The scroll of the Yin Corpse Sect cultivators was a powerful spatial artifact, its principle akin to the Taiyi Divine Sect's Taiyi Ring, capable of containing a world.
Within the scroll's painting, time flowed incredibly slowly. One day in the outside world was equivalent to ten days inside. Spending a year within was like spending ten years.
Adding to the past year, under the leadership of the Yin Corpse Sect, the people of Sakura Island discovered a minuscule spiritual脉 (lingmai - spiritual脉) somewhere in the Kyushu Land. They had been secretly mining spiritual ore, transporting it back to Sakura Island for cultivators to practice.
The reason the Yin Corpse Sect coveted the Taiyi Divine Sect's legacy was that the Taiyi Divine Sect's spiritual脉 was tens of times larger than the one they were mining. At the current mining rate, the spiritual脉 would be exhausted in a few years, leaving the people of Sakura Island in a state of depleted spiritual ore resources.
To ensure a continuous supply of spiritual ore, the people of Sakura Island had no choice but to seek and seize spiritual脉 at all costs. However, only the people of the Yin Corpse Sect possessed the special cultivation techniques to sense the presence of spiritual脉. According to them, as the restrictions continued to loosen, more and more spiritual脉 would appear.
...
Meanwhile, with Ye Bufan's help, Chu Mengyao successfully entered the mid-stage of Qi Refining. On the other side, Wang Xinyan cultivated on Wind Wheel Peak and also smoothly became a cultivator primarily focused on mental power spells.
Ye Bufan had also been in a semi-closed door state, continuously refining the spiritual ore of the Taiyi Divine Sect. During this period, Ye Bufan felt his cultivation steadily soaring. At the invitation of Ye Qingyi, Ye Bufan went to the underground city in the capital to cultivate for a while. According to the passage of time within the ancient tower of the underground city, Ye Bufan spent nearly a year inside, while only about twenty days passed in the outside world.
With this added advantage, coupled with the spiritual ore's enhancement and Bai Qi as a sparring partner within the ancient tower, Ye Bufan successfully broke through to the mid-stage of Core Formation, finally consolidating his strength at the peak of the mid-stage Core Formation.
Ye Bufan walked out of the ancient tower with satisfaction. In the span of a month, many changes had occurred in the outside world. The Martial Alliance and various major sects had jointly issued some basic breathing exercises, helping ordinary citizens strengthen their bodies. Simultaneously, through this method, major sects began to repeatedly screen individuals with higher talent and recruit them into the sects as inner disciples, rapidly expanding their numbers.
A piece of news came from Ye Qingyi: on Xihua Mountain to the east, dozens of demonic beasts were discovered, the highest of which had reached the great circle of late Foundation Establishment. After dispatching people to eliminate them, a teleportation array was found, which had been completely opened.
On the other side, in Meishan, a group of demonic beasts was also discovered, including a Beast Emperor at the Core Formation stage. Ye Qingyi originally intended to go herself, but due to her cultivation with spiritual ore, she was about to condense another core and could not afford any mistakes. She ultimately had to ask Ye Bufan to help investigate Meishan.
Upon hearing this, Ye Bufan readily agreed without hesitation. He felt it was a good opportunity to test his strength after his breakthrough by fighting the Core Formation Beast Emperor.
"I want to go too!" Ye Qingcheng said to Ye Bufan.
"No, it's too dangerous. If you go, I won't be able to protect you," Ye Bufan replied.
"I don't need you to protect me, Sister Ling'er can," Ye Qingcheng snorted. "I haven't even seen a demonic beast before. This is a good chance, just take me to see."
Ye Bufan turned to look at Ling'er and noticed that her aura had changed compared to before; she was now a solid cultivator at the Core Formation stage.
"Just take me with you. If you don't, I'll go tell Sister Mengyao," Ye Qingcheng threatened Ye Bufan.
"Why do you always bring Mengyao up to threaten me?" Ye Bufan said with a wry smile. This was Ye Qingcheng's specialty. When Chu Mengyao was in the capital, Ye Qingcheng had done this numerous times.
Under Ye Qingcheng's persistent pleading, Ye Bufan finally agreed.
"I'll take you, but we need to set three rules," Ye Bufan told Ye Qingcheng. "First, you must obey my commands and not act rashly. Second, don't cause trouble for me, and discuss any matters with me. Third, don't use Mengyao to threaten me."
"Deal," Ye Qingcheng agreed readily. Seeing her so agreeable, Ye Bufan remained somewhat skeptical.
Under Ling'er's arrangement, the group set off towards Meishan, which was adjacent to the capital, so the journey would not be long. Upon arriving at Meishan, Ye Bufan saw a familiar figure.
"Palace Master Yan, I didn't expect to meet you here," Ye Bufan said in surprise, not expecting someone from the Bright Palace to be here.
"Oh, Mr. Ye, what a coincidence. I happened to be nearby and found a disciple with high talent suitable for our Bright Palace's cultivation techniques. I heard Meishan has been a bit restless lately, so I came to take a look," Yan Yuzhu deliberately emphasized the part about finding a disciple, causing Ye Bufan to smile helplessly. After the plan against the Sakura Island people concluded, Yan Yuzhu had once approached Ye Bufan to discuss taking in disciples, but Wang Xinyan had refused adamantly. Yan Yuzhu had no choice but to return to the Bright Palace and they hadn't seen each other since.
"I also heard that demonic beasts appeared in Meishan and came to eliminate them," Ye Bufan quickly tried to change the subject.
"I never thought we'd be fighting side by side again," Yan Yuzhu chuckled. "Let's wait a bit longer. I heard people from Biluo Nunnery are also on their way. We'll enter the mountain together then."
Ye Bufan nodded. However, Ye Bufan never imagined that the person coming from Biluo Nunnery this time would be the Divine Nun Qiongying. And Divine Nun Qiongying had brought all her personal disciples with her, including her final disciple, Ye Bufan's former fiancée – Liu Ruoyan. Liu Ruoyan was slightly startled upon seeing Ye Bufan, then lowered her head and followed behind Divine Nun Qiongying.
"Divine Nun Qiongying," Ye Bufan greeted her. Divine Nun Qiongying was also momentarily stunned upon seeing Ye Bufan, then bowed to him.
"Benefactor Ye, long time no see," Divine Nun Qiongying said. "After just a few months, Benefactor Ye's cultivation has advanced by leaps and bounds, truly leaving others in the dust." Divine Nun Qiongying felt an unfathomable aura from Ye Bufan, unable to discern his true strength.
"Master, you too, your cultivation has advanced further compared to before." Ye Bufan smiled slightly. Seeing Divine Nun Qiongying this time, she had also reached the half-step Core Formation stage, ready to enter Core Formation at any moment.