Five Immortal Sects

Chapter 28: Escape Opportunity

Military advisor Ji was unaware that this was a small trick played by Dong Fuyi before his divine sense scattered, solely to give Li Yan a greater chance of escape.

He had intentionally created a treasure map, with the terrain and landscape on the map being transmitted to him by the divine sense that was wandering outside.

At that time, Military advisor Ji was searching for a way to remove the fire poison, so the divine consciousness in the Jade Book naturally knew where he had been, and it was not easy for Dong Fuyi to find such a place in these memories.

However, creating the map required some careful consideration. The route couldn’t be too close, lest he quickly find the location and return soon after discovering it was fake. At the same time, the route couldn’t be too far, as the depths of Great Green Mountain were inhabited by extremely ferocious demonic beasts and ghosts that Military advisor Ji, a small cultivator, couldn’t handle.

Given Military advisor Ji’s cautious nature, he wouldn’t venture too deep into the mountains. So, Dong Fuyi had to find a range that he would accept, and then pieced together the terrain and landscape of other locations to create a map that was similar but not quite real.

During this time, Li Yan had a longer period to escape!

However, at that time, Dong Fuyi’s exchange with Li Yan had already reached the edge of divine sense scattering, and Li Yan himself didn’t know what cultivation was, let alone the sudden changes that were happening, so Dong Fuyi had to spend more time explaining.

Moreover, he had to make Li Yan believe him, and hastily exchanged the necessary information. In the end, he could only use the last bit of his divine power to create the map, but didn’t have time to tell Li Yan, and the divine sense had already dispersed, leaving Li Yan unaware of the situation.

In the meantime, Military advisor Ji was pondering whether the map was real or fake, and whether it was feasible. If it was the place he had guessed, the dangers would be numerous, and it was uncertain whether he could escape unscathed.

Even if he could safely reach the location marked on the map, how could he enter the treasure trove? What dangers lay within? These were all unknown.

But if he didn’t go, wouldn’t he be wasting the opportunity that had taken him so many years to open the jade book, and possibly losing his chance to survive? This thought made him unwilling to give up.

After thinking for a long time, Military advisor Ji still couldn’t come up with a foolproof plan, until Li Yan arrived.

After Li Yan entered the room and sat cross-legged, Master Ji calmed his mind and smiled. 

“How do you feel now?”

Li Yan hastily replied, “Disciple feels that his body is much lighter than before, and his six senses are more acute.”

Military advisor Ji’s face lit up with joy, his expression filled with a sense of relief and satisfaction.

“This is great, this is great! It means that you’ve successfully advanced to the first stage of the ‘Wood Shadow Technique’ through your hard work. I’ve seen your efforts, but you must remain humble and continue to cultivate diligently.”

“In the limited time I have left, I hope to see you make even more progress. This way, I won’t have wasted my efforts, and I can face the ancestors of our sect with pride.”

As he spoke, Military advisor Ji’s face gradually lost its joyful expression, replaced by a hint of sadness.

Li Yan listened attentively, his expression also becoming worried.

“Teacher, your body will definitely recover. I will work even harder to cultivate, but… but…”

Li Yan’s words were firm at first, but he began to hesitate towards the end.

Military advisor Ji’s face remained calm at first, but his eyebrows furrowed slightly as he listened to Li Yan’s words.

“What’s wrong?”

Li Yan looked at Military advisor Ji, his voice filled with uncertainty.

“It’s just that, after advancing to the first stage, my internal energy is still unstable. When I circulate my energy, the hot air in my Dantian seems to become even more turbulent, as if I’ve cultivated incorrectly.”

Military advisor Ji listened to Li Yan’s words, his face expressionless.

“I think I know what’s going on. You’ve just entered the first stage, and I haven’t had a chance to explain some things to you.”

“There are three reasons for this situation. Firstly, you’ve just entered the first stage and haven’t stabilized yet. Secondly, you can no longer practice the ‘Breathing Guidance Technique’ and need to switch to the corresponding first-stage oral formula. Thirdly, there’s still residual medicinal energy in your meridians, which will be resolved once you reach the second stage of the ‘Wood Shadow Technique’.”

Military advisor Ji gazed at Li Yan, seeing the fear and hesitation in his eyes slowly fade away as he listened. He nodded in satisfaction.

“I’ll teach you the first-stage oral formula. You must remember it clearly, without any mistakes.”

With a flick of his right hand, a piece of paper appeared on the table, with around a hundred characters written on it.

Li Yan bowed slightly to express his gratitude, then picked up the paper and began to study the formula carefully. After a while, he finished reading it and looked up at Military advisor Ji.

Military advisor Ji began to explain the formula, reciting it word by word…

As Li Yan disappeared from view, Military advisor Ji’s right hand lightly swept across the paper on the table, and the paper suddenly flew up into the air, self-igniting into ashes.

He stood there, staring blankly at the door, and after a while, he seemed to have made up his mind. He straightened up and walked towards the door with a calm pace.

Li Yan didn’t know that he had a great opportunity to escape, but fate was not on his side. Dong Fuyi didn’t have time to tell him about the hidden means he left, so he missed a great chance to escape in vain.

Time was fleeting, like sand slipping through one’s fingers.

Li Yan spent every day cultivating in the valley, often going without food or drink for two or three days. He couldn’t yet achieve the state of not eating or drinking, but his body was already different from ordinary people.

He could go without eating or drinking for two days, and sometimes he would get so absorbed in his cultivation that he would forget to eat until he was hungry. When he came out of his cultivation, he would often scold the women who brought him food, making them tremble with fear.

In the end, only Chen An and Li Ying dared to bring him food, but Li Yan’s attitude towards them also began to change, making them feel uneasy.

The two of them were Military advisor Ji’s confidants, and Military advisor Ji had instructed them to take good care of Li Yan before he left. However, Li Yan was not allowed to leave the military advisor’s residence easily.

As Li Yan’s cultivation progressed, his temper became worse, and Chen An and Li Ying began to complain privately. But Military advisor Ji had left over ten days ago and hadn’t returned, and no one knew what had happened to him.

In the past, Military advisor Ji would return to the valley within half a day or a night, but this time, no one knew what was going on.

As the days passed, Chen An and Li Ying began to feel a little more at ease, but they didn’t know what kind of trouble Li Yan was getting into. They started to bring him writing materials, and he would often take books from the shelf and copy the poems and writings inside.

He would write for half a day or a whole day, leaving the floor covered in ink and paper. Fortunately, Li Yan was absorbed in his writing, and he scolded them less.

However, when they carefully approached him to clean up the mess, they would ask him with a smile how to handle the papers, whether to hang them on the wall or store them in a large box.

Li Yan would always impatiently tell them to take the papers away, and they would reluctantly take them, but they didn’t dare throw them away.

They were afraid that Li Yan might suddenly become angry again and ask for the papers, and they wouldn’t be able to produce them, leading to another scolding. So, they had to find large boxes to store them.

Who would have thought that after a few days, many people were surprised to find that Li Yan’s temper had improved significantly, and he was speaking to them with a hint of politeness again? The people in the valley were confused and didn’t know what was going on.

Li Yan was actually very frustrated in his heart. He had been cultivating very hard recently and occasionally came out to perform. But what puzzled him most was that he didn’t see his teacher in the valley, and he couldn’t even perform for him to see.

Previously, Military Advisor Ji would occasionally go out, and it was normal for him to not be seen, so Li Yan didn’t think much of it at first.

However, after more than ten days, he had gone out several times, but Li Yan hadn’t seen him even once, which made him suddenly realize that something was off.

After observing for another day, he finally arrived at the first stone hut, but there was no familiar questioning voice from Military Advisor Ji, and Li Yan felt a sudden rapid heartbeat.

He walked up to the door, knocked on it, and waited for a moment, but there was no response from inside. He quickly rushed to the valley entrance and shouted loudly.

“Chen An, Chen An, come quickly!”

Chen An rushed out of the stone hut, looking anxious, while the soldiers behind him gazed at Chen An’s back with sympathetic expressions, thinking to themselves.

‘What’s gotten into this young master today, shouting and yelling like that?’

These soldiers weren’t responsible for internal valley affairs, which were mainly handled by a few women, Chen An, and Li Ying. Lately, they had seen Chen An and the others looking quite troubled.

Looking at Chen An, who had rushed over, Li Yan asked loudly without waiting for him to catch his breath.

“Chen An, I’ve come out to cultivate several times, but I haven’t seen Teacher. Is he not in the valley?”

“Reporting to Young Master, Military Advisor Ji has been gone for over ten days. I’m not sure if he’s attending to matters in the city or has other business. The details are unclear,” Chen An replied.

When Chen An heard about this, he immediately let go of his nervousness and said with a smile on his face.

“What? Teacher has been gone for over ten days?” 

Li Yan raised his voice and became angry. He was not pretending, but was really anxious.

Chen An saw Li Yan’s sudden anger and tried to placate him, speaking carefully.

“Isn’t it normal for Military Advisor Ji to go out? Besides, you didn’t ask us about it, Young Master.”

But Chen An didn’t dare show any negligence, glancing at Li Yan with a cautious expression, speaking in a gentle tone.

“Young Master, do you have any business with Military Advisor Ji? If there’s anything I can help with, please let me know.”

Li Yan was taken aback, realizing he had overreacted, and quickly composed himself, his face stern, as he scolded.

“I’m looking for Teacher to resolve some cultivation issues. Can you help me with that?”

After speaking, Li Yan glanced at Chen An with a sidelong glance.

Chen An’s face turned bitter.

“Young Master, I really can’t do it!”

“Why ask then? I’m asking you, do you know when Teacher will return?”

Li Yan asked.

“Uh… I don’t know, maybe today, maybe tomorrow, or maybe…”

“Enough, enough, if you don’t know, then don’t give me a bunch of nonsense about today or tomorrow!”

Li Yan said, then turned around and walked back into the valley, not even looking at Chen An again.

Chen An stood at the valley entrance, let out a sigh, and thought to himself, ‘This is really troublesome, and it’s all fallen on my head.’

He then turned around and walked towards the open area outside the valley, where he was greeted by a burst of light laughter.

Chen An looked around and saw Li Ying standing in the open area, along with a few women from the kitchen, all looking helpless. The other soldiers, however, were watching him with mocking expressions, which made Chen An angry.

“What are you idle people doing, standing around here? Why aren’t you doing your rounds?”

He knew that these soldiers had been looking down on him and Li Ying for a while, and that they resented the fact that only the two of them, along with the women, were allowed to enter the inner valley.

Who wouldn’t want to get close to the master? The women were just doing their jobs, cleaning and cooking. But Chen An and Li Ying were able to frequently enter the valley and work with the master and Young Master, which had created a distance between them and the other soldiers. Lately, they had been eating a lot of bitterness, and those soldiers were happy to see that.

The soldiers didn’t say a word, just made a “heh heh” sound, blew a whistle, and dispersed, leaving only Chen An and Li Ying standing alone in the open area.