"For now, proceed according to the original plan," Anthony typed in the group chat. "Tonight, Rupa, you will investigate the underground city again. If possible, Rani, you go with him. We need to speed things up. I fear those cultivators from Kyushu might notice something."
Anthony lived outside the underground city, so he only got news about it through this group.
"Mr. Anthony, if you're not in the underground city, what do we do when we act?" Noda asked.
"I have my ways, you don't need to worry about that," Anthony replied before going offline.
...
Meanwhile, Ye Bufan, seizing the opportunity while everyone else returned to their respective places to cultivate, entered the ancient tower. He intended to reforge the Broken Sword.
Holding the meteorite, Ye Bufan could no longer wait. The moment he saw the reaction between the meteorite and the Broken Sword, Ye Bufan was desperate to reforge it.
Within the space of the ancient tower, Ye Bufan conjured a forging furnace from his Taiyi Ring and channeled his Purple Nether Cold Fire into it, heating the Broken Sword.
Ye Bufan then placed the Broken Sword and the meteorite into his forging furnace.
After nearly ten days of refinement, the Broken Sword and the meteorite finally fused together.
Ye Bufan molded the fused material into the shape he desired, creating a mold. He then placed the Broken Sword and Yun Tian into the mold to begin forging.
Time ticked by in the ancient tower. According to Ye Bufan's plan, it would take over a month within the tower.
As time flowed, the Broken Sword began to take on a new form. At this moment, the situation took a sudden turn. The usually tranquil Vermillion Bird Sword also reacted, showing a sense of fear towards the new sword body Ye Bufan was creating from the Broken Sword.
Swords of the level of the Vermillion Bird Sword and the Broken Sword possessed a degree of sentience and the ability to actively seek out their masters.
A month later, within the ancient tower, a crisp sword hum echoed, followed by a wave of energy that spread outwards from the top floor. The overseas cultivators immediately detected the activity at the tower.
Rupa was the first to move, heading towards the ancient tower to investigate.
By then, many cultivators had gathered around the ancient tower. Seeing its imposing height, everyone speculated who might be breaking through inside.
When Ye Bufan emerged from the ancient tower, everyone exclaimed.
"Heavens! It's Ye Bufan! It's really Ye Bufan! He's on the sixteenth floor of the ancient tower!" someone shouted.
"Did you hear? Ye Bufan is now a cultivator at the late Nascent Soul stage. There are basically few opponents for him in all of Kyushu, or even the entire world."
"Indeed, Ye Bufan is so young. Once the bottlenecks disappear, his future is boundless."
"Look, look! That sword in his hand, it's so powerful!"
Soon, people noticed the sword in Ye Bufan's hand. Ye Bufan looked at the new Broken Sword in his hand and said, "You deserve a name too. From now on, I'll call you Ling Ji."
"Buzz, buzz, buzz—"
The Ling Ji Sword hummed, as if acknowledging the name. Ye Bufan smiled slightly and soared into the sky. With a thought, he controlled the Ling Ji Sword in his hand with even greater ease.
Rupa watched from afar as Ye Bufan emerged from the ancient tower, his expression grim. He took out his phone, snapped a picture of the situation, and sent it to the overseas cultivators' group.
"This..." Ye Bufan's sword. He had never seen him use it in previous battles.
"This looks like a newly forged sword." Santori, from Portugal, looked at the sword in Ye Bufan's hand and immediately deduced that it was newly forged.
"Santori, is that true?" Johansson asked in the group chat.
"That's right. I once witnessed a master artifact refiner forging a sword. The energy fluctuations when the sword was newly forged were similar to what Ye Bufan's sword is emitting now," Santori replied.
"So, does that mean there's a forging master in the ancient tower of the underground city?" Noda mused, listening to Santori's words. His curiosity about the situation within the ancient tower intensified.
With the news of Ye Bufan reaching the late Nascent Soul stage, and under the covert operations of the overseas cultivators, the entire cultivation world of the Blue Star now knew that in Kyushu, there was a genius named Ye Bufan who entered the late Nascent Soul stage at the age of nineteen.
On social media, Ye Bufan's fan base surged. More and more cultivators began to pay attention to him.
Ye Bufan had now become the center of global attention. Rupa's objective had been achieved. Once the bottlenecks disappear and the powerful beings who arrived on Earth seek him out, Ye Bufan's life would become far more difficult.
Seeing so many people watching him, Ye Bufan vanished from his spot and headed towards the City Lord's Mansion.
...
"Little brother Ye, your weapon caused quite a stir," Ye Bufan said as he returned to the City Lord's Mansion, only to see Ye Qingyi walking out.
"Sister Ye, where are you going? Are those people preparing to make their move?" Ye Bufan asked.
Ye Qingyi looked at Ye Bufan and chuckled, "It's all because of you, little brother. You've become a big celebrity outside. They're calling you a reincarnation of the Ziwei Star. You should check your social media. A swarm of people want to enter the underground city just to catch a glimpse of Ye Bufan's brilliance."
Curious, Ye Bufan opened his phone and saw his media account's followers skyrocketing. From just over twenty million, it jumped to twenty-five million, then thirty million, and forty million. The growth trend was incredibly rapid.
"Never mind that, Sister will go check the various entrances. If necessary, I'll have Xun'er and Ling'er handle the crowds," Ye Qingyi said.
Ye Bufan gave a wry smile. Although he had prepared himself, he still found this somewhat disconcerting.
Chu Mengyao stood not far behind, with Ye Qingcheng beside her. Seeing Ye Bufan look over, Chu Mengyao walked forward.
"Your current situation has been exposed to cultivators worldwide. It's incredibly dangerous," Chu Mengyao said, a worried look on her face.
Ye Bufan gently took Chu Mengyao's hand and reassured her, "Don't worry. Currently, there are very few people who can truly threaten me. I still have many trump cards. At the very least, I can protect myself."