Li Yan turned his head and looked at Gong Chenying with a strange expression, speaking with uncertainty.

"If… if you're talking about that silver ring on your… on your body, then yes, that's it. But I only glanced at it and then started treating the wound, so I forgot about it just now."

"That's it then. You really did see my navel ring." Gong Chenying's seated body trembled continuously.

"Sixth Senior Sister, is there a problem? I didn't even touch it. Don't tell me it's some kind of family heirloom or something. You can't blame me if something is missing."

"Family heirloom? Something missing? ...Enough. Just saying it is enough. We should go."

The light in Gong Chenying's eyes slowly returned to normal, and she actually stood up. This reaction startled Li Yan so much that he almost took a step back out of the cave.

"Why are you so jumpy? Did that pill damage your brain?"

Li Yan blurted out. He was truly frightened by Gong Chenying's constantly changing attitude.

"Let's go. I'll tell you on the way."

Gong Chenying's pretty face suddenly flushed red, and then she bloomed with an unprecedented shyness, like a hundred flowers in full bloom. This was no longer the cold, unapproachable beauty that Li Yan had in his mind.

Li Yan was immediately greatly alarmed.

"Pingtu's pill is strange. Is this a legendary soul snatching pill? Could there be a demonic soul in the pill? Is this no longer my Sixth Senior Sister?"

Li Yan looked at Gong Chenying with a wary expression.

Gong Chenying, however, waved her jade-like hand. The two halves of the long halberd from the corner of the cave were swept back by her and stored in her storage bag. A hint of sorrow appeared in her eyes.

She then flew towards the cave entrance. To Li Yan's disbelief, he was swept up by a great force and was directly sent flying. Then, they swiftly flew into the distance.

However, what Li Yan didn't see was that the moment Gong Chenying flew out of the cave, the red band that had been cut and was on the ground was also quietly picked up by her.

"Senior Sister, Senior Sister, my array flags, my array flags!"

Li Yan's anxious voice came from a distance. Following that, a gust of wind blew over the large patch of grass and thorns at the cave entrance. A few array flags flew out from under the ground, transforming into spiritual light and flying towards the sky. A cave entrance once again appeared there.

Half an hour later, with the mountain forests receding below, Li Yan stood on a small white jade boat. The small white jade boat was not flying very high, only skimming the mountain ridges. They had been flying away from the cave for about half an hour.

After Gong Chenying took Li Yan out of the cave, she did not immediately fly towards the center, because as soon as they came out, a somewhat familiar divine sense swept over them.

This startled the two of them. They immediately concealed their auras and cautiously moved forward. At this moment, although Gong Chenying's injuries had recovered, her spiritual power had not.

Even against the wounded Wang Lang, she was not confident and might end up in a mutually destructive situation. If a Pseudo-Core stage cultivator was pushed too far, even Gong Chenying in her peak state would not be sure she could withstand a deathbed counterattack.

So, the two of them circled far around the border of the advancing black shadow in the sky.

During this time, divine senses occasionally swept past in the distance, but they were mostly a certain distance away from the black shadow in the sky. No one would use their divine sense so close to the black shadow; if they were not careful, their divine sense could be devoured by the gigantic black shadow in the sky, and having their divine sense wounded would be a great loss.

Now, the two of them were slowly advancing along the border of the black shadow. Gong Chenying was fully meditating to recover. Once her spiritual power was eighty to ninety percent restored, she could advance swiftly, and she would not fear encountering other people.

On the way, Gong Chenying had told Li Yan something with a flushed face. This matter still made Li Yan dizzy and confused, and he had no idea how to handle it.

Gong Chenying obviously regarded this matter as extremely important. She had explained it to Li Yan on the way. Although she didn't go into detail, Li Yan understood her, and what she said left him shocked.

Gong Chenying was not from the Barren Moon Continent. She was from the distant Wind God Continent. This was a place whose name Li Yan had only seen in ancient texts, and he knew nothing else about it.

Gong Chenying was born into the Tianli Tribe of the Wind God Continent. It was a powerful tribe. They also had heaven-defying cultivation methods, but they had a different way of cultivation from cultivators. They cultivated body-refinement techniques and shamanic arts.

Shamanic arts were similar to qi cultivation, but the cultivation process was bizarre and sinister. Many of their cultivation techniques and divine abilities were unorthodox and emphasized deviousness and viciousness. Their shamans were so powerful that even human Nascent Soul old ancestors could not face them head-on, and above them were the terrifying existences of Grand Sacrificial Shamans.

In addition to the troublesome and bizarre shamanic arts, the Tianli Tribe also had a body-refinement technique that was extremely masculine and firm. This body-refinement technique was a very mysterious cultivation method within the tribe, named "Qiongqi Purgatory Technique."

When cultivated to a profound level, one could overturn mountains and seas with a wave of their hand, and even easily destroy an boundless continent. The toughness of their physical body reached an incredible level.

When cultivated to the intermediate level, their physical body could withstand a cultivator's magical treasures with no problem. Therefore, there were even elite tribesmen who didn't cultivate shamanic arts and focused solely on body refinement.

Gong Chenying did not elaborate on her past, only that when she was ten years old, she was brought here by a traveling old ancestor of the Wraith Sect and then became a disciple under Wei Chongran.

The Tianli Tribe was an ancient race with extremely strict tribal rules and customs. One week after a girl was born, a navel ring would be strung on her navel. This tradition had been passed down from ancient times, symbolizing the Tianli Tribe's perfect and complete view of love.

This navel ring could only be seen by the groom on the wedding night, and it would only ever be seen by her lover. Even her parents would avoid her after she turned six and would strictly protect it.

Afterward, if it were ever seen by a man who was not her lover, regardless of the circumstances, she would be considered unchaste and impure. Therefore, Gong Chenying always wore long robes that covered her body when she was outside.

Furthermore, she used a red implement forged from special materials by the tribe to tightly bind her lower abdomen. Even when she was cultivating her body, she would only expose her limbs at most.

If a single girl's navel ring was seen by a man not of her bloodline for the first time, regardless of the man's age or how many wives he had, the Tianli girl had to marry this person. The man also needed to personally admit that he had seen the navel ring.

If the man saw it but adamantly denied it, the woman would consider herself to have lost her chastity. This belief was constantly instilled in them from a young age and was deeply ingrained in the hearts of Tianli girls.

Therefore, a woman who encountered such a situation and was not acknowledged would usually choose to commit suicide to preserve her integrity.

After hearing these words, Li Yan was drenched in sweat. Firstly, he felt sadness for the Tianli Tribe's incomprehensible tribal rules; secondly, he finally understood where the aura of death on Gong Chenying's body had come from.

No wonder Gong Chenying had been so persistent and had repeatedly questioned him despite her shyness. She needed him to say it with his own mouth. If he had really just left, she would surely have committed suicide. Wouldn't he have indirectly killed his Sixth Senior Sister?

Gong Chenying said no more about anything else and silently meditated to recover along the way.

Li Yan stood at the front of the small white jade boat, looking at the scenery flying past, and couldn't help but feel distressed.

He knew that Gong Chenying was waiting for him to speak. But for some reason, after learning about these things, the first image that flashed in Li Yan's mind was of that beautiful, white-robed girl with the ponytail.

He was in the prime of his youth. It was impossible for him to have no thoughts about the matters of men and women. At his age, he was at the age of courtship and marriage in his village.

But for the past few years, he had been constantly missing his parents and family. So, even when he was alone with Zhao Min, he only talked about the past in the mortal world, suppressing his other thoughts.

His impression of Gong Chenying was neither good nor bad, still stuck on the notion that she was the person that his Third Senior Brother was desperately pursuing. Suddenly, she had become a person related to him. The suddenness of this change left Li Yan's mind blank.

After listening to Gong Chenying's calm narration, Li Yan knew that if he did not admit it, given Gong Chenying's personality and those Tianli tribal rules, he knew without a doubt what the consequences would be. For a moment, Li Yan was in a dilemma.

Although Li Yan's gaze was fixed on the front of the white jade boat, he could clearly feel the increasingly unstable aura of the jade-like person behind him. It was a state of being unable to fully commit herself to cultivation.

"Third Senior Brother, I really didn't know it would turn out like this, and besides…"

Li Yan slowly and forcefully drove the image of the white-robed girl out of his mind. He smiled bitterly in his heart. Why did he seem so reluctant? In his village, for a person like him to find a wife was like a pie falling from the sky.

His third brother never found a wife, not just because of his limp, but because of their family's financial situation, which was the most important factor. Although Li Yan had entered the path of cultivation, he was still a person who held on to the core moral principles. With this thought, he turned his head around.

"Sixth Senior Sister, I don't know about your tribal rules, but what's seen is seen. I want to go home and see my parents after I form my Foundation. If you're willing, would you be able to take me back then? After all, the journey is long, and there are many demonic beasts. I wouldn't be able to handle it alone."

Li Yan spoke plainly, but a warmth had entered his eyes. Since he had admitted it, he could not pretend to be reluctant.

Gong Chenying had been sitting cross-legged at the back of the white jade boat. Her face was expressionless, as if nothing had happened, but in reality, her heart was filled with bitterness.

The man in her heart was definitely not Li Yan. Although Li Yan also had some incredible qualities that she noticed, it was far from enough. Besides, if she were to return to the Tianli Tribe in the future, Li Yan's cultivation was simply not up to par…

She was stubborn by nature. The man in her heart would naturally have to be stronger than her. Gong Chenying was usually very careful about protecting her navel ring, and that red protective implement was no less than a high-grade spiritual treasure. She never thought that things would come to this so unexpectedly.

Like all Tianli women, she was a person who strictly adhered to her ancestors' teachings. At the same time, she was also feeling uneasy. When Li Yan was silent all this way, Gong Chenying's heart kept sinking.

"What if he doesn't agree? I heard he's very close to Min'er and that they might have feelings for each other. If that's the case, after we get out of this secret realm, I'll find a place to bury myself."

Just as her mind was in turmoil, she suddenly saw Li Yan turn his head and smile at her. Her heart instantly felt relieved.

She bit her lower lip and said in a voice so low it was almost inaudible.

"I'll accompany you back then."

Although the voice was soft, Li Yan heard it clearly. He was stunned for a moment, then nodded silently.

For the rest of the time, the two of them did not speak another word. They continued their journey in this silent atmosphere. After Li Yan's reply, Gong Chenying actually became calmer.

"If he and Min'er truly have feelings for each other, what am I? How can I face Min'er again in the future? But before my wish is fulfilled, I cannot die. Papa, are you doing well all these years?"

As Gong Chenying thought, a look of reminiscence appeared on her face, and her eyes slowly became firm.

"If you two truly have feelings, Min'er, I'm sorry. After my wish is fulfilled, I will… disappear… If not, then this is just how it is… I will reach late-stage Core Formation!"

Gong Chenying bit her lower lip, her heart filled with endless bitterness. Her relationship with Zhao Min was extraordinary. She didn't know what Li Yan's relationship with Zhao Min was, but if Zhao Min was truly in love, then what was she?

If there were no feelings between the two, she would accept her fate. As for Third Senior Brother Yun Chunque, although she knew his feelings for her, she had never had the thought of spending her life with him.

After making a decision in her heart, she felt much lighter and slowly entered a state of meditation.

Li Yan kept his eyes on the front. He didn't know what he was thinking, only that it was a mess, a complete mess…

...