Sage of Humanity

The Heaven's Augury treasure vault is not only for purchasing but also for selling.

Anything of value can be sold to the Heaven's Augury treasure vault.

However, this is often an unfavorable transaction. Lu Ye once tried to sell the Boulder Mountain Saber to the Heaven's Augury treasure vault, and the offered price was a mere fifty merits.

It should be noted that he had bought that spirit saber for one hundred and thirty-eight merits. Wasn't the price difference more than double?

The most valuable thing he could sell was a piece of Scale Armor he had obtained from the Dragon Spring, which, he had found out days earlier, was worth more than eight thousand merits.

But Lu Ye would definitely not sell this item, as the power it contained greatly benefited Amber and himself. Nowadays, every time he cultivated, he would place the Scale Armor in the Spirit Gathering Array, slowly stimulating its energy.

Over these days, Lu Ye felt a significant increase in his physical strength.

After Amber had devoured the bloodlines within it several times, it had become increasingly imposing.

Valued slightly less than the Scale Armor were Barrier-breaking Fruits, each worth five hundred merits. These also couldn't be sold, as they were extremely useful for cultivators to open their orifices, and Lu Ye would need them later.

Plus, he had already given the two Barrier-breaking Fruits to Second Senior Sister, who was not only a healing cultivator but also an alchemy cultivator. She could use the Barrier-breaking Fruits along with other medicinal ingredients to refine barrier-breaking pills, maximizing their effects.

As for the value of the barrier-breaking pills, Lu Ye had checked in the Heaven's Augury treasure vault; each pill required three to four hundred merits, and a single Barrier-breaking Fruit in the hands of Second Senior Sister could produce at least four or five barrier-breaking pills.

"Is there no other way?" Lu Ye continued to ask, taking a big bite of the dish that Second Senior Sister had served him.

"Declare war!" Li Baxian smiled faintly, "Declare war on the forces of the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge faction, draft a large amount of merits in advance, and if you win, those merits are yours."

Lu Ye's face darkened. Currently, he was the only disciple at the Righteous Blood Sect's base. Who could he declare war on? There were indeed several sects from the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge nearby, but setting aside whether they would even accept his challenge, even if they did, he had no hope of victory. Moreover, he lacked the capital to declare war.

To win merits from others, he needed to have merits of his own in the early stage.

"Why don't you participate in the Spirit Stream Defense Battle?"

Li Baxian had barely finished his sentence when Shui Yuan glared at him fiercely.

"Junior Brother won't be able to stay cooped up in the base forever, Senior Sister and the old man shouldn't think to protect him all the time. You can help him for a moment, but can you help him for a lifetime? A disciple of the Righteous Blood Sect shouldn't be sheltered in a greenhouse forever. It would be good for him to go out and broaden his horizons sooner rather than later."

Shui Yuan fell silent and served another chopstick-full of vegetables to Lu Ye.

Lu Ye looked from one to the other, and seeing that Second Senior Sister said nothing, he asked, "What is the Spirit Stream Defense Battle?"

Li Baxian began to explain, "In about half a month, the sect ranking evaluation will be out. Usually, after every evaluation, there's the Spirit Stream Defense Battle..."

Through Li Baxian's explanation, Lu Ye slowly understood what the Spirit Stream Defense Battle was.

As has been customary over the years, the various sects, big and small, would remain calm before the sect ranking evaluation, since any inappropriate actions could lead to a decline in ranking—a responsibility no one could afford to bear.

But the Spirit Stream battlefield couldn't remain peaceful forever. The opposition between the two factions was bound to make the cultivators see each other as thorns in their sides. Therefore, after each sect ranking evaluation, things would get extremely lively.

The Spirit Stream Defense Battle arose in response to this dynamic. It was a turn of fate that no one could resist. It seemed as if fate was intensifying the confrontation between the two factions through this method.

After the sect evaluation, the Governors of the various sect base camps could register to fight. Using one augmentation from their base's Heaven's Augury Pillar as the stake, they would enter an unknown small space to fight. If a participant were killed, their augmentation would be taken by their killer.

The boost from the Heaven's Augury Pillar could make the Spiritual Energy at the base denser, with each boost enhancing it by ten percent. Lu Ye had previously tried to buy a boost using merits; the first required five hundred merits, not much, but he had asked Li Baxian and learned that such boosts became more expensive further on.

Thus, the more powerful players in the Spirit Stream Defense Battle could seize many augmentations, and by bringing them back to their base, they could significantly enhance the Spiritual Energy there.

Moreover, in that unknown small space, there were many extraordinary treasures, such as Barrier-breaking Fruits, which are rarely seen outside; they were readily available there.

It could be said that the triennial Spirit Stream Defense Battle was a grand gathering for all sizes of sects, with virtually all the sects from the Nine Provinces participating.

After hearing this, Lu Ye couldn't help but be captivated. He had been considering how to increase the Spiritual Energy in his base. If not for the excessive cost of merits, he would have already bought a boost. Yet, here was such an opportunity.

However, since it was the Spirit Stream Defense Battle, naturally only the Governors and Deputy Governors of the bases could participate. Each sect could only send out two people, and considering how many sects there were in the Nine Provinces, the number of participants would also be extremely large.

"But Fourth Senior Brother, I'm only in the Level 5 realm, and at most I can kill someone in the Level 7 realm. Facing those guardians from the core circle of major sects, how could I possibly be a match?" Lu Ye slowly shook his head. Although he was quite interested in the Spirit Stream Defense Battle, he was aware of his own limitations.

Fourth Senior Brother Li Baxian was the Deputy Governor of the Loyal Heart Sect. If a personage like him was participating in that defense battle, what competitiveness could a Level 5 realm cultivator like Lu Ye have?

Li Baxian said, "Heaven's Augury is indeed cruel, but it wouldn't ask you to go to your death for nothing. It maintains balance in its own way. Though the Spirit Stream Defense Battle takes place within the same small space, that place has an invisible suppression. The further outward one goes, the stronger the suppression one faces.

Take me, for example; if I enter that small space, I would only appear in the very central area. If I were to move outward, my cultivation would be gradually suppressed. On the other hand, if a cultivator with your level of cultivation were to enter, you would only appear on the outermost parts, and the cultivators you would encounter wouldn't be too powerful.

Hence, participating in the Spirit Stream Defense Battle isn't merely about having higher cultivation; if your cultivation is high, the enemies you encounter will also be strong. Of course, the cultivation of a typical governor would be at least the Level 7 realm, and deputy governors might be at Level 7 or maybe Level 6."

"There's such a good thing... then there's no problem!" Lu Ye became interested.

Li Baxian glanced at him. If a regular Level 5 cultivator were to speak so recklessly, he would sneer at them, but his own little junior brother... indeed couldn't be looked at like a regular Level 5 cultivator. In these past days of instruction, he could feel Lu Ye's rapid growth, which was terrifyingly fast.

Shui Yuan said leisurely, "Righteous Blood Sect doesn't have the qualifications to register. The Defense Battle requires both a governor and a deputy governor to participate together. How can you go by yourself? Unless you find a deputy governor to accompany you."

It seemed the Second Senior Sister might not be in favor of Lu Ye participating in the Defense Battle, but her words didn't close off the possibility...

Lu Ye naturally felt her concern, but as the Fourth Senior Brother had said, the Second Senior Sister and the sect master could protect him for a moment, not for a lifetime.

So, if he wanted to participate in the Defense Battle, he still needed to find a deputy governor.

Where to find one? The suitable candidate needs to be trustworthy, and also their cultivation must be sufficient, otherwise bringing along someone in the Level 3-4 realm would just be a burden.

There were many people among the independent cultivators, but Lu Ye had never had any contact with them. Not to mention the issue of trust, he doubted those independent cultivators would be willing to participate in the Defense Battle, which was a place where one could die at any time.

He thought for a long time but came up with no clues.

After dinner, he took his usual beating from the Fourth Senior Brother and then was dragged away by the Second Senior Sister for healing. When night came, he resumed his cultivation in his lodgings.

That day, while Lu Ye was cultivating, he suddenly felt an invisible force emerging from the direction of Heaven's Augury Hall, subsequently radiating throughout the entire encampment.

He frowned, stood up, and walked towards the Heaven's Augury Pillar to investigate the situation, quickly understanding what had happened.

The results of the sect grading evaluation had been released—an act of Heaven's Augury, beyond the influence of mortal hands.

Originally, in this evaluation, Righteous Blood Sect was to be eliminated, but because they had gained him as a disciple, the sect barely managed to retain its status. This was also because the sect had one cultivator in the Divine Sea Realm and one in the True Lake Realm; otherwise, it would have been impossible for an ordinary sect to retain its Ninth Grade status with only three members."

How exactly the sect grade was determined, Heaven's Augury had its own standards, but overall, it was directly related to the number of cultivators in the sect and the levels of their cultivation.

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Confirming that there wasn't any problem anywhere, Lu Ye returned to the training room to resume his cultivation.

The next day, at the Righteous Blood Sect headquarters, two figures collided, saber and sword interlocked, and the grating sound of friction filled the air. The stagnant figures passed each other, with fresh blood spurting from Lu Ye's chest and abdomen. He quickly turned around, holding his saber on guard.

Across from him, Li Baxian looked down at his own chest where a faint bloodstain was visible.

He slightly smiled, sheathed his longsword, and turned to look at Lu Ye, "Little junior brother, you've passed the test! There isn't much I can teach you anymore. In the future, when fighting enemies, just trust your own saber."

In a month's time, this was the first time Lu Ye had managed to injure Li Baxian. At the same level of cultivation, Li Baxian was simply an invincible existence, and Lu Ye's experience only further highlighted the weight of being the tenth on the Spirit Stream Ranking.

Putting away his saber, Lu Ye bowed respectfully, "Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother."

Li Baxian tossed his wine gourd, which immediately enlarged. With a light leap, he stood upon it, "The results of the sect grade evaluation have come out, and I need to go back to the Loyal Heart Sect to prepare. Little junior brother, I'll come to see you again next time. If you encounter any trouble on the battlefield in the future, remember to tell me."@@novelbin@@

With that, he greeted Shui Yuan, faced the direction of the main hall, and gave a solemn salute. Then, standing upright, the gourd carried him away like a beam of light, disappearing swiftly into the distance.

True to his word, he left as he said he would, utterly unfettered.

Lu Ye watched him leave and finally voiced the question that had been weighing on his mind for many days, "Second Senior Sister, since Fourth Senior Brother came from our sect, why did he become a disciple of the Loyal Heart Sect?"

It seemed his Third Senior Brother had done something similar, now belonging to another sect.

But by the way Fourth Senior Brother acted, it was obvious that he still regarded this place as his home. The sect master and the Second Senior Sister didn't treat him as an outsider, letting him come and go as he pleased.