Li Yan was still very satisfied with Xie Tongyi's performance. He stood up, returned to his room, and then carefully browsed the jade slip.
The information on the relevant personnel in the jade slip amounted to more than six hundred people, and the information on each person was quite detailed. Among them, the most numerous were Qi Condensation cultivators, followed by Foundation Establishment cultivators.
There were only about fifty Golden Core cultivators, and even fewer Nascent Soul and Spirit Transformation cultivators mentioned.
Li Yan knew that with the vastness of the Sacred Demon Palace, it should be similar to the Malevolent Spirit Sect, belonging to the top sects in a realm, and the demon clan's foundation might be even older.
A few hundred people were just a drop in the ocean, especially since most of them here were Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment cultivators.
The Sacred Demon Palace had at least four to five thousand Foundation Establishment cultivators, or even more.
However, just these six hundred-plus people listed were the result of Su Yuan and Xie Tongyi's accumulation of information over so many years. If he had to find out on his own, who knows how long it would take.
Li Yan, of course, first browsed the list of Foundation Establishment cultivators. By the time he finished, he had not found Zhao Min's name.
He didn't even let go of the surname "Wei." If Zhao Min took on an alias, she would most likely use this surname.
The surname "Wei" was not common among the White Demon Clan. After careful filtering, Li Yan still did not find it.
So Li Yan focused his divine sense on the Golden Core cultivators. The list of cultivators here was much smaller, with only about fifty names.
And for more than sixty percent of the people, there was only a name and a speculated realm. This could be seen from the ambiguous language. The rest of the related content was mostly empty.
Some didn't even have a surname, only a description of the person's approximate appearance. Su Yuan and Xie Tongyi did not know many people at this realm.
With their realm level, the more profound a cultivator's cultivation was, the less they could come into contact with them. Most of the information was obtained through inquiry.
After looking through it several times, Li Yan could only frown and ponder for a long time. There were three cultivators with the surname "Zhao" inside, and only one female cultivator among them—"Zhao Qianqian"—but she was at the late-stage of the Golden Core realm.
This was not a realm that Zhao Min should have reached. Even if she had encountered a great opportunity, it might be normal for her to succeed in forming a core after more than twenty years.
But to break through a major realm and two minor realms consecutively would not be conducive to consolidating her foundation.
Of course, other possibilities could not be ruled out. Li Yan did not think he knew much about the great divine powers that existed in this world, but he still speculated according to common sense that this person should not be her.
But he would remember this person's name and check it when he had the chance.
After a long time, Li Yan could only separately record the twenty-three female cultivators at the Pseudo-Core realm and the initial-stage of the Golden Core realm in a jade slip for backup.
On the third day, Li Yan did not go out again. Instead, he meditated in the shop and waited according to the previous agreement.
Just as the Hour of the Rabbit arrived, the sound of footsteps came from outside Li Yan's door. Immediately, Xie Tongyi's voice, tinged with respect, came through.
"Elder Zhang, Great Master Wanxiang of Longhua Temple has arrived and is waiting in the front side room!"
In a small side room of the shop, a kind-faced young monk was sitting opposite Li Yan. Outside the closed door, Xie Tongyi stood with his hands down, personally serving and not allowing anyone to approach.
"I have long heard of Benefactor Zhang's great name. A few days ago, your esteemed sect held a grand ceremony. This humble monk was traveling abroad and only learned of the invitation sent to our humble temple upon my return. It is truly a transgression, a transgression! I hope the benefactor will not take offense. Amitabha!!"
"Hehehe, Great Master is too serious. It was just a formality. Those are just worldly matters. What's more, the abbot of your esteemed temple has already passed away. To meet a fellow human enlightened monk twice in this Forsaken Continent is my good fortune!"
Li Yan raised his cup with one hand and held the bottom of the cup with the other, raising his cup in a toast as he spoke with a smile.
Although the abbot of Longhua Temple had gone to Falling Star Valley that time, he had other urgent matters. He had left in a hurry right after participating in the ascension ceremony, and the two had not had a detailed conversation.
The Great Master Wanxiang opposite him had a handsome face, looking to be about the same age as Li Yan. But his cultivation had already reached the late-stage of the Golden Core realm. He was the Supervising Monk of the Wenxin Pavilion of Longhua Temple.
It was said that his mastery of Buddhist teachings spanned from ancient to modern times. Although his reputation in Longhua Temple was not as great as that of the head of the Hall of Precepts, or the abbot, he was said to be the second-strongest expert in the temple, second only to the abbot, Great Master Wanhui.
His Buddhist teachings integrated with his cultivation methods. He subdued dragons and tigers, vanquished demons and defended the Dao. The demons here, of course, did not refer to the demon clan, but to evil and wicked cultivators.
It was just that he rarely fought with others, and was always kind to people, mostly traveling the world to spread the Buddhist teachings. He was not as famous as the other two Golden Core monks in the temple.
Li Yan was not very familiar with Longhua Temple. All the information was provided by Xie Tongyi and the others.
At the same time, he did not know how the realms of Buddhist cultivators were divided on the Forsaken Continent.
On the Desolate Moon Continent, Qi Condensation monks were called little monks or novice monks; Foundation Establishment monks were Chan monks; Golden Core monks were called Buddhas.
But here, he did not dare to speak carelessly. A mistake could very well lead people to guess his origin. So, he still addressed the other party as "Great Master."
"Benefactor Zhang's heart is as empty as a valley. A treasure king's temple can be seen in a single hair. Excellent, excellent!"
Great Master Wanxiang put his palms together and chanted a Buddhist phrase to Li Yan.
"Oh, this time, Senior Brother Xing Ming had some urgent matters and could not come. He specially asked me to bring this item to the Great Master. Please have a look, Great Master!"
Li Yan didn't want to drag things out. After the pleasantries, he put down his teacup. A large red kasaya shimmering with golden light slowly floated towards Great Master Wanxiang.
Great Master Wanxiang lowered his eyebrows and eyes, his hands still clasped together. With just a slight shake of his shoulders, the neatly folded kasaya in the air unfolded on its own and, in the next moment, was draped over his gray monk's robe.
The moment the kasaya was draped over him, Li Yan felt a majestic and profound power slowly overflow, instantly filling the side room with an extremely comfortable warmth.
And Li Yan's heart was affected by a subtle power. This wisp of power dissipated as soon as it appeared, extremely hidden.
But he still felt a wisp of the righteous qi of heaven and earth being born, instantly filling his heart. The power in his calm body began to surge.
"What strong Buddhist consciousness, what strong Buddhist willpower!"
Li Yan couldn't help but be surprised, speaking softly.
He had seen the grand consciousness and willpower of Buddhism before. In the great battle on Windy Cool Mountain, there were countless monks from the Jingtu Sect.
But such strong Buddhist consciousness and willpower, Li Yan had only seen in a very few Buddhas of the Jingtu Sect. Needless to say about those Nascent Soul level monks.
Although Li Yan did not understand Buddhist cultivation methods, he could still distinguish some of the unusual aspects of strong experts.
From this point alone, Li Yan could deduce that the Buddhist consciousness and willpower of this monk from a mere second-rate sect was already no less than that of those Buddhas in the Jingtu Sect.
This showed that this person's heart for Buddhism was incomparably firm, as strong as vajra. Willpower was accumulated by Buddhists through incense offerings and was generally not released casually.
And it was usually used to kill and trap enemies at critical moments. But Great Master Wanxiang, just by draping the kasaya over himself, his willpower had already overflowed naturally, without any sense of stagnation.
This was the manifestation of intent following the law. The wisp of willpower that had just overflowed gave people a feeling of surging and high spirits. The principles of Buddhism were already deeply engraved in every thought of Wanxiang.
Li Yan's knowledge of Buddhism was limited to this, but it did not prevent him from knowing the extraordinariness of the monk before him.
"Benefactor Zhang's Daoist arts are profound. It was only because the kasaya's aura entered my body that my inner qi was stimulated, and just a little bit of willpower was detected by the benefactor. Truly remarkable!"
Great Master Wanxiang spoke, and the aura on his body immediately converged completely. The large red kasaya returned to its original appearance.
"Amitabha, so it is! This item is correct!"
Great Master Wanxiang bowed slightly again, his palms together in a salute to Li Yan. Li Yan's eyes flickered, and he spoke.
"I have a question, I wonder if I should ask it? If I have offended in any way, please forgive me, Great Master!"
A gentle expression appeared on Wanxiang's face.
"Benefactor, please speak!"
"With the Great Master's cultivation, you must know many people. Why did you have this kasaya refined at our Falling Star Valley? Although our sect's artifact refining skills are considered high, they are far inferior to those artifact refining great grandmasters. I wonder if the Great Master can enlighten me on this question?"
Before meeting Great Master Wanxiang, Li Yan had no doubts about this. But after personally feeling this monk's aura, he felt that it was a bit unreasonable.
"Amitabha, this matter is actually not a secret. First, the benefactor thinks too highly of this humble monk. Longhua Temple is just a small temple. From a cultivator's perspective, it's just a small second-rate sect. Refining a too-good magical treasure is not something this poor monk can afford. And the most crucial reason here is that your sect's earth fire spirit vein contains the power of yin fire. This is not something the earth fire spirit veins of the Heaven-Burning Sect and the Unity Sect can compare to. The earth fire of those two sects is too yang. Although this is extremely beneficial for alchemy and artifact refining, for this poor monk, it is too fierce. The Buddhist divine powers this poor monk cultivates are originally of the utmost hardness and yang, but this is somewhat at odds with the Chan heart I cultivate. If the refined magical treasure is also of the utmost yang, then if this poor monk carries it with me to nourish it all the time, it will slowly disturb my Chan heart. This is something this poor monk is unwilling to do. So, after the previous refinement of this kasaya was completed, the final quenching and refining had to be done with your help."
Hearing this, Li Yan suddenly understood.
'This monk is truly a person who is devoted to Buddhism. He walks the path of balancing hardness and softness. This type of monk is the most difficult to deal with.'
"This humble monk has heard that Benefactor Zhang is a body cultivator, and his years of cultivation do not exceed half a Jiazi. He also entered the Dao through body tempering and achieved the Golden Core. He is truly an outstanding person. The benefactor's cultivation method is quite similar to our Buddhism..."
Great Master Wanxiang also remembered the information he had received about the young cultivator before him. He also walked the path of body cultivation, which was very similar to their Buddhism.
The two were both Golden Core cultivators. Wanxiang did not like to be disingenuous. Seeing that this Elder Zhang was not a cold person, he also directly began to talk about cultivation methods with Li Yan.
This was a relatively normal way of interaction among cultivators of the same level. If the other party directly changed the subject, Great Master Wanxiang would have apologized and left.
To this, Li Yan did not refute that he was not a so-called body cultivator. What's more, he truly had insights into the art of body refining.
The Buddhist art of body refining was unique. Li Yan had long admired it. The stones of other mountains can be used to polish jade. To be able to discuss cultivation methods with such an enlightened monk was a rare opportunity for both of them.
Thus, the two soon became immersed in the discussion of cultivation methods. Xie Tongyi, outside the door, waited for three hours. The sun was already setting in the west, which made him very depressed...
"Little Friend Zhang's knowledge is vast and profound, not something an ordinary cultivator can compare to. Although this humble monk's cultivation is not deep, I have also traveled to many places in the world. As for the dharma cultivation lineage, I can only say that I have dabbled a little. But in terms of body cultivation, for a human cultivator to reach Little Friend's level is already as rare as a phoenix feather or a qilin horn. At least, that is what this poor monk has seen."
Body cultivators like those of the human race did not have it easy on the Forsaken Continent. This was the world of the demon clan and other foreign races.
Except for a very few races known for their intelligence and agility, like the Night Fox Clan and the Cloud Crane Clan, most of them were creatures with naturally strong physical bodies.
And just as the two of them were talking in the side room, a sudden change occurred in the shop outside!