Chapter 36: The Ruyi Flying Blade

The Heavenly Snake Cave was the dwelling of the Snake Lady.

As for why it was named "Heavenly Snake"—

According to the Snake Lady's explanation, Great King naming his own dwelling the "Heavenly Crow Cave" must carry a profound meaning, so she simply named her own residence "Heavenly Snake".

Not only that, there were also the Heavenly Scorpion Cave, the Heavenly Dog Cave, the Heavenly Fox Cave, and so on...

To this, Yu Qiye chose silence.

He certainly could not admit that naming his cave the "Heavenly Crow Cave" was purely a spur-of-the-moment whim.

However, it had to be admitted that these dwelling names prefixed with "Heaven" were actually quite decent.

They sounded rather pleasant.

After a moment, Yu Qiye arrived at the entrance of the Heavenly Snake Cave.

Guarding the entrance were two small snake spirits.

One was a golden snake spirit, and the other was a azure snake spirit.

Neither had fully transformed.

They looked like small snakes walking upright.

However, both had already cultivated limbs.

Recognizing Yu Qiye's identity, they kowtowed repeatedly.

"This subordinate pays respects to the Heavenly Crow King."

"This subordinate pays respects to the Heavenly Crow King."

With a slight nod, Yu Qiye looked into the cave and called out,

"Snake Lady."

"Hiss, hiss..."

Accompanied by a hiss, a green figure slithered out from the Heavenly Snake Cave.

This was a snake-woman of breathtaking beauty.

Her upper body was that of a youthful maiden, with delicate facial features and extreme allure.

Her lower body, however, was the tail of an emerald-scaled snake.

"Not knowing of the Great King's arrival, this humble servant failed to welcome you from afar. Please forgive me."

The Snake Lady bowed in greeting.

"No matter."

Yu Qiye cared little for such mortal etiquette. Changing the subject, he asked,

"How goes the forging of the Ruyi magical treasure I gave you previously?"

"Reporting to the Great King, this humble servant was just planning to present it to you these past few days."

As she spoke, the Snake Lady retrieved a palm-sized flying knife from her bosom.

"This is?"

Yu Qiye's eyes narrowed slightly as he accepted the flying knife.

The blade was light, short, and thin, resembling a willow leaf.

Yet, it radiated an indescribable sharpness.

"This blade was refined from the former Ruyi Great Blade. It retains the Ruyi property of being able to grow large or small, long or short."

"Furthermore, when needed, it can split into two, four..."

Listening to the Snake Lady's explanation, Yu Qiye opened his right hand.

Visible to the naked eye, the entire flying knife slowly rose into the air.

Whoosh...

A gentle breeze swept past, and the flying knife began to spin.

Spinning faster and faster.

In mere moments, a piercing screech echoed through the air.

"Go."

With a soft cry, the flying knife tore through the void, shooting toward a distant mountain.

Boom!

Accompanied by a terrifying roar, the entire mountain seemed to tremble.

When the dust and smoke cleared, an enormous, bottomless hole lay before Yu Qiye.

"Tsk tsk..."

Yu Qiye clicked his tongue, a look of astonishment crossing his face.

To be honest, he did not practice martial arts or weaponry.

For long-range attacks, he had his black feathers.

For close combat, he had his sharp claws.

That was already sufficient.

As it happened, however, he had recently acquired a rather nice trait from one of his subordinates.

It was a purple-tier trait.

Named: 'Infallible Strike'.

[Infallible Strike (Purple) — Within a thousand zhang, at close quarters, you can precisely lock onto your enemy and hit your target with a single strike.]

This was a trait that suited Yu Qiye exceptionally well.

Just imagine... Yu Qiye spreading his twin wings.

Feathers filling the sky...

An infallible strike...

How terrifying would that be.

It would be enough to turn an enemy into a honeycomb in an instant.

However, no matter how much his feathers were polished or reinforced, they fell short before truly formidable opponents.

Therefore, Yu Qiye had been pondering the refinement of a flying knife.

To serve as his primary long-range attack weapon.

In the future, his black feathers would serve as a feint.

At a critical moment, the flying knife would be concealed among the black feathers.

His feathers were indeed fragile.

Yet that hidden flying knife would be enough to deliver a fatal blow.

It was somewhat despicable.

Somewhat shameless.

However, Yu Qiye did not mind.

In battle, there was only life and death.

Why bother caring about the methods!

"This flying knife goes remarkably well with the Wind-Control Arts I have mastered."

With that, Yu Qiye slowly opened his right hand toward the distance, where wisps of gentle breeze circulated.

"Hum..."

At the sound of a crisp blade-hum, a streak of cold light arrived in an instant.

It was the willow-leaf flying knife.

Yu Qiye had not yet refined it.

Therefore, he could only use the breeze as a guide.

Even so, this proved to Yu Qiye that the willow-leaf flying knife was fully capable of carrying the Wind-Control Scripture he practiced.

With the reinforcement of the violent wind, the flying knife became even more terrifying.

At this moment, Yu Qiye looked at the Snake Lady.

"The refinement is excellent. You shall be credited with a major contribution."

"Many thanks, Great King."

The Snake Lady bowed, her expression filled with excitement.

To be praised by the Great King was a supreme honor.

...

Yu Qiye departed.

He took the willow-leaf flying knife with him.

This could be considered his very first spiritual treasure.

Worth mentioning was that in this world, magical treasures were countless.

Yet there was no strict categorization.

If one truly had to classify them, they were roughly divided into two kinds.

One was spiritual treasures, and the other was supreme treasures.

Spiritual treasures were treasures possessing spiritual essence.

Supreme treasures possessed power far exceeding ordinary spiritual treasures, unimaginable to ordinary people, hence termed 'supreme treasures'.

It was said that spiritual treasures and supreme treasures also had distinctions of Xiantian (innate) and Houtian (acquired).

But that had nothing to do with Yu Qiye.

"The treasures of this world are extremely treacherous. A moment of carelessness will lead to your downfall. A great deal of many cultivators' combat prowess is actually built upon treasures."

Yu Qiye thought of Lord Laozi's Vajra Bracelet, and then of Princess Iron Fan's Plantain Fan.

One was a gleaming white ring, also known as the Diamond Circle; it could transform, was impervious to water and fire, could strike down all things, and capture various magical treasures and weapons, with infinite wondrous uses.

The other could extinguish fire, and the chilling wind it fanned could send a person flying eighty-four thousand li before stopping.

By their power, both qualified as supreme treasures.

In terms of origin, the Vajra Bracelet was refined after birth, hence called a 'Houtian supreme treasure'.

Whereas the Plantain Fan was formed from the leaf of primordial yin essence, existing from the very beginning, hence called a 'Xiantian supreme treasure'.

There was no question of which was stronger between the two.

Only a difference in function.

However, in terms of sheer power, they were far more terrifying than ordinary spiritual treasures.

At the very least, Yu Qiye's willow-leaf flying knife did not even qualify to be compared to them.

Pushed down his myriad thoughts, Yu Qiye finally returned to the Heavenly Crow Cave.

After exchanging a few words with Qingqiu Xue and the others, Yu Qiye headed to the deepest chamber of the cave.

He intended to blood-refine the willow-leaf flying knife.

Blood-refinement was a technique ordinary demons might not know.

It was a method recorded in the Eight-Nine Mysterious Arts.

It involved using one's own blood to refine a treasure.

This not only forged a closer bond between the spiritual treasure and oneself, making them seem as one, but also enhanced the power of the spiritual treasure.

Biting the tip of his tongue, a drop of vital essence blood fell upon the cicada-wing-thin willow-leaf flying knife.

"Hum, hum..."

The flying knife emitted a low hum, and an unimaginable sharpness burst from within, as if it intended to tear the entire cave apart.

...

Time always slipped away inadvertently.

In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.

On this day,

"Brother Crow, this old grandson plans to roam the four seas."

The Monkey King, dressed in golden armor and wearing a golden crown, arrived at Yu Qiye's cave in a single somersault.

"So soon?"

There was a hint of surprise, and even more astonishment.

A figure, still sitting deep within the innermost chamber of the cave, gazed at the floating willow-leaf flying knife.

"Hum..."

At a crisp hum, the cicada-wing-thin willow-leaf flying knife seemed to sense something, transforming continuously until it finally turned into a black feather, flying toward the pair of black wings behind Yu Qiye.