A Qin general, after a great slaughter at the White Bone Sect, leaving no survivors, scoured the sect for treasures, packing everything of value.
He was disappointed, however, to find no thousand-year-old spirit herbs within the entire sect. He had come specifically for them, and to lose a leg in the process felt like a massive loss. The thought filled him with resentment, and even after killing everyone, he felt unsatisfied.
Recalling that the Eagle Mountain Kingdom had two other exotic passages, he rose into the sky and flew towards the Heavenly Demon Gate. Behind him, the White Bone Sect was engulfed in flames.
...
Far away in Xiancheng, Qin, Xiao Fei was unaware that his mission to save the country through indirect means had been successfully completed.
At this moment, Xiao Fei sat in a cultivation chamber, a golden core slowly rotating within his dantian. A thick layer of white powder covered the ground around him.
As he had predicted, the moment he broke through to the Golden Core stage, the jade tablet began acting up again, frantically absorbing spiritual energy to repair its cracks. This time, a relatively thick crack on the tablet was successfully repaired, and his spatial area expanded tenfold, reaching 360 mu.
The previously cramped space now felt vast and open. The pond where he raised the flying fish had grown to over ten mu in size. The smaller ponds, previously dug out for planting the Five-Colored Spirit Lotus and Nine-Bend Golden Lotus, had also more than tripled in area.
Furthermore, he felt a stronger connection to the jade tablet and the space itself, as if he were the master of this realm. His divine sense could easily encompass the entire space, controlling the flow of spiritual energy within it, and he could even condense the spiritual energy into various shapes. Manipulating heaven and earth spiritual energy was something only mastered by Nascent Soul cultivators at an introductory level, and legendary Soul Transformation cultivators were said to truly command this divine ability. He could now experience the feeling of a powerful cultivator within the space, though it was like wearing brocade at night, unseen.
Xiao Fei surveyed the space and picked some spirit fruits to feed the flying fish. The flying fish had an enormous appetite, and if fed sufficiently each day, it would grow rapidly. By now, the flying fish was about ten zhang long, and this was even without him feeding it to its full capacity. This was because the space was previously only 36 mu, and some of it had to be used for other purposes, with the Iron Fire Ants also consuming their share, leaving the flying fish with a limited portion. Legend had it that the ancestor of the flying fish, "Kun," was a colossal being, too large to fit into several pots. Compared to its ancestor, the flying fish was still in its infancy.
When Xiao Fei arrived with several large baskets of spirit peaches, the flying fish immediately flew to him, rubbing its barbels against his face, making him feel slippery and itchy.
"Alright! Stop being so clingy! A creature of your size acting cute isn't a good look."
"Here, open your mouth! Ah—"
The flying fish obediently opened its large mouth, gazing expectantly at the basket of spirit peaches, trying its best to appear obedient and adorable. However, its open mouth was large enough to swallow Xiao Fei whole. Xiao Fei lifted a basket of spirit peaches and poured them directly into the flying fish's mouth.
The flying fish crunched twice, swallowing the entire basket of spirit peaches, pits and all, then opened its large mouth again, waiting for Xiao Fei to feed it. After feeding it several more baskets of spirit fruits, the flying fish contentedly rubbed against Xiao Fei before diving into the pond.
Xiao Fei scanned the space with his divine sense. The Iron Fire Ants lost in the previous battle had been replenished, with a hundred thousand new ones cultivated. The greatest advantage of the Iron Fire Ants was their sheer numbers and fearlessness of death.
Just then, Xiao Fei's divine sense detected a newly sprouted seedling. The seedling had just emerged from the soil, with only two tender leaves, oval in shape and less than an inch tall. The space was filled with many crops, and it was normal for some seeds to fall to the ground and sprout. However, this seedling had grown on the newly formed land within the space, and none of the existing crops in the space had similar leaf shapes.
When cultivators examine objects with their divine sense, they can perceive subtle differences. Although the seedlings of many crops look similar in their initial stages, Xiao Fei was certain that this one was different from the original crops in the space. With his extensive knowledge of various spirit items, he couldn't identify it immediately and would have to consult the sect's ancient texts later.
Xiao Fei spent another few days consolidating his cultivation. Battles between Golden Core cultivators could involve the use of Dharma Treasures, whose power far surpassed that of Spirit Artifacts. A single Dharma Treasure could be worth hundreds of thousands, even millions, with no upper limit to its value.
Fortunately, Xiao Fei was quite lucky, as he now possessed two Dharma Treasures. One was a black flying sword, the prized possession of a Golden Core cultivator from the Heavenly Demon Gate who had been trapped at the bottom of a canyon. The other was a bronze seal, one inch in size, obtained from a Nine-Eyed Demon. This seal was uniformly produced and distributed by the Great Qin Dynasty. Within the dynasty's territory, it could mobilize a portion of the dynasty's destiny. Having destiny bestowed upon him granted a significant advantage in combat, an experience he had personally encountered when he suffered a loss at the hands of the Nine-Eyed Demon.
However, such a treasure was like a hot potato, not easily wielded. Firstly, the treasure had a built-in tracking function; as soon as he brought it out of the space, he would immediately be tracked by dynasty officials, a sure path to death. Moreover, without the Great Qin Dynasty's authorization and corresponding encrypted rune formations, refining this Dharma Treasure was not an easy task.
Xiao Fei decided to complete the refinement of the black flying sword first. He tested its functionality in the secret chamber; it was very effective, easily slicing through Spirit Artifacts, and it even accidentally cut a large gash on his own tough body. As for the seal, it could only remain in the space for now, to be dealt with later. He had discovered that by mobilizing the space's spiritual energy, he could gradually wear away the tracking and positioning imprints on it. Furthermore, due to his deepening connection with the space, any items within it, as time passed, would gradually bear his imprint, effectively being refined.
When Xiao Fei emerged from the cultivation chamber, Huang Feifei was waiting for him and immediately stepped forward to congratulate him.
"Congratulations, Young Master, on successfully advancing to the Golden Core realm."
Xiao Fei noticed that Huang Feifei's expression, while joyful, also held a hint of anxiety, so he inquired.
"Feifei, is something the matter?"
"Young Master, we've found traces of the Nine-Eyed Demons!"
It turned out that Huang Feifei had investigated the man with the mustache. After discovering that he had been possessed by a Nine-Eyed Demon that craved cultivator blood, and before Xiao Fei had exposed him, the demon had secretly killed over a dozen cultivators. Based on this characteristic, Huang Feifei had finally located the Nine-Eyed Demon's trace. The demon had found a new host and was hiding within a demonic cultivator. This cultivator had recently killed two other cultivators in secret, and through her investigation, Huang Feifei was now eighty percent certain.
"Good! Where is Zhu Yu? Call him to action with us."
As he spoke, Zhu Yu, clad in opulent attire, pushed open the door and entered.