Ye Bufan quickly entered a state of cultivation. The consciousness of the Yamata no Orochi floated on the sea of his spirit, rapidly absorbed by Ye Bufan and the "eye of the typhoon" on the sea of spirit, shrinking until it disappeared completely.
A trace of Lin Xiaoyao's residual soul, seeing this, slowly vanished from Ye Bufan's sea of spirit.
"Don't disgrace your master." This was the last sentence Lin Xiaoyao left for Ye Bufan.
Ye Bufan nodded heavily, doing his best to forge the Tiangang Wheel. After absorbing the Yamata no Orochi's spiritual power, the Tiangang Wheel was still a little short of being completely formed. Thus, after absorbing the Yamata no Orochi's spiritual power, it then claimed Ye Bufan's spiritual power as its own.
"Form!" Ye Bufan gritted his teeth, feeling as if he was being drained dry, a dizzying sense of weakness.
"Hold on, just a little bit more, just a little bit more." Ye Bufan looked at the "eye of the typhoon" on the sea of spirit, "I don't believe I can't handle you."
Ye Bufan withdrew all his spiritual power and channeled it continuously into the area above the sea of spirit. The Tiangang Wheel slowly began to take shape. Ye Bufan could see that it resembled a Tai Chi Yin-Yang diagram.
From one, then two, then three, all things are born.
Ye Bufan didn't know how long he had persisted. His consciousness began to blur, and finally, his vision went black, and he knew nothing more.
Until his consciousness gradually recovered, Ye Bufan was about to open his eyes, only to find himself lying in an ancient building. He sat up from the bed and looked around. Then, he quickly withdrew his consciousness and soon saw the giant Tiangang Wheel on the sea of spirit.
"It's done?" Ye Bufan was overjoyed, and then he made an astonishing discovery. Because the Yamata no Orochi's spiritual power had been used by him to forge the Tiangang Wheel on the sea of spirit, his own spiritual power had also grown. Ye Bufan conservatively estimated that his current spiritual power should be close to that of a cultivator in the early stage of Core Formation.
"Creak—"
At this moment, the room door was pushed open.
"Huh—when did you get here? And where is this?" Ye Bufan was greatly surprised to see the person who appeared before him.
"What? You seem very unwilling for me to come?" Chu Mengyao looked at Ye Bufan in her hands and smiled faintly.
Ye Bufan shook his head and said, "I couldn't be happier, I'm just very curious about where I am."
"You are currently in Fayuan Temple outside the capital," Chu Mengyao said. "You should thank Senior Song Mingqin and Senior Ji Feiyang. It was the two of them and two other girls who brought you back."
As Chu Mengyao's voice fell, a loud bell chime sounded from outside. The resonance of the bell made Ye Bufan feel very peaceful.
One after another, scriptures were being chanted. Not long after, Ji Feiyang and Song Mingqin walked in, chatting and laughing as if discussing something.
"Brother Ye, you're awake," Ji Feiyang said excitedly upon seeing Ye Bufan awake.
Song Mingqin winked at Ji Feiyang, and the two pretended to have urgent matters to discuss before turning to leave.
"Two seniors, there's no need to be so formal," Chu Mengyao said. "Your matters are more important, so you can discuss them first."
Upon hearing this, Ye Bufan's expression changed, and he quickly called out to Ji Feiyang, "We don't have anything urgent for now."
Ji Feiyang immediately understood Ye Bufan's meaning, nodded, and echoed Song Mingqin, "Yes, yes, yes, our matters are not important. We'll come find you later."
The two of them disappeared in a flash. Seeing this, Chu Mengyao's face couldn't help but turn red, and she shyly glanced back at Ye Bufan.
"Why did you chase the two seniors away?" Chu Mengyao said. "Aren't you afraid they really have something urgent to discuss with you?"
Ye Bufan waved his hand and said, "No matter how urgent, it's not as important as being with you. We haven't seen each other for so long, and now that we have this private space and time, I can't let anyone disturb us, can I?"
Chu Mengyao's blush deepened.
...
For the next two days, Ye Bufan recovered in Fayuan Temple and found that his cultivation had actually improved further.
Song Mingqin and Ji Feiyang returned to Ye Bufan's room that evening to discuss matters with him.
"Do the two seniors have any discoveries?" Ye Bufan asked.
Song Mingqin told Ye Bufan that according to the investigations by their sect members, the people from Sakura Island seemed to be divided into several groups, searching for something in the Kyushu region. From the information gathered so far, it seemed to be related to the Yamata no Orochi.
Furthermore, Song Mingqin told Ye Bufan that during the days he was unconscious, a cultivation relic had been discovered in the northwest, and all cultivators were heading towards the northwest. He asked Ye Bufan if he was interested in going with him.
Ye Bufan pondered for a moment. Song Mingqin suddenly smiled and said, "In the northwest, there are also the Dragon Emperor Tokens that you're interested in. I know where those two Dragon Emperor Tokens are."
The Dragon Emperor Tokens immediately piqued Ye Bufan's interest. According to the information Ye Bufan had obtained so far, there were a total of four Dragon Emperor Tokens. One was in Ye Bufan's possession, another was in Ye Qingyi's story, and it last appeared during the battle with the Yamata no Orochi. Ye Bufan guessed that Ye Qingyi should know the location of that Dragon Emperor Token. The remaining two Dragon Emperor Tokens were in the northwest, which Ye Bufan had also heard about, but he didn't know their exact locations.
"Alright!"
The single Dragon Emperor Token he held in his hand could unleash powerful energy, which made Ye Bufan confident that if all four Dragon Emperor Tokens were gathered, during the Celestial Seal period after the breakthrough of the bottleneck, he would at least have a trump card to safely pass through that period.
"Then when do we leave?" Ye Bufan asked.
"The entrance to that cultivation relic is currently unstable. Conservatively estimated, we should wait for another month or so," Song Mingqin said. "During this time, we can take care of the matter with Sakura Island."
"Is there news from Sakura Island?" Ye Bufan looked at Ji Feiyang and Song Mingqin.
The two exchanged glances and shook their heads. So far, no valuable clues had been extracted from the captured Sakura Island personnel.
"Ye Bufan! Ye Bufan!"
As the three were discussing countermeasures, Ye Qingcheng rushed into Ye Bufan's room.
"Huh! Isn't Sister Chu here? I thought you were in the room with her. I didn't expect it to be three big men." Ye Qingcheng's expression was filled with disdain.