Chapter 265

After Ye Liuyun returned, he first reported to his master the experiences of the past few days.

Hao Chengfeng came back yesterday. After returning, he immediately went to cultivate.

Ye Liuyun was called away by people from Lingyun Pavilion; the Grand Elder naturally knew, but simply did not stop him.

Upon learning that Ye Liuyun had disguised himself as a blood‑armored person in the Secret Realm, killed many disciples of various sects, and that the people of Shuiyue Sect had found out, and that he had also wiped out the Li Family, the right prime minister of Great Zhou, he realized the trouble Ye Liuyun had caused this time was considerable.

After thinking, he said, "You should cultivate first; the people heading to the Seven Sects competition will depart in five days. I'll go ahead and give the Dean a heads‑up; we'll probably need his support this time."

Ye Liuyun returned to cultivate as instructed. The Grand Elder then found the Dean and told him about Ye Liuyun's trouble.

"Ha ha! This kid is improving at lightning speed! It's no big deal; which genius didn't blaze a trail? Do whatever you need to do; no need to worry too much." The Dean was not at all concerned about Ye Liuyun's safety.

Only then did the Grand Elder return to Tianqian Feng with peace of mind.

After returning, Ye Liuyun took out the Hell Mingshe's Yuan Dan again and began to fully absorb its power. At the same time, he was also absorbing Divine Soul power from the Thunder Fire Domain.

To speed up his cultivation, Ye Liuyun also used the independent space of Xuan Kong Shi. He brought the Soul‑Condensing Jade Bed into Xuan Kong Shi as well. He cannot bring living beings inside now, but bringing objects is allowed.

Cultivating inside for ten days equals one day outside. He has five days, enough to raise both his realm and his Divine Soul by one level before he leaves.

The Yuan Dan absorption was a bit slow, but the Divine Soul absorption was rapid; in just one day, Ye Liuyun completely absorbed the stored Divine Soul power, nearly doubling the two Golden‑Armored Divine Souls. Hell Mingshe also benefited considerably.

Then, while continuing to absorb the Yuan Dan, he also kept advancing his sword intent.

About twenty days later, Ye Liuyun felt his realm was about to breakthrough again. So he arranged enough Spirit Stones around him, stacking them as thick as a city wall and taller than himself.

His current Qi Sea can be said to be turning into Yuan Dan. Although the Qi Sea has produced an eighth vortex, this vortex can no longer drive large‑scale rotation and fluctuation of True Essence.

Mainly, the viscosity of True Essence is increasing, becoming more gelatinous. Though its rotation is slow, the True Essence content has already doubled and fills the entire Qi Sea.

Ye Liuyun himself thinks that once he reaches the Ninth Sea Transformation, this Qi Sea should completely become Yuan Dan, and the True Essence should be able to solidify.

His current True Essence is no worse than the True Essence Quality of a first‑level Yuan Dan, even slightly higher. Moreover, the Golden Light emitted by his True Essence grows ever richer. His True Essence's mass is already greater than that of others, and in quantity it far exceeds that of ordinary people.

Therefore, when he breakthroughs, his demand for Spirit Stones is far greater than that of ordinary people.

After his breakthrough, he felt a pang of sorrow watching the piles of Spirit Stones turn into powder.

Then he went outside to look and found that almost everyone had already broken through their realms.

Lei Ming and Bai Hu have already reached the third level of Yuan Dan, and Shi Yuan has reached the second level of Yuan Dan.

The other women progressed even faster. Wu Qingcheng has broken through to the fifth level of the Sea Transformation, Yu Er has reached the first level of the Sea Transformation, and Ru Yue is at the ninth level of True Essence.

All of this is thanks to the pills he brought out of the Secret Realm.

Seeing everyone busy consolidating their realms, Ye Liuyun harvested many Holy Herbs, then returned to Xuan Kong Shi, simultaneously refining pills and cultivating sword intent.

This time he not only used Holy Herbs to forge Blood‑Vein Pills and Trans‑Yuan Pills, but also produced many healing and detoxifying pills. Since injuries are inevitable in the Seven Sects Grand Competition, he prepared them in advance.

After finishing the pills, he began absorbing Blood‑Vein Crystal Stones, including those obtained earlier in the Secret Realm. He took out all the Blood‑Vein Crystal Stones, ate the Blood‑Vein Pills, and absorbed the stones' power, raising the awakening level of his blood veins to over ninety percent.

The sword intent was the same; he continued to comprehend the sword intent he sensed in the Rift Sky Gorge, and before departure he finally cultivated it to a complete state.

Now, when he swings his blade, the overbearing aura, combined with the integration of Heavenly Earth power and a second‑level Trans‑Yuan Pill, should pose no problem.

In the remaining time, he further cultivated the Overbearing Heaven Fist and Sky‑Piercing Finger, and even gave a brief practice to his body technique.

The interior space of Xuan Kong Shi truly lives up to being an excellent training spot. Its space is incredibly sturdy, impervious to damage, even more solid than Ye Liuyun's Cultivation Room.

So Ye Liuyun stayed inside, battling the Skeleton Puppet several times, fighting to the fullest!

Not until the night before departure did he emerge from Xuan Kong Shi, also bringing the Soul‑Condensing Jade Bed out so that others could use it to cultivate Divine Soul power.

The Grand Elder fetched him again. When he arrived, Hao Chengfeng was also there; his realm had already broken through to the first level of Yuan Dan, apparently having found his own opportunity in the Secret Realm.

"Congratulations, senior brother, you finally broke through to the Holy Realm!" Ye Liuyun said after seeing him, offering sincere congratulations.

"Ha ha, junior brother, don't worry; during the Seven Sects competition, senior brother will protect you!" Hao Chengfeng was also very pleased.

He had long been looking forward to breaking through his realm.

The Grand Elder, somewhat concerned, said, "The Great Zhou Dynasty has learned that you annihilated the Li Family and has begun to take notice of you. The elder you killed back then, who was at the Heavenly Gang Realm, was also an Elder of Lingyang Academy, so I doubt Lingyang Academy will let this go easily. Moreover, the news that you disguised yourself as a blood‑armored person in the Secret Realm has spread from the Water Moon Palace; the Blood Demon Sect, the Ancient Demon Sect, the Shuiyue Sect, the Jin Family, and even the Demon Race will all devise ways to kill you…"

At that point the Grand Elder sighed, "I fear you'll become a target of everyone when you go to the Seven Sects competition this time!"

"Master, rest assured; I'm already prepared in my heart," Ye Liuyun said firmly.

"Alright, junior brother, in such a short time you've accomplished so many great deeds! Don't be afraid; senior brother stands with you!" Hao Chengfeng said carefree. He truly envied Ye Liuyun's recent actions from the bottom of his heart.

The Grand Elder, looking at his two disciples, felt a bit envious. This is how young people should be! As for himself, he worries too much, always looking ahead and behind.

"I tell you this so you're mentally prepared. However, this time I, your master, will go with you; as long as I'm there, you won't be harmed! I haven't taken action in many years, so these people probably forgot that this old relic of mine still exists, right?"

The Grand Elder, inspired by his two disciples, suddenly felt a surge of heroism and became much more open‑minded.

Ye Liuyun also sensed the Grand Elder's changed aura, filling his heart with gratitude. His master had never considered handing him over; instead, he wanted him to fight for him, which far exceeded his expectations.