Li Yan immediately poured his magical power into Cui Feng's body, but after it circulated once, his expression turned grim. Cui Feng's life force had been completely extinguished. Li Yan released his hand, his expression slowly returning to normal. He hadn't expected Cui Feng to die just like that.
'He had a new epiphany about his cultivation method, but that required a great deal of energy to contemplate. The last remaining bit of his essence qi was depleted in an instant!'
Li Yan's thoughts raced. His hands suddenly began to form a manual seal, and he spoke to the bowed figure on the bed. "My apologies!"
He intended to force Cui Feng's soul out of his body before it could enter the Way of Reincarnation and then cast a spell to search his memories. This kind of art, when used on the dead, went against the Heavenly Dao. There was a high probability that Cui Feng's soul would be annihilated by the spell, never to enter the Way of Reincarnation again. But Li Yan couldn't be bothered with that now. This was his last chance to find the cause.
As Li Yan's hands formed the seal, a ghastly green ball of light appeared at his fingertips. With a low shout, he pointed a finger at the crown of Cui Feng's head. The green light flashed and entered Cui Feng's skull. A bizarre scene unfolded. Cui Feng's skin, which had still held some color, instantly turned a deathly green on his face and neck. It looked incredibly sinister and terrifying.
Then, a stream of crimson smoke, invisible to the naked eye, rose from the crown of his head. At first, it was just a wisp. It did not dissipate but hovered about an inch above his head. As Cui Feng's skin grew greener, the smoke in Li Yan's Divine Sense slowly coalesced into an extremely illusory human figure, as if a single breath could blow it away.
Under the urging of Li Yan's manual seal, the features of the illusory figure gradually became clear. It was the spitting image of Cui Feng. At this moment, Cui Feng's soul was still in a dazed state. Having just died, and being a powerful martial artist, his soul could remain in his body for a relatively long time. This was one reason why martial artists were tougher than ordinary people.
Next, the soul's phantom began to solidify from the top down, its arms slowly taking form. By now, the skin on Cui Feng's physical body had turned a dark, terrifying green. The only parts of the soul phantom above his head that had not yet condensed were its legs below the knees. Once they did, it would mean all three of Cui Feng's huns and seven pos had left his body. At that point, Li Yan could cast the spell to trace Cui Feng's memories and try to get the answers he wanted.
At this moment, Li Yan breathed a small sigh of relief. Cui Feng's soul had not immediately exploded, which meant that the most dreadful possibility he had imagined was likely not the case.
But just as Li Yan forced the last of Cui Feng's pos from his body, the instant his soul's legs had finished condensing, something strange happened.
Cui Feng's dazed soul suddenly gained a spark of life in its eyes. It turned its gaze and stared at Li Yan. This sudden development stunned Li Yan. A soul at this stage should have been in a state of unconsciousness.
In the moment he was stunned, Cui Feng's soul suddenly blurred and, right before Li Yan's eyes, transformed into a monster with a large head and a thin tail. The creature looked like a greatly magnified tadpole, with a pair of small eyes and a large mouth on its head.
Li Yan was completely unprepared for this sudden transformation. The large-headed, thin-tailed monster was now looking at him with clear eyes. Li Yan could distinctly see an extremely complex emotion in its eyes.
Li Yan's reaction was also swift. After a brief moment of shock, a light shield materialized in his palm, and he moved to envelop the monster. But the large-headed, thin-tailed monster made no attempt to dodge, allowing Li Yan's magical power to cover it. The moment the Spirit Power shield enveloped its body, the monster began to break apart, inch by inch.
As the monster's large mouth opened and closed slightly, Li Yan clearly heard an extremely faint voice, and a hint of release appeared in its eyes.
"Great Marshal…"
Then, Li Yan's Spirit Power shield descended, only to enclose specks of starlight.
"This…"
Li Yan looked at the specks of starlight that even his magical power couldn't gather. He knew the soul had completely disintegrated. But at that moment, fragments of memories surfaced in his mind. He was actually quite familiar with this large-headed, thin-tailed monster; they had been companions for several months. If not for its reappearance, Li Yan would have long forgotten its existence…
A thousand li from Yuhai City, on a seaside cliff, Li Yan stood as the sea breeze whipped against him, making his green robes flap loudly. He had left the Duke's Manor long ago. Before leaving, his voice had echoed in the minds of Lin Yuxing and the others.
"The Duke was already of advanced age. The battle exhausted the last of his Innate True Qi, and his life force has been severed. I was sent down the mountain by my master to assist him. Now that the matter is concluded, you should give him a proper burial!"
As chaos erupted in the Duke's Manor, Li Yan had slipped away quietly. He was in no mood to explain anything to them. When the old emperor arrived, he would surely have the two Foundation Establishment cultivators investigate in secret. Once they did, they would know he had spoken the truth, and that Cui Feng had not been murdered.
Li Yan had also learned of the rules of the immortal sects. Those two Foundation Establishment cultivators were only responsible for protecting the emperor from harm by cultivators from other nations. They would not interfere in matters like the Prince of the South's struggle for the throne. They might even see it as a good thing; only when a strong ruler controlled a nation was it worthy of their protection.
Li Yan's expression was wooden. He listened to the wind howling in his ears and the waves crashing against the shore below, churning up a thousand piles of snow-white foam.
'That large-headed, thin-tailed monster… I was very afraid of it when I first saw them. They came in swarms, yet they only ever swallowed the hot lava on schedule. Why did one of them end up as Cui Feng's soul…'
As he traveled, Li Yan had been carefully recalling that demonic creature. It was the same group of monsters he had encountered outside the "Flame Palace" on the second level of the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda. They would appear in hordes every day, only to devour the hot lava erupting from the Flame Palace's mountain, and then disappear in formation. At that time, Li Yan's cultivation was low, and he didn't dare provoke them, so he could only hide from a distance.
'My dream happened to occur inside the Flame Palace, which coincides with where this demonic creature appeared. Meeting Cui Feng in my dream there… was it manipulated by someone, or is there something wrong with this creature itself…'
Standing on the cliff, Li Yan carefully pondered the incredible events of the past few days.
'There are two ways to try and solve this now. First is to go back to the Jingtu Sect's Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, find this demonic creature, and capture some for soul-searching. The second is to search for records and texts related to this demonic creature, to understand what it is, and then decide on my next step.'
Li Yan weighed his options. 'The first method requires another long journey of several million li to the Jingtu Sect, and I would also need to find a Netherworld Order. With my current abilities, these are not difficult tasks and won't take too long. But even after entering, I can only perform a soul-search on this unknown monster…'
A large mountain bathed in sunlight, its entire body glowing as if draped in gold and silver, shimmered brightly. Streams of light flew past Li Yan, some heading into the distance, others flashing in from the horizon.
Rounding the side of the mountain, a vast expanse of buildings, like a field of stars, came into view. As Li Yan flew, the scenery magnified rapidly. Below, the buildings twinkled like stars, clusters and specks, with streets and alleys coming into view. It was a rather large town.
Li Yan soon landed in front of the town. At the same time, numerous other lights of various colors landed one after another. When these lights faded, they revealed male and female cultivators who immediately released their Divine Sense to scan their surroundings. The moment their senses touched Li Yan's aura, their expressions changed drastically. Awe appeared in their eyes as they all moved away from him, carefully making their way to the town's entrance from the side.
Li Yan, his face expressionless, walked straight toward the entrance. The highest cultivation level among the surrounding cultivators was only a few at the mid-stage Foundation Establishment; the rest were mostly just Qi Condensation stage cultivators. Li Yan had already reverted to his cultivator identity. Although he was still suppressing his cultivation, the aura of the initial-stage Golden Core was unmistakable, which made the surrounding low-level cultivators tremble with fear, not daring to approach.
Fortunately, this was a market town close to the Malevolent Spirit Sect, and cultivators rarely dared to cause trouble here. Thus, they mustered the courage to enter the town with this senior.
The moment he landed, Li Yan's Divine Sense had swept out casually and detected several other powerful auras within the market town. Among them, three auras were at the same Golden Core realm as his, gathered in a courtyard in a corner of the town.
As Li Yan's Divine Sense swept past, several other strands of Divine Sense from within the town also swept towards him. Most of them passed over him quickly, clearly not recognizing him and thus having no interest in greeting him. But the three strands from the same courtyard lingered on him, examining him carefully. Li Yan remained expressionless.
At the same time, a voice entered his mind. "This Fellow Daoist is a stranger. Normal trade in my Peiyang Market is welcome, but do not force any sales…"
As he walked, Li Yan listened to the voice transmission. His face was impassive. Suddenly, a small, dark token, neither iron nor gold, appeared in his hand. It flashed once and then disappeared. The voice in his mind paused.
"Oh… oh oh, so you are a Fellow Daoist from the Malevolent Spirit Sect. My apologies for the disrespect. You are naturally aware of the rules here. Please, make yourself at home!"
The three strands of Divine Sense had merely swept over the token and recognized the pattern on it, immediately knowing its origin. Their attitude instantly became extremely respectful. Then, the three strands of Divine Sense immediately withdrew, showing no intention of lingering on Li Yan any longer.
In the northeast corner of the town, in a rather luxurious courtyard, three people were sitting opposite each other. Before two of them was a game of Go, with black and white stones locked in a fierce battle. The third person held a cup of tea, watching the game with interest.
Suddenly, the Divine Sense of all three shot out. A moment later, a middle-aged scholar sitting at the Go board looked at the other two in confusion. "Brother Daoists, that man holds a token of the Malevolent Spirit Sect, yet I do not recognize him. The Golden Core cultivators of the Malevolent Spirit Sect often come here, but this person is a complete stranger. Do either of you know him?"
The one watching the game, a middle-aged woman holding a teacup, also shook her head. "I have never seen this person either. He doesn't look like he's using a disguise. Perhaps he's a newly advanced peer of our rank!"
The middle-aged woman thought for a moment but couldn't place Li Yan's face. The two of them then turned their gazes to a white-haired old man in brocade robes on the other side of the Go board.
The old man thought for a moment, then waved his hand at them. "I don't know him either! Forget it. We are only responsible for warning mid-level cultivators not to cause trouble here. The message has been delivered. Although we don't know him, anyone who dares to impersonate a Malevolent Spirit Sect cultivator here must have a death wish…"