...

Imposter Nightcrypt hesitated, clearly dissatisfied with the idea of leaving the mask. However, the thought of Yan Xiaobao's ferocity in the Fallen Sword World, and how he tossed the mask into the Heavenspan River, made him tremble, gritting his teeth before drifting into the open. After all, if Yan Xiaobao wanted to eliminate him, he could easily force him out of the mask.

Once he stepped outside, Yan Xiaobao gently waved. Imposter Nightcrypt screamed as he was thrown into the jade box, and then entered Yan Xiaobao's hand. Afterwards, Yan Xiaobao returned to his Immortal Cave to study the mask further.

This process took a whole month.

During that period, Yan Xiaobao hardly ate or slept. He was completely focused on researching the mask. He even conducted some different tests. Whatever he did, he couldn't damage the mask in any way. Once, he carefully submerged the mask in the waters of the Heavenspan River. Although he could tell that any spirit within the mask would be destroyed, the mask itself remained unharmed. At one point, Yan Xiaobao suddenly wondered why Imposter Nightcrypt's soul, with only a Qi Condensation cultivation base, could survive after being killed in the Fallen Sword World. Presumably, the answer was related to the mask itself, which prevented his soul from dispersing.

He even bought some animals from the market, then put the mask on them. As soon as he did, the mask disappeared, and the animals' faces turned into Ye Xiao.

The result was terrifying, but after careful study, Yan Xiaobao confirmed that the small animals were not harmed at all. In fact, they didn't even notice anything had changed. It was almost as if they had always been that way.

After removing the mask, they returned to normal. Yan Xiaobao kept these animals for a while and conducted more tests. Finally, he confirmed that the mask had no side effects or harmful secrets. Still not entirely convinced, he closely observed the animals.

The mask was truly a valuable treasure, and Yan Xiaobao couldn't imagine why this mysterious sect might treat it as a random spy tool.

Finally, he used his Heavenspan Dharma Eye to observe the mask. Coupled with his Heavenly Dao Halo, he concluded that the mask's aura had something eternal about it.

It was as if this mask would exist forever!

Yan Xiaobao was in a nearly frenzied state, his eyes bloodshot, hair disheveled. Meanwhile, a bold guess emerged in his mind.

"What if the true purpose of the mask is not just to change a person's appearance and cultivation base? What if opening that door requires certified equipment, a pill, and the mask itself?

"Maybe this mysterious sect merely wanted to appear as if they were trying to open the door and release the Eternal Undestructible Relic. Maybe the truth is they don't want to do it.

"Therefore, they recruited a spy and gave him the mask, but deliberately withheld a concoction ingredient for the pill. It looked like they were trying their best, but in truth, they didn't care. Because they were just putting on a show, they weren't too pleased because adventurer Nightcrypt initially caused some uproar. Maybe this even ties to why the imposter Nightcrypt had poor blood cultivation and encountered problems advancing his cultivation base!"

Another reason why Yan Xiaobao was deliberating what to do next was the missing ingredient in the pill—dead blood. Beastbirth Blood originates from the blood of creatures born from the Beastbirth Flower. While most people considered the bloody blood something nonexistent and nearly impossible to obtain, Yan Xiaobao's own combat beast, Brussel, was born in such a way....

Thus, he already had everything needed to make the pill, and thereby also possessed all that was needed to open the door.

After thorough contemplation, he finally sighed and put the mask away.

"Forget it. All the other stuff doesn't matter now. First, I should see if I can actually make the Door-opening Pill. If I can, the will of the heavens will be revealed. If I can't, then it will be the end of the matter." Clenching his teeth, he headed to the North Shore to find Brussel. After playing with him for a bit, he got a drop of blood and then rewarded him with a huge pile of delicious pills.

Back in his Immortal Cave, he began crafting.

Considering he could already make Third-level Spiritual Medicine, producing a simple Door-opening Pill was an easy task. However, he still spent a lot of time studying the pill recipe, and believed the success rate was only fifty percent, no matter who concocted it.

The strange pill recipe was another reason for Yan Xiaobao's interest in the Eternal Undestructible Relic.

He calmed his Qi and cleared his thoughts, then took out the ingredients from Imposter Nightcrypt's pack. For safety reasons, most disciples of the Blood Flow Sect always carried all their items with them.

He then followed the pill recipe to the letter, spending three days in concocting. When he was done, the pill furnace began to rumble, and white smoke billowed out. Unexpectedly, nine magical symbols could be seen within the white smoke. After the smoke dispersed, the same aura he felt on the mask emanated from the pill furnace.

Yan Xiaobao took a deep breath, opened the pill furnace, and then the pill appeared, which could only be fully examined with the Heavenly Dao Halo and nine Spirit Seas!

"This is very similar to the mask..." Yan Xiaobao thought, looking at it with furrowed brows.