Chapter 547

Chapter 547: Purple Palace Secret Realm

Though Fang Lie had earned the contempt of the little Purple Gold Turtle, he ultimately succeeded in subduing it after a month-long struggle, even with the creature’s full cooperation.

Next came the Space-Calming Bead, which proved trickier since it wasn’t forged by the Mo Sect but seized from others. The old bird’s intervention proved decisive. As a Ninth-Rank treasure itself, its overwhelming power intimidated the bead into submission. Though bound by the Benevolence Token’s prohibition against killing living beings, the old bird faced no such restrictions when dealing with treasures or their spirits.

The old bird’s unique nature allowed it to both craft treasures and dismantle them. Through threats and promises of future upgrades, the Space-Calming Bead reluctantly accepted Fang Lie as its master. In return, Fang Lie pledged to refine and enhance it.

While primarily used to prevent enemy escapes during combat, the bead’s true value shone in exploring hazardous realms. Many such realms formed from shattered special spaces left by ancient great ones, riddled with treacherous spatial cracks that even Thunder Tribulation Immortals avoided. The bead’s ability to mend these fractures made it indispensable for safe navigation.

After securing the bead, Fang Lie abandoned refining the Secret Technique Strange Snake to prepare for entering the Purple Palace Secret Realm. Within a day, Sect Leader Mo Qianxun summoned him to a seemingly ordinary mountain cloaked in primeval forests.

Mo Qianxun revealed the Wisdom Token and performed over a thousand hand seals to unveil a hidden cave guarded by four ten-zhang stone lions – Eighth-Rank mechanical puppets. A portly elder emerged, floating rather than walking, his eyebrows shooting up at seeing a junior disciple in this restricted zone.

"The brat’s wagered his three clones against our support for his Celestial Platform Competition bid," Mo Qianxun explained wearily. "Five Token Lords approved this exception."

Elder Wang muttered about unfair advantages but conceded when Mo Qianxun noted the sect stood to gain regardless of outcome.

Fang Lie entered the cave to find spiritual energy so dense it flowed into his meridians without refining. The old bird in his consciousness sea explained this energy contained primordial purple energy – innate spiritual force aligned with cosmic laws.

The Purple Palace Secret Realm manifested as endless purple mist where spatial laws defied logic. "This was an ancient great one’s perished cultivation core," the old bird revealed. "Your Golden Pool Qi Sea feeds postnatal energy here to produce primordial purple energy. Strengthen your foundation, and your Purple Palace grows mightier."

When Fang Lie inquired about a theoretical third core, the old bird deflected: "Focus on absorbing what’s left here before they seal this realm for a century."

Finally producing the Secret Technique Strange Snake, Fang Lie received unexpected reassurance: "This spineless thing will bond eagerly – it craves magic more than spirit pearls." The old bird snorted. "In millennia of crafting Eighth-Rank treasures, I’ve never seen such an undignified specimen."