Eternal Life: I Can Control My Essence Qi-Chapter 197 - 165: Wan He’s Legacy

Over a decade ago.

The Li Family's law enforcement team accidentally caught a young demon cultivator couple during a routine inspection.

Demon cultivators are the public enemies of orthodox cultivators, so the Li Family naturally did not show mercy, immediately capturing and interrogating them to forcefully extract their motives for infiltrating the Li Kingdom.

Unexpectedly, this interrogation uncovered an unexpected delight.

That demon cultivator couple actually came from the distant Central Plains Jing Kingdom, spending several years crossing most of the territories of the Southwest Countries, traversing myriad mountains and rivers, enduring hardships before arriving at the Li Kingdom.

And their objective in lingering in the Li Kingdom was to obtain the inheritance of an elder from their clan, using this as a chance to achieve Foundation Establishment and turn their fortune around—

The elder of their clan was none other than lord Wanhe, who was once renowned in the Li Kingdom.

"Demon cultivator couple..."

Zhang Yao's expression shifted slightly, instantly recalling that couple of cultivators from back then.

Back then, it was those two who first came to his shop showing a damaged second level Array Map, and then, the Li Family invited him over a few days later.

Now, it seems his judgment was correct; that couple of cultivators indeed died at the hands of the Li Family, though Zhang Yao hadn't expected them to be demon cultivators from afar in the Jing Kingdom.

"Continue."

Zhang Yao raised his chin slightly, signaling him to proceed.

"Going further..."

Li Changlin paused for a moment and continued:

"After extracting the location of lord Wanhe's cave dwelling from them, I personally went there to confirm the news was true."

"Immediately after, I killed that demon cultivator couple, joined forces with my cousin to attempt to break through the protective array of the cave dwelling, but were ingloriously repelled by the array, nearly getting injured."

"Later on, we recruited several Array Dao masters, trying to deduce the complete Array Map of the cave dwelling and find a way to break it..."

He paused at this point, suddenly feeling a jolt.

He suddenly remembered this matter wasn't only known by Li Family members—

Tiandun Sect had always been well-hidden by them, but among the Array Dao masters they recruited back then, one named Zhang Qing had left early, and very likely guessed part of the truth.

This was the only outsider not under their control, who might be informed.

"Could it be... this person was brought by Zhang Qing?"

Li Changlin speculated in his heart, but dared not ask further, and could only continue recounting his experiences over the years.

That protective array of lord Wanhe's cave dwelling was even more formidable than they anticipated.

Spending nearly a decade, they only managed to break about half of it, still far from breaching the entire array.

"Is that so..."

After hearing him out, Zhang Yao's eyes flickered, questioning:

"Did the couple you captured back then not know more clues about breaking the array?"

"They did not know."

Li Changlin shook his head and said:

"They claimed to be descendants of Daoist Wanhe, although they had never met Daoist Wanhe, merely aware of an uncle from home."

"Their situation in the Jing Kingdom wasn't great; they originally intended to seek refuge with Daoist Wanhe, not expecting to arrive in the Li Kingdom only to learn of his death."

"Thus, they temporarily changed plans, intending to find lord Wanhe's legacy, accomplish Foundation Establishment, and return to the Jing Kingdom."

Zhang Yao understood immediately upon hearing this.

Their plan was initially sound, but unfortunately too unlucky, falling into the Li Family's hands, resulting in a tragic end as fugitive lovers.

However, he still had one doubt:

The Jing Kingdom is deep within the Central Plains, almost twenty thousand li away, yet two Qi Refining cultivators managed to travel smoothly south without dying along the way, which is somewhat unlikely.

But lord Wanhe fled Da Li over a hundred years ago, went into hiding in the Li Kingdom, and the cave dwelling after his death remained hidden for many years.

Logically, all traces of him should have been mostly erased, far too late to investigate after a century.

How did those two Qi Refining demon cultivators manage to track all the way to the Li Kingdom, even finding his hidden cave dwelling so easily?

After voicing this doubt, Li Changlin promptly explained:

"Here's how it is."

"Based on my initial interrogation, I learned that they not only came from the same clan but were also part of the same demon cultivator organization—'Illuminati'."

"Although lord Wanhe basically severed ties with his clan, he still maintained close contact with Illuminati, leaving quite a few clues."

"They followed these clues all the way to lord Wanhe's true cave dwelling..."

Speaking of which, Li Changlin paused and added:

"Yet that demon cultivator couple were merely low-level minions within Illuminati, joining thanks to familial connections, and had scant knowledge of Illuminati's information."

"After ensuring no new information could be extracted, we silenced them..."

His voice grew increasingly faint, finally unable to resist, pleading low:

"Daoist friend, I've told you everything you seek, without any concealment!"

"I hope you can spare me and the Li Family once, let us off kindly; our family's centuries of accumulation and wealth are yours to take."

Zhang Yao said nothing, slowly speaking:

"You are sensible, which is good."

"Next, I will perform a soul search on you. As long as it verifies you didn't lie, I'll naturally spare your life."

Once his words fell, the Desolate Soul-shaking Divine Light appeared again, and before Li Changlin could react, he passed out again.

Soon after, Zhang Yao placed a hand on his head, deploying the Soul Searching Secret Technique, aggressively piercing his divine thought into the Sea of Consciousness, examining his memories.