Chapter 265: Mu Lan’s Shock!
Seeing the reward notification appear before him brought a genuine smile to Li Yun’s face as a sense of satisfaction rose quietly within his heart after everything that had happened.
"Nice," Li Yun muttered softly while his eyes moved across the words of the system message with clear interest.
However, the smile on his face slowly faded as he continued reading the full contents of the reward, and in its place, a solemn expression gradually appeared.
"For me to evolve the Nine Tribulations Divine Eye, I need to undergo a tribulation myself?"
Li Yun’s brows furrowed slightly as he absorbed the meaning behind those words.
The excitement of obtaining the reward quickly settled down, replaced by caution and thoughtfulness.
Although he had never personally experienced any tribulation before, he was not completely ignorant regarding such matters, because in the many cultivation novels he had read in the past, tribulations were always dangerous events.
Heavenly lightning would descend, strange natural punishments would appear, and cultivators who were not prepared would often lose their lives while attempting to advance.
Li Yun did not know whether the tribulations of this world would take the same form or not.
Yet one thing was beyond doubt.
If even the system specifically warned him to choose a suitable place and make ample preparations, then this first tribulation connected to the Nine Tribulations Divine Eye would certainly not be something simple or harmless.
"No wonder it is called the Nine Tribulations Divine Eye," Li Yun muttered with a faint sigh as he shook his head lightly.
The name itself had hidden the truth all along. Its growth would not come freely. Each stage would likely demand that he pass through danger.
Li Yun’s gaze deepened as he quickly reached a decision in his heart.
He would not recklessly attempt the tribulation out of impatience.
If danger was involved, then he would first strengthen himself further, gather whatever defensive resources he could obtain, and choose the best possible location before attempting it.
Only a fool would challenge an unknown tribulation carelessly.
Li Yun had no intention of being such a fool.
After deciding this matter, he finally raised his head and looked around the tomb hall.
The place had become a scene of destruction from the fierce battle that had just taken place. Deep cracks spread across the floor, shattered stone fragments were scattered everywhere, broken pillars leaned crookedly at odd angles, and faint traces of lightning, flame, and demonic energy still lingered in the air.
Yet amidst all this chaos, there was no trace of Wu Lin.
Li Yun stared blankly for a moment before letting out a helpless laugh.
"I told this guy to hide, and he truly hid himself well," he said with a wry smile.
Soon after, his gaze lowered toward the unconscious Mu Lan.
She lay quietly on the damaged ground, her body covered in injuries sustained during the battle when Li Yun had no choice but to attack with full force in order to suppress the demonic soul occupying her.
Looking at her current condition, Li Yun could not help but sigh.
"I hope she does not blame me for this later."
He crouched beside her and extended one hand, after which he began circulating his chaotic qi carefully.
The dark and corrupted remnants of demonic qi still hidden within her body slowly surfaced under the influence of his energy, and Li Yun guided his chaotic qi to devour each trace one by one, taking care not to harm her meridians or internal organs in the process.
Time passed quietly.
Several minutes later, the final strand of demonic qi was completely consumed.
Only then did Li Yun slowly withdraw his hand.
"She should wake up soon now that her body has been cleansed," Li Yun muttered as he observed her breathing stabilize.
His eyes then shifted toward the side hall where Han Li, Han Xue, and Shi Mo had gone earlier.
There was no urgent reason for him to remain here anymore.
The battle had ended, the mission had been completed, and the tomb’s owner had already been erased.
Yet when he looked back at Mu Lan, who still remained unconscious in a ruined and dangerous tomb, his expression changed slightly.
Leaving her here alone in such a state did not feel wise.
After a brief silence, Li Yun made his choice.
In the end, he decided to remain inside the tomb until Mu Lan awakened.
A few hours passed quietly within the ruined tomb hall, and aside from the faint sound of shifting dust and distant echoes from the deeper passages, the place remained still.
Li Yun stayed seated not far from Mu Lan, using the time to recover his own exhausted qi while maintaining enough awareness to sense any danger that might approach.
To his surprise, the first person to return was Wu Lin.
The moment Wu Lin stepped into the hall, his eyes were instantly drawn toward Mu Lan’s unconscious figure lying on the ground, and his expression changed sharply as worry surged across his face.
He rushed forward without hesitation and knelt beside her before quickly turning toward Li Yun.
"Is she fine?" Wu Lin asked anxiously, his voice filled with urgency. "Did you kill whatever was occupying her body?"
"She is fine for now," Li Yun replied calmly as he nodded. "I already erased the soul that had taken over her body, and she should wake up soon."
No sooner had Li Yun finished speaking than Mu Lan’s eyelashes trembled lightly.
A moment later, her eyes slowly opened.
She inhaled softly and pushed herself into a seated position, one hand pressing against the ground as she looked around with visible confusion.
Her gaze first landed on Wu Lin, then shifted toward Li Yun.
"What happened?" she asked, her voice slightly weak as she frowned.
Her memories felt incomplete and disordered.
She could vaguely remember fighting the demonic martial artists, then a sudden piercing headache that seemed to tear through her consciousness, and after that, everything became a blur until this very moment.
Li Yun did not avoid the truth.
He calmly explained everything that had happened, from the tomb owner’s hidden soul possessing her body to the battle that followed, and finally how he had dragged the invading soul out and destroyed it.
He did not soften any part of the story.
"I was possessed by the owner of the tomb?" Mu Lan said in shock, her eyes widening for a brief moment.
However, her composure returned quickly as she took a slow breath and steadied herself.
Then she looked at Li Yun again, this time with far more depth in her gaze.
She had already witnessed Li Yun’s strength before losing consciousness, yet even knowing how monstrous he was, she still found it difficult to imagine how he had resolved such a dangerous situation.
The owner of the tomb should have been stronger than the other demonic souls present here.
If that being could silently take over her body without anyone noticing, then its means and danger level should have been far beyond ordinary enemies.
Yet Li Yun had still managed to defeat it.
Not only that, he had done so while preserving her life and without causing excessive damage to her body.
The more Mu Lan thought about it, the more astonished she became.
At this moment, Li Yun no longer looked like a mere second level Qi Sea Realm martial artist in her eyes.
He looked like a supreme genius whose name would one day shake the Southern Martial Domain.