Li Yan pondered the entire sequence of events and still felt that Meng Jingsheng's judgment best matched the truth. There was no doubt that this thing was something special nurtured by Black Flame Mountain.
Yet he had no way to judge how its intelligence had grown, much less communicate with it in any way. The sliver of intelligence it possessed was merely a little stronger than instinct.
Even now that it had become a living thing, it was an alternative form of life without a soul. That made it impossible for Li Yan to learn even the most basic information from it.
After finding this thing, Li Yan could not possibly leave it here to continue being nurtured. Who knew what it would become once its intelligence fully awakened?
Leaving aside how much its intelligence might grow, its combat power alone was already terrifying. If Li Yan had not possessed strength comparable to a Body Integration Realm cultivator and happened to think of a way to restrain it—
—he knew he could not have captured it so easily. If it remained here and continued growing, Li Yan did not know whether he would still be able to suppress it once its combat strength increased from its current foundation.
Moreover, the restrictions Li Yan set down at his current cultivation might very well be broken by it in the future. If its intelligence grew further by then, once it sensed danger, who knew where it might flee?
At the same time, Li Yan did not feel safe leaving it here. Although that dark yellow curtain of light seemed impossible for others to open, no one could guarantee that no other accident would occur.
Therefore, Li Yan would only take it away. Even based solely on the combat power the black stone