"Isn't anyone whose cultivation exceeds the Qi Refining Period unable to enter the Divine Feather Secret Realm?"
Jiang Mengyun's words made Ye Fei pause, and he asked in confusion.
"You have the Azure Dragon Sword. I can enter it beforehand and evade the Heavenly Dao's scrutiny that way."
Jiang Mengyun explained.
"Then, Martial Aunt, will you still be able to come out of the Azure Dragon Sword after entering the secret realm? Will your cultivation be suppressed once you do?"
Ye Fei asked with some curiosity.
He was genuinely interested in this.
If Jiang Mengyun could appear in the Divine Feather Secret Realm with her nascent soul cultivation intact...
Then she could use Sweeping the Four Directions to overcome all opposition and become the Divine Feather Secret Realm's greatest winner.
"I should be able to come out, but my cultivation might be suppressed to qi refining perfection."
Jiang Mengyun sounded somewhat uncertain.
She had deliberated for a long time before making this decision.
There were risks involved, too.
After all, nothing like this had ever happened before.
She had no idea what unexpected circumstances might arise once she entered.
There might even be a risk of death.
But for the soul-devouring ganoderma, she was willing to take that risk.
"Do I absolutely have to enter this secret realm?"
Ye Fei hesitated before finally asking.
To be honest, he still knew very little about the Divine Feather Secret Realm.
"If you want to reach foundation establishment, you must enter. Otherwise, you'll have no hope of reaching it for the rest of your life."
"Martial Nephew Ye, do you not know much about the Divine Feather Secret Realm?"
Jiang Mengyun gave Ye Fei a surprised look, then followed her explanation with another question.
"I don't know much about it. I only know that it produces plenty of high-tier spirit medicines."
Ye Fei smiled sheepishly.
"The high-tier spirit medicines inside are certainly important, but more importantly, qi refining cultivators on the Divine Dragon Continent cannot reach foundation establishment without visiting the Divine Feather Secret Realm at least once."
"And the Divine Feather Secret Realm only opens once every twenty years. If you miss this opportunity, you'll have to wait another twenty years to reach foundation establishment."
Jiang Mengyun explained further.
"Why is that?"
"Aren't there Foundation Establishment Pills? Wouldn't taking one work even without entering the Divine Feather Secret Realm?"
Ye Fei frowned slightly and asked in confusion.
"No!"
"Foundation Establishment Pills only work after you take the mortal-cleansing herb unique to the Divine Feather Secret Realm, washing away your mortal flesh and forging a spiritual body."
"And that mortal-cleansing herb cannot be taken out of the Divine Feather Secret Realm."
"Without taking the mortal-cleansing herb, you cannot break through, no matter how many Foundation Establishment Pills you take."
Jiang Mengyun gently shook her head.
"Then can all qi refining cultivators enter the secret realm?"
A thought struck Ye Fei, and he asked another question.
"In theory, yes, but generally, no one is willing to enter before reaching the late qi refining stage."
"The Divine Feather Secret Realm is extremely dangerous. Not only are there countless demon beasts, but the open clashes and hidden struggles between cultivators are even more brutal."
"If your cultivation is low and your strength is weak, you'll only be cannon fodder once you enter."
As she spoke of this, a faint sadness appeared on Jiang Mengyun's face.
Presumably, she had recalled some of her past experiences inside.
"If I miss it, I'll have to wait another twenty years?"
Ye Fei lowered his brows and murmured.
"Of course, if you don't want to enter the secret realm this time, Martial Nephew Ye, you can wait another twenty years."
Jiang Mengyun did not force him; she merely smiled calmly.
For her, there was little difference between going now and going twenty years later.
"Martial Aunt, do you want to enter the secret realm to find that soul-devouring ganoderma?"
Rather than giving a direct answer, Ye Fei asked tentatively.
"Exactly. I've already reached the peak of the nascent soul middle stage, so it's time to make some preparations for ascension."
"That soul-devouring ganoderma can only be found in the Divine Feather Secret Realm, and there's only one. I don't want to rely on others. I want to try to obtain it myself."
Jiang Mengyun did not conceal her personal motives.
"All right. I'm willing to enter the Divine Feather Secret Realm this time."
Seeing how candid Jiang Mengyun was, Ye Fei made his decision after only a brief hesitation.
"In that case, you have my thanks, Martial Nephew Ye."
"There are only four months left before the secret realm opens. You'll need to make the most of your time cultivating."
"Here are some Azure Cloud Pills. They should help you reach the peak of the qi refining ninth layer within four months."
"The higher your cultivation, the better your chances inside."
Jiang Mengyun smiled gratefully at Ye Fei, then flicked her delicate finger, sending an emerald-green jade bottle into his hand.
After putting away the jade bottle, Ye Fei bid Jiang Mengyun farewell and went to the Herb Garden.
He spent half a day tending the Herb Garden thoroughly before returning to his cave abode.
After sitting on the stone stool and pondering for a while, Ye Fei entered the Azure Dragon Sword with a thought.
On his return journey, he had focused entirely on controlling his flying artifact to increase his speed, leaving him no time to examine these Spirit Stones.
Now that he had time, he naturally had to inspect them.
He found an open patch of ground and poured out all the Spirit Stones from the Storage Pouches.
"So many."
Looking at the small mountain of Spirit Stones before him, Ye Fei was overwhelmed with excitement.
"One hundred twenty-three thousand five hundred."
After sweeping his divine sense over the pile of Spirit Stones, his mouth fell open.
It truly was an enormous amount. Never mind a Qi Refining Period novice like him—even a Nascent Soul Cultivator would turn green with envy at the sight.
After calming himself, Ye Fei went over to the Spirit-Washing Tree.
Although he had yet to encounter a cultivation bottleneck, he still needed to cleanse his spiritual root twice more to break through the qi refining stage.
Now that he had plenty of Spirit Stones, he planned to complete all the remaining spiritual root cleansing in one go. Afterward, he would only need to focus on cultivating.
Standing beneath the Spirit-Washing Tree, Ye Fei made a grabbing motion with his right hand, and a large pile of Spirit Stones appeared beside him.
Half a day later, after spending nearly eight thousand Lower-Grade Spirit Stones, Ye Fei finally completed the two spiritual root cleansings.
Compared with before, each of these two spiritual root cleansings was more painful than the last.
Each also lasted longer than the one before it.
The ninth cleansing lasted nearly an hour.
Even with his skin refinement realm physique, he had almost failed to endure it.
"Dammit, that's insane."
"At this rate, the first thing I'll have to do after reaching foundation establishment is improve my Body Tempering level."
After washing the grime from his body, Ye Fei shook his head helplessly.
Although the Qi Refining Period had nine layers, the realms that followed were not divided so finely.
They were divided only into early stage, middle stage, late stage, and perfection.
Going by the requirement of nine spiritual root cleansings for each major realm...
To break through the bottleneck of the foundation establishment early stage, he would have to cleanse his spiritual root at least three times in each minor realm.
But given his body's current endurance, he would have to advance to the second body refinement realm, the flesh refinement realm, before his next spiritual root cleansing.
Otherwise, he would be completely unable to endure the pain of the next spiritual root cleansing.
"All that will have to wait until after foundation establishment."
With a soft sigh, Ye Fei sat cross-legged beside the Azure Dragon Pool.
Then he took out an Azure Cloud Pill and placed it in his mouth.
The Azure Cloud Pill melted as soon as it entered his mouth, turning into streams of medicinal liquid that flowed throughout Ye Fei's limbs and body in the blink of an eye.
The medicinal liquid was extremely potent, with an explosive force that left Ye Fei feeling painfully swollen.
"What overbearing medicinal power."
A sharp gleam flashed in Ye Fei's eyes as he rapidly circulated the Free and Easy True Formula within his body.
As the Free and Easy True Formula circulated, the streams of medicinal power were rapidly converted into currents of true qi.
They flowed through the vital acupoints throughout Ye Fei's body and into his meridians, then circulated endlessly within them.
His cultivation, too, increased bit by bit at a rate visible to the naked eye.
"So fast."
Four hours later, Ye Fei opened his eyes, his face filled with disbelief.
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