"Fragrant!"

Song Yan exclaimed, then took out a wine jar and drank fine wine while eating golden roasted lamb.

Ling Xiaoxiao swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

Who could understand the feeling of not eating meat for three years?

"Fragrant!!"

Song Yan chewed in large mouthfuls, and with one bite, the lamb released its juices.

At this moment, a voice sounded beside him.

"Senior Brother..."

"Call me Eldest Senior Brother..."

"Ah? You heard me?"

"Who told you to mutter whatever comes to mind?" Song Yan glanced at her irritably and said, "Think silently in your heart, is that not possible? Do you think if you speak softly, others can't hear you?"

"Oh..." Ling Xiaoxiao nodded.

Song Yan pointed to the side and said, "Sit down, and eat together."

Ling Xiaoxiao's face showed joy and said, "Senior Brother, you are truly a good person!"

She began to eat with a grunt, saying as she ate, "Senior Brother, your cooking is really delicious."

Suddenly, she noticed the entire piece of demon beast skin hanging on the old tree beside them.

The skin was scraped clean, with all grease removed, and now dangled and swayed in the night breeze like a drying sheet.

Ling Xiaoxiao, straightforward and frank, directly asked, "Senior Brother, what is this for?"

Song Yan smiled and said, "These days, you can cultivate here. I'll be nearby; I have some matters to attend to."

"Huh?"

Ling Xiaoxiao opened her mouth wide.

Song Yan said, "Don't worry, it's almost the same as being by your side."

...

...

Half a month later...

Rustle~

Rustle rustle~~~

In a cave on the cliff of Cyan Phoenix Valley, the shadow puppet was unfolded, and when smoothed out, it was laid on a black stone table.

Song Yan sat cross-legged in front of the stone table, gazing at the shadow puppet by moonlight.

And on the nearby stone wall, numerous shadow puppets were hanging, swaying vigorously in the night wind.

These were Song Yan's recent achievements.

He stared at the shadow puppet for a long time, and an image appeared before his eyes, then he raised a brush to begin drawing a divine image.

"Skin Painting Strange Soul Technique" was a conventional skin-making technique, where the skin came first, then the summoning, and the shadow puppet's strength depended on the skin.

"Divine Image Soul Calming Technique" worked in reverse—with cause and effect fragments first, then the skin, and the shadow puppet's strength depended on those fragments, but the prerequisite was... you must be able to draw the target's divine image.

The former, due to the limited strength of the skin, had been abandoned by Song Yan.

The latter, because the divine image was difficult to draw, had not been used since making the Netherworld Corpse Demon.

But now, Song Yan felt it necessary to make a batch.

At this moment...

As he put pen to paper, an elegant and refined divine maiden in green clothes came to life on the paper, her expression serene, her gaze mysterious yet noble, though a deep scheming lay hidden within her.

He was painting Tang Ningxin's divine image.

Back in the secret realm, he had spent many years with Tang Ningxin, so he could still grasp her appearance and divine image.

However...

The first time... failed.

Song Yan was not discouraged; he tried several times, finally succeeding on the sixth attempt.

He took the outer realm evil thoughts from the vast stockpile of Changwang's Evil Treasure and infused them into the shadow puppet.

Gradually, a shadow puppet with six to seven-tenths of Tang Ningxin's power appeared.

Song Yan threw out a silver mask.

The shadow puppet Tang Ningxin put it on, then stood silently behind Song Yan under his control.

Song Yan continued crafting.

The second shadow puppet was himself.

After spending some time, he skillfully created a shadow puppet of Song Yan.

The shadow puppet Song Yan also put on a mask.

For the third shadow puppet, after some thought, Song Yan began to draw.

Soon, a cool and elegant female cultivator in white clothes, with a disdainful expression, sleeves concealing swords, appeared on the shadow puppet.

Long Muyun was the strongest existence among those he could possibly draw a divine image of.

After failing more than ten times, the shadow puppet Long Muyun was finally completed.

A sense of achievement rose in Song Yan's heart.

Being able to draw Long Muyun meant his power had actually surpassed her, otherwise... he would already be suffering backlash.

As dawn and dusk alternated...

Song Yan devoted himself to crafting shadow puppets tirelessly.

This time, he was making Tang Xiaoxuan's shadow puppet.

Though it was called Tang Xiaoxuan, it was actually the Formless Ancestor.

On one hand, he wanted to draw the opponent's shadow puppet; on the other, he wanted to verify the strength between them.

This time, he painted dozens of times but couldn't succeed.

Song Yan thought hard but still couldn't draw it.

After a while, he sighed lightly and gave up.

The divine image of a strong being was too difficult to draw; unless they had spent many years together, he stood no chance of drawing the opponent's divine image, which also made the "Divine Image Soul Calming Technique" not so easy to use.

However, Song Yan was not one to give up easily.

Now, having cultivated all his powers to the utmost possible extent, he naturally had time to repeatedly ponder the intricacies within these shadow puppets.

...

...

Ten years passed in a flash.

Ling Xiaoxiao entered the Purple Mansion Realm but needed about a hundred years to consolidate her state.

However, the surge of earth energy came and went quickly, and the earth energy of Cyan Phoenix Valley was exhausted.

Song Yan had no choice but to take Ling Xiaoxiao to another cultivation site.

As the two walked out, they realized how chaotic the outside world had become.

The originally covert rivalry between the Sword Alliance and the Seven Great Bandits had turned into war due to the involvement of the Formless Ancient Race and their respective intrigues.

The Formless Ancestor sought to sacrifice souls to refine the soul banner.

The leader of the Sword Alliance wished to hone his sword against the enemy, to perfect his Sword Heart, eventually to delve deep into Sword Village, preserving a single thought.

The Seven Great Bandits also had their own agenda.

In short, the outside world was now engaged in fierce combat.

...

Song Yan did not rush; he waited with Ling Xiaoxiao for two more years, during which time they returned to the Lingtuo Tribe for a while, and then found another place similar to Cyan Phoenix Valley where earth energy erupted—Shuxia Peak.

The Fire Profound rose to the sky, turning the land into scorched earth for hundreds of miles. The remnants of Fire Profound's toxicity covered the area, leaving only one in ten alive for a thousand miles around. In such a place where Fire Profound roiled, it was possible to cultivate by sitting at a height.

And on Shuxia Peak, Song Yan once again met An Li and Yu Xuanwei, who were being used as bait.

But this time, he did not see the Formless Ancestor, and Tang Ningxin only symbolically exposed the two baits a little, then let them be.

Obviously, the "importance" of these two baits was diminishing.

Song Yan understood the Formless Ancestor and Tang Ningxin very well.

After all, with the fighting now so fierce, who doesn't have new major enemies and affairs to handle? Who has the energy to keep watching him?

The Formless Ancestor's high-profile harvesting of souls would surely incur the Sword Alliance members' wrath, and although the Seven Great Bandits collaborated with the Formless Ancient Race, the two parties couldn't possibly be genuinely united.

Plus, with the Five Blessed Lands and the Mountain and Sea Holy Alliance watching eagerly, even greater chaos was looming ahead.

The Formless Ancestor was already caught up in his own terrifying game of strategy, unable to concern himself with this old acquaintance.

However, Song Yan suddenly became slightly puzzled.

He couldn't help but wonder: why was the Formless Ancestor acting so high-profile? Wouldn't this lead to heavy losses for the Formless Ancient Race?

But as soon as the thought crossed his mind, he understood.

The Formless Ancestor's approach was like the "Fengshen Calamity" before he crossed over; no matter which side, as long as someone died, they would be listed. Similarly, if a power from the Formless Ancient Race died in battle, they would also enter the Primordial Ancestor's Blood Banner, ultimately helping him cross the Sea of Suffering, evade catastrophe, and go to the next world.

...

Appendix: Sorry, I've contradicted myself. But I've only written this much today, along with several thousand words of wasted drafts...

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