After hearing Li Yan's transmission, Xing Ming nodded. Seeing Feng Moru was alright put him much at ease.
Seeing the look of relief on the faces of the remaining two, the four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat with the female voice couldn't help but let out another cold, soft rebuke.
"We are not as perfidious as you human cultivators. Hurry up and send another one out!"
Li Yan and Xing Ming paid no mind to the other's dissatisfaction. Caution is the parent of safety; it was the first condition for survival.
"Junior Brother, I will wait for you outside for one hour. If you don't come out, within three days, I will gather more people and level this place!"
After finishing the transmission, Xing Ming no longer hesitated and stepped into the cave wall...
Ten breaths later, Li Yan slowly turned his head. The image of the passage on the cave wall had returned to the scene of the seabed outside. Xing Ming and Feng Moru had already disappeared into the dark waters in the distance.
At this time, only Li Yan and a host of Dark Spirit Demon Bats remained in the tunnel.
"Fellow Daoist Zhang, we are people who keep our promises. Everything... everything has been done as requested. Is... is it alright now?"
Meng Zhiyuan, seeing how cautious these people were, felt contempt in his heart, but he still approved of their methods.
"Of course, it's alright. However, it seems Fellow Daoist Meng has forgotten that there are still some things in our previous agreement that have not been completed."
Li Yan looked at Meng Zhiyuan, who was still bound by the Spirit Power rope, with a smile on his face.
"Brat, are you trying to stir up more trouble?"
Before Meng Zhiyuan could speak, one of the four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bats had already spoken to Li Yan with extreme impatience, and a killing intent was already surging around them.
Li Yan glanced at that four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat.
Although they all looked almost identical, through its voice, Li Yan remembered that it seemed to be the one Meng Zhiyuan called "Old Second," a peak third-rank Demonic Beast of extremely formidable strength.
Li Yan completely ignored this and simply turned his gaze back to Meng Zhiyuan.
Although Meng Zhiyuan was unwilling in his heart, the other party was right. There were still some verbal agreements that he needed to fulfill.
He had been thinking in his heart that if he were to recover from his injuries and they were to fight again, this human cultivator would definitely not be his match.
With caution, there were still ways to trace that bizarre magical treasure.
He spoke to the few four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bats whose auras were becoming increasingly sharp.
"En... enough. In my agreement with Fellow Daoist Zhang, th... there is still one last item to be completed!"
Li Yan looked around.
"Fellow Daoist Meng, shall we talk here, or find a slightly more secluded place to talk?"
"N... no need. Don't you just want to know the origin of this place?
"This is not a secret to... to my clansmen. You... you can ask your questions right here."
Meng Zhiyuan immediately rejected Li Yan's proposal. With the enemy surrounded, even if he were to die, the other party would surely perish as well.
He wanted to keep the other party surrounded, to give them no more opportunities.
"The questions I've asked you before were simple: is the master of this place still alive, or are you the masters here?
"Besides you, what other powerful beings exist here? What is the terrifying power in those three final tunnels? And the origin of this place?
"After you answer these questions, I will release your restriction, and we will go our separate ways!"
Li Yan spoke calmly. He was very curious about this place. If possible, he certainly wanted to get some benefits from it.
Many of a cultivator's opportunities are obtained through life-and-death situations.
Li Yan, like other cultivators, sought wealth amidst danger. Since he was here, he had to figure out the situation before he would be content.
Meng Zhiyuan stared at Li Yan for a few breaths before speaking slowly.
"Indeed... indeed, wealth moves the human heart... Fellow Daoist, you still hold great hopes for this place.
"If I were to tell you that I am not the master here, but merely a guardian, and that the... the master of this place is just out on business...
"And that he... is a Nascent Soul level cultivator, I wonder if Fellow Daoist would still be standing here talking to me so calmly?"
After speaking, he stared at Li Yan's face with a mocking look in his powerless eyes.
After a few breaths, to his disappointment, he did not see a trace of panic on the other's face.
Instead, after rubbing his nose with his finger, the other party let out a soft laugh.
"Do you think I believe you? If that were truly the case, you would have used it as a threat when I first captured your soul.
"You would have let me know how severe the consequences of killing you were, instead of using some conditions to trade for your life;
"Of course, you might have had another thought, which was to continuously delay time, waiting for the arrival of the strong.
"And everything Fellow Daoist Meng has done has been with self-preservation as the prerequisite, even to the point of helping me kill my enemies and retrieve my magical treasure.
"Now, you suddenly say there is a Nascent Soul cultivator here. If you're not afraid that I'll erupt and kill you, then it means this senior has already appeared here.
"With everything I've done before, would that senior need to listen to me blabbering on here? They would just kill me directly.
"All of this points to only one thing: Fellow Daoist Meng has no greater trump card to save his life and is merely trying to intimidate me..."
A strange light flashed in the depths of Meng Zhiyuan's eyes.
'This brat's mind is so deep, he considers every aspect!'
But he was also an old fox. His face remained impassive as he spoke, interrupting Li Yan's words.
"Then perhaps all of this was... my delaying tactic. Including letting your companions go just now. It will take some time for the master of this place to re... return. By then, none of you will be able to escape!
"Hehehe... I... I was just joking. Fellow Daoist... Fellow Daoist need not take it seriously!"
Meng Zhiyuan first spoke in a sinister tone, then stared at the change in Li Yan's expression, chuckling while panting for breath.
Opposite him, Li Yan's expression did indeed change slightly.
"Fellow Daoist Meng, we cooperated very well before. I hope you will abide by our previous agreement, so we can go our separate ways!"
Seeing Li Yan's face turn somewhat ugly, Meng Zhiyuan felt a wave of delight in his heart. In a battle of wits, he was not so easy to deal with.
Seeing Meng Zhiyuan's speech becoming intermittent, the four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat who was his Second Senior Brother hastily spoke up.
"Big Brother, you rest. I will answer his questions!"
Li Yan glanced at the few four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bats who were already very impatient.
"Although Fellow Daoist Meng is injured, I think he should have no problem speaking for a while."
Li Yan still felt that Meng Zhiyuan, having witnessed his methods firsthand and experienced them himself, would have to think twice before answering his questions.
Besides, the other party was still trying to intimidate him just now. It seemed his soul was quite "spirited." In that case, he might as well let him talk a bit more.
"You are going too far..."
"Don't push your luck..."
"Human..."
The few four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bats opposite him immediately flew into a rage, shouting one after another.
"Let's leave it at that. D... don't waste any more time. I can still speak!"
A fierce light flashed in the depths of Meng Zhiyuan's eyes, but he did not delay any longer. He also knew that this cultivator named Zhang Ming was very difficult to deal with. There was little point in getting entangled in such matters.
He then began to narrate the origin of this place as if to himself.
This place was indeed a cave residence left by an ancient cultivator. Its former master was a truly terrifying existence who had reached the Spirit Transformation level, known as "Venerable Duanmu."
Now, apart from their clan, there were no other living beings here. Just as Li Yan had guessed, they were the guardians here. Those three sub-cave residences were where "Venerable Duanmu" and his two daughters lived. They were places that outsiders were absolutely forbidden to enter, and also impossible to enter.
Although Meng Zhiyuan and his clan were the guardians here, they could not freely appear in other parts of the cave residence.
The reason was that "Venerable Duanmu's" two daughters, who were as beautiful as celestial fairies, disliked the appearance of their clan. That was why the Dark Spirit Demon Bats were restricted to the forbidden land.
Only when an enemy triggered the formation here would they appear to defend against them.
About thirty thousand years ago, it seemed something happened to "Venerable Duanmu's" younger daughter after she went out. Later, the elder daughter went out to look for her and also never returned.
After that, "Venerable Duanmu" must have sensed something. It was likely that there was a problem with the Divine Sense Imprints left on his two daughters. He then also left in a hurry, and from then on, there was no news of the three of them.
However, when "Venerable Duanmu" left, he left behind a Divine Soul, which was the power Li Yan and the others saw in the final three tunnels. It was a Divine Soul imprint left by a Spirit Transformation cultivator.
Even if it was just a casual one, it was still left by a Spirit Transformation cultivator. Even a Nascent Soul cultivator would undoubtedly die upon entering.
Meng Zhiyuan quickly explained everything. The matter was not very complicated, so he spoke quickly, but due to his weakness, he still had to stop several times to close his eyes and rest.
After hearing this, Li Yan's eyes flickered a few times for a moment, as if he was thinking about something, or as if he was doubting Meng Zhiyuan's words.
Seeing Li Yan's expression, Meng Zhiyuan became a little dissatisfied.
"I have told Fellow Daoist Zhang all that I know. Now, please... please honor your promise!"
Li Yan was also straightforward. The next moment, he directly retracted the Spirit Power rope lock.
Then, without looking at the other four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bats that had gathered around, he walked quickly towards the passage on the cave wall in front.
Several sounds of breaking air rushed towards Li Yan. Meng Zhiyuan, feeling the restriction on his body removed and his Spirit Power slowly awakening, finally felt a sense of relief.
Seeing Zhang Ming walk towards the cave wall without a care, a fierce look flashed in Meng Zhiyuan's eyes.
But in an instant, his expression suddenly changed, and he immediately shouted to stop them.
"All of you, stop! Fellow Daoist Zhang, you... you are perfidious, leaving a trick in my body. This is too... too shameless!"
Before he could finish his words, Li Yan had already raised a hand. In his palm, a pill was emitting a faint yellow light.
"Fellow Daoist Meng, you say I am perfidious, but your clansmen also seem to have ill intentions, truly not wanting me to leave.
"I am just taking precautions. Otherwise, if I really wanted to poison you, you would not have been able to sense it at all. This is the only antidote. If I were to accidentally destroy it... hehehe..."
A cold laugh escaped Li Yan's lips.
"Despicable human brat!"
"Kill him!"
"Brat, you think you can trick us and get away with it? If anything happens to my Big Brother, the pain he suffers will be inflicted upon you tenfold, a hundredfold!"
...
Several stern shouts from the surroundings made the tunnel hum.
At this time, Li Yan was already standing at the exit leading to the outside world. He had not entered but had stopped.
The art to open and close the passage was in the other party's hands; Li Yan did not dare to enter rashly.
Looking at the few black shadows rushing towards him, a sharp light flashed in Li Yan's eyes, and a black, ethereal glow surged rapidly around his body.
"I... I said, you... all of you, stop! Didn't you hear me?"
Meng Zhiyuan's somewhat weak but increasingly stern voice rang out. The few black shadows instantly stopped a few zhang away from Li Yan.
"Big Brother, he is just toying with us... again and again!"
"Hehehe, I just released Fellow Daoist Meng, and you all turn on me. The feeling is mutual!
"You can come and try to kill me. Isn't it just one life?"
Li Yan's voice also became increasingly cold.