I and countless versions of myself simultaneously travel through time.

Following the directions in their memories, Ye and Han arrived at the cave dwelling where Han Li had been in the early stages of Core Formation.

The protective barrier here shimmered with light, layer upon layer, several times stronger than before, and faintly exuded a chilling pressure.

Around the cave, three puppets stood silently, their auras corresponding to the early, middle, and late stages of Core Formation cultivation, respectively, like loyal guards, making the place impenetrable.

Inside the cave, a faint spiritual light emanated, and the aroma of tea wafted through the air.

Han Li sat cross-legged on the stone couch and personally poured Ye Yan a cup of tea. The tea was emerald green and filled with spiritual energy; it was a spiritual tea that he had treasured for many years, one that he himself usually couldn't bear to drink.

At this moment, he poured two glasses without hesitation, pushing one in front of Ye Yan and holding the other in his hand, gently blowing away the foam.

The two sat facing each other in silence for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing at the same time.

"It's been decades since we last met." Han Li shook his head, his tone full of emotion. "The last time we met, you were still in the early stage of Core Formation, and I was in the late stage of Foundation Establishment. Now you're at the peak of Nascent Soul, and I'm still in the early stage of Core Formation... Ye Zi, your cultivation speed puts even this little green bottle to shame."

Ye Yan picked up the teacup, took a sip, and the aroma of the tea melted on his tongue, carrying a hint of sweetness.

Looking at Han Li's slightly guilty expression, he understood that Han Li was blaming himself.

Back in Tiannan, the two went through thick and thin together, supporting each other. Now, Ye Yan has reached the pinnacle of the human realm, while Han Li is still struggling in the early stages of Core Formation. Anyone would feel bad in that situation.

"Lizi, don't worry." Ye Yan put down his teacup, his gaze sincere. "Your cultivation will catch up sooner or later. You have a long road ahead of you, and the future world will ultimately be yours."

Han Li looked up at him, his lips twitching slightly. "How far into the future is that? Ye Zi, you've always loved being a riddle-maker, always only saying half of what you mean. Back then, you sent me to the Seven Mysteries Sect, saying there was an opportunity for me there, but I almost got turned into a puppet by that Elder Mo. Later, you sent me to Yellow Maple Valley, saying there was a benefactor for me there, but I almost got used as cannon fodder by Ancestor Linghu. Now you're saying the future is mine, so tell me clearly, which year is it?"

Ye Yan laughed heartily, his laughter echoing in the cave. He didn't answer, but simply picked up his teacup and took another sip.

Han Li sighed helplessly.

He knew Ye Yan too well. This guy had always been like this since he was a child, mysterious and secretive, as if he knew everything, but he was unwilling to reveal anything.

But ironically, everything he said came true in the end. Back then, Ye Yan said he would get a small green bottle, and he did. Ye Yan said he would meet a woman named Nangong Wan in the Blood Forbidden Land, and he did.

Ye Yan said that he was hunted down, had to flee, and would gradually embark on the path of cultivation, all thanks to the help of the little green bottle, and he had experienced it all.

Sometimes Han Li even suspected that Ye Yan might be some old monster from the Nascent Soul stage who had deliberately come to Han Family Village.

"Let's not talk about this anymore." Ye Yan waved his hand, took out a bunch of things from his storage bag, and neatly arranged them on the stone table.

Top-grade spiritual herbs, each one more precious than the last, including main ingredients for refining pills and rare treasures coveted even by Nascent Soul cultivators.

There were also several demon cores, all of high grade, radiating rich energy fluctuations.

The most eye-catching one is a golden thunder bamboo, which is golden all over and has faint lightning flowing on the bamboo joints. It is obviously not an ordinary one.

"These are all prepared for you." Ye Yan pointed to the spiritual herbs on the table, "but I need your little green bottle to accelerate the ripening of these herbs. The older the better."

Han Li glanced at the pile of spiritual herbs on the table, his eyelids twitching. Any one of these herbs could fetch an astronomical price at an auction house, yet Ye Yan said, "They're all prepared for you."

He hesitated for a moment, then reached out and touched the small green bottle in his storage bag.

The little green bottle is his biggest secret and his greatest asset in getting to where he is today.

No one knew of its existence except for himself.

Ye Yan was the only exception.

"Of course, I won't force you." Ye Yan saw his hesitation, waved his hand and smiled, "It was originally prepared for you, so it's fine if you don't want it."

Han Li remained silent for a moment, then took out a small green bottle from his storage bag and placed it on the table.

He didn't say anything, but that gesture said it all: he trusted Ye Yan.

Ye Yan then took out a jade bottle from his robes and pushed it in front of Han Li: "Here are a few dozen Heaven-Mending Pills for you."

Han Li opened the jade bottle, and a rich medicinal fragrance wafted out. He poured out a pill, took a closer look, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

The Heaven-Mending Pill!

This is an unparalleled elixir that can compensate for congenital deficiencies and improve spiritual root aptitude!

If left outside, even a single one could trigger a bloodbath.

Ye Yan actually gave him dozens of pills in one go?

"Ye Zi, this is too precious..." Han Li's voice was a little hoarse, "I owe you a debt of gratitude that I can never repay."

"It's a gift for you, it's a gift for you." Ye Yan shook his head. "We grew up together, we're like family. Don't give me that formality."

Han Li's current daily defense against feedback Fate Points: 100

Han Li's hand holding the jade bottle trembled slightly.

He took a deep breath, put the jade bottle away, picked up the small green bottle, and began to accelerate the growth of the spiritual herbs on the table.

A drop of the Dew of Creation fell from the mouth of the bottle and landed on the root of the spiritual herb.

The medicinal herb, which was originally only a few decades old, grew, sprouted, flowered, and bore fruit at a speed visible to the naked eye, and in the blink of an eye, it transformed into a thousand-year-old medicinal herb.

Ye Yan handed over another plant, and Han Li continued to accelerate its ripening. One plant after another, all the spiritual herbs on the table transformed into top-grade herbs that were over a thousand years old.

Ye Yan picked up a Golden Thunder Bamboo that had been artificially ripened, examined it carefully, and nodded in satisfaction: "Not bad, the Heavenly Creation Dew is still so powerful."

Han Li put the small green bottle back into his storage bag, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Ye Zi, can this small green bottle... be used for alchemy?"

Ye Yan glanced at him, a slight smile playing on his lips: "Yes. In the Immortal Realm, it can even purify energy. This thing originally belonged to a powerful being from the Dao Ancestor's era, but for some reason it was sent back to the Human Realm and ended up in your hands."

Han Li's brows furrowed even deeper. He vaguely sensed the deeper meaning in Ye Yan's words.

Ye Yan didn't stop, and continued, "Li Zi, do you know why I know so much? I'm not pretending anymore, I'm coming clean: it's because I came back from the future."

Inside the cave, the air seemed to freeze.

Han Li paused slightly in his teacup, raised his head, and stared directly into Ye Yan's eyes.

There was no joking, no mockery in those eyes, only a calm that comes from having experienced the vicissitudes of life.

"The future?" Han Li's voice was low.

"Indeed." Ye Yan's expression was solemn, his gaze seemingly piercing through endless time. "The future you will be the supreme Dao Ancestor who wields the laws of time, your might shaking the universe. And the future me will also stand at the pinnacle of all beings, standing shoulder to shoulder with you, overlooking the ages. Have you ever imagined that we, two pseudo-spiritual roots born in the human realm with the lowest aptitude, were once as insignificant as ants in the cultivation world, yet we were ultimately able to break through our shackles and ascend together to the unreachable pinnacle of the immortal realm, achieving eternal immortality?"

Han Li's breathing instantly became rapid and heavy, his chest heaving violently, his eyes filled with disbelief and shock.

He opened his mouth, his Adam's apple bobbing, a thousand words stuck in his throat, wanting to explore that unknown destiny, yet not knowing where to begin, he could only stare blankly at the person in front of him with whom he had countless connections.

Ye Yan paused, his tone tinged with a sense of vicissitude and感慨, and continued, "You might think that the reason we two pseudo-spiritual roots were able to break through the bottlenecks of Core Formation and Nascent Soul in such a short period of time was entirely due to heaven-defying luck? Wrong, terribly wrong. It's because your Palm Heaven Bottle has the heaven-defying effect of accelerating the ripening of spiritual herbs, providing resources."

"Cultivating immortality is defying the heavens. This path is too long and lonely, filled with endless dangers and schemes. If you were to walk alone, you would probably have turned into withered bones long ago. Only by uniting as one can we carve out a path to heaven in this cruel world of cultivation."

Han Li remained silent for a long time before quietly refilling Ye Yan's cup of tea.

His hands were trembling slightly, but his movements while pouring tea remained steady.

Ye Yan took the teacup, then suddenly raised his hand and released Elder Ximen's nascent soul from the barrier.

The nascent soul was trapped in mid-air and imprisoned.

Han Li looked down at the Nascent Soul, his gaze icy. He stretched out his hand, clenched his fist, and the Nascent Soul let out a shrill scream before turning into specks of spiritual light and dissipating into the air.

"This is nothing, it's all over now." Ye Yan clapped his hands. "Now we can continue to accelerate the growth of the spiritual herbs. I also need to borrow your little green bottle to consolidate my cultivation and refine some pills while I'm at it."

Han Li nodded and took out the small green bottle again.

half a month later.

For the past two weeks, Han Li had been planning to move to the bottom of the sea to open a cave dwelling in order to avoid the Star Palace's pursuit.

But Ye Yan reassured him that with him there, there was nothing to worry about.

There was no response from the Star Palace for a long time, and Tianxing City continued with its usual routines, as if nothing had ever happened. However, the cultivators in the city were privately discussing who exactly that Nascent Soul Peak senior, who stood on the void and was protected by the Five Elements Spiritual Light, was.

Some say he is a venerable old monster who has transformed into a god, while others say he is a true immortal descended to earth. Opinions vary, and there is no consensus.

Ye Yan himself, on the other hand, stayed peacefully in Han Li's cave, drinking tea, refining medicine, and accelerating the growth of spiritual herbs every day, living a more comfortable life than anyone else.

On this day, Ye Yan stood at the entrance of his cave, gazing at the Void Palace floating on the sea in the distance.

The white jade palace still stands quietly, its surface shimmering with spiritual light, and its walls heavily guarded.

"The Void Heaven Palace, the Ice Soul Fairy's natal magic weapon," Ye Yan murmured. "After ascending to the Spirit Realm, finding her clone Blood Soul will allow me to enter the Heavenly Cauldron Palace, but let's focus on the present situation first."

Han Li stood behind him. The Azure Ice Flame was in the Void Heaven Palace. It was something he had obtained there. It was entirely ice-blue and exuded a bone-chilling cold.

"What should we do with this cold flame?" Han Li asked.

"Wouldn't it be enough to just master it?"

Ye Yan sat cross-legged in the center of the cave, with the Azure Ice Flame floating in his palm, its icy blue light filling the room with a chill.

He closed his eyes and concentrated, his spiritual power surging within him. Based on Ye Yan's experience in controlling strange flames in Doupo, he began to differentiate this Dry Blue Ice Flame, one of the three great spiritual flames of the human realm.

"point!"

Ye Yan made a hand seal, his magical power like a knife, splitting the ice flame in two. One half disappeared into his dantian, while the other half floated towards Han Li.

Han Li carefully took the ball of flame. As soon as he touched it, he felt a bone-chilling coldness penetrate deep into his meridians, as if it were freezing his blood. He was startled and hurriedly circulated his internal energy to barely suppress the cold.

He looked up at Ye Yan and saw that the other party had suppressed the power of the flames to the minimum. Even so, the wisps of cold air still caused the surrounding air to condense into tiny ice crystals.

"This fire has been controlled to its limit; even ordinary Core Formation cultivators can barely use it. Once you reach the Nascent Soul stage, I can enhance it for you," Ye Yan explained in a deep voice.

Before he finished speaking, Ye Yan did not stop. Instead, his expression hardened, and he began to deal with the flames inside his body.

Several different kinds of strange fire already resided within his body. Now, he forcibly incorporated the Azure Ice Flame into his meridians. The ice and fire collided fiercely in the confined space. If he was not careful, it would trigger a backlash and injure himself.

However, Ye Yan remained calm and composed. He activated his self-created fire control technique, drawing out the Xuan Yin Corpse Fire recorded in Han Li's "Xuan Yin Scripture".

Three flames of vastly different natures collided and tore at each other wildly in his meridians, but under his precise control, they gradually reached a balance and eventually merged into a new and more domineering power.

"Blood Jade Spider," Ye Yan uttered in a low voice.

Han Li dared not delay and quickly released the seemingly ordinary white spider.

Ye Yan extended a finger, his magical power winding around it like threads, precisely forcing out a drop of essence blood containing primordial power from the spider's body. That drop of essence blood was crystal clear, and he gently flicked it into the merging flames.

Once the essence and blood enter the fire, they melt away like ice and snow, instantly being refined. The originally restless flames also gain an indescribable spirituality and become docile.

Han Li watched intently from the side, observing the alternating flow of ice blue and azure light around Ye Yan.

His aura remained calm and steady, as if controlling such a dangerous strange fire was nothing more than a daily routine for him.

He secretly admired Ye Zi, who was indeed an expert in playing with fire, whose fire control skills far surpassed his own.