After Song Mingqin left, only Ye Bufan and Chu Mengyao were left in their private world.
Zhu Zizhen returned to his medical clinic, while Ye Bufan held Chu Mengyao and stayed in the villa for a while.
"You won't be leaving again for a while after this return, right?" Chu Mengyao asked.
Ye Bufan nodded and said, "I won't leave again. I've come back specifically to break through my cultivation."
Chu Mengyao looked at Ye Bufan and asked, "What realm are you at now?"
"Mid-stage Core Formation, just one step away from late-stage Core Formation," Ye Bufan explained to Chu Mengyao.
"Sister Huangfu Yujia said you have extraordinary talent, you can be described as monstrous. It seems that's true now. I wasn't a cultivator before, so I didn't know the hardships of cultivation. Now that I'm a cultivator too, I know that cultivation is all about gradual accumulation," Chu Mengyao said.
Ye Bufan felt a little embarrassed at Chu Mengyao's words.
"Chuchu!" Just as Ye Bufan and Chu Mengyao were about to continue their in-depth conversation, Wang Xinyan's voice came from the villa entrance.
Immediately after, Wang Xinyan rushed into the villa and sat down next to Chu Mengyao. Chu Mengyao and Ye Bufan exchanged a glance.
"Ye Bufan, I heard you helped Divine Doctor Zhu get his reputation back as soon as you returned. Is that true? I wasn't even there for such an interesting event, that's really unfair," Wang Xinyan said to Ye Bufan.
"This kind of thing is full of spontaneity; telling you wouldn't be of any use," Chu Mengyao replied to Wang Xinyan.
"I heard that the people from the Ruyi Sect were very unconvinced and had an alchemy competition with Divine Doctor Zhu, and they lost miserably, right?" Wang Xinyan's face was still filled with excitement.
Chu Mengyao nodded. Wang Xinyan stood up and said, "That's so satisfying! I knew they had bad intentions when they sought a so-called 'sparring session' with Divine Doctor Zhu. Now look at them. Their plan failed."
"Alright, alright, calm down, you're not a child anymore," Chu Mengyao quickly stopped Wang Xinyan.
"Hey, Chuchu, you know I've been in seclusion recently. I've been going crazy, you have to let me talk a good deal," Wang Xinyan said.
Since emerging from the Taiyi Ring, Wang Xinyan had been in a dazed state. Eventually, Wang Xinyan entered seclusion in her villa at home, cultivating her spiritual power, and finally became a cultivator, now able to use some simple spiritual power spells.
Ye Bufan glanced at Wang Xinyan, then at Chu Mengyao. Both of them were now at the early stage of Qi Refining.
"Why don't you two go back to the Taiyi Divine Sect and cultivate further?" Ye Bufan suggested.
"Yes, yes!" Wang Xinyan agreed without thinking, nodding vigorously. Chu Mengyao pondered for a moment and finally decided that it would be good to enter the Taiyi Ring to cultivate again.
Ye Bufan nodded and enveloped Wang Xinyan and Chu Mengyao with his spiritual power.
The next second, Wang Xinyan disappeared from her spot, leaving Chu Mengyao alone, looking at Ye Bufan in confusion.
Chu Mengyao first looked at Ye Bufan with bewilderment, wondering why he wasn't taking her to the Taiyi Divine Sect yet. A few seconds later, Chu Mengyao suddenly realized something and a smile spread across her face.
"Now it's just the two of us," Ye Bufan chuckled. Chu Mengyao gently took Ye Bufan's hand, and both of them felt a little shy.
They stayed in the villa for a while longer before reluctantly entering the Taiyi Divine Sect for cultivation.
This time, Ye Bufan chose to stay on the same peak as Chu Mengyao and cultivate together.
After several days of cultivation, perhaps because he was cultivating with Chu Mengyao, Ye Bufan felt that he was on the verge of reaching the late stage of Core Formation.
Ye Bufan made a decisive move and entered the depths of the spiritual脉, frantically absorbing the spiritual energy from it.
Dense spiritual energy surged towards Ye Bufan, and he continuously converted the spiritual energy into true qi.
Compared to before, Ye Bufan could clearly feel something loosening. It shouldn't take long for him to successfully enter the late stage of Core Formation.
...
Meanwhile, after Song Mingqin and Qu Fei obtained Ye Bufan's beast catalogue, they began to establish a mountain range populated by demonic beasts for the disciples of various sects to train.
Qu Fei became obsessed with finding his own spirit beast, reaching a state of near madness.
He spent days in the mountain range, searching for a suitable demonic beast, but the results were unsatisfactory.
The commotion here soon reached the cultivators of Sakura Island. The remaining members of the Yin Corpse Sect were also interested. In their view, the cultivators of Kyushu were trying to strengthen their own power, and the people of Sakura Island had to interfere.
The Yin Corpse Sect, having lost one of their own previously, was unwilling to let it go.
However, Song Mingqin and the other major sects had made preparations. Currently, there were members of the major sects at all the entry airports in Kyushu. Anyone entering from Sakura Island would be investigated by the major sects to guard against them.
...
Inside the Taiyi Ring, Ye Bufan sat cross-legged and floated in mid-air, surrounded by circles of spiritual energy.
In his dantian, spiritual energy continuously transformed into true qi, circulating through the meridians all over his body. He completed a small circulation, then a large circulation.
Ye Bufan clearly felt that the true qi in his body had reached a state of saturation.
"Hoo~"
"Almost! Just a little bit more! Break for me!"
"Boom—"
A muffled sound came from within Ye Bufan's body. He pursed his lips slightly, and a mouthful of blood overflowed from the corner of his mouth.
"One more time!" Ye Bufan continuously pushed towards the barrier of late-stage Core Formation. It was just a sliver away, and Ye Bufan was determined to break through.
He impacted that point once and then again, until he felt a slight loosening of the barrier.
"Got it!" Ye Bufan was overjoyed and began to push forward again, repeating the process.
He circulated the true qi around and around. Taking a deep breath, Ye Bufan let out a grunt, and all the true qi in his body surged towards a single point. Finally, it was like a blocked canal being cleared, with streams flowing into rivers, and rivers rushing into the sea. Ye Bufan circulated the true qi throughout his body, feeling an unparalleled sense of comfort!
"Success!" Ye Bufan suddenly opened his eyes...