Looking at his left hand, Li Yan thought to himself, 'It actually didn't pierce all the way through?'
His facial expression didn't even show a frown. His eyes just stared unblinkingly at the bloody hole in the palm of his right hand.
As he lifted the index finger of his left hand, a faint silver glow appeared in the bloody hole. Then, at a speed visible to the naked eye, the flesh and blood in the silver glow rapidly closed up.
Seeing this situation, some of Li Yan's previous worries were finally put to rest.
'As long as the body recovers, the consumed power of the silver glow's regeneration will also recover again. The refined Essence Blood is completely fused into the physical body, not just 'integrated,' where it's gone after being consumed.'
The body's ability to regenerate on its own was one of Li Yan's several life-saving trump cards. Otherwise, with his Foundation Establishment cultivation and no backing, this continent would be very dangerous for him.
Therefore, as soon as his strength recovered, he immediately tested it. If the silver glow in his body was gone, then he would have to consider spending a little more time to refine some more "Undead Nether Phoenix" Essence Blood for self-defense.
If it were just an ordinary cut, the silver glow probably wouldn't even be needed for protection. The Qiongqi Purgatory Art alone would be enough to make the wound heal quickly.
Therefore, he could only be ruthless to himself.
But what he didn't expect was that even though he had completely given up the defense of his right hand, his seemingly effortless poke just now had actually used seventy percent of his spiritual power.
At the same time, it was also enhanced by the Qiongqi Purgatory Art, yet it still failed to pierce through his right hand. This point was enough to be shocking.
Li Yan's current punch was enough to blow up the body of an initial-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, but it did not pierce his own palm.
Regarding this point, Li Yan was quite satisfied. His physical body was already comparable to a low-grade magical treasure.
After composing himself, Li Yan circulated the spiritual power in his body, and soon, a layer of black water mist enveloped his entire body.
Li Yan stood within the black qi and extended a finger to press against the black qi outside his body. Where his fingertip touched, he could feel a large amount of water vapor from the black qi wrapping around it.
Under Li Yan's press, the black qi only dented outwards a little. His fingertip felt a very strong, substantial sensation, as if he were pressing on a very elastic water wall.
This was a great improvement in magical power compared to half a year ago on Windy Cool Mountain. At that time, when he released his spiritual power, the circles of black qi around him could only turn into water silk. Now, the water vapor contained in this mist was becoming more and more concentrated.
"This time, it can be considered surviving a great disaster and benefiting from misfortune."
When Li Yan was recovering from his injuries, he discovered that his cultivation had actually improved by a considerable amount. His Pseudo-Core realm was consolidated and stable, heavy and profound, and at the same time, he had taken a small step towards the peak.
Now, just by looking at the degree of condensation of this water vapor, one could tell. When the water in this spiritual power one day became concentrated enough to form crystalline matter, that would be the time for him to condense his Golden Core.
The liquefaction of spiritual power was a symbol of a Qi Condensation cultivator's successful Foundation Establishment. And from Foundation Establishment to Pseudo-Core, it was a process of continuously tempering and purifying the liquefied spiritual power in the body.
Only after reaching the Pseudo-Core realm would this spiritual power liquid begin to be slowly compressed, continuously refined and solidified, making the final preparations for condensing the Golden Core.
But this process was something that many Foundation Establishment cultivators could not complete in their entire lives, and the spiritual power in their bodies remained in a loose, liquefied state.
At this point, it was not something that could be accomplished through bitter cultivation alone. One needed to find external objects for help, such as taking medicinal pills that could purify and remove impurities from spiritual power.
The cause of this was usually related to the level of the cultivation method one practiced and one's cultivation aptitude.
This time, the spiritual power in Li Yan's Dantian was completely exhausted. After it recovered again, the spiritual power produced in the five large spiritual power cauldrons had undergone a fundamental improvement.
The spiritual power was more condensed, which at the same time led to a great increase in his attack power. For a technique cast with the same ten percent of spiritual power, the power was enhanced by at least thirty percent of additional force. This was due to the spiritual power being more pure.
Li Yan's eyes flickered, and he casually shot out a "Water Arrow Art."
With a "chi" sound, a small, dark hole appeared on the cave wall five zhang away from him.
Li Yan probed with his Divine Sense. The small hole was about thirty zhang deep. Li Yan was quite satisfied with this attack.
Back then, when he used the Thousand Luo Ancient Ape with eighty spirit stones embedded in it, which was equivalent to the full-power attack of an initial-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, it had only left a hole of more than ten zhang in the mountain wall.
And the hardness of the rock here was no weaker than that of the back mountain of Little Bamboo Peak. Now, his casual attack had already surpassed that of an initial-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator by many times.
After confirming his current strength, Li Yan finally felt relieved.
At least now, even if he encountered the two Demon Lords from before again, even if there was a mid-stage Golden Core existence, Li Yan felt that his chances of escaping were as high as thirty percent.
Half a year ago, when he had only encountered Teng Wuji, a mid-stage Golden Core, Li Yan himself didn't have much hope of escaping.
However, there was still an insurmountable gulf between him and a Golden Core cultivator. His greatest chance of victory was through sneak attacks, ambushes, and other underhanded methods.
In a head-on confrontation, relying on his physical body alone, he could only compete with an ordinary initial-stage Golden Core.
As for fighting with immortal arts, that was out of the question. The power of his spiritual power attacks was far inferior to the other party's. He would be crushed to death.
Li Yan weighed it in his mind again and clearly positioned himself, so as not to misjudge his own strength and bring about a fatal disaster.
Then, Li Yan sat cross-legged again. With a flash of light in his hand, a pure white Jade Slip appeared in it. It was the one left by Zhao Min.
He immersed his Divine Sense into the Jade Slip again. This time, he listened for a long time, for a full half an incense stick's time, before withdrawing his Divine Sense.
He was unable to find anything different in the Jade Slip from before. He had previously thought that after so much time had passed, and with more thoughts and understanding, he might have new discoveries or ideas if he reviewed it again, but it was all for naught.
What was the "Twin Chan Hearts, Opening Chapter"? This question kept growing in Li Yan's mind, and then it turned into a buzzing fly, circling in his mind.
Even with Li Yan's state of mind, he began to grow anxious. If he didn't understand Zhao Min's meaning, he couldn't act rashly. Perhaps Zhao Min's words contained a certain warning.
For example, there was always one, or even several, Nascent Soul stage demon generals stationed in the border garrison of the Black and White Demon Clans.
He estimated that as soon as he got close, he would be discovered by the other party, and the result waiting for him would be unknown.
Don't be fooled by the fact that the other party had saved him before. That should have been on the condition that Zhao Min became their disciple. It was a one-time thing. The temper of a Nascent Soul old monster was too difficult to fathom.
No one could know their mind-nature. One moment they could be pleasant and agreeable with you, the next they could kill someone.
In a flash, another three days passed. Li Yan in the cave had a weary look on his face, and his eyes were also bloodshot. He still couldn't decipher the meaning of Zhao Min's words.
For the past three days, Li Yan had sorted through all his experiences since he started cultivating, even things that had nothing to do with Zhao Min, as long as it was about the Malevolent Spirit Sect, but he still had no clue.
"Senior Sister wouldn't have left a meaning that was too obscure, otherwise it would be meaningless. It should be that the direction of my thinking has become more and more biased."
Li Yan rubbed his forehead and thought helplessly.
He then placed the Jade Slip horizontally on his lap and began to meditate quietly. His mind was no longer clear. He needed to let himself completely calm down. Perhaps a moment of inspiration would suddenly appear.
Li Yan decided that in at most two days, if there were still no results, he had to leave this place.
He would go to Mingdu City to observe the shop called Hundred Dao Heavenly Treasure Pavilion. Perhaps he could get some news or even inspiration from the shadows.
Li Yan quickly entered a state of meditation. About half an incense stick's time later, the meditating Li Yan suddenly opened his eyes, which were filled with a hint of doubt.
Immediately, he quickly closed his eyes again, and his aura instantly disappeared without a trace. About half an hour later, Li Yan opened his eyes again.
He squinted his eyes and looked down without speaking.
"During the process of circulating spiritual power, there is an inexplicable loss of a trace of it without my knowledge."
"Could it be that my injuries were too serious this time, and there is still a hidden injury somewhere in my body that has not healed?"
"When the spiritual power circulates past that place, it is absorbed away."
Li Yan was constantly thinking about his recent discovery.
Just before, when he was sitting cross-legged in meditation, after his spiritual power had circulated for one Heavenly Cycle and returned to his Dantian, some of it had disappeared for no reason.
When spiritual power circulates through the meridians, it is naturally consumed to some extent. But cultivators simultaneously absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth precisely to replenish their Dantian.
Although a lot of it is still consumed in this process, every cultivator knows their own cultivation method like the back of their hand.
How much spiritual energy from heaven and earth is absorbed, and how much can be replenished into the Dantian after one Heavenly Cycle, although not perfectly clear, is certainly very close.
Cultivators need to meditate and cultivate almost every day. After years, even decades, of tempering, they are thoroughly familiar with their own cultivation methods.
Where the spiritual power circulates, what kind of subtle feelings it produces, there is no discrepancy at all.
Li Yan was the same with the True Scripture of Gui Water. He felt that there was absolutely no mistake.
Just now, after just starting to circulate for one Heavenly Cycle, he found that the loss of spiritual power converted after this cycle was a bit much, but he didn't pay much attention to it.
He thought it was because he had just recovered from a serious injury, and his strength had just improved, so it was a misjudgment.
But then, after several more Heavenly Cycles, it was still the same. This made Li Yan have to wonder if there was still a hidden injury in his body.
If that were the case, it would be troublesome. This meant that this injury was extremely hidden, and it directly affected his internal organs.
He had been recuperating for nearly half a year, yet it still hadn't healed.
"Such a hidden injury, it's understandable that I didn't discover it before when I was seriously injured and hadn't healed. Today, I must find it!"
In Shan Yiyuan's village, Li Yan's injuries had not yet healed. At that time, there were many uncomfortable places in his body, so it was reasonable that he did not find this injury.
Even in these few months, the state of his injuries had been changing every day, gradually stabilizing.
The consumption of spiritual power in his body was also slowly decreasing. It was also possible that he had not discovered it.
Soon, Li Yan closed his eyes again and once again seriously cultivated the Foundation Establishment chapter of the True Scripture of Gui Water.
He wanted to do a thorough check. This time, he did not directly mobilize the spiritual power in his Dantian.
Instead, like when he first refined the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, he only absorbed a stream of spiritual energy from heaven and earth into the center of his head.
Driven by his will, his Divine Sense followed this wisp of spiritual energy step by step along the meridians, moving forward inch by inch, like sneaking.
The spiritual energy entered through the Baihui acupoint on the top of the head, descended along the Du Mai on the back, passed through the perineum, then turned up to the Ren Mai to continue forward.
With these two main meridians as the foundation, it then spread out to the four auxiliary branches for investigation, like the branches and leaves of a large tree spreading out...
The speed of the spiritual energy's circulation was very slow. It often took more than ten breaths to slowly pass through an acupoint.
Li Yan's Divine Sense carefully sensed the degree of loss of spiritual power after it passed through the acupoint, judging whether it was within a reasonable range.
Time passed bit by bit. Nearly an hour later, the meditating Li Yan's brow suddenly furrowed.
"Shenfeng acupoint!"