Chapter 22
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Chapter 22: Ye Xiaoyao
In the Earth Fire Workshop, Xu Fan gazed at the flying sword that had fully merged with the runes, a spark of excitement in his eyes. This was his first successfully crafted magical tool.
As he looked at the dark, shadowy flying sword, Xu Fan was reminded of his childhood dream. Back then, if he had a longsword like this, he would have dared to claim that not a single rapeseed flower would remain intact within a thousand meters.
"Since you’re so dark, I’ll name you Tongyou."
"The Tongyou flying sword—what a fitting name," Xu Fan praised himself.
At that moment, a surge of spiritual energy coursed through Xu Fan, and he instantly broke through to the fifth level of Qi Refinement.
Xu Fan couldn’t help but feel a bit speechless.
"I accidentally broke through. Well, at least I can finally wield a magical tool now."
After admiring his first masterpiece, Xu Fan began crafting his magical tools in earnest.
Three days later, Xu Fan stood before three completed magical tools, a proud smile on his face.
The first was the Tongyou flying sword, his first successful creation.
The second was a set of thirty-six needles, each as fine as a strand of hair. They flickered in and out of sight, their chilling glint enough to make anyone’s heart skip a beat.
The third was a massive shield resembling a tortoise shell, crafted from three types of spirit ore with varying hardness. He named it the Colossal Statue.
The chime of the protective barrier rang out.
Wang Yulun walked in, holding Murong Qianer’s hand.
With a wave of his hand, Xu Fan shrank the three magical tools to their smallest size and tucked them at his waist.
"Big Brother Xu, it’s time to head to Tianmi Peak," Wang Yulun called out loudly.
Here comes the dog food again, Xu Fan thought, rolling his eyes.
"I’m ready. Let’s go," Xu Fan replied casually.
"Alright."
As they stepped outside, Xu Fan rolled his eyes once more—Wang Yulun and Murong Qianer were shamelessly riding the same celestial crane together.
"Big Brother Xu, let’s race to Tianmi Peak and see who gets there first!" Wang Yulun shouted excitedly.
The moment Wang Yulun finished speaking, a faint ‘hum’ echoed, and a black shadow flashed by. Xu Fan had already taken off on his sword, vanishing into the horizon.
"If you can catch even a glimpse of my wake, I’ll admit defeat," Xu Fan thought to himself.
Guiding the Tongyou flying sword, he cut through the sky with incredible speed, a streamlined protective shield enveloping him.
Feeling the rush of air around him, Xu Fan felt a thrill like never before.
This was true flight; this was true speed.
An hour later, just as Xu Fan’s spiritual energy was about to run out, he arrived at Tianmi Peak.
By then, Tianmi Peak was already crowded with Qi Refinement practitioners who had come to participate in the secret realm. Xu Fan had no choice but to find a spot at the edge to wait.
Fifteen minutes later, Wang Yulun finally landed on his flying crane, still holding Murong Qianer’s hand as they eagerly searched for Xu Fan.
After scanning the crowd, Wang Yulun spotted Xu Fan standing at the edge.
"Big Brother Xu, how were you so fast just now?"
"Is that flying sword the magical tool you crafted?"
Murong Qianer looked at Xu Fan with curiosity. His earlier speed could rival that of a cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Stage.
"Why do you have so many questions? Don’t you know I’m a master craftsman now?" Xu Fan muttered to himself, not paying much attention to Wang Yulun behind him.
At that moment, a shadow of an elder with snowy hair and a youthful face appeared in the sky, and a profound power manifested above, followed by a giant door descending in mid-air.
"In the Qi Training Stage secret realm, disciples cannot harm each other. After one month, you will automatically emerge."
"Now, all disciples participating in the secret realm, take out 1,000 spirit stones. I will collect them."
"The secret realm is now open."
The ethereal voice put all the disciples present in a wondrous state, as if they were listening to the Sound of the Great Dao.
Only Xu Fan’s eyes flashed with a hint of excitement. "Is this some kind of sound-based divine ability? Interesting."
He took out the one thousand spirit stones he had prepared earlier and gently tossed them into the air. The storage bag released them uncontrollably, and the stones slowly floated toward the shadow above.
There were tens of thousands of such bags filled with spirit stones in the air.
After collecting the spirit stones, the shadow in the sky vanished, and everyone snapped back to reality, quickly flying toward the giant door with their magical tools.
"Big Brother Xu, are you coming with us?" Wang Yulun asked Xu Fan.
"No, but take this. In case of emergencies, input spiritual energy directly into it."
As Xu Fan spoke, he handed Wang Yulun a spirit stone he had modified. With a pulse of spiritual energy, it would emit a high-frequency wave.
"Thank you, Big Brother Xu," the two of them said with smiles, then mounted the flying crane and soared toward the giant door, feeling as light as immortals—like innocent boys and girls.
Even Xu Fan felt a bit envious watching them, but then he shook his head.
"What good is rushing into a grave? Long live being single!"
Saying this, Xu Fan summoned the Tongyou Flying Sword and shot like a black light toward the giant gate of the secret realm.
As he entered the door, the world around him shifted, and an intense, pure wave of spiritual energy nearly knocked Xu Fan out of the sky.
"Wow, this spiritual energy is so pure!"
Xu Fan looked around and realized he was hovering above a forest.
"This is a spiritual wind tree forest, and these trees look fully matured."
Suddenly, an idea popped into Xu Fan’s mind.
"In a month, I should set up a temporary base."
Xu Fan had two storage bags, each with an area of around ten feet square.
In the spiritual wind tree forest, Xu Fan commanded the Tongyou Flying Sword to cut through the trees, and a simple combination hut appeared, complete with a bed and a set of tables and chairs.
Just then, a series of low growls echoed around Xu Fan.
He saw a pack of more than ten jungle wolf beasts surrounding him, their eyes glinting with bloodthirsty excitement.
"Beasts at the fourth level of Qi Refinement, I guess they will do."
*Snap*
Xu Fan snapped his fingers, and immediately, all the wolves lay down on the ground in submission, with some of the female wolves even rolling over to show their bellies to Xu Fan.
"……….." Maybe I was a bit too forceful.
After giving a command to search for treasures from heaven and earth, Xu Fan began wandering through the woods.
"I wonder if I can find the rune legacy of the master craftsman."
After an hour, Xu Fan looked at a pile of spirit herbs in front of him, feeling regret for not buying a few more storage bags.
"Wood Spirit Mushroom, Skyshade Grass, Star Bamboo, Clearheart Tea Tree, Black Gastrodia, Wood Ginseng………."
This whole pile of spirit herbs could be worth over 100 spirit stones, many of which Xu Fan could use for alchemy.
"Truly, this secret realm is filled with spirit herbs," Xu Fan said excitedly.
His recent expenses had been high, and his savings of spirit stones probably wouldn’t last long.
Xu Fan came to the edge of a small lake.
"According to the pattern, shouldn’t there be something in the lake?" Xu Fan mused as he observed the surface of the water.
*Boom!*
Suddenly, the entire lake exploded, and a green sword light shot out, followed by a handsome outer disciple who emerged with it.
By this time, Xu Fan had already set up three layers of protective shields and the Colossal Statue Shield, placing himself about a hundred meters away from the lake.
"Junior Brother, there’s no need to panic. I was just subduing a magical tool. Everything is fine now," a calm and harmonious voice said.
The handsome outer disciple waved his hand, and a green flying sword flew into his grasp.
Excited to have obtained such a treasure in the secret realm, the outer disciple couldn’t believe his luck; it seemed his restoration had been quite successful.
"Congratulations, Senior Brother, on obtaining a peerless flying sword," Xu Fan said, sounding like a non-playable character in a game, uttering frivolous words.
"My name is Ye Xiaoyao. What’s your name, Junior Brother?"
Upon hearing the name Ye Xiaoyao, Xu Fan perked up.
I hope this isn’t the legendary protagonist.
