Ye Yunfei also returned to his mountain peak, entered his cultivation chamber, and then stepped into the Phantom Tower.
Inside the Phantom Tower, Ye Yunfei first found Wu Heishan and the other four. He gave them a batch of spirit pills as cultivation resources.
Wu Heishan, Xiao Hui, Yuan Dayong, Dugu Huan, and Wen Zi had been staying diligently inside the tower ever since Ye Yunfei teleported them in, each cultivating earnestly and not disappointing him.
Next, Ye Yunfei himself found a quiet spot within the Phantom Tower and sat down cross-legged.
'The crisis at Hudao Academy can be considered temporarily over for now,' Ye Yunfei said to himself.
With the Hudao Stele present, Ye Yunfei believed the top factions from the Central Continent would not dare to recklessly attack the academy again.
After that, Ye Yunfei began to sort through his own cultivation methods and martial arts.
'For the Heavenly Demon Blood-Refining Body Art, I have reached the sixth layer. Advancing to the next layer would require an utterly terrifying amount of blood essence in terms of both quantity and quality,' he thought.
'In terms of spirit power realms, I am currently at the mid-stage Building Yuan Realm, not far from reaching the One Yang realm of the Nine-Yang Scripture. However, there's no need to rush spirit power cultivation; just let it progress naturally.'
'For the next period, I should focus on cultivating these four techniques: the Greenwood Emperor Body, the Nine Palaces Totem Wheel, the Eighteen Soul Immortal Art, and the True Demon God-Slaying Fist.'
...
In his mind, Ye Yunfei meticulously reviewed each cultivation method and martial skill he practiced one by one.
'Well, I'll start with the True Demon God-Slaying Fist,' he declared to himself.
The True Demon God-Slaying Fist was an inheritance martial skill of the True Demon Race, while the Heavenly Demon Blood-Refining Body Art was its inheritance cultivation technique. Having already reached the sixth layer of the physique art, possessing over ten million jin of raw physical strength, learning a few more moves of the God-Slaying Fist would undoubtedly yield even more formidable power when combined.
'Devil Sound Fist!' Ye Yunfei let out a soft shout and began cultivating the sixth move of the True Demon God-Slaying Fist.
Once mastered, the fist force unleashed by this move would produce high-frequency vibrations. The power within would violently tremble and collide, generating terrifying shredding, drilling, tearing, and penetrating forces. Moreover, it would evoke eerie ghostly shrieks and demonic cries, causing enemies to turn pale at the sound of it, their minds and spirits disturbed. It could even produce dense, black demonic energy to envelop foes, making them feel as if they had fallen into a demon realm, trembling with fear!
While Ye Yunfei was focusing on cultivation within the Phantom Tower, elsewhere in Hudao Academy...
On one of the mountain peaks, within a cultivation chamber, an academy steward was exerting full effort to break through his realm.
Boom!
At a certain moment, a powerful surge of spirit power erupted from the steward's body, shaking the entire chamber.
'Hahaha... I broke through! I've been stuck at the early-stage Mystic Liquid Realm for eight years, and now, I've finally advanced to the mid-stage! The treasure pill Dean Shangguan gave me is truly effective!' The steward laughed heartily in his excitement.
Almost simultaneously, on another peak...
Boom!
A rumble of spirit power echoed from within a chamber.
'Haha... I broke through! I've advanced to the Late Stage Mystic Liquid Realm!' A hearty laugh rang out from the chamber. An ordinary elder had broken through!
'I've finally broken through to the early-stage Mystic Liquid Realm!' On yet another peak, a seeded disciple roared in excitement.
In the following days, more ordinary elders, stewards, and disciples successively made breakthroughs. The entire academy was filled with excited laughter and roars!
Swoosh! Swoosh!...
Xie Changkong, the six Guardian Elders, Dean Shangguan, Dean Zhou—the academy's core leadership—emerged one by one from their secluded chambers and hovered in mid-air.
'The effects of Vice Dean Ye's spirit pills and treasure pills are simply incredible!' a Guardian Elder said with an excited voice.
'I've counted. In these past few days, six elders, fifteen stewards, and over two hundred disciples have already broken through! And I feel this isn't over yet,' Dean Shangguan remarked.
'The overall strength of our academy has increased by a significant margin!' Dean Zhou also nodded in agreement.
'Because of Vice Dean Ye, not only has Hudao Academy not declined, but we will become even stronger!' Xie Changkong took a deep breath to suppress his inner excitement before speaking.
'That's right. Given our current momentum, in the near future, our Hudao Academy will become even mightier!' The other higher-ups all nodded in agreement.
'By the way, Dean Xie, Guardian Elders, how effective were the Third-Grade Vessel-Molding Pills Vice Dean Ye gave you after you took them?' Dean Shangguan suddenly asked.
'The effect is excellent. My injuries have slightly improved,' Xie Changkong replied with a smile.
'Excellent indeed. The effects are truly remarkable!' The six Guardian Elders also nodded, clearly very satisfied.
Back inside the Phantom Tower, time slowly passed.
In the blink of an eye, half a month went by.
'The Devil Sound Fist is finally mastered,' Ye Yunfei said with a satisfied smile on his face.
'Now, I'll start cultivating the sixth move of the Eighteen Soul Immortal Art,' Ye Yunfei thought for a moment and muttered to himself.
The Eighteen Soul Immortal Art was a Soul Power technique. As was well known, Soul Power techniques were far more difficult to cultivate than spirit power or physique refinement techniques. And the Eighteen Soul Immortal Art was an exceptionally high-level Soul Power technique, making its cultivation naturally even more challenging!
It was only two years later that Ye Yunfei finally mastered the sixth move. Fortunately, the flow of time inside the Phantom Tower differed from the outside world. Two years inside the tower equated to only about ten-odd days in the outside world.
Upon reaching the sixth move, Ye Yunfei's Soul Power level had risen by a large margin. The range his Soul Power could perceive had expanded to approximately five hundred thousand meters! With this level of Soul Power, the might of his Heavenly Soul Sword and the 'Thought Begets Demon' technique naturally became even greater. Ye Yunfei estimated that the Heavenly Soul Sword he could now unleash would pose a significant threat to Mid Stage Mystic Liquid Realm masters. It could even exert some restraining effect against Late Stage Mystic Liquid Realm experts.
'To continue cultivating the Greenwood Emperor Body, I need large amounts of wood-attributed heavenly treasures. As for the Nine Palaces Totem Wheel, it requires absorbing vast quantities of nine different types of elemental energies. The resources needed for these two techniques are truly staggering. Where can I find so many cultivation resources on short notice?' Thinking of these two techniques, Ye Yunfei couldn't help but frown slightly and sigh.
The treasure vault of Hudao Academy did contain a wide variety of cultivation resources. However, the academy had tens of thousands of members, from leadership to ordinary disciples, all requiring immense resources for cultivation. Ye Yunfei couldn't possibly monopolize the vault's resources for himself.
'It seems I must leave the academy and venture outside to seek more cultivation resources if I want to advance further in my cultivation. Staying at the academy no longer seems to offer much benefit for my progress,' Ye Yunfei lamented after some consideration.
For Ye Yunfei, improving his strength was the most core and important matter. Returning to the position of Heavenly Emperor remained his greatest wish!
'Alright. Next, I'll leave the academy to gather more resources for cultivating the Greenwood Emperor Body and the Nine Palaces Totem Wheel. For now, I'll head to the Central Continent Alchemy Tower to see if I can obtain those few Fourth-Grade treasure herbs needed for refining the Marvelous Marrow Divine Vessel Pill,' Ye Yunfei said to himself.