Luo Yan sat motionless beside a river outside Can Peak, recalling which Immortal Medicines in the world had no Supreme-level experts guarding them.
First, there were two on Earth: the White Tiger Immortal Medicine in Ancient Kunlun, and the half-plant of Immortal Medicine, He Shou Wu, on Changbai Mountain. If Luo Yan had to choose, that would certainly be his first destination. Counting the years, Ye Fan would soon be born around this time as well. It seemed he would have to visit Earth after returning.
And Earth held far more than just Immortal Medicines. One-third of Emperor Zun's Green Cauldron was there, along with the ancient corpses of several Great Emperors. New consciousnesses had arisen within those buried bodies, and they would sacrifice themselves in the future Dark Turmoil to hold back the Forbidden Zone Supremes.
But returning to Earth required Starry-Sky Coordinates. The universe was too vast; even as a Quasi-Emperor, Luo Yan dared not claim he could set foot everywhere. The only way he currently knew to reach Earth was to find its coordinates at the Five-Colored Altar beneath the Desolate Forbidden Zone. Yet Luo Yan was deeply reluctant to venture there, for it housed two unimaginably terrifying beings.
One was a Great Accomplishment Sacred Body whose consciousness often descended into confusion.
The other was the female emperor, who likewise often slipped into an absent-minded state because she was undergoing her passage through the mortal world.
Besides, there was a saying in the world: better to meet Wushi than Ruthless. Who was Wushi? A man who had fought all beneath heaven without finding an equal, who could clash head-on with an Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon even before attaining the Dao. He had slaughtered his way through heaven and earth until he alone reigned supreme, a peerless figure whom even the Undying Heavenly Emperor from a million years ago could do nothing against.
Yet even with such a being as the comparison, that saying still circulated throughout the world. It was enough to show what terrifying memories Ruthless had left behind.
Apart from Earth, Luo Yan also remembered an Immortal True Dragon Medicine beneath the Myriad Dragon Nest in the Northern Plains. But a Primordial Imperial Clan was there, wielding the Extreme Dao Emperor Armament, the Myriad Dragon Bell. Most of them were still sealed in divine source and had yet to emerge, so they posed no threat to him. That was a fairly good choice.
Next, the Divine Phoenix Immortal Medicine in Purple Mountain in the Northern Region of the Eastern Wilderness currently had no Supreme guarding it either. He could go try his luck there.
Those were all the Immortal Medicines Luo Yan remembered that had no Supremes guarding them. They would be relatively easy to obtain.
For now, Luo Yan would not seize them in this era. He did not belong to this stretch of history, and even if he took them, he most likely would not be able to use them. Besides, there was one thing he had yet to determine: if he intervened in this world, would he change the future?
As he pondered, a paper boat drifted past him along the stream.
The paper boat was rather unusual. Its material was of a rare grade, but the way it had been crafted was even more extraordinary. It was covered in Dao patterns unique to the immortal platform secret realm! They were hidden so deeply that an ordinary person would never have noticed them!
But Luo Yan was no ordinary person. He easily plucked the paper boat from the water. The person who had folded it was a woman; its folds were deft and meticulous. An ordinary man would not have been so delicate in his work.
"There seems to be writing on it?" As though he had discovered something, Luo Yan unfolded the paper boat.
[A senior of extremely high standing returned to the holy land after venturing deep into the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land. They say the senior brought back news about the Road to Immortality. The elders of the holy land take it very seriously and want to launch an attack with the entire sect. I feel uneasy. This is unwise. Should I try to dissuade them?]
Several lines of elegant handwriting adorned the paper boat, graceful and refined. To see the writing was to see the person; surely the boat's owner was a peerless beauty.
Luo Yan stared at the question written there and sighed inwardly. As one of the transcendent holy lands of the age, the Tianxuan Holy Land was at the height of its glory, its radiance almost eclipsing the other Desolate Ancient Families and holy lands.
Yet it was precisely this decision that had caused that incomparably glorious sect to be annihilated overnight, vanishing from this land with only two lone survivors remaining.
Holding the paper boat, Luo Yan thought for a moment, then wrote a sentence on it.
[Throughout the ages, how many Great Emperors and ancient emperors have pursued the Road to Immortality? Could they possibly not have known what lay beneath the Desolate Forbidden Zone?]
After writing it, Luo Yan folded the paper boat again and set it into the stream before him.
This stream flowed around the entire holy land, with a divine meridian beneath it. Its flowing waters washed the source qi below up to the surface, spreading it over the whole holy land. A peerless expert of the Tianxuan Holy Land had left it behind long ago, creating a sacred place conducive to cultivation for later generations.
The paper boat drifted away with the current. Whether it would ultimately return to its owner's hands, he did not know.
Luo Yan wanted to try to change things, but he could not say too much. Those were heaven's secrets, and they could not be divulged.
"Hopefully, it works!" Luo Yan knew very well that this was only an insignificant warning. Even if the other party saw it, she might not take it to heart.
"You're that Luo Yan, aren't you?"
Several figures approached from afar.
"And the three of you are...?"
They came with an aggressive air, clearly looking for trouble. He had kept a low profile all this time and had offended almost no one. How had he attracted enemies?
"I hear that ancient mirror Wei Yi has, the one that can reflect the past, belongs to you? Our young master likes it very much and has decided to buy it. Name your price! How much source do you want?" the man in the lead said haughtily. He sounded less like someone negotiating a purchase than someone announcing a decree.
Luo Yan narrowed his eyes. Trouble brought on by the Time Mirror? By rights, with the deity within the Time Mirror asleep and Luo Yan's concealment added on top, no one should have discovered its mysteries. Someone had still set their sights on it?
"Sorry, that ancient mirror is my life-bound magical treasure. It isn't for sale!" Luo Yan said calmly.
"Do you know who our young master is? You think you can refuse to sell just because you say so? I'm here to inform you, not ask your opinion!" The man continued his brazen clamor, not taking Luo Yan seriously in the slightest.
As a member of one of the most powerful holy lands of the age, he had the confidence to do so!
In their eyes, Luo Yan was merely an outsider. Being allowed to cultivate within the holy land was already a favor they had bestowed upon him!
Luo Yan stood up. "I don't know who your young master is, nor am I interested! But I do know this: if you leave here unscathed today, I'll never call myself Luo again!"
Though suppressed by the Heavenly Dao, he was still not someone a dao palace realm cultivator could challenge!
Hearing this, the man clutched his stomach and burst into laughter, paying no heed whatsoever to Luo Yan's words.
"Did you hear that? He said he'd take our surname if we left here unscathed! Does he really think he's somebody?" Min Tian continued mockingly.
"A piece of trash who crawled out of who knows what godforsaken corner! If it weren't for that little bastard Wei Yi, do you think you could have gotten in here?"
But before he had laughed for long, he could no longer laugh at all. He felt the life within his body draining away, like flowing water that would never return.
"Min Tian, you... how did you suddenly age so much?" Those who had come with him turned pale with shock and hurriedly backed away, as though afraid of catching something ominous.
His face filled with terror, Min Tian ran to the stream. Staring at the aged man reflected in the water, he kept touching his wrinkled skin and face, then spun around in fury and roared, "It was you! It must have been you! What did you do to me?"
"I'm warning you, restore me right now! Otherwise, I'll make you beg for life and find no escape in death!"
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