"Kunlun," Ye Bufan murmured the word to himself.
Lin Xiaoyao had also told Ye Bufan about Kunlun in the Nine Provinces. According to Lin Xiaoyao's speculation, Blue Star was likely the battlefield of ancient gods, and Kunlun was the ruins of the ancient heavenly court, the strongest realm of the heavenly gods in the legends of the Nine Provinces. Lin Xiaoyao told Ye Bufan that his world also had legends of an ancient heavenly court.
Ye Bufan thought that Fa Yuan probably didn't know about the ancient heavenly court. When Ye Bufan heard the term "ancient heavenly court," he connected it with the heavenly court in the myths and legends of the Nine Provinces.
Fa Yuan and Ye Bufan stayed in Fa Yuan's cave for a long time. Fa Yuan didn't know much about the woodcutter either, only hearsay.
"It's about time. It's already dawn outside. Your friends are probably looking for you anxiously," Fa Yuan said, ushering Ye Bufan out. "Remember, don't tell anyone about me. Just act as if Fa Yuan has disappeared from this world."
Ye Bufan nodded. Though he didn't understand, he agreed.
Fa Yuan gently waved his sleeve, and Ye Bufan was enveloped by a surge of energy. The world in front of him suddenly turned black. When he opened his eyes again, Ye Bufan was back in the dense forest.
In front of Ye Bufan, a crossroads opened up in the dense forest. Ye Bufan followed the crossroads out of the forest.
Outside the dense forest, Yuan Zhen's eyes lit up when he saw Ye Bufan appear.
"This humble monk congratulates benefactor Ye on obtaining the inheritance of the dense forest behind the mountain. Truly commendable," Yuan Zhen said, scrutinizing Ye Bufan from head to toe.
Ye Bufan grunted. Yuan Zhen immediately asked, "What benefits did benefactor Ye gain? Can you tell this humble monk?"
"Nothing much, just that I saw the patriarch of your Fayuan Temple, Fa Yuan, and learned his techniques," Ye Bufan told Yuan Zhen.
Upon hearing this, Yuan Zhen's eyes were filled with envy.
"By the way, your ancestor asked me to deliver a message to you," Ye Bufan said to Yuan Zhen, who looked excited, thinking some great fortune was about to be bestowed upon them.
"Your ancestor said to put in more effort. How many years have you been waiting, and not a single person has succeeded in entering? It's truly a disgrace to Fayuan Temple."
This message was specifically requested by Fa Yuan for Ye Bufan to deliver. Although Fa Yuan founded Fayuan Temple, none of the monks in Fayuan Temple were Fa Yuan's disciples. Their aptitudes were generally mediocre, none of which Fa Yuan thought highly of. Only the current abbot, Yuan Zhen, was considered a potential candidate by Fa Yuan.
However, Yuan Zhen was rather timid and prone to giving up halfway, which greatly troubled Fa Yuan.
"Especially you, put in more effort," Ye Bufan said, gently patting Yuan Zhen's shoulder. Yuan Zhen was overjoyed.
Seeing the uncontrollable smile on Yuan Zhen's face, Ye Bufan chuckled and glanced back at the dense forest before returning to his meditation room.
After a few days of rest, Ye Bufan left Fayuan Temple and moved directly into the underground city.
Originally, Ye Bufan had planned to cultivate in a villa arranged by Jin Yucheng. However, Chu Mengyao and Ye Qingcheng got along surprisingly well. With Ye Qingcheng's help, Chu Mengyao and Ye Bufan moved into the underground city.
According to Ye Qingcheng, Ye Bufan was benefiting from Chu Mengyao's company. They chatted about everything every day, with Ye Qingcheng listening to Chu Mengyao's tales of strange people and events from abroad.
Meanwhile, Ye Bufan took advantage of his time at the City Lord's Mansion to continue challenging the tower. In the trials of true energy and magic, Ye Bufan cultivated while progressing through the levels.
With the two Dragon Emperor Tokens now in his possession, their energy resided within Ye Bufan, leading to a qualitative leap in his cultivation and making his true energy even more condensed.
Since Lin Xiaoyao's departure, Ye Bufan hadn't felt such an exhilarating sense of power for a long time.
After the recent events, Ye Bufan still felt he wasn't strong enough, so he dedicated himself wholeheartedly to cultivation.
One day, as Ye Bufan was fighting an elder in the tower, the elder's expression suddenly changed. Then, Ye Bufan's vision went black, and when he opened his eyes again, he had been teleported back to the City Lord's Mansion.
Ye Bufan was stunned for a few seconds, then heard footsteps approaching outside the door.
"Knock, knock, knock—"
"Come in," Ye Bufan called out.
When he opened the door, Ji Feiyang and Song Mingqin were standing at the entrance. Beside them were Chu Mengyao and Ye Qingcheng.
"Oh, you're back. I thought you wouldn't be teleported back so soon," Ye Qingcheng said in surprise, looking at Ye Bufan.
Chu Mengyao walked in first and approached Ye Bufan, saying softly, "Sister Qingcheng just asked someone to teleport you out. We thought you'd be out later, but you're back so quickly."
Ye Bufan smiled helplessly, thinking to himself: *Of course, I'm back quickly. I was just about to make a move when my vision went black, and I was out.*
"Brother Ji, Senior Song, is there any news from Sakura Island?" Ye Bufan asked.
Ji Feiyang and Song Mingqin exchanged glances and nodded. However, Ye Bufan noticed that their expressions were not very good.
"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Ye Bufan also frowned.
"Brother Ye, you tell him. You know more," Song Mingqin said, looking at Ji Feiyang.
Ji Feiyang nodded and said, "Our scouts have reported that the people of Sakura Island seem to be preparing to expand some kind of phantom army. Those phantom armies require the physical bodies of cultivators. Specifically, he overheard a plan called the 'Puppet Project.'"
"Phantom army, Puppet Project?" Ye Bufan and Song Mingqin exchanged glances, understanding what was happening.
"It seems they intend to turn the corpses of cultivators from our Nine Provinces into their puppets. This way, although they may not have many cultivators themselves, the puppet cultivators they create will be a considerable force. The stage of the cultivator's death will determine the stage of the puppet."
Ye Bufan knew a thing or two about puppets; a cultivator with exceptional spiritual power could definitely refine puppets.
"Are the people of Sakura Island intending to go to war with us?" Ji Feiyang voiced his speculation.
Ye Bufan shook his head and said, "Perhaps they are preparing for a breakthrough bottleneck. It will inevitably lead to great chaos. If they start preparing their so-called phantom army now, by then, their numbers will be substantial. With their current operations, they have likely already refined many cultivator puppets."