After walking more than twenty zhang, Ji Yuan stopped. Looking back now, without opening his spiritual eyes, all he could see were dense tree shadows and a few blurred figures.
He gazed for a moment, then suddenly sighed. Although there had been no direct communication, he could already guess their intentions from their expressions.
If his guess was correct, Li Buwei intended to take this opportunity to recruit some capable individuals for him.
After this period, Li Buwei had come to understand him better. The current situation of Xuan Tian Peak was not a secret, and outsiders could easily find out about it.
To develop Xuan Tian Peak, a few people were clearly not enough. Before he could successfully condense his core, he wouldn't even be able to open the peak to accept disciples.
As for Ming Xin Xuan, no matter how pleasant their cooperation was, they were ultimately outsiders, and certain matters could not be entirely entrusted to them.
At such a time, gathering a group of his own people was of great importance and could provide much unexpected assistance.
"You've done well. Go back and rest."
Seeing the giant python slither towards him, Ji Yuan temporarily put away his thoughts.
As he spoke, he took out a bottle of pills to enhance cultivation and poured them all into the giant python's mouth.
Then, he patted his spirit beast bag, and with a flash of light, the giant creature beside him vanished. The leather bag at his waist became bulging.
Ji Yuan did not wait long. After he killed the middle-aged man surnamed Wu within the Xuan Tian Devouring Spirit Pagoda and collected his storage bag, a group of people slowly approached from a distance.
Seeing this, he threw out the corpse from the pagoda and then retracted the treasure into his dantian.
"Greetings, Lord!"
As soon as the group approached, Li Buwei, who was leading them, immediately cupped his hands.
The people behind him, after a moment's hesitation, exchanged somewhat odd glances and then, with somber voices, cupped their hands one after another and shouted, "Greetings, Lord!"
Ji Yuan was taken aback. Upon seeing Li Buwei wink at him, he finally understood.
"There's no need to be so formal."
Recalling the way officials in Qian Yu City acted from his memory, he coughed twice, then calmly said in a low voice.
With his words, the group finally straightened their backs and stood behind Li Buwei with complex expressions.
Ji Yuan glanced over and found that all nineteen people were present. Although they looked somewhat reluctant, they seemed to have made a decision. Now, they lowered their postures slightly, showing a commendable amount of respect, at least on the surface.
At the same time, he could sense that the people before him had mixed feelings, as if they were all harboring their own hidden agendas.
However, Ji Yuan did not pay much attention to this. Since Li Buwei had taken the initiative to handle this matter, he must have had his own way of managing it.
As the thought arose, he saw Li Buwei give him a look, signaling him to rest assured.
"Let's move. We must hurry and leave this place before the cultivators of the Three Realms can disengage."
He nodded slightly and then slowly said.
Upon hearing this, led by Li Buwei, everyone responded in unison, their clamorous voices merging into a single sound.
Now, as they set off again, the situation was vastly different from before. They no longer needed to hide. Even when they encountered some inquiring cultivators, they kept their distance upon seeing such a grand procession.
The arrangements that Ji Yuan and Li Buwei had prepared earlier were clearly no longer needed. With this kind of display, it was already considered good if they didn't harm others.
As they passed through some pre-arranged formations, talisman arrays, and several dangerous areas, the two dismantled and retrieved them all, wasting nothing.
After a little less than half an hour, Ji Yuan suddenly stopped. After signaling with a few secret hand gestures, Zhou Lianying, who was hidden nearby, quickly appeared and walked over with surprise on her face.
She clearly had not expected them to have recruited such a large group of people in such a short time since they parted.
"What's going on?"
After hesitating for a moment, she couldn't help but ask in a low voice.
"It's a bit complicated. We'll talk about it later."
Ji Yuan took a few array plates from her and began to retrieve the formations they had set up in the area.
Finally, he reached out and summoned them. Six Heavy Water Pearls broke through the soil and were collected by him into his jadeite thumb ring.
He had a total of thirty-six Heavy Water Pearls, but due to his current realm, he could only activate six at a time while ensuring their full power.
"We've already made our way out. Where are we going next?"
Li Buwei stepped forward and glanced at the people behind him as he spoke.
They had now exited the search range of the cultivators and disciples of the two sects. Even if the cultivators of the Three Realms were to disengage, it would still take some effort to track them down again.
"I recall you mentioning that Jiu Xuan Sect had established a gathering place in addition to the entrance they opened?"
Ji Yuan pondered for a moment, then looked at the person in front of him.
Upon hearing this, Li Buwei nodded. As more and more cultivators poured into the underground dojo, many factions inevitably established gathering places, or perhaps "outposts" would be a more accurate term.
After all, when venturing in such a vast dojo, it was inconvenient not to have a safe place to rest. One couldn't constantly rely on others and be on guard against surrounding dangers.
The Jiu Xuan Sect's outpost was located four to five hundred li away, in a wide plain where it was rumored a Golden Core great cultivator's cave mansion had been excavated.
"Then let's head to the Jiu Xuan Sect's outpost first!"
Ji Yuan quickly made his decision and then led everyone there without delay.
His experiences in this dojo had made him extremely eager to improve his cultivation. With the Golden Core now in hand, he was even more impatient to concoct that spiritual spring.
As long as he could successfully refine this spiritual spring, combined with the various opportunities he had encountered recently, he was confident that he could elevate his cultivation realm by a significant margin in a short period.
Indeed, if the enlightenment effect of the spiritual spring was excellent, Ji Yuan was confident that he could advance directly from the early stage of the Spirit Condensation realm to the late stage!
At that point, after refining a few magical treasures, even without any other means, his strength would not be much weaker than the prodigies of the Jiu Xuan Sect.
Furthermore, once he comprehended the two cultivation techniques and practiced the various spells and methods within them, Ji Yuan was confident that he would have some ability to protect himself even against ordinary cultivators in the early stage of the Three Realms.
At the very least, he would no longer be completely defenseless against cultivators of the Three Realms, forced to rack his brains to devise schemes that had no effect on them.
As his anticipation grew, Ji Yuan drew closer and closer to the Jiu Xuan Sect's outpost. Finally, after three days, he arrived at the plain where it was located.