Facing these Golden Core old monsters, Li Yan was also jovial and articulate, his responses appropriate. He showed no trace of the arrogance or timidity of a newly promoted Golden Core cultivator.
This made even Xing Ming wonder if Zhang Ming had concealed his age, and was actually a hundred years old with rich experience.
As for others seeing him as a pure body cultivator, Li Yan didn't explain. He let them guess. As always, it was best not to reveal his trump cards.
Purple qi from the east, the setting sun by the river, the years flowed by...
In the blink of an eye, another three years had passed since Li Yan's ascension ceremony as the grand elder of Falling Star Valley.
After the ceremony, Li Yan did not immediately start inquiring about Zhao Min's whereabouts. Instead, he once again entered seclusion.
His realm had not yet been completely stabilized and needed more time for polishing.
"Sharpening the axe doesn't delay the felling."
Li Yan deeply understood the meaning of this phrase. Although his heart was with Zhao Min, he could not act rashly. The person who had taken her was a Nascent Soul cultivator.
At the same time, after successfully refining his natal magical treasure, he also had to simultaneously cultivate the "Wave-Hiding Soul-Slaying Art" manual. And all of this required time.
Cultivators never lacked for time, but they were also always short on time. With their greatly increased lifespan, they needed even more time to cultivate.
As the dust settled from the ascension ceremony several years ago, the events surrounding Elder Zhang Ming slowly began to be forgotten.
As cultivators, regardless of their rank, everyone had their own things to do—meditate, refine qi, concoct pills, refine artifacts, and so on. They wouldn't spend too much time thinking about a high and mighty cultivator.
And on this day, a streak of light shot across the sky in front of the valley of the Myriad Stars Cavern. Soon, the light flashed, and a tall, thin figure landed on the maple forest path in front of the valley.
The light faded, revealing Xing Ming's gaunt face. He casually took out a voice transmission talisman, muttered a few words, and then flicked it into the restriction in front of him.
Not long after, the space in front of the valley distorted, revealing a small, stone-stepped path leading into a forest. As maple leaves danced in the gentle breeze, Li Yan's clear voice came from within.
"Sect Master, please come in!"
...
In the spacious main hall of the Myriad Stars Cavern, Li Yan had already brewed tea and was waiting for Xing Ming's arrival.
Xing Ming smiled and stepped into the main hall. His divine sense swept lightly over Li Yan, and he couldn't help but be taken aback. He then pointed a finger.
"Junior Brother Zhang, this qi-concealing art of yours is truly brilliant. It fooled us all back then. Now that your realm is stable, it's not easy to probe your true realm."
At this moment, Li Yan's aura was erratic in his divine sense. One could say he was at the Golden Core stage, or at the Foundation Establishment stage. He was a late-stage Golden Core expert, while the other had only entered the Golden Core stage a few years ago.
This reminded Xing Ming of the time when Zhang Ming was still in the Foundation Establishment stage, and his qi-concealing art had fooled both him and his junior brother. He couldn't help but laugh and speak frankly.
Now, the aura on Li Yan gave him a feeling somewhere between the Pseudo-Core and Golden Core realms. But now, he no longer had any designs on the other's cultivation method.
Through these few years of contact, this Zhang Ming was a true ascetic.
Even though he was already an elder of Falling Star Valley, he still remained reclusive, never taking the initiative to interact with others. Only when there were some cultivation-related matters would he occasionally go to find him.
At other times, his figure would not be seen in the sect.
Xing Ming certainly knew that such a person had a firm will and was difficult to be influenced by external objects. His immortal path would be limitless in the future, so befriending such a person was the only correct choice.
Otherwise, if such a person became an enemy, it would be extremely terrifying. It would likely be a situation of life and death.
Sometimes when he thought about it, he still felt that his Martial Uncle's eyes were extremely sharp, and his decision was very wise.
"Thank you, Sect Master. It's just a minor trick. In a real fight, without true strength, one can only face death."
Li Yan stood up, cupped his hands in a salute, and in his words, he even managed to flatter his Sect Master.
Xing Ming laughed heartily at his words. Then, without being polite, he sat down directly opposite the tea table.
Today, Xing Ming's sudden visit was quite unexpected for Li Yan. In these three years, he had not only stabilized his realm, but had also cultivated the "Wave-Hiding Soul-Slaying Art" to the entry level.
This speed was astonishingly fast, but Li Yan was not blindly seeking speed; it was the result of truly dedicated cultivation.
The rest of his time was spent on refining the "Undead Nether Phoenix" essence blood and simultaneously cultivating the Qiongqi Purgatory Art.
Now, following his successful core formation and great increase in strength, the speed at which he refined the essence blood was several times faster than before.
In just the remaining year or so, Li Yan had already refined about forty percent of that drop of "Undead Nether Phoenix" essence blood.
If he combined it with the third layer of the Qiongqi Purgatory Art, Li Yan himself was not sure just how powerful his physical body had become.
But he felt that if he used several arts at once, even in a head-on confrontation, a late-stage Golden Core cultivator would not be able to easily defeat him. At the very least, he had the confidence to retreat with his whole body intact.
This kind of confidence was something he wouldn't have even dared to imagine before.
Once he used the Fragmented Poison Body and set up an ambush, then even if Tianxingzi encountered Li Yan, the outcome would be uncertain.
After all, his current attacks could already cause fatal damage to a Pseudo-Nascent Soul cultivator. Especially the Fragmented Poison Body; Li Yan felt that even a Nascent Soul cultivator who was poisoned would no longer be able to simply dissolve it with their magic power as before.
And when facing enemies, Li Yan would prioritize using strategy to win, rather than brute force.
Back when he was still in the Foundation Establishment stage, he had used a scheme to kill two mid-stage Golden Core experts, including the beautiful woman in the green gauze, Zhong Mengyin, in the cave.
Stepping into the Golden Core stage was to become a true semi-immortal, to enter the ranks of the strong.
"I say, Junior Brother Zhang, your words still carry a sense of distance. Since we are now fellow disciples, and I am older than you, you can just call me Senior Brother. Why all this 'Sect Master' this and 'Sect Master' that! Hehehe!!"
Xing Ming's face showed dissatisfaction, but he spoke with a broad smile. "Oh... Senior Brother has come today, I wonder what the matter is?"
Li Yan hesitated for a moment before changing his form of address.
Xing Ming's satisfied smile deepened, and he immediately replied.
"It's like this. The sect has a shop in the Sacred Demon City, mainly engaged in selling medicinal pills, spirit artifacts, magical treasures, and some raw materials. In the past, we would regularly send the pills and magical treasures refined in the sect over to ensure the shop's supply is sufficient. Usually, these matters are handled by a group of deacons from the sect. But if we need to escort high-quality raw materials, pills, or magical treasures, for safety's sake, I have to personally make a trip."
"Last month, the sect was entrusted by Great Master Wanxiang of Longhua Temple to refine a Buddhist kasaya magical treasure for him. The grade and quality are not bad, especially its effect in suppressing ghosts and evil beings. Great Master Wanxiang of Longhua Temple also paid a deposit at the shop before, and the agreed delivery date is six days from now. At the same time, two fourth-rank 'Seven Dragon Bone-Forging Pills' are also being sent to the Sacred Demon City this time, and they all need to be brought over together."
"Oh, it's like this. I was originally planning to take these three treasures and some other raw materials with me tomorrow. But today, I suddenly received a voice transmission from the second elder of the Six Plates Hall, asking me to refine four fourth-rank 'Fire-Purifying Pills' for his disciple to use. It seems his disciple has encountered some problems and is in urgent need of this pill. Although there are disciples in the sect who can refine fourth-rank pills, there's no guarantee that they can be successfully concocted in one furnace. This makes it impossible to guarantee that the pills can be delivered on time. In this situation, I have to do it myself. But, Great Master Wanxiang has already paid a deposit, and the date has been set..."
A troubled expression appeared on Xing Ming's face. This matter was indeed quite tricky. The Six Plates Hall was on very good terms with Falling Star Valley. For one of their elders to make a request, he couldn't just hand it off to a disciple.
Since repelling the invasion of the four sects led by the Wind-Severing Clan twenty years ago, Tianxingzi, before entering seclusion, had simply asked Xing Ming to convert the residence in the Sacred Demon City into a shop.
He wanted him to arrange for some disciples to go and manage it. This could also be seen as preparing for Falling Star Valley's potential entry into the Sacred Demon City in the future.
With Falling Star Valley's alchemy and artifact refining capabilities, although they couldn't compare to a first-rate major sect, they did have a good quality earth fire spirit vein.
The medicinal pills and spirit artifact magical treasures they refined were still quite popular with some cultivators.
In the past, those sects had to come to their door to place orders. If they could open this business in the Sacred Demon City, Falling Star Valley's spirit stones would surely come rolling in. It was a win-win situation.
But this time, the two matters had collided, and Xing Ming was in a difficult position.
Falling Star Valley was more than eighty thousand li from the Sacred Demon City. Even with his cultivation, a one-way trip would take four or five days. Even if he wanted to deliver it and then rush back, the round trip would still take nearly ten days.
It was simply impossible to meet the request of the Six Plates Hall.
His Martial Uncle and Junior Brother Xinghe were in seclusion to recuperate. Even if he woke them, they couldn't travel far. He could only think of this Elder Zhang.
After hearing Xing Ming's words, Li Yan only hesitated for a moment before immediately nodding his head.
"So it's just delivering some things to the Sacred Demon City. Of course, that's no problem!"
He had been planning to ask Xing Ming about some recent matters in the Sacred Demon City in the near future anyway. Now that he could go himself, it was even better.
He could also use the little influence Falling Star Valley had in the city to see if he could gain anything.
Seeing Zhang Ming agree so readily, Xing Ming was overjoyed. This Junior Brother Zhang was indeed of good character. This solved his dilemma at once.
Then, as if he had thought of something, he added again.
"Right, Junior Brother Zhang, since I'm already troubling you with one thing. After we opened the shop in the Sacred Demon City, we will also regularly send some disciples over for training. The Sacred Demon City is a place of crouching tigers and hidden dragons. After all, many of them have not seen the world and need to witness the heroes from all sides. And in the future, some of them may be sent to the Sacred Demon City to guard the shop, or they may have to travel far. And since we have a place to stay in the city, we can help them through the initial period of adjustment. This time, could Junior Brother Zhang also take some disciples with him? Of course, you only need to take them there. Once there, the deacon disciples will arrange everything properly. After you go this time, Junior Brother Zhang, if you have your own matters to attend to, you can stay for a while longer. You can decide when to return on your own."
Training was not just about searching for secret realms all over the world or dueling with others.
It was about wandering the world, experiencing all its facets—hardships, joys, life and death, glory, slaughter, new acquaintances, and partings...
Only then could one, at a certain moment, have an epiphany and take another step forward on the long road of cultivation.
Xing Ming sent these disciples to the Sacred Demon City. While experiencing the prosperity, they could also learn about the treachery of the human heart.
Whether they chose to experience mutual scheming in the shop, or to venture out in groups to explore mysteries, or to roam the mortal world, it was all up to them to decide.
Life or death, it was all up to their own opportunities.
When they had washed away the dust of the world, that would be the time for their cultivation to break through.
To this, Li Yan just smiled slightly. These were all minor matters, just a matter of lifting a finger. He nodded his assent.