The next morning, Ding Yan returned to the Lotus Flower Valley alone.
Apart from the identity jade tokens, one of the reasons for his return to the valley was to cultivate techniques. He had completed the inscription on the identity jade tokens the night before, and now, the only thing left for him to do was to cultivate techniques.
After becoming a wandering immortal, the martial arts taught by the old village chief on the Nameless Island were no longer suitable for him. As for the Book of the Universe, it had again fallen silent after leaving the Illusory Nine Heavens, and he couldn't even activate the incomplete immortal seal. Therefore, Ding Yan had to think about cultivating techniques in Lotus Flower Valley.
"Senior Brother Ding, Master Uncle has come out of seclusion and is waiting for you inside," Elder Xue said with a smile as he emerged from the valley.
Ding Yan nodded and followed Elder Xue into the valley.
The Lotus Flower Valley was situated in a vast valley, divided into three layers: outer, inner, and the core valley.
The outer valley, where the disciples of the Lotus Flower Valley lived, had the largest area with ten peaks used for the cultivation of the top ten disciples. The outer valley was separated from the inner valley by these ten peaks, and the disciples of the outer valley were not allowed to enter the inner valley. Only the inner disciples were given a chance to listen to the teachings of the elders in the inner valley at the end of each month. As for the outer disciples, they were mere servants and were absolutely forbidden from entering the inner valley. If caught, their cultivation would be abolished, and they would be expelled from the sect.
The inner valley was where the elders lived, and only wandering immortals were allowed to reside there. Although wandering immortals were rare in the Lotus Flower Valley, there were rules, and currently, only Elder Xue and the valley master, Lu Renxing, lived there.
As for the core valley, it was the hidden cultivation ground of the only supreme elder in the sect, a wandering immortal who had passed a tribulation.
It was Ding Yan's first time entering the core valley, and as he stepped in, he scanned his surroundings.
The core valley was not large, just a small mountain valley. It was covered with maple leaves, and in the middle, there was a thatched hut with some rare spiritual herbs planted outside. With Ding Yan's eyes, it was easy to see that the elemental energy in this core valley was much richer than in the inner valley.
The moment Ding Yan stepped into the courtyard, a powerful sense of immortal consciousness swept over him, without any restraint or concealment.
Ding Yan frowned, and a hint of cold light flashed in his eyes.
His formidable immortal consciousness collided fiercely with the unnamed immortal consciousness.
There was a muffled sound, and a barely perceptible ripple appeared in the air. Ding Yan staggered, and a strange light appeared in his eyes.
Beside him, Elder Xue gasped in shock.
As a wandering immortal, he naturally felt the collision of the two immortals' consciousness. In his perception, one of them was the supreme elder, the wandering immortal in seclusion in the thatched hut, and the other was Ding Yan, a wandering immortal who had just passed the tribulation. Yet, their immortal consciousness clashed on equal terms, and even the supreme elder did not gain any advantage.
"Are you Ding Yan? The newly promoted wandering immortal of the Lotus Flower Valley?" a pleasant voice came from inside the thatched hut.
"A woman?" Ding Yan was surprised but replied, "Yes."
"Good, very good." The voice of the woman was elusive, now it seemed close at hand, and then it felt like it was far away.
Ding Yan frowned. He did not understand why the supreme elder of the Lotus Flower Valley had called him here, nor did he understand her intentions.
"You are now an elder in our Lotus Flower Valley, and you can freely use any resources in the valley. If you want to leave, no one will stop you. However, I hope that twenty years from now, you will return to the valley. I will have something to ask of you then…" After speaking, the woman's voice fell silent.
From start to finish, the supreme elder did not come out to see Ding Yan.
Ding Yan did not agree nor reject.
Given the other party's cultivation, what she asked for was certainly not an easy task. Without danger, it was definitely impossible.
Of course, the reward would undoubtedly be substantial.
So Ding Yan remained silent, neither agreeing nor refusing, and then bid farewell to Elder Xue, heading towards the scripture pavilion.
As he looked back at the location of the core valley, a ripple rose in Ding Yan's heart.
"Immortal consciousness attack. It turns out that there are people in this world who possess such methods. It's a pity that her technique of immortal consciousness attack is evidently somewhat rough…"
The brief clash of immortal consciousness allowed Ding Yan to see some clues, and he likely thought the same of the other party.
The art of spiritual attack is based on Ding Yan's past life experience and is a transformation of the spiritual attack magical powers. Simply put, it's a case of same old wine in a new bottle, with the essence remaining the same. With this magical power, one can unleash a very powerful force with their spiritual consciousness. Previously, Ding Yan used this art to kill Wu Wei and Sima Xu.
Entering the scripture tower, Ding Yan, using the elder's token, entered the second floor of the tower.
The number of books in the second floor was noticeably less, with only about a hundred of them, and many of them were also damaged.
Ding Yan spent the whole afternoon skimming through the ancient books, and then copied the remaining ones into jade slips. After doing all this, it was already two days later.
As he walked out of the scripture tower, Ding Yan saw an old man with white hair.
The old man was the guardian of the scripture tower in the Lotus Valley, and only appeared to be at the eighth level of Qi Refinement.
After seeing Ding Yan, the old man did not salute, but casually tossed a piece of paper and said, "This is what the valley master left for you."
Ding Yan nodded and took the paper.
"Junior Brother Ding, this time, the disciples entering the mortal realm are now your responsibility."
"Every time our Lotus Valley sends disciples into the mortal realm, only one or two manage to come out. Several times, not even one came out. Hopefully it will be better this time," the old man said with a hint of meaning as he glanced at Ding Yan.
The mortal realm is a vast melting pot, as well as a place for cultivating one's character. Without a firm moral character, it's easy to get lost. Eventually, one will give up cultivation and never want to come out again. Each time the major sects send in their disciples, the majority of them stay there, and only one-tenth come out.
However, even so, every ten years, the major sects still send their elite disciples into the mortal realm because those who can give up wealth and emerge from it are all determined individuals. These individuals mostly become wandering immortals. For example, Senior Elder Xue of the Lotus Valley was the only one of the top ten disciples to come out of the Great Formation.
"The mortal realm..." Ding Yan murmured. He remembered that in his past life, in order to break through the Yuanying stage, he also became a mortal and underwent reincarnation in the mortal world before finally breaking through to the Nascent Divinity stage.
"One trial, one lifetime of reincarnation. How many can break free from this?" He pinched the paper in his hand into powder, and then with a wave of his sleeve, his whole body turned into a streak of light and disappeared into the sky.
Watching Ding Yan disappear, the old man squinted and a gleam of dazzling light flashed in his cloudy eyes.