The sight left the Holy Land disciples seething with envy. Why had they never received such treatment?
This boy named Wei Yi was another peerless prodigy!
In the end, Wei Yi became the disciple of a Holy Land elder of supreme elder rank, and Luo Yan settled in alongside him.
Luo Yan did not cultivate. Instead, he wandered around the Tianxuan Holy Land, gathering information about everything within it. As a "pursuer" of the Tianxuan Saintess, he smoothly worked his way into the disciples' circles.
They all admired the Tianxuan Saintess, but lacked sufficient talent and knew in their hearts that they had no chance with her. Unwilling to resign themselves to that, they had happened to form the Tianxuan Saintess Pursuers Organization. Its members included not only disciples of the Tianxuan Holy Land, but also pursuers from other factions.
Naturally, Luo Yan joined this organization to gather information more easily.
Most of the time, the organization discussed the Tianxuan Saintess: the saintess had worn the Heavenly Silk Divine Garment again today, whom she had met today, which prodigies she had defeated, and all manner of other daily happenings.
As the foremost beauty of the Eastern Wasteland, she naturally attracted plenty of attention!
Of course, occasionally the organization discussed other interesting matters as well: where unrest had broken out in the Eastern Wasteland today, where certain disciples of the Holy Land were going to spar, what had sparked their dispute...
That was exactly what Luo Yan needed!
After three months in the Holy Land, Luo Yan had roughly identified three places where the Nine Secrets: Xing was most likely to be found. The first was the Tianxuan Holy Land's Scripture Pavilion, which housed most of its cultivation methods and legacies. The Nine Secrets: Xing was very likely hidden on the highest floor.
The second was a thatched cottage deep within the Tianxuan Holy Land. It was said to be the place where the Holy Land had begun, where its first Holy Lord had comprehended the Dao and become a saint. Since the Nine Secrets: Xing was the source of the Tianxuan Holy Land's glory, perhaps it was hidden there.
The third location was rather special: the palace where successive Holy Lords had lived. Scenes of past Holy Lords cultivating the Nine Secrets: Xing must have taken place there. Luo Yan did not need to ask the Holy Lord; he only needed to enter and use the Time Mirror to reflect the past cultivation of successive Tianxuan Holy Lords.
In truth, Luo Yan had considered revealing a portion of his true cultivation to win the Tianxuan Holy Land's regard and gain a chance to visit those three places.
But the moment that thought arose, Luo Yan felt that the myriad Daos would turn their gaze upon him and expel him from this stretch of history. The Time Mirror was still refining the essence of time. If he were expelled onto the River of Time and exposed to the power of time in the flesh, he probably would not last long.
The original owner of his body had paid a considerable price to forge the Time Mirror into an Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon, leaving this already frail body even more precarious. That was another reason for Luo Yan's concern.
"Brother Luo Yan, I've reached full completion of the Bitter Sea realm!" Wei Yi approached excitedly, a joyful smile on his face.
Luo Yan praised him calmly. "Not bad. Very impressive!"
"Unfortunately, Master told me to keep polishing my cultivation. Otherwise, I'd have broken through to the Life Spring realm already!" Wei Yi said, sounding a little dissatisfied.
"Your master is right!" Luo Yan replied. "The human body contains five great divine treasures, and the Sea of Bitterness divine treasure is the first secret realm. Only by establishing that first secret realm properly can you go farther in the future. A tower ten thousand feet tall rises from level ground. With every level you break through in the future, you'll need an even firmer foundation. Your slow progress now is building that powerful foundation!"
Hearing Luo Yan's words, Wei Yi nodded in agreement. "My master said the same thing, but he also told me to carefully hone the other secret realms, not just the Sea of Bitterness."
In fact, Luo Yan knew where to find the Dao Scripture, the strongest scripture for cultivating the Sea of Bitterness secret realm, but there was nothing he could do.
It lay in a Demon Emperor's Tomb at the edge of the Desolate Forbidden Zone. In the future, after Ye Fan arrived on Big Dipper aboard the Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin, that tomb would open, and the Dao Scripture would fall into his hands. It was a supreme ancient scripture capable of cultivating the strongest Sea of Bitterness secret realm.
And it had been prepared for him by the Ruthless Great Emperor in the Desolate Forbidden Zone, a woman of unparalleled talent who had lived into her fifth life.
To obtain it, he could only wait until Ye Fan descended upon Big Dipper, when there would finally be a chance to open the tomb.
Moreover, that Demon Emperor's Tomb also contained a fragment of the Green Cauldron, Central Continent's supreme treasure!
"Brother Luo Yan, I heard you joined an organization formed by the saintess's pursuers?" Wei Yi suddenly added. "There's no need to go to all that trouble. I can secretly take you to meet the saintess! I can even put in a word for you as a matchmaker!"
"Ahem! Don't talk nonsense. What kind of person is the saintess? Why would she take a fancy to a lowly cultivator like me? A heavenly chasm separates me from the Tianxuan Saintess. In this life, I can only admire her!" Luo Yan immediately protested.
Wei Yi pursed his lips. "That's not true! Brother Luo Yan, you've mastered the most forbidden power in the world-the power of time. I even asked Master, and he said only the most brilliant people throughout all history could ever successfully cultivate it!"
Hearing Wei Yi's words, Luo Yan denied it again. "Nonsense. I'm just an ordinary unaffiliated cultivator. How could I possibly master a power like that?"
Refusing to back down, Wei Yi continued arguing. "That year, when a cultivator bullied me, you didn't seem to do anything, Brother Luo Yan, but you secretly cut a hundred years off his lifespan! The next day, I heard people saying the fellow who bullied me had gone white-haired overnight, his blood and vitality had withered, and he'd died!"
"I sensed the instant you acted, Brother Luo Yan!" Wei Yi said earnestly.
Luo Yan was slightly moved. As expected of a peerless prodigy who would accomplish Severing the Dao and become a saint in an age of declining cultivation, Wei Yi had sensed his action before even setting foot in the cultivation world!
It had only been a casual strike at the time, and he had not taken much care to conceal it. He had never imagined that a child who had yet to enter the cultivation world could sense him acting. He had been careless!
"I don't know what you're talking about! What power of time? I don't understand." Luo Yan could only keep playing dumb.
Wei Yi said sullenly, "If you don't dare admit it, just say so. Why pretend you don't understand? I may look young, but I'm not stupid!"
"Brother Luo Yan, could you lend me that mirror of yours?" Wei Yi asked next.
"What do you need it for?" Luo Yan asked.
Wei Yi looked embarrassed. "I... Yesterday, my senior brother took me to a marketplace inside the Holy Land where disciples trade things. Someone accused me of stealing. I want to use that mirror to prove my innocence!"
Upon hearing what he wanted it for, Luo Yan laughed in exasperation. Using an Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon to prove he was not a thief-only this little fellow would come up with that. Granted, the Time Mirror could not currently be considered a true Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon, because it was broken! It only counted as half of one.
Wei Yi knew that the Time Mirror could reflect past events only because Luo Yan had used it in front of him to hoodwink some fairly wealthy minor clans and earn source stones. That was how he had learned some of its uses.
"I can lend it to you, but that matter from before..."
"Don't worry, Brother Luo Yan! I won't say a word!" Wei Yi thumped his chest in assurance.
"Just this once!" Luo Yan handed the Time Mirror to Wei Yi, entirely unconcerned that someone might take it. Unless a Great Emperor personally seized it, Luo Yan needed only a thought to summon the Time Mirror back into his hands. This was the divine weapon with which he would prove his Dao!
Wei Yi happily accepted it, silently thinking, As if!
"Don't worry, Brother Luo Yan. Leave finding your lifelong partner to me!"
Before you continue