Chapter 148: Chapter 146: Feixing Secret Realm

Artifact Refining Room, smoke swirling about.

The Chi Long Ding chimed and hummed, beneath it a dozen samadhi true fires burned fiercely.

In the air, strands of thousand-year-old silver moon bamboo stretched across.

Ning Daoran sliced one bamboo joint after another, tossing them into the Chi Long Ding. Accompanied by the fierce roasting of the samadhi true fire, these bamboo joints finally began to soften after half a day.

The densely packed silver patterns on the bamboo were the first to melt.

These silver patterns were the main material for the Silver Moon Flying Swords, containing immense Five Elements gold attribute essence qi, making the swords crafted from them exceptionally sharp.

After an entire day, a shallow layer of silver solution had appeared in the Chi Long Ding, bubbling and boiling while the cauldron was glowing red hot.

“It’s about time.”

Ning Daoran muttered to himself and lightly flicked his hand, causing a piece of precious golden essence to fall into the cauldron.

Mixing in the golden essence was meant to enhance the swords’ sturdiness.

Several two-hour periods later, about half a pound of golden essence had been completely integrated into the hot silver solution.

Ning Daoran pointed gently, and immediately, strands of green material were extracted from the bamboo joints, which were already nearly burnt to powder. These too were essential parts of the Silver Moon Flying Swords.

The silver patterns represented metal, and the green essence extracted from the bamboo represented wood.

The Water Cloud Golden Bamboo Sword Formation itself was a killing array formed by the complementary attributes of water, metal, and wood, one could not do without any of the three.

Days later.

“Hum, hum, hum~~~”

The Chi Long Ding was glowing red-hot, and the solution inside was a deep red, completely refined.

“Rise!”

Ning Daoran lifted his finger to start shaping.

Immediately, strands of red-hot slurry rose from the cauldron, continuously solidifying and reshaping in the air into handleless flying swords.

The swords were entirely silver-white, with strands of green patterns close to the tips, lending them an ancient and antique appearance.

“Hissss~~~”

Suddenly, an auspicious light ascended from the twelve flying swords.

“Holy shit…”

Ning Daoran was overjoyed inside, this auspicious light was a sign of top-grade spirit artifacts!

Soon after, the twelve Silver Moon Flying Swords stretched across in mid-air, all fully refined.

Ning Daoran brimmed with pride and spurred himself on to further refine the twelve flying swords by infusing a bit of his divine soul into them, thus making the swords recognize him as their master.

After about half a day, the twelve flying swords were completely refined.

“Return!”

At Ning Daoran’s command, the twelve flying swords “whooshed” and transformed into strands of silver radiance flying back, winding around his left wrist.

Shortly after, the swords interconnected from head to tail, locking together to form an exquisite silver bracelet.

This bracelet, now connected with Ning Daoran’s divine soul, had become his personal treasure.

“Rise!”

At his thought, strands of silver light flew out from his wrist, instantly forming twelve sharp flying swords in the air!

The tips of the flying swords pointed directly at Big Stupid Deer.

“Ao ao~~~”

Big Stupid Deer’s fur stood on end, sensing tremendous terror.

“Return!”

Ning Daoran swiftly recalled the flying swords, the bracelet on his wrist glowing brightly.

Big Stupid Deer exclaimed in awe!

By now, this set of Silver Moon Flying Swords was significantly stronger than the previous set of second-order mid-grade spirit flying swords!

With the Water Cloud Golden Bamboo Sword Formation, the power that could be unleashed had increased by at least fifty percent, truly terrifying!

…

The new flying swords had been successfully refined, and the Fiery Fire Fish Dragon Formation had also been successfully crafted.

Ning Daoran’s next task was still to refine the White Feather Flowing Sound Array, as he always felt the safety coefficient was insufficient without a truly strong defensive array.

Days later, he disguised himself and descended the mountain, transformed into a young cultivator wearing a green daoist robe with a sword on his back, controlling his cultivation at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment.

It was still the elusive Independent Practitioner Jianjia.

“Eh, isn’t that Fellow Daoist Jianjia?”

In Xiyu Pavilion, Chen Ping’er smiled warmly, “Fellow Daoist Jianjia, who redeemed Koushao years ago, has never visited Xiyu Pavilion since.”

“People who cultivate in the mountains grow lazy.”

Ning Daoran took out a list of some materials missing for the White Feather Flowing Sound Array, “Fellow Daoist Chen, please see how many of these materials Xiyu Pavilion can gather for me.”

“Yes, Fellow Daoist Jianjia, please wait a moment.”

Before long, Chen Ping’er returned, accompanied by a Great Cultivator exuding the aura of a golden core, none other than Bai Ming, the Supreme Elder of Xiyu Pavilion!

“I have met Senior Bai Ming!”

Ning Daoran quickly stood and greeted with a fist and palm salute.

This Senior Bai Ming was a Golden Core Expert, well-known throughout Yellow Dragon Square.

“Fellow Daoist, please sit.”

Bai Ming responded kindly, with a smile, “The materials that fellow daoist is seeking are all quite rare. We at Xiyu Pavilion don’t have a single one, but this old man is curious, by collecting these materials, could fellow daoist perhaps be an Array Master?”

“Indeed.”

Ning Daoran said, “I am dull and I have immersed myself in the Array Path for many years, but now I am only a Second-Order Mid-grade Array Master.”

“A Second-order Array Master?”

Lay Practitioner Bai Ming’s eyes brightened, and he gave Chen Ping’er a look, saying, “Fellow Daoist Jianjia, this place is crowded and noisy, would you care to join this old man in a private room for a chat?”

“At your convenience!”

When a Golden Core Cultivator made an invitation, it naturally could not be refused.

Even if Ning Daoran was disguised as Independent Practitioner Jianjia, he did not want to create unnecessary problems.

In the private room, strands of prohibition rose up, twisting the surroundings like heatwaves.

Chen Ping’er bowed and exited the room, leaving only Lay Practitioner Bai Ming and Ning Daoran.

“Fellow Daoist.”

Lay Practitioner Bai Ming said, “Have you ever heard of the Feixing Secret Realm?”

“Oh?”

A chill ran through Ning Daoran’s heart; of course, he knew of the Feixing Secret Realm.

He had once searched the soul of that Golden Core Ancestor from Zhang Family of Qingzhou Prefecture and knew the location and the opening time of the Secret Realm, but even that Zhang Family Ancestor did not know much about the specifics within the realm.

In any case, this secret realm was extremely mysterious, and ordinary Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators likely had never even heard of it.

“I’ve never heard of it; could it be that what the senior wants to discuss with me is related to this secret realm?”

“Exactly!”

Lay Practitioner Bai Ming nodded, “It’s said that the Feixing Secret Realm is the place where the Feixing True Monarch passed away. This Feixing True Monarch had reached the Nascent Soul Late Stage but unfortunately did not advance further.

This secret realm contains all of the Feixing True Monarch’s treasures, not only items for Core Formation and Nascent Soul but possibly even ancient magical treasures or even spiritual treasures.”

His eyes radiated eagerness as he said, “Besides items for Core Formation and Nascent Soul, it’s said that the Feixing True Monarch was an extremely formidable Insect Master who tamed a group of Flying Star Centipedes, ranked fourteenth on the Ten Thousand Insects List. If we could obtain these Flying Star Centipedes…”

Ning Daoran’s eyelids twitched.

It was another secret realm, and he had consistently refused this type of matter.

However, he also knew that even though he possessed the immensely powerful gift of Commanding All Beasts, it was only effective for his cultivation techniques.

To obtain stronger magical treasures and spiritual insects to aid him, he must explore secret realms and snatch treasures from those old monsters!

Moreover, Ning Daoran was now in the Late-stage Foundation Establishment with profound mana.

Facing a Golden Core Stage opponent, he might not necessarily be at a disadvantage, even if the opponent were in the Golden Core Late Stage, Ning Daoran believed he could either fight or escape.

So, the only thing to confirm was whether the rest of the people accompanying him on this journey were safe.

Lay Practitioner Bai Ming seemed to see Ning Daoran’s inclination and said, “Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Jianjia, in this journey to the Feixing Secret Realm, all you need to do is use your skills as a Second-order Array Master to break the prohibitions and help us seize the treasures. As for the items you seek, we will definitely not disappoint you.”

‘This sounds eerily familiar, I feel like I’ve heard this somewhere before…’

Ning Daoran furrowed his brow, “Please enlighten me, senior, who else will be going to the Feixing Secret Realm, so I can be prepared.”

“Of course.”

Lay Practitioner Bai Ming said, “Most of those accompanying are old friends of mine of many years, including the Mid-stage Golden Core Cultivator Master Du Ye from Jiuyun Sect and Old Monster Jinxia from Sea Burning Sect in the Mid-stage Golden Core.”

A chill ran through Ning Daoran’s heart, during the battles between righteous and demonic paths, hadn’t Old Monster Jinxia already sided with the demonic path? Yet he had connections with Lay Practitioner Bai Ming?

“Besides.”

Lay Practitioner Bai Ming continued, “There’s also the Soul-devouring Demon from the Soul Devouring Sect, who is said to be in the Golden Core Late Stage.”

It was indeed so.

Ning Daoran frowned, those joining him on this trip to the Feixing Secret Realm were only seeking opportunities inside the realm, regardless of being righteous or evil.

“Besides that, there are several Foundation Establishment juniors from Jiuyun Sect and Soul Devouring Sect.”

Lay Practitioner Bai Ming smiled meaningfully: “So you need not worry, Fellow Daoist Jianjia, even if there is a dispute during this journey to the Feixing Secret Realm, it will only be between Jiuyun Sect and Soul Devouring Sect, you and I are both neutral.”

With these few words, he had already classified Ning Daoran as one of “his people.”

“If that’s the case…”

Ning Daoran furrowed his brow; he already had the Jiedan Elixir, grew Nichang Flowers and Dust-falling Grass in the Spirit Garden Cave Heaven.

Therefore, the only thing in the Feixing Secret Realm that truly intrigued him was the Flying Star Centipede.

Ranked fourteenth on the Ten Thousand Insects List, high in tier, these Flying Star Centipedes were undoubtedly among the strongest kings of spiritual insects.

And Ning Daoran, possessing a talent for Commanding All Beasts with a score of 10, could tame many spiritual insects; it would be a waste not to keep some by his side.

“Senior Bai Ming.”

Ning Daoran gave a slight bow with his fist, “I can accompany the seniors to the Feixing Secret Realm and help break the prohibitions, but I have one condition: if we really find the Flying Star Centipedes, they are mine. As for items for Core Formation and Nascent Soul, I have self-awareness and will not contend for them with the seniors.”

“Good, very good!”

Lay Practitioner Bai Ming laughed heartily, “Since this is the case, Fellow Daoist Jianjia, let us seal the deal. One month from now, let’s meet in Yuanlong City in northern Qingzhou, how about that?”

“Agreed, it’s a deal!”

“It’s a deal!”

…

Qiongbi Peak.

Ning Daoran started preparing for the journey to the secret realm, starting with paperfolk. Five Class A Paperfolk had already been refined, and of course, the more Second-class Paperfolk, the better.

He refined over a hundred Second-class Paperfolk in one go, then infused them with mana in batches.

Each Second-class Paperfolks was infused with about ten percent of his own mana, usually five at a time, and then he would take elixir pills to restore mana, meditate using Evergreen Technique to reinvigorate, and once his mana was full, he would continue the infusion.

In this way, he converted the excess mana he had into the combat power of the Second-class Paperfolk.

A month later, the mana infusion process for over one hundred Second-class Paperfolk was completed. Along with various magical treasures and spiritual artifacts, he gathered Big Stupid Deer and Little Blackie, and the whole family set off for Qingzhou in full force!