Ning Xiaochuan smiled. "I hold the Heavenly Emperor Blade in my hand too, yet I haven't met with any fatal calamity."
The Heavenly Emperor Blade was at a loss for words and sighed. "Young man, you still do not understand the dangers of this world. The better the treasure, the greater the calamity it invites. Give me the Phoenix Feather, and I will help you bear every calamity. I can even strike on your behalf ten times for free."
The more the Heavenly Emperor Blade wanted it, the more it proved the Phoenix Feather's value. Naturally, Ning Xiaochuan was even less willing to give it away.
Ning Xiaochuan looked toward the Golden Silk Nest in the center of the lake, then at the Phoenix Feather in his hand. He thought to himself, This Phoenix Feather must have been deliberately left for me by that mysterious woman. She must have guessed that I would return here. When I bowed three times before the Golden Silk Nest, the Phoenix Feather flew out on its own. If I hadn't bowed then, this feather probably would not have flown out of the palace either.
Ning Xiaochuan put the Phoenix Feather into the Universe Pouch, resolving to avoid displaying it before others in the future. The Heavenly Emperor Blade was right: the better the treasure, the more likely it was to bring fatal disaster.
Ning Xiaochuan remained in the valley for the night, cultivating the "Heaven and Earth Profound Qi."
After cultivating this technique to the seventh level, Ning Xiaochuan had been unable to make any further progress. He could only absorb profound qi at sixty-four times the normal speed. Without the cultivation method for the eighth level of "Heaven and Earth Profound Qi," the speed at which he absorbed profound qi and refined pills