As the beautiful woman spoke, she panted slightly, appearing even more fatigued.
Seeing this, Li Yan chuckled lightly. First, he flicked his fingers repeatedly, and several more points of ethereal light shot out from his fingertips, flashing as they entered the other party's body.
The female cultivator surnamed Yang's body froze, and then wisps of green light flashed across her body. In just an instant, her complexion had turned ruddy.
Following that, she lightly pushed off with her arms and straightened her body, which had been slumped in the chair. She smiled bewitchingly, like a hundred flowers blooming.
"Many thanks, Fellow Daoist!"
Although the other party had not completely opened the seal in her body, a portion of the Spirit Power in her dantian had already leaked out and began to circulate throughout her body like a small stream.
This instantly restored her strength to the Qi Condensation stage level, which at least allowed her to move freely with ease.
Li Yan was very satisfied with the straightforward manner of the female cultivator surnamed Yang.
Especially her intelligence, knowing what could be said and what could not be said, and not revealing the matter of the seabed to Shuang Chongshan.
"Fellow Daoist, tell me about your origins. And what is your relationship with Song Rongdao?"
Li Yan didn't beat around the bush and asked directly.
"My name is Shuang Wuyan. My origin is just an elder of a branch of the Duye Clan. There is no secret about this. Chongshan has already told you about our branch.
"That time when our family was in great trouble, I, the clan leader, and several other elders held back the sneak-attacking Golden Cores to ensure the clansmen could escape.
"In the end, I was seriously injured and escaped. Afterwards, I changed my name to Yang Yuehua and wandered around looking for my clansmen, becoming a Rogue Cultivator and taking the opportunity to search everywhere.
"It's just that after searching for so long, year after year, I couldn't find a single clansman.
"Later, I met Song Rongdao on the border of the Demon Clan's territory. He felt that my formation skills were not bad, and later asked me to help him out a few times.
"Either it was to find some cultivator's ruins, or it was to open the formation restrictions of an enemy's family for him to take revenge. Hehehe, of course, I also received some remuneration from it."
As she said this, she glanced at Li Yan. Because she had been captured relatively early, she did not know what had happened later in the secret underwater cave.
She didn't even know how this person had escaped from there, let alone the current situation of Song Rongdao and the other two.
Li Yan nodded. He didn't think there was anything wrong with Shuang Wuyan cooperating with Song Rongdao.
There were not many ways for a Rogue Cultivator to obtain cultivation resources, just a few.
Either join a sect, or search for immortal fortunes all over the world, risking one's life, or directly kill people and seize their treasures.
As for whether the people the other party had killed were good or bad, Li Yan did not ask at all. What did it have to do with him?
Seeing the other party just nod, his face unchanged, Shuang Wuyan thought of some of the things Shuang Chongshan had introduced just now and knew that this person was also a ruthless character.
This actually made her feel a little more at ease. Everyone was afraid of encountering those who were full of benevolence and morality. Those kinds of people were the ones whose hearts were truly as black as ink, who would eat people without spitting out the bones.
"I've only had six or seven contacts with Song Rongdao. This time he came to me again, saying that he had found a secret cave that might have been left by an ancient cultivator.
"And that the ancient ferocious beast 'Dark Spirit Demon Bat' had appeared inside, further confirming the possibility that it was an ancient ruin. That's why he asked me to help him again, and to get some benefits from it.
"I first helped them break the outer restrictions on the seabed. It was just that later, an accident occurred when breaking the restriction of the cave within a cave, and then you few fellow daoists appeared..."
As she said this, a thought stirred in her heart. She remembered Song Rongdao and the young man surnamed Bai's actions of circling outside for the first few days.
'Song Rongdao's senses were not wrong. It seems this Elder Zhang has been watching us for a long time.
'But Song Rongdao has always been very meticulous in his work. How did these people know that we were going to explore the ruins?'
At this moment, she had already confirmed in her heart that Song Rongdao was right about being tracked, and that the one following them was this very Elder Zhang's group.
But what puzzled her was that Song Rongdao had repeatedly assured them that this matter was very secretive and that it was impossible for a fifth person to know.
Since the other party's group had not directly ambushed them at the bottom of the sea, it meant that they did not know the location of the ruins, and at most only knew that Song Rongdao was going on a treasure hunt.
Such important news, Song Rongdao had only revealed it to them bit by bit, just as he had only told them at the end that their destination was the bottom of the sea.
If she remembered correctly, she remembered that there were also four Golden Cores on the other side in the plaza that day. To have several Golden Cores gather together was clearly premeditated.
And these people had been following for several days without making a move. All of this showed that the other party was deliberately targeting their group.
For a moment, even with Shuang Wuyan's intelligence, she could not sort out the sequence of events.
Li Yan nodded and did not explain why he had appeared there, but only said lightly.
"The secret cave in the deep sea, I hope you will not remember this matter again, Fellow Daoist.
"That place is too dangerous. It was not easy to escape this time. Fellow Daoist, you must have accumulated several lifetimes of virtue to have escaped without danger.
"Apart from you, the other three, Song Rongdao, were all entangled by the 'Dark Spirit Demon Bats.' I don't know what their final situation was."
Hearing Li Yan's words, the smiling pretty face of Shuang Wuyan changed.
The other party's words were actually very clear. This was to do something to her divine soul. To put it bluntly, he wanted to soul-search her, or at least erase that part of her memory.
When she first fought Li Yan, she knew that the other party was only at the initial-stage Golden Core.
However, his combat power was much stronger than hers. But their realms were the same after all. In this case, the other party's Divine Sense intensity might not be much higher than hers.
Then there were only two ways to erase her memory:
One was to use some means to make her perish or become an idiot after the soul-search;
The other was for her to cooperate with the other party, open her divine soul, and let a wisp of her own Divine Sense guide the other party to that memory, and then let the other party erase it.
It was just that in that case, if the other party had ill intentions, some of her secrets would be known and stolen by him.
Now, even if she was sealed, if she was unwilling, with their cultivation being equal, it would be very difficult for the other party to even perform a soul-search. If things went wrong, he could even be seriously injured by the backlash.
In other words, this Elder Zhang might have to use some cruel means to achieve his goal.
"If I don't agree, it might be a dead end; if I agree, what if he takes the opportunity to steal more of my memories?"
In fact, erasing that part of her memory was not impossible for the current Shuang Wuyan. It was just that she had too many secrets in her heart, related to the strict orders of her ancestors. She did not want them to be known by others.
At the same time, Zhang Ming's later words were also threatening her. He said that Song Rongdao and the other two were all left in the secret cave. In fact, without thinking, Shuang Wuyan also knew that those few people were definitely dead with no chance of survival.
The more evil the underwater cave residence was, the more important it was. For such a secret, the other party was going to do something to her divine soul, let alone those three.
And the reason she was still alive was for Shuang Chongshan's sake. No matter what this Elder Zhang's purpose was for Shuang Chongshan, at least he had given her a choice.
"He also didn't say how he escaped from the secret underwater cave. And from his tone, it seems that all four on their side escaped. What kind of method is this?"
She was extremely proficient in the Dao of formations and had been in the tunnels herself. She had searched for so long and couldn't find an exit, yet the other party was sitting here safe and sound.
This already showed that the other party's methods were not something she could imagine.
"Fellow Daoist Zhang, just say it directly. How do you plan to deal with me? As for entering my divine soul, I'm afraid I can't do that.
"I said I wouldn't talk about that matter. If you don't believe me, then just kill me. I just don't want Chongshan to know about my death. You can arrange a play, and I will cooperate with you.
"Our branch has been through many disasters. Now that I can see Chongshan's family living peacefully in the 'Falling Star Valley,' and you have no designs on the 'Divine Puppet Art,' I am relieved.
"After all, everything you have done for Chongshan's family was a decision you made when you were in a position of absolute strength. I believe his judgment was correct."
After saying this, Shuang Wuyan quietly closed her eyes, a look of letting him do as he pleased.
Hearing this, Li Yan's eyes narrowed.
'She would rather die than erase that part of her memory. This means there is a huge secret in her memory that she is afraid of me knowing. It seems the secrets on her are really not simple!'
For a moment, Li Yan also fell into silence. In the main hall, the atmosphere became unusually strange.
Li Yan just squinted his eyes, his hands on the armrests, one index finger tapping silently and quickly on the armrest.
After a full hundred breaths, the tapping finger suddenly stopped.
"I can plant a poison in your body. It will act up once every five years. Without my treatment, I believe there is no antidote in this world. You can try to detoxify it.
"If you agree, you will have to stay in the 'Falling Star Valley' for the time being. When I have dealt with the matter of the secret underwater cave, I will completely resolve the poison in your body. By then, you will be free to go or stay.
"However, I'll say this first. As for resolving the matter of the secret underwater cave, I myself don't know how much time it will take. Maybe four or five years, maybe dozens of years, or even longer.
"So let's set a period of one hundred years. By then, no matter what, I will give you the antidote and let you leave. What do you think?"
After Li Yan finished speaking, he stared at the other party. He was not being merciful in his heart, but now that he had just recruited Shuang Chongshan into the sect, it was a time when he needed people.
Li Yan already regarded the "Falling Star Valley" as his own base camp. He didn't know how long he would have to stay on the Forsaken Continent.
So, whether it was for cultivation or for gathering information, it was of course better to have the support of a sect.
Shuang Chongshan's skills would definitely strengthen the sect's power. If they could also keep Shuang Wuyan in the sect, it would be even better. This woman was more useful than Shuang Chongshan.
With this selfish thought, although Li Yan's actual Divine Sense power was far stronger than the other party's, he still couldn't do it without harming her divine soul.
If the other party did not cooperate, he did not want to forcibly soul-search her.
The reason he set a time with the other party was, firstly, he was afraid that Shuang Wuyan would feel that there was no end in sight and, in her resistance, would rather die than agree to his conditions.
Secondly, Li Yan felt that he should be able to enter the Nascent Soul realm within a hundred years.
In order to return to the Desolate Moon Continent, next, after he had exchanged some information with Zhao Min, he might enter a long period of closed-door cultivation. He had to form his Nascent Soul as soon as possible.
By then, once he had the ability to teleport away, he would give the antidote to the other party and let her go or stay. And during this period, he would need a large amount of the sect's cultivation resources to support him.
Shuang Wuyan remained silent. After a long while, she raised her head.
"How can I trust your promise?"
Li Yan suddenly let out a cold laugh.
"Don't expect me to make some kind of inner demon blood oath. Don't forget your current identity, Fellow Daoist. It's nothing for me to just kill you.
"What's more, I already know your relationship with Shuang Chongshan. If I had ill intentions, I could have just not agreed to your request just now and used his family's lives to threaten you. What would you do then, Fellow Daoist?
"I'll say it again. I helped Shuang Chongshan because Ming Ling is a pregnant human woman. There was also the intention of having him contribute to the 'Falling Star Valley.'
"I'm just this kind of person. As long as a threat exists, I will immediately extinguish it, even if it means paying a price, a price I don't want to see!"