After finishing his search and looting of the Gu Hall, Ye Wuji turned and entered the Array Hall.
This hall was in utter disarray, almost completely destroyed as rubble covered the floor.
Even so, he managed to find four intact arrays in the end: one defensive, one offensive, one that blocked sound from escaping, and one that blocked spiritual sense probing.
They were all usable and each could be activated simply by infusing Qi and placing them in the correct positions around the place he wanted to use them in.
Ye Wuji stored them in his storage ring with excitement gleaming in his eyes.
"With these, I should be able to cultivate and even travel between this world and mine safely, without risking being caught once I'm back to my world," he muttered, a satisfied smile tugging at his lips.
After that, he moved to the final side hall, the one that housed the Contribution Exchange Center.
The counter was already half-collapsed, only barely standing. But behind it, Ye Wuji managed to find several intact boxes. Inside all of them were a few hundred blood essence crystals, herbs and other materials, though all the herbs and other materials had long since decayed into uselessness.
Only blood essence crystals remained, so he didn't even need to think about it. He simply took all of the the blood essence crystals, slipped them into his storage ring and left the rest behind.
Then, he returned to the main hall.
There, waiting patiently at the center of the bloodstained floor—
Si Wei and Xue Sha stood silently, drenched in drying blood, motionless as statues.
Before them lay a small mountain of blood essence crystals, glimmering like rubies under the hall's fading light.
Ye Wuji's eyes sparkled with satisfaction.
"Good."
"Did you find any storage rings?"
Both Si Wei and Xue Sha nodded at once. Without a word, Xue Sha held out a storage ring on his open palm.
Ye Wuji reached forward, took it and then placed a hand on each of their shoulders.
"You did well."
With a single thought, the Corpse Pagoda reappeared in the air, creaking ominously. In the next moment, Si Wei and Xue Sha turned into streaks of red and black light and vanished back into it.
Without another word, Ye Wuji turned and walked toward the altar.
Moments later, he was descending once again into the cold depths of the treasure vault beneath it.
There, he took out the Wings Gu and sat down deeply looking on it.
He planned to refine it, but first, he had to decide exactly how to do it.
The Wings Gu was a Rank 2 Gu after all, and refining it was dangerous for him as he was only Qi Refining Cultivator. If he was unlucky and failed, he could even get seriously injured, or worse.
After a moment of thought, he exhaled and placed the Wings Gu to the center of his palm. Then, he pierced his finger and let a drop of blood essence fall onto it.
The Gu calmed immediately, becoming still.
Under normal circumstances, this would've been extremely risky. A Rank 2 Gu could easily retaliate. But this one had been in hibernation for quite some time. Ye Wuji could sense that it was weakened.
If he succeeded in making it temporarily accept him now with his blood essence, the actual refinement process later would become significantly easier and faster.
Without this step, the actual refinement could take even months. But if this worked… it might only take one week to a month at most.
It was a risk, but one he was willing to take.
As he predicted, the Gu didn't even try to resist. It was so weak, that it couldn't even muster a defense. Instead, it willingly devoured the blood essence, accepting him as a temporary master in exchange for nourishment.
The moment it did, Ye Wuji didn't waste a single second. He immediately began pouring his Qi into the Gu, forcefully transitioning the temporary refinement into an actual refinement.
It cost him a tremendous amount of Qi, but whenever his reserves dipped too low, he absorbed blood essence crystals to replenish them.
|>>======|✦|======<<|
After only nine days, he succeeded.
The Wings Gu had been completely refined.
And now, it rested within his dantian, gently absorbing his Qi, just like his Life-Bound Corpse Pagoda.
But unlike the Pagoda, which slowly strengthened itself through Qi absorption, the Wings Gu only replenished its energy. It couldn't grow stronger on its own; it could only recover from its weakened state.
After all, it was just a Rank 2 Gu with its maximal potential already reached. To advance further, it would need to be fused with another Gu and refined into something new.
"Finally. It's finished." Ye Wuji exhaled in relief and stood up, stretching.
"It's time to test it," he said resolutely.
Focusing his Qi, he channeled it into the Wings Gu.
A ripple passed through his back—
Then pain consumed him. Sharp and sudden, as if his bones were cracking apart.
Crack.
Two translucent wings burst from his shoulder blades, shimmering like mist given form. They looked fragile, barely corporeal and flickered with every movement.
"So, this… is the Wings Gu." Ye Wuji thought fascinated.
He tried to move them experimentally.
And the wings really responded, but slowly—like a newborn deer trying to stand for the first time.
Without hesitation, he jumped and flapped with his wings.
For a moment, he hovered midair, legs dangling. Then—
Thud.
He hit the ground hard, knees buckling. Too much Qi had been wasted; the wings flickered and became unstable.
"Not enough control," he muttered through gritted teeth.
He tried again.
This time, he used less Qi, allowing the wings to move more naturally.
And—
He was actually stably hovering in the air.
Not for long, and not gracefully, but he was flying.
Unfortunately, there was no room inside the treasure vault to try anything more advanced. So, he carefully landed and turned to leave.
Once outside the Sect's Hall, he stepped into the open and looked up at the sky.
After a breath, he jumped again and flapped the wings once again, but this time with much more confidence.
The wind rushed past his face as he ascended. The ground shrank beneath him. Buildings became like bigger scattered stones.
A grin spread across his lips.
But then—
A gust of wind struck him.
The wings trembled and he was swung sideways, nearly losing control. But he quickly channeled his Qi and stabilized.
"I was too reckless," he muttered, his face slightly pale.
Not only was his control still extremely lacking, but even if his control was extraordinary, the Wings Gu wasn't built for such a high-altitude flight in the end.
And there was also another thing… He was still only in the Qi Refining Realm and Wings Gu consumption of his Qi was enormous, draining him even faster than he expected.
With a grimace, he angled downward flew to the ground.
But as he neared the ground, the wings suddenly flickered and vanished.
Thud.
He crashed, but thankfully, it wasn't a hard fall as he was already close to the ground.
Ye Wuji sighed and sat down, catching his breath.