Chapter 220: Unexpected Benefits

The ice statue woman waved her hand, and the ice wall closed again. "Believe it? Now let's talk about you. What benefit do you want? You already have lightning and Golden Crow Holy Fire, you're already strong; if you also fuse Ice Power, it would affect your Golden Crow Holy Fire. I think it's not worth it."

Ye Liuyun thought for a moment and asked, "Can I learn illusion techniques?"

"No!" the ice statue woman replied outright. "Techniques and illusion arts are true inheritances; I can't give them to you!"

"Oh, then give me an ice‑type spirit beast, please. I need it for body refining. I have no other needs. I mainly came in for a friend, not to obtain any inheritance," Ye Liuyun said calmly.

"Hmm, that can be done." As she said, she gestured, and from thin air snatched an ice‑type spirit beast and handed it to Ye Liuyun.

Ye Liuyun originally lacked a water‑type spirit beast, but an ice‑type one works the same; for him there's not much difference.

In fact, just obtaining this spirit beast already satisfied him.

But the ice statue woman said, "The thing I gave you seems a bit lacking! How about I help boost the spiritual intellect of the sword on your back?"

"Huh? That can be enhanced too?" Ye Liuyun was a bit skeptical.

"Of course! The more your sword fights, the faster it improves. I can create an illusion realm for it, letting it battle continuously for three years, while only three days pass in real time—that's an upgrade!" the ice statue woman said proudly.

"Uh… this… does seem feasible!" Ye Liuyun nodded. Yet he was reluctant to hand the sword over to the ice statue woman; he felt a bit uneasy.

The ice statue woman seemed to read his mind and said understandingly, "You don't need to give it to me; just hold it and input a strand of True Essence. That way it will feel like it's fighting alongside you. You don't need much; a single strand is enough, just keep feeding it for three days."

"Alright then!" Ye Liuyun immediately agreed. A single strand of True Essence—he wouldn't stop for three days, not even three months.

Thus, he drew the Demon Slaying Sword and fed it a strand of True Essence. Then the ice statue woman pointed a finger at the sword; an Ice Crystal shot onto the blade, and the Demon Slaying Sword immediately began to hum, emanating a strong battle intent.

After that, Ye Liuyun kept feeding True Essence, and the sword's battle intent never faded; it kept rising.

Just as the three days were about to end, the ice statue woman let out a sudden "eh?" and said to Ye Liuyun, "Your two women have also entered!"

She said this while raising a hand; an ice wall materialized out of nowhere, displaying the silhouettes of Wu Qingcheng and Yu Er.

"These two girls, why are they so disobedient! Can we let them out?" Ye Liuyun asked anxiously.

"Are you sure?"

The ice statue woman asked that, then explained, "Here, there is no real life danger; at most they'll be unable to bear the pressure and faint. When the Secret Realm closes, they'll be transported out."

"Only they'll think they've died! At that time, with your Divine Soul Power, you can use Divine Sense to awaken them. I think even without inheritance, it's a trial for them. But if you insist, I can still send them out."

"Are you sure they won't die?" Ye Liuyun confirmed with the ice statue woman.

"Of course." The ice statue woman, fearing he wouldn't believe, showed him the states of the others. Some stood in place, some lay on the ground, but all had their Souls fainted; all other bodily functions were normal.

Ye Liuyun saw this, hardened his heart. "Then let them undergo the trial!"

"Hmm! And who knows, they might obtain an inheritance!" the ice statue woman said expressionlessly, though her voice hinted at amusement.

She kindly reminded Ye Liuyun, "You can also cultivate here. Your Qi Refinement technique can absorb Ice Power and convert it into True Essence. Cultivating here is no worse than outside."

Ye Liuyun heard this and immediately tried; indeed, his Mysterious Origin Qi Refinement Manual could convert this Ice Power into True Essence. Moreover, the Ice Power here was extremely abundant, just like the plentiful spiritual energy outside.

Ye Liuyun quickly expressed his thanks.

At that moment, the Demon Slaying Sword emitted a sudden hum, and its Divine Sense communicated with Ye Liuyun.

"Boss, that battle was so exhilarating! When shall we fight again?"

Ye Liuyun jumped in surprise, staring incredulously at the Demon Slaying Sword. Its spiritual intellect had grown far too quickly. Then again, three years of nonstop battle—he hadn't given the sword such a chance before.

He looked hopeful toward the ice statue woman. She shook her head and said four words: "Excess is as bad as deficiency!"

Ye Liuyun also nodded, used Divine Sense to tell the Demon Slaying Sword, "There will be a chance later!" then sheathed the sword back onto his back.

Then he sat cross‑legged and began cultivating.

Wu Qingcheng and Yu Er walked on and eventually got separated. The situations each encountered differed.

Yu Er felt cold. Her cultivation level was low, so her resistance to chill was limited. At this moment her feet were already numb from the frost, yet she kept pressing forward.

"I must find the master! Even if I only see him once before I die, seeing him safe will ease my heart!"

Yu Er's heart constantly held that belief, "I must find the master." Ye Liuyun's image was deeply etched in her mind.

Whenever she felt she couldn't go on, she recalled Ye Liuyun's visage, encouraging herself to keep moving. By the end, almost all her True Essence was frozen, yet she mechanically stepped forward, visualizing his image, moving forward step by step.

Wu Qingcheng was the same; she only wanted to see Ye Liuyun. She endured various illusions—temptations, threats—but she would not compromise.

In her heart, there was only Ye Liuyun. Nothing could tempt her.

As for threats, she feared even less; someone who isn't afraid of death has nothing left to fear.

Ye Liuyun occasionally checked on them, but most of the time he was cultivating.

Ice Power is also energy. Encountering such abundant energy, the True Essence in his dantian surged wildly.

He spent a day reinforcing and expanding his dantian, then began voraciously absorbing True Essence. Simultaneously he allocated part of his Divine Sense to monitor Wu Qingcheng and Yu Er.

He didn't know what the two women were thinking, but he greatly admired their perseverance.

The ice statue woman, seeing him at a breakthrough point, said nothing, but she kept watching the two women, testing them.

Suddenly, the aura around Ye Liuyun shifted, and his realm broke through to the Fifth Sea Transformation!

The surrounding Ice Power was absorbed even faster; five visible vortices formed a reverse funnel, channeling Ice Power into his body.

Within Ye Liuyun's dantian, the fifth vortex gradually stabilized.

"At this rate, once I break through to the Sixth Sea Transformation, the True Essence in my dantian will fill it completely!"

Ye Liuyun observed the dantian, just a small portion away from being filled with True Essence, feeling somewhat at a loss.

"Looks like I need to hurry back and ask the master what this is!" Ye Liuyun thought to himself.