Li Sihai was speechless and too lazy to bother any further, eventually leaving Ru Peak with his dozen or so disciples.
"How is this covered in spit?"
Not long after they left, Jiang Yan picked up the book that had fallen to the ground earlier.
It must have been stained with saliva when he dozed off just now.
He tossed it aside in disgust. It was a collection of poetry by a certain scholar surnamed Li, regarded almost as scripture by all followers of Confucianism, but to Jiang Yan, it was utterly worthless. Its only use was to shield his eyes when he took an afternoon nap.
Although Jiang Yan needed to read books to neutralize the heavenly tribulations he had absorbed within his body and convert them into his own cultivation, the books he read were not the classics of poetry, but rather Daoist alchemy canons, formation manuals, and sword scores.
During the six years of seclusion, the books Jiang Yan read were naturally all of these.
Therefore, apart from Zhang Yuanshu, not a single person within the entire Dao Sect knew what kind of astonishing talent Jiang Yan possessed.
The Dao of alchemy, the Dao of formations, and the Dao of the sword—after six years of refinement, he had already achieved extraordinary mastery in all of them.
Not only was he skilled in alchemy and array formation, but even in swordsmanship, with Jiang Yan's current cultivation at the Great Perfection of the Return to Void Realm, if he were to make a move, ordinary experts of the First Layer of the Dao Severing Realm would likely be unable to withstand the might of a single sword strike from him.
Yet in the eyes of outsiders, he was merely a bookworm. Furthermore, the path of Confucianism had long since declined, and Ru Peak existed in name only. Therefore, in the subconscious of many people in the Dao Sect, although Jiang Yan was the current senior brother, in reality, his cultivation was probably inferior even to disciples who had joined less than a year ago.
"I didn't expect that old fellow to take on a disciple while traveling outside. His standards are so high that ordinary people could never catch his eye. That being said, this junior sister of mine must certainly possess extraordinary aptitude."
"Cultivating at Sword Peak..."
"Logically speaking, this senior brother of mine has been in seclusion for six years, yet during this time she didn't even think to bring anything over to visit. Even if it were just to send some spirit stones..."
Jiang Yan was quite dissatisfied with this.
"Never mind that for now. Who knows when that old fellow will return? Without heavenly tribulations to absorb, it seems I can only rely on spirit stones for cultivation first, hoping to use them to step into the Dao Severing Realm."
He muttered to himself, then let out a slight sigh. "These disciples, elders, and even the sect master of the Dao Sect are really a bit worrying. After all these years, their strength has hardly grown at all, and not a single person is capable of withstanding a tribulation. If the opportunity arises in the future, it seems I'll have to put them through some rigorous training."
At this, he couldn't help but feel a sense of frustration that they weren't living up to expectations. Although he was only sixteen years old, he wore the expression of an old veteran.
Then again, if a few people within the Dao Sect could reach the point of undergoing a tribulation, that would naturally be a good thing for Jiang Yan. After all, the more tribulations he could absorb, the faster his strength would grow.
"Hum!"
After a moment of silence, he suddenly flipped his hand and took out all the spirit stones that First Elder Li Sihai had brought earlier from his storage bag.
A full seventy-two hundred spirit stones were piled on the ground in front of him like a small protruding grave mound.
Jiang Yan sat cross-legged in front of these spirit stones and reached out his hand toward them.
"Hum!"
The space trembled slightly, and then an imposing aura instantly enveloped all directions.
In less than a mere ten breaths of time, the pile of spirit stones, which had looked like a small grave mound, was completely absorbed by Jiang Yan down to the last one.
If anyone were here to witness such a scene, their jaws would surely drop in astonishment.
One must know that every single spirit stone contained extremely rich heaven and earth spiritual Qi. For a normal person cultivating with spirit stones, it would take at least close to half an hour to fully absorb the spiritual power from just one spirit stone.
The Return to Void Realm could speed things up a bit, but it still took the time it takes to brew a cup of tea.
Yet now, with just a wave of Jiang Yan's hand, a full seventy-two hundred spirit stones were completely absorbed by him.
Such a feat completely exceeded ordinary comprehension.
The main reason for this lay in Jiang Yan's Heavenly Tribulation Physique.
This physique was extremely special; it wasn't just simple enough to help people block tribulations. Not long after joining the Dao Sect, Jiang Yan had discovered that it could also rapidly absorb the spiritual power within spirit stones and directly convert it into his own cultivation.
It was clear there was a reason why he had become obsessed with wealth.
"Hah..."
The aura within his body churned violently, continuing for quite a while before gradually calming down.
Jiang Yan let out a long breath, feeling a sense of relief. "Absorbing this many spirit stones all at once is a first for me, but... how come my cultivation hasn't grown almost at all?"
He couldn't help but frown.
When he first entered the sect, he had been able to receive one hundred spirit stones from the sect every month for cultivation.
Every time he absorbed those one hundred spirit stones, his strength would show a very noticeable improvement.
But this time, a full seventy-two hundred spirit stones felt like throwing a pebble into the ocean. To make a comparison, it was equivalent to only increasing the spiritual power within his body by roughly one percent.
"Most likely it's because my current cultivation is too high, and these spirit stones are simply not enough to fill the gap."
"Without heavenly tribulations to absorb, aside from relying on spirit stones, medicinal pills might also be a good choice. However, refining pills requires a lot of medicinal herbs, and most importantly, an alchemy cauldron. Dan Peak should have all of those... I suppose I could go over and check with them."
As he muttered this, Jiang Yan flipped his hand and produced a piece of cyan jade.
This was the token of the Master of Ru Peak. To see the jade was to see the Peak Master himself.
When Zhang Yuanshu went traveling years ago, he specifically left this jade with Jiang Yan to grant him greater convenience.
And sure enough, this jade was coming in handy now.
Most of the people at Dan Peak, apart from a few disciples still in the herb-recognition stage, had become alchemists, ranging from the first to the third grade.
Such status made them very proud. If Jiang Yan had run over directly to tell them he wanted to borrow herbs and an alchemy cauldron, they probably wouldn't have given him the time of day.
But holding the cyan jade of the Ru Peak Master made all the difference.
With this thought in mind, Jiang Yan quickly got up, intending to make a trip to Dan Peak before dark to borrow the herbs and the alchemy cauldron.
Just then, faint footsteps came from the base of the mountain, instantly catching Jiang Yan's attention.
Looking into the distance, he saw a figure in white slowly approaching from the foot of the mountain, walking at a leisurely pace.
It was a young woman with a red mark of gauze between her brows, a face as fair as jade, dressed in a plain white skirt. Her three thousand strands of dark hair cascaded like a waterfall over her shoulders, adorned with two silver feather-shaped hairpins. She moved gracefully, possessing a devastatingly beautiful appearance.
Her figure was slender and exquisitely proportioned, like an immortal fairy descending from the heavens, until she finally stopped not far in front of Jiang Yan.
"You must be Senior Brother Jiang Yan?"
The woman spoke, her beautiful eyes looking over Jiang Yan with curiosity.
Jiang Yan was momentarily stunned before he finally reacted. "Junior Sister Liu Ruyan?"