Within the Imperial Palace.
Inside the palace where Ye Yunfei resided.
Within the chamber, Ye Yunfei sat cross-legged, circulating the Nine-Yang Scripture within his body.
Around him were piles of Spirit Crystals, all drained of their spiritual energy and reduced to worthless dregs.
"To break through, I've actually absorbed the spiritual energy from over ten million Spirit Crystals.
Cultivation really is an incredibly expensive endeavor," Ye Yunfei thought with a hint of helplessness.
At this moment, Ye Yunfei was teetering on the brink of a breakthrough.
The Spiritual Qi within his body surged torrentially through thick, sturdy meridians, resembling mighty rivers.
Massive amounts of Spiritual Qi swirled violently around his body, forming roaring, frenzied gusts of wind.
Suddenly, at a certain instant—BOOM!
A wave of ferocious spiritual pressure erupted from within Ye Yunfei's body, violently shattering all the furniture within the palace hall to pieces.
"Early stage of the Heaven Realm," Ye Yunfei murmured to himself.
In this lifetime, he had adhered to the dual cultivation of spirit and flesh. His flesh took precedence, waiting for its quality to reach a sufficient level before breaking through his spiritual cultivation realm. Ye Yunfei understood that the flesh was the vessel containing spiritual energy. Only when the vessel was sturdy enough and spacious enough could it hold an even greater amount of Spiritual Qi.
Once the flesh could be refined to attain body supernatural powers, he could develop Small Worlds within his body. At that point, the amount of Spiritual Qi the flesh could contain would be simply endless and beyond imagination!
"Having broken through to the Heaven Realm, I can now cultivate a formidable sword technique — the Flying Sword Art. Of course, I can only cultivate its most basic version. But even the most basic Flying Sword Art should not be underestimated. Moreover, with the Void Blade in my possession, cultivating this art will only enhance its power!" Ye Yunfei contemplated aloud.
Suddenly, a voice called from outside. "Grandmaster Ye Yunfei, the spiritual herbs you required have all been procured and delivered. I've brought them for you."
It was actually Chen Xuan's voice.
"He's personally delivering the herbs to me?" Ye Yunfei's expression turned slightly odd.
"Bring them in," Ye Yunfei said, opening the door.
Immediately, Chen Xuan entered, accompanied by Tang Feng and several palace eunuchs.
"Master Chen Xuan, why are you personally delivering the herbs?" Ye Yunfei asked curiously.
"Cough... Fellow Daoist Ye Yunfei, please don't call me 'Master' anymore. I am unworthy of the title in your presence. The herbs required for treating Her Imperial Majesty are far too precious, so I brought them personally. Furthermore... I hoped to witness firsthand how Grandmaster Ye Yunfei refines these medicinal pills," Chen Xuan said with a smile, handing Ye Yunfei a space ring filled with spiritual herbs.
Over the past two days, Chen Xuan had diligently inquired about Ye Yunfei's exact performance during the Alchemy Competition. He was especially stunned when he learned that Ye Yunfei had refined Greenwood Pills publicly, achieving a yield rate of five pills, all of perfect quality. It should be noted that among Fourth-Grade Spiritual Pills, the Greenwood Pill was notoriously difficult to refine. Although Chen Xuan himself could produce Greenwood Pills, his own yield rate was only one pill per batch, and at best, the quality would only reach average.
Thus, Chen Xuan finally understood: Ye Yunfei's alchemy skills surpassed his own. And by a significant margin!
"You wish to watch me refine pills?" Ye Yunfei was taken aback.
"Well... Fellow Daoist Ye Yunfei, my request is indeed somewhat excessive. We alchemists all have our own unique techniques, and are generally unwilling to let others learn them. However, Fellow Daoist Ye, after looking over all the herbs you requested, I truly cannot deduce what kind of pill you intend to refine. It's just... my curiosity got the better of me." Chen Xuan explained.
"When I refine pills, I truly do not like having others watching," Ye Yunfei replied plainly.
Ye Yunfei never intended to personally refine the pills. He planned to have Huang Shang handle the task. If Chen Xuan stayed and watched, it could easily expose Huang Shang's existence. Hence, Ye Yunfei directly declined.
"Very well. If that's the case, Fellow Daoist Ye Yunfei, I shall take my leave," Chen Xuan said, a hint of disappointment in his voice. He had truly hoped to witness Ye Yunfei's alchemy firsthand.
"By the way, Fellow Daoist Ye, this disciple of mine has always been arrogant and full of himself. I heard he had a conflict with you earlier. I have already severely reprimanded him. Now, I am making him apologize to you. Tang Feng, hurry up and come over to apologize to Fellow Daoist Ye!" Chen Xuan snapped at Tang Feng.
Tang Feng had been hiding behind Chen Xuan ever since entering the hall, afraid to face Ye Yunfei. He never expected his master to single him out.
"Grandmaster Ye Yunfei, I was in the wrong before. I hope you can forgive me," Tang Feng mumbled, keeping his head bowed and unable to meet Ye Yunfei's gaze as he stepped forward.
"Forget it. Just don't provoke me again in the future. You may leave," Ye Yunfei waved dismissively, his tone indifferent.
Ye Yunfei never considered this Tang Feng as any real competition.
Chen Xuan led Tang Feng and the eunuchs out of the palace hall.
"Huang Lao, I leave the alchemy to you," Ye Yunfei said, tossing the space ring Chen Xuan delivered into the Pill Cauldron.
"Very well," Huang Shang acknowledged and began refining.
This time, the pills Ye Yunfei required included Fifth Grade and Sixth-Grade Spiritual Pills. For an Eighth Grade Alchemist like Huang Shang, this posed no trouble.
"Now, I shall begin cultivating the Flying Sword Art," Ye Yunfei said, resuming his cross-legged posture.
The Flying Sword Art was discovered by Ye Yunfei, after becoming a Heavenly Emperor, during his exploration of an ancient ruin. The core of practicing the Flying Sword Art involved fusing one's spiritual energy and Soul Power into a sword via an intricate secret art. Then, one could use Soul Power to control that sword for long-range attacks.
"I shall use the Void Blade as my Flying Sword," Ye Yunfei declared, placing the Void Blade in front of him before commencing his cultivation.
Ye Yunfei released a portion of his Soul Power and spiritual energy, initiating their fusion. The most challenging aspect of the Flying Sword Art was precisely this fusion of Soul Power and spiritual energy. It must be noted that Soul Power and spiritual energy were two fundamentally different types of energy. Without special secret techniques, merging them was almost impossible.
Time slowly passed. Within the palace hall, Ye Yunfei fell into a deep state of cultivation, motionless, akin to an ascetic monk in deep Zen meditation.
Two days later.
"Fuse!" Ye Yunfei suddenly uttered softly, having finally succeeded in fusing his spiritual energy and Soul Power.
"Good. Now, step two: commanding the Flying Sword," Ye Yunfei murmured, proceeding to the next stage of cultivation.
Another day passed.
Hum…
Suddenly, the Void Blade resting before Ye Yunfei trembled violently.
"Slash!" Ye Yunfei commanded softly.
Swish!
The Void Blade leaped into the air, vanishing without a trace.
One thousand meters away from Ye Yunfei, within the imperial garden.
Suddenly, the Void Blade abruptly materialized, slashing a giant tree clean in half.
CRASH…
The tree collapsed with a mighty crash, scattering debris everywhere. It attracted many nearby palace maids to come and investigate.
But after severing the tree, the Void Blade vanished once more.
"With the Flying Sword Art, combined with the Void Blade's unique ability to traverse through space, I can effortlessly take an enemy's head from a thousand miles away," Ye Yunfei chuckled with satisfaction.