After Liu Tai’an left.
Ye Qingxuan looked at the two Kongling Immortal Cranes Liu Tai’an had left behind, beckoned them over, and said with a smile:
“From now on, one of you will be called Xiao Kong, and the other Xiao Ling!”
Right now, Xiao Kong and Xiao Ling were only at the first stage of cultivation.
But raising Kongling Immortal Cranes wouldn’t cost Ye Qingxuan many resources.
Kongling Immortal Cranes feed on spiritual energy and don’t consume anything else with chaotic energies, so they can maintain their own ethereal state.
Moreover, their cultivation speed isn’t slow at all. Their ability to absorb spiritual energy is comparable to that of a human prodigy with a nine-element spiritual root.
After playing with the two cranes for a bit, just as he was about to take them back to Qingxuan Grotto-Heaven, Ye Qingxuan’s disciple token suddenly vibrated.
He took it out and saw a message from Zhu Dafu:
“Boss, we’ve collected the material you asked for from the outer battlefield—the one that looks like black leather. But I’m not sure if it’s what you’re looking for.”
Seeing Zhu Dafu’s message, a glint of anticipation flashed in Ye Qingxuan’s eyes, though he didn’t get overly excited.
He still wasn’t sure if that black, leather-like material was actually the World Membrane. What if it wasn’t? Wouldn’t getting excited now be pointless?
After replying to Zhu Dafu’s message, Ye Qingxuan looked at Ye Zhaoyu behind him and said:
“Zhaoyu, go to the Tianfu Shop and bring back everything Zhu Dafu has collected from the outer battlefield.”
Hearing Ye Qingxuan’s instruction, Ye Zhaoyu bowed and replied:
“Yes, sir!”
Then Ye Zhaoyu left the stone pavilion and headed for the Tianfu Shop.
After Ye Zhaoyu left, Ye Qingxuan didn’t return to Qingxuan Blessed Land. Instead, he walked to the edge of the stone pavilion, stood there, and watched the direction Ye Zhaoyu had gone, hope in his eyes.
The two little Kongling Immortal Cranes flew onto Ye Qingxuan’s shoulders, one on each side, rubbing their fluffy heads against his cheeks.
By the time Ye Zhaoyu returned, the sky had gradually darkened.
Taking the storage pouch from Ye Zhaoyu’s hand, Ye Qingxuan immediately brought Xiao Kong and Xiao Ling back to Qingxuan Blessed Land.
Once back in Qingxuan Blessed Land and after settling Xiao Kong and Xiao Ling down,
Ye Qingxuan opened the storage pouch and dumped everything out.
Ignoring the other miscellaneous items, his eyes locked directly onto a black, leather-like material about the size of his palm.
He beckoned it into his hand and infused it with spiritual energy, but there was no reaction at all.
Then he took out a top-grade true artifact, channeled spiritual energy into it, and struck the black, leather-like material with all his might.
“Boom!”
The loud crash of energy exploding echoed through Qingxuan Blessed Land. When it finally subsided, the black, leather-like material was still completely unharmed.
Seeing this, a hint of joy flickered in Ye Qingxuan’s eyes.
But this alone wasn’t enough to confirm that the material was the World Membrane.
If the World Membrane were so easy to activate, it wouldn’t have been so easy for Ye Qingxuan to stumble upon it.
Bringing the black, leather-like material, Ye Qingxuan went to Qingxuan Grotto-Heaven and found the node where the grotto-heaven absorbed chaotic energy.
Then, using the power of Qingxuan Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land, he held the black material in place.
Carefully, he brought the black material closer to the chaotic energy flowing through the grotto-heaven’s node.
As soon as the black material touched the chaotic energy, it seemed to activate instantly and began actively absorbing the chaotic energy on its own.
In an instant, the originally black material was assimilated by the chaotic energy. The black turned into chaotic colors, and the whole thing began to emit various chaotic divine glows.
Moreover, after turning into chaotic colors, the palm-sized material started to expand, slowly absorbing the chaotic energy and growing larger.
Seeing this, Ye Qingxuan finally exclaimed excitedly:
“Yes! This is the World Membrane!”
Having found the World Membrane, he now had what he needed for his intrinsic lifebound artifact.
Ye Qingxuan was already not far from the peak of the Purple Mansion realm. Once he broke through to the peak and his cultivation stabilized, he would have the opportunity to advance to the Golden Core stage.
Before that, if he could forge the prototype of his intrinsic lifebound artifact and align it with his Golden Core, that would be absolutely perfect.
If he missed this window and broke through to the Golden Core stage, after his Golden Core stabilized, the time needed to refine and nurture an intrinsic lifebound artifact connected to his very life would increase dramatically.
Only an intrinsic lifebound artifact that grows alongside one’s own life can better carry one’s Dao in the future.
An intrinsic lifebound artifact is also the instrument through which a cultivator will one day certify their Dao.
After the World Membrane had fully manifested, Ye Qingxuan used the power of his grotto-heaven blessed land to retrieve it.
Once the World Membrane was taken out again,
Ye Qingxuan absorbed it into his dantian and, following the secret methods from the Earth Immortal inheritance, began to refine the World Membrane in seclusion, using the power of his grotto-heaven blessed land.
During the refining process, Ye Qingxuan’s essence, energy, and spirit continuously merged with the World Membrane, slowly increasing their compatibility.
The process of forging an intrinsic lifebound artifact can’t be done overnight; it takes a considerable amount of time and polishing.
The intrinsic lifebound artifact Ye Qingxuan chose to forge, the World Diagram, is one of the more compatible artifacts for the Earth Immortal path within the Earth Immortal inheritance.
During the forging process, the World Diagram doesn’t require the integration of any other heavenly or earthly treasures.
The World Diagram is closely tied to the grotto-heaven blessed land opened by the Earth Immortal and can continuously grow by absorbing the blessed land’s origin and chaotic energy.
Not only is the World Diagram connected to the cultivator’s life, but it also complements the grotto-heaven blessed land. The transformation process of the World Diagram is essentially the process of inscribing the complete image of the grotto-heaven blessed land onto it.
After Ye Qingxuan finishes refining it, the prototype of the World Diagram is essentially a small-scale combination of the grotto-heaven and blessed land.
Then, as Ye Qingxuan’s cultivation advances and the Qingxuan Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land evolves, the World Diagram will gradually transform, eventually becoming the true World Diagram.
With the prototype of the World Diagram, the efficiency of absorbing and converting energy within the grotto-heaven blessed land will greatly increase, further shortening the time needed to accumulate energy.
Moreover, the World Diagram can replicate and evolve any elemental essence rules or law fragments that manifest from heavenly and earthly treasures integrated into the grotto-heaven blessed land.
This is the main reason why the World Diagram doesn’t need to incorporate other heavenly treasures to strengthen itself.
This refining process took a full ten years.
During those ten years, Ye Qingxuan didn’t just sit in one place.
Although refining the intrinsic lifebound artifact World Diagram was somewhat tedious, it didn’t require his undivided attention at all times. Ye Qingxuan could easily do other things while also working on it.
But because he needed to borrow the power of the Qingxuan Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land, he couldn’t leave it during the refining process.
For those ten years, Ye Qingxuan never went outside. He spent his days either cultivating or playing with the spirit beasts that roamed freely within his grotto-heaven blessed land.
Over the ten years, the two Kongling Immortal Cranes had grown to the late second stage, while the Azure Dragon had just broken through to the early third stage.
As for the other spirit beasts Ye Qingxuan had been raising, they hadn’t made much progress.
After ten years, the World Membrane, which had been continuously refined within his dantian, had now become seamlessly integrated with him. It had transformed into a prototype World Diagram, depicting the entire scenery of the Qingxuan Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land.
Ye Qingxuan summoned the World Diagram to his hand and unfolded it. It looked like a landscape painting with a double-exposed shadow effect.
This was the first time in ten years he had taken the World Diagram out of his dantian.
The World Diagram didn’t seem particularly powerful at first glance, but in reality, it had already reached the level of a top-grade true artifact.
Looking at his intrinsic lifebound artifact, Ye Qingxuan’s face showed a look of great satisfaction.
With a gentle toss, the World Diagram instantly expanded, overlapped with the Qingxuan Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land in the blink of an eye, and merged into the intersection of its origin. It began to operate slowly.
With the addition of the World Diagram, the efficiency of the Qingxuan Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land in absorbing energy and converting origin received a small but noticeable boost.
At the same time, the World Diagram used the power of the Qingxuan Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land to temper and nurture itself.
After finishing all this, Ye Qingxuan left the blessed land.
He went to the familiar stone pavilion again, waved his sleeve, and used his spiritual energy to sweep away all the dust.
Then, he leisurely began brewing tea again, enjoying the scenery beyond the mountain peaks.
For several days in a row, aside from cultivating, Ye Qingxuan spent his time in the stone pavilion drinking tea and admiring the view, relaxing his body and mind.
One day, Ye Qingxuan had just brewed a pot of tea and hadn’t even had a chance to drink it when he was suddenly drawn by the sound of space tearing.
Curious, he put down the freshly brewed teacup, walked to the edge of the stone pavilion, stood with his hands behind his back, and looked intently.
A moment later, he saw space crack open in the distance.
A blood-colored longsword shattered through space, tore across the sky, and flew swiftly toward Xuantian Peak.
And wherever it passed, a blood-colored glow lingered for a long time, as if dyeing the very sky of the Earth Mysteries Realm red.
