Arc 49The Tianli Clan Siege

Li Yan reunited with Gong Chenying during the Tianli Clan’s war against three Wind Beast tribes and helped turn the battle in the clan’s favor. He agreed to search for Gong Shanhe and the Sixth Elder in exchange for instruction in the Qiongqi Purgatory Art, while preparing a poison formation to defend the clan.

  • Li Yan rescued Gong Chenying and the Tianli Clan from the Wind Beasts, then reunited with Gong Chenying, who told the elders he would be her future Dao companion.
  • Gong Chenying told Li Yan about the clan’s factions, the missing Gong Shanhe and Sixth Elder, and the attacks that had weakened the Tianli Clan.
  • Li Yan learned that Gong Chenying had never received Li Wuyi’s wedding letter and suspected that the Phantom Sect summons had also been intercepted.
  • Gong Chenying insisted on joining Li Yan’s search, and the Great Elder offered him higher levels of the Qiongqi Purgatory Art for bringing back information or rescuing the missing leaders.
  • Li Yan challenged the Second Elder’s demands and negotiated to defend the clan for three months in exchange for the fourth level, with further rewards for rescuing Gong Shanhe and the others.
  • Li Yan passed the clan’s assessment, which showed that he had opened fifty meridians with the Qiongqi Purgatory Art.
  • Li Yan surveyed the front lines, chose a basin where the Wind Beasts advanced through two mountain gaps, and prepared an unseen poison formation for their next attack.
Chapters 1201–1225 Vol. 13 Read

Ch. 1201A demon's devotion

Ling'e's memories revealed how she had remained at the Zhao estate to protect Zhao Fenglou's descendants and why she attacked Li Yan and his companions. Li Yan spared her, but Xu Xing arrived at the estate and found Ling'e behind a formation.

  • Zhao Fenglou died after entrusting Ling'e with protecting the Zhao family, leaving her the Blood Soul Reaping Lamp as a safeguard.
  • Ling'e learned that Xu Xing had placed a bounty on Zhao Fenglou and resolved to defend his descendants, then mistook Li Yan, Qianji, and Zi Kun for rivals and poisoned them.
  • After using Soul Search to learn Ling'e's history and motives, Li Yan set aside his killing intent and woke her, telling her he would spare her.
  • Li Yan sensed a Golden Core Realm cultivator approaching and told Ling'e that her affairs were not his concern; she thanked him and left through the window.
  • Ling'e activated a formation with the Blood Soul Reaping Lamp, and Xu Xing appeared above the Zhao estate, asking why Zhao Fenglou had not come out.

Ch. 1202A Figure Reappeared

Xu Xing attacked the Zhao residence, forcing Ling'e to summon Zhao Fenglou’s soul for a final strike. Li Yan and his companions intervened, killed Xu Xing, and left Zhao Fenglou free to enter reincarnation as he and Ling'e shared their last moments.

  • Xu Xing battered the Zhao residence’s formation while Ling'e struggled to defend it, and he sent a fire dragon toward the soldiers who arrived.
  • Ling'e burned her blood essence to summon Zhao Fenglou’s soul from the bronze lamp, and Zhao Fenglou prepared to strike Xu Xing as Xu Xing’s golden chain ensnared him.
  • Li Yan, Zi Kun, and Qianji appeared and immobilized everyone, while Li Yan protected the nearby houses and soldiers from the fire.
  • Li Yan killed Xu Xing, extinguished the fire dragon, and restored Zhao Fenglou and Ling'e’s freedom.
  • Zhao Fenglou thanked Li Yan and accepted his chance to reincarnate, while Ling'e told him she had saved him because he had once saved her.

Ch. 1203No One Can Know What Tomorrow Holds

Ling'e reunited with Zhao Fenglou and sacrificed herself to join him in death after Li Yan defeated Xu Xing. The sachet she left Li Yan contained Weight-Sinking True Dragon bones and a jade slip with the Golden Bead Dragon-Subduing Art, giving him a powerful new cultivation method to study.

  • Zhao Fenglou told Ling'e that he was being called into reincarnation and urged her to resume her cultivation.
  • Ling'e gave Li Yan a sachet, then revealed her Six-Eyed Demon Moth form and threw herself into the bronze lamp's flames.
  • Zhao Fenglou entered the flames after Ling'e, and their spirits appeared together before vanishing after thanking Li Yan and his companions.
  • Li Yan examined Ling'e's sachet and found enormous, unusually heavy bones that Zi Kun could not lift.
  • Li Yan broke the restriction on a jade slip and discovered it contained the Golden Bead Dragon-Subduing Art and instructions for refining its accompanying Golden Beads.
  • Li Yan recognized the bones as belonging to a Weight-Sinking True Dragon and realized Ling'e's gifts could help him refine the art's powerful treasure.

Ch. 1204Three Willows Market

Li Yan and his companions reached Three Willows Market while traveling toward the Tianli Clan to find Gong Chenying. After searching unsuccessfully for a useful teleportation formation, Li Yan encountered a gray-robed monk who asked whether his surname was Li.

  • Li Yan continued studying the Golden Bead Dragon-Subduing Art as Qianji and Zi Kun handled Wind Beasts and the group traveled north.
  • Li Yan learned that the Tianli Clan was about eight hundred thousand li away and decided to visit a large market nearby.
  • Li Yan, Qianji, and Zi Kun paid the entrance fee and entered Three Willows Market, where a soul-scanning restriction examined them.
  • The three companions split up, and Li Yan discovered that the market's teleportation formations would not help him reach the Tianli Clan.
  • Li Yan bought map and information jade slips, then met a gray-robed monk who asked if his surname was Li.

Ch. 1205Half a Lifetime Adrift, Half a Lifetime a Buddha

Li Yan was summoned by Zen Master Xūjì, only to discover that the monk was his old friend Zhuo Lingfeng, now a Buddhist cultivator. Zhuo Lingfeng explained how he had fled the Devil Race war and entered the Land of Sunset, leaving his later fate and the reason he might need Li Yan’s help to be told.

  • A gray-robed monk invited Li Yan to meet Zen Master Xūjì, and Li Yan agreed after reading a jade slip from Zhuo Lingfeng.
  • Li Yan reunited with Zhuo Lingfeng, who had taken Buddhist vows and regained a much younger appearance.
  • Zhuo Lingfeng explained that he had recognized Li Yan by guessing from the group’s behavior, not by seeing through his concealed cultivation.
  • Zhuo Lingfeng recounted fleeing the Devil Race war and choosing the dangerous Land of Sunset to avoid being conscripted.

Ch. 1206Sudden news of danger

Zhuo Lingfeng recounted how he had been rescued from the Land of the Setting Sun by the monk Konghai and joined Shamen Temple, then told Li Yan that the Tianli Clan had been fighting three allied wind beast tribes for over ten years. Li Yan learned that the clan’s High Priest had once lured two fifth-tier wind beasts into a trap and unleashed a potentially fatal attack to take them down with her.

  • Zhuo Lingfeng told Li Yan how Konghai had saved him and brought him to the Wind God Continent, where he became a disciple of Shamen Temple.
  • Zhuo Lingfeng said he had let go of his attachment to Huchen Wuding after Li Yan shared news of Wuding and the Huchen Lineage.
  • Li Yan told Zhuo Lingfeng he was traveling to the Tianli Clan to find a fellow disciple, and Zhuo Lingfeng revealed that three wind beast tribes had besieged the clan for more than ten years.
  • Li Yan asked whether the Tianli Clan still had a spirit transformation cultivator, prompting Zhuo Lingfeng to recount how the High Priest had trapped two fifth-tier wind beasts.
  • The High Priest struck both beasts with the full power of the seventh level of the Qiongqi Purgatory Art, intending to trade her life for theirs or severely injure one before being teleported away.

Ch. 1207The Tianli Clan in Peril (Part One)

Li Yan learned why the Wind Beasts and human sects could not unite against one another, then hurried toward the besieged Tianli Clan using a teleportation array to Shamen Temple. The chapter left a young Tianli warrior facing a wounded Elephant Wind Beast as the clan’s defenses crumbled.

  • Zhuo Lingfeng told Li Yan that territorial Wind Beast clans, their greater numbers, and the distance between human sects made a united defense difficult.
  • Li Yan decided to go to the Tianli Clan, and Zhuo Lingfeng directed him to a teleportation array leading to Shamen Temple, much closer to the clan.
  • Three Wind Beast clans broke through the Tianli Clan’s defenses after more than ten years of fighting, and a bloody battle engulfed the mountainside.
  • A Tianli squad fought an Elephant Wind Beast; the squad captain wounded its eye before dying, and the deputy captain severed its trunk before being crushed.
  • The surviving squad members charged the gravely wounded beast, which turned on the last member, a young Tianli warrior backed against a boulder.

Ch. 1208Tianli in Peril (Part Two)

The Tianli Clan struggled to hold its defensive line as Wind Beast reinforcements and black fireballs killed many warriors, while Ayuan led the remaining Gray Cloud Eagles into battle against the Wind Goose Beasts. The chapter left the war’s decisive confrontation looming, with the elders still locked in combat and the nascent soul cultivators facing off.

  • Chunya fled after his deputy captain sacrificed himself to stop a Wind Elephant Beast.
  • Agen released the Bone-Piercing Spikes before black fireballs struck the wall, and he died after handing Juezi his whistle and urging him to become captain.
  • Ayuan and the Tianli Clan cultivators exchanged taunts with a third-tier Wind Goose Beast, then charged the enemy with their remaining Gray Cloud Eagles.
  • Ayuan glanced toward A-Ying’s battlefield as the Tianli Clan’s Gray Cloud Eagles fought the concentrated Wind Goose Beast forces.
  • The Second, Third, and Fourth Elders fought five fourth-tier Demon Beasts, while the black-robed elder warned Old Ghost Gong not to act rashly.

Ch. 1209The Tianli Clan in Peril (3)

The Tianli Clan faced a decisive assault after the wind beasts revealed hidden high-level fighters, including two newly advanced fourth-rank beasts. As the Great Elder and Yan San began their duel, Gong Chenying fought three near-fourth-rank Wind Iron Beasts amid mounting casualties, ending the chapter as her resonant strikes surged through one beast’s tail.

  • The Great Elder and Yan San entered a battle that distorted the space around them while the Tianli Clan’s elders remained in danger.
  • Gong Chenying fought three third-rank Wind Iron Beasts after killing four of their kind, while familiar clansmen fell and only five Golden Core cultivators remained on her side.
  • The three Wind Iron Beasts attacked Gong Chenying together, but she evaded their strikes and forced one beast to retreat with an elbow blast.
  • Gong Chenying released her azure halberd, then pursued it and struck its shaft repeatedly to build a powerful resonance.
  • Gong Chenying’s hundred halberd strikes fused into a torrent that traveled through the slender Wind Iron Beast’s tail and struck it with concentrated force.

Ch. 1210Killing and Counterkilling

Gong Chenying killed one Wind Iron Beast but suffered severe injuries and pill-toxin backlash, leaving her trapped between two more beasts as the Tianli Clan's reinforcements struggled to reach her. Granny Xiu sacrificed herself to shield Gong Chenying, who used her last strength to drive her halberd through the silver barrier toward a Wind Iron Beast.

  • Gong Chenying pierced the third Wind Iron Beast's skull, destroyed its body, and kicked its escaping beast core into a fissure in the void.
  • Gong Chenying saw that Tianli Clan warriors were falling as their Bone-Piercing Spikes and Gray Cloud Eagles dwindled, while A-Yuan led the reinforcement squad into the Wind Goose Beasts.
  • Gong Chenying's injuries, exhaustion, and pill toxins overwhelmed her as two Wind Iron Beasts attacked with a silver crescent spade and a storm of iron plates.
  • The Great Elder tried to reach Gong Chenying, but Yan San intercepted him and ordered his side to kill her; the Third Elder and other Tianli cultivators were likewise held back by their opponents.
  • Granny Xiu flew to Gong Chenying's side and burned her remaining blood essence to block the iron plates, while other cultivators rushed toward them despite their injuries.
  • Gong Chenying struck the shaft of her azure halberd with her feet until it pierced the silver curtain of light and jolted the Wind Iron Beast behind it.

Ch. 1211Mountains Upon Mountains, Layered Beyond Countless Mountains

Gong Chen-Ying nearly died after using a life-consuming technique to defeat one Wind Iron Beast, but Li Yan arrived in time to save her and turn the enemy’s attacks back on them. As Gong Chen-Ying recovered, Li Yan’s allies joined the battle against the wind beasts.

  • Gong Chen-Ying used Blood Pill Melds into Bone to pierce and kill one Wind Iron Beast, while the other prepared to attack her with iron-armored sharp fragments.
  • As Gong Chen-Ying charged toward the incoming fragments for her final strike, Li Yan called out to her and arrived at her side with overwhelming pressure.
  • Li Yan halted the fragments and sent them back, killing the remaining Wind Iron Beast and destroying both beasts before their demon cores could escape.
  • Li Yan healed Gong Chen-Ying’s injuries and gave her a Bodhi Pill and Melted Bamboo Shoot, while she recovered enough to recognize him.
  • Qianji led the Snow Mosquito Clan into battle, and their extraordinary cold weakened the Wind Goose Beasts as Li Yan watched the fighting resume.

Ch. 1212Why Waste Words?

Li Yan arrived to aid the Tianli Clan, rescued Gong Chenying and the wounded, then joined the battle against the fourth-tier Wind Beasts. The chapter ended with his carefully prepared attack engulfing a newly advanced “wind goose beast” in blood-red flames.

  • Zi Kun charged through the wind elephant beasts and killed dozens, relieving the pressure on the Tianli Clan’s mortal warriors.
  • Li Yan appeared beside the badly injured Gong Chenying, gave her pills, and protected her from the Nascent Soul Cultivators’ pressure.
  • Gong Chenying stepped in front of Li Yan, but he told her to rest and declared that the Wind Beasts would answer for hurting her.
  • Gong Chenying identified Li Yan as a cultivator of the Wangliang Sect, and the Great Elder ordered the Tianli Clan to attack as Li Yan vanished into battle.
  • Li Yan sent Gong Chenying and the nearby wounded into his spirit storage pouch, then engaged a newly advanced fourth-tier “wind goose beast.”
  • Li Yan’s golden nails disrupted the “wind goose beast’s” movements, allowing his blood-red attack to strike and engulf it in flames.

Ch. 1213Strike Quickly

Li Yan killed Yan Qi with a coordinated strike using the Li Fire Mysterious Yellow Fan, Demon-Sealing Needles, and supreme-yang fire, then attacked another Wind Elephant Beast. Yan San briefly rescued Yan Qi from the flames, but the Tianli Clan's Great Elder's hidden attack destroyed Yan Qi's life-bound treasure and left him unable to survive.

  • Li Yan trapped Yan Qi's Nascent Soul with the Demon-Sealing Needles and burned him with the fan's blood-red flames and supreme-yang fire.
  • Li Yan appeared behind a newly advanced Wind Elephant Beast as the Second Elder and Fourth Elder kept its allies occupied with a fierce assault.
  • Yan San broke away to rescue Yan Qi, smashing the spatial seal and helping Yan Qi's Nascent Soul escape the flames.
  • The Tianli Clan's Great Elder struck Yan Qi with a concealed attack, forcing him to use his life-bound black feather, which the strike shattered.
  • Yan San destroyed the Great Elder's attack, but Yan Qi's Nascent Soul collapsed as his destroyed treasure left him unable to resist the flames.

Ch. 1214A punch that broke the wind

Li Yan defeated a fourth-rank Wind Elephant Beast with a devastating punch, impressing the Tianli Clan elders while concealing the full extent of his power. As the wind beasts suddenly withdrew from the battle, Li Yan wondered whether they were fleeing.

  • Li Yan put away his Demon-Sealing Nail and met the Wind Elephant Beast’s attack in a direct clash of strength.
  • Li Yan’s punch shattered the Wind Elephant Beast’s body, though its injured nascent soul escaped by teleportation.
  • A Wind Iron Beast and the Tianli Clan elders were shocked by Li Yan’s strength, and the Great Elder suspected a familiar aura in his attacks.
  • Li Yan held back his pursuit and kept his remaining strength concealed while considering the Tianli Clan’s unknown circumstances.
  • Yan San and the other fourth-rank wind beasts cried out, forced the Tianli Clan elders onto the defensive, and flew away as the wind beasts below retreated.

Ch. 1215Successive Shocks

Li Yan helped the Tianli Clan repel the wind beasts, killing one Nascent Soul-level enemy and wounding another before the attackers withdrew. At Tianli Hall, Gong Chenying revealed that Li Yan was her junior fellow disciple and future Dao companion, leaving the elders stunned.

  • Li Yan told Yan San his name after the wind beasts retreated, then released Gong Chenying and the others from his spirit-storage pouch.
  • Qianji, Zi Kun, and the Tianli Clan pursued the retreating wind beasts while Li Yan and Gong Chenying reunited.
  • The Third Elder asked Gong Chenying to introduce Li Yan, and she identified him as her junior fellow disciple.
  • At Tianli Hall, Gong Chenying explained Li Yan's identity and his role in saving her during a sect trial.
  • Gong Chenying announced that Li Yan would be her future Dao companion, startling the Tianli Clan's elders.

Ch. 1216You Did It on Purpose, Didn't You?

Li Yan helped the Tianli Clan survive the Wind Beast assault and reunited with Gong Chenying, whose elders debated whether he could be trusted and whether he had learned their body-refining art. A month later, Li Yan remained in a secluded courtyard while Gong Chenying recovered, and he kept troubling news from her for the time being.

  • Gong Chenying told the elders that Li Yan was her junior brother and explained that he had come to help her under an old agreement, while Li Yan wondered why she avoided discussing the Qiongqi Purgatory Art.
  • The First Elder thanked Li Yan for saving the city, but the Second Elder questioned his motives and warned that Gong Chenying might be unable to leave the clan with him.
  • The Third Elder explained that the Wind Goose Beasts, Wind Iron Beasts, and Wind Elephant Beasts were the three clans besieging the Tianli Clan, with the Wind Goose Beasts led by Yan San.
  • After Li Yan and Gong Chenying left, the Second Elder accused Li Yan of possibly coveting the later portions of the Qiongqi Purgatory Art, but the First Elder insisted the clan repay his kindness and focus on the Wind Beasts.
  • A month later, Li Yan and the two demons stayed in a secluded courtyard while Gong Chenying healed in seclusion, and Li Yan withheld troubling details about Zhao Min and the Phantom Sect.

Ch. 1217No Trace of the Message

After Gong Chenying emerged from seclusion, Li Yan recounted his years away and learned she had received no news of her fellow disciples. Their conversation also revealed that the Wind Beasts continued to wear down the Tianli Clan, whose defenses had been weakened by the loss of its Gray Cloud Eagles.

  • Li Yan waited for Gong Chenying to finish recuperating, and she came to visit him after more than a month in seclusion.
  • Li Yan told Gong Chenying about his and Zhao Min’s time in the Lost Continent and Qingqing Continent, including how they became Dao Companions.
  • Li Yan explained what had happened to their fellow disciples on Small Bamboo Peak, and Gong Chenying learned that she had never received Li Wuyi’s wedding letter.
  • Gong Chenying said she would investigate the missing correspondence herself and explained that the three Wind Beast clans had continued attacking the Tianli Clan with large numbers of weaker beasts.
  • Gong Chenying privately recalled that the Tianli Clan had lost most of its Gray Cloud Eagles and that attacks from the sky had caused most of the recent deaths among mortal warriors.

Ch. 1218The Tianli Clan (I)

Gong Chenying explained the Tianli Clan’s history and growing factional tensions while Li Yan gave her several powerful treasures. She clarified why he had not been asked to undergo an assessment for the Qiongqi Purgatory Art, leaving their immediate plans unresolved.

  • Li Yan gave Gong Chenying Melting Bamboo Shoot, a large spirit-storage pouch, a storage ring, and a mysterious red-glowing spearhead.
  • Gong Chenying asked for the later levels of the Qiongqi Purgatory Art, and Li Yan told her that he wanted her as well.
  • Gong Chenying explained that Li Yan’s cultivation already exceeded the requirements for the clan’s assessment, but his disappearance with Zhao Min had prevented her from informing her father.
  • Gong Chenying recounted how Miao Qingqian chose Gong Shanhe as Clan Leader, how Miao Bayu ascended after a devastating battle, and how Miao Qingqian later vanished while confronting two fifth-tier Wind Beasts.
  • Gong Chenying described the factions forming around Gong Shanhe and Miao Youxian, the clan’s inability to search for its missing leaders, and the ties among its elders.

Ch. 1219Tianli Clan (2)

Li Yan learned that Gong Shanhe and the Sixth Elder were likely trapped in a swamp on the border between two wind beast territories, and he decided to investigate. Gong Chenying remained worried about the danger, while the Tianli Clan’s ongoing conflict with the wind beasts made sending other elders impractical.

  • Gong Chenying explained that the Second Elder’s faction would oppose Li Yan’s bid to become King Qing’a and that the Grand Elder could not intervene freely amid the war.
  • Li Yan learned that the Third Elder had divined Gong Shanhe’s general location and that the clan had found no sign that he or the Sixth Elder had fallen.
  • Gong Chenying said Gong Shanhe’s last known location was a boundless swamp at the border between the Wind Goose Beasts and Wind Iron Beasts.
  • Li Yan reasoned that restrictions in the swamp might have trapped the two Nascent Soul cultivators and said he planned to investigate within a few days.
  • Gong Chenying urged Li Yan to consult the Grand Elder and Third Elder, but Li Yan argued the war made it impractical to send the Grand Elder or seek clan approval.
  • Gong Chenying hesitated over Li Yan’s plan, still concerned that he might suffer the same danger that had trapped her father and the Sixth Elder for more than ten years.

Ch. 1220The Scent of the Past

Gong Chen Ying agreed to accompany Li Yan to search for Gong Shanhe once her injuries had healed, and planned to present the mission to the clan elders. After briefly embracing Li Yan, she left to find Great Elder and encountered A-Yuan, a powerful young clansman who pursued her.

  • Gong Chen Ying insisted on joining Li Yan's search for Gong Shanhe and said her injuries would need about half a month to heal.
  • Gong Chen Ying proposed telling Great Elder and the others about Li Yan's mission and his cultivation of the 'Qiongqi Purgatory Art,' challenging Second Elder to justify any further test.
  • Gong Chen Ying reflected on her loneliness, her fear that Gong Shanhe might not return, and her relief that Li Yan had arrived and offered to search for him.
  • Gong Chen Ying embraced Li Yan briefly, then left to find Great Elder while Li Yan remained stunned.
  • A-Yuan approached Gong Chen Ying and asked about her injuries and the front-line battle, while she kept her distance and answered blandly.

Ch. 1221Assessment Mission (Part One)

A-Yuan reported that the Gray Cloud Eagle stock had nearly run out, while Gong Chenying refused to accompany him to seek replacements and urged him to alert the elders. The Great Elder agreed to a proposal linking Li Yan’s access to later levels of the Qiongqi Purgatory Art to his efforts to find Gong Shanhe and the Sixth Elder, then convened the elders to discuss Li Yan’s Qing'a King status.

  • A-Yuan told Gong Chenying that the clan had almost no battle-ready Gray Cloud Eagles left, and she advised him to report the shortage and seek capable companions if he went to buy more.
  • Gong Chenying rejected A-Yuan’s invitation to travel and left to attend to urgent matters, while A-Yuan went to report to the Second Elder.
  • Gong Chenying argued to the Great Elder that Li Yan deserved support because he had saved her and helped the clan, and she insisted on accompanying him to search for Gong Shanhe and the Sixth Elder.
  • The Great Elder proposed granting Li Yan the fourth level of the Qiongqi Purgatory Art for bringing back definite news, and the fifth and sixth levels if he rescued either Gong Shanhe or the Sixth Elder.
  • The Great Elder summoned the Second and Third Elders to Tianli Hall, where he declared Li Yan qualified to become a Qing'a King because of his performance in battle.

Ch. 1222Assessment Mission (2)

Li Yan countered the Second Elder’s demand for proof by raising the possibility that the Tianli Clan had concealed a Phantom Sect summons from Gong Chen-Ying. His accusation unsettled the elders, and the Grand Elder and Second Elder ultimately accepted Li Yan’s identity without further objection.

  • The Second Elder questioned whether Li Yan could prove he and Gong Chen-Ying belonged to the same sect, and Li Yan challenged how his token could be verified without accusations of theft.
  • Li Yan asked whether Gong Chen-Ying had received a Phantom Sect summons during the Devil Race’s return and warned that her memories or the message delivery might have been tampered with.
  • The Grand Elder and Third Elder reacted with alarm to Li Yan’s account of Spirit Transformation cultivators fighting the Devil Race, while Gong Chen-Ying said she had never received a message.
  • The Grand Elder recalled that the Fifth Elder had overseen outside affairs during that period, and Li Yan suspected the Second Elder’s faction had intercepted the message to keep Gong Chen-Ying in the clan.
  • The Second Elder said the Fifth Elder would need to be questioned, while the Grand Elder asked whether he accepted Li Yan’s identity; the Second Elder agreed that Li Yan’s origins were beyond doubt.

Ch. 1223The assessment mission (3)

Li Yan negotiated the assessment required to gain further levels of the Tianli Clan’s Qiongqi Purgatory Art, while Gong Chenying proposed a mission concerning her missing father and the Sixth Elder. The Second Elder added a demand for Li Yan’s Snow Mosquitoes to defend the clan, and Li Yan appeared willing to consider it.

  • The Third Elder supported assessing Li Yan for the Qiongqi Purgatory Art, while the Second Elder insisted that further instruction required an outstanding service to the Tianli Clan.
  • Gong Chenying proposed that Li Yan investigate the whereabouts of the Clan Leader and the Sixth Elder, and the Second Elder argued that rescuing them would be necessary for the highest privileges.
  • The Third Elder said reliable information about the missing elders would count as an outstanding service, but the Second Elder maintained that the clan’s rules could not be relaxed.
  • The Second Elder proposed that Li Yan could earn the next level by finding information about the missing elders and having his Snow Mosquitoes defend the clan against low-tier Wind Goose Beasts for a year.
  • The Second Elder asked Li Yan to lend the Snow Mosquitoes before the mission, and Li Yan interrupted Gong Chenying to ask whether the real request was simply to hold off the Wind Goose Beasts.

Ch. 1224The Assessment Mission (4)

Li Yan negotiated with the Tianli Clan to earn levels of the Qiongqi Purgatory Art by helping defend against the Wind Goose Beasts and potentially rescuing Gong Shanhe. After proposing to use poison and formations instead of his mosquito demon beasts, he secured the elders’ agreement to test his plan, but still had to undergo the clan’s dangerous cultivation assessment.

  • Li Yan offered to defend the Tianli Clan against Wind Goose Beasts for three months and negotiated for the fourth level of the Qiongqi Purgatory Art, with the fourth and fifth levels if he rescued Gong Shanhe and the others.
  • The Great Elder and Third Elder supported Li Yan’s terms, and the Second Elder eventually agreed to them.
  • Li Yan refused to provide his mosquito demon beasts and explained that he would use formations to funnel Wind Goose Beasts into deadly poison zones.
  • The elders agreed to supply formations and test Li Yan’s poison-based defense plan, granting him their support if it worked.
  • The Great Elder told Li Yan that he had to undergo an assessment using a clan treasure that required him to lower his spiritual protection and let its energy enter his body.

Ch. 1225Watching the Storm Unfold

Li Yan tested the Qiongqi Purgatory Art assessment treasure, then went to the Tianli Clan front lines and secretly prepared a poison formation in a basin the Wind Beasts used to attack. He returned to the three elders, who remained doubtful about what he had set up, and they waited to see how it would affect the next assault.

  • Li Yan let Gong Chenying activate the emerald treasure, which traced his meridians and showed that he had opened fifty with the Qiongqi Purgatory Art.
  • Li Yan left for the front lines alone while Gong Chenying resumed meditating, and the Third Elder learned from Gong Chenying that Li Yan had access to deadly poisons from the Wangliang Sect.
  • Li Yan surveyed the Tianli Clan's defenses and chose a basin where Wind Beasts advanced through two gaps in the surrounding peaks.
  • Li Yan circled the basin, placed formation materials, and used formless qi to prepare an unseen poison formation.
  • Li Yan returned to the three elders after a little over twenty breaths and said they would see the formation's effect during the Wind Beasts' next attack.
Arc 49 of 126