Bai Ye slowly opened his eyes. Countless miniature stars seemed to be swirling in his pupils. Although his cultivation was still at the peak of the Profound Comprehension Sixth Layer, the aura around him had undergone a world-shaking transformation!
His originally fierce sword intent now held a hint of the vastness and weight of the stars. With every gesture, he seemed capable of drawing upon the power of the stars!
He cupped his hands toward the phantom of the Profound Sword Master and spoke with a trace of humility. "Fortunately, I did not fail you."
Immediately afterward, he bowed again and performed the ritual of acknowledging a master, his voice respectful and clear. "Your disciple Bai Ye pays respects to Master!"
The phantom of the Profound Sword Master was completely stunned. The corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably, and his mind descended into chaos.
"How long has it been? Twenty breaths?"
"How did he already enter the sect? What happened to the threshold of a Saint-Tier Cultivation Method?"
"It took me fifteen days back then! Fifteen days!"
"My master said I was a once-in-ten-thousand-years genius. Then what is this child...? A monster unique in all the ages?"
"I... I've struck gold!"
Countless thoughts roared through his mind. If the lingering phantom had not been incapable of making overly violent movements, he would probably have already jumped up in utter loss of composure.
Seeing him standing there in a daze, a trace of confusion flashed through Bai Ye's eyes.
Could this senior Sword Master be going back on his word?
"Ma... Master?" Bai Ye called tentatively.
"Cough, cough!"
The Profound Sword Master finally came back to his senses and hurriedly gathered his thoughts.
Yet when he looked at Bai Ye, it was still as if he were gazing at a rare treasure of the world. His gaze was so heated that it made Bai Ye's skin crawl. "There's no need for such formalities. I was merely distracted just now."
He took a deep breath and suppressed the excitement in his heart. His tone turned solemn once more. "Back to the matter at hand. From this day onward, you are the personal disciple of this old man, the Profound Sword Master, and the sole inheritor on the Heavenly Profound Continent."
As his voice fell, he raised a hand and waved lightly. A snow-white Storage Ring floated out from the phantom. A miniature Star Runes was engraved upon it, radiating a faint spiritual aura as it slowly descended before Bai Ye.
Bai Ye's eyes lit up. He hurriedly reached out and caught it. The ring felt warm and smooth in his hand, and he could clearly sense the vast space within!
Countless cultivation resources floated inside!
"My lingering phantom is about to dissipate. There are a few final things I must tell you."
The phantom of the Profound Sword Master gradually grew more transparent. "My true body is now in the Upper Realm after ascending. If you can break through to the Divine Realm, you can ascend to the Upper Realm as well. When that time comes, go to Lei Continent in the Three Thousand Continents and find me."
"The Star Sect in the Upper Realm is the dao lineage this old man founded."
"That Storage Ring contains the resources I left behind back then. They are enough to support your cultivation all the way to the Divine Realm."
"Remember, cultivating the Star Creation Art requires using the power of the stars as a guide. Observe the movement of the stars more often, and never shut yourself away and grope blindly."
The phantom grew fainter and fainter, its outline nearly impossible to make out. "All right. I've said everything that needed to be said. Bai Ye, I hope you can break through to the Divine Realm. Master and disciple—we'll meet again in the Upper Realm!"
Before his voice had even faded, the phantom of the Profound Sword Master transformed into specks of white light and vanished into the air.
Bai Ye bowed solemnly in the direction where the phantom had disappeared. His voice rang out like thunder. "Your disciple Bai Ye will obey Master's command! Farewell, Master!"
After completing the ritual, he tightened his grip on the Storage Ring and looked up at this starry expanse. An unprecedented radiance flickered in his eyes.
A Saint-Tier Cultivation Method—the Star Creation Art!
The inheritance resources of a Divine Realm powerhouse!
The gains from this journey into the Azure Spirit Secret Realm had already far surpassed his imagination!
"The Upper Realm... the Three Thousand Continents... the Star Sect..."
Bai Ye murmured under his breath, his eyes flashing with brilliance.
Bai Ye pressed his fingertip against the snow-white Storage Ring and sent his Spiritual Sense inside like a trickling stream.
The moment it touched the space within the ring, his pupils abruptly contracted, and his breathing quickened despite himself.
How could this be a Storage Ring?
It was clearly a mobile treasure vault!
The space within the ring was roughly a hundred zhang on each side. The ground was covered with pale-golden brocade, upon which various resources had been neatly piled.
On the left, dozens of White Jade Porcelain Bottles were stacked into a small mountain. The words "Nine Revolutions Soul Returning Pill," "Realm-Breaking Pill," "Saint Origin Pill," and others were engraved on their surfaces. Every one of them was a Ninth-Rank Pill capable of driving cultivators of the Profound Comprehension Realm into a frenzy!
Beside the porcelain bottles, mountains of Top-grade Spirit Stones radiated dazzling spiritual light!
Beside the piles of spirit stones, several crystal-white spirit herbs lay quietly. Faint golden mist coiled around their leaves. They were none other than the legendary Saint Medicine!
All three Saint Medicine were complete, their roots and stems plump, their spiritual aura so dense it seemed almost ready to condense into liquid.
Bai Ye had once seen a record of them in the Bai Family's ancient texts: Saint Medicine were treasures nurtured by Heaven and Earth. Even a single leaf could restore life to a dying Tribulation Crossing Realm cultivator, while a small section of root could unleash a bloody storm across the Heavenly Profound Continent.
Yet the Profound Sword Master had directly left behind three complete Saint Medicine. Such a grand gesture was simply unbelievable!
"Enough to cultivate to the Divine Realm... It truly wasn't empty talk." Bai Ye was shaken to his core, his fingertip trembling slightly.
With these resources, he no longer needed to worry about cultivation resources.
His gaze shifted to the right. Dozens of Jade Slips were neatly arranged on a jade table, and several ancient books made from beast hide sat beside them.
Bai Ye casually took out a Jade Slip and sent his Spiritual Sense inside. It turned out to be a top-grade earth-tier Pill Dao Manual, recording the methods for refining pills from the first rank to the Ninth-Rank Pill. It even included the formulas for several Saint Medicine pills!
He took out another. It was a high-grade earth-tier Sword Dao Insights. Every line revealed the Profound Sword Master's comprehension of the sword dao, and it was more profound than the Azure Cloud Sect's earth-tier cultivation methods by more than a hundredfold!
Most eye-catching of all were the two pale-golden ancient books at the center of the jade table.
There were no words on the covers, yet they radiated a Saint-tier aura even more majestic than that of the Star Creation Art.
Bai Ye opened one of them. The runes on the pages instantly transformed into a streak of flowing light and surged into his Sea of Consciousness—
[Movement Character Secret]: A Saint-grade High-tier Escape Technique that draws upon the "Law of Speed" between Heaven and Earth. It can compress a thousand miles into a single step and trample through the void. At its ultimate speed, it can surpass the speed of light and is known as the "Number One Escape Technique beneath Heaven."
The other ancient book recorded the [All Character Secret]: a Saint-grade High-tier offensive secret technique capable of temporarily tearing through one's own Realm Barrier and erupting with power beyond the limits. A cultivator of the Profound Comprehension Realm could battle a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, while a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator could battle one of the Tribulation Crossing Realm!
An annotation left behind by the Profound Sword Master simultaneously surfaced in his Sea of Consciousness: "These two secrets are two of the Supreme Nine Character Secrets. The Nine Character Secrets were created by nine Divine Realm powerhouses, each of whom comprehended one secret. They are divided into 'Pro,' 'Soldier,' 'Warrior,' 'One,' 'All,' 'Formation,' 'Array,' 'At,' and 'Front.' Each secret contains the laws of an entire world and represents the pinnacle of martial skills on the Heavenly Profound Continent. In all my life, I found only the Movement Character Secret and the All Character Secret. I now pass them on to my disciple, hoping that you can gather all nine secrets in the future and ascend to the peak of the Great Dao."
Bai Ye's heart was rocked by turbulent waves.
He had long heard the legend of the Supreme Nine Character Secrets, but he had never expected to see them with his own eyes, let alone cultivate two of them!
With the Movement Character Secret, even if he encountered a Life and Death Realm powerhouse in the future, he could still withdraw calmly.
The All Character Secret gave him another trump card, making it even easier to fight across realms!
He raised his head and looked toward this starry expanse. The starlight remained gentle, and the runes slowly revolved. Not a sound from the outside world could be heard.
There was still some time before the Azure Spirit Secret Realm closed. This was undoubtedly the best place to cultivate—safe, concealed, and capable of using the power of the stars within the space to assist his cultivation.
Before you continue