After entering his cave residence, Li Yan activated all the restrictions.
The first thing he did was to sort some things out. Although he had already figured out a lot on the way, with Xing Ming and the others by his side, he couldn't think in peace.
First of all, why did that female Demonic General also appear in that sub-cave residence?
Li Yan even thought of something that made his heart race: that the sub-cave residence had some secret cross-realm passage leading to the Forsaken Continent. This would fit with the appearance of that female Demonic General.
If that were the case, wouldn't it mean that he and Zhao Min also had a chance to return directly to the Desolate Moon Continent?
Not long after this thought flashed through his mind, Li Yan negated it in his heart.
Let alone whether such a passage existed, even if it did, this cross-realm passage would definitely be extremely dangerous.
It was simply not something he and Zhao Min could traverse with their current cultivation.
Since there was such a passage, why would the Black Demon Clan still use the Devil's Cliff Crevice to teleport cultivators across realms?
If the Black Demon Clan learned of such an important place, they would have sent people to conquer it long ago and would have stationed experts here all year round.
Let alone a few minor cultivators like himself getting close, it's possible that even the White Demon Clan wouldn't be able to discover the existence of that place.
After negating this idea, Li Yan thought of another question: why did that female demon cultivator plant a lust poison on him?
Li Yan began to frown and think carefully, going over the events before and after meeting Mu Guyue in the cave several times, especially recalling all of her reactions in the few breaths before the lust poison erupted.
At that time, the state of that female Demonic General herself was very wrong, as if she was just recovering from a serious injury.
"She appeared in that abandoned cave residence and hid herself with an illusion formation. Was she also here for treasure, and then was injured by some powerful force, forcing her to hide and heal..."
Li Yan recalled that when he was dizzy from the poison, he had vaguely seen that after the female Demonic General attacked once, the next moment she was leaning on her knees, panting heavily. Something was wrong with her condition...
He always felt that the intensity of her attack at that time was far beyond his judgment of a Nascent Soul cultivator...
There was another thing. Although he had never been with a woman before, he also knew that the female demon cultivator was a virgin. Under such circumstances, there was generally only one reason to plant a lust poison on a man.
That is, the female cultivator herself practiced some kind of dual cultivation or yin-yang great dao art, and needed to absorb the man's pure yang essence to achieve the goal of improving her cultivation.
But he hadn't found any signs of his primal yang and essence blood being greatly absorbed. In the few days on the road, he had already fully recovered.
"Then perhaps this woman herself had been poisoned with a lust poison under some circumstances without her own knowledge. Then, in the process of pursuing me, after repeatedly and recklessly mobilizing her true essence, the lust poison erupted."
Immediately, Li Yan thought of sinking into depravity with the other party time and time again that day, and a momentary confusion appeared in his eyes.
"No wonder some people specialize in the path of yin-yang dual cultivation!"
He shook his head. That feeling could really be intoxicating.
However, for Li Yan, all of this was just a fleeting infatuation. His heart for the Dao was exceptionally firm, and he would not think of changing his cultivation method because of this.
After piecing together some fragmented memories, Li Yan had a rough idea of the situation at that time.
That female Demonic General must have been accidentally poisoned with a lust poison and was hiding to force it out. It was just that his appearance had reminded her of the events at the Nameless Mountain back then.
With her mind in turmoil, she had attacked him without completely forcing out the lust poison, and then...
With this judgment, Li Yan's heart relaxed a little.
However, with his suspicious nature, although he judged that this time was likely an accident and not a deliberate plot against him by the other party, he was still not at ease.
Next, Li Yan actually spent a full three hours, just like the last time he had dealt with the "Heart-Entangling Twin Gu," combing through his own meridians and flesh inch by inch with his Divine Sense twice.
Then he circulated his Spirit Power through every place, bit by bit, sensing every subtle change and difference in his Spirit Power. It was not until the end, when he found no problems, that he finally completely relaxed.
Li Yan was worried that the female demon cultivator had practiced some evil art and had left a hidden danger in his body, which would not only affect his immortal path, but could also unknowingly take his life.
After dealing with all this, Li Yan closed his eyes and regulated his breath for a while.
When he opened his eyes, a sect voice transmission talisman had already appeared in his hand. After whispering a few words to the talisman, he casually sent it out.
The voice transmission talisman flashed at the entrance of the cave residence and disappeared outside the door. Li Yan then closed his eyes again, his five hearts facing the sky, breathing in and out the Spiritual Energy...
Shuang Chongshan spent more than ten days in the "Falling Star Valley." Apart from being a little apprehensive for the first few days, as everything passed peacefully day by day, his tense heart finally began to relax slowly.
All of this stemmed from his many years of being a fugitive.
Even after he settled down in the market, as the head of a family, a single misstep would mean the end of his entire family.
Therefore, he had never slacked off. Almost every moment, his heart was wound tight, like a wounded wolf, vigilant of any disturbance in his surroundings.
Now that he had arrived at the "Falling Star Valley," he was unable to adapt for a while.
Zhu Luomu had strictly followed Elder Zhang's instructions. After arranging for them to live in the core disciple area, he had only come over twice and did not disturb him much.
One time was to take Shuang Chongshan's family to meet some of the Foundation Establishment cultivators in the sect, so that they could get to know each other.
The other time was three days ago. After Zhu Luomu came over, he first asked if their family had any other requests for the sect.
Seeing Shuang Chongshan shake his head with a smile, Zhu Luomu got straight to the point and asked if Shuang Chongshan could first refine a mid-stage Foundation Establishment puppet for the sect.
The length of time was up to Shuang Chongshan to decide, and his words were quite polite.
Shuang Chongshan also felt that this was only right and proper. Since he had joined the "Falling Star Valley," the spirit stones given out by the sect every month were not a small amount.
The Spiritual Energy here was also sufficiently dense. He was quite satisfied with everything for the time being.
The matter of refining puppets had been agreed upon long ago. The sect asked him if he could refine a mid-grade, mid-stage puppet within about three years to be placed in the sect's treasure vault.
This was the sect's need. Of course, all the refining materials required would be provided by the sect, and two sets of materials would be prepared for each refining attempt.
Zhu Luomu also stated directly that the sect, of course, did not want to use too many spare materials. This was all just in case.
The materials for refining a mid-grade puppet, every single one of them was particularly precious.
Not just any sect could produce them. Just preparing two sets of materials would require the "Falling Star Valley" to use its secret treasures accumulated over generations.
Other than that, the sect had no other extra requirements for Shuang Chongshan.
As for whether Shuang Chongshan's family was willing to help if other disciples in the sect needed puppets refined, that was for them to decide.
How the two parties negotiated and how much remuneration they received had nothing to do with the sect.
Regarding the request made by Zhu Luomu, after thinking about it, Shuang Chongshan only proposed one condition.
"Refining a mid-grade, initial-stage puppet in three years should be no problem. But the higher the rank, the lower the success rate, and the more materials will be wasted.
"Especially if you want to refine a mid-grade, mid-stage puppet, it will take at least five years, and the success rate is only twenty percent."
The classification of puppets was somewhat different from that of cultivators' realms.
Qi Condensation stage puppets were low-grade, while Foundation Establishment stage puppets were mid-grade. Mid-grade puppets were also divided into initial, mid, and late stages.
And cultivators at the Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment realms could only be called low-rank cultivators.
Puppets further up were divided into high-grade, heaven-grade, saint-grade, and god-grade.
However, in the Mortal Realm, almost no one had ever seen a heaven-grade puppet. That was already equivalent to a Nascent Soul cultivator.
To possess such a puppet was already a top-tier existence that could dominate the entire cultivation world.
After all, due to the suppression of the rules of heaven and earth, Spirit Transformation old monsters did not dare to casually erupt with their true combat power.
And Shuang Chongshan was telling Zhu Luomu that refining a puppet at the mid-stage Foundation Establishment or above would take at least five years, and the success rate was not very high.
In fact, according to his current artifact refining skills, he already had about a forty percent certainty, but he was not willing to easily refine such a puppet.
After years of being cautious, Shuang Chongshan was fundamentally unwilling to expose his true strength.
After thinking about it, Zhu Luomu did not ask Xing Ming and Li Yan, and immediately agreed.
Foundation Establishment stage puppets were already extremely difficult to refine. He himself was also very proficient in artifact refining and knew the problems involved. Of course, he would not force others.
Immediately, Zhu Luomu lowered the requirement to refining a mid-grade, initial-stage puppet, and Shuang Chongshan immediately agreed.
Then he listed out a list of materials for Zhu Luomu to prepare.
He had a very good impression of Zhu Luomu. He was gentle and courteous, not arrogant at all.
And he already knew that the other party was half a deputy sect master, and his master was the sect's Xing Ming.
The other party's proposal to refine a mid-grade, initial-stage puppet this time actually had a testing meaning to it, to see if he had the real ability.
This was considered the lowest threshold for a mid-grade puppet. If he couldn't even make such a puppet within three years, then his family's status in the sect would plummet.
This was nothing to Shuang Chongshan. In fact, without him personally acting, Shuang Lianzhou could probably complete the refining of this puppet in a little over two years.
As for the mid-grade, mid-stage puppet refining that Zhu Luomu had proposed at the beginning, it was just to deliberately raise the threshold. It would be better if Shuang Chongshan agreed; it would only be beyond his expectations.
If he didn't agree, he would just lower it by a small rank.
On this day, Shuang Chongshan was in meditation when he suddenly opened his eyes. The fluctuation of the restriction outside the courtyard had woken him.
He then immediately walked outside. Ever since entering the "Falling Star Valley," Shuang Lianzhou had thrown himself into the "Shattered Star Chamber." Shuang Chongshan was also helpless about this.
After all, the "Falling Star Valley" had such a good Earth Fire Ore Vein; even he was tempted.
It was just that his years of vigilance made him unable to adapt to this sudden peaceful life. So for so many days, he had rarely gone out, just silently observing everything, almost not even performing his normal cultivation.
And Ming Ling was particularly fond of the dense Spiritual Energy in the core disciple area. She had also closed her door and devoted herself to cultivation.
She had long felt that her cultivation was too low. At the Qi Condensation stage, she couldn't help her husband's family at all. Now with such a good environment, although she was already pregnant, she was still diligent in her cultivation.
For a time, this small courtyard became quiet.
Apart from Zhu Luomu coming twice and taking Shuang Chongshan for a tour of the sect to meet some Foundation Establishment "senior and junior brothers," he spent the entire day alone in his room.
As for going out and interacting with others in the sect, Shuang Chongshan's personality was still not fond of it. He had long been accustomed to silence and solitude.
Similarly, the other artifact refiners in the "Falling Star Valley" were not yet familiar with him. He had only been here for a little over ten days, so no one came to disturb him.
As Shuang Chongshan stood up and walked outside, he had already sensed who was coming.
He flicked his sleeve, and a small, four-cornered star-shaped token appeared in his hand.
He casually pointed a finger at the token, and then he walked towards the side hall. At the same time, he smiled slightly in his heart.
"The sect is truly rich and generous. It's only been three days, and they've already prepared the materials for refining a mid-grade puppet!"