In May, the black bamboos on Xiaozhufeng Mountain are lush and green.
In the early morning, the hazy distant mountains are shrouded in a layer of veil, with shadowy figures that appear to be far away and sometimes near in the misty clouds. A light mist floats among the bamboo forest, making the entire mountain range look poetic and picturesque.
On the back mountain of Xiaozhu Peak, the gate of a bamboo courtyard finally opened with a creaky sound after being closed for a year and a half.
Li Yan walked out of the courtyard with a calm face. At this time, his temperament had changed a lot compared to before. The aura he exuded was deeper, and the fluctuations of magic power around him seemed to be absent.
As he walked, he gave people a sense of calmness like a mountain or a pavilion. His black hair was draped over his shoulders and his height was more than eight feet.
He was wearing the sect's dark green robe. Although it didn't feel tight, he could faintly feel his muscles under the clothes while walking. Sometimes they bulged out, and sometimes they disappeared in an instant, just like a walking cheetah.
The Qiongqi Purgatory Technique has a profound effect on the physique, flesh, blood, tendons and bones, causing Li Yan's body shape to undergo an incredible reshape.
Walking in the bamboo forest, following the winding path, listening to the early morning kingfisher calls and breathing the fresh air, Li Yan was thinking about something in his heart.
He had just brought the news back to the courtyard the night before yesterday.
After establishing his foundation, he stayed in the secret room for three months. Not only did he consolidate his realm, but he also successfully nurtured the spirit that was refined through the Pingtu sacrifice.
For the past three months, he has also been practicing the "Stealth and Hiding at Night" technique.
Although he is only getting started now, Li Yan believes that even if the opponent is a cultivator in the middle stage of foundation building, when he performs "Stealth at Night", he can still approach the opponent silently without the opponent's careful observation. This makes him value this technique even more.
After returning to the courtyard, Li Yan did nothing else. Instead, he went straight into the bedroom and fell asleep.
This time of practicing in the secret room has lasted a total of one year and six months. For Li Yan, this is considered a relatively long period of seclusion. The hardships and twists and turns during this period are no longer something that can be described to outsiders.
But he was so tired that he slept for a whole day and two nights, and only woke up completely in the early morning of this day.
After waking up, Li Yan took a shower first, then came to the living room refreshed. With a wave of his hand, a huge puppet appeared in the middle of the living room.
Just as Li Yan released his spiritual consciousness to let it brew a pot of tea, his expression moved involuntarily, and he felt a large buzzing sound outside the courtyard gate in his spiritual consciousness.
Li Yan couldn't help but look puzzled. He got up and went out, opening the gate.
The moment he opened the gate, he saw ten sound transmission talismans trapped in the formation outside the courtyard wall. They were like headless flies, flying around non-stop. Li Yan hurriedly stretched out his hand and took the ten sound transmission talismans into his hand.
After closing the courtyard door again, he walked back to the living room and sat down. His spiritual consciousness sank into them one by one. After a moment, his expression changed. These sound transmission notes were actually sent by Sun Guoshu.
Moreover, all of this happened more than half a year ago. Sun Guoshu found a lot of auxiliary materials, which made Li Yan very happy at first. However, when he saw the other seven or eight talismans, his face changed color.
Sun Guoshu stated that he had found a "Nine Dragon Root" that was five hundred years old, and at the end he even said that the store owner was planning to sell this "Nine Dragon Root" to someone else. Especially in the last few talisman notes, Sun Guoshu sounded extremely anxious.
Li Yan's face suddenly turned gloomy. He was not targeting Sun Guoshu, but the shop owner named Hu San, who did not show any leniency.
From what Sun Guoshu narrated, although he did not tell the whole story, Li Yan could probably guess that Sun Guoshu must have paid a lot of spirit stones in advance, and he was probably no longer able to pay further, which was why he was so anxious.
At this time, the giant ape puppet had brought up the fragrant tea and placed it on the table. Li Yan put down the sound transmission note in his hand. He did not rush to the market town immediately, but took out the token again.
He needs to sort out all the things that have happened in the past year and a half, and then he can plan the order in which he wants to deal with things.
Soon after Li Yan's consciousness sank into the token, a look of joy appeared on his face. There were several messages from his master Wei Chongran in the token, asking about his progress in cultivation and repeatedly reminding him that he must be informed when he was building his foundation.
When the time comes, he will come to help him build his foundation. The other two messages were sent by Gong Chenying, who also asked about Li Yan's cultivation and reminded him not to be greedy for success and rush into things, etc. There seemed to be a faint fragrance of a girl between the lines.
What surprised Li Yan the most, and also made him happiest, was the message from Bai Rou, who told Li Yan that Sun Guoshu had come to the sect in a desperate situation.
She also assured Li Yan not to worry, saying that she had already been to the market and brought back the materials collected by Sun Guoshu and the "Nine Dragon Root". When Li Yan came out of confinement, he could go to her and get them back.
This incident surprised Li Yan, but the result made him very happy. Therefore, he looked up to Bai Rou. Looking at the puppet in front of him, Li Yan felt that he should reconsider and try not to use this puppet in battle in the future.
After all, Bai Rou's actions since they met have been extremely kind.
There are a few remaining messages, which are from Li Wuyi and Lin Daqiao.
After Li Wuyi came to look for him several times, he saw that Li Yan had been in seclusion all the time, so he sent a message, asking him to get together with his fellow disciples when he was free.
The messages sent by Lin Daqiao made Li Yan shake his head. Each message asked Li Yan when he would come out of seclusion and told him not to stay in seclusion blindly.
With his current strength at the tenth level of Qi Condensation, he can go out with them to kill everyone. Maybe he will have a breakthrough in the battle. It seems like he is doing quite well in the outside world now.
After reading the messages, Li Yan immediately sent messages to three people.
The first one was of course Gong Chenying, who told her that he had come out of retreat and had successfully established his foundation, and asked her if she could come over at noon today if she was free, as he had something to discuss with her.
The second was to send a message to Bai Rou, first thanking her for her help, and stating that if she were in the sect today, he would go over and thank her in person;
The third was to send a message to his master Wei Chongran, telling him that he had accidentally established his foundation some time ago, and whether he needed to report to the sect next.
Soon, Li Yan received replies from three people, and Gong Chenying only replied with two words.
"Sure!" Wei Chongran showed his surprise and said that he would let Li Yan go to the main hall later.
Bai Rou might be practicing or doing other things, as she replied to Li Yan after a long time, but there was surprise between the lines, indicating that she was at Sixiang Peak and Li Yan could go find her at any time.
Li Yan was walking on the way to the main hall. He was thinking about what to do next. He planned to finish all the affairs in the sect within these two days and then leave the Wuliang Sect.
After going home to visit his parents, the next step was to go look for the "Infinite Travel" tree. This matter was already urgent, which was why he asked Gong Chenying to come. He had said before that he would bring Gong Chenying back to see his parents.
Half an hour later, Li Yan had already flown to the Four Symbols Peak. At this time, he could fly freely in the air without the flying sword, and his speed was only slightly slower than flying with the sword.
Thinking of the surprised expression on his master's face when he saw him before, Li Yan couldn't help but smile.
Wei Chongran asked about Li Yan's foundation-building situation and asked him what level he was at. Of course, Li Yan had already prepared a story and in the end he only said that he was at the seventh level. But even so, Wei Chongran was shocked.
As a Jindan cultivator, he would not be able to know exactly what stage of foundation building Li Yan was at if he did not use his magic power to detect it himself. However, Wei Chongran would not do such a thing.
Just from hearing Li Yan verbally say that he was at the seventh level of foundation building, Wei Chongran was filled with disbelief. You have to know that a genius like Li Wuyi was only at the seventh level of foundation building, while people like Lin Daqiao were basically at the fifth level of foundation building.
Finally, after Li Yan suppressed his cultivation and released the seventh-level foundation-building aura, Wei Chongran was extremely happy and laughed loudly in the main hall.
He never thought that the decision he made because he couldn't bear to see Li Yan being taken away by other peaks for research would actually give birth to another foundation-building master. The reputation of the Disintegrating Poisonous Body was truly well-deserved.
During the subsequent conversation with Wei Chongran, Li Yan became more and more surprised. He never expected that the second and seventh senior brothers and the other two were actually so famous in the world of cultivating immortals.
Thinking of the message Lin Daqiao left in the token, Li Yan finally understood the whole story. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart. He never thought that the pure young man back then has become so notorious now.
Afterwards, Wei Chongran formally accepted Li Yan as his disciple. He was no longer a nominal disciple. However, due to Wei Chongran's indifferent nature and Li Yan's dislike of crowds, the two of them hit it off immediately.
There was basically no need to hold an initiation ceremony for Li Yan. There were only two people in the main hall. Li Yan just offered a cup of tea and kowtowed three times, and that was considered the end of the ceremony.
After the ceremony, the master and disciple felt even closer, and Li Yan took the opportunity to ask Wei Chongran some questions about foundation building.
Although he had asked Pingtu many questions in the secret room, each cultivator had different opinions and his own experiences and insights, which were closely related to his own experiences and the different experiences he gained.
Everyone has a different perspective on cultivation. Of course, the more Li Yan knows, the better, so that he can better compare his own cultivation and make adjustments.
What surprised Li Yan was that Wei Chongran seemed to have extremely wide experience. No matter what questions Li Yan asked, he answered them without pausing to consider.
Moreover, the words he said often made Li Yan think for a long time before he could understand their meaning. After asking for advice several times, Li Yan benefited a lot.
Li Yan couldn't guess Wei Chongran's true cultivation level. In doubt, he deliberately asked a few questions that he had asked Pingtu before. Wei Chongran answered them one by one, and most of them were very similar to what Pingtu said.
Although there were some differences, Li Yan felt that he had found a new way and his horizons were broadened.
This made Li Yan feel that Wei Chongran's cultivation was even more unfathomable. He was actually able to match Ping Tu's knowledge in the Jindan realm.
Finally, Wei Chongran took Li Yan to the sect and absorbed a wisp of spirit. However, the place they went to surprised Li Yan. He initially thought they were going to Laojun Peak, but they ended up going to the Treasure Pavilion at Xiaozhu Peak.
It was still the sleepy old man in gray. When he waved his hand, a huge vortex appeared in the air again. After Wei Chongran took Li Yan into the vortex, this time they came to an independent space.
There were two rows of wooden racks with ten lamps on them. Each lamp had a bright candle, and the aura they exuded made Li Yan feel extremely familiar.
The flames of the two soul lamps in the top row were blindingly bright, and the flames were more than ten times brighter than those of seven of the eight candles below.
Li Yan seemed to be able to feel the breath of his master and his mistress above him. Among the eight candles below, there was also a candle flame that was five to eight times higher than the other seven. Li Yan felt the breath of Li Wuyi from it.
There were seven candles left, and Li Yan was stunned when he sensed the aura emanating from one of them.
He actually felt Zhao Min's breath from the lamp, which made Li Yan quite confused. He wondered if he had sensed it wrongly.
In his heart, Zhao Min has always been the same as the other disciples who switched to the other four peaks, except that she had once stayed in Xiaozhu Peak.
Her uniqueness may be that she has some feelings for Xiaozhu Peak, which is why she comes here so often.
But why was her soul lamp left here alone? Li Yan seemed to have a barrier in his heart, and the question was about to come out, but he couldn't grasp the key point. For a moment, he didn't know what the reason was.
At this moment, Wei Chongran's expression was dazed for a moment. When his gaze passed over Zhao Min's soul lamp, a hint of tenderness flashed in his eyes. Li Yan was standing behind him, so naturally he could not see Wei Chongran's expression.
But after Wei Chongran entered this space, there was an unnatural gloom on his body, which Li Yan could sense. He realized that his master had no intention of speaking at this moment, so he chose to remain silent.
After a long time, Wei Chongran suddenly perked up, sighed lightly, turned around and glanced at Li Yan, then stepped forward and took out a soul lamp.
Li Yan, who had been standing quietly in the back, clearly saw a strange look in his master's eyes when he looked at him.
That expression was fleeting, but Li Yan still saw it. However, he had no idea what it meant, but he didn't dare to ask. He could only feel depressed and suppress the question in his heart.