Chapter 208: Press On with Greater Vigor

Ye Liuyun immediately focused on refining the Buddha Light relic.

The Golden Light contained in the relic was absorbed by his True Essence and Soul. His whole body then exuded an otherworldly aura.

It seemed that this Golden Light did not increase his strength, but in fact, once confronted with demonic objects, it would unleash boundless power.

Even merely emitting this Golden Light would intimidate demonic beings.

Therefore, during his refining process, Corpse Demons kept a wide distance from the area and dared not approach.

Demonic entities avoid this Golden Light instinctively, just as ordinary people instinctively shun the scent of demons.

After Ye Liuyun absorbed all the Golden Light from the relic, he also refined the relic itself and merged it into his Physical Body. This further strengthened his Physical Body, causing it to emit a holy aura.

After nearly a day and night of refining, Ye Liuyun finally refined and absorbed the fingernail‑sized Buddha Light relic completely.

He then took out the Storage Ring from the Sea of Blood to see if it contained anything valuable. As a Protector of the Blood Demon Sect, even with a modest rank, his wealth should be considerable.

Sure enough, within the Storage Ring from the Sea of Blood, Ye Liuyun found three holy artifacts: a Flying Snow Sword, a Blazing Cloud Spear, and a Mountain-flipping Seal.

"Three holy artifacts!" Ye Liuyun shouted in surprise.

"Look at you, clueless about the world!" Qiong Qi scoffed, turning his head away, showing no interest in the holy artifacts.

"Huh, what's this?" Ye Liuyun pulled out from the Storage Ring an object the size of a large stone. Moreover, it moved on its own and could transform into the shape of a Barbarian Bear, only its head was a bit small.

"An earth‑element spirit beast. You can keep it for body‑refining!" Qiong Qi recognized it at a glance.

Ye Liuyun immediately followed the method for handling fire‑element spirit beasts and input a strand of his Divine Sense.

The Storage Ring from the Sea of Blood also contained many mid‑grade Crystal Stones, which Ye Liuyun did not inventory. He only collected a few medicinal herbs, leaving the rest untouched and directly placed them into his own Storage Ring.

"You really had a great harvest this time! So many fine treasures." Lin Xueying said enviously from beside him.

"Anything you like? Take whatever you want!" Ye Liuyun smiled generously at her.

Lin Xueying shook her head; she had no interest in things she could not use.

She was not like Ye Liuyun, who had seen such items since childhood. Ye Liuyun had not encountered many of them before, so he collected everything he saw.

"Nothing I need! Your Purple Scale Armor alone is enough for me!"

That Purple Scale Armor was forged by Ye Liuyun himself, making it extraordinarily meaningful to her—far more valuable than the other treasures.

"What shall we do next?" Lin Xueying assumed they had gathered enough and could return.

Ye Liuyun's eyes flashed. "Press on! We'll keep slashing Corpse Demons. I need to earn more merit points to exchange for techniques back home. My master doesn't pamper me like yours does; I have to rely on myself!"

His realm had risen, and his True Essence and Soul were further empowered by Buddha Light, giving him greater confidence. Having come this far, he was reluctant to return. Better to use the chance to kill more Corpse Demons and hone his skills.

For the next half‑month, Ye Liuyun deliberately sought Corpse Demons of the Sea Transformation's eighth and ninth layers to spar with.

Against eighth‑layer Sea Transformation Demons, he fought purely on strength. With Buddha Light now within his True Essence, slaying these Demons became even easier.

For ninth‑layer Sea Transformation Demons, he attacked directly with his Soul. Buddha Light combined with Nether Ghost Fire made his assaults virtually unstoppable.

Accompanied by Qiong Qi, Lin Xueying also found some fourth‑ and fifth‑layer Sea Transformation Demons to spar with, greatly improving her combat ability.

They kept killing until they reached the barbarian border, where they encountered a Corpse Demon of the Holy Realm. Ye Liuyun and Qiong Qi struck together and eliminated it.

They had intended to return immediately, but Lei Ming broke through the Holy Realm, seeking to spar with its Corpse Demons.

So they pressed deeper, with Ye Liuyun primarily using Soul attacks while accompanying Lei Ming in training. They killed roughly a dozen Holy Realm Corpse Demons.

One day, Ye Liuyun's Transmission Talisman lit up.

Ye Liuyun input his Divine Sense and received a message from his master.

"Three months from now, the academy will select participants for the Seven Sects Grand Competition—a chance to interact with other sects. If you can hurry back, try to join."

"What is the Seven Sects Grand Competition?" Ye Liuyun asked Lin Xueying.

"The Seven Sects Grand Competition is an opportunity for our Holy Martial Academy to compete and exchange with several major sects. But I recall it being at least six months away! How come it's advanced this year?" Lin Xueying explained.

"That's indeed a chance to see the world!" Ye Liuyun decided at once to hurry back.

"However, each such grand competition always has disciples who have broken into the Holy Realm participating. If you want a good ranking, you'll have to work hard! Otherwise, you'll have to reveal some trump cards!"

Lin Xueying also noticed that in recent battles Ye Liuyun deliberately avoided using his bloodline power and refrained from Soul attacks.

"Indeed! My current realm is really a hindrance!" Ye Liuyun sighed helplessly.

He released the Flying Boat, and together with Lin Xueying and others, rode the Flying Boat back.

The Flying Boat sped at full throttle, and in three days they returned to the Ye Clan.

After returning to the Ye Clan, Ye Liuyun handed over his previously used Blazing Sun Bow, Heaven‑Stabilizing Seal, and the Heaven Tier long sword and Heavenly Demon Spear seized from the Blood Demon Sect to the clan's elder for distribution.

He also left all the cultivation techniques, pills and other items he had seized that he could not use to the Ye Clan.

The seized Crystal Stones were all given to Yu Er to store. Yu Er suddenly amassed tens of millions of Crystal Stones and was so excited she couldn't sleep.

Moreover, she also obtained pills, armor, a pseudo holy soldier and a holy soldier this time, instantly becoming a sudden rich person!

As for techniques, Ye Liuyun plans to find even better ones for her after returning to the academy.

The academy permits maids to practice its internal techniques alongside their masters, though few people actually exchange techniques for a maid.

Yu Er did not disappoint Ye Liuyun's expectations; during his absence, her realm truly broke through to the True Essence realm.

Ye Liuyun never expected her breakthrough to be so swift. To reward her, he gave her the Stone Shield for self‑defense.

Although the Stone Shield is merely a top‑grade Heaven Tier weapon, it can withstand two attacks from a Saint, making it fairly practical!

Even Lei Ming and Lin Xueying felt jealous upon seeing how well Ye Liuyun treated Yu Er.

After finishing his affairs with the Ye Clan and himself, Ye Liuyun went to consult the Heavenly Luck King about dealing with Great Zhou.

"Prince, before I leave, shall I eliminate the 50,000 troops of Great Zhou? So they won't pose a threat here." Ye Liuyun said to the Heavenly Luck King.

The Heavenly Luck King thought for a moment, shook his head, and said, "If you wipe them out, the defense line against Corpse Demons will have a gap. It's better to wait until you're stronger, then directly overthrow the Great Zhou Dynasty without needlessly killing ordinary soldiers."

"But if I leave, what if they send a Saint to attack?" Ye Liuyun asked.

"You only need to eliminate that Saint. Corpse Demon attacks have already erupted on all fronts; Qi Tian and the Great Zhou Dynasty can't attend to us. Keeping us here can still patch the defense gap, so there's no problem for now.

Moreover, I've already planned: if they try to deal with us, we'll split into smaller units, scattering so they can't locate us."

Ye Liuyun thought it over and agreed. He then bid farewell to the Heavenly Luck King, took Yu Er and the others, and hurried toward the garrison of the Great Zhou Dynasty's army.