Since Ye Bufan was a friend of Elder Mingyuan, he naturally had to give Elder Mingyuan face. After three days of chatting, the requirements for alchemy that Yu Chi Xuanji had were settled.
However, Ye Bufan was curious why Elder Mingyuan didn't help Yu Chi Xuanji. In Ye Bufan's opinion, Elder Mingyuan should also know how to refine medicine.
After leaving Yu Chi Xuanji's residence, Ye Bufan voiced his question. Elder Mingyuan was slightly stunned, then chuckled and said, "My alchemy is just superficial, and it's also limited by my sect."
He had always heard Elder Mingyuan mention his sect, but he had never heard Elder Mingyuan talk about it in detail. Judging from Elder Mingyuan's emotions, it seemed there was some unspeakable secret. However, since he didn't mention it, Ye Bufan didn't press further.
After bidding farewell to Elder Mingyuan, Ye Bufan suddenly quickened his pace and left the outskirts of the capital.
Not long after Ye Bufan left, a figure appeared where he had been standing. Then, several men in black appeared behind this person. They exchanged glances and chased in the direction Ye Bufan had left.
On a mountaintop, the Jin family ancestor watched that group of people and couldn't help but laugh.
"Ye Bufan, weren't you very arrogant? Now, without me lifting a finger, someone wants to kill you. Let's see how long you can live." The Jin family ancestor finished speaking, disappeared from his spot, and in the next second, appeared in a cave, sat cross-legged, and entered a state of cultivation.
Ye Bufan exited the capital and came to the suburbs, where he slowed down his speed. He entered the forest beside the main road.
Ahead, a man in black appeared twenty meters in front of Ye Bufan, and five people quickly appeared behind him.
"Are you finally going to make a move?" Ye Bufan smiled slightly. After Yu Chi Xuanji left, he had sensed six auras in the shadows, but at that time, he couldn't be sure if they were targeting him.
So, after Elder Mingyuan left, the other party didn't leave, and still maintained a certain distance from him. Only then could Ye Bufan be sure that these six people were after him.
"Who are you?" Ye Bufan asked. "You must have been following me for a long time, right?"
The other party's tracking was clearly organized and premeditated. He had been in the underground city during this period, and the other party couldn't have found him. It was only after Jin Yuchen released the news that those people confirmed his location.
To Ye Bufan's surprise, the other party didn't answer, remaining silent throughout.
But when they took out their weapons, samurai swords, Ye Bufan understood their identity – people from Sakura Island.
The five people behind moved first. Judging from their footwork, they were likely ninjas, not samurai.
The five moved in perfect sync, swinging their swords at Ye Bufan simultaneously, their movements fluid and without any hesitation.
"Bang—"
Behind Ye Bufan, sword energy exploded at a single point. The sword domain enveloped the five ninjas, and they were instantly sent flying backward. With a flash of sword light, in just an instant, the five ninjas were decapitated.
The samurai standing in front of Ye Bufan's eyes narrowed, and a burst of white smoke rose from the ground, disappearing from his spot.
"Trying to escape? No way." Ye Bufan then disappeared from his spot, his spiritual power instantly spreading out within a few hundred meters, searching for the other party's whereabouts.
The sky gradually brightened. The ninja had been sprinting northeast and finally stopped in a mountain gully.
Here, ten tents were set up, and even sentries were posted outside the tents.
"There's something wrong," Ye Bufan followed the ninja and arrived at the largest tent.
"Lord Yamamoto, the mission has failed." The ninja entered the tent and knelt before a middle-aged man inside.
"Eh—" Ye Bufan's spiritual power sensed everything inside the tent. Wasn't that Lord Yamamoto the same Yamamoto Natsuryu he had met at the martial arts大会?
"What?" Yamamoto Natsuryu's tone instantly rose.
"The other party killed the five people I brought in an instant. Fortunately, I was fast enough, or I wouldn't have made it back," the ninja said.
"What do you think his strength is now?" Yamamoto Natsuryu asked again.
"Great Martial Saint!" The ninja blurted out without thinking.
Yamamoto Natsuryu's legs went weak, and he directly sat on the chair, stunned for a long time.
"Impossible, absolutely impossible," Yamamoto Natsuryu murmured. "How can there be such a young Great Martial Venerable?"
"What do we do now?" the ninja asked again.
Yamamoto Natsuryu forced himself to calm down. They had more important matters to attend to.
"We'll put Ye Bufan aside for now. We have to complete our mission as soon as possible and confirm the entrance to that place," Yamamoto Natsuryu said.
"Have you found it?" A trace of excitement flashed in the ninja's eyes.
Yamamoto Natsuryu nodded heavily and said, "According to historical records, there should be an entrance somewhere nearby."
Listening to their conversation, Ye Bufan wondered what "that place" they were talking about was. The underground city? The more he thought about it, the more it felt wrong. Ye Bufan decided to leave for now. When he reached a deserted place, he took out his phone and sent a message to Ji Feiyang, telling him the news he had just heard.
"What? They have people in the suburbs of the capital too?" Ji Feiyang was greatly shocked upon hearing the news about Yamamoto Natsuryu.
"Also?" Ye Bufan noticed that Ji Feiyang used the word "also," and knew that something might have happened.
"Brother Ji, has something happened?" Ye Bufan asked.
Ji Feiyang sighed softly and said, "Brother, I'm in the north right now. Recently, we found that people from Sakura Island seemed to be making some moves, so we rushed over."
After the martial arts大会 ended, the delegation led by Yamamoto Natsuryu went directly north, saying they were going for martial arts exchanges with some martial arts schools. Later, Ji Feiyang discovered that they were secretly sending people into the deep mountains in the north to investigate something.
Thus, Ji Feiyang was ordered to go to the deep mountains in the north.
It had only been a few days, and Ye Bufan called Ji Feiyang again, but they hadn't figured out what they were planning to do yet.
"Is there any progress now?" Ye Bufan asked.
Ji Feiyang was silent for a moment and said, "In the northern deep mountains, it is said to be the battlefield where Sakura Island and our cultivators fought before. It seems they want to enter the battlefield ruins."
"Brother Ji, I'll send you a location later. See if you can find any information about this coordinate."
Ye Bufan felt that what Yamamoto Natsuryu was doing in the suburbs of the capital should be related to what was happening in the northern mountains.