Elder Li, who had been controlled by Ye Chen, had no idea what had happened. By the time he came to his senses, he found himself inside a great hall.
Terrifying pressure permeated every corner of the hall. As a remnant soul, he was like an ant that could be crushed to death at any moment!
He looked up in terror and discovered a tall figure seated on the throne. Myriad Dao laws swirled around the figure, and dazzling light enveloped him, concealing his true appearance.
If I'm not mistaken, this should be Mu Yan's master, right?
"This junior, Li Yao, pays... pays his respects to Senior!"
Elder Li fell to his knees, not daring to rise.
Facing a peerless expert whose strength surpassed even his imagination, he dared not show the slightest temper. His pride as a Mahayana Realm cultivator had been crushed to pieces!
"Li Yao, a Mahayana Realm cultivator skilled in flames and medicine refining."
Ye Chen's indifferent voice came from above.
Fortunately, Elder Li was now a remnant soul. Otherwise, cold sweat would already have drenched his entire body. Even so, his remnant soul flickered as though it might dissipate at any moment.
"S-Senior, this junior shares a bond of goodwill with your eldest disciple, Mu Yan. This junior has never harbored any ill intentions. Please see the truth, Senior!"
Elder Li did not understand why this great figure had brought him here. In any case, he would first establish a connection and save his own life.
Ye Chen said nothing. That imposing majesty alone had already frightened Elder Li so badly that his soul shook violently!
"I can grant you a physical body. From now on, you will serve my Kunlun Holy Land."
Ye Chen spoke.
Hearing this, Elder Li was deeply shocked and found it hard to believe.
This great figure actually wants to help me form a physical body? Do I really have such an honor?
Then his whole body trembled with delighted surprise. With the other party's strength, identity, and status, there was no need to fabricate lies to deceive a feeble remnant soul like him!
Barring any mishaps, the greatest fortuitous opportunity of his life had truly arrived!
"Senior, this junior is willing to do anything!"
Elder Li kowtowed frantically in excitement.
Above him, Ye Chen raised an arm toward him. Multicolored strands of Great Dao laws emerged from his hand, and a profound power enveloped Elder Li's remnant soul.
Elder Li felt as though his remnant soul had touched the most fundamental laws of heaven and earth. This was a power of creation!
His physical body was being created!
First came the formation of sinews and bones, followed by blood vessels. Finally, flesh covered his entire frame, forming a new body!
At that moment, Elder Li felt an unprecedented ease and freedom!
Looking at his hands, he excitedly touched his face, afraid that he was dreaming!
To form a physical body, he had pinned his hopes on Mu Yan, intending to wait until Mu Yan grew stronger and could find materials to refine a body for him.
For him, this was an extremely difficult undertaking, destined to involve a long wait!
Yet now, in the mere blink of an eye, he actually possessed a new physical body?
He kept kneading and pinching his body. Even though it hurt, it still felt utterly unreal!
Has something I've dreamed of achieving really been accomplished so easily?
"I have one! I really have a new body! I'm alive again!"
Only then did tears stream down Elder Li's aged face in excitement. He was finally no longer an ethereal remnant soul and no longer had to worry about being hunted by the people of Ghost Soul Manor!
Feeling powerful force surging within him, he knew that everything was real!
"Thank you, Senior! This junior will protect the Kunlun Holy Land with his life! I will never fail to live up to your nurturing!"
Elder Li knelt and kowtowed several more times with resounding thuds, swearing on his life to repay Ye Chen's immense kindness.
Ye Chen's expression remained calm. Even if Elder Li did not swear an oath, he had ways to control his life and death!
Anyone who joined the Kunlun Holy Land would be recorded in the system. With a single thought from him, anyone who betrayed the Kunlun Holy Land would die without a burial place!
Thus, someone rebelling was the least of his worries.
"You may leave. From today onward, you are an outer sect elder of my Kunlun Holy Land."
Ye Chen said.
What he valued was Elder Li's superb medicine-refining skills. The Kunlun Holy Land would rapidly expand in the future, and he needed to gather all kinds of talent.
"I shall obey your command, Sect Master!"
Elder Li was clever as well and immediately changed how he addressed him.
His head was still swimming when he left the great hall. "I truly can't believe it. I really have a physical body?"
He lowered his head to look at his hands, marveling at the sect master's unfathomable nature.
Refining a new body required gathering many materials and making extensive preparations, and even then, the odds of failure were high.
Even with Mu Yan's help, he had not dared to guarantee that he would succeed in the future!
Yet the sect master had realized his dream with nothing more than a raised hand!
Just what sort of heaven-shaking might was this?
Carefully sensing the power surging within his body, Elder Li could not help exclaiming, "Hiss... such pure power! Isn't the quality of this body far too high?"
In terms of aptitude, his new body surpassed his old one by who knew how many times.
Previously, his highest achievement had been the Mahayana Realm. This time, he believed that he could definitely surpass the Mahayana Realm, even reach the True Immortal realm, or realms higher still!
Boom!
A powerful presence surged from his body. It was actually at the Void Refinement Realm!
Elder Li was so excited that he kept grinning foolishly.
"Huh?"
Just then, he noticed five people striding toward the great hall with the bearing of dragons and tigers. He suddenly recalled that Mu Yan had mentioned seeing five people with unfathomable presences on his way back.
Could it be them?
"I am Li Yao, an outer sect elder of this sect. Greetings, fellow Daoists!"
Elder Li cupped his hands toward the five with a smile.
"The five of us are also outer sect elders of this sect. We're all on the same side. I'm Zhang Laoda, and these are Zhang Lao'er, Zhang Laosan, Zhang Laosi, and Zhang Laowu!"
The outer sect elder named Zhang Laoda also greeted Elder Li with a smile.
They all belonged to the Kunlun Holy Land, so there was no need to put on too many airs.
Elder Li found it amusing. These five had such carelessly chosen names, though they were certainly easy to remember.
After exchanging greetings, the two sides went their separate ways.
Watching the five retreating figures, Elder Li felt an impulse well up. He wanted to test just what level of strength Zhang Laoda and the others possessed!
We're all outer sect elders, so we should be about the same, right?
I'm at the Void Refinement Realm now. I'm not exactly weak!
Thus, Elder Li released a strand of Divine Sense to probe their strength. Yet before it even reached Zhang Laoda and the others, an incomparably vast power rebounded it!
Elder Li let out a muffled groan of pain. His steps faltered, and he nearly fell onto his backside.
"Such formidable strength! Fathomless! Definitely beyond the Void Refinement Realm! No, I should say definitely beyond the Mahayana Realm!"
He had once been a Mahayana Realm cultivator himself, and he knew very well that the Mahayana Realm absolutely did not possess such terrifying strength. Could they be at the Tribulation Transcendence Realm?
An even more frightening conjecture surfaced in Elder Li's mind. Could they already have reached the True Immortal Realm Stage?
True Immortal!
A legendary realm that divided mortals from immortals!
Only upon reaching the True Immortal Realm Stage could one truly achieve partial freedom of body and soul, for great cultivators at the True Immortal Realm Stage had long lifespans and could easily live for tens of thousands of years.
"Is this the strength of the Kunlun Holy Land?"
Elder Li was not disheartened. Instead, he clenched his fists in excitement. Being able to join such a powerful and mysterious sect was a blessing accumulated over several lifetimes.
In the future, he would surely break through to the True Immortal Realm Stage as well!
Only then would he live up to the sect master's gifts and expectations!
By then, Zhang Laoda and the others had entered the great hall.
Ye Chen gave them some instructions and told them to handle some sect affairs before dissipating.
Watching the sect master's figure gradually turn into light, Zhang Laoda and the others all felt immensely proud. As expected of their sect master, such a powerful figure was merely an incarnation!
If even his incarnation could treat them as ants, just how powerful must his true body be?
The Kunlun Holy Land had only just been established. Many aspects were still incomplete, and numerous facilities were missing, so the five of them had relatively light duties.
Ten days quickly passed.
Within those ten days, the strength of the eldest disciple, Mu Yan, also underwent an earth-shaking transformation!