Five days later, when Bu Luo awoke from his cultivation, his internal injuries had mostly recovered. His external wounds were completely healed, but the Pill Poison in his body could not be completely cleared in a short time. Li Yan had only helped him force out the majority of it; the rest he would have to slowly force out or refine himself.
Bu Luo was awakened by the unbearable heat. Looking at the distorted scenery ahead caused by the high temperature, he saw a black-robed youth looking at him with a faint smile.
"Fellow Daoist Bu Luo, we can no longer stay here. My formation cannot withstand this heat for long. We have to go out."
As Li Yan spoke, he waved his large sleeve, and the small formation that had been enveloping them was withdrawn, turning into a compass that flew into his hand.
"Oh, how much time has passed?" Seeing that Li Yan had dismantled the small formation within the larger one, Bu Luo also released his Divine Sense to probe outside. He was indeed inside a "Fire Eye." At this time, there were no traces of any cultivators outside the Flame Palace mountain.
"Five days have passed. The cultivators outside have all gradually dispersed over the past few days. They had all left by last night," Li Yan said faintly.
In the first few days, those cultivators had stubbornly entered this "Fire Eye" in waves. Although they couldn't stay for long, it didn't stop them from searching for the two. But after several rounds of entering and finding nothing, they had no choice but to leave one by one.
As many of them left, they looked at the four Jingtu Sect monks with distrust. They thought it was likely the Jingtu Sect that had killed everyone to silence them and had already taken the treasures for themselves. It was only because the later cultivators arrived too quickly that the monks didn't have time to clean up the traces, forcing them to fabricate the lie that the book boy had been rescued.
Unless one was a Pseudo-Core cultivator, it was already the limit for a Foundation Establishment cultivator to enter the "Fire Eye" and ensure their own safety, let alone bringing someone else along. That was suicide. But awed by the power of the Jingtu Sect, and with more than one monk present, the thought of capturing one for interrogation was out of the question. In the end, they could only leave in frustration.
Of course, among them, several Pseudo-Core cultivators had also ventured a certain distance into the "Fire Eye" to investigate, but they too did not dare to go too far and returned empty-handed.
Bu Luo chuckled and stood up. With a flash of golden light, he had slung the bamboo basket onto his back. The Moonlight Silver Plate on the ground and the bamboo branch at the mouth of the basket also disappeared at the same time.
The tattered oilcloth had been silently stepped under his foot. He had not put these treasures back into the bamboo basket these past few days, showing great trust in Li Yan.
"Fellow Daoist Jiang, I am Bu Luo from the Zuo Family of the Saintly Province. I am a page boy in the family, and I have served my young master, Zuo Qiudan, since I was young. If you ever need help in the future, you can come find me at the Zuo Family. I will be in the family for at least the next three years. Thank you for your help before!"
Bu Luo wiped the somewhat arrogant smile from his face. This brush with death had changed his personality somewhat. He spoke to Li Yan with a serious expression.
This was clearly a formal introduction, a personal acknowledgment of the favor he owed Li Yan.
"Oh? You're saying that the green-robed Confucian scholar is Zuo Qiudan of the Saintly Province? Could he be the Zuo Qiudan known as 'He Who Splits Yin and Yang in Two'?" Li Yan looked at Bu Luo in astonishment.
It could be said that Alchemy Grandmasters in this world were extremely rare. Adding up all the regions under the jurisdiction of the Four Great Sects, there were fewer than eight. These eight were not like the Malevolent Spirit Sect or the Huchen Family, who were famous for their poisonous pills. They were true alchemy grandmasters and hegemons. Although their refined pills occasionally involved poisonous ones, most were for detoxification, healing, and helping people advance in their cultivation.
This type of alchemist was easily revered. No matter where they went, their reputation was known throughout the world, and they had friends everywhere. Every cultivator wanted to get to know them. Just obtaining a few pills from them could bring them endless benefits.
Three of the eight were Nascent Soul or higher Alchemy Hegemons. These people were like divine dragons, showing their tails but never their heads. Only legends of them existed in the world; they were rarely seen. Therefore, hegemon-level pills had long since disappeared from the markets, existing only in the conversations of some people and in the hands of a very small number of top cultivators.
The other five were all Golden Core stage masters, also belonging to the regions under the jurisdiction of the Four Great Sects. They were all peerless figures dedicated to the path of alchemy. Any one of them could obtain a very high status in the Four Great Sects, but they basically all had their own sects or families.
The Zuo Family of the Saintly Province was an alchemy family with a long history of inheritance. In terms of reputation, they were only stronger, not weaker than the Huchen Family, and their fame surpassed the Huchen Family's by a great deal. There were many reasons for this, but two were the most important.
One was that the Huchen Family walked the path of poisonous pills, primarily for harming and killing people. The Zuo Family of the Saintly Province, however, focused on pills for saving people and helping them improve their realms. This difference alone had already cost the Huchen Family the goodwill of many cultivators.
What cultivator didn't want to advance? What cultivator didn't want to have as many life-saving healing pills as possible? If you couldn't kill someone, you could flee to save your life. But if you were injured in a fight, a single misstep could lead to your own injury, and life-saving pills were indispensable.
The second reason was that among the five alchemy grandmasters, this "He Who Splits Yin and Yang in Two," Zuo Qiudan, was the most formidable. It was said that he was infinitely close to the hegemon level and could already refine fifth-grade pills. He was the most likely to become the fourth alchemy hegemon in this world.
It was said that even a second-grade pill he casually refined could sell for the expensive price of several thousand Spirit Stones. The reason was that the pills he refined contained very few impurities and pill poisons, and they exerted more medicinal power.
Although this was Li Yan's first time leaving his sect, he had, of course, heard of such a figure. He was shocked beyond words. He never thought that the green-robed Confucian scholar had such a great background. He stared at Bu Luo blankly.
After a long time, Li Yan finally let out a heavy breath. Looking at the slightly smug Bu Luo, Li Yan cupped his hands. "So, you are from the Zuo Family of the Saintly Province. Hehehe, but, are you really just a page boy?"
Seeing Li Yan stunned into silence by his revelation, Bu Luo was also inwardly pleased, but he deliberately said in an understated tone, "Guaranteed genuine. Just a small servant and page boy by the young master's side. Brother Jiang, it's too hot here. Let's talk after we get out."
Li Yan was afraid Bu Luo would see the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant, so he had put it away long ago. The temperature here was, of course, continuously rising.
Outside the "Fire Eye," Bu Luo took a deep breath of the scorching air. Although his chest still stung, it was countless times better than being inside the "Fire Eye." He looked at the desolate hills that looked like graves of various sizes under the dark night sky and let out a long, turbid breath.
"Brother Jiang, the pursuers are gone now. I have other matters to attend to and need to head south. What are your plans?"
"Oh, I still need to stay here for a few more days."
A look of surprise flashed in Bu Luo's eyes. He hadn't known before that Li Yan had actually been waiting here for several days. He had thought the other was probably trying to use this place to break through. At this thought, his heart burned. It seemed he had to work hard and reach the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment as soon as possible.
After thinking he knew Li Yan's cultivation level, and through his interactions with him, he could tell that Li Yan was not actually very old. Because of this, Bu Luo had long since shed his habit of looking down on others.
"Alright then, let's part ways here. When you have time in the future, I hope Brother Jiang will come to the Zuo Family in the Saintly Province to drink with me. I will introduce my young master to you then." Bu Luo smiled again. He simply cupped his hands, stepped on the oilcloth, and soared into the air, leaving as soon as he spoke.
Li Yan smiled and waved at him, nodding to show he understood. He knew that Bu Luo's invitation to drink was an excuse; introducing him to Zuo Qiudan was the real intention. This was a truly great favor.
"By the way, Brother Jiang, if you want to enter the depths of the 'Fire Eye', you must be careful of the 'Bright Fire Qilin'. That beast is tenacious and cunning. As for what's after passing that beast, my young master didn't tell me, so Brother Jiang must be careful." Bu Luo's voice came again from a distance via voice transmission.
Li Yan fell into thought upon hearing this. He gazed into the distance, watching Bu Luo leave. From beginning to end, Bu Luo never inquired about Li Yan's identity. He knew that if Li Yan wanted to say, he would. It was enough for Bu Luo to state his own identity and attitude.
The moment Bu Luo left, Li Yan felt a commotion from his Storage Pouch. He smiled faintly. After first confirming with his Divine Sense that no one was around, he patted his Storage Pouch. A small purple flag flew out, and then a purple figure drilled out of the flag.
"Master, has that person finally left?" The purple figure in the air was the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant from the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation." It was looking at Li Yan with a resentful expression.
At this time, the essence soul of the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant had solidified a lot. Although it was still translucent, the aura from its body was oppressive even to Li Yan. As early as three days ago, continuing to devour the high temperatures in the "Fire Eye" had become ineffective for the little elephant.
At that time, it had wanted to devour the golden magma below the cliff of rock fragments, but Li Yan had stopped it. Devouring the golden magma would inevitably cause a huge commotion. At that time, there were still seven or eight cultivators outside the cave who hadn't left, including the four Jingtu Sect monks. In addition, he didn't want Bu Luo to notice the anomaly within the formation, so he had put the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant away.
"It's alright now. Hmm, you should choose another 'Fire Eye' later. Don't go into the previous one."
Sensing the pressure from the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant, Li Yan was inwardly surprised. 'This is just the essence soul of one Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant.'
He was also glad that he had subdued it when it was at its weakest. An ancient ferocious beast was a ferocious beast. The Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant could tear apart heaven and earth with its strength; this was its greatest innate divine art. Now, just the essence soul of a juvenile elephant condensed from a remnant soul was this powerful. If it could possess a physical body, it would be simply unimaginable.
'It's no wonder that the Nascent Soul elder from the Spirit Insect Peak of the Malevolent Spirit Sect several thousand years ago could fight against several cultivators of the same rank. Just thinking about the divine power of a Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant that can shake heaven and earth makes one's heart yearn,' Li Yan thought as he looked at the little elephant before him.
But he didn't know what method the three surviving adult Purple Divine Dragon-Elephants from the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" had used. To be able to re-condense a Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant with just a great divine art, Li Yan thought about it for a long time but couldn't understand. In the end, he attributed it to the secret arts of the Purple Divine Dragon-Elephants.
This was very likely why, even now, when ancient demonic beasts, let alone primordial ones, were almost extinct in the mortal world, the Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant could still be found in some places. Its inherited secret arts must be something to be revered.