I am in Yellow Maple Valley, and I have a demonic beast clone!

Chapter Forty-Four: The Golden Pages Acquired! The Refinement Method of the Azure Bamboo Bee Cloud Sword!

……

After passing through several heavily guarded and restricted passages, the two arrived at a heavy bronze gate.

The gate was about two zhang high and five zhang wide, cast entirely in bronze, with densely engraved runes on its surface, faintly shimmering with spiritual light and radiating a heavy aura.

Li Huayuan cast several spells, and each time a spell landed on the door, the runes would flash once.

As the final incantation was completed, the bronze gate emitted a muffled hum and silently slid open to both sides, revealing a staircase extending downwards behind it.

"This is where I store some cultivation techniques, secret arts, and miscellaneous books."

Li Huayuan stood at the door without entering, merely raising his chin: "Go down and choose for yourself. Remember, you can only choose one item."

Zhou Ding took a deep breath, suppressing his excitement, and bowed respectfully: "Yes, thank you, Master!"

He stepped inside.

Behind them, the bronze gate slowly closed, isolating them from all outside sounds.

Behind the door was a huge underground space, divided into several stone chambers.

The stone chambers are connected by passageways, and each chamber has a sign carved on its stone door.

"Cultivation Methods", "Secret Techniques", "Miscellaneous Notes", "Alchemy Recipes"...

Zhou Ding walked straight to the stone chamber marked with the words "cultivation method".

Pushing open the stone door, one finds rows of tall wooden shelves, neatly arranged with various jade slips, books, and animal hide scrolls; a quick glance reveals at least several hundred different items.

Li Huayuan's collection of hundreds of years is all here.

But Zhou Ding's goal was not these at all.

His gaze swept past the dazzling array of jade slips containing cultivation techniques, carefully searching the stone chamber.

According to the original text, the golden page was casually placed by Li Huayuan in a jade box in a corner, mixed with other miscellaneous books.

Because Li Huayuan had studied it for many years but still could not figure out its mysteries, he shelved it and almost forgot about it.

Zhou Ding pretended to be curious as he browsed the cultivation manuals on the wooden shelf, occasionally picking up a jade slip or two to look at before putting it down again.

His steps were neither hurried nor slow, but his gaze swept over every corner like a radar.

finally--

In the deepest part of the stone chamber, in an inconspicuous corner, he saw a jade box covered with a thin layer of dust.

The jade box was only the size of a palm, and its entire body was bluish-green. Unlike the jade slips around it that were obviously carefully arranged, it was casually stuffed into the gap between two wooden shelves.

Zhou Ding's heart beat slightly faster.

He stepped forward, picked up the jade box, and gently opened it.

Inside the box, a palm-sized, thin as a cicada's wing, golden metal page lay quietly.

The golden pages were devoid of any text, only featuring blurry, seemingly naturally formed textures that shimmered faintly in the light of the luminous pearl.

that's it!

Zhou Dingqiang suppressed his joy, closed the jade box, and turned to leave the cultivation room.

He reached the entrance, facing the closed bronze door, and called out:

"Master, I have made my choice."

A moment later, the bronze door slid open silently, and Li Huayuan stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze falling on the jade box in his hand.

"Is this it?"

Zhou Ding handed over the jade box and said respectfully, "Yes, Master. I was just browsing through those cultivation techniques and felt they were lacking something. I happened to come across this jade box, and when I opened it, the golden pages gave me a special feeling, so I decided to choose it."

Li Huayuan took the jade box, opened it, glanced at it, and paused slightly in surprise.

He recognized that golden page, of course.

I obtained it by chance years ago, and after studying it for many years, I still cannot figure out its mysteries.

Over time, he lost interest and tossed it aside in a corner, almost forgetting about it.

Unexpectedly, the newly accepted disciple took a liking to it.

Li Huayuan looked at the gold page in his hand with complicated emotions, then at Zhou Ding who stood respectfully in front of him. After a moment of silence, he finally nodded.

"Since you've chosen it, then take it."

He handed the jade box back to Zhou Ding, saying in a calm tone, "If you also cannot understand it, do not be too attached to it, lest it delay your cultivation."

"Thank you for your guidance, Master. I understand." Zhou Ding accepted the jade box and solemnly put it into his pocket.

But what he was thinking was—

The master couldn't understand it because the golden pages could only be opened using the Azure Origin Sword Technique.

And he happened to have cultivated the Azure Origin Sword Technique.

……

A moment later, Zhou Ding bid farewell to Li Huayuan and left Green Wave Cave.

Before leaving, Yu Kun escorted Zhou Ding to the waterfall and gave him a long rambling speech, from "Junior Brother, come visit often" to "If you have any questions about cultivation, feel free to ask your senior brother," from "Master and Mistress are both good people" to "The spirit carp in the cave is really delicious," for a good half hour before reluctantly letting Zhou Ding leave.

Zhou Ding, wearing his Cloud-Stepping Boots, flew all the way back to the depths of the Taiyue Mountains and returned to his cave.

He set up an array, released Little Gold as a guard, and sat cross-legged in the quiet room beside the Spirit Eye Spring, taking out the jade box from his bosom.

Upon opening the jade box, golden pages lay quietly inside.

Zhou Ding took a deep breath and, following the method in the original work, flicked his right index finger, condensing a fireball the size of a bean at his fingertip.

"go."

The fireball landed on the golden pages, instantly igniting a thin layer of flame.

"go."

The fireball landed on the golden pages, instantly igniting a thin layer of flame.

The golden pages remained unchanged in the flames—but Zhou Ding could clearly see that the flames were being slowly absorbed by the pages.

A moment later, the flames went out.

The gold pages revealed a layer of gold paper inside.

But Zhou Ding knew that this was only the first step.

He took a deep breath, activated the Azure Origin Sword Technique, and a condensed azure sword light slowly appeared at the tip of his index finger.

That was the Azure Origin Sword Essence cultivated from the Azure Origin Sword Technique. Although it was only a wisp, it carried a unique sharpness and vitality.

He gently touched the gold paper interlayer with the sword's edge.

"Buzz—"

After absorbing enough of the Azure Yuan Sword Light, the golden paper suddenly trembled!

Immediately afterwards, a soft yet vast golden light surged out from the gold paper, illuminating the entire quiet room in a golden glow!

The light on the pages slowly receded and condensed, gathering into countless tiny golden characters, each the size of an ant, densely appearing on the surface of the gold paper like stars in the sky.

The words "light" seemed to come alive, wandering and leaping on the paper, and finally—

As if receiving some kind of command, all the golden characters flew up at the same time, turning into streaks of golden light, and swarmed towards the head of Zhou Ding!

Zhou Ding was startled and instinctively tried to dodge, but found that his body seemed to be frozen in place and he could not move!

One by one, golden characters of light flowed from his brow, eyes, and ears, like a swarm of bees returning to their nest, rushing into his head!

In an instant, a flood of information was crammed into my mind!

It was an indescribable throbbing pain, as if my head was about to be split open, or as if countless tiny knives were churning in my mind!

Zhou Ding's face showed pain, veins bulged on his forehead, and his whole body trembled!

But he gritted his teeth and endured it, remaining motionless.

He knew that this was a process of passing on the torch.

I don't know how much time passed—perhaps just a moment, or perhaps a very long time—but the throbbing pain finally subsided slowly.

Zhou Ding opened his eyes, panting heavily, his back soaked with cold sweat.

But his eyes were full of joy.

This golden page contains a method for forging flying swords.

This is the forging method for the "Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Sword"!