Bone Tempering Flower

Wang Hao's blade came howling with a fierce wind, its weight so heavy it seemed to crush the air itself. The full force of his Qi Gathering Realm eighth-stage True Qi erupted without restraint, forming a suffocating pressure that bore straight down on Ye Feng's face.

This strike not only used his full power but also incorporated a high-level blade technique from the Baiyang Sect, clearly aiming to cleave Ye Feng in two with a single blow.

Facing this lethal attack, Ye Feng's expression remained calm.

His True Qi surged to its peak in an instant. The dense energy driven by the Human-grade Top-tier Cultivation Method, Azure Origin Art, flooded into the Hundred Refinements Fine Steel Sword.

Then, two-tenths of his Sword Intent erupted without reservation.

A pale green Sword Intent coiled around the blade, giving the ordinary steel sword a semblance of life. A faint green glow even shimmered along its edge.

"Shua!"

Ye Feng flicked his wrist, and the long sword traced an arc of extreme speed, meeting Wang Hao's blade head-on.

This strike was so fast it exceeded Wang Hao's reaction limit. He couldn't even track the sword's trajectory—only felt a tremendous force slam into his blade. His Tiger's Mouth split open, the weapon flew from his grip, and embedded itself in the dirt some distance away, humming as it quivered.

Before Wang Hao could recover, the green Sword Qi struck his chest like lightning.

"Puchi!"

The long sword plunged into his chest without resistance, shredding his internal organs. Blood gushed along the blade, staining his white Tight-fitting Clothes red.

Wang Hao's eyes bulged, disbelief plastered across his face. He struggled to lower his head and look at the wound. His lips trembled as if he wanted to speak, but in the end, he only managed to spit out, "Two-tenths... Sword Intent..." before crashing to the ground.

He was completely lifeless.

Ye Feng pulled out the long sword, flicked the blood off the blade, and sighed inwardly.

"Qi Gathering Realm eighth-stage is this troublesome. Looks like the Earth Sun Secret Realm trip is trickier than I imagined. Still, the power of two-tenths Sword Intent is decent—fast enough that even an eighth-stage can't react."

Ye Feng walked over to Wang Hao's corpse, crouched down, and began to search.

After all, he was a Qi Gathering Realm eighth-stage genius from the Baiyang Sect—he must have some savings, right?

But after feeling around for a while, Ye Feng's brow furrowed tighter and tighter.

Wang Hao had no storage ring, not even a single Low-grade Spirit Stone. The only thing on him was an ordinary jade pendant hanging at his waist, utterly worthless.

"What the hell? Are Baiyang Sect geniuses this poor?" Ye Feng stood up in frustration and kicked Wang Hao's corpse.

"If I'd known there was nothing, I wouldn't have wasted two-tenths of Sword Intent."

Grumbling aside, Ye Feng quickly shifted his focus to the damaged Low-grade Spirit Sword he'd picked up earlier.

He took the spirit sword out of his storage ring, examined its rusted marks and chipped edge, and Thought Stirred: "System, modify this spirit sword to its state a hundred years ago."

A soft white light instantly enveloped the sword. The glow wasn't blinding, but it carried a peculiar energy fluctuation.

After about half an incense stick's time, the white light faded, and the spirit sword in Ye Feng's hand was completely renewed.

The original decay was gone, the chips fully repaired. The blade gleamed with a faint silver-white luster, cool and smooth to the touch. A weak ripple of spiritual energy could even be sensed—this was the complete form of a Low-grade Spirit Sword!

Ye Feng tried channeling his True Qi into the spirit sword.

"Weng—"

The spirit sword let out a crisp Sword Cry. The True Qi flowed through it without any obstruction, even smoother than circulating within his own body.

Ye Feng could clearly feel the gap between this spirit sword and the Hundred Refinements Fine Steel Sword—it was like heaven and earth.

"If I'd used this spirit sword against Wang Hao just now, I probably could have killed him with just one-tenth of my Sword Intent, no need for two-tenths."

Ye Feng nodded in satisfaction, tossed the Hundred Refinements Fine Steel Sword back into his storage ring, and fastened the restored Low-grade Spirit Sword at his waist.

From now on, this spirit sword would be his primary weapon.

With his weapon issue settled, Ye Feng began exploring the secret realm.

He'd assumed the realm would be packed with opportunities, but after picking a random direction and walking for two hours, he found nothing except the spirit sword he'd picked up at the start.

The ground was covered in ordinary grass and trees—not even a single slightly valuable herb in sight.

"No way? Am I this unlucky? Or did the disciples who entered earlier snatch all the good stuff?"

Ye Feng was speechless. He kicked a pebble away in frustration.

If he'd known this, he might as well have stuck with Zhao Yu and the others—at least he could see if they found anything.

Just then, fierce fighting sounds erupted from the south, mixed with the roars of a demon beast.

Ye Feng's eyes lit up.

Only disciples from the Feiyun Sect and Baiyang Sect had entered the secret realm. Such intense fighting likely meant they were fighting over an opportunity!

"Maybe I can swoop in and grab something." Ye Feng calculated silently and hurried toward the noise.

As the sounds grew closer, he slowed his pace, quietly circled around a patch of bushes, and peered at the clearing ahead.

In the clearing, a fierce battle was underway.

Several disciples in Baiyang Sect attire were attacking a massive black bear.

The bear stood a full three zhang tall, its fur as hard as steel needles. Its fists left deep craters in the ground when they struck—this was a second-rank demon beast, the Vajra Bear!

The Vajra Bear's defense was extremely tough. The Baiyang Sect disciples' attacks mostly left only shallow wounds, unable to inflict fatal damage.

And the leading Baiyang Sect disciple wore a distinctive white hat. His aura reached the peak of Qi Gathering Realm ninth-stage. Ye Feng recognized him.

It was none other than Yun Hai, the seventh-ranked Inner Sect prodigy of Baiyang Sect!

Even with a powerhouse like Yun Hai leading them, the Baiyang Sect disciples struggled fiercely, locked in a stalemate with the Vajra Bear.

But Ye Feng's gaze wasn't fixed on the battle. Instead, he noticed a detail.

As the Vajra Bear fought, it kept instinctively backing toward the rocks behind it, as if guarding something.

Ye Feng followed the bear's line of sight and saw, nestled in a crevice of the rock, a golden flower the size of a palm. Its petals were stacked layer upon layer, and it gave off a faint fragrance.

Ye Feng's pupils contracted. That was a Bone Tempering Flower!

The Bone Tempering Flower was an extremely rare treasure herb. Taking it could not only strengthen the body but also improve a cultivator's innate bone and root aptitude. Whether at the Qi Gathering Realm, True Condensation realm, or Origin Embracing Realm, cultivators all scrambled for it.

Ye Feng had long been plagued by the poor aptitude of this body, and the Bone Tempering Flower was exactly what he needed to fix his core weakness!

"I have to find a way to get that Bone Tempering Flower," Ye Feng resolved, already scheming how to snatch it in the chaos.

Suddenly, a terrifying blast of wind struck from behind him without warning, so fast it made his scalp tingle!

Ye Feng lunged forward instinctively, barely dodging the strike.

The bushes behind him were instantly shredded into splinters, and even the ground was gouged into a deep trench.

Ye Feng spun around, scanning his surroundings warily, but found no trace of anyone.

Who was it?

Another Baiyang Sect disciple, or some other danger in the secret realm?

Ye Feng's heartbeat quickened. He knew his plan to snatch the prize would have to be put on hold for now.