"Heh heh, I can guess one or two of the questions Little Martial Uncle wants to ask," the curvaceous young woman named Cheng Jingnian said with a light laugh via voice transmission after hearing his words.
"Oh, you can guess?" Li Yan looked at her with interest.
"Heh heh, is Little Martial Uncle asking why those two, Qi Busheng and Mi Yuanzhi, are so hostile towards you?" Cheng Jingnian giggled.
Li Yan couldn't help but nod upon hearing this. Looking at everyone's gazes, it seemed that these few all knew something. He couldn't help but smile wryly. "It seems I'm the only one in the dark."
The pretty young woman, Hu Ziyi, covered her mouth and laughed softly.
"Little Martial Uncle, do you happen to know Martial Aunt Zhao Min?" Cheng Jingnian also transmitted with a low laugh.
"Senior Sister Zhao? I know her. What's wrong? Could this matter be related to her?" Li Yan already had a faint guess in his heart upon hearing this.
Hearing his words, everyone's faces showed a look of "as expected." Especially the fat Mei Bucai, whose face even showed a hint of lewdness, and he even winked at Yu Yiyong and the others.
Seeing their expressions, how could Li Yan not understand? He couldn't help but feel depressed. He was a Martial Uncle, after all. It seemed that the disciples in the sect didn't have much respect for him. This was the difference between rising through one's own strength and rising through chance like him.
"That's right, Little Martial Uncle. There are many Martial Uncles and Martial Aunts on Never-Parting Peak who admire Martial Aunt Zhao. In fact, it's not just Never-Parting Peak. Many Foundation Establishment Martial Uncles and Martial Aunts from the other peaks also have feelings for Martial Aunt Zhao. It's just that Martial Aunt Zhao is cold by nature and rarely talks to people, so we haven't heard of any Martial Uncle or Martial Aunt getting close to her. Some time ago, I heard some rumors that you and Martial Aunt Zhao have a very good relationship. This has annoyed many Martial Aunts and Uncles, especially those from Never-Parting Peak. After all, the pavilion closest to the water gets the moonlight first, but it turned out to be for nothing. Heh heh..." Speaking of this, Cheng Jingnian let out another light laugh.
After hearing this, Zhao Min's tall and slender figure appeared in Li Yan's mind. Under the giant full moon of Little Bamboo Peak, that elegant and transcendent figure, and the faint voice seemed to echo in his ears again, "Mortal, what kind of world is it?"
When Zhao Min was mentioned earlier, Li Yan had already had his suspicions. The result was as expected. It seemed the Foundation Establishment cultivators of Never-Parting Peak had instructed the disciples below to "take care" of him. A beautiful woman is a source of trouble. Li Yan couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Although he had met Zhao Min a few times and had a hazy feeling, he had never really thought about love. He was now focused on cultivation. Every time he thought of his family at home, he was extremely anxious. How many three or five decades does a mortal have in their lifespan? His parents were his biggest concern. He didn't know when he would be able to go back. So he didn't let go of any opportunity to improve his cultivation. Just like this Wheel of Life and Death trial, magical artifacts, Spirit Stones, and medicinal pills were the foundation for a cultivator's advancement. Relying solely on dead practice, who knows how long it would take to advance one level. He needed to reach Foundation Establishment as soon as possible.
Li Yan shook his head helplessly. How could he explain such a thing? Something that didn't exist in the first place would end up looking like he was trying to justify himself. Besides, he didn't want to explain his relationship with Zhao Min to others. It was like a thin, ethereal string deep in his heart. He wanted to keep that string. Maybe one day, after he had fulfilled his wishes, he could pluck it.
Seeing this Little Martial Uncle shake his head and then seem to be lost in thought, the few of them tactfully changed the subject. How could they casually discuss the affairs of Foundation Establishment cultivators? It was only because they were here, and Li Yan had asked first.
Li Yan looked up at Gong Chenying's side. Gong Chenying was still cultivating, and he still hadn't felt the heart-pounding sensation from before. It seemed this Wheel of Life and Death really did give some recovery time after each stage. He thought about the battle in the previous stage and couldn't help but feel a trace of lingering fear. If he hadn't been careful, the result would have been hard to say. Perhaps only Sixth Senior Sister still had a life-saving trump card up her sleeve.
But Li Yan never placed his life in the unknown. When he had just entered the sphere, he had observed for a while. Seeing that the inside of the sphere was only forty zhang in size, with his ability, he estimated he could probably control most of the area. So he pretended to be like the other few high-level Qi Condensation cultivators, as if he were looking for a mechanism or was interested, and started walking around inside the sphere, occasionally patting the sphere wall with his hand. In fact, he just wanted to see if he could lay down the Fragmented Twelve. The result disappointed him. He didn't know what special material the sphere wall was made of. Spiritual energy couldn't stay on it at all, and he couldn't use the Fragmented Twelve on it either. It was like a fish on a slippery wall covered in foam.
After trying a few times and finding it didn't work, he set his sights on the ground. The result slightly relieved him. The ground here was no different from the ground outside. Both spiritual energy and the Fragmented Twelve could be used. So, as he walked around inside the sphere, he left seven or eight remotely controlled poisons of divine sense on the ground, scattered throughout this space. One of them was set at their entrance. His purpose at that time was that he thought this entrance might also be the place where another path would be opened by the restriction.
But when the Pure Land Sect monks entered, the passage entrance was not the one they had entered through, and the battle started immediately. His Fragmented Twelve had failed to implement his original plan. There were two reasons. First, at that time, the Malevolent Spirit Sect cultivators and the eighteen monks of the Pure Land Sect were very close within the dozens of zhang. Although there were two closer deployments where the eighteen monks stood, as long as he released it, his own side would have been affected as well. Second, the divine sense of a Foundation Establishment cultivator was too strong. Although Li Yan was confident that his divine sense was not weak, he estimated that as long as his divine sense moved in that direction, it would be discovered by that Chan monk, who would immediately defend against it.
Later, when the battle started, only Sixth Senior Sister and that Chan monk were left in that area. He was also wary of that Chan monk's divine sense, so he had been looking for an opportunity to launch a sneak attack. But before he could make a move, the Chan monk had already leaped onto the earthen platform, a place where he had no deployment. He could only sigh and give up.
It wasn't until later, when the Chan monk realized that things were irreversible, that he crushed the Blue Rhomboid Crystal and directly attacked Gong Chenying. At that time, Gong Chenying was on the earthen platform at the entrance, delaying the black shadow. The two of them had already switched positions in an instant during their fierce battle. That Chan monk had hit the sphere wall there, spat out blood, and fallen to the ground, his aura at its lowest point. How could Li Yan let go of such an opportunity? He directly used his divine sense to release the "Flowing Water Never Rots" from the Fragmented Twelve. This poison was extremely aggressive. Li Yan estimated it could rank in the top seven of his Fragmented Twelve. After being touched by it, the blood in the body would turn into a viscous, oily substance. Because the blood was thick and no longer flowed, and under the great pressure of the cultivator's heart, it would squeeze and burst the body from the inside out. At the same time, the accelerated flow of spiritual energy would cause the oil to burn rapidly. When a cultivator felt something was wrong with their body, they would subconsciously use their spiritual energy to suppress it. The more spiritual energy they used to suppress it, the faster their body would burn, and they would die in an instant.
It was a pity that a Perfected Foundation Establishment cultivator had ended up in such a state. Even in death, he didn't know what poison he had been hit with. With his "Blood Son Art," he could have countered most evil poisons, but he had unfortunately encountered Li Yan's Fragmented Twelve, something that shouldn't exist in this world.
As for the eighteen monks, they were really hard to deal with. They knew that the Malevolent Spirit Sect was good at using poison and had held their breath during the fight. If they had to breathe, the giant black shadow would have probably already broken through the sphere. Seeing this, Li Yan knew that time was urgent. He immediately thought of the "Thousand Mechanisms Search" of the Fragmented Twelve. This poison did not take effect through the five senses or pores. Instead, it was spread in the air through things like clouds and rain. Even if a cultivator held their breath, as long as they fought and their spiritual energy was released, it would intertwine with this poison in the air. As long as it was not cut off in time, it could be transmitted into the body through the spiritual energy as a medium, and they would die within one or two breaths.
This poison was extremely strange. Although its effect was unparalleled, it was extremely difficult to administer. Spiritual energy and divine sense were a cultivator's most sensitive parts, so they would often use them to detect abnormalities. Li Yan had used the clouds and rain as a cover. That group of monks had already had their spiritual energy become turbid from holding their breath for a long time, and their perception had decreased. In the end, they were just holding their breath and using pure spiritual energy to fight the enemy. They could still feel the spirit artifacts they came into contact with through their spiritual energy, but they had lost their judgment of the slight abnormalities in the air. Although this poison was strange, it was extremely difficult to be effective in a normal battle. It could only be used as a surprise attack. In a normal battle, a cultivator was extremely sensitive to their own divine sense and spiritual energy. They would immediately notice the slightest abnormality. It was not like the monks here who had held their breath, and their perception of the outside world had decreased a lot, which gave Li Yan an opportunity.
The space of the sphere was not very large for the fighting cultivators. To prevent the "Thousand Mechanisms Search" from being blown away by the magical power of others during the casting process, in which case he could only watch his fellow sect members die, Li Yan had asked the others to retreat before using this poison. But he was still afraid that his control was limited, so he had reduced the infusion of the "Thousand Mechanisms Search" to avoid a large-scale spread, which would have been counterproductive. In this way, the fatal poison that could have taken effect in one or two breaths only took effect after five breaths, almost leading to failure.
Thinking of this, Li Yan couldn't help but sigh inwardly. The Fragmented Twelve was good, but it also required strong magical power to support it. His realm was still too low, which made him hesitant to use it.
As Li Yan was thinking, a sudden palpitation, a feeling of extreme unease, arose spontaneously.
"It's here," Li Yan was horrified. He only shouted to Yu Yiyong and the others before flying towards Gong Chenying. Yu Yiyong and the others, along with the people nearby, were startled by Li Yan's shout, but they understood what he meant.
At the same time as Li Yan's shout, Gong Chenying also seemed to have sensed something and opened her eyes. The next moment, she had stood up straight and looked up in the direction they had come from. The sphere that was originally there had already disappeared, and a faint black qi was rising from the horizon.
"Sixth Senior Sister, two hours," Li Yan had already rushed to her side at this time, saying a sentence without a beginning or end.
Gong Chenying nodded. Of course, she understood what Li Yan meant. The recovery time given for this stage was two hours. And in these two hours, the Qi Condensation cultivators had all fully recovered their spiritual energy, and she herself had recovered to about seventy percent. It had to be said that the space here was unique. Even with the help of Spirit Stones in the outside world, the recovery rate was far from comparable to here.
"Six teams, assemble! Go!" Amidst the flashing green light, a poleaxe was already in her hand, and her cold voice sounded again.
After speaking, she had already flown forward like a wisp of light smoke, not looking at the people behind her, and had already run straight along the desolate ancient road.
And at the same time, bloody life-and-death struggles and bizarre scenes were successively appearing on the other paths of the Wheel of Life and Death.