As he took a step, the entire cave trembled the instant his foot touched the rock floor.

The explosive increase in bone density from the Yijing Marrow Cleansing Skill, however, made his Body Technique even lighter.

Xu Yunfan suddenly slammed his fist into the cave wall. With a thunderous BOOM, the hard granite was pierced as if it were tofu, yet his knuckles were left without a single white mark.

’As expected of Mituo Temple’s Sect’s Ultimate Skill. A single session of practice has already caused my Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm cultivation to advance by leaps and bounds!’

The campfire faded, and his cultivation came to an end.

An unknown amount of time passed. Outside the cave, the sky gradually darkened, and the campfire was reduced to scattered embers.

Xu Yunfan slowly concluded his practice, exhaling a mouthful of Dirt Qi. The breath was long and steady, like a dragon’s.

’The Yijing Marrow Cleansing Skill is truly profound. Just one day of practice has stabilized my Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm cultivation, and I’ve even touched the threshold of Golden Marrow and Jade Bone.’

In the following days, Xu Yunfan practically never left the cave, dedicating himself to cultivating the Nine Luminaries Swallowing Qi Technique, the Triple Jiao Sword Nurturing Technique, and the Yijing Marrow Cleansing Skill.

With the Ginseng Child as the main ingredient and the Essence Qi from Demon Flesh and Blood as a supplement, he mastered the basics of the Nine Luminaries Swallowing Qi Technique in a single night. His Triple Jiao Sword Nurturing Technique advanced by leaps and bounds, while his Yijing Marrow Cleansing Skill progressed steadily, constantly strengthening his bones, regenerating Golden Marrow, and transforming his very constitution.

As for his Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique, after reaching the Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm, it had already entered the Realm of Perfection with no room for further improvement. Without the Yijing Marrow Cleansing Skill, his only path would have been to continuously hone his Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength and Profound Steel Hundred-Forged Body, using a slow, grinding process—the Water Grinding Skill—to reach the peak of the Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm until no more progress could be made.

Fortunately, the appearance of the Dragon Scale Armor had triggered some mechanism beneath Divine Weapon Ridge, opening the Divine Weapon Ridge Secret Realm and allowing him to enter this Little Heaven and Earth Secret Realm.

If he were in the outside world, he would have had to endure countless hardships just to find a Cultivation Technique or Martial Arts suitable for the Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm.

Sectarianism was a problem everywhere.

[Half a month later.]

Xu Yunfan pulled the Thunderfire Qilin Hammer from the giant bear’s skull. He looked at the extremely deep gash on the hammer’s head, then glanced down at the mountain-like bear at his feet. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

The gash on the Thunderfire Qilin Hammer was so deep it nearly cut through the entire head. The purple-red Thunderfire Pattern was severed at that point, faintly revealing the indigo material of the Thunder Pattern Steel within.

Xu Yunfan ran a fingertip over the crack, feeling the chilling Demon Qi lingering within it. His expression was one of slight resignation.

It was the final, desperate strike from the dying Demon Fiend. If the hammer’s material hadn’t been so solid, with no corners cut in its making, a greatsword or longsword would have long since shattered.

This Treasure Artifact would have been a rare and coveted weapon for any ordinary Marrow Cleansing Realm Martial Artist.

Yet now, it had been grievously damaged in Xu Yunfan’s hands.

’What a waste...’

He looked down at the mountain-like corpse of the Demon Fiend at his feet.

This giant bear had originally been hibernating in a deep valley in the southern part of the Secret Realm and rarely initiated attacks. But a short while ago, it had suddenly gone berserk, its eyes turning blood-red as it charged him with reckless abandon.

What was even stranger was that the Demon Qi inside the giant bear was chaotic, as if it had been forcibly catalyzed by some power. As a result, the explosive force of its Demon Qi at the moment of death far surpassed that of an ordinary Marrow Cleansing Realm Demon Fiend.

Had any other ordinary Marrow Cleansing Realm Grandmaster Martial Artist been here, they likely wouldn’t have been able to withstand three blows from this giant bear Demon Fiend.

It was only because Xu Yunfan had mastered the Ultimate Skills for every realm from multiple top Sects—pushing his strength to an unbelievable level, far surpassing ordinary Marrow Cleansing Realm Martial Artists—that he could fight it head-on without giving an inch, brutally hammering the giant bear Demon Fiend to death in close combat.

The price, however, was that the Thunderfire Qilin Hammer, forged from Thunder Pattern Steel, was now nearly ruined.

After rubbing it for a long time, Xu Yunfan finally slung it onto his back. He would have to find a way to repair it after he left the Secret Realm.

Even if he didn’t need it now, he could give it to his senior brother Fu Jin, or to other disciples of the Weapon Casting Hall.

’That’s the fifteenth...’

Xu Yunfan murmured to himself.

Since he had entered the Little Heaven and Earth Secret Realm, the Demon Fiends he first encountered were only at the Blood Exchange Realm, and he would only fight one every few days.

But as time went on, the frequency of attacks increased—from one every three days, to multiple Demon Fiends in a single day, and now to facing at least one powerful Demon Fiend comparable to the Marrow Cleansing Realm every day.

What made him even more vigilant was that these Demon Fiends were often crazed, completely disregarding their own lives as if driven by some will to throw themselves at him to die.

’This Secret Realm is rejecting me.’

Xu Yunfan narrowed his eyes and gazed toward the horizon.

Heaven knew how many Demon Fiends were lying dormant in this Secret Realm. Any place where the mountains converged and Spiritual Qi gathered was bound to have a Demon Fiend in residence.

And places like this, where the terrain gathered energy, were everywhere throughout the Little Heaven and Earth Secret Realm.

For a time, he had even suspected it was all artificial.

The Spiritual Qi in the Secret Realm was still dense, but he felt a faint, oppressive pressure, as if the entire world’s tolerance for him was gradually tightening.

In his spare time between cultivation, he had tried to measure this Little Heaven and Earth, discovering that its borders were constantly shrinking. The southern mountains advanced several yards toward the center each day, while new cliffs and precipices appeared out of thin air in the north.

It was very strange. And what shocked him was that these spontaneously generated landscapes were already occupied by Demon Fiends, which also seemed to have been created from nothing.

At this rate, the Demon Fiends were endless. He could never kill them all.

What unsettled him most was Yuu Congling within the Extreme Dao Relic Shell.

Ever since the battle at the White Jade Palace, that remnant consciousness had not responded to his calls.

No matter if he infused the Relic Shell with his Strength or called out to her directly, Yuu Congling remained completely silent.

If he couldn’t still feel her presence within the Dragon Scale Armor, Xu Yunfan would have almost suspected she had already dissipated.

Although Xu Yunfan felt disheartened by this, he was not discouraged. Ever since he had entered her dream, he had understood that she had a cold and distant personality.

’If I stay here any longer, I’m afraid the next one to come won’t just be a Marrow Cleansing Realm Demon Fiend...’

In some places with excellent geomantic features, where Spiritual Qi gathered like a tide, the Demon Fiends lurking there made even his heart pound with fear.

Perhaps they were Demon Fiends comparable to the Refining the Internal Organs realm, or even stronger—foes that only a Nine Realms Qi Cultivation Supreme Grandmaster could match.

In the past three months, by using the Secret Realm’s Spiritual Qi, the Essence Qi from Demon Flesh and Blood, and a single Ginseng Root each day, he had pushed his Yijing Marrow Cleansing Skill to Minor Achievement. The golden marrow mercury paste could now cover all his bones, and the Jade Bone Chime effect had made his physical body as tough as a Tier Six Treasure Artifact.

But even so, facing the increasingly frequent Demon Fiend attacks, he felt a sliver of exhaustion.

After processing the giant bear’s flesh and blood, Xu Yunfan ate his fill, consuming nearly half of it, and then began to search relentlessly for the Secret Realm’s exit.

The altar he had fallen from when he left the Divine Weapon Secret Realm had long since decayed. There was nothing unusual about it anymore; it was clearly a one-way trip. He would have to find another way out.

’It really can’t compare to what the Six Great Sects have...’

Xu Yunfan stood at the edge of the altar, his fingertips tracing the mottled stone patterns.

This ancient altar, which once flowed with brilliant light, now lay in ruins, covered in shattered Runes and dried bloodstains.

Dark green moss grew in the cracks of the stone. He squatted down, rapping his knuckles on the central formation platform, but it only produced a dull "THUD THUD."