Wei Zhongran beckoned with his hand. Amidst a blur on the lower shelf of Soul Lamps, a new Soul Lamp appeared. He cast a technique at it, and the Soul Lamp let out a low whimper. The flame on it flickered and slowly rose, igniting. It was only the size of a fly's head, and as it swayed and whimpered, it seemed to be summoning something. He then looked at Li Yan. Without hesitation, Li Yan stepped forward and forced the wisp of essence soul that he had nurtured for several months into it. The moment that wisp of essence soul entered the Soul Lamp, the flame, which had been the size of a fly's head, suddenly surged, seeming to surpass two of the seven Soul Lamps in the row ahead. Those two were the Soul Lamps of Lin Daqiao and Wen Xinliang. At the same time, the essence soul, which had been nurtured by Li Yan for forty-nine days, also produced a faint connection with him. Li Yan could feel this space firmly enveloping his Soul Lamp, and his actions seemed to be watched by a pair of invisible eyes. This startled Li Yan, but his face showed no trace of emotion.
Wei Zhongran, at the side, saw that the flame of the Soul Lamp Li Yan had just lit instantly surpassed two of the other Soul Lamps. A look of great interest appeared on his face. He looked at the Soul Lamp with a burning gaze for a while, then swept his gaze over Li Yan's entire body. But with just this one glance, Li Yan felt the hair on his body stand on end, as if he were being stared at by a primordial vicious beast. Li Yan felt that all his secrets had been seen through in this one glance. But this feeling was extremely brief, so much so that Li Yan thought he had made a mistake in his perception. Then he saw Wei Zhongran's eyes narrow, but he did not speak.
Li Yan knew that Wei Zhongran was strong, but he didn't know how strong. But with that glance just now, he had a feeling that the other party might have seen some clues through this wisp of essence soul. But he didn't know how much his master had seen.
Wei Zhongran, on the other hand, was already certain that this disciple had not told the truth. And he even judged that Li Yan might be more than just a seventh-tier Foundation Establishment. He had just briefly used the "Qi-Gazing Art" and found that the introverted fluctuations on Li Yan's body had far surpassed those of cultivators who had just established their foundation. But he was not in the habit of getting to the bottom of things.
Seeing that the Soul Lamp's flame was even more vigorous than that of his two senior brothers who had established their foundation several years earlier made him very surprised. But Wei Zhongran did not know that this wisp of essence soul was actually only stained with a part of Li Yan's aura. If his real essence soul were here, the flame would have shocked him to the point of disbelief.
Afterward, the two teleported out of the Soul Lamp space. With a wave of the sleepy-looking old man in gray clothes' hand as if shooing away a fly, the two quickly flew away from the Treasury Pavilion. Wei Zhongran seemed to not care at all about the gray-clothed old man's attitude. On the contrary, before leaving, he cupped his fist at the old man with a smile.
After a simple exchange on the way, Li Yan expressed his wish to go home and see his family soon. Wei Zhongran, as if he had already known, nodded with a smile and gave Li Yan a jade slip. Li Yan was first stunned when he received the jade slip. But when his Divine Sense sank into it and saw a map and detailed text records, which included a map to the dynasty and the cultivation sects, cultivation families, and the sects and families with teleportation formations in the regions he would pass through, Li Yan knew after a moment's thought that Wei Zhongran must have prepared this jade slip a long time ago and was just waiting for the right time to give it to him. A warmth rose in his heart. Wei Zhongran then verbally explained some of the things in the jade slip to him, telling him that for those teleportation formations, he only needed to show his identity token, and those cultivation families or sects with these teleportation formations would not dare to charge any Spirit Stones and would definitely treat Li Yan with care.
With that, with a wave of his large sleeve, his portly figure had already floated away without any hesitation.
Looking at Wei Zhongran's departing back, Li Yan thought of the matter in the Soul Lamp space again. A certain feeling seemed to stir in his heart. He seemed to be on the verge of grasping it, but he had no clue. Just like that, Li Yan stared in the direction Wei Zhongran had disappeared for a long while, but that feeling still gave him no starting point. Li Yan could only put aside his thoughts and fly toward Four Symbols Peak.
Soon, Li Yan arrived at Four Symbols Peak. He randomly found a disciple and asked for Bai Rou's residence. Seeing Li Yan's Foundation Establishment cultivation, that disciple's attitude was also very respectful. He personally led Li Yan to Bai Rou's cave residence. Four Symbols Peak was not like Little Bamboo Peak; the cultivators' residences were all cave residences carved into the mountain.
Bai Rou had been waiting in her cave residence early on. But after seeing Li Yan, the expression on her face was one of utter astonishment. She remembered that a year and a half ago, Li Yan was still at the eighth layer of Qi Condensation. How was he at Foundation Establishment now? This was also the result of Li Yan not deliberately and completely concealing his aura. Since Little Bamboo Peak knew about his Foundation Establishment, it wouldn't be a secret for long.
Bai Rou immediately thought about it and guessed that Li Yan might have hidden his cultivation at that time and had probably already reached the Great Perfection of the tenth layer of Qi Condensation. Otherwise, how could he have finally established himself among the few disciples of Little Bamboo Peak? Thinking of the infamous reputation of the few from Little Bamboo Peak recently and the content of those missions, back then, Wen Xinliang and Lin Daqiao had returned with her all the way, so harmless. Sometimes when she thought about it, her little face would turn pale. It seemed that Li Yan had spent this year and a half charging toward Foundation Establishment. After thinking this through, her heart calmed down a little.
Next, without waiting for Li Yan to speak, Bai Rou directly took out a storage pouch and handed it to him. Li Yan was not polite. He sank his Divine Sense directly into it in front of Bai Rou. Bai Rou, on the other hand, watched Li Yan with great interest. She also found it interesting that this junior brother would directly check the items right in front of her. She hadn't had contact with many people, but those young talents, which one of them wasn't polite and refined when they met her? If it were those people, if she handed them a storage pouch, they would definitely hang it on their waist with a casual smile without a care, not at all like Li Yan who was so direct with her. Even when speaking, a few pleasantries were a rarity. And this Junior Brother Li was also a man of few words, only saying what he thought needed to be said.
A moment later, Li Yan looked up, his face full of smiles. He slapped his waist and also took out a storage pouch and handed it to Bai Rou. Bai Rou accepted it with a smile and also swept it with her Divine Sense. Tens of thousands of Spirit Stones lay neatly inside the pouch. She casually hung the storage pouch on her waist. This time, she was not polite. Seeing her accept the Spirit Stones, Li Yan also felt relieved. The thing cultivators feared the most was the word "favor." If she didn't accept it, he would have to consider not taking these materials. Otherwise, the matter of the puppet in the future would be really difficult to handle. That would be equivalent to owing a huge favor.
Next, the two had a long talk in Bai Rou's cave residence, mainly about their experiences in Foundation Establishment cultivation. Bai Rou had also just established her foundation not long ago. Although she would occasionally go to her master, Elder Chigong, for guidance, she couldn't go too often. And her personality was introverted, and she had little contact with her fellow sect members. She was also usually engrossed in the art of puppetry and mechanisms. After establishing her foundation, she had to figure out many things on her own.
Today, after talking with Li Yan for nearly an hour, Bai Rou was greatly surprised by some of Li Yan's views and knowledge of Foundation Establishment. She couldn't believe that this Junior Brother before her had just established his foundation not long ago. As long as what Li Yan said did not involve the deep secrets of his own cultivation method, he also took the opportunity to integrate Pingtu's and Wei Zhongran's views with his own understanding, turning them into his own insights. There were many things that Bai Rou had never heard of, which often gave her a feeling of seeing the sun after the clouds had parted. She listened with her beautiful eyes shining with a strange light, as beautiful as a water lily, stunning beyond words.
Similarly, many of Bai Rou's views on Foundation Establishment also benefited Li Yan greatly. Although Bai Rou's combat strength was not strong, and it had only been a little over a year since she had established her foundation, she had entered the Dao through the art of puppetry and mechanisms. Her method of Foundation Establishment was very unique, and her cultivation methods and insights were also something Li Yan had never heard of. An occasional word from Bai Rou could make Li Yan's eyes light up, inspiring him with a lot of ideas.
They didn't ask each other which tier of Foundation Establishment they had reached. This was already a very private matter. Unless they were master and disciple, father and son, or extremely close relatives, it was unlikely that they would ask.
After chatting for an hour, Li Yan got up to leave. Bai Rou still looked as if she hadn't had enough, but she had to get up to see him off. When Li Yan was leaving, he also told Bai Rou that he might be out for a year or two. During this period, if Sun Guoshu had any problems, he hoped she could help him out. Then he took out forty thousand Spirit Stones and gave them to Bai Rou. This made Bai Rou's eyes reveal even more surprise. One must know that even a veteran Foundation Establishment cultivator might not be able to produce so many Spirit Stones at once. Li Yan had just established his foundation, and it was obvious that he needed to prepare a large amount of medicinal pills for assistance during his Foundation Establishment, which would basically cost a Qi Condensation disciple all his fortune. For Li Yan to take out forty thousand Spirit Stones so easily, plus the more than thirty thousand he had given her just now, his fortune was already considerable. And from his expression, it was as if he didn't care at all. How could Bai Rou not be surprised? Even for someone like her who often refined puppets and drew formations for others, it was not easy to take out tens of thousands of Spirit Stones at once. She felt that this junior brother before her was extremely mysterious.
At the same time, Li Yan also expressed that if he uncovered the secret of the giant ape puppet, he would do his best to send her a message at the first opportunity. This also made Bai Rou very grateful. Then, after a moment of hesitation, Bai Rou took out a jade slip and handed it to Li Yan. Li Yan took it without understanding. Bai Rou told him that this jade slip recorded some of the entry-level techniques of their Wood Flow Sect's puppet mechanisms, which might be helpful for him to understand puppets. After hearing this, Li Yan sank his Divine Sense into it. A moment later, he looked up at the smiling Bai Rou with some surprise.
The jade slip Bai Rou had given him was not just a simple entry-level puppet technique as she had said, but the basic chapter of the "Wood Flow Sect's" puppet mechanisms. Don't underestimate this basic chapter. For the Wood Flow Sect, this was a secret that was not passed down. Many subsequent mechanism production techniques were based on this. It was not an exaggeration to say that it was the source of all the methods of the Wood Flow Sect.
Li Yan had actually been quite interested in the way of formations and mechanisms for a long time. It was just that he had been focused on establishing his foundation before and had not been in a hurry to find related classics. Now that he had this jade slip, he could study it. Although Li Yan knew that Bai Rou's action was still related to the secret in that puppet, it was not only not a disadvantage to him, but it also allowed him to pry into the secrets of her sect.
Li Yan was not polite. After accepting the jade slip, he got up and left under Bai Rou's complicated gaze.
After Li Yan had taken care of all these things, he went to Lord Lao Peak again. But along the way, he felt that there were significantly fewer disciples in the sect, not as bustling as before. Li Yan bought a lot of medicinal pills from Lord Lao Peak and kept them on him. Li Yan's appearance also surprised some of the cultivators on Lord Lao Peak who knew him. They never thought that this Martial Uncle from Little Bamboo Peak had already established his foundation in just a few short years. Each of them had a look of envy in their eyes.
Li Yan didn't see acquaintances like Mei Bucai. After asking around a little, he also knew that people like Mei Bucai, Ding Yiwei, Cheng Jingnian, and Wu Shixi had also thrown themselves into the current vigorous cultivation trend and had all gone into seclusion to cultivate assiduously. Now, all five peaks of the sect were like this, so there were naturally fewer disciples wandering around.
Li Yan looked up at the sky and saw that it was past noon. He had only taken care of a few things in the sect, yet it had taken so much time. Thinking of his appointment with Gong Chenying, which was already past time, he hurriedly went to Little Bamboo Peak.
When Li Yan hurried back and landed at the entrance of his bamboo courtyard, he saw at a glance a slender and curvaceous figure leaning against two ink bamboos, staring blankly at the sky. She seemed not to have noticed his arrival at all.