Hearing Li Yan's words, Shan Yiyuan was somewhat surprised.
"Thank you for your kindness, Great Immortal Master. An Immortal Master from the army has already been here. Because you were healing at the time, they told me not to disturb you."
"The Great Immortal Master from the army has already issued the relevant official document. This little one's village is exempt from ten years of resource tribute. This is all thanks to your grace, my lord."
Shan Yiyuan said with a grateful expression. When the person took the Order Arrow, they did not warn him not to speak of it, and at the time, they also said they did not want to disturb Li Yan in the room.
"Oh? Someone from the army has already been here? I was in the middle of healing, so I was unaware of this. Are their barracks very close to here?"
Li Yan said, seemingly casually.
"This... this little one wouldn't know. The location of the garrisons at the border of the two clans is not something we mortals can know."
"Whenever something major happens, the Great Immortal Masters, with their heaven-defying abilities, are the ones who come to find us immediately."
Shan Yiyuan said with a troubled look on his face.
Li Yan waved his hand as if he didn't care and started talking about other things with Shan Yiyuan.
But in his heart, he felt another wave of helplessness. It seemed that even on a plane like the Forsaken Continent, where the interaction between immortals and mortals was frequent, there was still an insurmountable gulf between the two.
Cultivators would likely use formations to conceal their sects or garrisons, so as to avoid excessive contact with mortals as much as possible. It seemed that many things needed to be investigated by him, bit by bit.
"Do you know of Mingdu City?"
"Great Immortal Master, of course, this little one knows of it. It's about a thousand li to the northwest from here."
"It's the largest city nearby. That's the place where you can see the most Great Immortal Masters."
"Oh? So, there are many mortals there as well?"
"Naturally. About eighty percent of the city is filled with mortals like me. They can manage shops for the Great Immortal Masters there, or do some business of their own."
Hearing this, Li Yan was reminded of Yuguan City, which was under the jurisdiction of the Jingtu Sect. That place was also a city where immortals and mortals lived together.
'But from Shan Yiyuan's words, I can feel that this Mingdu City is different from Yuguan City. Yuguan City is only nominally a place where immortals and mortals live together; in reality, the cultivators still reside in a separate space.'
'But in this Mingdu City, mortals manage shops for cultivators. This is true cohabitation between immortals and mortals.'
Li Yan quickly pondered the meaning behind Shan Yiyuan's words in his mind, which gave him a new understanding of the Forsaken Continent.
For the next two days, Li Yan no longer meditated during the day. Instead, he chatted with some of the village elders with a smile on his face.
Facing these "elders," Li Yan had to praise the White Demon Clan as a truly strange race. The men in their seventies and eighties were all strong and well-proportioned, with handsome features and faces as if carved by a knife and sculpted by an axe, with sharp angles.
The old women also looked to be only around forty, with infinite charm. With a single glance or frown, they could steal one's soul, as if each was as supple as a creature of water.
Only when they reached the age of one hundred and fifty or more would their faces show signs of aging.
Li Yan's appearance, in this village, could almost be described as unsightly.
The mortal demons in the village knew Li Yan's identity. He was the Great Immortal Master who had brought them great benefits.
By communicating with these people, Li Yan could easily sense the fluctuations in their minds and roughly know whether they were lying.
This allowed Li Yan to obtain more accurate information.
Just like that, although these mortals didn't know much about the affairs of cultivators, they were, after all, natives of the Forsaken Continent. Li Yan still felt that he had gained a lot of useful information from their bits and pieces of conversation.
Although Li Yan was anxious about Zhao Min's situation, he had always been one to plan before acting and think before moving. Some things simply couldn't be rushed.
If he had been rash, he should have acted recklessly when those two Golden Core level Demon Lords arrived a few days ago.
On the night of the second day, amidst a slanting wind and fine rain, Li Yan quietly left the small village without anyone knowing, silent and soundless.
In the night sky filled with continuous fine rain, Li Yan flew westward.
Now that he knew he was at the border of the Black and White Demon Clans, he had to find a safe place to first fully recover his strength.
Otherwise, if he encountered a good opportunity like the one a few days ago again, apart from forbearance, he would have no other choice.
...
Just as Li Yan was leaving the small village, at a high altitude fifty thousand li to his west, a white light streaked across the sky, silent and incredibly swift.
Within the white light, seven people sat cross-legged on a white Jade Ruyi that had expanded to ten zhang in size. It was Shanggong Changge and her party.
She had already handled the negotiations with the Black Demon Clan yesterday and was now leading her trusted subordinates back to the clan overnight.
Shanggong Changge sat cross-legged at the very front of the Jade Ruyi. Behind her were six people, three men and three women, each of them handsome and elegant.
Among them, apart from Zhao Min, there were two other women and one man who were also Shanggong Changge's disciples.
The remaining two young men were Shanggong Changge's trusted battle generals. These five were all Golden Core stage cultivators.
Especially Shanggong Changge's only male disciple, whose cultivation had already reached the mid-stage Golden Core realm. With every move, he gave off a feeling of being as deep and unfathomable as a pavilion overlooking an abyss.
No one spoke on the white Jade Ruyi. Shanggong Changge was cold by nature, so when she was silent, the others did not dare to speak either.
Along the way, the other three men and two women looked at Zhao Min with surprise, constantly sizing her up. They didn't know why their Master would suddenly bring back a small Foundation Establishment cultivator from the outside for no reason, and even accept her as a disciple.
A cultivator like this, even if she wanted to become a disciple of one of them, they would have to investigate her first before deciding. After all, Zhao Min was not even at the Pseudo-Core realm. And Zhao Min's indifference and coldness towards everything around her also made these few feel somewhat dissatisfied.
Although they were also amazed by Zhao Min's appearance, the White Demon Clan was not lacking in such peerless beauties, so Zhao Min's cold beauty was not stunning to them.
In the past few days, during their breaks from meeting and talking with the Black Demon Clan, even when they invited Zhao Min to go for a walk together, Zhao Min would coldly and directly refuse.
While the few were dissatisfied, they did not dare to show it on their faces. They were all intelligent people and knew their Master's temperament very well.
This time, not only had she accepted a small Foundation Establishment cultivator as a disciple, but the key was that the other party was also a human cultivator.
What the series of strange actions by Shanggong Changge meant, this couldn't help but make the few of them let their imaginations run wild.
Although they couldn't be sure of the reason, it was certain that this woman's constitution was completely different from that of a normal human cultivator. She was an anomaly who could cultivate both human and demon techniques at the same time.
"Your junior brother should be fine by now. We can get news of this soon after we arrive at the clan."
Zhao Min, who had her eyes closed, suddenly heard Shanggong Changge's pleasant voice in her mind.
After they had set off directly from the Black Demon Clan's territory yesterday, they had not returned to the army camp.
So, to get news from the front, a normal Ten-Thousand-Li Voice Transmission Talisman would no longer work.
Shanggong Changge needed to go back and use other methods to contact the front. Since Zhao Min had started following her, she had not spoken more than a single sentence, except to bow in respect when they first met.
This made her mistakenly think that Zhao Min was still worried about her junior brother's life, and her heart couldn't help but tighten.
'The relationship between her and that kid is definitely not a so-called fellow disciple bond. I must find a way to sever all of her attachments.'
But Shanggong Changge also knew that this matter could not be forced. Although it had only been a few days, she already had a good understanding of Zhao Min's character. This girl was very stubborn to the bone.
After hearing Shanggong Changge's voice transmission, Zhao Min's long, drooping eyelashes trembled slightly. She did not open her eyes, but just nodded gently.
Seeing this, Shanggong Changge could only shake her head helplessly in her heart.
At the same time, a voice was also muttering in Zhao Min's mind.
'Of course he's alive. Whether he is dead, when he will perish, as long as we are on the same continent, I know more clearly than any of you. I just hope that in the future, I will not implicate him.'
...
Li Yan did not go directly to Mingdu City in the northwest. Instead, he rode the "Cloud-Piercing Willow" and flew straight west. By dawn, Li Yan had landed on a desolate mountain.
The Forsaken Continent was vast and sparsely populated. On his journey of more than ten thousand li, he had only seen six towns of various sizes, as well as some scattered villages.
In these towns, Li Yan's Divine Sense did indeed detect some human cultivators, as well as other cultivators of different races with various appearances, but Li Yan avoided them all from a distance.
Under the dim and gloomy sky, Li Yan stood on the desolate mountain, letting the continuous fine rain slide quietly off his invisible protective shield and fall into the barren earth at his feet.
Li Yan once again felt the spiritual energy in the surroundings and said to himself, "As expected, the further west I go, the purer the spiritual energy in the air becomes. Here, there is no trace of Demonic Qi at all. Although the spiritual energy here is very thin, it is also a place that cultivators dislike."
For now, all matters had to be put aside. He had to completely heal his injuries first.
And he couldn't just rush into Mingdu City right now, because he still hadn't figured out the meaning of Zhao Min's message. If he went rashly, he might cause some trouble for Zhao Min.
He would make a long-term plan after he had healed his injuries.
Since those few Demon Lords had found Shan Yiyuan, Zhao Min would definitely know about his situation, so she wouldn't be too worried about his current condition.
His injuries this time were not light. When he was flying along the way earlier, although he saw and sensed the auras of other cultivators in some towns, he could only fly away from them at a distance.
Li Yan repeatedly scanned the desolate mountain with his Divine Sense several times before he finally chose a relatively hidden spot and flew over expressionlessly.
With a flick of his large sleeve, several flying swords circled out, turning into streaks of white silk. Like cutting tofu, they quickly carved out a Cave Residence in the rock wall.
Then, with another wave of his sleeve, a pillar of wind suddenly appeared. The next moment, after it spun rapidly inside the cave, the cave was spotless and as clean as new.
Carving out a simple Cave Residence was now extremely familiar to him.
He did not plan to live here for a long time, so he only carved out a single cultivation room of about twenty zhang in size, which was enough for his use.
As he stepped forward and flicked his sleeve, a small purple flag sank into the ground, and Li Yan stepped into the Cave Residence.
The entrance of the Cave Residence distorted a few times and then disappeared, returning to the appearance of a cliff wall.
Li Yan walked straight to the back of the Cave Residence. After looking down, he chose a flat spot and sat down cross-legged.
He first sank his Divine Sense into the "Earthen Patch" and quickly found a cave at the foot of the mountain peak.
This cave was sealed by Li Yan with a restriction. The Snow Mosquitos on the mountaintop were unable to enter at all.
Inside the cave, looking at the little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant with its eyes closed, Li Yan sighed. He had already checked on it a few days ago when he had just woken up.
Now, the little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant's figure was very illusory. One could even see through its body to the densely packed Vicious Souls imprisoned behind it.
This time, the little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant's Divine Soul had almost directly collapsed and perished. The power of the seven-colored space was too strong.
To this day, Li Yan still hadn't figured out what that place was. He could only roughly estimate that it was a special barrier space.