Five Immortal Sects

Chapter 104: Li Yan’s Concern

After carefully listening to all the Core Formation cultivators’ reports of the strange occurrences within the secret realm, the Nascent Soul ancestors held a discussion...

Later, word spread that eight Nascent Soul ancestors had entered the secret realm together. Upon returning, they announced that the incidents had nothing to do with the realm’s demonic beasts. It was said that the events might be related to the ancient cultivators.

The Core Formation cultivators, upon returning and thinking it over carefully, also felt it was unlikely to be the work of demonic beasts. If it truly were, then none of them would have made it out alive this time.

Otherwise, once the matter was exposed, it could trigger a war between races both within and beyond the borders. It would be better to simply let waves of human cultivators enter and get slaughtered.

Given that the secret realm housed fourth-rank demonic beasts, along with a terrifying number of second and third-rank ones, cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage were essentially doomed, no matter how many entered, they would all die.

But if it was related to ancient cultivators within the secret realm, what was going on exactly? The Nascent Soul elders did not explain, only stating that in the future, every sect must dispatch at least seven Core Formation cultivators into the realm at a time and they must include those skilled in formations and large-scale area-of-effect techniques.

After the Nascent Soul ancestors gave their orders, the matter was dropped. Though the Core Formation cultivators remained in the dark, none dared question the decision and simply followed the commands.

From then on, whenever the secret realm opened, each sect sent no fewer than seven mid-stage or higher Core Formation cultivators inside.

Because the gathering areas rotated every fifteen years to protect the growth of spirit herbs and medicines in previously used locations.

Afterward, regardless of whether it was the valley entrance, riverside, mountaintop, or grasslands, attacks would occur in those regions every fifteen years. However, the accompanying phenomena were not always fog; sometimes it would be heavy rain, flash floods, blizzards, and so on varied natural anomalies.

The one consistent trait was that once these phenomena occurred, all cultivators within regardless of cultivation level would lose their vision, and their divine sense would be heavily suppressed to a limited range.

During this period, there were a few instances when Nascent Soul ancestors secretly entered the realm, yet whenever a Nascent Soul ancestor went in, no matter how masterfully they concealed themselves, these anomalies never appeared, which was indeed a baffling mystery.

Even with preparation, at the start of every entry, several Core Formation cultivators would still fall or be severely wounded.

But strangely, no matter which race of demonic beast appeared within the secret realm, they would suffer at most superficial injuries, never any serious harm and much less death.

If the demonic beasts tried to gather with human cultivators, it was futile, they would be forcibly separated by the anomalies.

According to the demonic beasts’ side, when these anomalies descended, they would be transported into a separate space. As long as they didn’t move, nothing would happen. But if they tried to break out of the space, they would be attacked, not fatally but enough to keep them trapped and cause bleeding injuries.

This left the human cultivators deeply frustrated, yet they couldn’t accuse the other side of lying.

Li Yan, of course, knew none of this. Even Li Wuyi was unaware. During the few harvesting trials he had participated in, everything seemed normal at the start. When they exited, none of the four sects had lost any Core Formation elders, and at that time, the Wheel of Life and Death also hadn’t been activated so there was no disciple outside to know the situation.

At this moment, Li Yan was focused on the glowing dots on the Tianxin Compass when Li Wuyi called out to him. He withdrew his gaze and then noticed that the elders from the four sects had started gathering their sect disciples into a single area.

Although the sects were gathering, they didn’t fully merge. Each sect maintained a fifty-zhang distance from the others, a distance that cultivators could cross in a single leap.

At that moment, the three third-rank demonic beasts stood across from them, leading several hundred first-rank demonic beasts. Their eyes were cold and even carried a hint of mocking amusement.

Li Wuyi, unsure of what was happening, quickly walked over to join.

Once the four sects had assembled in their respective areas within the valley, each sect’s Core Formation elders began casting spells at the borders of their zones. On the side of the Wraith Sect, an elderly white-haired cultivator from the Four Symbols Peak personally laid the formation, while the other seven elders sat cross-legged in seven positions encircling the disciples.

Li Yan only felt the white-haired elder’s hands move with lightning speed, before he could even see clearly a white mist had enveloped the surroundings, with only a transparent light dome appearing overhead in the sky.

This allowed sunlight to pour in freely, and the Tianxin Compass floating above the valley entrance remained clearly visible.

Li Yan looked questioningly at Li Wuyi beside him. Li Wuyi only shook his head, indicating he didn’t know either.

“That’s the Lesser Yin Eight Trigrams Formation Martial Uncle Yi just laid out. It focuses on defense. Seems like they’re preparing to repel some sort of attack.”

Li Wuyi’s voice sounded in Li Yan’s mind, and he simultaneously learned that the Four Symbols Peak master’s surname was Yi.

“Focus on defense? Could there really be a battle at the valley entrance? And they need eight Core Formation elders to guard the formation?”

Li Yan recalled that among these eight, five were late-stage Core Formation cultivators, that’s drawing on some of the sect’s top forces.

“All right, you young ones make good use of this time to cultivate. The spiritual energy here is a great blessing. You just won’t be able to leave the formation for the next month.”

At that moment, Peak Master Yi also sat down cross-legged at one of the trigrams positions and spoke calmly.

Li Yan was aware that the other three sects and the demonic beasts were just a short distance away, but he could no longer sense them. The Core Formation elders said nothing, and no one dared to ask.

In the days that followed, some people cultivated tirelessly day and night; others would cultivate for a time, then rest for several hours.

During their rest periods, they would usually look up at the Tianxin Disk in the sky, mostly to check how many black dots remained and how many colored ones were still present.

For the past two days, Li Yan hadn’t cultivated at all. He was restless and anxious, worried about Wei Chituo and the others, and of course, Zhao Min.

The formation's interior space was vast, allowing each person to sit quite far apart. Like the others, Li Yan sat cross-legged within the formation, choosing a position directly facing the Tianxin Disk.

He noticed that Li Wuyi wasn’t far away either. Judging by his aura, he was clearly deep in cultivation, seemingly unconcerned about the outside world.

Li Yan stared at the black dots. Over the past two days, three had vanished. Yet, only one Foundation Establishment cultivator from Boundless Peak had returned to the formation, gravely injured.

According to him, he and another disciple were ambushed by four monks from Pure Land Sect. At the last moment, he shattered the black dot within his body with his divine sense, triggering the teleportation.

In the day or so inside, that cultivator had only harvested three rare spiritual herbs, a rather modest gain.

When he and the other disciple entered a certain cave dwelling, they discovered four monks already inside. It seemed those monks had just obtained some treasures and hadn’t left yet.

Seeing that only two Wraith Sect disciples had entered, the monks immediately harbored murderous intent.

Weighing the strength disparity in an instant, the two chose to withdraw, but were still cornered by the four Pure Land Sect monks. After a fierce battle, the Old Lord Peak disciple was killed on the spot.

However, before dying, the Old Lord Peak disciple unleashed his hidden trump card, poisoning two of the attackers instantly. The remaining two monks reacted quickly and managed to evade.

This gave the Boundless Peak disciple just enough time to activate his black dot. As he was teleported out, he released four Feathered Gu insects in a suicidal strike toward the last two monks. He claimed he likely killed at least one.

Unfortunately, the four Feathered Gu he had painstakingly nurtured over decades with his own blood essence didn’t return with him. It was likely they chose to self-detonate in the end, an immense mental and physical blow.

The rarer the Gu, the more it required the cultivator’s blood essence to raise. Unlike the swarms of common Gu used for sheer numbers, rare Gu insects are famed for their devastating single-target power.

First, the eggs are extremely difficult to find. Second, raising them is painstaking and laborious, often taking decades to produce even one. For this disciple to lose all four in a single encounter was a crushing loss.

As for the other vanished black dot from the Wraith Sect, no one knew who had died or at whose hands. This only worsened Li Yan’s unease. He frequently stole glances at Li Wuyi, but the latter remained motionless like an old monk, entirely undisturbed.

A few hours later, Li Wuyi opened his eyes, looked at Li Yan, then at the injured disciple lying nearby. Then, he smiled. That calm smile was almost unsettling, and shortly after, he closed his eyes again.

After another day passed, another black dot disappeared from the Tianxin Disk. Again, no one was teleported out, it likely meant another had perished within.

“At this rate… how many will survive by the end of the month?”

Li Yan found himself constantly staring at the Tianxin Disk.

“It’s useless to keep watching,” came Li Wuyi’s gentle voice in his mind, like a mentor coaxing a pupil. “Life and death in cultivation are paths we each choose. When it ends, just ask around and see if anyone knows what happened inside.

If you find the culprits, then kill them. If you don’t know exactly who, then just treat all those monks and beasts from the other sects as suspects. When you meet them, kill them. Simple.”

Li Wuyi’s voice was soft and composed, but it sent a chill down Li Yan’s spine.

“This eldest brother’s bloodlust really runs deep…”

Lowering his head in contemplation, Li Yan eventually realized how pointless his worries were. Tempering one’s heart wasn’t something achieved overnight. He was still far from being truly mature, worrying served no purpose. What was fated to happen would happen.

After coming to terms with this, his mindset gradually eased.

“I should seize this time, this period of anxiety was a waste.”

Not long after, Li Wuyi, not far away, noticed that Li Yan was now calmly regulating his breathing. His lips curved slightly in satisfaction.

“In just a few days, he’s finally realized that worry alone changes nothing.

Back when Second, Third, Sixth, and Changting first entered the realm, the dangers of the place had forced them to split up. Then, I was so preoccupied worrying about them that I passed up several promising places…”

Inside the secret realm, the sun rose and set as it did outside. Li Yan had now fully entered a state of meditation.

The spiritual energy here was unimaginably dense. As he breathed it in, it flowed throughout his body. With the Guishui True Scripture circulating, his internal energy swelled rapidly. But instead of discomfort, he felt as if he were on the verge of breaking through.

He also had a strange sense that, in this realm, the Guishui True Scripture flowed even more naturally, as if perfectly attuned to this heaven and earth.

One day, while in deep meditation, Li Yan suddenly felt an abnormality within his divine sense. The disturbance jolted him awake. The discomfort was intense, having one’s cultivation interrupted was a grave matter for any cultivator, often worth risking one’s life to avenge.

Anger welled up in his heart. He opened his eyes, only to find the sky completely shrouded in darkness. There wasn’t even a trace of moonlight. Even the disk that usually sparkled in the sky had vanished.

Outside the transparent barrier, it seemed as though a storm of sand and dust was sweeping through the heavens, churning wildly. Thunderous rumbling echoed from all directions.

Li Yan’s heart clenched in alarm, he had no idea what was happening.

(Chapter End)