Wait a minute… this guy's already dead beyond saving!
Cursing under his breath, Li Ye glanced at the pile of blackened ash on the ground and shook his head.
"Forget it… the guy probably didn't even finish writing his final words before being slain by some outside enemy. Expecting him to leave more behind was wishful thinking anyway…"
Still, even from those few short lines, Li Ye had gained quite a bit of insight, learning many ancient secrets that were completely unknown to him before.
"So the demonic clan had already invaded this realm ten thousand years ago…"
From that alone, it wasn't hard for him to deduce the origin of the Voidrealm Tree in his possession.
That massive tree, used to seal the descending realm passage within a secret realm, must've been the very same divine spirit wood from the Wood God Sect passed down to suppress the demonic invasion.
But thinking along those lines raised even more doubts in Li Ye's mind.
"If the Voidrealm Tree was used to seal the rift, why hasn't the descending passage completely dissipated after ten thousand years? None of the records I've read say anything about it lasting that long!"
"And if it was truly the core divine artifact of a Nascent Soul-level sect, how could it be destroyed by just two measly Golden Core cultivators?"
"Or… is there some other unknown factor at play here?"
With the information he currently had, there was no way to piece together the full truth. After a bit of pondering, Li Ye simply gave up on digging deeper.
"What's the point of racking my brains over ancient secrets from ten thousand years ago?"
If anything, these long-forgotten affairs mattered far less to him than the current state of the Lava Palace and why it ended up like this.
"Since the Heavenly Craft Hall was wiped out by an alliance of other Nascent Soul sects, then it's unlikely that demonic forces were involved…"
Li Ye's expression relaxed a little.
"Even if there are some traps buried in there, they're probably just old ghosts and flame puppets… And honestly, they likely won't even notice or care about the small stirrings of someone at my measly Foundation Establishment level."
"As long as I don't enter the palace or cause any major destruction, I should be safe from triggering anything. Hmm… Just to be sure, I'd better prepare some talismans for warding off evil and calming spirits!"
"Seriously, what's with these ancient sects? Not only do they get wiped out, but they don't even bother to help their people pass on properly?! Why do they always have to leave behind these damn cursed remnants?!"
Unable to hold back, Li Ye cursed again.
His goals for this trip had already been fully achieved. Not only had he gained quite a lot, but constantly splitting his attention to control multiple puppets had also left him mentally drained.
In his current state, running into a strong opponent might lead to fatal mistakes.
So even though he had learned some valuable secrets and had new thoughts about the treasures hidden in the Lava Palace, he wasn't about to push himself to explore further.
After inspecting the array formations and nearby restriction zones, Li Ye turned and left without hesitation.
And with his departure, the Lava Palace seemed to return to its ancient, unmoving slumber beneath the molten lava unchanged and eternal.
Only the faint growls of flame beasts and the churning of magma echoed quietly through the underground world.
...
Pingyang Mountain, within the cave residence.
Li Ye sat cross-legged, his body shrouded in a soft azure glow, steadily absorbing and refining the surrounding spiritual energy and that within the spirit stones in his hands. Bit by bit, the energy was integrated into his mana, steadily enhancing his cultivation.
Who knew how much time had passed before he slowly opened his eyes? Beneath the faint blue light, a sharp glint flashed across his gaze for just a moment.
"With the later stages of the cultivation method in hand, my progress is finally back on track… Even though it's not fast, I can feel myself improving every day that's enough."
Perhaps due to several consecutive days of mentally splitting his attention to controlling multiple puppets, pushing his spiritual sense to its limits, after this period of rest and recovery, Li Ye felt a noticeable improvement in his divine sense.
This was the first time he had seen any improvement since losing access to the later parts of the Thousand Thoughts Divine Refinement Technique, and it greatly lifted his spirits.
"Crude as it may be, it seems the method of training divine sense through puppet control from that inheritance is worth exploring after all!"
He turned his focus inward.
Within his dantian, ten droplets of liquid mana had become even more condensed and vibrant compared to when he had first broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage.
While he hadn't formed any new droplets and thus hadn't made a clear breakthrough, his mana had indeed become far more substantial and robust.
The Qingyuan Technique – Foundation Chapter was divided into three stages, corresponding to each level of the Foundation Establishment realm.
To reach the peak of the first stage, one would need to accumulate roughly thirty droplets of liquid mana, which would qualify them to attempt breaking through to the mid-stage.
At Li Ye's current pace burning through spirit stones without a care, he might be able to refine one or two droplets a year…
So within a little over a decade, he could qualify to attempt breaking into the mid-foundation stage. For someone with a mid-grade spiritual root, that speed wasn't bad at all.
If he could maintain this pace, then even for someone who had reached Foundation Establishment at the age of thirty, there was still a decent chance of reaching late-stage Foundation Establishment before running out of lifespan and maybe even attempting Golden Core.
"Oh… so my lifespan isn't dropping anymore? Well, in that case, I'm good!"
Li Ye touched his jade-smooth, youthful-looking face and chuckled to himself.
"Time's not a problem. I'll just keep going steady and slow."
"And this is just with spirit stones. If I add pills into the mix, I could go even faster…"
"I'm not in a rush, but who knows how long I can keep the whole Lava Palace thing under wraps… I'd better start hunting down suitable pill recipes and focus on a good old-fashioned farming strategy!"
"If something suddenly goes wrong and I lose access to the constant supply of fire beast cores from the Lava Palace, I'll be missing out on a major source of income… My current resources will eventually dry up!"
"Those sects and families I think it's about time they developed a little sense of urgency…"
Pleased with his foresight, Li Ye stood and made his way to the pill refining room.
One month later.
News suddenly spread from Pingyang Mountain: a new auction would be held soon at the Sanhui Market.
In addition to rare treasures, the main highlights of the auction were a variety of Tier-2 pills including the rare Flamecloud Pill and Earthpeace Pill, both of which could directly boost a Foundation Establishment cultivator's cultivation!
How valuable were Tier-2 pills?
Especially ones that could directly enhance cultivation?
Even shops backed by Golden Core sects would be reluctant to put such treasures on sale unless it was for the sake of drawing a crowd!
The moment the news broke, the usually overlooked Chidi Mountain Range and Pingyang Mountain instantly became the focus of attention for Foundation Establishment factions across the three neighboring kingdoms.
The fact that so many types of Tier-2 pills were being auctioned at once strongly hinted at one thing: there was most likely a Tier-2 alchemist now residing in Pingyang Mountain!
Even within a Golden Core-level power, a Tier-2 alchemist held considerable status. Among Foundation Establishment factions, such a figure was someone to be courted and respected.
Within just a few days, invitations and calling cards from major forces across the three kingdoms poured in like snowflakes expressing great interest in both the auction and Pingyang Mountain's alchemist.
Many even attempted to make private deals in advance!
As a result…
Those sects and clans that had once been hesitant about working with Li Ye who had inherited all of Xu Pingyang's assets were now in full panic mode, watching as competitors multiplied around them.
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