Li Haowen's thoughts were a tangled mess.
It took him quite a while before he finally managed to straighten out his train of thought and clearly understand what he was currently involved in.
Penetrating deep into the heart of Shengyuan Mountain to retrieve the Dao Basis of Ancestor Xie that Patriarch Kong had placed here...
For the current Li Haowen, forget about giants of the immortal path like Patriarch Kong and Ancestor Xie.
Even the current Sect Leader of Kongshan Sect, Yun Yichen, who had reached the peak of the Unity realm, was already a towering mountain that filled him with awe.
And the words Chen Yan had just spoken made him feel an indescribable sense of unreality.
That was the Dao Basis of an Ascended Immortal!
What exactly was Ascending to Immortality?
Since Heavenly Summit Mountain had dominated the Chenping Continent, over a hundred thousand years, how many cultivators had emerged across this vast heaven and earth? Certainly more than hundreds of billions.
What a lamentable ratio that was.
"What Junior Brother Chen means is that back then, Patriarch Kong placed Ancestor Xie's Dao Basis within Shengyuan Mountain, and now he has dispatched you to retrieve Ancestor Xie's Dao Basis..."
As he spoke, Li Haowen turned his gaze towards the ancient token hanging at Chen Yan's waist.
"Currently, the location where Ancestor Xie's Dao Basis lies is occupied by a Sixth Realm great demon. I believe the reason this area is so quiet is because of that demonic beast."
Chen Yan said.
"A Sixth Realm great demon. Does Junior Brother Chen have confidence in handling it?"
Li Haowen asked.
"Easily within my grasp."
Chen Yan's reply was quite resolute.
Before his words had even fully faded, Chen Yan first took a few steps forward, then stepped onto empty air. His body soared upwards as he flew through the air.
Li Haowen stood rooted to the spot for another moment, staring at the back of that young man clad in Kongyuan Mountain's daoist robes.
This chief disciple of Kongyuan Mountain, who should have died twenty years ago, was truly shrouded in far too many mysteries.
...
Freed from the burden of Wei Kun and the others, Chen Yan and Li Haowen could now fly at full speed without any further concerns. From their previous position to the location Chen Yan had determined through his spiritual sense, it only took them a few breaths.
The two of them hovered in the air several dozen zhang high, their gazes locked on the ground below.
A massive tiger with a body of pure jade-white and a pair of wings growing from its back lay sprawled on the ground.
Its body length exceeded three zhang, and its shoulder height undoubtedly reached over one zhang and eight chi.
On its forehead, a vertical eye was tightly shut, emanating a heart-palpitating pressure.
Chen Yan was certain that the demonic aura he had sensed earlier was emanating from right below his feet.
The Three-Eyed, Vertically-Pupiled, Majestic Mountain Tiger.
The reason this species of demonic beast had such a majestic name was because tens of thousands of years ago, a Divine Ability Realm Grand Elder from Wind Ravine Valley, while traveling, had slain one of these tigers and chanced upon a cub of this demonic beast.
Later, that Grand Elder from Wind Ravine Valley brought the demonic beast cub back to the sect, raised it, and eventually used it as a mount.
This beast was highly intelligent and understanding of human nature, majestic and awe-inspiring. Its combat prowess was also formidable, equivalent to an ordinary Myriad Transformations Realm cultivator who had condensed over seven thousand strands of innate true energy.
Thus, at that time, among the great powers of the upper three realms on the Chenping Continent, a wave of fashion arose, with everyone taking pride in subduing this demonic beast as a mount.
Precisely because of the fondness of those great powers of the upper three realms, this demonic beast was named the "Three-Eyed, Vertically-Pupiled, Majestic Mountain Tiger."
However, this demonic beast had to be in constant contact with humans from a young age and be disciplined accordingly to be used as a mount.
As for wild Three-Eyed, Vertically-Pupiled, Majestic Mountain Tigers, they could never be tamed no matter what, possessing an extremely strong desire to attack, fighting to the death.
To retrieve True Person Minghua's Dao Basis, they had no choice but to first slay this Three-Eyed, Vertically-Pupiled, Majestic Mountain Tiger.
"Senior Brother Li."
Chen Yan spoke up:
"Wait here until I finish slaying this demonic beast, then you can come down."
Before Li Haowen could even respond, Chen Yan activated the Xun Wind Step mid-air, instantly bridging the distance between the sky and the ground as he charged towards the direction of that Three-Eyed, Vertically-Pupiled, Majestic Mountain Tiger.
Chen Yan's single strand of innate true energy coiled around his right fist as he smashed it fiercely towards the tiger's head.
In an instant, the earth centered around that Three-Eyed, Vertically-Pupiled, Majestic Mountain Tiger cracked like glass across an area of several dozen zhang in radius, then abruptly caved inwards, forming an oval-shaped deep pit tens of zhang in diameter.
The shockwave spread outwards.
All the trees within a radius of several li in the mountain forest were flattened outwards like wheat stalks.
Within the central area of over ten zhang, trees and mountain rocks were all pulverized into dust.
Li Haowen, who witnessed everything from the air, was utterly horrified. He was soon affected by the shockwave emanating from the ground, causing his entire body's true qi to tremble violently.
During the Heavenly Summit Mountain Cataclysm, Li Haowen had personally witnessed the battles between Zhong Yin, Yue Chi, Hu Tianyuan, and others against Wen Hongli and He Furen.
Yet he felt that the imposing might displayed by any one of those Myriad Transformations Realm great powers paled in comparison to the sheer force Chen Yan was exhibiting at this very moment.
He had originally thought that Chen Yan had merely broken through to the Myriad Transformations Realm. While that was already shocking enough, it was still somewhat acceptable.
After all, Star Heaven Sect already had a Qin Qingyu.
But judging from the strength Chen Yan had just displayed, he was even more powerful than veteran Myriad Transformations Realm cultivators like Elder Zhong Yin and Elder Yue Chi, who had been in the Myriad Transformations Realm for decades or even over a century.
Just what kind of monster was Chen Yan?
...Or rather, was he even still Chen Yan?
The dust gradually settled.
A faint demonic aura still lingered in the air.
Chen Yan straightened up and looked at the Three-Eyed, Vertically-Pupiled, Majestic Mountain Tiger lying collapsed before him, its skull completely shattered, having completely lost all signs of life.
Myriad Transformations Realm cultivators could reshape their physical bodies using their innate true energy.
But Sixth Realm demonic beasts could not.
A demonic beast with combat power equivalent to a Myriad Transformations Realm cultivator with over seven thousand strands of innate true energy had just been one-shot killed by his single punch.
This was the first time Chen Yan had crossed blows with an opponent of a similar realm since advancing to the Myriad Transformations Realm.
He had originally thought that in a confrontation with someone like He Furen, it might take around thirty exchanges to determine the victor.
But looking at it now, he seemed to have been mistaken.
He estimated that a Myriad Transformations Realm cultivator of He Furen's level would also be one-shot killed by his punch.
Chen Yan scanned his surroundings, taking in the devastation around him, then locked his gaze on a section of the mountain wall about ten zhang away from him.
After being swept by the massive shockwave, an ancient stone door had been revealed within the mountain wall.
This ancient stone door looked remarkably intact.
This defied common sense.
At such a close distance, if this were an ordinary stone door, if not shattered, it should at least have been cracked.
Which meant...
The giant tiger's corpse still emitted a faint trace of demonic aura.
Chen Yan walked towards the direction of the ancient stone door.
In the very center of the stone door, there were two sword slots.
"Senior Brother Li, this is the place."
Chen Yan affirmed.
Li Haowen descended from behind Chen Yan, steadied himself, took two steps forward, and then spoke:
"Ancestor Xie's Dao Basis is here?"
*If Kong Yang hasn't lied to me.*
Chen Yan thought to himself.
"Let's begin, Senior Brother Li."
He then said.
Li Haowen remained silent. He walked towards the stone door, came to a stop in front of it, drew the two long swords—one black, one white—from his waist, and inserted them into the sword slots.
*Rumble...*
The ancient stone door began to shake violently, cracking open from the middle.
The moment the crack appeared, Chen Yan's eyes instantly widened, and the hairs on his body stood on end—
Because the demonic aura in the air suddenly became much thicker.