.
Although the other party was also a Golden Core cultivator, she was only at the initial-stage. Li Yan was confident that his Divine Sense was far stronger than hers and he wouldn't suffer any backlash.
Just as he had decided to make a move to capture the beautiful woman, the formation master suddenly summoned a puppet. After a sweep of his Divine Sense, Li Yan was stunned.
Because from this puppet, he once again felt a somewhat familiar aura.
Li Yan found it very strange. Why was it that recently, whenever he saw someone use a puppet, he would have a familiar feeling? Was his suspicious nature acting up again?
But he still stopped his actions immediately. He didn't understand why he had this feeling.
After thinking carefully, he immediately recalled the "Three-legged Green Luan" that Shuang Lianzhou had taken out last time.
That time, in order to demonstrate for Zhu Luomu, Shuang Lianzhou had allowed them to probe it with their Divine Sense, keeping only the core formation restriction sealed.
Li Yan had carefully scanned the "Three-legged Green Luan" multiple times back then.
Although he couldn't understand the formation pathways, he could still sense whether the spiritual energy flowed smoothly when the puppet was operating and how powerful it was.
And since this event had just happened not long ago, it was still fresh in Li Yan's memory.
"The pattern of spiritual energy flow in this 'Wetland Thunder Bear' is very similar to that of the 'Three-legged Green Luan.' This should be due to them having the same formation inscribed."
Li Yan quickly realized. He immediately scanned the "Wetland Thunder Bear" repeatedly with his Divine Sense, but he did not see the maple leaf mark, the mark of the Duye Clan.
'Did she not inscribe it, or is it hidden inside the puppet?'
Li Yan finally decided to test the other party's identity. Now, seeing her denial, he immediately spoke again.
"Shuang Lianzhou, Ming Ling!"
The female cultivator's heart shook even more violently. Of course she knew the child Shuang Lianzhou. When they had separated, Shuang Chongshan should have taken Shuang Lianzhou, who was still in the Qi Condensation stage, with him.
'But, who is Ming Ling?'
For a moment, she was bewildered. The fact that the person also mentioned Shuang Lianzhou's name made her even more uncertain whether he was an enemy or a friend.
"Then forget it. Since you don't know them, there's no need to say more."
The dark figure in front of her suddenly turned his head and grabbed for her shoulder.
The female cultivator was greatly alarmed. Circulating the last of her spirit power, she unhesitatingly bundled the Azure Cloak into a long staff and swung it diagonally to block the opponent's fist.
At this point, she no longer cared about defending against the surrounding "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" and simultaneously commanded the "Wetland Thunder Bear" to attack Li Yan from the side.
Li Yan's expression was impassive. Ripples of spiritual energy pulsed from his body, causing the swarming "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" to crash into them, blocking them a zhang away from his body.
At the same time, his left fist clashed plainly with the Azure Cloak.
But the "Wetland Thunder Bear's" movements were now even slower, unable to form a perfect combined attack with the female cultivator's.
The moment Li Yan's left fist hit the Azure Cloak, the female cultivator felt as if her full-powered strike, concentrated into a staff, had struck a giant mountain.
With a bang, the Azure Cloak unfurled even faster than before and draped over the female cultivator, who was now tumbling like a gourd.
In a clash between two of the same cultivation level, with her being at the end of her rope, she was like an ant trying to shake a tree against Li Yan.
The female cultivator immediately spat out an arrow of blood from her mouth and fainted.
Li Yan snatched up the Azure Cloak and then pointed a finger at her brow from a distance. The female cultivator's voluptuous body then vanished from the ground.
Only then did the "Wetland Thunder Bear's" pair of giant bear paws finally crash down from the other side.
Li Yan's waist sank slightly. Facing a Golden Core level puppet whose materials he had seen were exceptionally tough, Li Yan did not clash with it head-on.
His right hand changed from a fist to a palm. With a slight turn of his body, he easily dodged the sharpness of the bear paws.
His right palm circled around the already slowing bear paw and printed itself directly on the "Wetland Thunder Bear's" broad chest from underneath its forearm.
Then, with a burst of force, he pushed the "Wetland Thunder Bear" forward, sending it sliding with incredible speed, crashing into a swarm of "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" behind it in a shower of blood.
Taking advantage of the slowness of the "Wetland Thunder Bear's" arms as it tried to block, Li Yan continuously poured powerful streams of spiritual energy into its body.
The formation restrictions inside it shook violently, and the little remaining spiritual energy was thrown into chaos. In just seven or eight breaths, the formation ceased to function.
In an instant, the "Wetland Thunder Bear's" eyes dimmed, and its arms hung down heavily.
Li Yan then grabbed it, and the "Wetland Thunder Bear" also vanished in an instant.
Li Yan's figure immediately faded rapidly. In just half a breath, he was gone without a trace, leaving only a swarm of angrily shrieking "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" searching around chaotically.
After subduing the female cultivator and her puppet and throwing them into the "Earthen Patch," Li Yan quickly fled.
He had no time to inquire about this woman now. Her attainments in formations were extremely impressive, so Li Yan hadn't killed her immediately. She might be of great use later.
If worse came to worst, when he had time, Li Yan was willing to use Soul-Searching to obtain her formation legacy.
Although he didn't have time to cultivate it in detail, spending some time to understand it would still be very beneficial.
He now needed to figure out where the tunnels led as quickly as possible and find an exit. Even if it was sealed by a restriction, he could try using the "Heaven-Stealing Kerchief," or even force the female cultivator to try and break it. Although the current anomaly might have been caused by this female formation master, her attainments in formation arts were stronger than any other cultivator here, of that there was no doubt.
This was another reason he didn't kill her.
Li Yan's figure quickly faded and disappeared, leaving the surrounding two-winged "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" extremely angry, searching everywhere.
After Li Yan had quickly passed through three long tunnels and shaken off the "Dark Spirit Demon Bats," the sense of crisis in his chest grew stronger and stronger.
Li Yan guessed that he was likely approaching the end of the tunnels.
Seeing no one around, Li Yan immediately stopped.
Then, as he released his Divine Sense, he quickly took something out of the "Earthen Patch."
In the next moment, his palm was placed on its head. It was a two-winged "Dark Spirit Demon Bat."
It had already had its six senses sealed by Li Yan. The moment Li Yan began the Soul-Searching, its already hideous features became even more twisted and ugly.
From its wide-open mouth came a silent, piercing howl.
A moment later, with an expressionless face, Li Yan's palm, which was placed on its head, suddenly surged with great force.
His five fingers clenched fiercely. With a soft peng, a shower of blood exploded in his hand.
Then, he pulled another two-winged "Dark Spirit Demon Bat" out of the "Earthen Patch" and performed the same technique again.
A few breaths later, this "Dark Spirit Demon Bat" also turned into a shower of blood, which Li Yan dissipated with a wave of his sleeve.
Li Yan stood in the tunnel like this, his brows knitted together, his mind still processing the information he had just obtained.
Just then, he suddenly raised his head and looked forward, because in the tunnel ahead of him, intense fluctuations of spiritual energy suddenly erupted.
This fluctuation of spiritual energy moved from far to near and was much stronger than the aura emitted when the female cultivator surnamed Yang had been fighting the "Dark Spirit Demon Bats."
"This aura can only be emitted by at least a late-stage Golden Core or a Pseudo-Nascent Soul cultivator. Who is this?"
For a moment, Li Yan couldn't judge who was fighting.
The tunnels here were now a dense, interwoven network. He had been able to run into the female cultivator, and it wasn't impossible that someone else had reached the area ahead of him from another tunnel.
Thinking of this, Li Yan did not use his Divine Sense to forcefully probe the area, for fear of being detected.
After a moment of thought, he decided to sneak over in secret.
Regardless of whether it was someone from his own side, being hidden in the shadows gave him a natural advantage. He could decide for himself whether to launch a sneak attack.
For Li Yan, sneak attacks were always part of the primary plan.
At this moment, the youth surnamed Bai was drenched in blood. He had failed several times to regroup with Song Rongdao and the others, and had even been caught in the tide of "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" a few times.
Especially the four-winged "Dark Spirit Demon Bat" that was targeting him; it was likely the strongest among the group.
It was the short, slender, green-faced man who had taken human form in the plaza earlier.
His cultivation was already at the peak of the third rank, a minor realm higher than the youth surnamed Bai, and his original form was that of an Ancient Ferocious Beast.
The youth surnamed Bai facing him alone was already a perilous situation, let alone with the tide of two-winged "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" swarming around.
He didn't dare to get entangled with the four-winged bat and only wanted to regroup with Song Rongdao, but the final result forced him to choose a path of escape.
If not for the youth surnamed Bai using his essence blood to continuously cast a secret art three times, breaking through the encirclement of the two-winged bats again and again, he would have likely already perished.
But what made him even more uneasy was that the four-winged bat, apart from clashing with him once at the very beginning, a blow that had nearly displaced his internal organs, had subsequently hidden itself within the tide of "Dark Spirit Demon Bats." It would only flash out to force him back when he tried to rely on his own formidable strength to break through.