The Illusion Poison that the stooped, gray-robed old man used could act on others by itself. In that state, the poisoned person could only perceive their surroundings according to their subconscious.
If one needed to deliberately create a self-designed environment, it would require the caster to use their powerful Divine Sense and spirit to cooperate with the Illusion Poison.
This kind of poisoning technique would place a huge burden on the caster's own Divine Sense and Soul Power, especially when used against a Nascent Soul cultivator whose cultivation was far superior.
The consequences could only be guessed at; it was impossible to be certain.
In just these few breaths, the stooped, gray-robed old man had already suffered a severe backlash from casting the art. His Sea of Consciousness had split open.
At this moment, more than half of the sky in his Sea of Consciousness was covered with shocking cracks, looking as if it was about to shatter.
And the turbulent Soul Power in his body was continuously battering his Yintang acupoint between his eyebrows, as if trying to break out.
The Spirit Power in the stooped, gray-robed old man's body was circulating frantically, forcefully suppressing all the discomfort in his body.
Soon, the east gate of "Sacred Demon City" appeared in his sight. And just at this moment, a voice filled with killing intent sounded in his mind.
"You can't escape!"
Then the stooped, gray-robed old man felt a faint pressure coming at him from behind.
And this pressure condensed into a line, rushing only towards him. The other people who appeared nearby were completely unaware.
The stooped, gray-robed old man's body only paused for a moment before immediately returning to normal.
Dongli Qing, behind him, sneered and withdrew his pressure. He was still thinking about what had just happened.
He had only managed to injure the other party with his grab just now, and this old man's true cultivation should not exceed the Late-stage Golden Core.
"What is the origin of this person? Not only does he have a highly defensive magic treasure, but his evasion art is also extremely exquisite. Which family's cultivator has so many good things? Looking at his fleeting true form, it seems to be some kind of flood dragon or snake race. How could Zhao Min have any dealings with such a foreign race cultivator? Even if she had dealings with others, the other party should most likely be a human cultivator, right?"
For a moment, many doubts and speculations flashed through Dongli Qing's mind.
Just now, after he had injured the other party with a single blow, the other party had disappeared without a sound the next moment. This made Dongli Qing himself jump in fright.
He thought he had met a strong opponent, that he might have misjudged.
When he looked around, he found a pool of dark green blood on the ground at the alley entrance more than a hundred zhang away. With a sweep of his Divine Sense, he immediately found the stooped figure rushing away.
The other party had already been injured by him, but Dongli Qing was filled with regret. He had never thought that the other party would have such a high-grade defensive magic treasure and such a fast evasion speed. He had been careless and let the other party escape.
He chased after him without hesitation. With just a moment's delay, the stooped, gray-robed old man was already approaching the east gate. This made Dongli Qing's suspended heart relax.
'He didn't go west to chase after Zhao Min. This shows that he doesn't want to expose his relationship with Zhao Min either. Also, he knows that I want to kill him, but he didn't ask for help from others. He doesn't want people to know that he is in danger. He has a big secret. And once he asks for help from the people around him, I can say that he is an enemy of the "Sacred Demon Palace" and take him back to prove his identity. Once he is in my hands, it's not up to him anymore. He understands this point in his heart. In this way, things will be much easier.'
If the stooped, gray-robed old man had turned back to chase after the recently departed Zhao Min, he would have caught up by now, and then Dongli Qing would definitely not have been able to make a move.
But the other party had gone in the opposite direction, which was enough to show that Zhao Min could not help him in front of everyone. There must be an ulterior secret between the two of them.
At this time, he and the stooped, gray-robed old man were one behind the other, seemingly unrelated, but Dongli Qing had already quietly warned the other party with his pressure and then withdrew it.
He was telling the other party that he couldn't escape.
The two of them were still in the city. Dongli Qing likewise did not want his purpose to be known by others. He wanted to capture the other party, search his soul, and then destroy the body and erase all traces.
If he did all this here, as soon as the old man died, the news of his appearance here would definitely reach Zhao Min's ears. At that time, he would only get further and further away from Zhao Min.
So, although Dongli Qing was chasing, he did not let the Demon Guard soldiers guarding the city gate in front block the other party, nor did he immediately catch up with the stooped, gray-robed old man and capture him directly.
Instead, he unhurriedly hung behind the other party, only sending a voice transmission to mock the stooped, gray-robed old man.
After leaving "Sacred Demon City" later, he would find an uninhabited place to take this person down, and things would become very simple.
This time, he would absolutely not miss again.
The stooped, gray-robed old man quickly arrived at the east gate. He did not stop. He shook the temporary token in his hand, and his figure directly swept out of the city gate.
Faced with this scene, those Demon Guard soldiers just swept with their Divine Senses and completely ignored it.
They were mainly responsible for collecting Spirit Stones from cultivators entering the city and checking the temporary tokens of cultivators leaving the city. As long as the number of Spirit Stones inside was fine.
If the other party was willing to hand over the temporary token, they would accept it. Otherwise, no one would stop them if they took it directly.
After the stooped, gray-robed old man left "Sacred Demon City," a willow-leaf-shaped, emerald-green magic treasure suddenly appeared under his feet, and then carried him soaring into the sky.
This person was precisely Li Yan. At this moment, the cracks in his Sea of Consciousness were still constantly expanding. His Yintang acupoint was throbbing like a war drum, and waves of stinging pain assailed him. His head was splitting, as if something was trying to forcefully break out.
He was already unable to stand steadily.
After summoning the Cloud-Piercing Willow, Li Yan finally got a moment's respite.
He communicated with the "Earthen Patch" with his Divine Sense. A small, pure white jade bottle flashed and appeared in his hand.
With a flick of his finger, the bottle stopper flew up, and a medicinal pill that exuded a soft purple light fell into his hand. Runes flowed on the surface of the pill, emitting an indescribable mysterious color.
The moment this pill fell into Li Yan's palm, the surrounding world felt clear and empty. But Li Yan had already activated the restriction of the "Cloud-Piercing Willow," blocking the strange phenomenon here from spreading out.
The pill swirled in Li Yan's palm, and the next moment, it actually showed a tendency to fly away. It was precisely the eighth-rank immortal pill, the "True Essence Pill," which already had some intelligence.
Spirit Power surged from Li Yan's hand, and the "True Essence Pill" actually transmitted a plea for mercy. At this time, how could Li Yan care about its wishes?
The Spirit Power in his hand was like a blade. With a gentle cut, a small piece with a heart-refreshing fragrance flew into his mouth.
Then, Li Yan glanced painfully at the "True Essence Pill" in his hand, which was now only eight-tenths of its original size. At the same time, a baby-like cry of pain came from the pill.
The purple light on the surface instantly dimmed a lot. The next moment, Li Yan put it back into the pure white jade bottle, and with a wave of his hand, it disappeared.
His Sea of Consciousness was about to shatter, and his Divine Soul was about to separate from his physical body.
With such injuries, if Li Yan were to heal himself, it would definitely be impossible to recover without more than a hundred years.
And he must have medicinal pills of no less than the fifth rank that could repair the Sea of Consciousness and the soul. Either of these two kinds of medicinal pills was extremely difficult to encounter outside, let alone buy them in the market.
His move of swallowing the pill just now was inspired by the "Elder Dragon Flood Dragon" taking the nameless pill back then.
The "Elder Dragon Flood Dragon's" green nameless pill had been shared and swallowed with others.
Li Yan felt that although the backlash he suffered this time was severe, he shouldn't need a whole "True Essence Pill."
The "True Essence Pill" was a heaven-defying eighth-rank mid-grade medicinal pill. In the mortal realm, probably only Ping Tu had a few. Li Yan felt that he could probably recover by swallowing about twenty percent of the medicinal power. He certainly had to try. The "True Essence Pill" was too precious; he didn't want to waste it.
As soon as that small piece of the pill entered his body, Li Yan felt a powerful and unparalleled medicinal power spread through his limbs and bones. In just an instant, the medicinal power had traveled throughout his body.
The first thing Li Yan felt was that the stinging pain at his Yintang acupoint was gone.
After being wrapped by the medicinal power, his Divine Soul was like a baby returning to its mother's embrace, bathing in a wave of warmth, quietly wanting to sink, constantly sinking, until it returned to its original position in the physical body.
In his Sea of Consciousness, a spring rain was also falling in large patches. The cracks that covered the sky disappeared at an astonishing speed, and the gray sky was restored to vigorous vitality.
All of this happened in an instant. The outside Li Yan was even a little dazed.
"So fast?"
This was the first time he had taken a "True Essence Pill," or rather, a small piece of a "True Essence Pill." Although he had personally seen Gong Chenying come back from the dead before, it was not as real as feeling it himself.
This was the most incredible time Li Yan had taken a medicinal pill since he started cultivating.
But this was not the time for him to think too much.
"If this plan succeeds, it won't be a waste for me to take out the 'True Essence Pill' like this."
A ruthless look appeared in Li Yan's eyes. According to Zhao Min's description, this person had completely disrupted the connection between him and Zhao Min, which was equivalent to completely disrupting their plans.
Under such circumstances, the ruthless side of Li Yan's heart was exposed. With such a strong person by his side, he and Zhao Min would have problems sooner or later. He would not hesitate to fight.
Of course, he would not fight with force. That would undoubtedly be suicide. So he spent several years preparing all of this.
It was just that as soon as the plan began, a casual blow from a Nascent Soul had forced him to take out the incomparably precious "True Essence Pill."
Li Yan felt the medicinal power that still remained in his body.
"There's still some medicinal power left. I can gather it together. After refining it later, there will be no small benefits."
This was the residual medicinal power of an eighth-rank mid-grade medicinal pill. Li Yan was reluctant to waste a single bit of it. He would die of heartache if he did.
It was just that at this time, he had more important things to do. As soon as the injuries on his body recovered, his Spirit Power immediately surged out like a tide.
The "Cloud-Piercing Willow" suddenly cut through the sky. With a flash, it had already appeared at the distant end of the horizon.
At this time, Dongli Qing, who had just left the city, had also come into the air. He looked at the stooped, gray-robed old man who had stepped onto the flying magic treasure and first snorted lightly.
He was still thinking of hanging behind the other party for a while and making a move after they were further away from "Sacred Demon City."
But the next moment, a look of shock appeared on his handsome face. After flying for a few breaths, that person's speed suddenly increased several times over, instantly pulling away from him.
"This... this is a Nascent Soul level flying magic treasure? He... he has a Nascent Soul magic treasure!"
Dongli Qing's eyes suddenly filled with a crimson red. A thick greed quickly occupied his mind. For a moment, he completely forgot his original intention for targeting the other party.
Now that Li Yan was using the "Cloud-Piercing Willow" at full strength, with the abundance of his Spirit Power, it was already infinitely close to the fastest speed that Shuang Qingqing had mentioned back then.
Although it still couldn't compare to a Nascent Soul cultivator's flight, it could already achieve the ability to travel a thousand zhang in a flash. For an Initial-stage Nascent Soul like Dongli Qing to catch up, it would probably take at least nearly ten thousand li of pursuit.
The stooped, gray-robed old man, with his Mid-stage Golden Core cultivation, was able to drive out such speed. Dongli Qing instantly judged the level of this flying magic treasure.
A flying magic treasure that was very likely used by a Nascent Soul cultivator. Even if it didn't reach that level, its grade was definitely at the top of mid-grade magic treasures.
He didn't have such a good thing. His own flying magic treasure was not even as fast as his own flight. Of course, he was more than just envious.