Madam, please ascend.

Chapter 23 A thought of life and death

The old man's words were really touching. In order to get Yun Yi to help him, he even offered two beads.

He introduced, "This is the 'Soul-Destroying Orb.' If you secretly crush it while my eldest disciple is off guard, you can instantly detonate the sword energy within him. As for my second disciple, he's obsessed with flowers and plants. If you set the herb garden on fire, he'll be in a state of panic, and then you can use the orb to damage his foundation."

Yun Yi was still in no hurry to agree, "I have two questions, please help me solve them."

"You say it."

"The first question is, why did the two of them betray their master?"

"Haha, this is a long story. When I created the Feitian Secret Realm, they both accidentally broke in, and there were people chasing them. I was kind-hearted and took them in and accepted them as my disciples. Unfortunately, they wanted more."

Yun Yi asked: "What do they want?"

The old man replied, "They want to take a shortcut and inherit my legacy. Most importantly, they don't want to stay in the secret realm, but are greedy for the romantic life outside."

Yun Yi nodded and said, "Second question, why did you keep this strand of divine consciousness?"

"Of course, my daughter secretly helped me and found such a remote place in the secret realm to create a stone statue for me and preserve my divine consciousness."

After saying this, the old man seemed to become more transparent. He left behind two soul-destroying beads and said, "Let's stop here for today. You should return to the mansion quickly to avoid arousing suspicion."

As the words fell, Yun Yi felt dizzy again and found himself teleported back to the peach blossom forest.

He put away the Soul-Destroying Orb with a complicated expression.

In fact, Yun Yi still didn’t completely believe the old man who called himself Nangong Feitian. Everything seemed suspicious, forcing him to doubt the authenticity of his words.

Even if the old man's words were true, Yun Yi still needed to consider whether he needed to help. Risk and reward go hand in hand. If the plan failed, not only would he be in trouble, but Suzaku would also be implicated.

In the Feitian Secret Realm, Monkey Boss has the highest cultivation level, reaching the Return to Void Realm. Zhi Boss is at the late stage of the Spiritual Transformation Realm. I imagine that Tao Sanniang, whom I have never met, has a high cultivation level as well.

Yun Yi is only in the early stage of Qi Refining Realm now. Even with Zhuque as his helper, he is still no match for Boss Monkey.

……

That night Yun Yi returned to the immortal's residence and did not run into anyone. He was so full of thoughts that he could not fall asleep for a long time and stayed up until dawn.

As usual, he first got the bucket from Zhi Laoer, and then went to the stone steps to ask for directions.

The stone steps were particularly difficult to walk on today. As he advanced into the Qi Refining Realm, every step he took seemed to add a huge rock to his back out of thin air, nearly causing him to collapse.

When he finally climbed to the top of the mountain, he found the white monkey sitting on the hilt of Fang Yuan's sword eating a peach, obviously having been waiting for him for a long time.

Although Yun Yi was exhausted, he still forced himself to bow and said, "Greetings to the Monkey Sword Immortal."

The monkey boss really liked the title of Sword Immortal and also enjoyed the feeling of being praised highly. He seemed unaware of Yun Yi's experience last night and asked with a grin, "Are you at the Qi Refining Stage?"

"Thank you Monkey Sword Immortal for your guidance, and Zhi Lao Er for the medicinal bath you prepared."

"These are all trivial matters." Monkey Boss said as he actually threw Fang Yuan over to him, "Try and see if you can lift it."

Yun Yi tried it as he was told and found that the square sword did not move at all.

He readjusted his state and tried again. He felt that the large piece of iron seemed to have merged with the green mountains under his feet. Picking it up was as difficult as lifting a mountain.

Seeing this, the Monkey Boss laughed and said, "Brute force won't work. You've been practicing swordsmanship with me for so long. Have you ever felt even a trace of Fangyuan Sword Intention?"

After being reminded by the white monkey, Yun Yi suddenly realized. He recalled that when he was practicing sword in his dream, he drew circles with the sword, overlapping each other, as if the sword intent was endless.

So he tried again, using the White Ape Sword Technique, and this time he finally picked up the sword.

The Monkey Sword Immortal said, "Why are you just standing there? Start dancing!"

Yun Yi did as he was told, but he didn't expect that after practicing the White Ape Sword Technique only once, all his strength was drained away, and the sword in his hand fell to the ground.

After entering the Qi Refining Realm, he could barely use the square and round sword, but he was far from proficient.

The monkey boss said: "Too weak, you are still too weak."

Yun Yi was not angry, but said casually: "It's already very good."

"Mortals have a limited life span, aren't you anxious?"

"I don't care about these things. Wherever I go or wherever I die, that's where my heart is at peace."

"What if I tell you a shortcut?" "What?"

The Monkey Boss said meaningfully, "This Fangyuan Sword Intention is interesting. As long as you kill me, the Fangyuan Sword Intention I have comprehended will become yours. Then you can use the sword like me."

Yun Yi said without thinking: "Senior is making fun of me again."

"I'm telling the truth. I've lived for so long that I'm already tired of it. If you want to kill me, I definitely won't fight back."

"Have you drunk too much, monkey?"

After saying that, Yun Yi no longer paid attention to Monkey Boss and sat cross-legged in meditation. After he had recovered some strength, he picked up two buckets of water and began to walk down the stone steps.

On the way, Yun Yi thought of what Monkey Boss had said and felt that he was quite abnormal today.

What's the point of killing it and then you can inherit the Fangyuan Sword Intent? This kind of "plundering by trickery" practice method is only used by people in the Demon Sect. Nangong Feitian must look down on it, and it is even more impossible to pass it down.

The monkey even said that he had the intention to die. This flying secret realm was a complete paradise. How could a monkey who was greedy for fine wine really be willing to leave it?

Yun Yi also discovered that Monkey Boss often exposed his back to him today. If he wanted to kill him, he could crush the Soul-Destroying Pearl at any time.

But he had no intention of doing so.

After struggling for a night, Yun Yi finally figured something out.

Regardless of Monkey Boss's true identity, his help to Yun Yi was genuine. Even from Yun Yi's perspective as a human being in two lifetimes, if he had to make a choice, he would help Monkey Boss and Zhi Lao Er, rather than Nangong Feitian.

How could Yun Yi forget the kindness of teaching and educating himself?

After a few hours, he went down the mountain and returned to his mansion, and took the initiative to pour two buckets of water into the large vat in the medicine garden.

Zhi Lao Er glanced at Yun Yi as usual and said coldly, "You are already in the Qi Refining Stage. I'm afraid that ordinary medicinal baths will hardly help you."

Yun Yi thanked him, "Senior, you have helped me so much. I am already very satisfied."

"Actually, there's another way to make your cultivation progress by leaps and bounds." Zhi Lao Er always spoke directly, never beating around the bush. He said directly, "My true form is the Nine Treasures Ganoderma. As long as you eat me, your spiritual energy will be abundant, and you will be able to directly advance to the late stage of Qi Refining."

"Senior is joking."

"I'm not kidding you. To be honest, I don't want to live anymore."

"Why are you saying the same thing as Monkey Boss? Are you drunk too?"

Zhi Lao Er sighed and no longer emphasized the matter of seeking suicide.

Yun Yi felt that there was something strange about the secret realm today. It seemed that ever since he saw the strange stone statue, the creatures here had become worried.

Maybe they felt something?
After some thought, Yun Yi asked, "How should I leave here? Return the same way?"

Zhi Lao Er was a little surprised when he heard this: "You want to leave?"

"I've already received too many benefits. I feel a little embarrassed to continue staying here."

"Now that you have reached the Qi Refining Realm, don't you want to soar to the sky?"

"I know that you have to eat one bite at a time."

"You know shit!"

Yun Yi didn't understand why Zhi Lao Er suddenly got angry, "Did I say something wrong?"

Zhi Lao Er pointed at Yun Yi's nose and cursed: "To tell you the truth, the biggest secret of Feitian Secret Realm is that whoever obtains Nangong's inheritance can kill me and Monkey Boss and take away the greatest benefit of this secret realm!

"Monkey Boss is imitating Nangong's magical powers, and I am imitating Nangong's cultivation. If you kill us both, it is equivalent to possessing Nangong's magic and power when he was alive. Let an ordinary mortal soar to the sky, this is the secret of this place!

"And before you truly receive the inheritance, no one can leave the secret realm!"

These words contained a lot of information, even Yun Yi was shocked and speechless.

It turns out that the Feitian Secret Realm is to find a successor for Senior Nangong, and once you enter, you cannot leave unless you inherit his mantle.

He suddenly remembered what the old man said last night. It seemed that he had to kill Monkey Boss and Zhi Boss No. 2 now. He had no other choice.

(End of this chapter)