The young man in white watched Ye Fei limp away into the distance, a smug smile spreading across his face.
Then, with a flicker of movement, he went after Duan Hong and the other three.
Of course, Ye Fei had not seen the young man in white appear.
After struggling back to his cave abode, Ye Fei sat cross-legged on his bed and practiced breathing exercises to recover from his injuries.
It took Ye Fei a full five days before his injuries had mostly healed.
Who exactly ordered those four to do this?
Li Zaitian?
But why would Li Zaitian do something like this?
Could it really just have been for spirit stones?
As an outer sect elder, he shouldn't be short of spirit stones, should he?
Sitting cross-legged on his bed, Ye Fei knitted his brows as he pondered the mastermind and his motives.
Although this looked like a dispute between low-ranking outer sect disciples over resources, Ye Fei believed there was more to it.
After all, an ordinary disciple would not have so many spirit stones.
Any ordinary disciple who saw that many spirit stones would certainly have wondered about Ye Fei's identity.
But Duan Hong had not. Clearly, he had known who Ye Fei was beforehand and must have been acting on someone's orders.
Could it be Li Zaitian's disciple?
Ye Fei suddenly recalled the young man he had met at the Reception Pavilion.
That doesn't make sense!
There's no grudge between us. What reason would he have to attack me?
Isn't he afraid of punishment from the supreme elder?
Now that Ye Fei had a suspect, more questions arose in his mind.
Looks like staying in the Free and Easy Gate won't be easy either.
Unable to untangle his thoughts, Ye Fei shook his head helplessly, overcome by a deep sense of powerlessness.
With situations like today's, even if he did manage to stay in the Free and Easy Gate, his life would probably be far from easy.
A Duan Hong had appeared today; tomorrow there would be a Li Hong, and the day after, a Wang Hong.
He could see that the Free and Easy Gate followed the law of the jungle: the weak were prey for the strong, and strength reigned supreme.
Even as the supreme elder's nominal disciple, he needed a certain amount of strength to back him up.
I still need to complete Qi Refining as soon as possible. No matter how difficult things get, I have to secure my place here first.
Ye Fei cast aside his tangled thoughts and took two spirit stones from inside his robe.
Then he silently recited the incantation, and the Free and Easy True Formula began circulating within him.
In mere moments, streams of true qi began flowing through his meridians, repeatedly battering the last few acupoints.
An hour later, the membrane blocking Ye Fei's Central Ultimate Acupoint ruptured, successfully opening the final acupoint in his body.
Streams of true qi surged like a gushing spring through the Central Ultimate Acupoint toward the Gate Origin Acupoint.
In an instant, the two streams of true qi, one flowing in and the other flowing out, merged at the Gate Origin Acupoint.
The moment the two streams intertwined, Ye Fei's Gate Origin Acupoint began trembling violently and rapidly expanding, forming a walnut-sized space in the blink of an eye.
At the same time, a rotating cluster of qi the size of a soybean appeared at the center of this space, where the two streams met. Its rotation drove the merged true qi to circulate through Ye Fei's body.
Ye Fei's dantian had finally formed.
The instant his dantian formed, a thunderous roar rang through Ye Fei's mind.
Then everything suddenly opened up, and every object within thirty feet appeared in his mind.
At that moment, Ye Fei gained divine sense.
Ye Fei had finally succeeded in Qi Refining, reaching the first layer of Qi Refining and becoming a true immortal cultivator.
I've finally done it!
Feeling the changes in his body, Ye Fei could not help letting out a sigh of relief.
However, he did not let himself get carried away with joy. Instead, he concentrated and steadied his breathing, continuing to circulate the Free and Easy True Formula and absorb the remaining energy in the spirit stones in his hands.
Half an hour later, when both spirit stones had crumbled entirely to ash, Ye Fei finally rose and left his cave abode.
By then, his cultivation had become noticeably more stable.
Standing in the courtyard, Ye Fei closed his eyes and began sensing the changes in his body.
Two days later, a satisfied smile appeared on Ye Fei's face as a longsword spun and danced around him.
After two days of constant exploration and experimentation, he could now skillfully control his divine sense.
Whether probing with his divine sense or using it to manipulate objects, he could now do either with effortless ease.
Once he had mastered controlling his divine sense, Ye Fei climbed to the peak again with his longsword on his back.
This time, he did not go to the Reception Pavilion, but headed straight into the Hundred Treasures Pavilion.
Inside the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, Ye Fei spent his last two spirit stones. With one, he bought fifty rehmannia herb seeds; with the other, he bought a sword manual called Heaven-Piercing Tyrant Slash.
After returning to his cave abode, Ye Fei tidied up the spirit field in his courtyard and planted the rehmannia herb seeds.
Now that he had succeeded in Qi Refining, his foremost task was to remain in the Free and Easy Gate.
And the prerequisite for staying was completing sect assignments.
Compared with going out to search for spirit herbs, growing them himself was slower, but once they matured, he would have a sizable harvest.
For instance, if the fifty rehmannia herbs he had planted matured, they would not only cover two months of sect assignments, but also spare him any worries about seeds for his next planting.
As for having enough food, Ye Fei no longer worried. Now that he had succeeded in Qi Refining, he had time to venture down the mountain.
Green Pine Mountain teemed with all kinds of wild game. If he was lucky, he might even gather a few spirit herbs.
After planting all the seeds, Ye Fei took out the Heaven-Piercing Tyrant Slash manual.
It was a low-tier sword manual, and the only one he could afford.
With just a sweep of his divine sense over the book, Ye Fei committed its entire contents to memory.
Then he drew his longsword and began practicing in the courtyard.
And so, Ye Fei tended his spirit field while practicing Heaven-Piercing Tyrant Slash.
His days were full and productive.
But whenever he lay down to rest, he would enter the same dream.
"Fei, come to Azure Dragon Valley. There's something here that can make you stronger."
"Fei, come to Azure Dragon Valley. There's something here that can make you stronger."
For more than a month, these dreams had never stopped.
By his reckoning, Ye Fei had been away from home for eight months. Hearing his father's voice in his dreams every day was a comfort of sorts.
It eased his longing for Ye Canglong, at least a little.
Five days later, after finishing the last of his rice, Ye Fei headed down the mountain with his longsword on his back.
This was his first time descending Black Cloud Peak.
Just as Ye Fei reached the foot of the mountain, four people approached him. They were Duan Hong and the other three outer sect disciples.
The four seemed to have been waiting there specifically for Ye Fei. As soon as he appeared, they moved to surround him with unmistakable purpose.
"Junior Brother, we meet again."
As soon as he reached Ye Fei, Duan Hong regarded him with a beaming smile.
"Were you waiting here specifically for me?"
Ye Fei frowned slightly. He was no fool. How could he fail to see something so obvious?
Ye Fei did not understand. He had no spirit stones left, so why were these people still targeting him?
"We just happened to be passing by."
Although Duan Hong said this, his expression was visibly unnatural.
"But I don't have any spirit stones left. Why are you still blocking my way?"
There was no way Ye Fei would believe Duan Hong's words. His voice turned somewhat cold.
"We aren't after spirit stones. This time, we just want you to help us with something."
Duan Hong narrowed his eyes and spoke meaningfully.
"Help?"
"With what?"
Ye Fei could not help being taken aback.
"Just come with us."
"You'll find out when we get there."
Duan Hong gave Ye Fei no chance to refuse. As he spoke, he reached out to grab Ye Fei's arm.
Seeing this, Ye Fei hurriedly stepped back and dodged. "What if I won't go?"
"Whether you go isn't up to you."
When Ye Fei dodged, a cold glint flashed through Duan Hong's eyes, and he reached for him again.
Ye Fei was no longer the same as before. How could he let Duan Hong succeed?
He drove his right heel into the ground and slid swiftly backward, dodging once again.
"You succeeded in Qi Refining?"
Seeing how nimbly Ye Fei moved, Duan Hong looked utterly incredulous.
"So what if I did?"
"Can you tell me who ordered you to do this?"
Ye Fei smiled calmly, his eyes fixed on Duan Hong.
"I never expected someone with a mixed spiritual root like you to succeed in Qi Refining. But even so, you still can't escape the palm of my hand."
Duan Hong snorted coldly, completely ignoring Ye Fei's question as he reached for him yet again.
This time, Duan Hong moved at his utmost speed.
He refused to believe that someone at the second layer of Qi Refining could not handle someone at the first.
But the outcome disappointed him.
Ye Fei's reactions were now swift. He stepped to the right with his right foot, then tilted his entire body aside, easily dodging once more.
"Get him together!"
Seeing how nimble Ye Fei was and finding himself unable to catch him, Duan Hong flew into a humiliated rage and immediately called to the other three.
With all four attacking together, why would Ye Fei stay and tangle with them?
Pushing off repeatedly with his toes, he bounded more than ten feet away in an instant and ran up the mountain.
Ye Fei intended to flee back to his cave abode.
Once he returned, its protective formation would keep him safe.
No matter how bold these four were, they would not dare forcibly break through his cave abode's protective formation.
The same was true even of the mastermind behind them.
"After him!"
Seeing Ye Fei flee, Duan Hong shouted and led the other three in pursuit.
But although they were at the second layer of Qi Refining, a minor realm above Ye Fei, they struggled to catch him. He had grown up in the mountains.
"A bunch of useless fools!"
As Ye Fei pulled farther and farther ahead of the four, an angry shout rang down from above.
Then a streak of white light flashed, and a young man in white appeared in front of Ye Fei, blocking his path.
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