Li Yan suddenly reappeared in front of Gan Shi and the others. Only Gan Shi's eyelids twitched slightly, but he did not open his eyes. His arrival was silent and without a trace.
Li Yan glanced at the massive dark shadow in the sky behind them, calculated the time in his head, and then walked straight toward the giant yellow sphere. A few breaths later, Li Yan emerged from the sphere and sent a direct transmission to Gan Shi, "Senior Brother Gan, could you come here for a moment?"
Gan Shi's eyelids trembled, and he opened his eyes. The light in them had already recovered significantly. Upon hearing the request, he stood up and walked directly toward Li Yan. His severely injured leg had somehow healed to about seventy or eighty percent. He no longer dragged it on the ground but walked toward Li Yan with a slight limp. It seemed that with a little more time, it would fully recover.
Gan Shi came before Li Yan, glanced back at the sky and the few people meditating on the snow, and then quietly transmitted, "The other party hasn't arrived either? We can stay here for another cup of tea's time at most."
"They haven't arrived yet, but they will soon. Senior Brother, come inside with me for a moment." After speaking, a cunning glint flashed in Li Yan's eyes. Gan Shi didn't say much and stepped into the yellow sphere with Li Yan.
More than half a cup of tea later, Gan Shi and the five from Li Yan's group re-entered the yellow sphere. By now, the massive dark shadow in the sky outside was less than a hundred meters away from them.
When Zhu Gaotai, Senior Brother Rui from Lord Lao Peak, the petite Junior Sister Dai, and the other disciple from Lord Lao Peak followed them into the sphere with full vigilance, the scene before them left them dumbfounded.
Inside the sphere, there was only one Sword Cultivator from the Ten-Pace Courtyard, frantically attacking in all directions, all the while shouting, "Who is it? Who is so shameless, so vile?! It can't be a restriction of this place! This is definitely not the work of a restriction here!" He seemed completely oblivious to their arrival.
When Gan Shi saw this person, a flicker of battle intent suddenly flashed in his eyes. Just as he was about to step forward, Li Yan grabbed him. "Senior Brother Gan, this person's life is already forfeit, and there is still one more trial to go. Don't waste your energy."
Gan Shi was a little annoyed at being held back by Li Yan, but after hearing his words, he couldn't help but sigh.
"Miao Zhengyi. He can be considered a figure of his generation. I've fought him several times and could only manage a draw by relying on my formations. I never thought he would end up like this. A pity, a pity." He then took a deep look at Li Yan, feeling that this person's methods were strange. Not only could he come and go freely in these passages, but Gan Shi couldn't even discern his ambush techniques.
Earlier, when Li Yan had called him into the sphere, he had roughly marked out an area and asked him to set up a hidden formation with the entrance at the spot where their own group would enter, making it so that people from the other three sides couldn't see in. He also told him not to cross the boundary he had drawn, otherwise, Li Yan himself wouldn't have an antidote.
At first, Gan Shi had thought Li Yan was making a big fuss over nothing, but later he was filled with emotion. As he set up the formation, he scanned the rest of the sphere with his Divine Sense but found nothing. He didn't believe Li Yan would lie to him; he must have used some kind of ambush tactic. But no matter how carefully he scanned with his Divine Sense, he couldn't find anything amiss.
'So this is the legendary Fragmented Poison Body. Using the body as poison, and cultivating the body with poison.'
As he was thinking, Li Yan's faint voice drifted over. "Senior Brother, the opposing team is from the Ten-Pace Courtyard. They were about three hundred meters from the yellow sphere just now. It's only one team, so it seems they failed to meet up with the other two sects. The leader should be named Miao Zhengyi. They only have six Qi Condensation cultivators left. In a little while, who knows how many will make it in alive, but it will definitely be fewer than that." Li Yan explained.
Gan Shi was shocked. So this Junior Brother Li had just gone to the enemy's passage. He couldn't believe the opponent was Miao Zhengyi, a powerful cultivator almost on par with Wang Lang. And he had scouted them out. From his words, it seemed he had even done something to them, and in their own passage no less. How did he evade Miao Zhengyi's notice? Even he couldn't have tampered with things right under the other's nose.
"Heh heh, Senior Brother, that person is quite formidable. He discovered me the moment I showed myself. But luckily, I move fast," Li Yan explained faintly, as if he had seen through Gan Shi's thoughts.
Gan Shi, however, shook his head with a bitter smile. "Junior Brother Li, if it's really Miao Zhengyi, I truly find it hard to believe. He is an extremely powerful figure among the Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Ten-Pace Courtyard's Outer Sword division. He can control three hundred and sixty flying swords. You can imagine how powerful his Divine Sense is. For you to tamper with things while locked by his Divine Sense and still leave unscathed is something even I couldn't do."
"Heh heh, it was just a fluke. Senior Brother, if you've set up your measures, then let's go out. We'll come back in when the time is right. But you are truly impressive, Senior Brother, to have added so many tricks to the edge of the formation. I imagine anyone who attacks those positions will surely be unable to escape your poison." Li Yan chuckled and changed the subject. The reason he could escape Miao Zhengyi's Divine Sense lock was, on one hand, his familiarity with entering and exiting the bands of light, and on the other, his method of deploying poison was completely different from other cultivators. The places he passed, if he wished, could be poisoned with a mere thought.
"Alright, let's go out first then. But we won't be able to last long outside. Junior Brother Li, you have my admiration! To think you even discovered what I did with the formation."
"I was watching the whole time, so of course I could tell. If I had entered later, I definitely wouldn't have known."
Gan Shi looked back at Li Yan and shook his head gently again. It was unclear how much of Li Yan's words he believed.
At this moment, inside the yellow sphere, Li Yan looked at Miao Zhengyi, who was raging like a madman outside the formation, and he couldn't help but admire this Senior Brother Gan. With their group standing here, the other party was completely unaware. If Miao Zhengyi had been a Qi Condensation cultivator, it would have been understandable. But he was an existence even more powerful than Gan Shi. To be able to prevent another cultivator, a minor realm higher and already at the Pseudo-Core Realm, from seeing through his formation was an incredible feat. No wonder their Eldest Senior Brother had said Gan Shi was formidable, having fused his formations into his very being, able to use them to defend against enemies at any moment. Formations manifesting with every art, and arts manifesting with every formation, killing enemies in an instant.
Looking at the three corpses from the Ten-Pace Courtyard lying on the ground, a smile touched Li Yan's lips. He had risked entering the white band of light just now to delay the opponent and buy himself time to set up inside the yellow sphere, while also inflicting as many casualties as possible.
When he had flashed past them three hundred meters away, he had left behind the "Branches of the Same Breath" poison, which had mixed with the fragrance of the flowers in the air. It seemed at least three people had been afflicted with the "Branches of the Same Breath" poison and had died outside the yellow sphere.
Amidst everyone's stunned silence, Zhu Gaotai suddenly pointed at Miao Zhengyi, whose pupils had turned pure white, and said with a trembling voice, "Flirtatious Glance! That's Flirtatious Glance! I can't believe even a Foundation Establishment cultivator can't dispel it." The others were also stunned when they heard this, but someone immediately remembered the poison that Zhou Guan'er had been afflicted with during the sect competition. It was that notoriously infamous "Flirtatious Glance". They just never imagined that even a Foundation Establishment cultivator couldn't resist it.
Before their horrified eyes, the powerful Foundation Establishment cultivator's sword wind had already battered the entire wall of the sphere until it was deformed and twisted. Several streaks of sword wind had even swept over to their formation, striking it with a series of thunderous booms, showing signs of collapse. It was only when they saw the calm expression on the yellow-haired man's face at the front that they relaxed slightly.
Just as the several streaks of sword wind swept over the formation, Miao Zhengyi, his pupils a sheet of white, suddenly turned his head and stared furiously in their direction. Although he could no longer see, his Divine Sense still clearly scanned the anomaly here.
His face contorted with fury, he endured the spasming pain in his heart and spoke in a hoarse voice, "It really is an ambush! Which master from the Malevolent Spirit Sect is it? Would you be willing to come out and meet me?" As he spoke, the nerves in his face twitched uncontrollably. The "Flirtatious Glance" poison had clearly taken full effect.
Gan Shi let out a long sigh and stepped out of the formation. But he only went to the outer edge, not too far. He was also extremely wary of the poison Li Yan had laid. "Brother Miao, it's been a while." He looked calmly at the person before him. The space inside the sphere was rapidly expanding.
"Heh heh, Gan Shi! It really is you. I was wondering who had such brilliant formation skills. Brother Gan, what a fine move. You've ambushed and killed us without shedding a drop of your own blood. It's just... hss... it's... it's just that there's one thing I don't understand. The poison that I was afflicted with here, and the way several of my disciples died inexplicably outside the sphere... I... I sensed a familiar aura. But... but... I don't know if it was the work of one person."
As he spoke, he clutched his chest tightly with both hands, as if his heart was about to burst, and asked with great difficulty.
"Yes," Gan Shi said indifferently, looking at his former rival.
"So... so it is. But how were you able to enter my passage? This is... impossible." Miao Zhengyi's pupils became even whiter, and his back slowly began to hunch over.
"Then how were you able to merge people from two different paths?" At this moment, a cool voice spoke out, and a figure appeared beside Gan Shi. It was Li Yan.
Although Li Yan's tone was calm, he was extremely shocked inside. 'A Sword Cultivator's senses are so powerful! He was able to determine it was the work of one person through two completely different types of deadly poison.' From this moment on, Li Yan would be extremely cautious when dealing with Sword Cultivators. But he wasn't worried right now, because after Miao Zhengyi had unleashed those last few sword qi strikes, the poison had already seeped deep into his organs. He no longer had the strength to fight, unless his Nascent Soul could escape and abandon this physical body.
"Heh heh, yes... yes..." Hearing Li Yan's words, Miao Zhengyi scanned him with his Divine Sense. After a brief silence, he chuckled and, surprisingly, did not press further about who had done it. Instead, he slowly sat down on the ground. Then, after staring at Li Yan for a while with his snow-white pupils, he slowly lowered his head without another word. A prodigy of his generation had fallen, just like that, silently.
Looking at the person before him, Gan Shi was lost in a daze, as if reminiscing about the past, about the Miao Zhengyi who, with a wave of his hand, could command hundreds of swords that gleamed with a cold light that made one's scalp tingle...
Li Yan did not immediately go forward to take Miao Zhengyi's belongings. He knew that Miao Zhengyi's blue rhomboid crystal and green gourd were in his Storage Pouch and that he hadn't had time to destroy them. Or perhaps, after hearing Li Yan's words, he knew there was no longer any need to. Li Yan had to be certain the man was truly dead before he would approach.
At this time, the four people from within the formation had also walked out. But with Gan Shi's prior instructions, they didn't dare to walk around randomly. Seeing the two in front of them remain silent, they looked at the four corpses on the ground, especially Miao Zhengyi's. That was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, fallen at the hands of a Qi Condensation cultivator. Regardless of the methods Li Yan used, a method that resulted in death was a good method. This was a consistent belief in the Malevolent Spirit Sect. The ability to use a poison that even a Foundation Establishment cultivator couldn't dispel and to kill across realms made them extremely wary of Li Yan.
After a long while, the dazed Gan Shi finally moved. He sighed and turned to look at Li Yan. "Junior Brother Li, what's next?"