When Shuang Qingqing was leaving the Malevolent Spirit Sect, in a certain medicinal field within the sect, a handsome-faced youth slowly straightened up from his work and looked up at the sky.
"It seems the knot in your heart has been untied. I hope you can ascend soon. If fate allows, we will truly meet again!"
During her return journey this time, Bai Rou had been attacked by powerful variant beasts in the Chaotic Flow Space several times, nearly perishing on four of those occasions.
Fortunately, Shuang Qingqing had done her utmost to save her. Fleeing for their lives with no regard for anything else, the two had finally managed to escape danger.
Coupled with the fact that Bai Rou had witnessed Li Yan and Zhao Min on the Verdant Continent, and how the two of them had disappeared together in the end, she felt as if she were merely a distant spectator.
Her State of Mind underwent a great transformation, and she actually broke through to the Golden Core realm while still in the Chaotic Flow Space.
After returning to the Desolate Moon Continent and learning that Li Yan and Zhao Min had come back more than a decade before them, she did not go to Little Bamboo Peak to look for Li Yan.
Instead, she went to find Sun Guoshu, but because he was in closed-door death seclusion, she ended up only speaking with Elder Chigong for half an hour before flying directly away from Four Symbols Peak, returning alone to the Wood Flow Sect, not far from the Malevolent Spirit Sect.
As her cultivation now made her the sole Golden Core Cultivator in the Wood Flow Sect, she was revered by everyone in the sect and became its Sect Master. From then on, she devoted herself to the study of formations and the Puppet Art.
Upon her return, Bai Rou only visited Four Symbols Peak once. Her coming and going did not attract much attention, like an autumn leaf drifting onto a pond, gliding past in silence…
Li Yan, in his seclusion, was naturally oblivious to all of this.
Seven years later, on a certain day, lightning flashed and thunder roared over Four Symbols Peak… Half a day later, the Four Symbols Peak disciple, Sun Guoshu, achieved the Great Perfection of Golden Core.
A month later, after consolidating his realm, Sun Guoshu flew to Little Bamboo Peak, but after staying for only a short while, he departed with a sense of disappointment.
A few days later, his figure appeared at the Wood Flow Sect…
In the same year, Li Wuyi became engaged to both Li Changting and Miao Wangqing. He found "Gui Qu Lai Xi" (TN: A messenger service or person) to send a letter to Gong Chenying, informing her of their triple wedding thirteen years later, hoping she could return for it.
This was Gong Chenying's request from long ago. Cross-realm communication took time, so Li Wuyi simply extended the wedding date by thirteen years.
In truth, the Wind God Continent and the Desolate Moon Continent were connected to the north and south respectively, and crossing the expanse between the two continents would not take that long.
Li Wuyi's intention was also to use this time to wait for his few junior brothers who had not yet emerged from seclusion.
Nine years later, on a certain day, Li Wuyi, who was in meditation, suddenly had his expression change drastically. The Peak Master token at his waist vibrated slightly as a red dot on it vanished. He immediately shot to his feet.
Soon, his figure appeared in a forbidden area on Little Bamboo Peak, the very same independent space once guarded by Gu Jiuqi—the Treasure-Hiding Pavilion.
A tea's time later, with a face full of grief, Li Wuyi summoned everyone who was not in long-term seclusion and announced that the Soul Lamp of his Fifth Junior Brother had been extinguished.
Wen Xinliang had perished!
In the end, it was Wei Zhongran who had to personally intervene and forcibly open Wen Xinliang's seclusion chamber to retrieve his remains for burial.
Wen Xinliang had ultimately failed to break through to the Golden Core realm. This news brought unbearable grief to Li Wuyi and his other martial siblings.
Wei Zhongran also wore a desolate expression. Among the five peaks of the entire sect, Little Bamboo Peak was the one where the martial siblings were the most harmonious. The unity of its members was a matter of great pride for Wei Zhongran.
A year later, Mei Bucai's Soul Lamp went out. The chubby little fellow Li Yan knew had also seen his immortal path collapse, stepping onto the great Way of Reincarnation.
However, in the same year that Mei Bucai perished, Chu Weili successfully formed his Golden Core. Of the twin brothers, one had finally, truly stepped onto the immortal path.
The sound of the waves in the bamboo sea remained unchanged. The sun set and rose, and the bamboo shadows tilted, stretched, shortened, and vanished…
One year before Li Wuyi's wedding, Lin Daqiao's Soul Lamp was extinguished. Sitting cross-legged, his life force was severed.
Overnight, Wei Zhongran seemed to have aged considerably. He was no longer the high-spirited, gentle youth of before; his expression was wooden.
He had to once again personally bury that clever-tongued, nimble-handed disciple. Li Wuyi and the others cried their hearts out. Li Yan remained completely unaware of all this.
The following year, Li Wuyi's wedding did not take place as scheduled. In his words:
"Fifth Junior Brother and Seventh Junior Brother are gone, and Sixth Junior Sister has not returned. We must at least wait until Little Junior Brother and Min'er both come out of seclusion!"
Li Wuyi was still the same Eldest Senior Brother. On the ruthless immortal path, there were always a few who were willing to look back on the days when the sun shone so brightly…
Time flew by. Nine years later, Zhao Min emerged from seclusion, having broken through to the Pseudo-Nascent Soul Realm. She had only chosen to come out after her realm was considerably stable.
The great, round moon of the Desolate Moon Continent would not change for any person or any event. It continued to illuminate the land below every night.
It allowed people separated by thousands of li to look up at the sky and see that same tranquil homeland in their hearts. Outside the old house, the leaves rustled, strumming the heartstrings…
In the Secret Realm's stone chamber, Li Yan's body was motionless. His long hair completely covered his face, making it impossible to even sense his breathing.
The dark green robe that was once snug against his muscles now appeared exceptionally wide, hanging loosely as if draped over a skeleton, giving off a lifeless impression.
On this day, Li Yan's body, which had been like a timeless, stubborn rock, moved slightly. Following this, a long breath was exhaled from beneath his draped hair, blowing several strands high into the air.
Suddenly, two beams of brilliant light shot out from between the strands of hair, like two bolts of lightning striking through the dense, golden Spiritual Energy, piercing through its layers and hitting the wall.
Next, a series of crackling sounds, like popping beans, echoed through the secret chamber as Li Yan, who had been sitting cross-legged, slowly stood up.
"You're not continuing your seclusion?"
As Li Yan stood up, a giant face materialized in the stone chamber.
"I still can't break through the final shackle!"
A gloomy light flickered around Li Yan's body. As he spoke, the long hair covering his face fell away, soon leaving only hair about an inch long, like steel needles.
At this moment, Li Yan was completely emaciated. His face was just skin and bones, and his hands were as withered as a ghost's claws, as if he were a vicious ghost that had just crawled out from the nine serenities of the underworld.
But as the gloomy light around his body flickered incessantly, his entire person seemed to inflate like a balloon, the muscles under his skin rapidly filling out.
Qi and blood flowed swiftly through his body, and his once withered, dark skin was restored to its smooth, radiant state at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Li Yan looked at the giant, materialized face before him, and a warmth filled his heart.
During his seclusion here, as long as no one else appeared, Ping Tu's main body would remain asleep, and that wisp of his Divine Will would not have come here easily.
For that wisp of Divine Will to appear the moment he regained consciousness meant that it had been secretly guarding him all along.
Although it was extremely difficult for anyone in this world to enter this secret chamber, this gesture of concern made Li Yan feel the care of an elder.
As he answered, he shook his head helplessly.
Even with the help of Shuang Qingqing's booklet, he still could not break through the final shackle he could sense.
But the booklet had still been of immense help, having definitely saved him at least sixty years of arduous cultivation.
"Your comprehension has been trapped in one place for a long time. It is indeed time to end your seclusion. Your next step should be to temper your State of Mind."
Ping Tu's cultivation was profound, and with a single sentence, he pointed out Li Yan's future direction.
"This junior was thinking the same thing. But of all the forms of training, tempering the State of Mind is the most difficult. It is too ethereal and vague, making it hard to grasp a direction. Does Senior have any good methods?"
"Indeed. Everyone's Nascent Soul Formation is different, but the most feared obstacle is not insufficient cultivation or magical power, but precisely the inability to achieve a breakthrough in one's State of Mind. It could be that you are missing certain insights, or perhaps there are some unresolved knots in your heart. If you can sense where the general problem lies, then it will be easier to solve. Do you have any inkling in that regard? Even a sliver!"
Ping Tu immediately asked. Li Yan furrowed his brow and pondered, running through all the possibilities in his mind.
'The various insights in that booklet, though obscure and difficult to understand, I have mostly come to grasp them after so many years of meditation. Although those insights are only the experiences of Senior Shuang and her Master, they cover a fairly broad range. To say the problem lies in my comprehension… that is a possibility… But I feel it's more likely a kind of knot in my heart. However, my parents have already passed away, so those blood ties of kinship no longer have any effect on me… There is no rift between me, Zhao Min, and A Ying. As for when we will become Dao Companions, I am truly not in a hurry. That can't be considered a knot in my heart either…'
Li Yan quickly ran through his thoughts but could only shake his head.
"Senior, I really can't think of any attachments that would cause such an obstruction!"
"Not even a vague, hazy sense of direction?"
"None!"
"Then that makes it difficult. How about this: after you leave this place, apart from your daily meditation and regulation of breath, do not engage in long periods of cultivation. It would be best to focus your mind on external things, such as raising Spirit Plants, Demonic Beasts, or even alchemy. Perhaps at some moment, a flash of inspiration will strike. That will be the time you break through your fetters and are on the verge of Nascent Soul Formation."
After a moment of contemplation, Ping Tu offered his suggestion.
For a situation like Li Yan's, it was no longer possible to force himself into seclusion. He needed to adjust the rhythm of his cultivation and allow his body and mind to settle anew.
To see more, to hear more, and to let his thoughts accumulate.
Li Yan would naturally follow Ping Tu's advice. His experience was incredibly vast.
"By the way, Senior, how long have I been in seclusion?"
"Fifty-one years and six months!"
Li Yan nodded. This period of seclusion was not particularly long. He had originally planned to be in seclusion for at least a century, or even several centuries, vowing not to stop until he broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm.
Now he had reached the peak of the Pseudo-Nascent Soul Realm, but that final membrane prevented him from breaking through. It was like a door right in front of him, but he could not find a way to open it.
After giving a few more instructions, Ping Tu's giant face quickly disappeared. Li Yan no longer intended to stay either. He took out the round Rhomboid Crystal, and with a thought, his figure also swiftly faded away.
When Li Yan opened the door and walked out, a purple figure shot out from the room on the other side.
"Master, you've finally come out of seclusion!"
The figure stopped in front of Li Yan. It was Zi Kun, his face beaming with joy.
Li Yan swept his Divine Sense over him and found that Zi Kun's cultivation had already reached the mid-stage of the third rank, and his foundation was extremely stable. He could not help but nod.
"It seems you haven't been slacking off all these years. Not bad!"
"Master… you… you didn't break through…"
Zi Kun was also carefully sensing the aura on Li Yan's body, a look of confusion on his face.
He could not be certain if Li Yan had formed his Nascent Soul. The reason was that Li Yan had a habit of concealing his cultivation level, so even those close to him often did not know his true realm.
Additionally, Zi Kun knew that the Earthen Patch was mysterious, impenetrable even to Spirit Transformation Cultivators. Therefore, he thought it was normal that he had not seen a Heavenly Tribulation.
"No need to look. I didn't break through. I'm still stuck, just a hair's breadth away!"
"Oh, with Master's talent, the day of your Nascent Soul Formation must be just around the corner!"
Only then did Zi Kun feel relieved, a wave of relaxation washing over him.
If Li Yan had really broken through to the Nascent Soul stage in about fifty years, he would have started to doubt whether he and Li Yan were even human.
In his mind, that was a feat only possible for the top ten ancient variant beasts in the world, those whose bloodlines were the most supreme of the supreme.
As someone with the bloodline of a Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant, the blow would have been too great for him to bear.
Li Yan was about to ask what had happened over the years, but before he could speak, Zi Kun quickly asked another question.
"Master, what about that fellow Qian Ji? Don't tell me he still hasn't broken through?"
The expression on Li Yan's face stiffened slightly!