As soon as Li Yan said this, Shuang Wuyan's originally firm expression immediately became uncertain.
The other party was right. In the sea, when she was still unaware of Shuang Chongshan's situation, she could gamble with her life.
Now that her relationship with Shuang Chongshan had been exposed, if the other party were to really threaten her with the lives of Shuang Chongshan's family of four, how would she face it?
Of their branch, perhaps these few people were truly all that was left, and they already had a continuation of their bloodline.
Shuang Wuyan's face changed for a long while before she let out a long breath.
"Alright, we'll do as you say. I'll stay in the 'Falling Star Valley.' I've been wandering for so many years, I'm a little tired anyway."
Only then did a smile appear on Li Yan's face. Then, his Fragmented Poison Body activated, and a drop of white liquid formed at his fingertip.
Immediately, he flicked it out, and it shot towards Shuang Wuyan. Shuang Wuyan watched with a blank expression as that drop of liquid hit her below her jade neck.
She only felt that the small amount of Spirit Power in her body first stagnated for a moment, and then a little of it disappeared, she didn't know where it went.
"This poison can devour Spirit Power!"
Before she could think about it carefully, her body suddenly shook, and the seal on her dantian crumbled in an instant. The Spirit Power from her Golden Core gushed out.
A powerful Golden Core aura instantly erupted from the surface of her body, but in the next moment, she suppressed it.
"Since you are staying here, Fellow Daoist, are you willing to serve as a sect elder? We..."
Li Yan began to speak with a smile, but before he could finish, Shuang Wuyan had already said coldly.
"No need. I just want to cultivate in peace.
"Of course, if I need any cultivation resources, I can help the 'Falling Star Valley' refine puppets or set up formations. In exchange, I will get the resources needed for cultivation."
Anyone who had a hidden danger planted in their body would not be in a good mood. Li Yan didn't mind this and thought to himself.
'Your nephew has already joined the sect. If the sect is really in trouble, as a disciple, he must bear the corresponding responsibility. At that time, can you just watch...'
But these words were just thoughts in Li Yan's mind. He would not reveal them at this time.
"With your status in the sect, we will still provide all the daily cultivation resources, including the sect's Earth Fire Ore Vein, which you can also use at will.
"Unless it's some particularly precious cultivation and artifact refining materials, then you will need to purchase them yourself."
When Li Yan said this, Shuang Wuyan's previously cold expression softened with relief.
Although the other party's purpose was to hold her captive, such treatment was undoubtedly no different from that of a Guest Elder.
Especially since the "Falling Star Valley's" Earth Fire Ore Vein was quite famous. To an artifact refiner, the temptation was extraordinary.
Seeing that Shuang Wuyan no longer refused, Li Yan chuckled again.
"Hehehe... then it's settled. I imagine you are also very eager to catch up with your clansmen now. You can go over with Shuang Chongshan first.
"Later, I will inform the Sect Master Senior Brother. He will definitely arrange a place for you to live."
After saying that, Li Yan flicked his sleeve again, and a puppet appeared by Shuang Wuyan's side.
Shuang Wuyan glanced at Li Yan, then said no more. She silently took the "Wetland Thunder Bear" and, without saying goodbye to Li Yan, immediately stood up and walked straight out of the cave residence.
She really did have a lot to say to her nephew's family, and at this moment, she didn't want to see Li Yan's face any more.
Looking at the other party's back disappearing from the cave residence gate, the smile on Li Yan's mouth also slowly faded.
The moment he closed the restriction at the mouth of the cave again, Li Yan suddenly raised a hand and beckoned lightly towards the ground.
The next moment, a bright point of light flashed slightly on the ground. In a flash, it had landed in his palm. Li Yan asked in a soft voice.
"What did they say before?"
At this moment, a snow mosquito was standing in his palm, but it was not the Snow Mosquito King.
With Li Yan's cunning, how could he let Shuang Chongshan talk to the other party alone here? It was all just a pretense of generosity.
Before Shuang Chongshan came, he had taken a snow mosquito out of the "Earthen Patch" space, given it some instructions via voice transmission, and then had it hide in the cave residence's formation.
This was his cave residence, and the restrictions inside had been rearranged by him.
Let alone Shuang Wuyan being sealed, even if her Spirit Power was intact, she would only discover that something was wrong when she was truly breaking it.
The reason Li Yan didn't let the Snow Mosquito King personally eavesdrop was that that fellow would chatter on and on as soon as he came out, which gave Li Yan a headache.
This snow mosquito in Li Yan's palm quickly transmitted everything it had heard to Li Yan.
Before, Li Yan had not released the seal on Shuang Wuyan's body at all, so she could not use voice transmission. Everything was within Li Yan's design.
After listening for a while, Li Yan sighed inwardly that Shuang Wuyan was indeed experienced. When talking with Shuang Chongshan, it was basically her asking and Shuang Chongshan answering.
So the content this snow mosquito heard was basically what Li Yan already knew and did not involve any secrets.
Moreover, Shuang Wuyan really did not secretly tell Shuang Chongshan about the secret underwater cave beforehand.
Since she didn't say it then, the current Shuang Wuyan, as long as she wasn't stupid, would be even less likely to say it.
Before, she didn't know if she would live or die. Most people in that situation would be more willing to plan for the worst.
They would say everything they could, with a sliver of hope that it might be passed on.
Now that Shuang Wuyan had a bond, if she were to talk with Shuang Chongshan's family again, she would only understand the art of trade-offs even more.
"Still honest enough!"
After putting away the snow mosquito, a sharp glint flashed in Li Yan's eyes. If the other party had been dishonest, he could have triggered the deadly poison in her body right now.
Afterwards, Li Yan sat in the main hall again and took out another voice transmission talisman.
Not long after, Xing Ming arrived at the "Myriad Stars Cavern" with a puzzled look on his face...
Half a cup of tea's time later, Xing Ming flew out of Li Yan's cave residence in a hurry, his face filled with pleasant surprise. His direction was the core disciple area where Shuang Chongshan lived.
"I didn't expect Junior Brother Zhang to be able to keep a Golden Core cultivator in the sect, and a master proficient in puppets and formations at that.
"Shuang Chongshan coming to seek refuge was the cause sown by Junior Brother Zhang, yet it has brought such an important fruit to the sect! Hehehe... excellent, excellent!"
The flying Xing Ming thought about his conversation with Zhang Ming, his heart already extremely excited.
Although that Shuang Wuyan was being held captive, their sect had truly not treated Shuang Chongshan badly. Some things would naturally ease over time.
His Divine Sense looked into his storage pouch again and confirmed that the jade bottle given by Zhang Ming was inside.
There were two antidote pills in it. According to Zhang Ming, they could only delay the onset of Shuang Wuyan's poison and could ensure that nothing would happen for ten years.
He would be going to the "Sacred Demon City" again in a few days. It was said that over the years in the "Sacred Demon City," he had still managed to find out some news about his master. Now he was going to continue searching.
Regarding this, Xing Ming also had no objections. Now that the "Falling Star Valley" was growing at an astonishing speed, this was largely due to Zhang Ming's contribution.
In the future, if they could refine a batch of mid-grade, or even one or two high-grade puppets, then who among the second-rate sects could compete with them?
Of course, a high-grade puppet was just a hope. That Shuang Wuyan should be able to refine it, but it would definitely be very, very difficult.
It might not be successful even once in dozens or hundreds of years, not to mention that the raw materials for refining a high-grade puppet were incomparably precious. It was unknown how many years it would take to gather even one set.
"If... if Junior Brother Zhang can find his master again..."
Even just thinking about these things would make Xing Ming's heart race with excitement. Of course, he also had to consider the situation of Zhang Ming turning the tables and becoming the master...
After doing all this, Li Yan immediately entered a state of meditation.
After going to the "Sacred Demon City" this time, if there was no new progress on Zhao Min's side regarding a way to leave, then he would enter a long period of closed-door cultivation.
He planned not to come out until he reached the mid to late-stage Golden Core.
He believed that if he refined another drop of the "Undead Nether Phoenix" essence blood, his physical body would definitely have an incredible improvement.
And his current realm was not far from the mid-stage Golden Core. It was even possible that he could break through to the mid-stage Golden Core in one go.
With the help of the remaining "Undead Nether Phoenix" essence blood, it was also possible to break through to the late-stage Golden Core in one go.
By then, he would no longer have such a heaven-defying item as the "Undead Nether Phoenix" essence blood to assist him. Cultivating to the late-stage Golden Core would have to rely on painstaking cultivation bit by bit.
Li Yan thought that once he reached the late-stage Golden Core, he would have to go out and prepare various treasures for the future Nascent Soul Formation Heavenly Tribulation.
At that time, Li Yan might think of trying to sneak into the Black Demon Clan's side to investigate and see if there were any other cross-realm passages besides the "God's Road."
The reason Li Yan thought this way was because he remembered that the female demon cultivator who had been inexplicably entangled with him had also returned from the Desolate Moon Continent. The news Zhao Min had investigated wasn't it that the Devil's Cliff Crevice was completely sealed?
In that case, there might be other ways to reach the Desolate Moon Continent...
Not long after, Zhu Luomu brought two storage pouches. This was what Xing Ming had asked him to give to Elder Zhang.
Thinking of the number of spirit stones inside, as well as the high-quality medicinal pills that the "Falling Star Valley" had worked so hard to refine, Zhu Luomu still felt a little heartache.
There were a hundred mid-grade spirit stones inside alone, and each one was a treasure of the sect.
But these, his master had told him, must be personally counted by him without error, and then personally handed over to "Martial Uncle Zhang."
These things were also what Li Yan had asked for. He planned to enter seclusion, and spirit stones and high-quality qi-replenishing medicinal pills were indispensable.
Late at night seven days later, a figure in the sky above the "Falling Star Valley," amidst the vast expanse of stars, trod on the wind and departed.
Xing Ming, who was cultivating, slightly opened his eyes. With a smile on his face, he looked in a certain direction, as if his gaze could pierce through the cave residence and see the void.
In the entire "Falling Star Valley," only he, who was currently in control of the sect-protecting grand formation, had sensed this slight abnormal fluctuation.
On the morning of the fourth day, in a shop in the "Sacred Demon Inner City," not long after the shop assistant had opened the door, a young man in green clothes with an ordinary appearance walked into the shop.
Just as one of the few assistants was about to go and greet him, upon seeing the person clearly, a respectful smile appeared on all their faces.
"We greet Elder Zhang!"
Li Yan waved his hand and walked straight towards the backyard, his mouth already giving a soft instruction.
"Have Su Yuan come see me in a bit!"
Li Yan walked all the way to the pavilion where he lived. He first scanned it with his Divine Sense one by one, and then he broke the restriction he had set up back then.
Although there was nothing abnormal, after looking around, his brow furrowed.
He had been away from the "Sacred Demon City" for nearly a month. When he had left, the "Sacred Demon City" had been in a state of turmoil due to the death of Dongli Qing.
But up to this day, when he had entered the city just now, he had sensed that the Divine Senses observing him in the dark had significantly decreased.
This showed that the "Sacred Demon Palace" was still investigating the cultivators coming and going for Dongli Qing's death, but it no longer had the same surging undercurrent as before.
Either the other party had investigated for so long without any clues and had helplessly relaxed their investigation;
Or they had another plan and were re-strategizing, such as luring the snake out of its hole.