In Li Yan's bamboo courtyard, Zi Kun and Qian Ji sat on the stone benches, staring at each other. On the courtyard wall, Zhao Min's solitary figure stood, gazing silently in one direction without a word.
After Li Yan's Heavenly Tribulation had dissipated, the two demons had wanted to go over and see, but they were sent back by a voice transmission from Wei Zhongran. Not long after, Zhao Min also appeared. And so, one person and two demons waited quietly for Li Yan's return!
"I didn't expect two people to form their Nascent Souls here today. That other person wasn't as fast as Master, taking the better part of a day!" Qian Ji said out of boredom.
"The master's cultivation is a work of great fortune. He is the fastest cultivator I have ever met. How can ordinary people compare to him? However, anyone who can withstand the Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation is hardly weak. That cultivator from Never-Parting Peak is also an extremely strong person," Zi Kun interjected.
The scene of two people transcending their tribulations today had been too shocking for them! Both demons were wondering if they could successfully pass through such a powerful Heavenly Tribulation when their own time came. What filled them with dread was the feeling that they probably couldn't withstand a tribulation of such power, especially the final Heaven and Earth Tribulation.
"When we demonic beasts undergo our tribulation, the grade of the tribulation we face will vary depending on our bloodline. What about me?" Zi Kun muttered.
"Your cultivation is not there yet, so naturally you find the power of the Heavenly Tribulation difficult to deal with. In the future, when you reach the peak of the third rank, you'll feel it's nothing much!"
Just then, a clear voice drifted over.
As the three of them were startled, an invisible pressure descended in an instant, making it difficult for them to breathe. Even Zhao Min felt it. But she paid it no mind. The moment she heard the voice, a faint smile appeared on her perpetually cold face.
"Hehehe…, you're all here!"
A figure flashed in the bamboo courtyard, and the blood-stained Li Yan appeared. He first replied to Zi Kun, then looked up at the wall. At this moment, although he was trying his best to restrain his aura, he still couldn't control its strength as he wished.
"Congratulations, Junior Brother!" Zhao Min's voice, as pleasant as the clinking of ice, sounded, exceptionally beautiful.
"Yes, I've finally taken this step. Senior Sister, I imagine you're not too far from it either," Li Yan said, smiling at Zhao Min.
"Alright, you need to stabilize your realm. It's good that everything is fine!" The moment Zhao Min saw Li Yan, her heart was finally at ease. She said only this one sentence before her white figure flashed and she soared away, not lingering for another moment. She had waited here for so long just to see that Li Yan was safe.
Li Yan watched Zhao Min's departing figure and didn't stop her. He needed to stabilize his realm as soon as possible, and he was already crystal clear on Zhao Min's personality.
Only after Zhao Min's figure had flashed a few times and disappeared did Li Yan turn his head.
"Congratulations to the Young Master (Master) on advancing to the Nascent Soul realm!" Seeing Li Yan look over, Qian Ji and Zi Kun hurriedly bowed. At this moment, their admiration for Li Yan was genuine. A cultivator who could form a Nascent Soul within two hundred years was undoubtedly too powerful.
Even among their demonic beast races, such a cultivation time was something only some top-tier demonic beasts with noble bloodlines could achieve. Moreover, these two demons had followed Li Yan every step of the way to this day. They didn't believe, like Mo Qing, that Li Yan had achieved his current success due to a special constitution and luck. They knew more of Li Yan's methods and secrets, and knew that on his path of cultivation, it was by no means as simple as just having opportunities. Li Yan was calm in the face of adversity, and many dangers were resolved one by one through his extraordinary cunning.
"Yes, I need to stabilize my realm. We'll talk about some things in detail after I come out!" After dropping this sentence, Li Yan flashed and entered the cultivation chamber. The door closed tightly behind him, and the light of a formation restriction flashed once on the door and then disappeared.
The two demons glanced at each other. Zi Kun immediately reached out and formed a hand seal, and the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" above the courtyard activated. Then, in a tacit understanding, they said no more and sat cross-legged in the bamboo courtyard, acting as protectors for Li Yan.
Wang Dahai groggily opened his eyes. He felt a sharp pain in his forehead and couldn't help but let out a soft groan.
"Master, Master…" A series of continuous calls came, making Wang Dahai's dizzy consciousness slowly begin to clear. In his hazy vision, a face appeared above him. Wang Dahai shook his massive head slightly, and finally, he could gradually make out the delicate face of Yu Xiaofan.
He slowly looked around and found that he was lying on the ground, and above him seemed to be the roof of a grass shed.
"Master, you're finally awake! You scared your disciple to death!" Seeing Wang Dahai open his eyes, Yu Xiaofan's anxious face finally showed a look of joy. He quickly reached under Wang Dahai's fat body and forcefully helped him up.
"I… where am I…" After slowly sitting up, Wang Dahai looked around again, only to find that he had somehow returned to the herb garden and was sitting on the floor of the grass shed.
"Master, during the day, I heard a heavy object fall outside. When I went out, I saw you had fallen to the ground. Then I kept calling you, but you didn't answer. It scared your disciple so much…" Yu Xiaofan muttered in a low voice, as if afraid Wang Dahai would blame him. He carefully glanced at Wang Dahai and didn't dare to say any more.
Wang Dahai realized that it was already night, with the stars and moon shining brightly in the dark sky. He remembered that it had been morning before he lost consciousness.
"What time is it now?" He asked while looking around and quickly circulating his magical power. After a full circulation, he found nothing unusual, which put him slightly at ease.
"Master, it is now the Hour of the Dog (7 p.m. to 9 p.m.)!" Yu Xiaofan quickly replied.
"Oh, I've been unconscious for the better part of a day?" This was actually not far from his own guess.
"After the Heavenly Tribulation came in the morning, did that senior from the sect succeed in his tribulation?" Wang Dahai quickly asked first.
"Master, the tribulation was a success! This is a joyous occasion for the sect today…" Hearing Wang Dahai's question, Yu Xiaofan's face showed a look of excitement, but before he could finish, he was interrupted by Wang Dahai.
"Yes, it is indeed a joyous occasion for the sect that the senior was able to succeed in his tribulation. But I wonder which senior it was. Have you heard?" Wang Dahai nodded. As he did, he felt the wound on his forehead throb again, and blood rushed to it. The fat on his face twitched in pain.
"This… this disciple doesn't know. I only heard the ancestors' voice transmission saying that the Heavenly Tribulation had passed and that the disciples of each peak should go about their business. And…"
"Alright, I know. With your status, it would indeed take a few more days to get this news." Wang Dahai had slowly gotten up from the ground. He was quite satisfied with this disciple. He hadn't even asked why he had suddenly fainted. Perceptive, not bad! Never ask what you shouldn't ask. Yu Xiaofan had always been like this, very clever. No wonder he had taken a liking to him.
Wang Dahai looked at the pitch-black herb garden and felt he should explain himself, lest this disciple look down on him.
"In the future, if someone in the sect is undergoing a tribulation, you must follow the ancestors' arrangements and not move around randomly. Today… today, your master was just… just trying to hurry back to my Cave Residence and was struck by a stray tribulation wave. If not for my self-preservation methods, I might have been seriously injured. This is really the worst luck, to actually be hit by a Nascent Soul ancestor's Heavenly Tribulation!" He said, as if giving instructions, and also as if talking to himself.
Sure enough, upon hearing this, a look of fear and admiration appeared on Yu Xiaofan's face, as if it were a testament to his master's heaven-defying magical power that he could emerge unscathed from a stray tribulation wave.
"This disciple will definitely remember it!"
"Yes, take good care of the herb garden here. If you do well, your master is not a stingy person!" Wang Dahai was very satisfied with Yu Xiaofan's attitude. He said no more and immediately got up to walk out of the herb garden, his mind still preoccupied.
'I remember crashing head-on into a giant pillar at that time. What on earth was that thing? I'm quite familiar with this area. Why don't I remember any obstacles there? Could it really have been a stray tribulation wave? That… that would be too unlucky! Damn it, could it be that someone who has a grudge against me secretly ambushed me? No, I have to go and see!'
He had reached the entrance of the herb garden when he suddenly seemed to remember something. He turned around with some difficulty and saw Yu Xiaofan still respectfully watching him leave from under the grass shed.
"By the way, did you have something else to say just now?" He had been preoccupied just now, anxious to leave and investigate the cause of his fall, and also to go back and find out in detail which senior in the sect had successfully formed a Nascent Soul. Only now did he remember that Yu Xiaofan seemed to have more to say before he had interrupted him.
Seeing Wang Dahai turn around to ask him, Yu Xiaofan hesitated for a moment before answering.
"Master, what this disciple wanted to say just now was that the sect faced two Heavenly Tribulations today. From the voice transmissions of Ancestor Mo and Ancestor Wei later, it seems that two seniors in the sect have successfully formed their Nascent Souls! But this disciple doesn't know which two seniors they are, so I've been wondering if this matter is true!"
"You… what did you say… there were… two Heavenly Tribulations, and… and two people formed their Nascent Souls today? This… this… this is too damn unfair! I actually missed it all?" Wang Dahai's fat body trembled violently. He was instantly stunned on the spot, his shocked voice growing quieter and quieter…
After Li Yan entered the cultivation chamber, he looked at his blood-stained body and his robes, which barely covered him, and couldn't help but shake his head. He was about to use a technique to wash himself, change his clothes, and then carefully inspect his internal condition.
But just then, his expression changed, and the hand seal he was forming paused. His gaze then fell to his waist. There, besides a few storage pouches, there was also a pale red jade slip tucked into his sash. The jade slip had no luster and was almost blended with the blood-stained Li Yan, so it didn't attract anyone's attention when tucked into his belt. Some of Li Yan's tattered clothes had also covered it slightly. Even Li Yan himself hadn't noticed it before. Only now did he see it.
Li Yan was stunned for a moment. He remembered that he hadn't taken out any jade slips and tucked them into his waist. And the jade slips he commonly used were mostly milky white or pale yellow. He hadn't seen many jade slips of this color, only remembering seeing some occasionally in the storage pouches of some enemies he had killed. But the records in those jade slips were nothing worth keeping, and he seemed to have already disposed of them.
'Was it left by Master?'
Li Yan's mind raced. As he was thinking, his Divine Sense swept over it. Even before he had formed his Nascent Soul, Li Yan felt that very few people in the Malevolent Spirit Sect could place this thing on him without him noticing. Li Yan knew that when he was at the Pseudo-Nascent Soul realm, his Divine Sense was comparable to that of an initial-stage Nascent Soul, and even stronger. Who could have done this without his knowledge?
When he had woken up earlier, Mo Qing had been guarding him. If there was anything to say, he would have said it directly. There was no need for this extra step.