Eternal Life: I Can Control My Essence Qi-Chapter 196 - 164: Return to the Li Kingdom (Part 2)

It wasn't until the moment Yu Wen Tai presented him with the Ruyi True Pill that he finally caught a glimpse of hope.

......

Three days later.

Zhang Yao and Lord Haihe, who were waiting at the Celestial Treasure Tower Headquarters, finally received a reply from the Fuhai Sect.

Along with the reply, several elders from the Fuhai Sect arrived as well, all of whom were at the late stage or perfection level of Foundation Establishment.

The Wanchuan Ancestor agreed to Zhang Yao's terms, stating that he had prepared a portion of Kunyuan Spiritual Liquid for him, which he could retrieve once he reached middle stage Foundation Establishment.

Zhang Yao expressed his immense gratitude, handing over the Ruyi True Pill on the spot, and departed with the few elders from the Fuhai Sect and Lord Haihe from the Celestial Treasure Tower.

Their journey back to Fang Continent was smooth and trouble-free.

After returning to the Cangjiang Water Mansion, he briefed Old Peng and the others, then, under the pretense of going into seclusion, he quietly snuck out of the Cangjiang Water Vein and headed southward.

A few days later.

"Boom..."

A white escape light streaked across the sky, moving as fast as lightning, crossing vast expanses of desolate zones.

In an environment completely depleted of spiritual qi, such an astonishing fluctuation in spiritual qi naturally spread far and wide, sensed clearly even hundreds of miles away.

But each tribulation cultivator gang that sensed the Foundation Establishment level aura, hid themselves tightly like turtles, too scared to show themselves.

"Heh..."

Zhang Yao's divine thought detected this scene, prompting a chuckle.

Thinking back to over a decade ago when he was still a Qi Refining cultivator, he inevitably held some reservations about the large number of tribulation cultivator gangs entrenched here.

But now, his strength had undergone earth-shattering changes, and what were once formidable enemies, were now mere clay chickens and pottery dogs.

"I hope Lord Wanhe's cave mansion hasn't yet been opened by the Mang Mountain Li Clan."

Zhang Yao's thoughts flickered within:

"Otherwise, if they consume or sell the possibly stored demon race essence blood, it would become quite troublesome for me."

He knew next to nothing about the specific condition of Lord Wanhe's cave mansion in those days.

At this moment, he could only hope that the cave mansion's array was strong enough to withstand the Mang Mountain Li Clan's decade-long research and attempts to break through.

Heading southward.

Zhang Yao spent several days traversing tens of thousands of miles, finally returning to the borders of the Li Kingdom.

On the outskirts of the Mang Mountain Marketplace:

"Hmm, this array is quite decent..."

Zhang Yao stood with his hands behind his back, maintaining his invisibility skill, as his vast divine thought swept over the array before him.

The "Scripture of All Transformations and True Nature" was, after all, a cultivation technique for the path of array refining and body integration, where the stronger the cultivation, the deeper the understanding of arrays.

After more than ten years, his understanding of arrays had greatly advanced, and arrays of the Marketplace that once seemed like viewing flowers through mist, now were as clear as observing patterns in his palm.

"After all, Li Kingdom is a small and poor country."

"Though the supporting array of the Mang Mountain Marketplace is a second-order one, it is the most inferior kind of second-order array."

In Zhang Yao's eyes, the patterns of the array and its spirit pattern array vein were still rapidly being deduced.

Had it been the past, breaking through the array of the Mang Mountain Marketplace would still be a challenge, but for him now, it was hardly difficult.

A moment later, after thoroughly examining the Mang Mountain Marketplace's supporting array inside and out, Zhang Yao proceeded to take further action.

"Activate!"

He operated his magical power, emitting a series of over ten spells, each striking a critical point in the array's operation. Coupled with his formidable magical power, he instantly disrupted the nearby array's function.

"Buzz..."

Thick clouds dispersed, revealing an obvious gap. The nearby array veins were sealed by Zhang Yao's magical power, unable to transmit warning signals to the array core.

Zhang Yao flew up swiftly, penetrating the entire marketplace's protective array, smoothly infiltrating the interior of the marketplace before withdrawing the spell.

Inside the Mang Mountain Marketplace:

Zhang Yao continued maintaining his invisibility skill, a sweep of his divine thought prompted him to sigh.

Over more than a decade, a whole generation had passed in the mundane world, yet the cultivation world had changed little.

The Mang Mountain Marketplace was still the familiar scene in his memory, with even some old neighbors still present, though they had grown increasingly older.

"Let's go."

Zhang Yao rode the escape light, quietly traversing through the marketplace district, heading towards the topmost Li clan mansion.

The reason he did not arrive with ostentation but chose to infiltrate secretly was precisely to avoid alarming the Li clan and stirring the grass to scare the snake.

His target was the two Foundation Establishment masters of the Li clan.

"Swoosh!"

A powerful divine thought swept across, instantly penetrating the array of the Li clan mansion.

"Found it! But there's only one..."

Floating in the air, Zhang Yao's brow raised, revealing a mysterious smile.

"An old acquaintance indeed."

His figure flickered, vanishing from the spot.

In the depths of the Li clan mansion, Li Changlin, who was sitting cross-legged and quietly engaged in bitter cultivation, suddenly opened his eyes wide.

"What happened?"

He looked around uncertainly, extending his divine thought to probe in all directions.

"Strange..."

Li Changlin frowned upon finding everything normal from the feedback of his divine thought.

However, just at that moment, a sense of inexplicable panic seized him, akin to a palpitation triggering a deep-seated fear, leaving him unsettled.

"Could it be my illusion? It shouldn't be..."

He muttered to himself, feeling somewhat uneasy.

"It certainly wasn't your illusion."

A faint laughter sounded in his ear.

"Who goes there?!"

Li Changlin's expression changed drastically, leaping up to draw a spiritual artifact to hand, but his vision suddenly blackened.

A forest of iridescent white light bore down fiercely, crashing straight onto his divine soul, knocking him into silence and immobility on the ground.

"Such poor strength indeed."

Zhang Yao revealed himself, shaking his head discreetly.

Taking a few steps forward, he sealed Li Changlin's magical power before waking him up.

"...You?!"

Li Changlin gradually came to, seeing a figure clad in a black robe, suddenly realized and angrily questioned:

"Who exactly are you?!"

Though he appeared visibly furious on the surface, his back was drenched in cold sweat, his heart filled with terror and uneasiness.

The other party had penetrated the three-fold arrays of both the marketplace and his home's cultivation quiet chamber, silently approaching him, and incapacitated him in a single encounter.

Such terrifying strength must surely be greater than the Daoist Wanhe of the past, leaving him without any means of resistance.

He certainly never anticipated that while quietly cultivating at home, disaster would descend from the heavens, placing his very life and death into another's hand.

"Li Changlin, you need not know who I am."

Zhang Yao's voice intentionally rasped and aged, indifferent in tone:

"All you need to know is to answer whatever I ask."

"Should you willingly lie, and it doesn't match with my subsequent soul search results, then I will wipe out every member of the Li clan."

Although the soul searching secret technique he possessed wasn't of high rank, it still carried the risk of damaging the divine soul, leading to fragmented memories.

Li Changlin had a familial weakness, unlike Feng Dujuan. He preferred to personally interrogate first before using the soul searching secret technique for verification.

"You..."

Li Changlin's face turned pale, his voice quivering:

"What does your excellency wish to know?"

"It's quite simple."

Zhang Yao fixed his gaze on his eyes, speaking in a raspy voice:

"It's about Lord Wanhe's cave mansion. I need you to recount it from beginning to end without omitting a single word."

"This!"

Li Changlin trembled slightly, frightenedly exclaiming:

"How do you know?!"

Their Li clan had only discovered Lord Wanhe's cave mansion over the past ten years and had guarded the secret vigilantly.

Outside of him and another Foundation Establishment master, less than five people in the entire clan knew of the secret, so how could it have leaked?!

"Could it be an insider in the family?!"

This was Li Changlin's first thought in his mind.

"Knowing where I learned it isn't necessary for you to know."

Zhang Yao's tone turned cold:

"Do not waste words; you need only convey the facts."

"If you utter even a single unnecessary word, I'll kill one direct member of the Mang Mountain Li clan."

"I'll speak, I'll speak!!"

Li Changlin exclaimed repeatedly, his Adam's apple bobbing, as he began to speak in a low voice:

"It all started with an accident over a decade ago..."