Li Yan had already formed a hand seal and was preparing to cast the art to withdraw the formation. When he first heard Mei Hongyu's warning, he had just nodded slightly. She was right. The place he was going was still near the Green Python Forest. That demonic beast had suffered a loss, so it was hard to say it wouldn't come back for revenge. According to Mei Hongyu, that beast might be particularly sensitive to a certain smell.
But when he heard the words "Bitterness-Free Powder" in her later words, he was first stunned. After a moment, he reacted. Bitterness-Free Powder was one of the five main materials he needed to refine the Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike. When he had left the Xuanqing Temple, he had heard in the market of Linshui City that Bitterness-Free Powder had appeared there and seemed to have been bought by a woman a few years ago.
Seeing the brilliant light flashing in Li Yan's eyes, he had already understood something. Mei Hongyu stopped talking, as if she had realized something.
"It seems Young Master Jiang also needs Bitterness-Free Powder. If that's the case, oh, Hongyu didn't use much this time. I still have more than half of what I bought a few years ago."
"Well, now that Hongyu has the medicinal catalyst I need, if Fellow Daoist needs it, then please take it all. I just don't know if the amount is still enough."
As she said this, a smile finally appeared on Mei Hongyu's face. With a flash of spiritual light, a small jade box appeared in her fair hand. Then, with a gentle push, the jade box flew slowly towards Li Yan.
It had to be said that Mei Hongyu was exceptionally intelligent and decisive in her actions.
Seeing that he had only asked one question—at first, he had thought he had misheard—and the other party not only really had the item, but also had more than half of it left, Li Yan also secretly nodded at this woman's cleverness and resourcefulness.
Seeing the jade box flying towards him, Li Yan was no longer polite this time. He immediately grabbed the jade box in his hand. The jade box was warm to the touch and had a faint, fresh fragrance. Li Yan couldn't help but blush. This fragrance was somewhat familiar, exactly the same as the orchid-like fragrance he had smelled by his ear just now. He naturally knew where this fragrance came from.
Seeing that Li Yan, who had taken the jade box, didn't open it immediately but was staring blankly, the distant Mei Hongyu, with her extraordinary intelligence, immediately withdrew the hand that had pushed the jade box. She lowered it and unnaturally twisted the corner of her green robe, also feeling her cheeks burn.
Li Yan still unconsciously sniffed lightly, then flicked the lid of the jade box open with his thumb. As he opened the lid, he had already held his breath, and the Spirit Power in his body was also secretly surging, on guard.
Everything was normal. The jade box was about the size of a palm and had a faint glow of its own. The moment the lid was opened, what met Li Yan's eyes was a yellowish, powdery substance that filled half the box, as if it were some kind of ground medicinal powder.
Li Yan reached out with his other hand, gently touched some of the powder with his fingertip, then held it before his eyes and examined it for a short while. Finally, he sniffed it with the tip of his nose, and a smile slowly appeared on his face.
'It really is Bitterness-Free Powder. Its shape and smell are exactly as Ping Tu described. From the looks of it, there's more than half a box left. It's more than enough to refine a pair of Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spikes, with some to spare.'
Li Yan thought to himself. Then he looked up at Mei Hongyu, who was slightly bowing her head, as if deep in thought.
"This is indeed what I, Jiang, need. The amount is also sufficient. How many Spirit Stones for this item? Please tell me, Fairy Mei."
The blush on Mei Hongyu's face was still there. She looked up in astonishment.
"This is a gift for Young Master Jiang. You saved both my son and me earlier. I've already said I don't have many Spirit Stones and was wondering how to thank you, Young Master. Now, by a fortunate coincidence, I have something that Young Master needs. Why talk of Spirit Stones? Do you think Hongyu is truly an ungrateful person?"
A trace of annoyance appeared on Mei Hongyu's face. Her personality was already strong. To be saved and unable to repay the kindness was not her wish.
"Oh... oh, then... then I, Jiang, will accept it. Thank you, Fairy Mei! I wish your son a speedy recovery, and that you and your husband may enjoy family happiness again."
Li Yan had actually seen Mei Hongyu's pride outside the pagoda. Because she didn't have enough Spirit Stones, she had first begged the Chan monk to reduce the entrance fee. After being refused, she hadn't mentioned it again. At that time, he knew this woman's personality was likely strong-willed. Now, he was even more certain.
At the same time, Li Yan was certain that Mei Hongyu was the woman who had bought the "Bitterness-Free Powder" in Linshui City a few years ago. However, Li Yan had no intention of asking. If he did, the other party might guess that he was from another region, not a cultivator under the jurisdiction of the Jingtu Sect.
As for where Mei Hongyu was from, they were just strangers who had met by chance. He didn't want to ask further. A light flashed in his hand, and the jade box disappeared. Then, without another word, he pointed at the floating purple flag. The flag immediately began to spin and instantly withdrew the formation.
He did all this while speaking. But when Li Yan had finished, he found that Mei Hongyu's face had suddenly darkened. He couldn't help but feel strange. He wanted to ask, but seeing that Mei Hongyu was only slightly dazed, and then a brilliant light reappeared in her eyes, she nodded at Li Yan.
"Thank you for your kind words, Young Master Jiang. Hongyu will take her leave now. Young Master Jiang, please take care in the pagoda. Farewell!"
With that, she was no longer long-winded. A faint light flashed on her body. Her body was as light as nothing. She rose into the air, and in a breath, she had become a faint image, then quickly disappeared into the vast night sky.
Although the green robe Li Yan had given her was large, as Mei Hongyu rode the wind and rose, the wide hem fluttered behind her, moving with the wind, like a long skirt tearing through the sky.
Watching Mei Hongyu quickly disappear into the night sky, Li Yan still had a faint fragrance at the tip of his nose. Only then did he let out a long sigh of relief, as if a heavy stone had been lifted from his heart. Although the two of them had deliberately avoided that awkward incident and hadn't spoken of it, it was obvious that both of them were extremely unnatural.
'This woman's aura is long and sustained, and she is light and agile. Could she have a rare wind-attribute spirit root? Looking at the way she drives her Spirit Power, there is almost no wasted energy. Her true cultivation may be close to breaking through to the Golden Core.'
'In a direct confrontation with Spirit Power, I am definitely not her match. If she hadn't been poisoned, that Rhino-Horned Green Python might not have been able to defeat her either. No wonder a beast with the status of the Green Python Forest's overlord had to resort to a sneak attack to win. Wind-attribute cultivators' attacks are unpredictable and difficult to deal with.'
Having calmed down a bit, Li Yan suddenly thought, 'That's right, Mei Hongyu's appearance just now was extremely beautiful, as if very different from what I saw during the day. Was it my illusion, or is this the effect of the aphrodisiac poison, making one's personality change and appear different...'
Li Yan immediately shook his head, because this thought made him think of the previous incident again. So he waved his sleeve and floated up, as if to shake off the charming and gentle thoughts in his heart. He also quickly left this place that had made him feel awkward. But at the same time, he was in a great mood. An unintentional act had actually led him to obtain Bitterness-Free Powder. This could be said to be fate.
At this moment, dozens of li away from Li Yan, a full-figured figure reappeared in the night sky. She looked down at the green robe on her body. With a complicated expression, she gently took it off. Then, her body blurred, and the previously torn dress was gone. A set of light blue clothes was now on her body, full of charm and grace.
Looking at the green robe in her hand, Mei Hongyu stared blankly for a while. A blush and paleness alternated on her face. In the end, she still put the green robe into her storage pouch.
Feeling the heat on her face, she immediately thought of something. Mei Hongyu couldn't help but let out a soft moan and quickly covered her jade-like face with her hands. Her face immediately turned even pinker. "Damn licentious python, that poison actually broke my illusion art. I didn't even know for a moment. That man must have seen everything clearly."
So she gently wiped her face with her jade-like hand. When she looked up again, her face had returned to its cold and indifferent state. Her entire appearance, although still sixty or seventy percent similar to before, had changed to that of a thirty-five or thirty-six-year-old person, no longer the beautiful and lovely person from before. She murmured to herself.
"After Fei'er's illness is cured, it will be time to find that person. Husband, you gave your life to protect us. After settling Fei'er, it will be time to avenge you. I will search to the ends of the earth, I must capture and kill him, to put an end to this grudge."
Finally, she turned her head again and looked in a direction in the Green Python Forest. She bit her silver teeth hatefully. "The next time I come, it will be when the Green Python Forest changes its master. Even if you have dominated this place for many years, I will not let you go. You not only almost ruined my innocence, but you also caused a crack to appear in my 'Wind Brightness Manual' cultivation, and my mind-nature has been shaken. You must die!"
Words still lingered in the air, but the night sky was already empty. Only the gentle breeze blew through the rustling forest.
Li Yan traveled through the night. Two days later, at dusk, Li Yan in the sky saw a forest of fiery red maple leaves in the distance. Since yesterday, Li Yan had left the range of the Green Python Forest. The trees on the ground had begun to become sparse. What appeared before his eyes were patches of short mountains covered in wildflowers. Only now had the view changed again.
A black-robed Li Yan flew through the sky, looking down from the high altitude of the short mountains.
The setting sun was like blood, the maple leaves were layered. Li Yan had traveled all the way from the first level of the pagoda, as if from winter to spring and summer, and now he had arrived in the golden autumn. Red leaves, yellow trees, the wind rustling through the leaves, and occasionally, maple leaves would drift down in the forest.
Not long after, Li Yan landed. He stood by the side of a stream in the forest. The clear stream flowed slowly. Occasionally, a few maple leaves in the gentle breeze would either spin gently or float up and down like small boats, finally landing in the stream and flowing with the current. After being wet by the stream, the maple leaves were even cleaner and moister.
And the maple leaves that had landed on the bank were propped up at an angle by the yellowish-green grass. In the gentle breeze, they trembled slightly, as if unwilling, as if trying to leap into the stream and drift with the current to see the scenery elsewhere.
The maple forest was not very dense, so under the trees were layers of red and yellow maple leaves, like a thick red and yellow carpet. There were more red than yellow, stretching far into the forest. Even standing by the stream, Li Yan could see far through the gaps in the trees. The setting sun in the distance shone on the red and yellow intertwining on the ground, as beautiful as a poem...
"The person who created the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda should not have been a tyrannical person. Traveling all the way from the first level, the seasons change, and there is a poetic and picturesque feeling. Compared to the magnificent ice and snow wall of the first level, it is even more refreshing and pleasant. Could it be that the senior who created the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda was a female cultivator?"
Li Yan withdrew his gaze, but then he thought of the several battles he had encountered along the way. Although he had avoided them all by relying on his powerful Divine Sense, the battles he saw were all extremely bloody. It was just that Li Yan had decisively moved away. The moment he discovered them, he would immediately fly away, letting the blood stain the sky and the wails ring out. Li Yan just continued on his way quietly.
"Even if one has the demeanor of an immortal, even if it is a misty fairyland, it is still just a bloody martial world. It is no different from the mortal world's martial world. There are just more powerful, more numerous ways to kill. Longevity..."
For a moment, Li Yan's thoughts surged, but thinking of the spilled intestines, punctured bellies, and skies full of blood he had seen along the way, he couldn't help but feel a little disheartened.