Ye Chen slowly opened his eyes and let out a long breath.
At that moment, he felt wonderful, and his strength had also increased significantly. Slowly withdrawing his aura, he looked around. The spot he had chosen was secluded enough that no one should have found him. Just then, An Miaohan walked up to him.
"Junior Brother, was that aura just now your doing?" An Miaohan asked, looking at him.
Ye Chen was somewhat puzzled. He had been so immersed in his cultivation that he had no idea what had happened.
"What aura?" Ye Chen asked, confused.
"You didn't know? When you were cultivating just now, you released a powerful aura that caused strange phenomena across the entire Scripture Pavilion! By now, quite a few people must be coming over, eager to find out who on earth produced that phantom projection!" An Miaohan said immediately.
Hearing this, even Ye Chen was shocked.
*Is the Prison-Suppressing Divine Elephant Technique really this powerful? Just one session of cultivation was enough to trigger a phenomenal projection?* Ye Chen wondered in inward astonishment.
"Xiao Chen, hurry up and conceal your aura!" An Miaohan reminded him at once.
Ye Chen nodded and immediately masked his presence.
Third Senior Sister An Miaohan was known as the ethereal fairy, and her skills in disguise and concealment were of the absolute highest order. Over the past few days, Ye Chen had gradually mastered these techniques from her. Therefore, as long as the elders didn't grab him and forcibly probe his cultivation, he could blend right into the crowd without anyone being the wiser.
By this time, people had emerged and tightly surrounded the entire Scripture Pavilion.
The people gathered here were not just disciples of Xinyao Peak; elders from Yuxiao Peak, Tianqi Peak, and Shenting Peak had all arrived as well.
Outside, an elder called out in a loud voice, "Which disciple produced the cultivation phenomenon just now? Would you please step out and show yourself?"
Inside the Scripture Pavilion, however, there was no response.
"Since you possess such extraordinary talent, our Xianyuan Holy Land will certainly nurture you with all our resources. Please come out and meet us!" the elder shouted again.
Still, the Scripture Pavilion remained completely silent.
One elder shook his head and said, "It seems that disciple has no wish to expose his strength. Very well, let us have all the disciples inside come out. With our abilities, we will naturally be able to tell."
That elder nodded and instructed the disciples inside the Scripture Pavilion to walk out one by one.
As the disciples filed out, An Miaohan took Ye Chen's small hand and followed behind them.
When the elders saw An Miaohan and Ye Chen, they looked somewhat surprised.
"Could it be An Miaohan?" an elder asked.
Another elder shook his head with a smile. "Although An Miaohan is exceptionally talented, she primarily focuses on transformation and concealment arts, and her proficiency in such profound divine abilities isn't quite that high. If Murong Qingxue or Xu Qiuya had been cultivating here, I might believe it."
At that, their gazes shifted toward Ye Chen.
"Is that... the Holy Mother of Xinyao's son?" an elder muttered, sizing Ye Chen up.
Ye Chen was startled when the elder cast his gaze upon him.
Then, a nearby elder chuckled. "Oh, as everyone knows, the Holy Mother of Xinyao's son has trash Spiritual Roots—how could it possibly be him?"
Hearing this, the first elder shook his head as well and looked away from Ye Chen.
Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, Ye Chen simply walked away.
The elders continued to stand guard outside the Scripture Pavilion, watching as every single disciple came out, yet none of them was the person they were looking for.
"How can this be? Why is there not the slightest trace of his presence to be felt?" an elder said in astonishment.
The other elders shook their heads.
"Ah, it seems that disciple has no desire to reveal himself. So be it, so be it! As long as we know that such a dragon among men exists in our Xianyuan Holy Land, that is enough." With that, several elders could only leave crestfallen.
Ye Chen followed An Miaohan away from the Scripture Pavilion.
Looking at him in surprise, An Miaohan said, "Little Chenchen, you've got to be kidding me. I took my eyes off you for just a moment, and you actually leveled up?"
Since Third Senior Sister An Miaohan was a master of concealment, she could clearly see right through Ye Chen's realm.
By this point, Ye Chen had already reached the Core Formation Realm.
One had to realize that just a few days prior, Ye Chen had only just broken through to Late Foundation Establishment. Yet now, after a single trip to the Scripture Pavilion, he had actually broken through directly into a Core Formation expert!
This...
This cultivation talent was simply terrifying!
However, Third Senior Sister was already used to it. Ever since her Junior Brother had awakened his divine Spiritual Root, his cultivation had skyrocketed by leaps and bounds. He had surprised her time and time again.
Having been shocked by her Junior Brother so many times, she was finally starting to get used to it.
Ye Chen scratched his head and smiled. "I had a sudden epiphany while in the Scripture Pavilion, and before I knew it, I broke through!"
An Miaohan was left completely speechless!
And so, every single day, Ye Chen signed in and cultivated at Xinyao Peak, while also learning from his five senior sisters.
Having reached the Core Formation Realm, however, Ye Chen's cultivation progress naturally slowed down; it was no longer possible for him to break through a major realm every two or three days. But Ye Chen knew that haste makes waste, so he didn't mind too much.
After finishing his lessons on the Stealth Technique with Third Senior Sister, Ye Chen began studying her transformation arts.
Third Senior Sister's title of ethereal fairy was well-deserved; her transformation abilities rivaled the seventy-two transformations of the Monkey King. The people she transformed into were so identical in temperament and voice that not a single flaw could be detected.
With his astonishing talent, Ye Chen learned it very quickly, though fully mastering it would still require more time.
He then studied the art of alchemy with Fourth Senior Sister. Alchemy could not be learned overnight, and the fact that Ye Chen could successfully brew pills was merely the foundation; step by step, he was simply making his foundation in alchemy increasingly solid.
Following that, Fourth Senior Sister began teaching him artifact refining.
As for guqin, chess, calligraphy, and painting, he learned those from Fifth Senior Sister. Ever since mastering the Supreme Oblivion Melody, Ye Chen's musical talent had been thoroughly unlocked, and he went on to learn numerous other pieces under her guidance.
Seeing that Ye Chen had pretty much mastered the guqin, Fifth Senior Sister moved on to teach him Go, calligraphy, and painting.
At Fifth Senior Sister's place, Ye Chen spent his days playing the guqin and chess, composing poetry and painting pictures, which proved to be quite an enjoyable endeavor.
As for Sixth Senior Sister, the Herding Gods Formula that Ye Chen practiced was no mere showpiece; regardless of the spiritual beast, Ye Chen could directly suppress it with sheer pressure. But Sixth Senior Sister didn't just understand spiritual beasts—she also understood spirits and ghosts, and was well-versed in all sorts of arcane arts. Mastering all of her bizarre arts would also require a considerable amount of time.
As for Seventh Senior Sister, what Ye Chen did with her was sparring, constantly tempering his own strength.
However, no matter how much Seventh Senior Sister suppressed her strength when fighting him, the victor without exception was always Ye Chen. On a few occasions, he had even nearly forced Seventh Senior Sister to unleash her true strength.
Just as Ye Chen was taking a break from his cultivation, a piece of news reached his ears.
His Second Senior Sister, Murong Qingxue, was about to come out of seclusion!