It was clear that the people from the other peaks had arrived early. Li Wuyi found an empty spot and led the group to land. He then retrieved the Great Scroll and walked toward the crowd. In front, there were seven or eight Golden Core elders, behind them were more than forty Foundation Establishment cultivators, and further back were over a hundred Qi Condensation disciples.
The eight elders in the front were talking in low voices. The leader was the Hall Master of the sect's punishment hall, Peng Buxing. The beautiful Peak Mistress of Never-Parting Peak and the scholarly, Feng-surnamed Peak Master of Spirit Insect Peak were among them. The Peak Master of Four Symbols Peak was a crane-haired old man, over a zhang tall, who was not one for smiling, with a dignified expression. The others should be elders from the various peaks, whom Li Yan did not recognize. Surprisingly, Yan Longzi had not come this time; he was both the Peak Master of Lord Lao Peak and the Sect Master.
Li Wuyi turned back and said a few words to Li Yan, then led Wei Chituo, Yun Chunqu, and Gong Chenying to walk behind the group of Golden Core elders, while Li Yan walked alone toward the group of about a hundred Qi Condensation cultivators.
As he walked, Li Yan glanced at the Foundation Establishment group and quickly saw Zhao Min's slender and tall figure. Since their group had arrived a bit late, Zhao Min had already noticed the Little Bamboo Peak group. Seeing Li Yan look over, her face remained cold, but she gave him an imperceptible nod. Li Yan returned his gaze with a smile in his eyes. Their actions were extremely subtle; even Li Changting, who was standing next to Zhao Min, did not notice. She couldn't have noticed; at this moment, her interest was keenly focused on Li Wuyi's group, which was walking toward them.
When Li Yan reached the Qi Condensation disciples, many had already seen him. Some smiled and nodded at him, some ignored him with contempt, and some were full of hostility. After nodding and greeting some people, Li Yan directly ignored the unfriendly gazes and walked straight to the side.
As he had walked over just now, he had felt several cold gazes from among the Qi Condensation cultivators. He didn't need to look to know that they were likely disciples of Spirit Insect Peak or other peaks who were on good terms with Zhou Guan'er. Zhou Guan'er had not been selected among the one hundred and eight this time, and it was said that he held a grudge against him. Some said that it was Li Yan's deadly poison that had affected his later performance.
There were still some who were friendly to him, like Du Sanjiang from Four Symbols Peak, Lu Qiutong from Lord Lao Peak, the horse-faced, dark-skinned Senior Brother Wu from Spirit Insect Peak who had brought him into the sect, and the gentle Senior Brother Yu who had taken care of his injuries. Speaking of the two from Spirit Insect Peak, Li Yan was only familiar with Senior Brother Yu at first, because he was the first person he saw when he woke up, and he had even wanted to probe some information about the Fragmented Poison Body from him. Actually, Li Yan did not have a bad impression of this person. On the contrary, during a break in the major competition last time, he had even chatted with him under the crystal screen and had also learned that the horse-faced Senior Brother Wu and the fat cultivator Senior Brother Lu had also been involved in saving him and bringing him back to the sect. That Senior Brother Wu had a fierce appearance and was not good at talking. After a few words with Li Yan, he had stared at the large crystal screen again. Li Yan felt that this person was the straightforward type. As for the slightly fat Senior Brother Lu, he had not been able to enter the team of one hundred and eight. This person gave Li Yan the impression of being extremely slick.
These three also had a deep impression of Li Yan. They were the ones who had brought him into the sect, and they were among the few who knew about Li Yan's Fragmented Poison Body. Seeing that Li Yan could stumble his way into the team of one hundred and eight, they were also quite surprised. Among the three of them, only the horse-faced, dark-skinned Senior Brother Wu had a hope of entering the one hundred and eight. It was extremely difficult for the other two. But the gentle Senior Brother Yu, during a training trip with others more than half a year ago, had obtained a strange brocade handkerchief. This handkerchief could capture one's soul, and even those one or two minor realms higher than him could not resist it. With this handkerchief, he had actually also entered the team of one hundred and eight. Li Yan was also wary of that handkerchief of his, but fortunately, they had never been drawn against each other.
These people were all standing with the cultivators of their own peaks, talking in low voices. When they saw Li Yan, they also smiled and gestured, but did not take the initiative to come over.
Li Yan, on the other hand, looked extremely lonely. The other three peaks each had at least twenty or so people, while Little Bamboo Peak only had him. So he simply found a corner and stood there, beginning to look around.
Li Yan turned his gaze to the center of the plaza, where a huge stele stood. Last time, Li Yan had been seriously injured before he could even see it clearly. Today, this stele would of course not deliberately hurt people. The stone stele was about three or four zhang wide and over twenty zhang high, with no words or pictures. At this time, its original color could not be seen, because it was constantly flowing with a seven-colored brilliant light, giving it a somewhat sacred feeling. A faint pressure emanated from within, and from time to time it would sweep toward the Qi Condensation disciples and the Foundation Establishment group on Li Yan's side, as if deliberately or unintentionally intimidating them. This left Li Yan speechless. It was indeed as Lin Daqiao had said; the artifact spirit inside was like a child with an immature mind, now showing off its power to those weaker than itself.
In the remaining empty space of the plaza behind the stone stele, Li Yan saw a small path in the distance extending from a corner of the plaza up toward the mountain peak.
As the disciples were talking in low voices and Li Yan was surveying the plaza, among the eight elders in front, Elder Peng and the crane-haired Peak Master of Four Symbols Peak first exchanged a look. And after a moment, the other six also had a sharp light in their eyes. Elder Peng shouted in a low voice, "They're here."
He was in the front, and the others followed, soaring into the air together. Only after flying a hundred meters into the air did they stop and float there quietly, their eyes all looking in the same direction.
The attention of the people below was attracted, and the sound of conversation began to slowly die down. First, they looked at each other, and then they all released their Divine Sense toward the direction the elders were looking. But no matter how they released their Divine Sense or strained their eyes, they found nothing. They couldn't help but start to discuss in low voices. The elders above heard the low whispers below. Some of them frowned, but no one spoke to stop them. Even Peng Buxing just glanced down and did not make a sound.
After another dozen or so breaths, Li Yan found that among the Foundation Establishment cultivators, a few also had a look of doubt on their faces and also looked in that direction. These few were Li Wuyi, Baili Yuan, Wang Tian, and several other Pseudo-Core Realm cultivators. The others still had a look of confusion on their faces. After a few more breaths, it was Wei Chituo, Gan Shi, and other perfected Foundation Establishment cultivators who also seemed to have felt something and looked toward the horizon. The other cultivators were still releasing their Divine Sense and constantly scanning.
At this time, Li Yan had long since withdrawn his Divine Sense. Although he was confident that the Divine Sense he had refined with the True Scripture of the Nether Water far surpassed that of those in the same rank, he also knew his own limits. His Divine Sense was at most comparable to that of a mid-stage tenth-layer Qi Condensation cultivator. In such a vast world, his eyes were better than his Divine Sense for seeing far. As he was thinking, another dozen or so breaths passed. Suddenly, someone shouted in a low voice, 'Someone's coming!' Li Yan also looked up at the sound and saw a dazzling ball of light shooting toward them from the end of the horizon. Its speed was extremely fast. In just the blink of an eye, the blindingly brilliant light had become much brighter, and its volume had also rapidly expanded by one or two times. Li Yan estimated that in the blink of an eye, that dazzling ball of light had flown at least a dozen or so li. By this calculation, at three or four blinks per breath, how perverse were the Divine Senses of those Golden Core elders? They must have discovered it from at least four hundred li away. And for someone like his Eldest Senior Brother at the Pseudo-Core Realm, his Divine Sense should have detected it from about one or two hundred li away.
After a few breaths, that dazzling ball of light had already flown over. At this time, the ball of light had impressively grown to be twelve or thirteen zhang wide and about a hundred zhang long. The huge ball of light suddenly stopped a hundred zhang away from the elders of the Malevolent Spirit Sect, and then a melodious voice came from within. 'So it is Elder Peng. My apologies for making you fellow Daoists wait so long.' At this time, the light of the ball of light also slowly faded. After a while, a huge boat floating in the air appeared in front of Li Yan and the others."
At this time, on the bow of the boat stood fifteen Daoists in uniform green Daoist robes. There were men and women, old and young. The powerful pressure from these people all showed that they were all Golden Core cultivators. And behind them was a dense crowd of young Daoists, all with solemn expressions, their momentum like a rainbow. The voice just now had come from a middle-aged Daoist in the center of the bow.
This Daoist was seven chi tall, with eight-colored eyebrows and eyes like bright stars, a nose like a suspended gallbladder, and a mouth like a single pearl. His face was like crowned jade. He was about middle-aged, around forty years old, but still had a jade-like grace. He was truly a handsome man.
"Oh, I was wondering who it was. So it's Immortal Elder Hangwu of the Supreme Mystery Teachings. We haven't seen each other in decades. You've reached the perfected Golden Core realm," Peng Buxing said with a cold and indifferent expression, just cupping his hands and speaking faintly.
"Hehe, Elder Peng, you're still as inhospitable as ever. If my cultivation could compare to yours, Brother Peng, you entered the perfected Golden Core realm many years ago. I imagine breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm is just around the corner. I would like to congratulate you in advance, hehe." Immortal Elder Hangwu had a smiling expression, showing no sign of dissatisfaction.
"Then let's go down. Let's open the secret realm," Peng Buxing said, not wanting to say more. He just nodded at the other cultivators. The other elders behind him smiled and nodded at the group of green-robed Daoists in the lead. Even the beautiful Peak Mistress Li, who usually loved to talk, also just smiled and nodded at the crowd. But although she just smiled, it made some of the young cultivators on the other side blush. Among them were even two or three young Golden Core cultivators. Looking at them, they were probably people who had just condensed their Golden Cores in recent years. The Foundation Establishment and Qi Condensation cultivators behind them were even more flustered.
"Hmph," a light cold snort came from beside Immortal Elder Hangwu. It was a female Daoist with chicken-skin skin and gray hair. Her wrinkled face showed dissatisfaction, and her small eyes were full of contempt as she looked at the beautiful Peak Mistress Li. Her cold snort was not loud, but it sounded like a thunderclap in the ears of the people of the Supreme Mystery Teachings. It immediately woke many of them up, and they looked away with some shame, not daring to look again.
As for Peak Mistress Li, her voluptuous body swayed, and with a light laugh, she had already flown down like a light willow leaf with Elder Peng.
Immortal Elder Hangwu had a smile on his face, as if he hadn't seen anything. He said softly to the people behind him, "Alright, let's go down too. I imagine the Pure Land Sect has already arrived at the Ten-Pace Courtyard. I think the passage over there has already been opened. Let's go over first." With a smile, Immortal Elder Hangwu led the way down to the ground. The dozen or so Golden Core cultivators beside him also followed him down. Then, a group of about a hundred or so Daoists also landed in the huge plaza.
Li Yan stood below, listening to the few lines of dialogue from above, and he also had a good idea of what was going on. It seemed that the four major sects were entering through two entrances. The Pure Land Sect was entering with the Ten-Pace Courtyard, while the Supreme Mystery Teachings had come to the Malevolent Spirit Sect.
He didn't get a clear look at Peak Mistress Li's expression, because he was standing at the back. But when Peak Mistress Li flew into the air, he of course also saw that enchanting figure. Although it wasn't a full view of her face, that figure and the fleeting glimpse of a patch of snow-white skin under the hem of her long robe had also made his heart flutter for a moment. Then he quickly steadied his mind and cursed himself for being shameless. Actually, it wasn't his fault. He was now a genuine young man in the prime of his life. It was a good thing he didn't have a nosebleed on the spot. Actually, he was not the only one who was so flustered.
After everyone had landed, the leader of the Supreme Mystery Teachings, Immortal Elder Hangwu, retrieved the giant flying boat. And the subsequent process of entering the secret realm was so simple that Li Yan was surprised. After the Golden Core elders of both sides had whispered a few words, each side sent out five Golden Core elders to stand in front of the stone stele, as if they were going to start opening the passage immediately. There was no intention of letting the Foundation Establishment and Qi Condensation cultivators of both sides communicate here. It should be that they were in a hurry to enter the secret realm to meet up with the other two sects. Of course, there was no bloody scene of one side making wild provocations as soon as they met, and both sides looking as if they were about to fight a great battle.