Sage of Humanity

Previously, when the Righteous Blood Sect had no disciples at the Spirit Stream Realm to manage the place, independent cultivators could run over here. Now, things have changed with the addition of Lu Ye to the sect. If Lu Ye insists on driving people away, those independent cultivators will have no choice but to leave.

After the news of Lu Ye's appearance at the site spread yesterday, many independent cultivators felt uneasy, fearing they would be driven away.

This was also why Chen Yu hastily came to find Lu Ye.

To his surprise, before he could even explain his intentions, Lu Ye had given him a contract.

As he looked down, Chen Yu's expression gradually relaxed.

The contract's content was simple—it maintained the current status of the marketplace for the time being, but the Righteous Blood Sect reserved the right to ask the independent cultivators to leave at any time.

At the same time, the Righteous Blood Sect appointed Chen Yu to manage the marketplace, and if the independent cultivators wanted to stay there, they would have to pay the sect a fee of two to five Spirit Stones per month, depending on their cultivation.

This was a contract drafted by Shui Yuan, and the fees charged were not high. The independent cultivators could afford the few Spirit Stones, which would provide Lu Ye with some income, and it would also let them know that this was the Righteous Blood Sect's territory, and staying here would come with a certain cost.

Chen Yu quickly finished reading and bit his finger to press a bloody fingerprint on the contract without any hesitation.

Exchanging token brands with Lu Ye, he happily hurried toward the marketplace to share the good news with the independent cultivators waiting for updates.

In comparison to the benefits the independent cultivators received, Chen Yu gained even more. Although he had been the nominal manager of the marketplace before, he had no real authority. Now, with the Righteous Blood Sect's commission, he had an official status, which would make his management more legitimate.

Lu Ye didn't need to worry about the independent cultivators for now. The site was so large that he couldn't use it all himself; rather than offend people now, it was better to maintain the status quo.

Standing before the Heaven's Augury Pillar, Lu Ye connected his mind with the Heaven's Augury Treasure Vault, searching for the treasures he needed.

A few minutes later, Lu Ye held a palm-sized box and hurried toward the training room.

The natural spiritual energy in the training room was obviously denser than other places, particularly the one he had stayed in the day before. Because it was equipped with 3rd Dao Spirit Energy Gathering Spirit Runes that he had arranged, which were constantly at work, the spiritual energy here was a lot denser than in ordinary places.

He opened the door, walked in, and sat down with the box in his arms.

Looking at the box in his hands, Lu Ye felt both pleased and pained.

Pleased because the Heaven's Augury Treasure Vault indeed had everything he could want—anything he desired could be found inside. Pained because such a small box had cost him two hundred merits, which was much more expensive than the Boulder Mountain Saber.

Gently opening the box, a fist-sized flame immediately caught his eye, and a hot aura permeated the air.

This was a tiny amount of Earth's Core Fire, the cheapest uncanny fire Lu Ye had found in the Heaven's Augury Treasure Vault.

The Talent Tree's ability to burn away pill poison needed to be recovered as soon as possible, as this related to his cultivation progress. Lu Ye had speculated before that the Talent Tree required absorbing some fiery or heat energy for the leaves to ignite and thus provide him with more spirit runes.

However, this had always been mere speculation, without any way to be confirmed.

But after his trip to the Heaven's Augury Treasure Vault, this guess was confirmed, because when he was amidst the countless treasures and uncanny fires radiating with heat, the Talent Tree in his Root Spiritual Orifice clearly became more active—yet, because those treasures were all inside the treasure vault, the Talent Tree couldn't absorb any of their energy.

Now, as soon as Lu Ye opened the box, a strange sensation came from his Root Spiritual Orifice. Immersing his mind, he saw the roots of the Talent Tree sprout fine rootlets, which penetrated the Earth's Core Fire within the box.

In the blink of an eye, the heat dissipated, and the Earth's Core Fire in the box vanished without a trace.

On the Talent Tree, the 4th leaf burst into flames!

Since leaving Qingyun Mountain, after the battle where he acquired the Barrier-breaking Fruit, the 4th leaf had begun to glow—but without enough energy absorption, it couldn't undergo transformation.

Today it finally ignited, which meant that Lu Ye was going to have another spirit rune.

He suppressed the anticipation and joy in his heart and continued to observe, only to find… nothing more!

The 5th leaf showed no sign of igniting, not even a glow...

Lu Ye frowned; this was different from what he expected.

But soon, he noticed that the Talent Tree had recovered its ability to burn away pill poison. His spirit force circulated, and grey fumes were incinerated.

The pill poison inside him had peaked after the battle at Golden Light Peak, causing his spirit force to be murky and his spirit light dimmed, which greatly impacted his strength and cultivation.

Since the battle at Golden Light Peak, Lu Ye had been wary of swallowing elixir pills. His Second Senior Sister did have a method to help him expel the pill poison, which worked fairly well, but it couldn't completely clear it.

Such matters required prolonged recuperation and adjustment.

However, as soon as the Talent Tree regained its ability to burn pill poison, in just the time it took an incense stick to burn, Lu Ye's spiritual energy became pure once again.

The longstanding hidden danger was finally resolved, and Lu Ye's heart relaxed.

Combining all the previous signs, his guess was correct.@@novelbin@@

The Talent Tree could absorb the energy from the heat or some flames, and such energy could cause the leaves of the Talent Tree to burn, allowing Lu Ye to master various spirit runes. Additionally, that energy would act as a kind of fuel stored within the Talent Tree, burning away the pill poison.

This time only one leaf burned, likely because the Talent Tree was accumulating fuel; thus, it stored more energy and allowed only a small portion to burn on that fourth leaf.

There were many treasures in the Heaven's Augury treasure vault suitable for the Talent Tree to absorb, including many portions of Earth's Core Fire, of which Lu Ye had only purchased one.

It seemed that he must continue to strive for merit! The more merit he had, the greater the role the Talent Tree could play.

Looking at the remaining five hundred-plus merit points, Lu Ye sighed slightly. Just a few days ago, he was nearly at a thousand.

Merit, this thing, difficult to save up yet spent as quickly as a flowing stream.

Without haste to cultivate, Lu Ye gazed intensely at the burning fourth leaf on the Talent Tree, taking a deep breath with a tragic expression as his consciousness immersed within it.

The burning leaf rapidly magnified in his field of vision, obscuring all thoughts, as if his brain was being pried open by force, with what seemed like a red-hot iron rod thrusting in and stirring fiercely!

After a good while, Lu Ye came back to his senses, drenched in sweat, shaking his head to dispel the discomfort.

Even with his Level 5 realm cultivation, examining the spirit runes on the Talent Tree was still far from a pleasant experience, but thankfully, he didn't faint outright like the first time.

Bloodstain!

That was the name of the fourth spirit rune.

Upon investigating its mysteries, Lu Ye soon discovered that although it was an offensive-type spirit rune, it didn't directly enhance his killing power like Sharpness—it had a different effect.

But it was undeniable that, if used well, this spirit rune could potentially win against stronger opponents!

It was, after all, an additional method for fighting desperate battles against powerful foes.

Every spirit rune on the Talent Tree had significant uses, but to obtain those runes, he needed to first acquire some treasures suitable for the Talent Tree to absorb energy from.

In other words, he needed a large amount of merit!

Putting these thoughts aside for the moment, he still had over five hundred merit points but decided not to buy Earth's Core Fire again. It was better to save some merit for unforeseen needs that might arise.

He got up and started placing Spirit Stones at the eight positions of the Spirit Gathering Array. When placing the last one, Lu Ye hesitated, then took out the blood-red Scale Armor he had obtained from Dragon Spring and positioned it in a recess.

The Spirit Gathering Array could activate the power within the Spirit Stones, and perhaps it could also stimulate the power in the Scale Armor.

The Scale Armor, with its numerous bloodlines, had been absorbed by Amber several times, each time with an intoxicating effect. Lu Ye didn't dare to imitate Amber, knowing that the body of a demon beast was not something he could compare to.

However, if the Spirit Gathering Array could activate its power, then this might be a safe way to extract the power from the Scale Armor.

He also constructed Spirit Energy Gathering Spirit Runes in his own spiritual orifice.

With all preparations ready, he began to ingest elixir pills for cultivation. Soon, the room was filled with Spiritual Energy, among which streamed red mist, each stream resembling a Wandering Dragon...

Days went by, and during the day, he honed his skills under the care and love of Li Baxian, being 'killed' many times a day by his Fourth Senior Brother, ending up covered in blood after each training session, and then dragged off by Second Senior Sister for a bath and healing.

At night, he would enter the ground, first exploring the mysteries of the Heaven's Augury Pillar and the privileges of his position as Governor, or visiting the Heaven's Augury treasure vault for enlightenment, and then cultivating.

Li Baxian didn't teach him many fighting techniques or any particular sword or saber methods because, in Li Baxian's view, those routine things were worthless—only flashy to watch.

Good saber or sword techniques were the simplest means of killing!

What he did was to let Lu Ye's body remember every injury, such harsh teaching methods could only be termed brutal. Only the Righteous Blood Sect had the qualifications to educate in such a manner nowadays; if it had been any other sect, many disciples would have ended up crippled long ago.

At the dining table, Lu Ye, while gobbling down his food, asked Li Baxian in a muffled voice, "Fourth Senior Brother, how can I quickly earn a large amount of merit?"

"Kill enemies!" Li Baxian answered succinctly.

"I know about killing enemies, but didn't you say that it's not suitable for me to stir up trouble outside recently?"

It had been only a month since the battle at Golden Light Peak, and the chaos had only just subsided. Therefore, previously, Li Baxian had warned Lu Ye to keep a low profile for the time being, which was feasible since Lu Ye had been healing his injuries during this time, running back and forth within the sect's headquarters without the chance to cause any commotion outside.

"Other than killing enemies, that would be selling items to the Heaven's Augury treasure vault."