Chapter 573: Ten Years in This Realm, One Day Outside

Two hours later, Fang Chen opened his eyes, his aura calming down. Compared to before, his spiritual energy had increased by at least three times. That meant that it would be easier to use the Third Sword of the Eight Desolation Supreme Sword Scripture from now on.

"When I advance to the grand completion stage of the Foundation Building Realm or the early Golden Core Realm, the Third Sword will become effortless to use. I won't need to consume my lifespan to use it anymore."

"How do you feel?" the white paper figure asked softly.

Fang Chen smiled. "How do I feel? Better than I've ever been."

He then looked at the jade slip again. Even though it only contained the Foundation Building Chapter, Fang Chen faintly felt that the subsequent chapters such as the Golden Core Chapter and the Nascent Soul Chapter were also contained within it.

After pondering briefly, he decided to place the jade slip back into the drawer. It was too precious to carry around casually. Even if the stone bead was ever stolen, the one who took it would not be able to activate it without the Three Thousand Dao heritage, let alone reach this place.

After that, Fang Chen opened the other drawers and found that they were all empty, indicating that the Dao Orthodoxies inside had long been lost.

"If possible, I will retrieve each of the Three Thousand Dao Orthodoxy and return them to their rightful place," Fang Chen murmured softly to himself.

Upon hearing that, the black and white paper figures's gazes flickered.

How difficult a task that would be!

Even their former master, Supreme Dao of Heaven, couldn't accomplish it. After all these years, there might be a First Rate Sect Leader or even an Immortal King-level powerhouse standing behind some of these Dao lineages. Reclaiming the Dao Orthodoxy from them might be even more difficult than ascending to the Immortal Realm...

The three of them then explored the surroundings further. Apart from the Dao Palace they were in, everything around them was a vast expanse of white mist. The black and white paper figures attempted to fly into the clouds, but no matter how far they flew, they couldn't reach the end and had no choice but to eventually turn back.

"Forget it, let's leave for now," Fang Chen said with a wry smile.

Perhaps the Three Thousand Dao Realm only contained this Dao Palace. It was also possible there were other secrets, but they couldn't access them at the moment.

The black and white paper figures nodded silently. This place was indeed too mystical. They would definitely return to explore it further in the future.

An hour later, the three of them still stood in front of the Dao Palace gate, each looking up at the sky.

Fang Chen broke the silence after a long pause.

"Are we... unable to leave?"

The white paper figure shook its head softly. "I am not sure. Perhaps there's some mechanism at play?"

The black paper figure frowned, in thought. "Do we need someone to inject spiritual energy into the Stone Pearl again?"

"I just tried, but nothing happens. Besides, I don't have enough spirit stones on me to inject the bead with," Fang Chen replied, looking at the stone bead in his hand, his brow furrowed in contemplation.

"Let's search again. Perhaps the method to leave is inside the Dao Palace," the white paper figure suggested.

Fang Chen and the black paper figure nodded slightly, turning back to the Dao Palace to search for a way out.

Three days later.

Fang Chen's expression grew increasingly solemn as he realized that, no matter how they searched, they couldn't find a way to leave this place. Was he destined to be trapped here for the rest of his life?

Fang Chen finally pinned his hopes on the Mirror of the Universe. "Little Mirror, how do we leave this place?"

"My friend... do you still have some medium-grade spirit stones left?"

Fang Chen's eyes narrowed slightly. "How much do you need?"

Mirror of the Universe sighed. "The number of mid-grade spirit stones you have usually wouldn't be enough to cover the cost of answering this question. But I've saved some over the past few years. After a quick calculation, it's barely enough."

"You old rascal, I feel like you're taking advantage of the situation," barked Little Sword, sounding suspicious.

"If I were taking advantage of the situation, I would have done so long ago, not when he has barely a hundred medium-grade spirit stones left," Mirror of the Universe retorted.

Fang Chen thought for a moment before agreeing, "Fine, they're all yours."

He handed over all the mid-grade spirit stones he had left to Mirror of the Universe.

The black and white paper figures understood that the book before them might be a treasure. When they saw it absorbing the medium-grade spirit stones, they couldn't help but feel surprised.

Another item similar to the stone bead?

Not long after, the Mirror of the Universe absorbed all the medium-grade spirit stones and said decisively, "My friend, you don't need to do anything to leave the Three Thousand Dao Realm. You just have to wait for ten years."

Fang Chen's expression turned somewhat strange. "Ten years?"

Ten years might not seem long, but staying here for that long could mean the Spirit Blood Sect's plans in Azure Doa Manor would likely succeed.

"In this realm, ten years is equivalent to one day in the outside world. My friend, this item is far more useful than that junior," said Mirror of the Universe. "Despite its voracious appetite, it grants you time. With these ten years, coupled with the Feather Spirit Pill, you should be able to reach the Great Perfection stage of Foundation Building."

Fang Chen felt somewhat shocked.

Ten years in this realm equated to just one day outside?

The Three Thousand Dao Realm was indeed mysterious and profound.

Fang Chen's expression turned grim. "Little Mirror, if I want to come back in here, do I need to feed it hundreds of thousands of low-grade spirit stones and some medium-grade spirit stones again?"

"That won't be necessary. It mainly consumed so much this instance because, like me, it had gone many years without any spiritual energy," Mirror of the Universe explained. "Based on my estimation, entering once would require only five hundred medium-grade spirit stones, which isn't much."

Fang Chen's expression turned even more strange. "Five hundred medium-grade spirit stones...."

That wasn't considered much?

Fang Chen thought of killed Yu Donglai and those people from the Innate Dao Sect, who were all experts in the Middle Three Realms. He had found no more than two hundred mid-grade spirit stones on them.

However, upon further consideration, five hundred medium-grade spirit stones in exchange for ten years of time did seem reasonable.

"Little White, Little Black, it seems we might have to stay here for a few years," Fang Chen said, looking at the black and white paper figures.

"Lord, the spiritual energy in the Dao Palace is rich. Staying here to cultivate would be highly beneficial," suggested the white paper figure with a thoughtful expression.

The spiritual energy is rich here? Wait a moment...

Fang Chen suddenly had a conjecture.

Could the rich spiritual energy be derived from the spirit stones he had previously injected?

Over the next half a year, Fang Chen immersed himself in cultivation within the Dao Palace. With each Feather Spirit Pill he consumed, his cultivation soared. In just six months, he advanced to the peak of the mid-stage of Foundation Building Realm and was ready to break through to the late stage. He had used a total of six Feather Spirit Pills, leaving him with fifty-four.

Mirror of the Universe had claimed that these sixty Feather Spirit Pills were worth far more than two hundred medium-grade spirit stones, and Fang Chen now saw the truth in that statement. The pills' potency was immense, and he needed a full month to digest their effect.

Little Sword suddenly burst out, circling Fang Chen excitedly. "Little Chen, Little Chen, I've finished digesting!"

The black and white paper figures, who had been meditating nearby, opened their eyes in curiosity at the sight of Little Sword's exuberance.

Over the past six months, not only had Fang Chen's cultivation improved significantly, but Little Sword's sword body had also been slowly strengthening. It was now nearing the threshold of the fifth rank.

Fang Chen smiled. He still had four Profound ranks treasures; one high-grade with three Dao Imprints, one mid-grade with two Dao Imprints, and two low-grades, each with one Dao Imprint. He tossed the two low-grade treasures to Little Sword.

Little Sword eagerly devoured them and then returned to Fang Chen's body to digest them.

"Good. The time provided by the Three Thousand Dao Realm not only allows me to cultivate, but it also enables Little Sword to complete its digestion."

Fang Chen realized how timely these ten years were. After all, Little Sword would be of no help to Fang Chan while it was digesting.