Chapter 119: Li Yan’s Methods

“Giggle… I think I can guess what Little Martial Uncle wants to ask,”

The plump woman named Cheng Jingnian gave a delicate laugh as she transmitted her voice.

“Oh? You can guess?” Li Yan looked at her with interest.

“Little Martial Uncle must be asking about those two, Qi Busheng and his companion. Why did they show such hostility toward you, right?”

Li Yan nodded slightly, glancing at the others. From their expressions, it seemed they all knew something he didn’t. He couldn’t help but let out a wry smile.

“So it’s just me left in the dark, huh?”

The charming girl Hu Ziyi covered her mouth and chuckled lightly but said nothing.

“Little Martial Uncle, do you know Zhao Min, Martial Aunt Zhao?” Cheng Jingnian asked again with a smile.

“Senior Sister Zhao? Yes, I know her. Why?” Li Yan replied, already faintly guessing where this was going.

The others exchanged knowing glances. Fatty Mei Caichu even showed a slightly lecherous smile, winking at Yu Yiyong and the others.

Seeing their expressions, Li Yan immediately understood.

He couldn’t help but feel somewhat annoyed. Though he held the title of Martial Uncle, it seemed none of these disciples had much respect for him. This is what comes of ascending in status through luck rather than strength, unlike those who fought their way up.

“That explains it, Little Martial Uncle,” Cheng Jingnian said with a smile. “On Boundless Peak, there are quite a few Martial Uncles and Martial Elders who deeply admire Martial Aunt Zhao.

“And not just Boundless Peak, disciples from other peaks admire her as well. But Martial Aunt Zhao is cold by nature and rarely speaks with others.

“That’s why no one has managed to get close to her. But recently… there have been rumors that you and she are quite close. That’s made quite a few people very upset, especially the martial uncles from Boundless Peak. Imagine, being so close yet missing the chance, how bitter!”

She giggled again after speaking.

Li Yan couldn’t help but recall Zhao Min’s tall and graceful figure beneath the vast moon of Little Bamboo Peak, so elegant and ethereal.

It seemed some Foundation Establishment cultivators from Boundless Peak had instructed their junior disciples to “take special care” of him. A classic case of beauty bringing trouble. Li Yan sighed inwardly. Though he and Zhao Min had met a few times and felt a certain vague connection, he had never dwelled on it.

His heart was devoted to cultivation. Whenever he thought of his family back home, anxiety gnawed at him. How many decades could mortal parents live? They were his deepest concern and who knew how long it would be before he was strong enough to return?

That was why he couldn't afford to let any opportunity to improve his cultivation slip by. This trial in the Wheel of Life and Death was another such chance, he had to form his foundation as soon as possible.

Li Yan shook his head in exasperation. What could he do, explain things to everyone? The more he tried to clarify, the more it would sound like he was confirming it. And besides, he didn’t want to explain his relationship with Zhao Min.

It was like a faint string deep in his heart, one he didn’t wish to pluck just yet. Maybe, once his heart’s wishes were fulfilled someday, he would finally give it a tug.

Seeing him shake his head, the others fell silent and began discussing other topics via voice transmission. After all, Foundation Establishment matters weren’t something they should freely gossip about, only here and only because Li Yan had asked first.

Li Yan glanced toward Gong Chenying, she was still in meditation. Oddly enough, that heart-palpitating feeling from before had yet to return. It seemed the Wheel of Life and Death truly did offer a moment of respite after each trial.

Recalling the previous trial, Li Yan couldn’t help a shiver. He had no idea if Sixth Senior Sister still had some hidden life-saving trick left.

After what happened with Strategist Ji, he was no longer willing to entrust his life to uncertainty.

Back when they first entered the sphere, Li Yan noticed it was only forty zhang across, and he pretended to be searching for a restriction just like the other top Qi Condensation disciples.

He walked around the sphere, occasionally tapping on the walls as though investigating. In truth, he was testing whether he could apply one of the twelve “fractured poisons.”

To his disappointment, the sphere’s inner walls seemed to be forged from some special substance, spiritual energy couldn’t adhere to them and the poisons couldn’t take hold.

After several failed attempts, he shifted his focus to the ground. A few careful tests later, he finally relaxed slightly, the ground was identical to that outside. Spiritual energy and his poisons could both be used on it.

As Li Yan moved through the sphere, he discreetly left behind seven or eight poison traps, each remotely controlled through divine sense, scattered across the space, one of them even laid near the entrance they had come through.

At the time, he had assumed that the entrance might also serve as an activation point for another formation path.

But when the monks from the Pure Land Sect entered, Li Yan was stunned. Their entry point wasn't the same as his group’s and the battle erupted in an instant.

His original plan to unleash one of the twelve fractured poisons was instantly foiled, because the moment the Pure Land Sect monks entered the sphere, the internal space expanded severalfold.

In the end, only Gong Chenying and the monk remained in the original section of the space to battle, while the rest were pushed hundreds of feet away. Li Yan simply had no opportunity to trigger the poisons.

First, the cultivators from the Wraith Sect and the eighteen monks from Pure Land Sect were standing too close to each other. Though two of his traps were nearby, triggering them would have endangered both sides, including his own.

Second, Foundation Establishment cultivators had incredibly powerful divine sense. Though Li Yan was confident in his own, he figured the moment he extended it in that direction, the monk would detect him and instantly put up defenses. He needed to wait for a better opportunity.

That opportunity came when the monk realized the battle couldn’t be won. In desperation, he crushed the blue crystal and lunged straight for Gong Chenying.

In their sudden clash, the two happened to change positions. The monk smashed into the sphere wall, coughed up blood and collapsed, his aura plunging to its lowest point. Li Yan couldn't let the chance slip.

He activated “Flowing Water Has No Rot,” one of the twelve fractured poisons, through divine sense.

Li Yan ranked this poison among the top seven of his twelve fractured poisons. Once it touched the body, it turned the victim's blood into a thick, oily sludge. As the viscosity increased, the blood would cease to flow altogether.

The pressure generated by a cultivator’s powerful heart would then begin crushing the body from the inside out.

Worse still, if the victim tried to circulate their spiritual power, the oily blood would ignite. As they instinctively tried to suppress the combustion with more spiritual power, the fire would only accelerate, burning them from within, killing them almost instantly.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator reduced to such an end… and he died without ever realizing what kind of poison had struck him.

Zhi Zhong’s “Blood Seed Tuo” technique should have been enough to counter most known poisons, but he had encountered something different, one of Li Yan’s creations, something that should not have existed in this world.

The eighteen monks from the Pure Land Sect knew the Wraith Sect was skilled in poison and had sealed off their breathing early in the fight. If they had taken a single breath, that massive black shadow might have already burst into the sphere.

Li Yan, knowing time was tight, immediately recalled “Thousand Triggers’ Scent,” another of the twelve fractured poisons.

This poison didn’t need to be absorbed through the mouth, nose, or pores. It floated through the air, spread by mist or simulated rainfall. Even cultivators who held their breath would be vulnerable during battle, because once they circulated their spiritual power, the poison particles, suspended in the air, would be drawn into their bodies.

As long as they do not sever the connection in time, the poison can use spiritual power as a medium to invade the body, and within a few breaths, it will erupt and result in instant death.

Though extraordinarily potent, this poison was extremely difficult to apply. Spiritual power and divine sense were the most sensitive aspects of any cultivator, any oddity would be noticed immediately.

Li Yan used his Raincloud Technique as cover. The monks, having held their breath too long, had muddied their internal energy flow and dulled their sensitivity to external threats.

They had closed off their breathing and relied solely on spiritual power to fight. They could still sense collisions with spirit artifacts or treasures, but couldn’t detect subtle changes in the surrounding air.

The sphere wasn’t all that large for cultivators in battle. Li Yan feared that if the poison dispersed too far by spiritual power, both sides might perish together.

That was why he instructed the others to retreat. Even then, concerned about his lack of control, he reduced the dosage of the “Thousand Triggers’ Scent.”

Normally, the poison would take effect in just one or two breaths but this time, it took a full five breaths to activate, nearly ruining everything.

Thinking back on it, Li Yan couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. The twelve fractured poisons were powerful, yes, but they demanded equally powerful cultivation to back them up. His own realm was still too low, making him hesitant to use them freely.

As Li Yan was deep in thought, a sudden jolt of dread surged through him, a wave of intense unease swept over his heart.

“They’re coming!”

Startled, he shouted to Yu Yiyong and the others before flying straight toward Gong Chenying.

Yu Yiyong and those nearby were shocked by the sudden cry but instantly understood what Li Yan meant.

At the very moment his shout rang out, Gong Chenying opened her eyes as if sensing something as well. In the next instant, she sprang to her feet, lifting her head to look in the direction they had come from.

The sphere had vanished.

Far on the horizon, wisps of black smoke were already beginning to rise.

“Sixth Senior Sister, two hours!”

Li Yan had reached her side and shouted a seemingly random phrase.

Gong Chenying nodded. She understood his meaning. This round gave them two hours of recovery time.

Two hours was more than enough for a Qi Condensation cultivator to fully recover their spiritual power. She herself had recovered nearly seventy percent already. This space was truly remarkable, restoring spiritual power here was far more efficient than using spirit stones outside.

“Six teams gather. Move!”

A flash of azure light flared, the long halberd was already in her hand. Her cold voice rang out once more.

With that, she shot off like a wisp of smoke, soaring ahead along the desolate ancient path. She didn’t look back. Without hesitation, she led the way forward.

At the same time, in other paths of the Wheel of Life and Death, scenes of bloodshed and eerie horror were beginning to unfold one by one.

(Chapter End)