The cave was vast. The central living area was furnished very simply, with only a tea table holding a tray and a few cups.
Besides two chairs on either side of the tea table, there were ten more chairs placed in sequence along the sides of the hall, and nothing else. From this, one could tell that the master of this place was an ascetic cultivator.
At this moment, Wei Zhongran's portly figure was seated by the tea table. He was the only one in the entire cave; Li Yan did not see his Martial Mother, Zhao Zhi.
Wei Zhongran watched the entering Li Yan with a smile. Seeing this, Li Yan quickened his pace, then knelt on the ground and kowtowed respectfully.
"Disciple Li Yan pays his respects to Master!"
"Rise. You've finally returned. How was your harvest from this trip? Hiss, hmm?"
Wei Zhongran looked at Li Yan, at this little disciple whose appearance had changed so much, and sighed at the passage of time. He asked about the results of Li Yan's journey, but suddenly his gaze froze on him.
Wei Zhongran's tone was now laced with astonishment. "You've actually cultivated to Mid-stage Foundation Establishment? And looking at the solidity of your Spirit Power , you should have reached a minor completion in the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment, right? Hiss... no... that's not right, it should be much higher. You've suppressed your cultivation?"
He knew better than any outsider when Li Yan had established his foundation, so he was even more shocked now. He could see more of Li Yan's peculiarities than Elder Hua had.
Li Yan, who was in the middle of standing up, stiffened slightly, his heart filled with horror. He had never expected that his True Scripture of Gui Water's cultivation concealment technique, which theoretically shouldn't be seen through even by a Late-stage Golden Core cultivator, would be partially deciphered. Even someone as strong as the former Zuo Qiudan of Sheng Province could only vaguely sense that there was something wrong with his cultivation level.
As for his own master, his cultivation was low before, so he couldn't see what realm his master was in. But after establishing his foundation, he vaguely sensed that his master's cultivation should be around Mid-stage Golden Core.
Yet today, upon meeting him, although his master couldn't completely see through his specific realm, he had already guessed that he was suppressing his cultivation. What was his master's true cultivation level? He remembered that when he was in the Qi Condensation stage and suppressed his minor realms, this master hadn't noticed. 'Perhaps it's because my realm was too low back then, so the concealment effect of the True Scripture of Gui Water was better.'
Could he be so powerful as to be incomparable even to Zuo Qiudan of Sheng Province? He had heard from Zuo Luo that Zuo Qiudan was already a Pseudo-Nascent Soul . Stronger than a Pseudo-Nascent Soul would naturally be a Nascent Soul , but that was impossible no matter how he thought about it.
Nascent Soul Formation was such a momentous event that it was impossible to hide. It was said that the celestial phenomena and lightning tribulation could not be concealed by any formation.
To see through his suppressed realm at a glance... perhaps his master cultivated a great divine immortal art similar to the Buddhist "Sky-Piercing Dharma Eye" that could perceive all things.
Li Yan had heard of people who specialized in cultivating their eyesight. Logically speaking, a cultivator's most powerful personal magical treasure was their "Divine Sense" . It could not only observe everything in any environment but was also the most convenient and powerful for using storage spaces, and even for high-level Divine Sense attacks. It was also the most difficult thing for a cultivator to cultivate.
Precisely because Divine Sense cultivation was difficult, many cultivators sought to train their eyes to a level surpassing their Divine Sense. The Buddhist "Sky-Piercing Dharma Eye" and the Daoist "Heaven-Imprinting Eye" were such divine abilities.
Although they might not ultimately be stronger than Divine Sense, it was said that when cultivated to a certain level, they could perceive sinister ghosts and spirits that even Divine Sense might not detect.
Hidden fluctuations of Spirit Power on a cultivator's body could also be perceived by those who cultivated these eye techniques.
Li Yan was confident that he was now close to the Golden Core realm, having long surpassed his cultivation level when he met Zuo Qiudan. At that time, Zuo Qiudan had only seen that his strength did not match his realm, but he hadn't seen his specific realm either.
Now, his cultivation had greatly increased, yet Wei Zhongran had seen the difference with a single glance. Was it because he had suppressed it too much, causing it to lose its effect?
In that case, Wei Zhongran's cultivation method was definitely extremely special, but it also meant his cultivation might have long surpassed Mid-stage Golden Core.
Li Yan scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Master, I was just a bit lucky."
"Lucky? Hehehe, forget it. These are all your own immortal fortunes. Did you find what you were looking for on this trip north?"
Hearing Li Yan's reply, Wei Zhongran didn't press further on why his cultivation had increased so bizarrely, but his tone clearly carried disbelief.
Wei Zhongran himself had had his own great immortal fortunes. His personality was the type to go with the flow. He had only been curious out of surprise just now. Once he calmed down, he wouldn't keep prying into it.
Li Yan could also hear from Wei Zhongran's words that his master had no intention of questioning him further, and there was not a hint of blame in his tone. He couldn't help but admire his master's character even more. At the same time, he thought that perhaps only such a master could raise a great man like his senior brother—brilliant, stunning, and deeply valuing loyalty and righteousness.
Moreover, upon meeting today, Wei Zhongran hadn't rushed to talk about the sect or other matters but had first asked if Li Yan had achieved his goal on this trip. He was clearly very concerned about Li Yan.
Although Li Yan hadn't spent much time with Wei Zhongran since entering the sect, he could still hear the genuine care in his voice, without a trace of falsehood. It made Li Yan feel a warmth for a moment, a warmth that was a mix of a teacher and a father.
Thus, after some thought, Li Yan reorganized his thoughts and recounted his experiences over the past two years to Wei Zhongran, implicitly explaining the process of his realm breakthroughs.
However, Li Yan omitted certain things, such as meeting Shuang Qingqing, coercing Su Hong, his ambiguous relationship with Mei Hongyu, and obtaining the "Melting Bamboo Shoot" and other overly private matters.
Of course, he also skipped over inconsequential things like meeting Zuo Qiudan.
Instead, he focused on how he was pursued by Ancestor Redfire and had no way out, forcing him to self-detonate many of the poisons from his "Fragmented Poison Body" to unexpectedly kill his opponent. In the process, his own body suffered heavy trauma, nearly shattering to pieces.
He had to go into complete hiding to recover for nearly a year. Afterward, he unexpectedly discovered that he had broken through to Mid-stage Foundation Establishment. Later, in the Flame Palace at the bottom of Red Maple Pool , he had mistakenly entered a "dark" passage.
After a life-and-death struggle, he awoke from a deep slumber and found that his State of Mind had undergone a transformation. He then cultivated again in a secret chamber in the Flame Palace and somehow broke through again.
In any case, he muddled the timeline and concepts, mixing up the sequence of events. With his "Fragmented Poison Body" to take the blame for everything as it had in the past, his story was plausible.
So, what Li Yan told was mostly true, just that some things were presented ambiguously.
After listening, Wei Zhongran first nodded, thinking to himself, 'The Fragmented Poison Body is just as I guessed before. Although it cannot change the nature of one's spirit root aptitude, it can undergo mutations. This cannot be explained by common sense.'
He didn't offer much comfort regarding Li Yan's multiple brushes with death during his journey. Although he raised his disciples in a free-range manner, he firmly believed in one thing: if his disciples did not experience a baptism of blood and fire, they would never amount to anything.
If a disciple fell because of this, it could only be said that it was his fate. But if he was killed in a fight with someone else, then Wei Zhongran wouldn't mind bullying the weak and personally hunting down and killing the offender.
He couldn't care less about benevolence, righteousness, or morality. Of course, all of this was based on the premise that his own disciple wasn't the type to be indiscriminately unjust, lecherous, and bloodthirsty. Otherwise, he would be the first to clean up his own house.
Then he smiled at Li Yan and said, "Hmm, I've also heard about some of the things you did on this trip north."
"Master, what have you heard about me? How did you hear about it?" Li Yan's face showed surprise upon hearing this.
"Hehe, about what you did at the Xuanqing Temple . You performed a great service that time. Ancestor Mo Qing even specifically summoned me for questioning because of this matter. After confirming your identity, he was quite satisfied with your performance."
As Wei Zhongran spoke, an undisguised smile blossomed on his chubby face.
Li Yan's reaction was extremely fast. In a flash of thought, he had already made a guess and curiously asked further.
"Could it be the eye of the Guluo Nine-Tailed Turtle ? This pearl actually alerted Ancestor Mo Qing? Master, what exactly is this thing?"
Everything that happened at the Xuanqing Temple was caused by Qin Chengyi's attempt to steal the eye of the Guluo Nine-Tailed Turtle. Li Yan naturally connected the "Xuanqing Temple" incident Wei Zhongran mentioned with this item.
At the same time, he guessed that this thing was likely related to the Demon Clan, but the specifics were not something he could figure out just by guessing.
"I'll tell you about this item in detail later. It's related to this demonic invasion. You just said you've obtained the main material for refining your Natal Magical Treasure . Has the Natal Magical Treasure been refined yet?
You said you were conscripted near the 'Dazzling Yellow Valley' of the Jingtu Sect and took the opportunity to return. If I remember correctly, that sect should be in the far northern lands of the Jingtu Sect. The material you were looking for required you to go to such a remote place?"
Back then, Li Yan had only told Wei Zhongran that he was going out to find materials to refine his Natal Magical Treasure, but he hadn't specified what kind of Natal Magical Treasure he was refining or what materials were needed.
For such matters, even between a master and a disciple, if the disciple was unwilling to bring it up, the master would generally not inquire in detail. After all, a Natal Magical Treasure was a cultivator's greatest weapon.
Although it would be revealed to others once used, some cultivators treated their Natal Magical Treasure as their final trump card and were unwilling to show it easily.
Of course, if a disciple took the initiative to ask their master for some materials for refining a Natal Magical Treasure and brought it up to get their master's advice, that was a different matter.
There were many records on refining magical treasures in the Malevolent Spirit Sect. A cultivator could exchange for them with Spirit Stones or contribution points. It was just that the better the magical treasure, the more Spirit Stones or contribution points were required.
There were also many cultivators who, after failing to find a satisfactory magical treasure refining method within the sect, would go out to the market to buy a suitable refining method. Generally speaking, the refining of a Natal Magical Treasure was not limited to the special heritage cultivation methods of a single sect.
That was why Wei Zhongran asked this. The difference in combat power between a cultivator with a Natal Magical Treasure and one without was very large.
He didn't know that Li Yan had gone to the far northern lands of the Jingtu Sect. He had thought Li Yan was looking for a special demonic beast or other material that only appeared in the Jingtu Sect, something unique to a certain region within the Jingtu Sect. But Wei Zhongran had never expected it to be as remote as the far north.
"Reporting to Master, no, it has not been refined yet. I have only found the main material. There are still two crucial auxiliary materials that I haven't found. The main material I need can only be found in the Sea of the Northern Abyss ," Li Yan answered truthfully. He hadn't expected his master to know even of a sect like "Dazzling Yellow Valley." He felt that Wei Zhongran was becoming more and more inscrutable.
After hearing this, Wei Zhongran's gaze sharpened, and he gave Li Yan a meaningful look.