Chapter 365: Entering the Refinement Realm Again

Zi Ji Zun Zhe glanced at Ye Feng with a peculiar expression, studying him from head to toe. After a long while, he asked in a doubtful whisper, “Could it be because of those remnants of the black object you bought at the auction just now?”
“It has little to do with that,” Ye Feng shook his head. He didn’t want to mislead Zi Ji Zun Zhe either. “I have other opportunities.”
“Oh…” Zi Ji Zun Zhe remained skeptical. “What about those remnants of the black object? You spent a lot of money on them—have you discovered any use for them?”
“It’s a plant seed from the upper realm. I’ve already placed it inside my body to nurture it,” Ye Feng said, holding back some details. He couldn’t tell Zi Ji Zun Zhe that the seed came from the Sacred Realm; he could only say it was from the upper realm. As for how to interpret that, it was up to Zi Ji Zun Zhe.
“I see.” Zi Ji Zun Zhe didn’t press further. He knew it was already quite difficult for Ye Feng to reveal so much.
“By the way, Big Brother Wu Jia, after reaching the demi-god realm, you must have switched to lower-grade divine crystals for cultivation, right?” Ye Feng posed the question seemingly out of curiosity, but actually to extract information from Zi Ji Zun Zhe.
“Mm, I used lower-grade divine crystals at first. Later, I accidentally obtained a medium-grade one, and I’ve been using that ever since. Its effect is much better. Unfortunately, I only have one, and I’ve already used nearly half of its energy. On the last day of this auction, two medium-grade divine crystals were up for sale. I wonder if I can buy one by then.” Zi Ji Zun Zhe assumed Ye Feng, having just reached the demi-god realm, might not be very familiar with such things, so he explained in detail.
“How many higher-grade demon crystals are needed to buy a medium-grade divine crystal?” Ye Feng pressed further.
“You want one too?” Zi Ji Zun Zhe raised his eyebrows slightly. “But I advise you against even thinking about it. I’m not even sure if I can buy one. All I know is that the starting bid for these medium-grade divine crystals is ten thousand higher-grade demon crystals. But with so many people competing and only two available, I guess each one will cost at least three to four hundred thousand.”
“That much?” Ye Feng calculated in his mind. In the Void Realm, one medium-grade divine crystal could only be exchanged for a hundred higher-grade demon crystals. But here, the starting bid was already ten thousand, which was a hundred times more. And if the price soared to three to four hundred thousand during the auction, it would be thousands of times more.

“I suggest you use the magic crystals elsewhere. You’ve just reached the demi-god realm, and your cultivation is still unstable. Lower-grade divine crystals would be more suitable for you. Besides, they’re much cheaper,” said Zi Ji Zunzhe, worried that Ye Feng might also compete for mid-grade divine crystals, and advised him anxiously.

“Hmm, I understand. I was just asking about the price,” Ye Feng nodded indifferently. “At this price, there’s no need for me to compete. For me, it’s better to buy a mid-grade divine artifact.”

“The price of mid-grade divine artifacts usually tops out at over two hundred thousand. Only special ones can reach three to four hundred thousand,” Zi Ji Zunzhe nodded with a smile. Hearing Ye Feng say this, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

After talking with Zi Ji Zunzhe, Ye Feng took out a few items he had bought from street stalls for Pearl and the others to admire. Only then did he send them off and enjoy some peace.

“The Immortal Bloodline, at the initial awakening stage, boosts the body’s repair ability by ten times. The first death requires one year to revive; the second death, one thousand years; the third death, one million years, and so on—the time needed to revive each time is one thousand times that of the previous time…” Ye Feng carefully read through the information about the Immortal Bloodline.

“Is that all there is to it?” He reluctantly withdrew his mental energy from his sea of consciousness.

After taking a short rest, Ye Feng set up a simple illusion array in his room. Noticing that no one was exploring his room, he waved his hand, and a door surrounded by white light slowly opened. Without hesitation, he stepped inside.

Once his feet were firmly on the ground, Ye Feng looked around. It was an endless expanse of grassland, with the midday sun high in the sky, giving off a refreshing feeling.

“Let me get familiar with this refining realm first. I wonder what the difference is from renting it.” As soon as he finished speaking, a stone of just the right size and shape suddenly appeared behind him. He sat down comfortably. “This feeling is really nice. I just thought about finding something to sit on, and it appeared on its own.”

At the same time, after a disturbance in the space in front of Ye Feng, rows of black characters appeared:

Differences in permissions between owners and renters of the Purgatory Realm:
1. Owners have no limits on usage duration or frequency.
2. If granting access to others, the required domain energy doesn’t double.
3. They can create species that don’t exist in the universe or combine them to form new species at will.

IV. With the relevant Virtual Realm privileges, species within the Refining Realm can be taken out of it.
V. With the relevant Virtual Realm privileges, higher-level areas beyond normal access can be temporarily opened. For these temporarily opened higher-level areas, the required domain energy is calculated on a real-time basis; once left, reopening them requires using the relevant privileges again.
“This Refining Realm still needs to be used in conjunction with the Virtual Realm,” Ye Feng said, quite satisfied after reviewing it, especially the option to temporarily access higher-level areas. This meant he could fully attempt to challenge true gods with his current strength.
However, Ye Feng didn’t plan to use this feature now, as one night was too short, and it wasn’t worth using a privilege just for that. He entered the Refining Realm to train his practical combat skills, knowing he wasn’t invincible across the entire Heavenly Realm. Especially some peak semi-godly beings in the Fiend Realm mostly possessed special innate powers, some of which could even bring down true god-level beings.
Although Zi Ji Zunzhe was known as the greatest sage in the Immortal Realm, his strength was barely on par with the lowest-tier true god-level beings in the Divine Realm, still far weaker than true gods. In the Immortal Realm, many reclusive elders were stronger than Zi Ji Zunzhe—even though they were also at the peak of semi-godhood, there were still differences in strength. Ye Feng was well aware of this.
“Zi Ji Zunzhe’s cultivation level is at the peak of semi-godhood,” Ye Feng murmured. “As for me now, winning against him shouldn’t be a problem. But even at the peak of semi-godhood, there are differences in strength. Beasts like those in the Divine Realm, even just mid-tier divine beasts, are likely stronger than Zi Ji Zunzhe.”
“I’ll give it a try first.” As soon as Ye Feng finished speaking, the environment around him suddenly changed—the originally green grassland turned into a desolate desert. “Mid-tier divine beast—Sand Wyrm, cultivation level at the peak of semi-godhood.”
“A mid-tier divine beast that can control earth and wind elements, possessing strong attack and defense capabilities, plus a peak semi-godhood cultivation level, with unknown innate powers. If Zi Ji Zunzhe encountered this guy in the desert, he would probably have no choice but to flee.” Ye Feng quickly selected his opponent and analyzed him thoroughly. “I wonder what would happen if I faced him…”
“Let’s go!” Ye Feng slowly rose into the air, looking down at the desert below.

A shrill howl could be heard from afar, followed by earth-shaking roars coming from beneath the ground. Ye Feng watched the desert below with vigilance—after all, his opponent this time was someone even Zi Ji Zunzhe couldn’t defeat. The slightest carelessness on his part would surely result in heavy losses.

Suddenly, all movement beneath the ground ceased. Ye Feng could only hear the wind howling around him; nothing else was audible.

“Strange?” Ye Feng frowned slightly. “Could all that noise just now have been my illusion…?”

As soon as this thought crossed his mind, a massive black shadow shot upward, charging at Ye Feng.

Though slightly distracted, Ye Feng remained highly alert. The moment the shadow rose, he tapped his toes against the air and flew backward.

That hundreds of meters long creature stirred up waves of sand as it moved, filling the sky with dust. Although the sand obscured his vision, Ye Feng became even more cautious.

Before he could stabilize himself, another black shadow rushed through the air, accompanied by a terrifying wind noise, and collided with Ye Feng’s fist.

From this head-on clash, Ye Feng was pushed several dozen feet back. He also saw what that black shadow was—it was the tail of a Sand Wyrm.

With two failed attacks, the Sand Wyrm realized this opponent wasn’t easy to deal with. It raised most of its body upright, its millstone-sized eyes scrutinizing Ye Feng with curiosity, as if fascinated by this human.

“As expected of a mid-tier divine beast. Despite only being at the semi-divine realm, its scales already possess the strength of a low-tier divine artifact—superior even to my own body!” Just one collision gave Ye Feng some insights. “It has many times more divine essence in its body than I do. This divine beast’s innate advantages are beyond what humans can compare to.”

Due to their powerful physiques, divine beasts can naturally carry more energy. Thus, usually, between divine beasts and humans of the same cultivation level, the divine beasts are stronger.

Through just one collision, Ye Feng understood the basic situation of his opponent—he was at a disadvantage both in terms of physical strength and internal energy.

“However, since I’m here to gain experience, there’s no need to rush and use the techniques from the Combat Manual to kill it right away.” Although Ye Feng wasn’t as strong as this divine beast, he could still bring it down with the extraordinary techniques from the Combat Manual. But he didn’t want to do that—firstly, he wanted to test his own skills, and the Sand Wyrm before him was an excellent training partner. Having secured such a rare opportunity, he certainly wouldn’t give it up easily. Besides, he also wanted to know what tactics mid-tier divine beasts possessed, as this would help him deal with enemies in the future and refine his own techniques.
“Since you won’t move, then I’ll do it!” Seeing that the Sand Wyrm remained motionless for a long time, Ye Feng took the initiative and charged at it.