"You should go and properly regulate your breath as well. After all, your injuries only just recovered..." Ye Xiaoyao said as soon as Lin Yuyan led him to a small courtyard.
"Oh, alright. I'll come find you once I've recovered!" Lin Yuyan knew her own condition.
She had just suffered from a Qi Deviation, and although her grandfather had helped her out afterward, she still needed a proper period of meditation and recovery.
Only then did Ye Xiaoyao breathe a sigh of relief. He walked into the room and immediately sat down cross-legged.
Yet, a difficult problem arose before him.
Although the Myriad Forms Devouring Heaven Sword Formula contained its own cultivation method, its primary focus was on offense and killing, making it clearly unsuitable for healing injuries.
The Nine Dragons Fire Control Formula was mainly an art of controlling fire; while it possessed the path of alchemy, using it for healing required the assistance of medicinal herbs.
Moreover, although the current Ye Xiaoyao was well-versed in alchemy, his knowledge of the herbs native to the Qingyun Continent was extremely limited.
Just at that moment, Ye Xiaoyao felt a slight tremor in his Dantian, and a Cultivation Formula named the Longevity Rejuvenation Formula flooded into his mind.
Without needing to ask, he knew this was undoubtedly the handiwork of the maiden in his Dantian.
This was a wood-attribute Cultivation Formula. Although its offensive power was not as strong as the previous two, it could generate a powerful force of vitality.
It was simply the best choice for healing injuries and saving lives!
As the Cultivation Formula began to circulate, his damaged meridians immediately felt a comforting, itchy warmth, and the turbulent Qi within his body quickly returned to peace.
At the same time, Ye Xiaoyao discovered that in the process of his meridians being repaired, they were actually becoming even wider and more expansive than before.
This meant that even at the same realm, he would be able to unleash a much more formidable force than before.
Immersed in this joy, Ye Xiaoyao concentrated entirely on his cultivation while comprehending the profound mysteries of the Longevity Rejuvenation Formula.
A night passed. With his injuries completely healed, Ye Xiaoyao felt a slight tremor in his Dantian.
A surge of vital energy spread through his entire body, and Ye Xiaoyao felt a qualitative change in his strength. He knew he had broken through to the Spirit Sea Realm Fourth Layer.
At the same time, Ye Xiaoyao discovered that another verdant leaf of vitality had sprouted on the Sword Dao Seed!
However, this fresh green leaf looked dim and lifeless, as if it could wither at any moment.
Ye Xiaoyao was not surprised!
Fire overcomes wood. In an environment currently permeated with fire spiritual Qi, it was already extremely rare that he could condense the force of vitality within the Sword Dao Seed through his comprehension of the Longevity Rejuvenation Formula.
As long as he found sufficient wood-attribute spiritual Qi to nourish it in the future, it would surely become just like the thunder power and the fire spiritual Qi.
Stepping out of the room, Ye Xiaoyao walked with curiosity toward the pillar of the Undying Sacred Fire that connected heaven and earth, appearing as though it were both at the horizon and right in front of him.
Could it be that I have encountered this fortuitous opportunity directly?
As he kept moving forward, Ye Xiaoyao found that the distance between himself and the Undying Sacred Fire was continuously shortening, instantly perking him up.
So much so that he did not even realize when he had walked beyond the boundaries of Huoyun Peak.
Especially the fact that he could clearly feel the distance constantly closing without experiencing the unbearable scorching heat Elder Huoyun had mentioned made Ye Xiaoyao overjoyed.
He figured it must be the extraordinariness of the Nine Dragons Fire Control Formula that allowed him to endure it.
Ye Xiaoyao pursued it like this for five days and five nights. He could feel that every single day he managed to cover half of the remaining distance.
Yet even so, he still failed to truly approach the pillar of the Undying Sacred Fire.
In fact, deep down he already had a vague sense that something was amiss.
Yet the pillar of the Undying Sacred Fire seemed to possess a certain magical charm that made him utterly unwilling to stop.
Even though he was now drenched in cold sweat and his face was pale, he kept persisting.
A thought continuously echoed in his mind, telling him that as long as he kept going, he would surely succeed!
After chasing it for another two days, finally exhausting his very last shred of spiritual Qi, Ye Xiaoyao sat down on the ground, panting heavily while secretly circulating his Cultivation Formula.
At first, he still firmly believed that once he recovered again, he would definitely catch up.
However, when his breathing stabilized, a portion of his spiritual Qi returned, and his complexion was no longer so ghastly, the obsession in his heart to catch up to the pillar of the Undying Sacred Fire vanished.
When he raised his head to look at the pillar of the Undying Sacred Fire once more, that thing seemed to have returned to its initial distance from him.
It instantly startled Ye Xiaoyao into breaking out in a cold sweat all over again!
Clearly, being able to catch up earlier was nothing more than an illusion, and what shocked Ye Xiaoyao was that such a power could exist in this world.
One must know that the pillar of the Undying Sacred Fire was still just a lifeless object. If a powerful expert were to bewitch his mind in this manner, wouldn't he die without even knowing how he died?
"Hey... you've already reached Dan Peak, why aren't you hurrying up? What on earth are you doing here?" At that moment, an impatient feminine cry rang out.
"You... you're talking to me?" Seeing a young maiden in her early twenties appear before him, Ye Xiaoyao was both puzzled and secretly shocked that he had unconsciously chased his way all the way to Dan Peak.
Along the way, Elder Huoyun had roughly explained the situation of the Lihuo Sect to him.
Huoyun Peak and Dan Peak were separated by thousands of miles, yet he had arrived without the slightest awareness.
"Could there be anyone else here? How does the Handyman Hall train people? A dispatched Handyman Disciple doesn't even know how to offer greetings?" The maiden pouted, looking somewhat displeased.
Handyman Disciple?
Only then did Ye Xiaoyao recall that youths like those from the Tianhuo Kingdom who passed the trials could only enter the outer peaks of the Lihuo Sect to become Outer Disciples.
Outer Disciples who performed exceptionally well could pass another test to be promoted to formal disciples and enter the inner peaks.
Those who failed the test were mostly sent away from the Lihuo Sect. Of course, there were also those who felt they still had a chance and could choose to become Handyman Disciples.
After all, the cultivation environment of the Lihuo Sect was something the outside world simply could not compare to.
Even as a Handyman Disciple, through diligent cultivation and reaching a certain standard, one could still become a formal disciple.
However, the sect would no longer provide any cultivation resources to Handyman Disciples.
If they wanted to acquire resources, they had to undertake tasks issued by formal disciples to obtain the resources needed to elevate themselves.
Naturally, this also largely spared formal disciples from trivial matters so they could concentrate on their own cultivation.
Within the Lihuo Sect, both formal disciples and personal disciples had specialized attire.
Since he was currently wearing his previous casual clothes, possessed only the cultivation of the Spirit Sea Realm Fourth Layer, and yet appeared in the inner peaks, it was hardly strange that he was mistaken for a Handyman Disciple.
"I have just arrived at the Handyman Hall and am not yet acquainted with Senior Sister. Please forgive me, Senior Sister!" Ye Xiaoyao could not be bothered to over-explain his situation.
At the same time, he felt a certain curiosity toward the maiden before him.
After all, to become a formal disciple, one had to reach at least the Spirit Pill Realm, yet the maiden in front of him was only at the Spirit Sea Realm First Layer, even lower in realm than himself.
"Why are you calling me Senior Sister Qianqian..." the maiden said.
"Ah... you are Senior Sister Cheng Qianqian, the number one alchemy genius in the sect?" Ye Xiaoyao looked at the other person with some surprise.
Despite Cheng Qianqian being only at the Spirit Sea Realm First Layer, her attainments in alchemy had already reached the level of a Tier 5 alchemist comparable to a Human Emperor Realm master.
Yet Cheng Qianqian seemed to possess talent only for alchemy, remaining a complete novice when it came to martial arts.
Not only did she lack combat capability, but her current realm had also been pushed up entirely by medicinal pills.
"Alright, we can talk nonsense on the way. Hurry up and take me to Huoyun Peak!" Cheng Qianqian said, waving her hand to release a Flying Spiritual Artifact from her storage bracelet.
"Go to Huoyun Peak?" Ye Xiaoyao was somewhat surprised.
Cheng Qianqian immediately said, "You brat are in for some luck with this task. Follow me to Huoyun Peak, and you'll even get to watch a good show!"