After arranging all this, Xing Ming went into cultivation. And among the sect affairs he had entrusted to Zhu Luomu to handle was the matter of notifying him once Zhang Ming came out of seclusion.
But as the years passed, and time flew by, Zhu Luomu had also gradually forgotten about this matter.
Unless he occasionally needed to arrange for a newly promoted core disciple to enter the core area, he would then remember that person named "Zhang Ming," who had once made him both surprised and afraid.
But being entangled in the tedious affairs of the sect, he would soon put this person to the back of his mind again.
In addition, since Zhang Ming had been in seclusion all this time, he naturally would not receive a single Spirit Stone from Falling Star Valley, so of course there would be no record of him. If even Zhu Luomu could forget this person, let alone others.
In the seventeenth year of Li Yan's seclusion, a female disciple in the "Sacred Demon Palace," eighty thousand li away, successfully formed her Golden Core.
For a cultivator to be able to form a core was no small matter for any sect.
But in a place like "Sacred Demon City," where cultivators from all over the world gathered, where Golden Cores were a dime a dozen and Foundation Establishment cultivators were everywhere, even if someone heard about it, they wouldn't find it too surprising.
For some of the higher-ups within the "Sacred Demon Palace," however, this matter caused quite a stir, but the scope was limited to some of the top cultivators in the palace.
This female disciple was taken by the two Supreme Elders into the "Sacred Demon Palace's" inheritance sacred realm to break through her realm. All the celestial phenomena were shielded, and no one saw the process of her forming her core.
This honor alone made the high-level members of the "Sacred Demon Palace" have various thoughts, some jealous, some dissatisfied, some envious, some silent...
But because this was the decision of the two Supreme Elders, everything seemed to be calm and undisturbed, with no one mentioning it.
...
Coming from the north, going to the south, when will it end? People flow through time like an arrow.
One day, twenty years later, in a courtyard below the slope at the entrance of the inner valley of Falling Star Valley, Feng Tao, who was already at the Initial-stage Foundation Establishment, was conducting a spirit root test for the new disciples who had just entered the valley with another cultivator.
With Feng Tao was a middle-aged-looking Mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. Looking at Feng Tao's voluptuous figure, which seemed as if water could be squeezed out of it, the middle-aged-looking Foundation Establishment cultivator's mind wavered for a moment.
He took down a jade slip that was pressed against his forehead and immediately sighed.
"Junior Sister Feng, I still remember your naive appearance when you first entered the valley. It all seems like it was just yesterday. Things have really changed, things have really changed... In just twenty-two years since entering the sect, you have already successfully established your foundation. You are truly worthy of being called the most powerful prodigy of your generation in the sect!"
At this time, Feng Tao had blossomed into a graceful and swaying beauty. Her skin was as white as snow. Under her pink long dress, her waist was slender and her chest was full, and the curve of her hips was like a painting.
Hearing this, Feng Tao pursed her lips and smiled, as if ten li of peach blossoms were blooming in front of her. This made the group of young boys and girls in front of them gasp in amazement, as if a fairy had descended to the mortal world.
The young boys' faces flushed red, and their bodies trembled slightly, a look of obsession in their eyes.
Feng Tao realized that she had lost her composure in front of the disciples. She quickly pursed her red lips, and her face returned to its previous cold and stunning look.
"Senior Brother Wang, you praise me too much. No one knows how far they can go on the path of cultivation. Senior Brother, you might take another step forward tomorrow. And as for them, perhaps in ten or twenty years, they will have walked ahead of us!"
Feng Tao said, pointing to the young boys and girls in front of her, her voice like the crisp chirping of an oriole in the valley.
It was just that when she looked at these naive faces, she seemed to have unconsciously returned to the scene of her and the others walking all the way from the outer valley back then.
'Unfortunately, now I'm the only one left in the sect!'
Zhang Ming had disappeared after that great battle, and Feng Tao had once maliciously thought that he should have died in the great battle. That way, she wouldn't have to go and ask her master for the "Shattered Star Chamber."
Therefore, after returning to the sect, she deliberately did not inquire about Zhang Ming's news. As time went by, that Zhang Ming never appeared again, which made her breathe a sigh of relief.
She immersed herself in cultivation and alchemy every day, and this matter was gradually forgotten until it was completely gone from her mind.
It wasn't until more than three years later that Feng Tao encountered a bottleneck in her cultivation. Especially during several cultivation sessions, she was inexplicably drawn into some terrifying illusory realms, and demonic thoughts sprouted.
If not for her amazing cultivation talent and solid foundation, she would have surely suffered a cultivation deviation and ruined her great Dao.
At first, Feng Tao thought that she had been cultivating for too long, which led to the sprouting of demonic thoughts. So she immediately stopped her seclusion and cultivated again after getting enough rest.
But after she had adjusted everything, not long after she entered cultivation again, those demonic thoughts came out of nowhere.
After struggling for several hours, Feng Tao finally broke free from the entanglement of the demonic thoughts and woke up, but her vital energy was already injured.
This time, Feng Tao was a little flustered. She hurriedly found her master Zhu Luomu to ask for advice. After asking some questions and understanding the details of Feng Tao's cultivation process, Zhu Luomu also frowned tightly.
He actually couldn't find the reason either. After thinking for a long time, he attributed it all to Feng Tao being too hasty in her cultivation, either meditating or doing alchemy every day, neglecting the cultivation of her state of mind.
In the end, he let Feng Tao go out to perform some tasks to train her state of mind.
So, Feng Tao spent more than half a year continuously performing various tasks for the sect. During these tasks, her state of mind became more and more stable, and her cultivation also became deeper and deeper.
When Feng Tao felt that her state of mind was as calm as an ancient well, and her expression would not change even if a mountain collapsed in front of her, she stopped taking tasks and once again entered seclusion for cultivation.
What made Feng Tao break down was that this time, only three days had passed in her seclusion when the demonic thoughts came back like a flood. Fortunately, this time, after her previous two experiences, she had become very careful.
Before cultivating, she had already taken out several "Dao" character Mind-Calming Talismans. The moment the demonic thoughts arose, light green runes with the character "Dao" flickering on them landed on her body.
This time, Feng Tao managed to break free from the demonic thoughts without any danger. This repeated occurrence caused a crack to appear in Feng Tao's firm Dao heart.
This time, Feng Tao became panicked. She sat blankly in the cultivation room, tears streaming down her face. This unsolvable problem had completely ruined her path to immortality.
She knew that an "Inner Demon" had appeared, but for a while, she didn't know why it had appeared. She unconsciously kept repeating the words "Inner Demon."
Just like that, she sat in the cultivation room for an unknown amount of time before her dazed expression slowly recovered. She stood up woodenly, wanting to go and ask her master again if he could take her to see her Martial Grandfather Xing Ming.
Only a great divine ability cultivator like her Martial Grandfather could solve such a problem. But just as she was on her way to find Zhu Luomu in a daze, she passed by a place and subconsciously glanced at it. The few ancient seal characters for "Lesser Shattered Star Chamber" appeared in her sight. Suddenly, Feng Tao felt as if she had been struck by lightning.
Subsequently, a matter that had been sealed for a long time and had long been forgotten by her flashed through her mind like a bolt of lightning.
She instantly knew the reason for the emergence of her Inner Demon over the past year—"Zhang Ming, it's Zhang Ming!" After knowing the reason, Feng Tao knew the solution.
Although she was still unwilling to face Zhang Ming, she could only take a deep breath and go to the Hall of Deacons to inquire about Zhang Ming's whereabouts.
But that Zhang Ming was long gone. The courtyard he had once lived in had also been taken back by the Hall of Deacons.
It was only at this time that Feng Tao felt a wave of relief. As long as she truly faced and abided by the Inner Demon oath, it could be broken.
The oath was for both parties. Zhang Ming himself had disappeared, and Feng Tao had really gone to search for him earnestly. When everything was fruitless, the oath in the unseen world would judge that Zhang Ming had given up.
Regarding the Inner Demon oath, even the top Spirit Transformation cultivators of this world could not explain it. It should be a kind of law of the world, but no one dared to violate it.
Just like that, after Feng Tao had earnestly searched for Zhang Ming for another three months and found no clues, and every time she tried to cultivate, the Inner Demon had gradually faded and disappeared.
Her cultivation once again returned to a state of rapid progress...
Looking at the young boys and girls in front of her, Feng Tao sighed in her heart. Tian Denghu was dead, and Zhang Ming had disappeared.
Of the other three who had entered the sect with her, two had gone out for training and had since disappeared without a trace. The last disciple, who had the same Earth Spirit Root as Tian Denghu, had also returned to his family five years ago.
From then on, of the few who had entered the sect with Feng Tao, only Feng Tao was left. Thinking of this, Feng Tao felt a sense of loneliness in her heart for a moment, which was rare for her now.
"Junior Sister Feng, why don't you also see if there are any with good aptitude? Are you still not planning to take on a disciple this year?"
The middle-aged-looking Foundation Establishment cultivator held a jade slip. This was the jade slip reported by the disciples who had been selected earlier, recording the situation of these young boys and girls.
Feng Tao gently shook her head. She was now in a period of rapid cultivation improvement and didn't want to waste time on so-called disciples. She would not take on any disciples until the day she formed her core.
However, she still had to complete her task for the day, so she also took out a jade slip and pressed it to her forehead.
And at this moment, a gust of wind suddenly rose. As this gust of wind swept past, everyone couldn't help but look up.
This glance made even Feng Tao and the middle-aged-looking Foundation Establishment cultivator stunned. The sky above the valley, which had been bright and sunny, was now filled with large patches of dark clouds surging from the horizon.
All of this happened without any warning. Even with their Foundation Establishment cultivation, they had not sensed anything before.
And this gust of wind was only the beginning. Just as Feng Tao and the others were wondering what had happened, the entire valley was already filled with a strong wind, with sand and stones flying.
Amidst the dense clouds, night fell instantly in the high sky of the valley. Before everyone could react, a bolt of lightning struck down from the sky amidst the rolling dark clouds.
A clap of thunder that echoed for a thousand li shook all the cultivators' minds, as if the sky was collapsing. Subsequently, the rolling dark clouds in the entire sky gathered towards a certain place in the valley.
"What's happening? Has another enemy invaded?"
Feng Tao's expression changed. She looked at the sky in fear. This reminded her of the scene twenty years ago when the Grand Elder activated the Sect-Protecting Grand Formation before she left.
And at this moment, more than ten figures suddenly appeared in the sky, and then these figures flew towards the direction where the dark clouds were gathering.
Feng Tao and the middle-aged-looking cultivator looked at each other. Feng Tao immediately said quickly to the group of young boys and girls.
"You all stay here. Do not wander around, or you will be responsible for your own life and death!"
After speaking, the two of them had already soared into the air and also flew towards the place where the wind and clouds were gathering.
The direction where the wind and clouds were gathering was deep within Falling Star Valley. Since Feng Tao and the others were near the sect gate, they were naturally farther away, so it would take them more time to get there.
And just as the dozen or so figures in the center of the valley had flown for less than five hundred li, a figure suddenly flashed out in front of them, blocking their path.
The leader of the dozen or so figures was Zhu Luomu. He was discussing matters with some deacons in the main hall of the sect in front when the sudden situation made everyone unsure of what was happening, and they immediately rushed to the place where the dark clouds were gathering.
Now, this suddenly appearing figure gave them a fright. Thinking that an abnormality had occurred, everyone's bodies immediately erupted with spiritual light, and they were all on guard.
Just as someone was about to shout, the person blocking the way had already spoken first, his voice full of vicissitudes.
"You all stay here. Without my order, you are not to approach any further!"