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"Azure Dragon Valley no longer needs to exist?"

"Don't tell me Azure Dragon Valley can actually disappear?"

Ye Fei asked in confusion.

"I created Azure Dragon Valley to find someone who could help me reclaim my body. Now that I've met you, its purpose has been fulfilled."

Azure Dragon nodded as he explained.

With that, he gently pointed his right index finger forward, and the surrounding scenery vanished like a wash of radiant light.

Azure Dragon, too, disappeared from Ye Fei's side.

Although Ye Fei was still standing in a valley, it was no longer the same one. Lush greenery filled his surroundings; the valley had clearly changed, returning to its original appearance.

A short sword hovered before Ye Fei.

It was a bronze short sword, with a lifelike azure dragon engraved on its blade, lending it an ancient, austere air.

But upon closer inspection, the bronze sword gave off no fluctuations of spiritual energy and seemed no different from an ordinary magical artifact.

"This is the Azure Dragon Sword, a sacred treasure of my Azure Dragon Clan. It contains a space of its own. The Azure Dragon Waterfall, Azure Dragon Pool, and Azure Dragon Medicine Field are all within it. From now on, it will remain at your side."

Just as Ye Fei stared at the bronze short sword in puzzlement, Azure Dragon's voice came from within it.

As his voice faded, the bronze short sword flashed with azure light and fastened itself at Ye Fei's waist.

"Senior, how do I enter it?"

Ye Fei reached out to touch the bronze short sword and asked curiously.

"Once you bind it to yourself, you only need to release a wisp of divine sense to enter whenever you wish. Whether you send in your divine sense or enter with your physical body is entirely up to you."

Azure Dragon's voice once again emerged from the Azure Dragon Sword.

"All right, I'll give it a try."

Ye Fei nodded, then bit his fingertip and dripped a drop of blood onto the Azure Dragon Sword.

The instant the blood sank into the Azure Dragon Sword, a mental connection formed between Ye Fei and the sword.

Then, with a stir of his mind, he sent a wisp of divine sense toward the Azure Dragon Sword.

The moment his divine sense touched the blade, Ye Fei felt a flash before his eyes. In the next instant, he appeared inside the Azure Dragon Sword.

The scene before him was exactly the same as the former Azure Dragon Valley.

Azure Dragon's illusory figure stood beside him as well.

"How marvelous!"

Ye Fei could not help exclaiming.

"Of course. Not just in this human realm-in any realm below the Immortal Realm, the Azure Dragon Sword is a supreme treasure."

Azure Dragon spoke with considerable pride.

"Can this sword be used against enemies?"

Hearing how powerful the Azure Dragon Sword was, Ye Fei's eyes gleamed, and he ventured the question.

"Of course. The Azure Dragon Sword may look ordinary, but it can lengthen or shorten and cut through anything. It can be called a pseudo-immortal artifact."

"However, your current cultivation is not enough to wield it. You'll have to reach the Mahayana stage at the very least."

Azure Dragon explained with a smile.

"Then doesn't that mean the Azure Dragon Sword can only serve as an aid?"

"That's not as impressive as I imagined."

Ye Fei was somewhat disappointed.

"You child, the path of cultivation is long and fraught with obstacles. If you make proper use of the three treasures within, they will be enough to help you ascend to the Immortal Realm."

"Remember, the road to immortality stretches into the mist. You must cultivate yourself. Never rely too heavily on external things, and never reach for lofty heights beyond your grasp."

Azure Dragon patiently counseled him.

"Thank you for your guidance, Senior."

Those words struck Ye Fei like a staff blow to the head, clearing his mind considerably. He hurriedly bowed to Azure Dragon.

"All right, I've told you everything. The rest depends entirely on you. Unless something important comes up, don't disturb me from now on. I need to sleep for a while."

Azure Dragon yawned, then transformed into an azure rainbow and flew into the clouds above the Azure Dragon Waterfall.

"I should take a look at Liu Yishan's Storage Pouch first. There should be plenty of good things inside."

After looking around, Ye Fei sat cross-legged on the ground and released a wisp of divine sense toward the Storage Pouch.

Now that Liu Yishan was dead, the Storage Pouch had no owner, and Ye Fei's divine sense easily entered it.

This was Ye Fei's first time handling a Storage Pouch.

When his divine sense swept inside, he discovered that its space was very small, only five feet across.

Yet its contents were a jumble of all sorts of things.

Five hundred Spirit Stones, four bottles of pills, a two-foot-long spirit-artifact sword...

Ye Fei inspected the items one by one.

He even found the Voice Transmission Jade Plaque Ning Siyu had given him.

"What's this?"

When Ye Fei saw a vermilion rectangular wooden box, his curiosity stirred.

With a thought, he took the wooden box out of the Storage Pouch.

The wooden box was about eight inches long and four inches wide, and felt light in his hand.

Driven by curiosity, Ye Fei reached out and opened it.

The instant the wooden box opened, a cold, sinister aura seeped out.

A black banner and a jade slip inside the box came into Ye Fei's view.

The cold, sinister aura was emanating from the black banner.

"Is this an evil object?"

Ye Fei reached out and picked up the banner, his face filled with uncertainty.

The banner felt icy to the touch. The instant he grasped it, he seemed to hear countless wronged souls wailing from within, demanding his life.

This sent his mind into turmoil, and he felt an urge to fall down in worship.

Frightened, Ye Fei hurriedly placed the banner back into the wooden box.

This thing is definitely an evil object.

Ye Fei took a deep breath and thought to himself.

To uncover the truth, he released a wisp of divine sense directly into the jade slip.

In just a moment, the contents of the jade slip appeared in his mind.

The banner was called the Yinluo Banner. It was actually a treasure artifact, one that even a Foundation Establishment late-stage cultivator would struggle to wield.

It could not only absorb yin souls, but also use the souls it collected to fight enemies.

The jade slip contained the incantations for controlling the Yinluo Banner.

"I'd better leave this thing alone."

"Liu Yishan was so twisted. It probably had something to do with this Yinluo Banner."

At the thought of Liu Yishan's twisted behavior, Ye Fei could not help shuddering and hurriedly put the wooden box away.

Although he still had some doubts, he did not dwell on them and continued inspecting the contents of the Storage Pouch.

Only after searching through Liu Yishan's entire Storage Pouch did Ye Fei withdraw his divine sense.

During his search, he found quite a few medicinal herb seeds.

Ye Fei took out all the seeds and, without bothering with the whys and wherefores, planted every one of them in the medicine field.

After planting the seeds and watering the medicine field with water from the pool, Ye Fei left the Azure Dragon Sword with a thought.

Now he had to find a way back to the Free and Easy Gate.

Fortunately, Liu Yishan's Storage Pouch contained a map. Otherwise, he truly would not have known which way to go.

Even so, it took Ye Fei considerable effort and seven days to return to the Free and Easy Gate.

After returning to the Free and Easy Gate, Ye Fei went straight to the Hundred Treasures Pavilion. He bought a sack of rice and some grain seeds, then returned to his cave abode.

Sitting cross-legged on his bed once more, Ye Fei felt as though he were dreaming.

He touched the short sword at his waist, his heart surging with emotion.

After calming himself, Ye Fei entered the Azure Dragon Sword again with a thought.

Ye Fei tilled another patch of ground in the Herb Garden and planted some grain seeds, then sat cross-legged beside the pool.

With his eyes gently closed, he focused his mind and stilled his breathing, silently reciting the incantation as he began cultivating.

I spent the whole morning on it and still couldn't pick one I liked, so this one would have to do.

As the Free and Easy True Formula circulated within him, streams of spiritual energy entered his body through the pores all over his skin.

Under the effects of the Free and Easy True Formula, this spiritual energy was gradually converted into true qi and gathered in Ye Fei's dantian.

Driven by the swirling mass of qi, it flowed little by little into Ye Fei's meridians, strengthening the current of true qi within him while circulating endlessly through his meridians.

"After the cleansing of my spiritual root, I really do absorb spirit power a little faster than before."

In just a few breaths, Ye Fei could clearly feel that he was absorbing and converting spirit power more efficiently than before.

Even so, it was still considerably slower than cultivating directly with Spirit Stones.

Ye Fei simply took out two Spirit Stones and held them in his hands.

He intended to use the Spirit Stones to raise his cultivation quickly.