At this, both Su Yuan and the deacon who was taking over his shift broke out in a cold sweat. Could the person in Refining Chamber D be dead?
Especially when Su Yuan mentioned that the person had come with a jade slip containing the Sect Master's voice message, the two of them lost their composure entirely.
After exchanging another glance, they couldn't care about anything else and hurriedly sped towards the underground chambers.
When they arrived before the door of Refining Chamber D and saw that the stone door still indicated the presence of a Soul Power aura within, they both let out a long sigh of relief, though they were still filled with doubt.
To protect the privacy of the cultivator inside, the restriction on the stone door only detected the fluctuation of Soul Power within the chamber, but it couldn't specify what kind of Soul Power it was.
"Senior Brother Su, did this person bring a Spirit Beast Pouch when they entered? Don't tell me this person died from Fire Poison, and in the absence of a master, the restriction on their Spirit Beast Pouch opened on its own, and that's the aura of the spirit beasts inside?"
"Oh no, that person did have a few Spirit Beast Pouches at their waist. It can't really be..."
Su Yuan suddenly remembered the few Spirit Beast Pouches at the young man's waist.
If the spirit beasts in his pouch were some kind of fire-attribute demonic beast, it wouldn't be impossible for them to have survived until now.
"Quick, I'll stand guard here. You go and inform the Sect Master."
Su Yuan immediately instructed Junior Brother Liu. Although they had control tokens that could forcibly open the alchemy and refining rooms here, they dared not do so.
If the person inside was fine and was still engrossed in refining, and they forcibly opened the stone door, causing the magical treasure being refined to be damaged, they could not afford to compensate for it.
Similarly, like many other sects, Falling Star Valley did not install scrying formations inside, so as not to cause dissatisfaction among the disciples.
However, they usually left a small restriction that could temporarily interrupt the protective formation, allowing people outside to use their Divine Sense to probe the situation inside.
This kind of probing would cause a slight fluctuation, which the person inside would be aware of. It was considered a warning in advance, a common understanding in the cultivation world.
In the time it takes to brew half a cup of tea, Junior Brother Liu quickly returned, bringing back news that left Su Yuan dumbfounded.
"Don't worry about the person inside for the next three months. If they still haven't come out after three months, then you can inform me. Only the three of you deacons need to know about him refining here. Do not spread it."
These were the original words of the current Sect Master, Xing Ming.
After learning of the situation, Xing Ming thought for a moment and felt that with Zhang Ming's physical body being comparable to a Golden Core, he should be able to resist the Fire Poison for about three months.
By then, the magical treasure refining should be almost complete. It wasn't as if he was refining a magical treasure for a Golden Core or Nascent Soul cultivator.
He had also briefly mentioned artifact refining to Zhang Ming before and felt that the other party was not too skilled in it.
It would be good enough if the magical treasure Zhang Ming refined himself could barely be considered graded. On this point, Xing Ming was still very confident.
He had even offered to help the other party refine it, but the other party had deliberately ignored it later, so the matter was naturally dropped.
He also didn't want the matter of Zhang Ming to spread now. Appointing someone as a Guest Elder required a Heaven and Earth Ritual Ceremony, and besides, he was still considering whether to use Zhang Ming as a hidden fighter or to bring him out into the open.
He was still continuously gathering intelligence on the surrounding forces to make a final judgment.
With this instruction, the three guarding deacons, Su Yuan included, no longer dared to have any thoughts of prying into the identity of the person in Refining Chamber D.
Afterward, the three guarding deacons became quite amused. While keeping an eye on Refining Chamber D, they even made bets on which day he would come out.
So, even if only one person was on duty at a time, the other two would come over every few days to take a look, going down to Refining Chamber D to see if there were still Soul Power fluctuations inside.
Then, that person actually stayed in the refining room for three months, but still showed no signs of coming out of seclusion.
The three were astonished and could only inform Sect Master Xing Ming again. This time, Xing Ming did not remain indifferent. After going underground, he briefly cut off the restriction on Refining Chamber D to allow his Divine Sense to enter.
After a quick scan with his Divine Sense, he reactivated the restriction and left only a faint sentence.
"From now on, inform me once a month!"
In the following months, Xing Ming would leave with an increasingly strange expression on his face after each Divine Sense scan, leaving the deacon on duty at the time full of curiosity.
But Xing Ming would not explain anything, which made the three deacons, Su Yuan included, constantly guess the identity of the cultivator in Refining D.
No matter whose turn it was, the other two would come over every few days to exchange ideas. They all guessed that the person inside should be a Golden Core senior.
But where did their Falling Star Valley get a fourth Golden Core cultivator? Just the recent return of the former Sect Master Xing Ming had already shocked everyone.
But in the end, many disciples still knew of Xing Ming. At the very least, they had seen information about him in the classics of Falling Star Valley.
In the end, they were just shocked that a cultivator who was rumored to have perished had suddenly been resurrected.
However, the person in Refining Chamber D truly seemed to have appeared out of thin air, with no known origin.
This was also because they hadn't gone to inquire among the Qi Condensation cultivators. Otherwise, there should have been some people who knew of this Zhang Ming.
Furthermore, with Li Yan staying in the "Shattered Star Chamber" for months on end, it was even more impossible for Su Yuan and the other two to associate Li Yan with a Qi Condensation cultivator.
Today, Su Yuan collected a low-grade Spirit Stone from a Qi Condensation disciple, then opened the restriction on a "Lesser Shattered Star Chamber" and sent the person away quickly.
He still had to close his eyes and circulate his cultivation method. How could he have time to chat with this disciple?
And just as he closed his eyes, he felt a fluctuation of aura in front of him. Less than half a breath had passed since he had sent that disciple away.
Su Yuan thought the other party had another question and had turned back. He didn't even open his eyes and said impatiently.
"As a disciple of the sect, didn't you do any homework before coming? I am only responsible for explaining the most important things here. Solve the rest yourself!"
"Oh, I'm here to return the Cyan Jade Coral Star!"
Su Yuan was stunned. The Cyan Jade Coral Star was for controlling the Earth Fire of the "Shattered Star Chamber," while the Blue Jade Coral Star was for controlling the "Lesser Shattered Star Chamber."
But no one had used the "Shattered Star Chamber" for the past ten days or so. Where did this Cyan Jade Coral Star come from? And this voice was unfamiliar, yet held a trace of familiarity. A cultivator's memory was extremely powerful. As long as they had seen or heard something once, they would basically have an impression of it.
Su Yuan couldn't help but open his eyes. Before him was a tall young man, dressed in the sect's uniform. His expression was weary, but his eyes were incomparably deep, staring at him without blinking.
"You... are..."
Su Yuan couldn't remember where he had seen this fellow sect member before, but he was sure he had. Otherwise, he shouldn't have an impression of this person.
But the next moment, before the other party could answer, Su Yuan's heart suddenly froze, because while observing the other party, he had unconsciously used his Divine Sense.
But a strange scene horrified him. He couldn't detect the other party's realm. The aura on the other party's body was completely empty, causing his Divine Sense to fall into a void with nothing to latch onto.
This immediately made him think of one person. His gaze quickly fixed on the Cyan Jade Coral Star in the other party's hand.
'That's right, it's the object to activate the Earth Fire in Refining Chamber D! It's that artifact!'
Su Yuan immediately shouted in his heart.
But he had already blurted out.
"It's you?"
"Oh? So you still remember me. Can I leave after returning this item?"
The green-robed youth raised his gaze to meet Su Yuan's startled eyes and said faintly.
"Oh... oh... of course, of course!"
Struck by the other party's chilling gaze, which was like a cold pool, Su Yuan felt a shiver run down his spine. Only then did he come back to his senses and hastily replied.
The green-robed youth directly placed the Cyan Jade Coral Star in his hand on the bed and then stood to one side, waiting for Su Yuan to inspect it.
Su Yuan had already determined in his heart that the other party was a Golden Core cultivator. Otherwise, how could anyone stay in the "Shattered Star Chamber" for more than seven months?
As for whether the other party's cultivation was at an even higher level, like Nascent Soul, the chances were so small as to be impossible. This was a second-rate sect, after all.
However, the conversation between the two at this time also seemed a bit strange. Li Yan did not call the other party Senior Brother or Junior Brother, but simply addressed him as "you" and "I."
This made Su Yuan not dare to address him as Senior. The way this person appeared in the sect was so strange, and the Sect Master had even ordered that his refining activities not be made public, so there must be a deep meaning to it.
Since the other party did not dwell on the matter of seniority, he was happy to skip the formalities.
Soon, Su Yuan quickly finished inspecting the Cyan Jade Coral Star.
"There's no problem with this item!"
His tone unconsciously carried a hint of respect.
The green-robed youth nodded slightly and, without another word, turned and walked out.
The green-robed youth was naturally Li Yan. Ever since he had settled the terms with Xing Ming, he couldn't even be bothered to conceal the slight adjustments to his appearance anymore. He had long since returned to his original appearance, no longer looking like a somewhat naive youth.
Just as he stepped out, a smile appeared on Su Yuan's face. This time, he was going to make a fortune.
The previous few bets had resulted in no winners or losers. When he took over his shift this month, he had once again bet with the other two deacons that the person in Refining Chamber D would come out during his watch this month.
And now, it was time to inform them.
'By the way, I can also see where this person is going.'
He was very curious about Li Yan's identity. At this moment, his heart began to stir. For a time, the curiosity that had been suppressed for months finally overcame his fear.
After walking a short distance, Li Yan's mind suddenly stirred. Two Foundation Establishment cultivators were trailing him from a distance.
Li Yan was not too familiar with either of them. After thinking for a moment, he turned without a trace and walked in another direction.
And with this change in direction, the two people behind him changed their expressions as they followed, because the person in front was walking deeper and deeper into the valley.
And the direction was towards the forbidden area deep within Falling Star Valley.
Xing Ming was sitting cross-legged in his cave residence, meditating. He had been very tired for the past half a month, and his condition was not very good.
Because he had been in hiding for so many years, he had not taken care of his three disciples, including not taking them with him when he led the valley's disciples to escape last time.
Therefore, he still felt a sense of guilt. Now that he had recovered his identity, besides providing a large amount of pills to the three of them, he had recently spared no effort with his magical power and took out a bottle of fifth-rank "Spirit-Communicating Dew." After spending a full ten days, he finally cleared the eleven extremely fine meridians in Zhu Luomu's body.
Originally, according to Zhu Luomu's aptitude, although it was very good—his Foundation Establishment was the sixth rank of the Ninth-Rank Foundation Establishment, "Formation-Slaying Foundation Establishment"—which was considered high-grade aptitude in a second-rate sect, if he wanted to form a Golden Core, besides arduous cultivation, he needed even more Immortal Fortune.
Given the performance of the three disciples in the last great battle of Falling Star Valley, their loyalty to the sect was beyond doubt, especially Zhu Luomu, who did not hesitate to risk his life to create a chance of survival for his junior brother and sister.
This sense of responsibility alone made Xing Ming very satisfied. For this reason, Xing Ming had also invested heavily in this eldest disciple this time.
He even took out the sect's treasured fifth-rank high-grade "Spirit-Communicating Dew" to cleanse Zhu Luomu's meridians and marrow.