"Clack."
While Ye Fan was in a daze, the flying sword gently dropped to the ground.
The sound wasn't loud.
But it struck Ye Fan's heart like a heavy hammer.
Unless he could fundamentally solve the problem with his body.
Even if he reached the Tribulation Crossing stage in the future, he still wouldn't be able to fly...
This was something Ye Fan found hard to accept.
His attack range was already short enough.
If he couldn't fly, wouldn't he become a living target in the future?
What was the point of playing then!
Thinking of this, Ye Fan picked up the sword again.
He carefully drew in the spiritual energy from his surroundings, attempting to fix the sword in mid-air.
However, no matter how Ye Fan tried, he couldn't succeed.
The process of guiding the spiritual energy was smooth, without any problems.
The problem was that it wouldn't fly...
That spiritual energy was completely independent of him, unable to be used by him at all.
It was like a person could live with the help of tools, but could not generate fire themselves.
In the end, Ye Fan could only reluctantly accept this fact.
Unless he could change his body's inability to store spiritual energy, he wouldn't be able to fly on his own in this lifetime...
Ye Fan's mind even conjured a scene.
One day in the future, he would successfully cultivate to the Tribulation Crossing stage.
Then, as a matter of course, he would encounter a cultivator at the Tribulation Crossing stage.
Due to some conflict, the two would naturally have to fight.
Many weak cultivators would gather around, ready to witness a world-shattering battle between two powerful figures!
The opponent would greet him politely, then slowly fly into the air.
He would jump with all his might below, only to find he couldn't even reach the opponent's knees...
Damn it!
It was an eyesore...
...
Ye Fan looked up at the sky in despair.
Damn Heavenly Dao, are you playing with me!
Just then, a cultivator flew past on his sword.
The cultivator didn't notice Ye Fan, he simply flew past.
But Ye Fan felt a surge of displeasure.
He even had the thought of blasting the guy out of the sky!
In fact, Ye Fan knew that his thought was a bit twisted.
But he just couldn't help it...
In the evening, Ye Fan returned to the Clear Heart Sect.
He went straight to the testing room and performed an attack on the testing stone.
As expected.
His attack had indeed reached the first level of the Golden Core stage.
After testing, Ye Fan returned to his residence.
His stomach growled with hunger again, it was time for an upgrade!
After eating more than a dozen fourth-tier mineral stones in one go, Ye Fan finally felt full.
His aura had also reached the second level of Foundation Establishment.
Ye Fan sat cross-legged on the bed, preparing to go into the stone's internal world for another stroll.
Suddenly.
The stone above his sea of consciousness, which had been silent, moved!
A wisp of gray energy spread out from the stone and moved towards the seal in Ye Fan's mind!
The gray energy inserted itself into the seal and then became still.
The next moment.
A few wisps of spiritual power were drawn out from within the seal and swam towards the gray stone.
Ye Fan was instantly dumbfounded!
What?
You're stealing my spiritual power right in front of me?
How could I stand this?!
With a thought, Ye Fan entered the stone's internal world.
He appeared at the misty platform within the barrier.
Actually, Ye Fan could now enter and exit this barrier at will, it was now a mere formality.
The spiritual power the stone had stolen from the seal was currently hovering above the platform.
Ye Fan immediately extended his hand.
That spiritual power showed no resistance towards him.
It even surged into Ye Fan's body on its own!
Furthermore, Ye Fan could clearly feel that this spiritual power was now completely usable by him.
Now he finally understood.
This stone was an ally!
With this, he wouldn't have to specifically set aside time to steal spiritual power anymore!
Perfect!
After waiting for a while and finding no new spiritual power appearing, Ye Fan simply sat cross-legged on the misty platform and tried to sense again.
This time, it went smoothly.
The same peculiar sense reappeared.
And while Ye Fan was sensing, the previous talisman began to shuttle through his body again.
After an unknown amount of time, his sensing reached saturation again, and Ye Fan slowly opened his eyes.
During the sensing process, the second talisman had completely integrated into his body.
So Ye Fan walked out of the barrier and headed towards the Heavenly Ladder in the distance again.
He walked two hundred zhang in one go before stopping.
"Now it seems..." Ye Fan murmured as he looked at the Heavenly Ladder in the distance, "the distance increased by one talisman should be one hundred zhang..."
Ye Fan roughly estimated the distance.
If nothing unexpected happened.
He would need to fuse eight more talismans to reach the vicinity of the Heavenly Ladder.
With a flash of thought, Ye Fan returned to his room.
"Huh?"
As soon as he came out, Ye Fan realized something was wrong.
The last time he reached the tenth level of Qi Condensation, it took him more than half a night to digest.
The sky was still dark outside, but he was hungry again!
Was it because he went into the stone world to sense?
Thinking about it carefully, it seemed possible!
He previously thought that it took more than half a night to digest because the sky had already brightened when he finished sensing.
This meant that he might have already digested it halfway through his sensing!
Whether it was true or not, he would know with one try!
Ye Fan immediately took out another pile of fourth-tier mineral stones and threw them into his mouth.
This time, he ate twenty to thirty of them before he was full.
His aura also successfully reached the third level of Foundation Establishment!
After letting out a burp, Ye Fan returned to the stone's internal world.
Sitting cross-legged on the misty platform, Ye Fan closed his eyes and began to sense.
Indeed!
After leveling up, the cooldown for sensing had refreshed!
Surprises.
They often come so suddenly!
Afterward, Ye Fan embarked on a cultivation journey that would make all cultivators envious to the point of madness.
He ate mineral stones when the sensing cooldown ended, and after leveling up, he continued to sense!
By the time dawn arrived, Ye Fan's realm had reached the outrageously high fifth level of Foundation Establishment!
From completing his tribulation to now, it had only been a little over half a day.
Spanning half a major realm in half a day couldn't even be described as terrifying!
Although Ye Fan knew that as his realm grew higher, the speed would definitely not be so monstrous.
But this did not affect his current good mood.
The only slight imperfection was that he had depleted all the fourth-tier mineral stones he had on hand.
If he ate more, he would have to eat fifth-tier ones.
He was already having to consume fifth-tier mineral stones in the Foundation Establishment stage, his future days would be a bit tough...
Ye Fan got out of bed, preparing to wash up.
His spiritual power was already far beyond that of ordinary people.
Combined with his ability to cultivate again, he wasn't sleepy at all.
While washing up, Ye Fan began to ponder.
The mineral stones in his ring would likely be almost depleted by the time he reached the Nascent Soul stage, so he would have to make time to visit the auction house.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
There was a knock on the door.
"Is Young Master Ye there?" a pleasant female voice called out.
Ye Fan walked over and opened the door. It was an unfamiliar face.
"Hello." Ye Fan asked curiously, "Are you...?"
"My name is Bi Shuang," the female disciple explained. "Senior Uncle Liang specifically instructed me to be responsible for your meals for the next few days."
As she spoke, the female disciple gestured with the ring she was holding.
"Thank you, miss." Ye Fan took the ring, feeling a bit awkward. "However, I don't eat as much now, so there's no need to go to such trouble in the future."
"Okay, I understand." Bi Shuang nodded quickly. "Then, please enjoy, Young Master. I won't disturb you further."
Bi Shuang said politely and turned to leave.
As Ye Fan was about to close the door, Bi Shuang suddenly stopped.
"Um... Young Master..." Bi Shuang turned around, blushing. "Are you free later?"
"What's wrong?" Ye Fan asked, confused.
"Senior Uncle Liang said that when you have free time, I should take you out to look around more," Bi Shuang said, lowering her head, not daring to look at Ye Fan. "It's a festival today, so..."
"I appreciate your kindness, Young Lady," Ye Fan quickly refused. "However, I'm a bit busy these past few days. I'm sorry."
"Alright then..." Bi Shuang said regretfully and turned to leave.
After returning to his room, Ye Fan took out the food from the ring.
Although he had just eaten mineral stones, that only filled his physical hunger.
His stomach was indeed a little hungry at the moment.
After enjoying a delicious meal, Ye Fan plunged back into cultivation.