Although the exquisite state of mind had little effect on Jing Fanyu, he still paused, then smiled. "If the opportunity arises, I must invite you to visit my homeland as well, Senior Brother Wu Fei."
After this incident, Wu Fei made sure to inspect any spirit medicines and herbs he obtained carefully to prevent anything similar from happening again. Fortunately, although many of the spirit plants they encountered afterward were extremely rare, both Wu Fei and Jing Fanyu recognized them.
Later, Wu Fei also noticed that Jing Fanyu had begun trying to absorb ghost qi with his myriad spirits body, so he removed the formation that isolated spiritual qi, seemingly casually.
Less than two days later, the protagonist could already absorb ghost qi freely and turn it to his own use. The ghost qi accumulated within the small world over tens of thousands of years was exceptionally dense. Jing Fanyu was like a fish in water, and his cultivation rose another level before they even reached the inheritance site.
Naturally, all he revealed before Wu Fei was a natural breakthrough into the Nascent Soul Realm.
However, although the aura exposed in that instant quickly dissipated under the small world's suppression, Wu Fei still keenly detected that Jing Fanyu's true cultivation had also risen by a minor realm.
"Congratulations, Junior Brother Jing," Wu Fei said with a smile.
Jing Fanyu reined in his aura and smiled gently. "You reached Golden Core perfection long ago as well, Senior Brother Wu Fei. Are you waiting for an opportunity?"
Wu Fei's hand paused over his prayer beads. He smiled faintly and replied, "I suppose so."
That opportunity soon arrived.
On their seventh day inside the great inheritance tomb, Wu Fei and Jing Fanyu finally encountered other people.
One was even a familiar face.
"Senior Brother Jing!"
Just as Wu Fei and Jing Fanyu finished working together to kill a Nascent Soul Realm demon beast, a young girl's clear voice suddenly rang out beside them.
Watching the girl in a pale yellow ruqun run toward Jing Fanyu, Wu Fei's gaze shifted almost imperceptibly. Counting the days, it was indeed time for the protagonist to meet this junior sister in the book.
Jing Fanyu subtly stepped back, avoiding Liu Yuexuan's hand, and smiled faintly. "Junior Sister Liu."
A smile was still a smile, but Wu Fei vaguely sensed that the protagonist's smile now was only superficial, completely different from the radiant smile he wore when facing him.
The corners of his lips lifted almost imperceptibly, and an inexplicable pleasure surfaced in his eyes. He then lowered his gaze and composed himself, only returning to his usual calm nonchalance when he looked up again.
Beside them, Liu Yuexuan chattered away around Jing Fanyu. After greeting Jing Fanyu, the Heavenly Sword Sect disciples following her turned toward Wu Fei, their expressions unconsciously growing peaceful.
"Fellow Daoist, are you the Buddha Son of the Buddha Spirit Sect?"
Wu Fei nodded slightly, then asked, "Have any of you encountered disciples of our Buddha Spirit Sect?"
When they shook their heads and said they had not, Wu Fei was not disappointed. The great inheritance tomb was vast, so it was normal that they had not crossed paths.
At that moment, Jing Fanyu finally extricated himself from Liu Yuexuan and stepped between Wu Fei and the Heavenly Sword Sect disciples. "Senior and junior brothers, how did you come to be here?"
He successfully shifted their attention from Wu Fei to himself.
The protagonist had been sneaky about diverting their gazes, but with Wu Fei's quick mind, how could he fail to notice? He turned the prayer beads in his hand, and a trace of amusement suddenly flashed in the depths of his tranquil eyes.
After asking, they learned that two of the Heavenly Sword Sect disciples had been teleported to the same place upon entering. They had encountered another disciple along the way, and only yesterday had they met Senior Brother Qi, who had their junior sister with him.
"Senior Brother Jing, Senior Brother Qi and I discovered a very impressive cave abode, but we could only get a short distance inside. Come take a look with us." Liu Yuexuan's eyes brightened, but she did not notice Senior Brother Qi's expression stiffen behind her.
Wu Fei was happy to watch from the sidelines. This Senior Brother Qi, Qi Gu, was the senior brother in the book who had spent a night with Liu Yuexuan after the Seven Emotions Flower's scent left her lost in passion.
He admired his junior sister, but Liu Yuexuan had eyes only for the protagonist, so he secretly caused Jing Fanyu plenty of trouble. Later, after Liu Yuexuan's love turned to hatred, he even joined her in making underhanded moves against Jing Fanyu.
"Senior Brother Wu Fei," Jing Fanyu suddenly turned toward him, "why don't we explore the cave abode Junior Sister Liu mentioned together?"
"Excellent." Wu Fei naturally agreed.
There was something in that cave abode that interested him quite a bit...
They headed together toward the cave abode Liu Yuexuan had mentioned. Along the way, Liu Yuexuan chattered incessantly around Jing Fanyu, but he only offered her an occasional brief response. In contrast, he conversed very happily with the Buddha Spirit Sect's Buddha Son.
Once Liu Yuexuan noticed, she slowly fell silent. Only then did she turn her attention to the handsome Wu Fei beside them.
Wu Fei detected a trace of hostility in her gaze but pretended not to notice. He did not use the power of his exquisite heart either, allowing Liu Yuexuan, this potential threat, to remain for the time being.
Everyone followed Liu Yuexuan to the cave abode, which they found concealed beneath countless weeds and vines. The entrance bore signs of having just been cleared, evidently by Qi Gu and Liu Yuexuan.
Above the cave abode's entrance was a dilapidated stone tablet. After tens of thousands of years of erosion, its inscription had long since become illegible.
Wu Fei glanced at an inconspicuous pinch of white ash on the ground and asked, "Was there originally a formation at the entrance?"
Qi Gu replied, "There was indeed a formation. I've already broken it."
With that, he entered the cave abode first.
Wu Fei followed Jing Fanyu inside, a thought stirring in his mind. Although Qi Gu had broken the formation, he had failed to notice what was unusual about it.
Ordinary formations used spirit stones, spirit plants, or other things containing large amounts of spiritual qi as their cores, but this cave abode's formation core had been that inconspicuous pinch of white ash-a pill.
In principle, once a pill was refined, its medicinal power and spiritual qi were locked within, making it impossible to use as a formation core. Yet the owner of this cave abode had accomplished it.
This showed that the cave abode's owner had possessed extremely high attainments in both formations and pill refinement.
Wu Fei had no interest in the cave abode owner's inheritance. What interested him was... the pills the owner had left behind.
"There are nothing but stone walls here. Senior Brother Qi and I studied them for ages, but we couldn't figure out where the mechanism was," Liu Yuexuan said.