If that was the case, could it be a jade slip left by his master before he went to protect Li Yuyin? But at that time, he had already stepped into the Nascent Soul realm. Although it wasn't stable, if someone had placed something on him, he should have sensed it. Yet, he was completely unaware of it. Moreover, the other party had deliberately left a jade slip of this color to blend in with the bloodstains, clearly not wanting to attract attention.
"This was done intentionally!"
Li Yan's Divine Sense swept over the pale red jade slip at his waist, but he found nothing unusual. He reached out and took the jade slip in his hand. After it was in his hand, it still didn't flash with any light, and the spiritual energy on it was almost imperceptible.
He then pressed it against his forehead. As his Divine Sense seeped in, a somewhat aged voice entered his mind. Li Yan was stunned after hearing just one sentence.
"Boy, first of all, congratulations on achieving the Great Ascension of Nascent Soul. It is a blessing for the Malevolent Spirit Sect to have such a rising star like you! As for me, I shouldn't have appeared. Although you all are guessing whether I still exist, this matter will only make people gradually doubt the authenticity of my existence as one century passes after another. Unfortunately, this time, there was a reason!
Your Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation was extremely powerful. Pseudo-Nascent Soul cultivators stuck at their bottlenecks, such as Yan Longzi, Li Yuyin, and Zhao Zhi, could all potentially be affected, or it could be of no use at all. When the 'Tribulation Essence Qi' emerged, Li Yuyin's senses were greatly heightened, and her bottleneck loosened, but she was still unable to break through her shackles.
Therefore, this old man took two particles of your 'Tribulation Essence Qi' to help her break through. Needless to say, the two particles of 'Tribulation Essence Qi' are precious, but they will not cause too much harm to your Nascent Soul formation.
However, once she succeeds, one, you will have another Nascent Soul cultivator owing you a huge favor; two, you can use this merit to offset the hundred-year mission of a Nascent Soul ancestor to guard the sect. In the future, when you ascend, you can use this jade slip as proof; three, attached to the back of the jade slip is a divine ability this old man obtained in his early years—the 'Demon-Sealing Needle.' This is a metal-attribute divine ability.
When this old man first investigated you, I found that although you do not primarily cultivate metal-attribute divine abilities, the activity of your metal-attribute spiritual energy is second only to your water-attribute spiritual energy. Once this technique is mastered, it can compensate for the gentleness of water and aid you in the sharpness of your attacks. Consider it compensation for this old man taking your 'Tribulation Essence Qi' without asking.
However, this matter is only known to Li Yuyin and you. For now, there is no need to let a third person know. In the future, when you need to ascend, if you cannot meet the requirements in terms of the number of missions or the duration of guardianship, you can then hand this jade slip to the number one cultivator of the sect at that time as proof!"
This passage was actually not short, but what surprised Li Yan was the person speaking. Although the voice in the jade slip did not reveal any identity, he recognized without a doubt whose voice it was. It was none other than the "Martial Uncle Gu" from Little Bamboo Peak back then, who was also the Chimei Emissary in disguise—Gu Jiuqi.
'He really is still in the sect, and he even took two particles of my "Tribulation Essence Qi"!' Li Yan's face turned a little ugly for a moment, but it quickly returned to calm, making it impossible to see what he was thinking.
Immediately, his Divine Sense continued to look down. Sure enough, at the back of the jade slip, there was a cultivation method attached. The text was not very long, about a thousand characters. At the beginning, the three golden characters for 'Demon-Sealing Needle' were prominently written.
Just by looking at these three characters, Li Yan felt a faint pain in his Divine Sense, as if it had been hacked by a saber or axe.
'What a powerful metal-attribute cultivation method. Just a piece of inscribed text… actually has the power of rules! This… is this the 'transmitting intent into the writing' method of inscription?'
After a brief daze, Li Yan was extremely shocked. He hadn't expected that the cultivation method's manual itself would contain the power of the metal-attribute rules. This method of inscription would make it twice as effective for the person trying to comprehend it. Moreover, Li Yan had also talked with Wei Zhongran about some matters concerning this "Martial Uncle Gu."
Although he didn't dare to speak deeply about such a great power behind his back, Wei Zhongran had told him that this "Martial Uncle Gu's" main body had very likely reached the peak of Void Refining, or even the Body Integration stage. Therefore, a clone in the lower realm could be so strong. It was very difficult for an ordinary Void Refining cultivator to cultivate a clone at the peak of Spirit Transformation.
The method of inscribing the cultivation method in the jade slip was certainly excellent and could make it easier for the cultivator observing this jade slip to comprehend it. However, for the person inscribing the jade slip, what was consumed was not Divine Sense, but Divine Will. To be precise, it was to completely sever and abandon the Divine Will used for the inscription. This was no small damage to any cultivator. The cultivation of Divine Will and soul was already extremely difficult. Severing even a sliver would take a long time to slowly recover. Therefore, no one would be willing to use the "transmitting intent into the writing" method of inscription unless it was for a direct disciple.
'Demon-Sealing Needle, transforms heaven and earth into a sharp blade, seals the ten directions of space into a land of vertical and horizontal cutting, conquers cities and territories, leaving no gods or demons, seals their apertures, dissolves their blood and bones…'
After briefly reading through the thousand-character cultivation method, Li Yan was already overjoyed. The "Demon-Sealing Needle" cultivation method had only three layers and was an extremely powerful group attack immortal art.
In short, it was to envelop the enemy in a piece of heaven and earth, similar to the "Heaven and Earth Prison" used by the golden-armored martial general in the Earth Tribulation Li Yan had encountered before. It was just that this "prison" of the "Demon-Sealing Needle" did not truly envelop heaven and earth, nor did it merely trap the enemy.
Instead, it was a large-scale "prison space" of flying needles composed of countless metal-attribute spiritual energy. These flying needles were not for "surrounding the enemy," but for attacking and encircling. The flying needles condensed by the cultivation method crisscrossed, and could easily penetrate the enemy's body. Once the body was pierced by the flying needles, the magical power in the nearby acupoints would be instantly blocked, causing the enemy's combat power to plummet, or even be directly sealed in place, unable to move, at the mercy of more flying needles.
This cultivation method could be practiced from the initial-stage Nascent Soul to the initial-stage Spirit Transformation. The first two layers were for Nascent Soul cultivators to practice. After completing the first layer, one could form a flying needle slaughter space of about a mu in size. As for how many cultivators could be trapped in this space, it would depend on Li Yan's own cultivation and the actual combat power of the trapped enemies. If the enemy was very strong, it might be good enough to trap one person. For cultivators below the Nascent Soul realm, it was estimated that a large number of Golden Core cultivators could be trapped and instantly killed.
If the cultivation method was cultivated to the second layer, one could even trap or kill a late-stage Nascent Soul Great Cultivator. And the third layer required one to reach the Spirit Transformation stage. But it was unknown whether it was done intentionally by Gu Jiuqi or if this set of cultivation methods was incomplete, but it ended after the initial-stage Spirit Transformation.
At this moment, Li Yan couldn't even think about the Spirit Transformation stage. By the time he finished reading, he was already overjoyed. It seemed that this "Martial Uncle Gu" hadn't really made him suffer much of a loss.
Originally, for most cultivators, the first thought upon having their "Tribulation Essence Qi" taken would be to kill. But when it was taken by a strong person, usually as long as it didn't affect their own advancement too much, they could only endure it and pretend not to know, but they would most likely still hold a grudge.
Gu Jiuqi had taken something from one of his own juniors without asking, but the compensation he gave in the end also dispelled the resentment in Li Yan's heart. And the sentence Gu Jiuqi said, "you can use this to offset the hundred-year mission of a Nascent Soul ancestor to guard the sect," was undoubtedly what Li Yan needed most.
He didn't want to stay in the lower realm for too long. Since he had set foot on the immortal path, his heart for becoming stronger would only grow stronger. As a cultivator of the Malevolent Spirit Sect, after becoming a Nascent Soul, he naturally had to fulfill his duties. Otherwise, why would the sect have two great Nascent Soul experts protect you? This was the shelter the sect gave you, but you also had to give back to the sect.
Li Yan had, of course, thought about forming his Nascent Soul outside. That way, he could ascend earlier in the future. But after weighing the pros and cons, he still chose to form his Nascent Soul within the sect. In the end, Li Yan was just worried about being killed by others!
Moreover, the sect provided a large amount of cultivation resources such as cultivation methods and medicinal pills on a daily basis. Although it still cost the sect's disciples a lot of Spirit Stones, it was generally much cheaper than outside. Many cultivation resources couldn't even be bought outside with Spirit Stones. These were all benefits brought to you by the sect.
In this way, the larger the sect, the less likely it was for a cultivator to ascend and leave immediately after forming their Nascent Soul. For a race or sect to be passed down, they all have their own set of rules. Otherwise, if you just eat and run, wouldn't the remaining weaker cultivators be a meal on someone else's plate?
This was the same as the Black Demon Clan where Mu Guyue belonged. Mu Guyue also had to complete two death missions before she was allowed to ascend. The Malevolent Spirit Sect also had its requirements, but it gave Nascent Soul cultivators two choices:
One was to guard the sect for at least three hundred years. This guardianship did not require you to stay in the sect at all times. You could choose to go into seclusion or travel. The greatest role of a Nascent Soul cultivator was to deter enemies. So as long as the enemy was sure you hadn't ascended, they would have some scruples. Even if a first-rate sect had only one Nascent Soul cultivator, and that cultivator's sect was destroyed while they were out, as long as that person was not dead, the sect could be completely re-established. And most importantly, a lone Nascent Soul cultivator would be the most terrifying and craziest when it came to revenge. It was something no sect was willing to provoke. So, even if Li Yan guarded the Malevolent Spirit Sect in the future, as long as he showed up once every sixty-year cycle, or even every hundred years, it would have the effect of guarding the sect.
Besides this condition, a Nascent Soul cultivator of the Malevolent Spirit Sect could also choose another way, which was to achieve great military merit when the sect was facing a life-and-death crisis. After the catastrophe passed, that Nascent Soul cultivator could then choose to ascend on their own. It was just that this second method was not only a life-and-death situation, but such an event might not even occur once in the entire life of a Nascent Soul cultivator. Especially for a super sect like the Malevolent Spirit Sect, if there really was a catastrophe that could destroy the sect, it would have to be the other three sects directly tearing off all pretenses and fighting the Malevolent Spirit Sect to the death.
But even if someone in those three sects thought so, there would be others who disagreed. The alliance of the three sects was only a defensive posture to prevent the Malevolent Spirit Sect from becoming too dominant. But once the Malevolent Spirit Sect was destroyed, take the Supreme Mystery Teachings, which was currently the weakest, for example. At that time, they would have to worry about being devoured by the Ten-Pace Courtyard and the Jingtu Sect. Then those two could divide the world, or fight for supremacy.
Even though Mo Qing of the Malevolent Spirit Sect had participated in the great war with the Demon Clan, because his performance was not brilliant, although he had killed many enemies, he had still not met the second condition. On the contrary, if Wei Zhongran was willing now, he could go and ascend at any time, because the mission of destroying the two-realm passage was almost a certain-death mission. What's more, at that time he was only at the Golden Core stage and had completed a mission far beyond his cultivation.
Mo Qing had actually guarded the sect for more than three hundred years, but both he and Wei Zhongran had deep feelings for the Malevolent Spirit Sect, while Dacen, Zhu Luan, and Mo Gu had reached the point where they had to ascend. Wei Zhongran naturally couldn't leave Mo Qing to guard the sect alone. So, the two of them were willing to continue guarding the sect until someone took over.
Of course, they were not purely selfless. During the period of guarding the sect, the sect would gather rare heavenly materials and earthly treasures for them to continuously improve their cultivation, and even hope that they would directly reach the Spirit Transformation stage in the lower realm.
These were some of the Nascent Soul information Li Yan had known in advance. For Pseudo-Nascent Soul cultivators, the sect would also open up some secrets that only Nascent Soul cultivators could know in advance. This was to prevent you from being informed of the sect's conditions after you had formed your Nascent Soul, which would inevitably lead to resentment.
Of course, if you chose to form your Nascent Soul outside on your own, then the sect would have nothing to say about it. It was just that you would be responsible for your own life and death, and there would be no one to protect you during the Heavenly Tribulation.
Gu Jiuqi not only gave a cultivation method to Li Yan as a gift, but also used it to exempt him from a hundred years of guardianship. Li Yan felt that this compensation was not a loss, but he also felt that he deserved it. After all, he had used two particles of "Tribulation Essence Qi" to help the sect gain another Nascent Soul cultivator.