Mysterious Withered Grass?

Ye Feng stood in the small courtyard, his figure flickering like a ghost.

The Earth-grade High-rank movement technique, Shadow Chasing Step, had already been mastered by Ye Feng to the point of effortless execution. Each step left behind faint afterimages, his speed several times faster than the previous Shadow Step.

This was one of the results after Ye Feng used the Millennium Time Limit to modify all non-sword and non-fist martial techniques.

Aside from movement techniques, palm techniques, leg techniques, and other martial skills had also seen breakthroughs. Most Earth-grade Low-rank techniques had been improved to Earth-grade High-rank, elevating his overall combat power once again.

"Spending a month flipping through books in the Martial Pavilion was worth it." Ye Feng stopped, feeling the True Qi flowing within him and the intent lingering around his body, deeply moved.

Although Ye Feng's cultivation was only at the True Condensation Realm Second Layer, with Million Jin Giant Strength, 80% Sword Intent, 70% Fist Intent, and multiple Earth-grade High-rank techniques across various domains, his overall combat strength could likely match an Origin Embracing Realm expert.

Of course, Ye Feng was also aware that he had never fought an Origin Embracing Realm cultivator. Their true strength remained unknown, and everything still needed verification through Actual Combat.

After a brief rest, Ye Feng took out a torn, damaged scroll from his storage ring.

It was the unknown Damaged Scroll he had obtained earlier from the First Boss of the mountain bandits.

Previously, when Ye Feng used the hundred-year time limit to modify it, there was no change. Now that he had broken through to the True Condensation Realm and unlocked the Millennium Time Limit, perhaps he would see a different result.

"System, modify the Damaged Scroll to a thousand years ago."

A pure white light screen instantly enveloped the scroll, its glow soft yet carrying an ancient aura.

After a moment, the light screen dissipated. The originally tattered Damaged Scroll had transformed into a yellowed painting.

The painting was covered in densely drawn ink lines, clearly a map.

Ye Feng unrolled the painting and examined it closely.

The map marked many regions. Among them, the Yan Kingdom he was familiar with, along with the eight neighboring countries, occupied only a tiny area on the map, like a drop in the ocean.

Beyond these nine nations lay vast, unnamed lands scattered with countless other country markers of varying sizes.

"This is definitely not a map of Yan Nan State. It's likely a much larger map... the Azure Domain?" Ye Feng speculated.

He had never seen such an expansive map before. The world beyond the nine nations far exceeded his understanding.

This map undoubtedly expanded the boundaries of his knowledge of the current world.

What caught Ye Feng's attention even more was a red cinnabar circle in the upper right corner of the map, located in an unfamiliar territory beyond the nine nations. Inside the circled area, a treasure chest symbol was drawn.

"It seems this isn't just a map—it's a Treasure Map." Ye Feng's heart stirred.

But when he saw the distance between the red mark and the nine nations, he couldn't help but feel a bit helpless.

Even on the fastest flying boat, it would take months to reach.

And he didn't even have a flying boat yet. If he had to travel on foot, it would likely take years.

"I'll have to wait until I have the chance to explore it later." Ye Feng carefully rolled up the map and stored it in his ring. There were more important things to do now.

Then, Ye Feng took out another plant from his storage ring.

It was the odorless, colorless herb he had looted from Yun Hai of the Baiyang Sect, shaped like a Withered Grass.

Previously, modifying it with the hundred-year time limit yielded no results. This time, Ye Feng wanted to try the Millennium Time Limit.

"System, modify this Withered Grass to a thousand years ago."

[Ding! Beginning modification of target: Withered Grass]

The system notification sounded, and the white light screen appeared again, enveloping the grass.

But when the light screen dissipated, Ye Feng was stunned.

The Withered Grass remained in its withered state, unchanged in the slightest—even the degree of withering was exactly the same as before.

"It was already withered a thousand years ago?" Ye Feng frowned, then a glimmer of surprise flashed in his eyes.

"Preserved for a thousand years without decay, and unaffected by the system's time modification—this Withered Grass is no ordinary item. It must involve some ancient secret!"

Though he couldn't decipher the grass's mystery for now, he understood it was an extremely special treasure. He decided to study it further after breaking through to the Origin Embracing Realm, then stored the grass back in his ring.

After dealing with the two mysterious items, Ye Feng turned his attention to his own cultivation.

Back when he was in the Qi Gathering Realm, Ye Feng had relied on the system to skyrocket from the Third Layer to the Ninth Layer Peak.

Now that the Millennium Time Limit was unlocked, Ye Feng couldn't help but wonder if he could directly break through to the Origin Embracing Realm.

"System, modify my cultivation to a thousand years later."

[Ding! Beginning modification of host's cultivation!]

The system notification sounded again, and white mist instantly enveloped Ye Feng's entire body. He could clearly feel the True Qi within him surging wildly, his cultivation skyrocketing like a rocket.

True Condensation Realm Third Layer, Fifth Layer, Seventh Layer, Ninth Layer...

The early stages advanced rapidly, and in just a short moment, he broke through to the True Condensation Realm Ninth Layer.

But upon reaching the Ninth Layer, the speed suddenly slowed, and the growth of True Qi became incredibly difficult.

Finally, when the white mist dissipated, Ye Feng's cultivation had stopped at the True Condensation Realm Tenth Layer Peak.

Only a single step away from the Origin Embracing Realm, yet he could not break through that bottleneck.

"Is it still a matter of insufficient talent?" Ye Feng looked inward at his Dantian and found that his True Qi had reached the limit of the True Condensation Realm.

But the Origin Embracing Realm required condensing True Qi into a vortex, achieving an endless cycle of True Qi.

The current Bone Root Talent simply cannot support this qualitative transformation.

Then Ye Feng felt relieved again.

If he hadn't taken the Bone Tempering Flower to improve his talent earlier, even a thousand years of modification might have only raised him by three or four minor realms. Reaching the Tenth Layer Peak now far exceeded expectations.

What pleased Ye Feng even more was that over the thousand years of accumulation, the quality of his True Qi had become incredibly dense, far surpassing cultivators at the same realm.

Even without breaking through to the Origin Embracing Realm, his core combat power had significantly improved.

"But jumping from the True Condensation Realm Second Layer to the Tenth Layer Peak in just one month since returning from the Secret Realm is too exaggerated. It'll easily arouse suspicion."

Ye Feng pondered for a moment, then activated the Breath Concealment Art he had modified earlier, hiding his surface cultivation at the True Condensation Realm Third Layer.

This realm wasn't too abrupt, while still retaining some deterrent power.

As for the 80% Sword Intent and 70% Fist Intent, Ye Feng chose not to conceal them.

For one, intent was core combat power, so hiding it was pointless.

For another, improvements in intent were hard to measure by common sense. Even if noticed, he could explain it away as "exceptional talent."

Ye Feng stood in the small courtyard, sorting through his current gains.

Multi-domain martial techniques perfected.

Obtained the Azure Domain Treasure Map.

Discovered ancient Withered Grass.

Cultivation raised to True Condensation Realm Tenth Layer Peak.

Next, the primary goal was to improve his Bone Root Talent and resolve the bottleneck to breaking through the Origin Embracing Realm.

Second, he needed to find a way to acquire a flying boat to prepare for future exploration of the Treasure Map.

As for the secret of the Withered Grass, that would have to wait until he reached a higher realm to decipher.