At the beginning, I cleaned the Sutra Library and completed the incomplete skills.

Chapter 194: Liu Yan's Shock

Although Liu Yan was arrogant, in front of a Golden Core Stage mighty figure, he dared not overstep in the slightest.

He cupped his hands and said with trepidation:

"Grandmaster, you jest. How could this junior presume to address you as an equal?

It's not about insights; it's just that I haven't returned for many years, and I feel a sense of things having changed while people remain the same."

Grandmaster Huiguang's smile did not diminish; he still wore a benevolent expression.

"This humble monk has no intention of belittling Fellow Daoist,

This young friend possesses unique wisdom roots. Before the Golden Core Stage, there are no bottlenecks, and forming a Golden Core in the future is only a matter of time. Therefore, this humble monk calling you a Fellow Daoist is not empty talk."

It is true that a Heavenly Spiritual Root has no bottleneck before the Golden Core Stage. Liu Yan couldn't find a good reason to argue and could only repeatedly smile and agree.

Don't look at his cultivation speed being quite fast now;

In just a few decades, he has already reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

He knew his own situation;

After using that 《Rebirth Technique》,

Affected by the limitations of the technique, if there were no accidents,

He could only stop at the pseudo-core stage in this life, unable to advance further for the rest of his life.

However,

Under the premise that he couldn't yet determine if the other party was inherently righteous or evil,

These words certainly could not be said explicitly to him.

Spiritual Grace Fairy, standing beside him, shook the loose skin on her face and said coldly:

"Don't pay him any mind. This old monk is never serious, no matter the time.

Xiao Executive, has the Demon Hunting Token been prepared?"

Xiao Executive, who had been quietly bowing his head, heard this,

His silkworm eyebrows furrowed,

He said with a worried expression:

"It has been prepared properly.

However,

Lord Overseer,

Once this token is issued, our Human Emperor Hall will likely lose a lot of cultivation resources. Is it really worth it for a Foundation Establishment (Early Stage) cultivator?

After all, this is not a small matter. Shouldn't we consider it carefully?

When you ordered the capture of that little loach who was also at the Foundation Establishment (Early Stage), you never issued this token."

Spiritual Grace Fairy did not reply, but only looked at him with a sneer and cold eyes.

"Xiao Executive, you're truly capable.

This Venerable One has not returned for many years, and you've promoted yourself, learning to make decisions on everything yourself.

Not bad, truly not bad."

Although Spiritual Grace Fairy spoke lightly,

Xiao Executive felt an immense pressure bearing down, making his spine groan,

Pressing him until he couldn't breathe.

Cold sweat instantly drenched Xiao Executive's entire body,

He said tremblingly:

"I wouldn't dare! This subordinate merely wished to share your worries, Lord Overseer, and absolutely had no other thoughts!

This humble servant will go and issue the Demon Hunting Token now!"

Seeing that Spiritual Grace Fairy had no other instructions,

Xiao Executive quickly turned around and went to execute the order.

"Heh, being a hands-off boss for too long does lead to such troubles,

This humble monk's mess is not much better than yours. Fairy, there's no need to take it too much to heart."

Grandmaster Huiguang chuckled twice, seemingly trying to lighten the atmosphere.

"I naturally know this. If it weren't for the generous annual quota given by the branch hall,

This old Ji wouldn't want to be this damned Human Emperor Hall Overseer,

Much less bother about whether this group of juniors under me are obedient or not."

In Spiritual Grace Fairy's sunken eye sockets, her cloudy eyes flickered, and she continued:

"Now there are no outsiders. Let's speak frankly,

What do you think of the celestial phenomenon that appeared this time?

Or rather, how do you plan to divide it?"

Grandmaster Huiguang merely kept smiling and didn't say much.

Liu Yan and Sword Chen were mighty demonic cultivators in their previous lives, so they understood instantly,

And quickly found an excuse to leave early.

After the two left,

Only then did Grandmaster Huiguang put away his smile and conjure a yellowish-brown jade slip with one hand.

Injecting spiritual power into it,

Rough outlines of Jiuhua County and Baling County were fully displayed before his eyes.

"That celestial phenomenon was triggered in Lin'an Stronghold. Although it appeared for a very short time,

It still caused half of Baling County's sky to darken.

If this phenomenon were fully unleashed, its covered area would surely be even wider.

This humble monk boldly speculates that this celestial phenomenon might even be related to that legendary taboo figure."

Spiritual Grace Fairy was slightly startled upon hearing this.

"Do you truly think so?

You should know, that legendary taboo is an existence that even the current Human Emperor cannot match.

Anything he left behind, if you randomly pick one item, is likely a treasure that we can only dream of for our entire lives.

You actually say this celestial phenomenon is related to him. This speculation is truly bold.

If the higher-ups investigate afterwards and find out that you guessed the truth but didn't report it, you old monk will be in trouble."

Grandmaster Huiguang saw the other party's expression and chuckled, saying:

"Alright, there's no one here besides you and me. Who are you putting on this fierce act for, Fairy?

You haven't even returned to Jiuhua County yet, but you already had your subordinates prepare the Demon Hunting Token in advance.

Do you think this humble monk doesn't know what you're planning?

I'm afraid Fairy also wants to swallow the treasure left by that legendary person all by herself, right?"

Upon hearing this, Spiritual Grace Fairy simply put away her disguise,

A barely concealed look of greed flashed in her cloudy eyes.

"Who is the Human Emperor?

The ultimate authority of the Human Emperor Hall, the cultivator with the highest cultivation realm in the world today.

Something that even he couldn't obtain is placed right in front of us. Who wouldn't want it?

Old monk, don't talk about this old Ji. Don't you have any thoughts in your heart?"

After speaking,

The two exchanged a knowing smile.

"We team up, and those who see get a share?"

"Naturally."

On the other side,

Sword Chen and Liu Yan had already left the main hall and arrived at the front hall.

At this time,

Xiao Executive had already gathered all the Executors and began explaining the matter of the Demon Hunting Token.

The two stood to the side, with expressions of watching a show,

Naturally attracting countless curious and envious gazes from the Executors.

Seeing this situation, Liu Yan,

Curled the corner of his mouth and transmitted a message secretly with a smile:

"I heard that before I awakened my past life's wisdom, you didn't hesitate to bow and scrape to these Executors and sect Elders.

How does it feel?

Now that the roles are reversed and you've completely stepped on them, how does it feel?"

Sword Chen still wore a calm expression and said lightly:

"Both you and I are people who have lived another life. How could there be any feeling in stepping on these ants again?

Instead of talking about this, I'd like to know what you plan to do next?

You should know,

Limited by that 《Rebirth Technique》, no matter how outstanding our talents are, we are destined to be unable to form a Core in this life.

If we cannot form a Golden Core, our lifespan in this life will only be around a mere three hundred years at most.

When do you plan to break through the pseudo-core realm and wander the world to seek opportunities and lifespan-extending items?

The sooner we act, the more hope we will have."

Liu Yan pursed his lips helplessly and said:

"It is true that a Heavenly Spiritual Root has no realm bottleneck before the Core Formation Stage, but the spiritual power in the dantian still needs to be accumulated bit by bit, doesn't it?

My cultivation speed is already not slow, don't urge me anymore.

Seeking opportunities is not something to rush. There are countless treacherous and cunning people in the Cultivation World.

Even demonic cultivators like you and me might fall into a trap if we're not careful.

Naturally, we should wait until our cultivation reaches its limit and we are completely confident before acting.

If you are eager for quick success, there is a huge opportunity right now. It just depends on whether you dare to fight for it."

As he spoke,

Liu Yan casually took a jade slip handed over by Xiao Executive and shook it in front of him.

This contained information related to the person who caused the celestial phenomenon, collected by the Human Emperor Hall Executors through various channels.

"Those two guys are not ordinary Golden Core cultivators; they are not easy to fool. Over the years, quite a few reincarnated demonic cultivators have infiltrated the Human Emperor Hall.

They have probably already figured out our backgrounds through verbal probing.

This time, two Core Formation Stage cultivators have joined forces, and they've even issued the Demon Hunting Token.

The implications are bound to be extensive. I suggest we don't act rashly."

After Sword Chen calmly analyzed the situation,

He noticed that Liu Yan hadn't responded for a while and looked over in confusion.

He saw the other party staring intently at the jade slip in his hand,

His face completely filled with shock.

"How could it be him?

How is this possible? It shouldn't be..."

Liu Yan was utterly bewildered and couldn't figure out why no matter what.

Sword Chen was filled with questions as he watched and asked:

"What's going on?"

Liu Yan handed the jade slip in his hand over,

The former glanced at it, and upon seeing the face of the person who caused the celestial phenomenon,

His pupils suddenly contracted, and a look of strangeness, identical to the other party's, couldn't help but appear on his face.

"It seems both you and I were mistaken back then. This pseudo-spiritual root actually reached Foundation Establishment. It's truly hard to imagine.

It's strange. Back then, I clearly only gave this guy the Lingqi Middle Stage chapter of the 《Mixed Origin Five Elements True Art》, and it was even an incomplete method I wrote casually.

Where did this guy get the subsequent cultivation methods?

Even if he had complete cultivation methods, with this kid's pseudo-spiritual root aptitude, how did he successfully reach Foundation Establishment in just a few short years?

If you calculate carefully,

This guy's cultivation speed is even close to being comparable to that of a dual spiritual root cultivator, isn't it?

And the content at the back of that jade slip,

At the Foundation Establishment (Early Stage) realm, he exchanged several blows with a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator and ultimately retreated safely using Lightning Escape?

I'm not surprised that this child can use Earth and Fire Escapes due to the particularity of his cultivation technique,

But where did this Lightning Escape come from?

Li Lan, ah, Li Lan, what kind of fortuitous encounters have you actually met over these years that led to such rapid progress?"

As Liu Yan muttered to himself,

Sword Chen didn't say a word; he was also completely shocked into numbness,

Unable to utter another word.

He couldn't be clearer about Li Lan's aptitude and how incomplete the cultivation technique he practiced was.

Even his first magical artifact was personally bestowed by him.

To put it bluntly,

Sword Chen had witnessed the other party's lowest point.

He originally thought that this young man's aptitude was too poor, and he was practicing an incomplete cultivation technique,

He would likely only be able to stop at the Qi Refining Fourth Level in this lifetime.

However, Sword Chen never imagined that,

Reality would give him a resounding slap in the face.

Not only did Li Lan break through the Qi Refining Fourth Level, but he even advanced rapidly all the way. After not seeing him for just a few decades, he had actually successfully reached Foundation Establishment?

This was simply unbelievable to him.

The two looked at each other, speechless for a long time.

A trace of regret suddenly arose in Sword Chen's heart for no reason.

If he had paid a little more attention to this young man back then and taken him as a disciple, would he have also had a share in the opportunities and fortuitous encounters the other party obtained over these years?

Perhaps he could break through the limitations of that 《Rebirth Technique》 with this,

And perhaps even form a Core again in this life.

It's just that,

Now that the dust has settled, anything said is too late.

Liu Yan also sighed along with him,

But the place where he regretted was completely different from Sword Chen.

Back then, Liu Yan believed that when he was about to leave Guangji Temple and go to the Human Emperor Hall,

He had given Li Lan a chance.

The price he offered at that time was already quite generous.

Becoming a follower who attends to a Heavenly Spiritual Root cultivator's every need is a blessing that couldn't be cultivated in several lifetimes.

Liu Yan never understood at the time why, with such generous conditions, the other party was slow to come and pledge allegiance to him.

However, a mere Qi Refining Fourth Level cultivator at that time wasn't worth his excessive attention,

And was quickly cast out of his mind.

But looking back now, Liu Yan finally discovered the crucial point.

Perhaps the other party had already obtained some opportunities and fortuitous encounters at that time,

Which was why he didn't take the conditions he offered seriously.

Damn it,

If he had known this earlier, he would have used forceful means and forcibly taken this kid, even if it meant tying him up.

Sword Chen and Liu Yan remained silent, but both were filled with deep regret in their hearts.

Now the other party's wings had gradually grown full, and he was no longer the minor cultivator who could be manipulated at will.