But when he saw the girl following behind him, Li Yan felt helpless.
This senior sister from the Four Symbols Peak was unwilling to accept the one thousand spirit stones after Li Yan dealt with the matter of Sun Guoshu. Even when Li Yan finally proposed to split it in half, she just shook her head silently.
Li Yan couldn't force her hand into his, so he had to give up for the moment and think of a reason before saying it again. If the other party really didn't want to accept it, Li Yan would not be polite in the end.
With this matter delayed and the follow-up matters discussed with Sun Guoshu, Li Yan lost the desire to continue in the free market. However, when he walked out, the girl quickly followed him.
This made Li Yan stunned, and he couldn't help but look back at her. The girl's face suddenly turned red when he saw her, and she was suddenly at a loss, and spoke in a low voice.
"Li... Li... Junior Brother Li, are you... are you also going back to the sect? I... I... can we go together?"
At the end of the speech, the voice was almost like the hum of a mosquito, and Li Yan could hardly hear it.
Li Yan couldn't help but look at the girl a few more times, but no matter how he looked, he couldn't tell that this pretty girl was actually a powerful foundation-building cultivator. Instead, she looked like a beautiful lady from a secular family, who was so helpless when faced with difficulties.
When Li Yan saw this, the girl felt even more embarrassed. She couldn't help but rotate her hands even harder and squeezed the puppet in her hand. She thought Li Yan was unwilling, so she hurriedly said.
"Junior brother, I... I have a flying magic weapon, it's very fast, you just need to sit on it, you don't need to do anything."
Li Yan was stunned when he heard this. He never expected that such a powerful foundation-building cultivator would be so timid because of the scene in the free market just now.
He smiled. He had to go back anyway. Besides, this senior sister did seem a little too frightened. He looked up at the sky and estimated the time.
Seeing that Li Yan did not answer immediately, but just smiled at her and looked up at the sky again, the girl from Four Symbols Peak couldn't help but become more anxious. She was really scared of the journey of more than a thousand miles. When she was about to speak again, Li Yan had already looked at her again.
"Of course, no problem. However, it's not just the two of us, but four of us, including my fifth and seventh senior brothers. It's almost time now, so we can go to the west gate to find them and go back together."
After hearing what Li Yan said, the girl couldn't help but feel happy. When she heard that there were two more people, a happy smile appeared on her pretty face.
Then, while she was hesitating, the girl whispered to Li Yan and begged if she could stay a little longer. She wanted to buy some materials she needed in the free market, and she repeatedly stated that she only needed half an incense stick of time.
This amount of time was of no use to Li Yan, so he agreed and accompanied Bai Rou around the market.
In the following period, Li Yan's bargaining skills made the young senior sister frightened. She was afraid that Li Yan would anger the stall owner by asking for something, and that he would drive her away and she would not be able to buy the raw materials.
But fortunately, every time, under her almost pleading eyes, Li Yan would miraculously stop lowering the price when the stall owner was becoming extremely impatient, and in the end he actually saved her more than 400 spirit stones. This young senior sister was even more full of admiration for Li Yan.
Flying was not allowed in the city, so the two of them left the free market and walked all the way to the west gate. Along the way, Li Yan also learned the girl's name and why she was familiar with him.
The girl's name is Bai Rou. She has been in the sect for fifteen years. She is a cultivator from a small sect called "Muliu Sect" which is nearly 400,000 miles east of here. The cultivators of this sect are good at puppetry, and their own combat power can only be considered fair.
However, they can rely on puppets to unleash a powerful combat capability that surpasses that of cultivators of the same level. Since they are only obsessed with the art of puppetry, the grand elder with the highest level of cultivation in the sect is nothing more than a cultivator in the late foundation building stage.
It is said that the "Muliu Sect" thousands of years ago was still very powerful, and once reached the level of a first-class sect. However, after the mysterious disappearance of the great elder, it began to decline and finally ended up in decline.
Finally, there are only thirty monks in the sect, and they are all secluded all year round to study the art of puppetry, which makes this sect seem even more unknown.
Bai Rou is a rising star in this generation of the sect. She is extremely talented and has a fast cultivation speed, especially her obsession with puppets. As a result, her practice was delayed and she was still in the Qi Condensation Stage at the age of eighteen.
Afterwards, she was spotted by an experienced Jindan cultivator from Sixiang Peak, who was amazed by Bai Rou's talent for cultivation and her skills in puppetry and mechanisms, so he brought her back to Sixiang Peak.
After Bai Rou arrived at the Four Symbols Peak, the formation mechanism made great progress. To put it bluntly, the puppets are also composed of various small formations and prohibitions, and the resources of the Four Symbols Peak are not comparable to those of the Muliu Sect. Bai Rou is like a fish in water, but her cultivation level was limited, and she only succeeded in building the foundation last year.
Normally, she hardly ever left the house, and not many people in other peaks knew her. Until today, it was the first time in the past fifteen years that she left the sect alone.
Li Yan couldn't help but shake his head after hearing this. There was a reason why a sect like Bai Rou declined. No matter how powerful the puppets were, they needed people with combat experience to use them. If the sect just worked in isolation, it would only slowly decline.
Bai Rou said that when the Golden Core Elder of Muliu Sect was still alive, he was also extremely powerful and often sent his disciples out for trials. However, later on, the Sect Master who established the foundation and the two elders were extremely obsessed with puppets and neglected the training of the sect's disciples, which led to this situation in the end.
At this point, there was a hint of sadness on Bai Rou's pretty face. Li Yan knew that she was thinking about her childhood master again, so he stopped talking and just walked forward slowly, side by side with her.
After a while, Bai Rou raised her head and said that when she was a child, she had seen an image engraved in the sect's puppet. It was a scene of a senior from the Muliu Sect fighting with others. It was earth-shattering and could break dragons and tigers.
However, with the disappearance of the Jindan cultivator, their sect became more low-key, not to mention fighting with others. This shows that the Muliu Sect was once very good at controlling puppets.
Li Yan nodded silently after hearing this. Puppetry is a very important branch of immortal cultivation. Although he doesn't know much about it, just by looking at how it has been passed down to this day, he knows how important it is.
The two chatted all the way and unknowingly arrived at the west gate of the market town. During this journey, Bai Rou spoke more fluently, but her voice was still soft, just like her name.
Just as Li Yan and Bai Rou were approaching the west gate, two monks dressed in the clothes of the Wuliang Sect were standing on the side of the road inside the city gate, looking at Li Yan from afar.
But when Li Yan and Bai Rou appeared in their sight at the same time, the tall and thin fair young man couldn't help but open his mouth wide, then raised his hand and pointed at Li Yan, seeming to say something.
The other young man with a lazy look on his face was also stunned at first, and then he smiled evilly. Li Yan also saw two people from afar. They were Lin Daqiao and Wen Xinliang. It seemed that he was late because of the free market.
Soon, Li Yan and Bai Rou came in front of the two of them. While Bai Rou was rubbing her hands awkwardly, Lin Daqiao rushed over, pushed Li Yan away, and said with a click of the tongue.
"My dear Junior Brother, your ability is really getting more and more unpredictable. I haven't seen you for just one hour, and you found a pretty Junior Sister from Four Elephants Peak somewhere. This Junior Sister looks familiar. Have we met before?"
Li Yan was pushed back and staggered. Listening to Lin Daqiao's words, he couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly. This Seventh Senior Brother was still like this. He kept talking about what he wanted regardless of the occasion.
Bai Rou was startled by Lin Daqiao's action. After hearing what he said, her neck turned red and she lowered her head to her chest, saying in a barely audible voice, "Hello... Hello... Hello, brothers. I... My name is Bai... Bai Rou."
"Bai... Rou, Bai Rou, Bai... Oh, so you are Junior Sister Bai Rou. I know your name, but I have never seen you on the Four Symbols Peak. I heard that your puppetry technique is very powerful..."
After hearing this, Lin Daqiao tilted her head and thought for a while, and seemed to immediately think of someone.
His sudden enthusiasm made Bai Rou feel a little helpless, and she involuntarily shrank behind Li Yan.
Wen Xinliang, who was standing behind him, also looked at Li Yan and then at Bai Rou with a gleam in his eyes, but did not speak.
Li Yan had no choice but to speak.
"Seventh Senior Brother, please don't scare Senior Sister Bai Rou. This is her first time in the market, and she came alone..."
Next, he briefly recounted the story of Bai Rou's visit to the market, but he did not mention the matter of Sun Guoshu. Now that Sun Guoshu was working for him, he did not want to cause trouble for his two senior brothers because of Sun Guoshu's disrespectful words about the Wangliang Sect.
Next time I meet them, I will end up like the two women from Hongchanmen outside the city, and all my efforts will be in vain.
He just said that Bai Rou came here by herself, and after meeting her fellow disciples, she suggested going back together.
When Lin Daqiao heard that Bai Rou was going to travel with the three of them, his eyes lit up and he spoke repeatedly.
"Yes, yes. I didn't expect that this is Junior Sister Bai's first time going on a long journey. If you go alone next time, you can ask me to come with you. I am usually in the mountains, so it is easy to find me."
After Li Yan explained what happened, Bai Rou gradually calmed down. However, when she heard Li Yan talking about the free market, he just mentioned it in passing and didn't mention helping her at all. She felt a little strange.
But she was a person of few words and didn't like to talk much, so she didn't say much.
Later, she saw Brother Lin from Xiaozhu Peak speaking fluently and looking sincere. Her nervousness began to slowly disappear. She raised her head and a smile slowly appeared on her face. This smile was as beautiful as a spring flower, and the three of them were stunned.
This made Bai Rou immediately drop her head in shyness, making her look even more pitiful.
Seeing that it was getting late, the four of them did not delay any longer and went straight out of the west gate, heading thirty miles west...
More than an hour later, the mountain gate of the Wuliang Sect that pierced the sky was already in sight. Four people were standing on Wen Xinliang's purple butterfly, talking in low voices.
"Oh? According to what Junior Sister Bai Rou said, my flying magic weapon can fly faster?"
Wen Xinliang looked at Bai Rou with some surprise.
“Master… Junior Sister doesn’t dare to speak rashly. Although Senior Brother Wen’s flying magic weapon is not of the middle grade, it is also of the best grade among the primary ones. Junior Sister is not very familiar with this kind of refining weapon, but just now during the flight, she saw that two spirit stone slots were located in a relatively biased position.
It seems... it seems... it seems... that when the spiritual energy travels through the formation route, it obviously takes a detour, and in the process, spiritual energy will also be dispersed. This should be considered a disadvantage for this magic weapon."
Bai Rou lowered her head and pondered at this moment, then raised her head and spoke slowly, but at this moment, there was no trace of weakness on her face, but her eyes were full of confidence.
"I've long heard that there is a Junior Sister Bai in Sixiang Peak who is an expert in mechanical devices and formations, but she rarely shows up. I didn't expect that when I saw her today, she could see the problem with my flying magic weapon just by looking at it. It's really amazing.
This magic weapon was purchased by me from a down-and-out cultivator in the late foundation-building stage in the market a few years ago.
The cultivator at that time had said that although this flying magic weapon was one of the best among the primary magic weapons, the refiner was limited by his own formation skills when refining it, so he had to redesign two of the spirit stone slots several times and was not very satisfied.
In the end, I had no choice but to place it in the way I thought was best, but today Junior Sister Bai saw something wrong with it at a glance. Before, I had asked some senior brothers from Four Elephants Peak to look at it. They were fine with re-carving the entire formation, but they were unsure about just modifying two places.
But I didn’t want to lose the original properties of this magical instrument, so I put it down! ”
After hearing this, Wen Xinliang couldn't help but nod repeatedly and praised.
"I have also heard of Junior Sister Bai's name. I once wanted to ask Junior Sister Bai for help to engrave a set of formations on weapons, but after asking around, I found out that no one knew you well. I only heard that you and Senior Sister Wei Feng were very close, but I am not familiar with her."
After hearing this, Lin Daqiao looked at Bai Rou with hope in her eyes.
Bai Rou had a look of great confidence just now, but after hearing what the two said, that confidence disappeared from her face in an instant. Her face flushed and she quickly lowered her head again.
Little did they know that Li Yan and the other two had seen her changing state dozens of times along the way and had gradually gotten used to it.
Li Yan had been listening quietly at the side. He was unfamiliar with battle formations, magic weapons, puppets and so on. Listening to the three of them talking along the way, he gained a lot of knowledge.
It was just that when I saw Bai Rou in this situation, I thought about the contrast that happened repeatedly.
"This Senior Sister Bai is quite interesting. When talking about anything else, she always looks unconfident and even avoids the topic. But when she talks about puppets and formations, she suddenly becomes a different person."
After a while, Bai Rou still lowered her head, as if she didn't dare to look at the three people, and she spoke softly.
“I can try to improve the two spirit stone slots of Senior Brother Wen’s magic weapon, but if I want to keep it in sync with the original formation and make modifications without destroying the original formation, it may take some time... I estimate it will take about five days.
But I am not proficient in refining other types of equipment except puppets and mechanisms. When the time comes, I will need my senior brother to get the newly recorded formation and find someone to refine it."
After hearing this, Wen Xinliang couldn't help but burst out laughing. He had the same idea, but since it was their first meeting, it was not easy for him to say it directly. At the same time, he also understood what Bai Rou meant. She wanted to thank the three of them and take her back as a gesture of goodwill.