Winter passed and spring came. Time flew by. There are no years in cultivation. In the blink of an eye, three years had passed.
Tens of thousands of li to the east of the Malevolent Spirit Sect, there was a huge imperial city. This imperial city was several hundred li wide. It was extremely prosperous, with clusters of buildings that were grand and sacred. The most exquisite and largest building here was not the imperial palace, but a sword sect in the east of the city. The courtyards, pavilions, and huge palaces in the sect were everywhere. From the entrance of the sword sect to the back, one would have to ride a horse on its main road for half a day to reach it. The sword sect was divided into the Outer Sword Courtyard and the Inner Sword Pavilion. It was a world-famous gathering place for sword cultivators. It had a name in the world—the Ten-Pace Courtyard, and it was also one of the great sects of the four mountain immortal sects of this Desolate Moon Continent.
At this time, in a huge palace in the Ten-Pace Courtyard, three people were gathered inside. A middle-aged cultivator in a green shirt, a young monk, and an old Daoist in a purple robe. Each of them exuded a powerful aura. They were actually three great Golden Core cultivators.
The middle-aged cultivator in a green shirt was about forty years old, with a square face and sword-like eyebrows. He had a righteous air about him, and a faint, sharp sword qi fluctuated from his body. He sat at the head and was actually at the late stage of Golden Core cultivation. He opened his mouth and said, "I didn't expect it to be Great Master Yiye and Immortal Elder Hanglin who have come to our courtyard. It really surprises me, hehe."
Hearing this, the young monk put his hands together and nodded slightly. "Yiye of the Pure Land Sect greets you, Sword King of the Nether Spring." The monk's face was as clear as water, with clear eyebrows and beautiful eyes. His eyes were black and white. He was of medium build and was wearing a green kasaya. He was already at the mid-stage of Golden Core cultivation, but when he sat there, he was like an ordinary monk from a mortal temple, with a humble and gentle demeanor.
Seeing this, the old Daoist also gave a single-handed salute. "Sword King of the Nether Spring, for your courtyard to have your inner sword pavilion come forward, it shows the importance you place on this matter. The Supreme Mystery Teachings sent this poor Daoist here to assist the Ten-Pace Courtyard and the Pure Land Sect. If you have any instructions, we will definitely cooperate fully." The old Daoist was thin and wiry, with a head of crane-like hair that was extremely smooth and faintly shimmering with a silver light. He had a Daoist bun on top of his head. His face was rosy, and his pair of small eyes were shining with a sharp light, making him seem a little cunning. He was actually also at the late stage of Golden Core cultivation.
After hearing this, Great Master Yiye just nodded slightly and recited a Buddhist mantra, not saying much.
The middle-aged cultivator in a green shirt from the Ten-Pace Courtyard smiled slightly and thought to himself, "The Supreme Mystery Sect sent you here just to get more benefits. Who doesn't know your cunning? As a famous Daoist sect, you don't have a shred of clean and proud spirit. To say that you will assist from the side and cooperate fully, are you afraid that if something happens and it is investigated in the future, it will be the responsibility of my Ten-Pace Courtyard and the Pure Land Sect?"
The Sword King of the Nether Spring thought this in his heart, but he chuckles and said, 'Our sect is one branch, inside and out, without distinction between strong and weak. I came over just because the other senior brothers had things to do. For Immortal Elder Hanglin to say so is too modest. The three sects have asked us three to discuss this matter, which of course represents the will of the three sects. Next year will be the fifteen-year period of realm-seeking and harvesting. But since ancient times, the Malevolent Spirit Sect has always used all kinds of evil poison arts to gain the upper hand. Not only did they take nearly half of the resources, but many of our elite Foundation Establishment disciples have also fallen.
Seeing the middle-aged cultivator in a green shirt say so, the thin and wiry Daoist's expression became serious. "Sword King of the Nether Spring is absolutely right. The Malevolent Spirit Sect, relying on its special cultivation methods, has shown no mercy to our three sects, causing the Ten-Pace Courtyard and the Pure Land Sect to lose many of the elite Foundation Establishment disciples they have painstakingly cultivated. And my Supreme Mystery Daoist Sect, just because of our cultivation methods, prefers to fight cleanly on the lotus platform. We often fall into their traps four or five times out of ten, suffering even heavier casualties. This kind of behavior is truly contemptible."
Hearing this, the middle-aged scholar sneered in his heart, "Are you Supreme Mystery Dao cultivators so upright? Are our sword sect and Buddhist sect not presentable? In the cultivation world, don't use these things to fool people. Who is a true gentleman?"
At this time, Monk Yiye put his palms together and said, "Amitabha, it is my Buddhist duty to eliminate demons and defend the Dao."
The middle-aged cultivator in a green shirt smiled and nodded. "Then for the remaining one year, we should start like this..." As he spoke, his lips moved slightly, but no sound could be heard. In this heavily restricted backyard of the Ten-Pace Courtyard, he was actually so cautious, using the method of secret voice transmission.
The monk and the Daoist listened and also began to discuss using the voice transmission method.
...
Li Yan opened his eyes from his cultivation, a sharp light shooting out from them. In these three years, he had practiced hard day and night without stopping. His cultivation method had already reached the seventh layer of Qi Condensation. His progress was truly rapid. Most of this was due to the promotional effect of the special cultivation method of the True Scripture of the Nether Water. In addition, the resources provided by the sect had also benefited him greatly. The extra five low-grade spirit stones and two bottles of "Spirit-Raising Pills" each month compared to the Outer Sect disciples of the same rank had given him a lot of assistance. Needless to say, the spirit stones, every time he practiced immortal arts, he would quickly use spirit stones to replenish the consumed spiritual power, which greatly reduced the time spent on meditation and practice to recover.
The Spirit-Raising Pill, when taken one pill before each cultivation of the True Scripture of the Nether Water, could make his spiritual power much purer after one heavenly cycle. This made it possible to achieve the effect of two heavenly cycles in one heavenly cycle, which was a considerable improvement in efficiency.
In terms of immortal arts, the "Fireball Art" and "Wind Blade Art" had reached the late stage of minor accomplishment, the "Quicksand Art" had been practiced to the great accomplishment stage, and the "Cloud and Rain Art" and the newly learned "Wind Binding Art" and "Art of Sky-Walking" had all been practiced to the mid-stage of minor accomplishment.
He had already mastered the use of each of the twelve fragmented bodies individually. But if he were to combine them, he could also simply combine two or three of them.
After finishing his cultivation, Li Yan did not get up but remained seated cross-legged, his divine sense looking inward. The five spiritual power vats in his Dantian's Purple Mansion had grown five or six times larger than three years ago. Currently, the spiritual energy in the water, wood, and fire spiritual power vats was circulating. This spiritual energy had become a semi-watery state. After it all became liquid, he could successfully establish his foundation. And the earth and metal spiritual power vats were still empty. He was actually at the mid-stage of the seventh layer of Qi Condensation.
Looking at the watery state of the spiritual power, Li Yan's heart moved. The five elements of spiritual power circulated, and the spiritual power in the first three vats began to restrain and generate each other, slowly pouring into the earth and metal vats. This kind of infusion was not the natural generation when the spiritual power vats were full during cultivation, but a forced generation. The purpose was to make the highest water spiritual power decrease and change into other attributes.
After a moment, Li Yan's aura had changed from the mid-stage of the seventh layer of Qi Condensation to only the early stage of the sixth layer of Qi Condensation. This was the cultivation concealment method of the True Scripture of the Nether Water. This kind of concealment method was not a simple averaging of spiritual power. In that way, the total amount of spiritual power could still be seen by high-level cultivators. And after the spiritual power of the True Scripture of the Nether Water was restrained, only the part he revealed could be shown.
Li Yan was very satisfied with this concealment effect. He was not the kind of person who liked to show off. Although he had the assistance of the sect's resources, with his Miscellaneous Spirit Root aptitude, breaking through four levels in three years was already his limit. Not to mention that he was already at the mid-stage of the seventh layer of Qi Condensation. If he wasn't afraid of hiding too much and being seen through by his master, he would have wanted to suppress it to the early stage of the fifth layer of Qi Condensation.
In these few years, he had also occasionally gone to the main hall to participate in the discussions of Little Bamboo Peak. After all, there were only a few people on Little Bamboo Peak. After he tried to hide his cultivation, even his Eldest Senior Brother at the late stage of Foundation Establishment didn't react at all. It was only that chubby master who, after looking at Li Yan, said, "Your spiritual power foundation is still very good, much deeper than those of the same rank." This made Li Yan feel as if his concealment technique had been seen through. But after several experiments, he felt that when he was hiding with all his strength, he could completely deceive a cultivator one major realm higher than him. If the other party was two major realms higher than him, unless he didn't suppress it too much, this could make the other party think that his spiritual power was deeper. Otherwise, it would be counterproductive and expose him. As for a Nascent Soul stage ancestor, he estimated that with his current cultivation, there was no possibility of hiding at all. But even in a great sect like the Malevolent Spirit Sect, there were only a few Nascent Soul stage ancestors, and it was common for them not to appear for hundreds of years. Who would care about a small disciple like him?
Li Yan looked at the spiritual power fluctuations on his body and was very satisfied. Then he released his divine sense, which instantly penetrated the practice room, then reached the courtyard wall, and finally even penetrated into the formation. In these few years, apart from cultivating his cultivation method and immortal arts, Li Yan had been extremely dedicated to the Fragmented Poison Body. While exploring the effects of the twelve fragmented toxins, he had endured inhuman splitting headaches, using his divine sense to stimulate those fragmented poison bodies every day, which had caused two of the twelve fragmented toxins to show signs of splitting. He estimated that in a few more months, he would be able to separate other fragmented bodies. Another benefit was that his divine sense was now comparable to that of a cultivator at the great consummation of the tenth layer of Qi Condensation, reaching a distance of thirty to forty zhang. Now the protective formation of the bamboo courtyard could no longer bounce his divine sense back. His divine sense could penetrate about a foot into the formation. He had basically determined the strength of his divine sense after consulting many classics.
Li Yan withdrew his divine sense, stood up, tidied his clothes, and pushed the door to walk out. The waist token message yesterday showed that "disciples of the peak are required to go to the main hall for discussion tomorrow morning." Li Yan now knew that having too few people on a mountain peak also had its disadvantages. That is, when there were matters in the sect, for the other four peaks, only some main personnel needed to attend, and then they could go back and arrange related matters. But although most of the matters on Little Bamboo Peak could be handled by his senior brothers and sisters, there were still many things that required the participation of all members, unless they were at a critical point in their seclusion. For this matter today, Li Yan could have not gone. For this kind of discussion, he would only listen in each time. If he was required to come out, the message would directly state it.
It was estimated that only when Li Yan reached the Foundation Establishment stage would he be truly qualified to participate in the major and minor affairs of the sect. However, today he had something to ask his senior brother. The reason was that he didn't have enough spirit stones. Although the sect had tilted some resources towards him in these few years, after all, his aptitude was what it was, so it wasn't the kind of vigorous cultivation. As his cultivation improved, the eight spirit stones a month and two bottles of Spirit-Raising Pills could no longer meet the needs of his cultivation. The Spirit-Raising Pills were only enough for him to take for half a month before they were used up. The spirit stones were also used up quickly. Of course, without these, with the rich spiritual energy of this Little Bamboo Peak and the help of the True Scripture of the Nether Water, he could also cultivate smoothly. But once a person gets used to a certain cultivation speed, it is extremely difficult to slow down.
Therefore, Li Yan had to consider the source of spirit stones. With spirit stones, he could either use them for cultivation or buy extra Spirit-Raising Pills. Otherwise, if he wanted to wait for the sect to give him more resources, he would have to wait until he reached the tenth layer of Qi Condensation and the Foundation Establishment stage. At the tenth layer of Qi Condensation, the sect would increase its resource subsidy again, mainly to increase his chances of successfully establishing his foundation. When he reached the Foundation Establishment stage, his resources would automatically increase to the level of the corresponding realm. In this way, he had to find a way himself. Li Yan now also knew that other ordinary disciples had long since independently sought out cultivation resources, unlike him, who was taken care of by the sect.
Li Yan walked on the small path to the main hall, thinking about his own affairs, walking slowly. He thought of the tall and slender young woman who would always quietly come to the platform on the night of the full moon during the Year's End in these few years. Although there was never any agreement, the one who arrived first would always stand quietly under the huge, round moon and wait. Then the two would sit on the edge of the platform, chatting as if they were talking to themselves, until dawn, when they would each leave. It was just that this Zhao Min never talked much about herself. It was mostly Li Yan talking and her listening.
Thinking of this, Li Yan's smile became even brighter. In a short while, he arrived in front of the main hall. He didn't stop and directly stepped in.
"Little Junior Brother is here! Hee, I haven't seen you in half a year. Little Junior Brother's skill has become deeper. This should be the sixth layer of Qi Condensation, right?" As soon as Li Yan entered the room, a happy voice rang out.
Li Yan smiled slightly. Hearing this voice, it was naturally his Seventh Senior Brother, Lin Daqiao, with whom he got along very well.
Li Yan scanned the room. At this time, there were already ten people here, seven men and three women. The master and martial mother had not yet arrived.
Of these ten people, seven were sitting, and three were either standing or walking around pouring tea. Li Yan naturally knew these people. The seven sitting were five senior brothers and two beautiful senior sisters.
Eldest Senior Brother Li Wuyi was as handsome and sunny as ever, looking at Li Yan with a gentle smile. The aura on his body was now more condensed. He was already at the False Core realm, just a sliver of an opportunity away from condensing a Golden Core.
Below him was a bear-like figure, grinning at Li Yan. It was his Second Senior Brother, Wei Chituo. Seeing him like this, Li Yan was speechless in his heart. He was very afraid of seeing this Second Senior Brother. He was already a late-stage Foundation Establishment master, yet he was either pulling him for a match or enthusiastically patting his shoulder a few times with that hand that was as thick as a bear's paw. Each time, it made him grimace and suck in cold air.
However, he heard that this Second Senior Brother, Fourth Senior Sister, and Fifth Senior Brother had also successively entered the Inner Sect in these few years.