Time flies like an arrow, and five years spent training and gaining experience in the outside world passed by in the blink of an eye. Jiang Yan, accompanied by his Senior Sister Furong, had already returned to the sect. That morning, the two of them went together to see their master, Venerable Shenlong. The disciple reported that the assigned task of taking Junior Brother Jiang Yan to gain experience in Dongyi had concluded, and they had come specifically to report back to Master. "Good, you've both worked hard," Venerable Shenlong said, looking at Jiang Yan, who was now full of vigor and brimming with spiritual energy. Stroking his long beard, he smiled and said, "My disciple has now broken through to the Body Refining Stage Peak. Truly a joyous occasion!" At this, Jiang Yan replied, "It is entirely thanks to Master's skillful guidance and Senior Sister's meticulous care. Thanks to Senior Sister, this disciple had the fortune of acting as a hero admired by thousands in Dongyi, which is how I have made such progress."
Master asked him, "During the five years of training outside, what was your greatest realization?"
The disciple replied to Master, "My greatest gain from training alongside Senior Sister in the outside world was the broadening of my horizons and the insights I gained from interacting and communicating with people. Through spending the past five years closely with Senior Sister, I have found that she is an exceptionally easy person to get along with—beautiful, kind, and attentive. Aside from Master, she is the person I trust the most."
"Very well," Venerable Shenlong said. "From now on, continue following your Senior Sister and keep striving in your cultivation."
Legend has it that Luyuan Village, where Jiang Yan lived in the past, were the descendants and heirs of Patriarch Taiyan, the founder of the Divine Flame Sect. Before founding the Divine Flame Sect, Patriarch Taiyan was the chieftain of a tribe surnamed Jiang. They lived around the Jiangshui River basin, leading a rustic, nomadic lifestyle. Patriarch Taiyan invented medicine for Huáxià in the Divine Land, taught the villagers how to use farming tools, practiced slash-and-burn agriculture, invented the five grains, built houses, and civilized humanity with the etiquette of interpersonal relations and sacrificial culture. He was the progenitor of human cultural heritage.
Qiyun Mountain's Linyan Peak, home to the Divine Flame Sect, shared its ancestral roots with the descendants of Patriarch Taiyan's tribe in the Jiangshui River basin. This lineage also included the current leader of the Divine Flame Sect, Venerable Shenlong. Legend had it that Jiang Yan was the one-thousandth direct descendant of Patriarch Taiyan, while the other villagers were collateral branches of his lineage. Thus, they continued their traditional, rustic way of life, living in seclusion from the world, with the men farming and the women weaving, untouched by secular strife.
Everyone in the village valued martial arts and possessed a certain level of cultivation. Combined with the chirping of birds and the fragrance of flowers, picturesque mountains and rivers, towering ancient trees, exotic flowers and rare herbs, and the harmonious calls of deer and cranes, the place was nourished by uniquely gifted spiritual Qi. Every villager there was born clever and nimble; the men possessed graceful and striking demeanors, while the women were ingenious, with bright and stunning complexions, naturally beautiful without the need for cosmetics. Even dressed in coarse hemp and simple skirts, they all naturally carried an aura of immortality. With bright eyes and white teeth, their gazes filled with autumn water, they were truly paragons of the mortal world, like immortals of the zither from a dream.
The Divine Emperor Hall, built in the center of the village, appeared all the more magnificent. The divine dragon ornamental column and the pilgrimage altar in the middle of the square added to the extraordinary quality of ancient legends. Most special of all was the white marble standing statue of Patriarch Taiyan, guarding the heritage of the progenitor of Huáxià civilization. Passing through covered corridors and small paths, ascending step by step, one would reach the village's immortal herb garden. Here, rare spiritual flowers and exotic grasses unseen in the mortal world, along with miraculous medicines from the Immortal Realm, were all to be found in abundance: peonies, herbaceous peonies, lingzhi mushrooms, sweet-scented osmanthus, buddha's hand, winter plum blossoms, spring orchids, chrysanthemums, rehmannia, morning glories, angelica, snow lotuses... all competing in splendor and beauty. Every villager here knew how to refine ordinary Lesser Returning Pills. Coupled with the nourishment of a legendary spiritual spring within Qiyun Mountain, most of the villagers enjoyed longevity, with ninety percent living past the age of ninety. Jiang Yan was simply the most outstanding and heaven-selected son of the village.
Though passed down for tens of thousands of years, the village had evaded countless wars and conflicts. Legend had it that the village was protected by a powerful ancient array. The mysterious immortal spring possessed the miraculous efficacy of curing all illnesses, resisting various natural plagues, detoxifying all poisons, prolonging life, and enhancing spiritual Qi cultivation within the body. Coupled with top-grade elixirs, one could even ascend to immortality. Throughout all of Huáxià, it was the ultimate earthly paradise. To be able to live in such a place was truly humanity's ultimate secret realm. With the Divine Flame Sect blessed with such a miraculous and precious land, it was impossible for the sect not to grow powerful.
At that moment, Senior Sister Furong suddenly appeared before Jiang Yan and said to him, "Junior Brother, next month an untamed marsh secret realm is set to open at Danxia Mountain in Shaoguan, Baiyue, in the southern region. When the time comes, I will take you there."