Atop the spherical mountain peak, only Li Yan and Gong Chenying remained, facing each other under the gaze of countless onlookers.

“We should go too.”

Gong Chenying had no desire to remain the center of attention here. She directly released her white jade boat and spoke to Li Yan, then stepped aboard first. Li Yan naturally didn’t want to be stared at like some exotic beast either, so he quickly followed. The white jade boat transformed into a streak of light and shot through the air.

“Were you doing that on purpose just now?”

On the white jade boat, Gong Chenying stood at the bow, facing the wind. Her robes fluttered in the breeze as she asked indifferently, without turning around.

“Oh… no, I was just curious.”

Li Yan was startled by her words, then answered somewhat sheepishly.

After hearing this, Gong Chenying tilted her head slightly, glancing at Li Yan with the corner of her eye. Li Yan, standing behind her, couldn’t help but scratch his head.

“Sixth Senior Sister, don’t mention the pill I gave you to anyone. Judging by how quickly your injuries healed, that pill was rather strange—not something that should exist in this realm. If someone with ulterior motives found out, they might even resort to soul searching.”

Li Yan suddenly transmitted his voice.

Gong Chenying continued to stand at the front, her robes still swaying, but remained silent. Seeing this, Li Yan fell quiet as well. He had already warned her about this inside the Life-and-Death Wheel, but he feared this stubborn girl might directly blurt it out, which would bring endless trouble later.

The spherical mountain peak was only about twenty li from the mountain where the Wraith Sect was located. Under Gong Chenying’s rapid flight, they Read on Jormuntl soon arrived. The white jade boat circled once before landing on the peak.

After the two landed, Gong Chenying waved her hand to store the white jade boat, then led Li Yan toward Elder Peng and the others. The eight people there had already been watching them intently with burning gazes.

As Li Yan walked over, he immediately spotted Zhao Min, Li Wuyi, and Li Changting standing beside the eight Core Formation elders, as well as Yun Chunque, Wei Chituo, and others behind them with joyful expressions on their faces.

Further away were disciples like Wang Tian, Wei Feng, and the Chu Brothers. These people wore various expressions—some looked delighted, others remained cold, some nodded in acknowledgment, but none approached to speak, clearly knowing this was the elders’ time for questioning. However, their gazes inadvertently swept over Gong Chenying’s waist.

Li Yan nodded to Li Wuyi and the others as he walked. When he saw Zhao Min, the ponytailed girl maintained her cold expression as she nodded slightly to him, then looked toward Gong Chenying. At that moment, Gong Chenying, who was walking ahead of Li Yan, clearly paused in her steps.

Then she quickly adjusted her pace and walked toward the eight elders. Li Yan could only smile at Li Wuyi and the others before hurrying to catch up.

“Did Little Junior Brother’s team suffer such heavy losses? Sixth Junior Sister’s storage pouch isn’t on her either.”

Li Changting frowned as he spoke in a low voice.

“The situation doesn’t look good. Baili Yuan and Gan Shi still haven’t come out. Could it be that aside from the top three, only these few people remain from the nearly seven hundred cultivators who entered?”

Li Wuyi’s expression wasn’t very good.

“At least they came out. The demon cultivators and Pure Land Sect didn’t have a single person emerge.”

Zhao Min raised her dark, elegant eyebrows, standing with her hands behind her back as she watched the retreating figures of Gong Chenying and Li Yan. Whether it was her imagination or not, Gong Chenying’s expression had clearly been somewhat unnatural when she saw her earlier.

Behind them, Yun Chunque’s injuries had not yet fully healed, and Wei Chituo supported him. His [stolen content]face, which had always been like solid ice, finally showed a trace of a smile as he whispered:

“It’s good they’re back, it’s good they’re back!”

After hearing this, Wei Chituo gently patted his shoulder with his other hand.

Wang Tian and the others further away had expressions that shifted between light and dark as they spoke in low voices. Without listening closely, one could guess the content—it was because none of the cultivators from the other peaks who had followed Gong Chenying inside had emerged, leaving only this pair of martial siblings.

They were naturally discussing this matter. At the same time, they hadn’t discovered any storage pouches on Gong Chenying and Li Yan, making their suspicions even stronger, though they couldn’t question them at the moment.

Just as Gong Chenying and Li Yan reached Elder Peng, before the two could bow, Elder Peng waved his hand, and a light barrier enveloped all eight Core Formation elders together.

At the same time, the Grand Profound Sect’s Daoist Hang Wu and others were doing similar things, hurriedly questioning Qiu Jiuzhen about related matters. The Ten-Step Court had the Sword King personally treating Wang Lang, but clearly, Wang Lang wouldn’t be able to wake up anytime soon.

Inside the light barrier, Elder Peng first asked a few simple questions, which Gong Chenying answered one by one. Then she began recounting what had happened from the moment they entered the Life-and-Death Wheel.

During this, other elders would occasionally interject with questions, while Li Yan stood behind them, bored but maintaining a respectful demeanor as he listened to the events again.

However, when Gong Chenying mentioned that in the first trial, Li Yan had ultimately poisoned eighteen monks to death and even schemed against a Buddhist master, all the elders cast meaningful glances at Li Yan. This made Li Yan feel somewhat flattered, and his respectful expression became even more pronounced.

When Gong Chenying continued to describe the changes in the third trial, all the elders showed shocked expressions. Although they had previously guessed that the three sects of the Ten-Step Court must have hidden methods to deal with the Wraith Sect, they never imagined that they could unite together in violation of the rules and then join forces against their side.

For a moment, they couldn’t understand how such an impossible situation could occur under the constraints of the Life-and-Death Wheel’s rules.

Li Yuyin’s pretty face flushed with murderous intent. As her voluptuous body swayed slightly, a killing aura rose within the light barrier, immediately making unauthorized copy it difficult for Gong Chenying and Li Yan to breathe.

“I knew those bastards were a bunch of despicable scum who can’t stand the light, despite calling themselves righteous gentlemen and claiming to be upright every day!”

“Sister Li, please calm your anger. It’s not too late to discuss this after they finish speaking.”

Peak Master Yi from Four Symbols Peak waved his hand, and the killing intent in the barrier immediately dissipated. Only then did Gong Chenying and Li Yan feel their bodies relax, though layers of sweat had already formed on their heads. The might of Core Formation cultivators was truly not something they could withstand.

After Gong Chenying exhaled a breath, she smiled bitterly to herself, organized her thoughts, and continued speaking.

What she said next involved Li Yan quite a bit. She described how Li Yan had analyzed the battle traces and items left behind by their opponents, unraveling the mystery bit by bit until he finally discovered the secret within the rhombic crystals.

Not only that, but he had also discovered spaces outside the trials within the Life-and-Death Wheel, and through these discoveries, he had made his way out to notify Gan Shi and Baili Yuan.

Later, after Li Yan returned, she recounted how he had found her and severely injured Wang Lang.

However, regarding Li Yan’s treatment of her injuries, she glossed over it, only saying that she had been injured again by Wang Lang after her initial wounds, and that after Li Yan helped her escape, she had taken sect pills and recovered.

She believed that aside from Peak Mistress Li Yuyin, who as a woman might examine her injuries, none of the others would inquire further.

Since the elders saw that her aura was currently stable, they didn’t examine her or continue questioning. After all, they had prepared large quantities of pills for these disciples before they entered the Life-and-Death Wheel. Moreover, they were now attracted by Li Yan’s actions.

Gong Chenying also described Mei Bucai and the others’ whereabouts along with her speculation, which made the elders nod slightly. The countermeasures Gong Chenying had adopted at the time were correct.

They felt that Gong Chenying wouldn’t lie, because otherwise, if a whole team went in and only the team leader and her own martial brother came out, it noodles would be extremely difficult to explain to any peak. Moreover, as long as Wang Lang was alive, it wouldn’t be difficult to find out about the situation at that time.

After finishing her account, Gong Chenying fell silent. However, after hearing the course of events, the elders’ gazes grew brighter and brighter. They hadn’t expected that among this batch of Qi Condensation disciples, there would truly emerge a praiseworthy disciple.

Not to mention other matters, just Gong Chenying’s mention of Li Yan poisoning the Pure Land Sect’s Master Zhizhong to death, as well as the Ten-Step Court’s Miao Zhengyi and a Grand Profound Sect Foundation Establishment cultivator, was already inconceivable.

Especially his final severe injury of Wang Lang seemed even more bizarre—this was typical cross-rank killing. Although Gong Chenying and others had participated, the final fatal blow had undoubtedly come from this young man before them.

“Giggle giggle… Little fellow, I’ve long heard of the reputation of the Fractured Poison Body. I didn’t get to see it personally during the sect competition. Do you know that if Senior Brother Wei hadn’t competed with me back then, you should have been a disciple of my Boundless Peak?”

A voice that was charming to the bone rang out within the light barrier, making Li Yan’s whole body tingle and his eyes show a dazed look. But this only lasted for a moment before he regained clarity, though his face was already flushed red with large beads of sweat rolling down.

Even Gong Chenying, standing nearby, felt her heart rate accelerate and her face turn completely red after hearing those words.

After Li Yan regained consciousness, he quickly stepped back several paces until he was against the light barrier, his eyes showing a hint of wariness.

“Giggle giggle, quite good indeed. You actually recovered in such a short time.”

Peak Mistress Li Yuyin of Boundless Peak laughed charmingly, while the other elders nearby also showed uncomfortable expressions.

“I say, Sister Li, why must you cast techniques on a junior?” Elder Peng said with displeasure on his face.

“This servant girl didn’t do it intentionally, but it seems this little fellow is truly quite formidable. Whether it’s his schemes and methods or that Fractured Poison Body, they’re all quite strong. When this servant girl was his age, she was much weaker.”

Li Yuyin appeared lazy, her stretched form even more soul-stirring.

Seeing her treat Li Yan this way, Gong Chenying lowered her head, and unexpectedly felt a sense of discomfort in her heart. She had seen this Martial Aunt Li several times before and knew that her cultivation technique was special, but had never felt anything inappropriate about it.

But today, she felt some displeasure, though with her head lowered, no one noticed.

“Alright, alright! Li Yan, I didn’t expect your mind to be so meticulous that you could discover the three sects’ secret. Now tell us about how you notified Baili Yuan and the others after leaving.”

Elder Peng’s face was full of admiration. He first looked up at the area outside the light barrier—half an incense stick’s time had passed since Gong Chenying and the others had emerged, but there was still no movement atop the spherical mountain peak. Then he looked toward Li Yan and spoke gently.

From the conversation between several people, Li Yan realized that this Martial Aunt Li was again teasing a junior, which made him feel quite depressed. He could only step forward again, bow respectfully to everyone, though keeping a greater distance from Peak Mistress Li.

Then he recounted how he had found Gan Shi after leaving the passage, how he had led them out of the passage to find Baili Yuan, and how on their way back to find Gong Chenying, he had been transported to the final trial…

Of course, he didn’t mention a single word about Pingtu or the timing. Even so, his account made all eight elders gasp in shock.

“Little fellow, according to what you’ve said, this space secretly contains the principles of Five Elements compatibility, created through mutual generation and restriction. I didn’t expect your mixed spiritual roots to have such miraculous effects, accidentally exposing their conspiracy.”

A black, short middle-aged elder from Four Symbols Peak said with gleaming eyes.

Li Yan nodded in agreement.

“Martial nephew also heard their personal admission of this matter afterward.”

Then he recounted his encounter with visit our site Wang Lang and Quan Jiuxing, as well as the general content of their conversation.

“So you’re saying that after Wang Lang and Quan Jiuxing met up, you disrupted that Five Elements balance, making them turn on each other? Then you killed the Ten-Step Court’s Miao Zhengyi?

After finding Gong Chenying, you actually hid in the black shadows that could destroy all things, waiting for the opportunity to severely injure Wang Lang…”

Although they had heard Gong Chenying’s account before, it was only a general overview. After detailed questioning, the more they thought about it, the more shocked they became. This disciple now looked completely harmless.

In these Life-and-Death Wheel trials, most of the Foundation Establishment experts from the three sects had died directly or indirectly at his hands, and he had also killed many Qi Condensation disciples. Most tragically, those cultivators from the three sects didn’t even know how they had died.

(Chapter End)