"The duration of the three stages is fluid, possibly lasting a day, a month, or even a year." Ye Bufan's current goal is to find a way to break through to the Core Formation stage within this year, at least to protect himself from the first stage of the Heavenly Seal.
As for the second stage, the Heavenly Seal, it remains an unknown. Ye Bufan has no idea what will happen at that time.
"Boy, I'm very curious, is your sect one of those legendary major sects?" Elder Mingyuan asked Ye Bufan with curiosity as he listened to Ye Bufan's explanation. After all, Ye Bufan's knowledge, learning, and even his temperament were impeccable. Even more terrifying was Ye Bufan's talent; he was a cultivator at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment at less than twenty years old.
"I have no sect." Ye Bufan's answer was concise.
"I know you don't want to say. Those major sects have their own taboos," said Daoist Mingyuan. "You mentioned wanting to reach the Core Formation stage in a short period. Are you willing to take a risk?"
Upon hearing this, Ye Bufan looked at Daoist Mingyuan and asked, "Senior, you can speak your mind."
"Earth should be a place where ancient cultivation is stable, thus there are many ancient cultivation civilization ruins and the cave mansions of some ancient cultivation powerhouses. In these places, there should be cultivation resources left from ancient times," said Daoist Mingyuan.
Ye Bufan had heard about this from Lin Xiaoyao before, but ruins of ancient cultivation civilizations were deeply hidden and difficult to find.
"This is indeed a method, but ancient cultivation civilizations are not things that can be found just by searching," Ye Bufan said.
Elder Mingyuan smiled mysteriously and asked, "Do you still remember the Dragon Emperor Token I gave you?"
Hearing this, Ye Bufan froze for a few seconds before taking out the Dragon Emperor Token from his spatial jade pendant.
"Hiss—"
Elder Mingyuan immediately noticed that Ye Bufan possessed a spatial artifact and gasped. If this was an era dominated by cultivators, spatial artifacts would easily attract unwanted attention.
Ye Bufan looked at the Dragon Emperor Token. He had studied it and only knew that its material was similar to that of the broken sword.
"Could it be that behind this Dragon Emperor Token lies an ancient cultivation relic?" Ye Bufan asked Elder Mingyuan.
Elder Mingyuan nodded. "The Dragon Emperor Token is divided into five pieces. I only have one. It is said that two of the remaining four pieces are in Kyoto, and the other two are in Dianyun City. As long as the remaining Dragon Emperor Tokens are found, the ancient cultivation relic behind the Dragon Emperor Token can be located."
"Does the Dragon Emperor Token have any other uses?" Ye Bufan asked.
Elder Mingyuan shook his head. "After I obtained it, I studied it for a long time but could not decipher its mysteries."
Ye Bufan made a decision in his heart: he must go and see the ancient cultivation relic behind the Dragon Emperor Token. Furthermore, based on the material of the Dragon Emperor Token and the broken sword, Ye Bufan was certain that the broken sword was likely related to this Dragon Emperor Token.
The two chatted all night. As dawn broke, Daoist Mingyuan bid farewell to Ye Bufan and left the countryside restaurant.
Ye Bufan took a deep breath, absorbing the morning purple qi at the countryside restaurant, and entered his cultivation state.
As the sun slowly rose, faint sounds began to emerge near the countryside restaurant.
Ye Bufan’s lips curled into a slight smile. With a "bang," a gunshot echoed, and a bullet flew towards Ye Bufan's head.
As the bullet approached, Ye Bufan vanished from his spot, and the entire countryside restaurant fell into silence.
"What's going on?"
The person in the woods looked at the scene before them in disbelief.
"This gun has been modified by me; it can be powered by a martial artist's internal energy, greatly increasing its power. Even a Great Martial Venerable might not be able to dodge this attack. Could the rumors be true, is he really a Martial Saint?"
After speaking, the person observed the surroundings again with the sniper rifle.
But after waiting for a long time, they couldn't find Ye Bufan's location. At this moment, several more people quietly approached.
"What's the situation? Where is he? Didn't you say it was foolproof?" someone beside him asked.
"I don't know. After he disappeared, no one saw him again," the person with the gun replied.
"Should we go forward and investigate?" another person suggested, "Or should we wait for the main force to arrive, and then advance together."
"Let's wait for the main force. It's better to be cautious," the person with the gun said.
While the few people were talking, they didn't notice that a broken sword was hovering behind them.
"Why do I feel a chill down my spine?" After a few seconds, the person with the gun felt a chill on their back.
"I feel it too." Several people felt as if someone was watching them from behind.
"I'll go check our rear."
One person got up and investigated the woods behind them. As soon as they stood up, a sword light flashed, and the person immediately fell to the ground, startling everyone present.
"Damn it!"
Several people leaped up. The broken sword flew towards them. The person with the gun raised their weapon and pulled the trigger towards the broken sword. The broken sword left afterimages in the air, and in an instant, the opponent's gun was sliced in half.
Ye Bufan silently appeared behind the few people. The broken sword and Ye Bufan moved simultaneously.
Three seconds later, Ye Bufan returned to his original position. The people present stood motionlessly for a moment before collapsing to the ground with a "bang."
"Seven people," Ye Bufan counted. "I wonder how many will come today."
After speaking, Ye Bufan returned to the countryside restaurant to await the arrival of the next group.
The second and last group arrived an hour later. Ye Bufan sensed that people were converging on his location from all directions, with the countryside restaurant as the center.
Ye Bufan calmly picked up a few pebbles from the ground and held them in his hand.
"Ye Bufan!"
A stern shout came from the front of the countryside restaurant. A white-haired elder appeared first, followed by Martial Venerables and Great Martial Venerables, as well as advanced martial artists, a total of fifty people.
Soon after, a pair of twins appeared on the left side of the countryside restaurant, emerging silently from the woods. They were followed by a group of Great Martial Venerables, Martial Venerables, and advanced martial artists, bringing a total of thirty people.
Then, on the right and behind the countryside restaurant, groups of people also appeared. Each direction was led by a Martial Saint, accompanied by a group of Great Martial Venerables, Martial Venerables, and advanced martial artists.
Ye Bufan roughly estimated that there were nearly two hundred people.
"To kill me alone, they mobilized over two hundred people." Ye Bufan chuckled helplessly, continuing to pick up pebbles from the ground.
Seeing that Ye Bufan was ignoring him and was preoccupied with picking up pebbles, the elder frowned, somewhat displeased. However, considering that Ye Bufan was about to die, he decided there was no need to quibble with a dead man and relaxed his brow.
"Martial Saint Wenbin, this Ye Bufan doesn't seem to respect you," the twins couldn't help but laugh when they saw this.