Ye Bufan drew out the veins of the spiritual脉. The entire spiritual脉 coiled and wound, and the drawing by Ye Bufan was so detailed that even the subtle diversions were included.
Five seconds later, the map disappeared, and the entire cave fell silent.
"You have passed the test," the old man's voice sounded again. "Your drawing was very detailed, and you got everything right."
Ye Qingyi looked at Ye Bufan, her eyes filled with confusion. Ye Bufan's surprises were too numerous for her, but this ability to locate spiritual脉 was indeed a bit exaggerated.
"With your skill, won't it be easy to find spiritual脉 from now on?" Ye Qingyi said.
Ye Bufan waved his hand and said, "It's hard to say. I just combined the location of the Taiyi Divine Sect's main hall with the exposed spiritual ore, and then deduced it."
As they were speaking, there was a commotion in the cave. Immediately, a crack appeared in the stone wall in front of them, and a dazzling light made them unable to open their eyes.
When their eyes adjusted slightly, Ye Bufan looked at the cracked wall again. The crack had widened to a size that a person could pass through.
Ye Bufan and Ye Qingyi walked in and were immediately shocked by the scene inside. The space inside was built from spiritual ore. After only a moment, they felt their cultivation growing.
In the center of the entire space, there was a pool of water. In the center of the pool, a black ring floated.
"Look!" Ye Qingyi said to Ye Bufan.
In a space made entirely of spiritual ore, a dissonant ring appeared, indicating that this ring was extraordinary.
Ye Bufan quickly walked to the edge of the pool. The water in the pool, having been soaked in the space made of spiritual ore for years, was also filled with spiritual energy.
Standing in front of the pool, the calm water surface suddenly churned. The water splashed up without any external force.
Finally, the splashing water droplets formed the shape of a person, and then transformed into a white-haired old man.
"Welcome to the Taiyi Divine Sect's spiritual ore space," the old man said. This was the voice that had sounded when they entered the secret realm of the Taiyi Divine Sect.
"Greetings, senior," Ye Bufan and Ye Qingyi bowed with clasped fists.
"Congratulations on reaching this place," the old man congratulated them again. "I didn't expect the person to arrive here to be an eighteen-year-old cultivator at the late Foundation Establishment stage. If this were during the Taiyi Divine Sect's most prosperous period, such talent would not be called genius, but a monstrous prodigy."
"Even the most talented among our Taiyi Divine Sect's ascendant ancestors had only just broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage at the age of eighteen," the old man sighed.
Then, the ring floating in the pool flew up and appeared before Ye Bufan.
"Now begins the final test, to refine this Taiyi Divine Sect Sect Master's Ring," the old man's voice said.
"So direct?" Ye Bufan was somewhat caught off guard, not expecting the other party to directly start the test without saying anything.
"Once you refine this ring, you will naturally know everything without me needing to tell you. If you cannot refine it, anything I say will be useless because you are not the inheritor and do not need to know so much," the old man's words were harsh, yet logical. Ye Bufan could only nod, sit cross-legged on the floor, and begin to refine the Taiyi Divine Sect's ring.
The Taiyi Divine Sect Sect Master's Ring was also the Ring of Inheritance, so refining it was not a simple matter.
As soon as Ye Bufan circulated his cultivation technique, he discovered that the ring had layers of obstruction, which immediately made Ye Bufan feel strained.
However, fortunately, the cultivation technique Ye Bufan practiced was the "Nine Revolutions Heaven-Through Art" specially prepared for him by Lin Xiaoyao. According to Lin Xiaoyao, this technique was the most powerful in their world, and as Ye Bufan's cultivation entered different stages, he would be able to appreciate the power of the "Nine Revolutions Heaven-Through Art."
Ye Bufan took a deep breath, calmed himself down, and the ring floated before him, exuding an ancient aura.
"Absorb!" A large amount of Ye Bufan's true qi surged towards the ring. The Nine Revolutions Heaven-Through Art then absorbed spiritual energy from heaven and earth, but the ring seemed to have a mind of its own, remaining unmoved. The true qi could only slowly make the ring accept it.
"Don't rush, take your time!" Ye Bufan kept telling himself to calm down and not be so passive.
While thinking, Ye Bufan slowly outputted his spiritual power, mixing it with his true qi to refine the ring.
The Heavenly Gang Wheel and the Nine Revolutions Heaven-Through Art were all operating continuously. Under Ye Bufan's constant attempts, the ring was slowly penetrated by Ye Bufan's true qi and spiritual power.
Ye Bufan couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. At this moment, he was already covered in sweat, and his back was soaked with sweat.
However, what shocked Ye Bufan was that in his consciousness, only a short time had passed, but Ye Qingyi told him that almost a full day had gone by.
Meanwhile, the situation outside was also changing. After they dealt with Cen Ba, the master of Thunder Valley, the Japanese from Cherry Blossom Island brought people back.
A conflict erupted outside, with both sides fighting for the spiritual ore, primarily consisting of Cherry Blossom Island, righteous cultivators, and the Demonic Sect.
It wasn't until some cultivation families appeared that the stalemate was broken. Cherry Blossom Island was sandwiched between the cultivation sects and families, and while they were fighting, the Demonic Sect's Living Yama, Dream Weaver, and Ox-Horse Monk successfully obtained a spiritual ore. Living Yama also became the second person, after Bai Zizhen, to enter the false "main hall."
Ox-Horse Monk and Dream Weaver watched from the periphery as the cultivation sects and families cooperated to deal with the people from Cherry Blossom Island. However, they didn't expect that the people from Cherry Blossom Island would also increase in number. Eventually, the three-way standoff turned into a two-way confrontation.
According to Ye Qingyi, there were now eight people from Cherry Blossom Island, and the cultivation sects and families had a total of eight people. Including Bai Zizhen, who had already entered the false "main hall," there were nine people in total.
Time ticked by, and the situation outside remained at a stalemate. It wasn't until the people from Thunder Valley reappeared that the people from Cherry Blossom Island had the opportunity to simultaneously deal with the Kyushu cultivators and search for a way to enter the main hall.
However, as soon as the people from Cherry Blossom Island entered, they were blocked by Song Mingqin and others, so how to enter became a problem. They could only keep searching outside for a way to enter the barrier.
Ye Bufan sat cross-legged. Although his true qi and spiritual power had refined a portion of the ring, it became increasingly difficult as time went on. When his true qi was depleted, he used his spiritual power to maintain it. When his spiritual power was depleted, he switched back to true qi. He even used the lightning stored by his "Chongxu Lei Jue."
One day, two days, three days quickly passed. The ring was refined further by Ye Bufan, and he also felt changes in his dantian.
Perhaps because of the continuous output of true qi, his body and dantian were pushed to their limits. The Nine Revolutions Heaven-Through Art operated faster and more fiercely than before. Ye Bufan was eventually exhausted and collapsed on the floor.
Without the continuous output of true qi, spiritual energy began to flow into Ye Bufan's body, converting into true qi.
Ye Bufan's dantian was like parched land receiving rain, greedily converting spiritual energy. Ye Bufan slowly recovered from his exhaustion.
"Hmm?" Ye Bufan sensed a hint of an opportunity and forcefully got up from the floor, sitting down and entering a state of cultivation.
To ensure that the progress of refining the ring was not interrupted, Ye Bufan's spiritual power enveloped the ring while he fully dedicated himself to cultivation.
The major meridians in his body became incredibly tough, and spiritual energy surged like a raging flood through the extraordinary meridians.
"Break!"
A buzzing sound came from within his body. Ye Qingyi took a deep breath—Ye Bufan was actually breaking through!
Three consecutive days of refining had brought Ye Bufan's cultivation to the brink of breakthrough, and the area was filled with abundant spiritual energy due to the spiritual ore. Furthermore, Ye Bufan's cultivation technique had put him into a state of breakthrough.
The true qi in his dantian continued to condense, becoming solidified and viscous, transforming from spiritual energy to true qi, and gradually gathering into a vague shape.