Fleeting Beauty

Lingxi Peak, Gu Fan's Courtyard.

Meng Wei accepted the fragrant tea offered by Gu Fan and asked with a smile, "Junior Brother, what have you been busy with lately? You've even stopped drawing talismans and refining weapons."

Having freshened up and regained his handsome appearance, Gu Fan sat opposite him, shaking his head and smiling, "Comprehension of some formations is a bit too mentally taxing."

Upon hearing this, Meng Wei was immediately taken aback and asked with wide eyes, "Junior Brother actually has a talent for formations?"

After speaking, Meng Wei looked Gu Fan up and down repeatedly, as if he were looking at a rare treasure, and exclaimed in amazement, "Proficient in talismans, artifacts, and formations, I thought you were a genius who only appears once every hundred years, but I underestimated you."

"Senior brother, you flatter me. I only know a little bit about it." Gu Fan smiled modestly and changed the subject, saying, "What brings you here today, senior brother? If you don't have enough spirit talismans, I have some in stock."

After beginning to comprehend the Yuan Chen Formation, Gu Fan felt a great sense of urgency and stopped his talisman drawing and weapon refining businesses. He hadn't left his courtyard for a long time.

Unfortunately, the Yuan Chen Formation was too complex, and even with the help of the Myriad Manifestations Dharma Eye, progress was still very slow.

Gu Fan was so engrossed in the endless runes that he didn't even notice how much time had passed if Meng Wei hadn't come to visit.

Upon hearing Gu Fan's inquiry, Meng Wei laughed and said, "I have some good news to tell you, Junior Brother."

Gu Fan looked at Meng Wei with anticipation in his eyes, pretending to listen attentively.

"Junior brother, are you familiar with the Ranking of Rare Flowers?"

"The Ranking of Rare Flowers?" Gu Fan lowered his brows and pondered for a moment, then retrieved relevant information from his memories and nodded, saying, "I do know about this."

In fact, Gu Fan's knowledge of the Ranking of Extraordinary Flowers was somewhat related to Meng Wei.

When Meng Wei took him to Dan Ding Peak, Long Ying gave him a jade slip containing records of various rare and exotic herbs and their related pharmacology, as well as information about the Ranking of Rare Flowers.

According to the jade slip, there are countless rare and precious materials in the world, each with different effects, making it difficult to rank them.

However, some spiritual medicines were not created by heaven and earth, but were created by ancient cultivators when they discussed the Dao, with the aim of using objects to expound the Dao. Therefore, they were recorded and listed in a list that was widely circulated.

"It's good that you know, Junior Brother, that saves you a lot of trouble." Meng Wei picked up his teacup, took a sip, put it down, and continued, "A few days ago, a fellow disciple accidentally discovered a rare flower and came to invite you to go with him."

Gu Fan asked, puzzled, "Since you encountered such a rare flower, why didn't you pick it immediately, but instead invited me to join you?"

"Junior brother, you may not know this," Meng Wei explained, "This rare flower is called [Fleeting Beauty], and it ranks two hundredth on the list of rare flowers."

"This rare flower can only be picked after it has fully bloomed, and it only lasts for a quarter of an hour. If it is not picked, it will dissipate as spiritual energy and will not be here again when it blooms next time."

"Not only that, before its fleeting beauty blooms, it will release a strange fragrance that permeates for dozens of miles. This fragrance is extremely attractive to demonic beasts, and at that time, nearby demonic beasts will come to compete for it."

"Fortunately, the fragrance only works on first-tier demonic beasts and will not attract second-tier demonic beasts. Although there is some risk, there is no fatal threat."

Gu Fan nodded, but a new question arose: "Since we need to fight against demonic beasts, shouldn't we invite someone with higher cultivation? I'm only in the mid-stage of Qi Refining, so why were I invited?"

Although he was confident in his powerful magic and the reserves of talismans, believing he could even fight against someone in the late stage of Qi Refining, he had never shown it to others, which made him feel a little strange.

Unexpectedly, Meng Wei laughed and said, "Of course it's because Junior Brother knows how to forge weapons!"

"That fellow disciple heard about Junior Brother's weapon-forging skills and wanted Junior Brother to make a magic weapon for him. Unfortunately, he was short of money, so he thought he would invite Junior Brother over, which would save some spirit stones and also allow him to get to know Junior Brother."

"If Junior Brother is willing to go, he does not need to pay any spirit stones. However, it is different for us who are invited. In addition to contributing our efforts, we also need to pay him some spirit stones."

"He should have come in person, but he was worried that his junior brother would be wary, so he sent me instead."

After learning the whole story, Gu Fan nodded slightly, relieved: "I see. I agree to this."

"Alright! The rare flower will bloom in a month. I'll come back to find my junior brother then," Meng Wei said cheerfully.

After chatting for a while, Meng Wei took his leave to reply to the letter.

Gu Fan was the only one left in the courtyard. Recalling his recent comprehension of the Dao of Arrays, although it had only been two months, it felt like a lifetime had passed.

Shaking his head to clear his mind, Gu Fan took out the jade slip given to him by Long Ying again and read the information about Mo Na Fang Hua.

Legend has it that this wondrous flower was created by an ancient immortal who was explaining the principles of time to his disciples. When it blooms, it has twelve petals. By consuming just one petal, one can gain an opportunity for enlightenment. Each person can only consume one petal; consuming more than one will be of no benefit.

The flower now scattered throughout the myriad realms is naturally not the original, wondrous flower.

However, once the rare flower was created, it resonated with the Dao of Heaven and Earth, spreading to countless realms and heavens, allowing all living beings to gain its enlightenment. Although its effects were diminished many times over, it was still extremely precious.

Not to mention the opportunity to comprehend the cycle of life and death, the immense spiritual energy contained within the petals far surpasses that of ordinary elixirs.

Therefore, Gu Fan readily agreed, even at the cost of interrupting his comprehension of the formation.

"Since we'll encounter monsters on this trip, we should make some preparations beforehand," Gu Fan thought to himself.

So for the next month, Gu Fan stopped studying formations and instead devoted himself to refining weapons and drawing talismans.

......

When Meng Wei visited again, Gu Fan was taking stock of the preparations for the trip.

"Twelve battle flags."

"Seven low-grade flying swords, two mid-grade offensive magic weapons, and two defensive magic weapons."

"Sixty low-grade spirit talismans, thirty mid-grade spirit talismans, and ten high-grade spirit talismans."

"One bottle of Qi-boosting pills, one bottle of detoxifying pills, and one bottle of Jade Dew pills."

"If the opponents are all first-tier demonic beasts, it should be enough to protect myself," Gu Fan nodded and muttered to himself.

This is all of Gu Fan's current possessions, which is quite wealthy among outer disciples.

The twelve array flags were carefully prepared by him, enough to set up the array he had just comprehended.

"Junior Brother, are you ready?" Just as Gu Fan put his belongings into his storage bag, Meng Wei knocked on the door and asked loudly.

"Everything is ready. Please lead the way, Senior Brother," Gu Fan replied with a smile and a nod.

So, the two rode their magical artifacts and, following Meng Wei's guidance, left the Lingxiao Sect and landed in a nearby valley.

"The place where the rare flower was born is on the Sea of ​​Clouds and Mist. Fellow disciples, we agreed to meet here and go there together later," Meng Wei explained.

When Gu Fan entered the valley, he found many familiar faces there.

Needless to say, Song Chibo, Wu Yan, and other disciples of Lingxi Peak were present, but Long Ying and Li Cangzhu were also there. Standing next to Long Ying was a girl with delicate eyebrows and a cool and aloof appearance.

The girl wore a flowing turquoise dress, with her black hair hanging down her back. A jade pendant hung at her waist, resembling a cluster of lush green bamboo, creating a striking contrast with Long Ying, who was dressed in red.

"This is Fellow Daoist Liu Qin, who discovered the rare flower," Meng Wei introduced Gu Fan.

Upon hearing this, the girl named Liuqin turned around, smiled slightly when she saw Gu Fan, her smile as graceful as a bamboo swaying in the wind, and bowed, saying, "Liuqin greets Fellow Daoist Gu."