Bu Luo's injuries looked terrifying. Several broken ribs pierced through his side, stark white against the streaks of blood, a truly chilling sight. For a mortal, this would have been a fatal wound with little chance of survival. But for a cultivator, as long as it wasn't a case of regenerating a severed limb, rejoining broken bones like this was a minor affair.
Bu Luo felt as if he had been in a very long dream. In the dream, he was in a sealed, pitch-black space. His body was falling endlessly downwards. No matter how hard he tried or struggled, the Spirit Power he could usually summon with ease was completely unavailable.
As fear grew in his heart, he could only let his body fall, seemingly without end. He didn't know why he was here, nor who he used to be. But many familiar scenes and faces flickered past his eyes, so familiar and yet so strange. In this muddled state, he lost all track of time.
Suddenly, he felt his body jolt, and all the images before him shattered, drifting away into the distance. His eyes caught a glimmer of light. His spirits lifted, and he flew towards the light with all his might.
The first thing he saw was an ordinary face. Bu Luo found the face somewhat familiar, but not in a way he could place. His mind was still in a fog. He tried to turn his head and found himself lying on the ground, with waves of heat rising from beneath him.
Li Yan nodded in satisfaction. Bu Luo had only suffered severe physical trauma from a collision. For a cultivator, this would normally be a minor issue. However, Bu Luo's body had accumulated a large amount of Pill Poison, which had given Li Yan quite a bit of trouble before he finally managed to force out most of it.
This wasn't to say that the monk Yiming's strike lacked power, nor that Bu Luo's physical body was particularly strong. Rather, the bamboo basket on his back had absorbed most of the force of the attack. To be precise, the monk Yiming's blow had landed within the protective range of the two straps of the bamboo basket on Bu Luo's chest.
Otherwise, given the "Lesser Vajra Body" that the monk Yiming had cultivated for over a hundred years, that single strike would have caused Bu Luo's entire body to explode into a mist of blood.
"Fellow Daoist Bu Luo, you are truly fortunate. But how did you manage to attract dozens of cultivators to join forces and hunt you down? Such charisma truly piques my curiosity, Jiang's curiosity, that is!"
Just as Bu Luo was still in a daze, a clear, cold voice sounded in his ear. This brought Bu Luo's consciousness rapidly back to his mind, and many memories came flooding back.
"It's you? Where am I?" Bu Luo finally recognized Li Yan, but a look of vigilance immediately appeared on his face, and the Spirit Power in his body began to surge.
"If I wanted to kill you, why would I have woken you up? And if I woke you up, would I still let you use your magical power?" Li Yan slowly stood up and looked down at Bu Luo on the ground, speaking calmly.
The moment Bu Luo's Spirit Power stirred, he had already sensed that there were no restraints on his body. But he only understood the situation when he heard Li Yan's words.
Though he was arrogant, he was an exceptionally intelligent person. He instantly figured out what had happened. He knew that the person before him had saved him. Although he didn't understand why this person did it, or how he had rescued him from the joint attack of those three, the fact that he hadn't sealed his cultivation spoke volumes.
"Oh, so it really is Fellow Daoist Jiang. Bu Luo has just awoken from a severe injury, so my mind is still a little muddled. I thank you, brother, for saving my life."
As Bu Luo spoke, he slowly sat up. He found that while his external injuries had not completely healed, a cool, itching sensation was coming from his broken bones—a sign of rapid healing.
Feeling that the Spirit Power in his Dantian was still weak but no longer raging out of control as before, he felt a sense of relief. As he sat up, he was still startled. Seeing that the bamboo basket was placed right beside him, the bamboo branch he hadn't had time to put away still leaning against its side, and an oilcloth and a silver plate on the ground, he let out a long sigh of relief.
"You are currently inside a 'Fire Eye'. I have temporarily set up a formation to block outside detection. Doesn't Fellow Daoist Bu Luo intend to resolve some of Jiang's doubts?" Li Yan looked at Bu Luo, who was still weak as he slowly sat up straight.
Bu Luo first looked around, feeling the waves of heat from his body and the scorching air. He laboriously leaned his body against the bamboo basket. The moment he touched the basket, a familiar feeling spread throughout his body, instantly restoring some of his sense of security.
"Hehehe, I was careless this time. I will explain to Brother Jiang in a moment. But this is a 'Fire Eye'. Why isn't the temperature high enough to melt me? Could it be the formation…"
Since waking up, in just a short period, Bu Luo had already changed his form of address several times, from "Fellow Daoist Jiang" to "brother," and then to "Brother Jiang," sounding more and more familiar.
He looked at himself and saw that he was not enveloped by Li Yan's Spirit Power, yet he asked this question first.
Bu Luo knew that the temperature inside this Flame Palace could not be blocked for long by Spirit Power or so-called formations. With his cultivation, which had already reached the Late-stage of Foundation Establishment, his young master had told him that without the protection of a special water-attribute magical treasure, lasting for a quarter of an hour would be the absolute limit.
Hearing the several changes in Bu Luo's address, Li Yan also had to admire Bu Luo's judgment of the situation. His intelligence was definitely top-notch. Since Bu Luo was not sealed and the bamboo basket was right beside him, he naturally understood everything.
At the same time, Bu Luo thought about how this person had managed to rescue him from a joint pursuit by three people, and he himself appeared completely unharmed. This made him believe even more in his young master's earlier assessment.
In his current state, Bu Luo himself believed that Li Yan could crush him with a single finger.
Li Yan, of course, understood Bu Luo's confusion. The place they were in, although still very hot, was now barely tolerable without circulating Spirit Power.
"Just as Fellow Daoist Bu Luo guessed, it is due to the formation. My formation happens to have some water-attribute properties, but it's still not enough to do better. So I set up another small water-attribute formation inside. Under the two layers of formations, I have barely managed to achieve this."
Li Yan said faintly. They were indeed now inside another small formation within the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation," but the truth was not as Li Yan described. The real reason was that he was afraid Bu Luo would see the little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant devouring the high temperatures outside the small formation. That was why he had set up another small formation to block everything outside it.
However, without the little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant devouring the heat outside, this small formation of his would not have much effect at all.
Bu Luo nodded, but in his heart, he already felt that Li Yan's formation was extremely powerful. Although he had never been here before, the green-robed Confucian scholar had described in detail all the places to watch out for on the first and second levels of the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda for his sake.
So how could he know about the twists and turns in Li Yan's mind? He felt the temperature here again and confirmed that for the time being, he wouldn't suffer greater harm without the protection of a magical treasure. His heart relaxed considerably.
Bu Luo looked at Li Yan, a faint smile playing on his lips. Although Li Yan's expression was still impassive, Bu Luo knew that he was getting impatient.
Normally, in the cultivation world, inquiring about others' private affairs like this was extremely impolite. But his life had been saved by this person. Couldn't Li Yan at least know the reason why Bu Luo had offended dozens of cultivators and was being hunted by them?
So, Bu Luo did not use his Divine Sense to try and probe outside the formation to see how many cultivators had come. That might arouse Li Yan's displeasure. Instead, he simply said:
"This time, I was indeed careless. Two days ago, outside a ruined palace…"
A quarter of an hour later, Bu Luo chuckled twice, finishing his story. After taking a few deep breaths, he reached out and gently tapped the bamboo basket. A silver light rose from the mouth of the basket and then materialized into a page of silver paper before Li Yan, floating quietly.
Li Yan had been listening quietly to Bu Luo's narration, his expression changing slightly. When Bu Luo described how he had snatched the prize from the jaws of more than twenty cultivators, a strange look appeared on Li Yan's face, but he did not interrupt.
When Bu Luo unhesitatingly took out the Silver Page in front of him, he was taken aback. First, he was surprised by how straightforward Bu Luo was. But his gaze did not first fall on the Silver Page, but rather, he glanced at the bamboo basket. Although he had his suspicions before, he had not actually probed it.
'It really does have a storage space. This is a very peculiar storage-type magical treasure,' Li Yan thought. Only then did he turn his gaze to the page of silver paper. However, he did not immediately take it into his hand, but looked at Bu Luo again.
"Fellow Daoist Bu Luo's courage is truly… truly… great." After hearing Bu Luo's story, Li Yan felt that this person acted solely on his own subjective thoughts, doing whatever came to mind. If you said he was ignorant, his numerous protective magical treasures really did give him the confidence. In the end, Li Yan didn't know how to "praise" him and could only force out a few words before being at a loss.
But Li Yan immediately changed the subject. "Does Fellow Daoist know what this Silver Page is for? For you to just take it out like this."
Bu Luo blinked and finally shook his head with a sigh. "A total of ten of these silver pages have appeared. This is one of the last two to appear. But I haven't had time to investigate it, so I don't know what kind of magical treasure it is. I just felt that since everyone was fighting for it, I should naturally grab it first."
After a pause, Bu Luo added, "Some time ago, I also heard that silver pages had appeared in this palace, but those who obtained them were very tight-lipped, and not a single piece of news leaked out."
Well then, Li Yan completely understood Bu Luo. This person just loved to stir up trouble. To put it bluntly, he was the type of person who relied on his possession of magical treasures that cultivators of the same rank couldn't withstand to look for trouble.
If it had been Li Yan at that time, under the watchful eyes of dozens of cultivators, he would absolutely not have made a move. Even if he wanted it badly, he would have watched to see who ended up with the treasure and then secretly targeted that person alone. He would never have acted so recklessly like Bu Luo.
"I'm taking it out now because I don't care what it is. Fellow Daoist saved my life, so of course, I must offer a tangible gift of thanks. All the magical treasures on my body have been claimed by blood, and besides, I'm used to them. I would be reluctant to part with them. This whole incident was caused by this thing. Since I haven't looked at it, I have no burden in my heart, so I'll just give it to you."
"Besides, since it's something everyone is fighting for, it must be something good. This treasure must have an immortal fortune with you."
Li Yan didn't expect Bu Luo to come up with such a justification. For a moment, he felt that this person was indeed very interesting and had a lot of character. He had actually saved Bu Luo because he wanted the green-robed Confucian scholar to owe him a favor. The power of the green-robed scholar had made his heart pound with fear. To have such a person owe him a favor in this Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda was, of course, a great thing.
Li Yan himself didn't know how long he would be here. Naturally, having a powerful friend was countless times better than having such an enemy. Otherwise, he could only pray not to run into him.
Of course, all of this was based on the premise that the other party had a good character. Otherwise, with some temperamental old monsters, no matter how much you tried to please them, they might just turn around and take your life.
From his two encounters with the green-robed Confucian scholar, Li Yan could sense that he was not a fickle person, which was why he had made the decision to save Bu Luo on a whim.
And Bu Luo's actions at this moment had somewhat changed Li Yan's perception of him. Bu Luo had the arrogance of a "sheltered prodigy," but he was very straightforward at heart. Of course, this "straightforwardness" was likely limited, but at the very least, he knew how to repay kindness, and that was enough.
"Oh? Is Fellow Daoist Bu Luo sure he doesn't want to see what kind of magical treasure this Silver Page is? Perhaps it might surpass all your other magical treasures," Li Yan said to Bu Luo with a smile.
"Hey, hey, hey, Brother Jiang, don't be like that. Stop, just stop right there. I'm a very curious person, you can't tempt me like this. I really won't be able to resist looking in a moment. Hurry up and take it, or go somewhere else to look."
"After you've looked, don't tell me what it's for, and don't show a satisfied or surprised expression. That's my condition. That's it, hmm… that's it!"
Hearing Li Yan's words, Bu Luo, who had been half-leaning against the bamboo basket, immediately sat up straight, a bitter look on his face. He spoke in a pleading tone, but his eyes couldn't help but glance at the Silver Page again before he with great difficulty turned his head away.
In fact, he was now extremely curious about Li Yan as well. Could this person possess even more magical treasures than he did? He had just scanned the inside of his bamboo basket with his Divine Sense, and nothing was missing. Faced with so many magical treasures, this cultivator surnamed Jiang seemed completely unmoved.
How could he know that if he had really died, Li Yan might have dared to take his magical treasures, but whether he dared to use them was another matter. That green-robed Confucian scholar was too powerful, and Li Yan was not blind to his attitude towards Bu Luo; it was clearly one of doting. With that level of doting, Li Yan had no doubt that the scholar had left some kind of tracking mark on Bu Luo. How could he dare to casually use Bu Luo's magical treasures?
Therefore, Li Yan naturally would not entertain the thought of directly killing Bu Luo for his treasures.
This action of Li Yan's had truly saved his life. Just as Bu Luo's life aura had faded to the point of almost disappearing, a ghostly green figure had arrived outside the Red Maple Pool.
"The attack should have come from at least two people. Bu Luo's life was in danger. One of them ultimately inflicted a severe injury on Bu Luo, and was also a body cultivator. Could it be a Jingtu Sect monk?" The green figure stood by the Red Maple Pool, his expression extremely grave as he muttered to himself.
"I rushed here in a hurry, but now his life flame is burning brightly again. Could it be that Bu Luo escaped and has already healed himself?"
The green figure hesitated for a moment. He could only vaguely sense some things through the mark left on Bu Luo. The palace under the Red Maple Pool provided too much isolation. Even though he had left a Divine Sense imprint on Bu Luo, he couldn't truly penetrate the palace. He could only get a slight sense when an attack made contact with Bu Luo's body. After a long while, the green figure's form flickered and disappeared from the edge of the Red Maple Pool once again.
This faint, blurry sensation, even if it was just a wisp, had allowed the green figure to come from a far-off place. His terrifying strength far surpassed the imagination of the cultivators who had seen him before.