Sage of Humanity

The benefits were not merely in enhanced perception; even though Lu Ye currently could not access soul power, everyone possesses a soul, and its importance spans all aspects of life, cultivation, and battle.

With the increase in soul power, many things had consequently changed.

Back when Lu Ye was creating the large funnel spirit runes in the Soul Cleansing Pool, he had realized that his control over spirit force had reached a new level.

Originally, due to constant practice with spirit runes, his control over spirit force had already surpassed cultivators at the same level. Now, this foundation had seen a significant improvement.

With just a thought, the spirit force stimulated, and a fiery red glow surged on Lu Ye's hand, transforming into a ball of firelight.

Lu Ye gently tossed it, and the firelight immediately danced into the air, moving constantly. Another thought from Lu Ye and the firelight instantly turned into a stunningly beautiful firebird, trailing a long plume as it flew, leaving a trail of light in the air.

The Fire Phoenix Technique had finally normalized!

Lu Ye couldn't help but sigh with emotion. From the time he had learned this magic, the technique had been somewhat abnormal, turning the well-intended Fire Phoenix Technique into a fire quail. Even as his cultivation increased, this issue had remained unresolved, leading him to avoid using the technique unless absolutely necessary before reaching Spirit Stream Level 7, to avoid becoming a laughingstock. Your next journey awaits at My Virtual Library Empire

Not until after reaching Level 7 did he learn the Fire Dragon Technique.

The Fire Phoenix began to distort again, transforming into a writhing fire dragon.

This was no longer just a simple technique. Even those magic cultivators at Spirit Stream Level 8-9 wouldn't be able to achieve such a feat.

This was a deeper form of fire control technique.

The spirit force slowly dissipated, and the fire dragon vanished.

Suddenly, Lu Ye remembered that he had always been dissatisfied with the power of his weapon control, mainly because he was unable to implement spirit runes on the artifact to enhance its lethality and speed.

Therefore, he had always wanted to enhance the spiritual artifact he controlled with spirit runes during usage, but the difficulty was immense. He had attempted this several times before, but each attempt had ended in failure.

Although he still had control over the detached spirit force, the degree of control had significantly dropped. Simple weapon control was not highly affected, but attempting to construct spirit runes at the same time seemed like a fantasy.

He had thought that achieving this might only be possible once his cultivation had advanced further.

Now, it seemed he might be able to try it sooner.

Thinking this, Lu Ye took a hiltless dagger from his storage sack, casually executed it, and the controlled weapon immediately turned into flowing light and swept away.

With a slight shift in his psyche, a flash of brilliance appeared on the hiltless dagger, bolstered by Move-Like-The-Wind, and its already fast speed surged unbelievably further.

Weapon control was already known for its speed, and with Move-Like-The-Wind enhancement, such velocity was beyond the reaction capabilities of ordinary Spirit Stream Level 8-9 cultivators, even if they were cultivators who had switched to cultivating Heaven Rank techniques, they might not be able to block this strike if caught off-guard.

The light on the hiltless dagger flashed again, Sharpness enhanced!

After a while, Lu Ye retracted his controlled weapon, feeling quite satisfied.

A weapon control capable of adding spirit runes had significantly increased its lethality, but there was only one downside: the duration it could be maintained was shortened.

The spirit force consumed by weapon control was stored in the spiritual artifact in advance. Whether it was Move-Like-The-Wind or Sharpness, both required consuming spirit force, resulting in an instant significant reduction in the spirit force stored in the weapon, naturally shortening the time it could be maintained.

This was not a big issue; killing an enemy often just needed a moment. Lu Ye did not need to engage in prolonged battles with the controlled weapon. If he ever encountered such a situation, Lu Ye would simply grasp his Boulder Mountain Saber and engage in melee combat.

It was possible to refine two more spiritual artifacts now.

Previously, the limit of Lu Ye's weapon control was not just two, but he felt that increasing the number would divide his attention, so he had not refined more.

But now, with a stronger psyche, his combat power would not be decreased by controlling two additional spiritual artifacts.

If one day he could reach Brother Li Baxian's level—the ability to form a thought and summon a hundred swords—then he could walk sideways across the Spirit Stream battlefield.

Yet, such a feat depended on talent, not merely on having a strong mind and psyche.

In the many years of the Spirit Stream battlefield, only Li Baxian had emerged.

Lu Ye had many controlled spiritual artifacts in his possession, including some Restriction Level 9 spirit artifacts captured from enemies. He selected two suitable ones, and while swallowing elixir pills to restore his spirit force, he slowly refined their restrictions.

Giant Armor was still meditating, Amber was in a deep sleep, and Yiyi showed no signs of activity—the courtyard was left only to Lu Ye.

He didn't find it boring, still cultivating and reading books every day.

Currently, his reading efficiency had improved over before, and his understanding of the knowledge within the books had become much more thorough—another benefit brought about by the enhanced soul power.

Time swiftly passed, and several days later.

While practicing his cultivation and studying ancient texts, Lu Ye suddenly felt a repelling force around him. He quickly closed the thick tome in his hands and stood up.

The Giant Armor beside him also stood up.

As the two walked shoulder to shoulder toward the outside, they had just reached the courtyard entrance when Jik Yan approached them, "Brother Yiye, Xianyuan City is about to shut down."

"I felt it."

Continuing forward, they soon joined up with Gu Canyang and others. The reason for this gathering was that, if they didn't stay together, they might get scattered when expelled from Xianyuan City and staying together would avoid unnecessary troubles when they left.

Everyone silently awaited, the repelling force growing stronger around them until it reached a certain limit, blurring and then distorting the view before everyone's eyes.

When everything stabilized, they found themselves in a wilderness.

Meanwhile, inside the City Lord's Residence of Xianyuan City, the City Lord, seated comfortably, listened as the Great Commander of the Xianyuan Guard stepped forward and reported, "City Lord, everyone has left."

The City Lord slightly lifted his hand and gently waved it, "Lift the restrictions."

"Yes!"

With that command relayed, the various restrictions around Xianyuan City began to lift, and the city trembled as significant transformations took place.

When Lu Ye and others were there, the city had shown signs of extreme dilapidation, but that was merely the facade of Xianyuan City.

As the major restrictions were lifted, ripple-like waves spread out, and the true Xianyuan City slowly emerged.

Rows of dilapidated houses vanished, replaced by robust defense lines filled with formations and large offensive and defensive spirit treasures. Each of these items would be considered invaluable in the Nine Provinces, but in Xianyuan City, they were commonplace.

The soul mist from the Soul Cleansing Pool churned, and strong Spiritual Bodies kept emerging, half dressed as Xianyuan Guards and the other half as original residents of Xianyuan City.

Unlike the Spiritual Bodies Lu Ye and others had encountered earlier, each of these beings was at least in the Cloud River Realm, and countless were in the True Lake and Divine Sea, forming a force unmatched by any sect in the Nine Provinces, not even those long-standing 1st grade sects.

Emerging from the Soul Cleansing Pool, they looked solemn and brimming with fighting spirit because they knew, war was about to commence again—a war that had been ongoing for countless years.

If Lu Ye stood here, he would surely recognize some of the Xianyuan Guards that he had once defeated.

No one knew that the Xianyuan Guards never really died; even if their Spiritual Bodies disintegrated under attack, as long as the Soul Cleansing Pool existed, they could always emerge from it again. This was because all their soul seals remained in the Soul Cleansing Pool. Unless the soul seals were destroyed, the Spiritual Bodies would never perish.

Thus, the Soul Cleansing Pool was the foundation of Xianyuan City, and not just Xianyuan City, but many other Boundless Mirage Realms as well.

In the gambling den, Liu Sanbao's eyes momentarily cleared as he briskly strode out, his plump body soaring towards the City Lord's Residence.

In the brothel, Pipa Girl, holding her pipa, walked onto the street with a deep and distant expression.

In the literary academy, a scholar put down his half-written article, shaking his head with a sigh, "The world is heartless, using all beings as sacrificial dogs!"

In the butcher's shop, the Butcher sharpened his knife.

At the street corner, the blind fortune-teller tossed Copper Coins and after a brief divination, lamented continuously, "A disaster of bloodshed."

The capabilities shown by these five minion spirits, once under Lu Ye's command, were far beyond those of the Spirit Stream Realm; each was clearly a strong cultivator of the Divine Sea Realm.

The strength they had previously shown was merely a facade, or perhaps an effect of being suppressed by restrictions.

In Xianyuan City, only two were unaffected by these restrictions, the City Lord and the red-robed woman.@@novelbin@@

This was also why the City Lord told Lu Ye that the Spiritual Bodies of Xianyuan City could not leave—the issue was not whether Lu Ye could take them away, even if he successfully did so, Amber, with her current strength, would not be able to sustain such strong minion spirits. The only outcome would be their bodies exploding upon leaving Xianyuan City.

Within just the duration of one incense stick, the dilapidated and bleak Xianyuan City transformed; now the defense lines were filled with Spiritual Bodies, and the entire city was enveloped in an atmosphere of stern killing, with the stirrings of warfare abounding.

The Spiritual Bodies greedily sensed their surroundings, relishing the long-absent scent of living beings left behind by the cultivators who had been active within Xianyuan City. This scent, unperceived by ordinary beings and even Yiyi, who was also a Spiritual Body, was all too clear for those who had abandoned their physical forms and battled here for countless years. This scent.

It was precisely this scent of the living that had sustained their spiritual intelligence over so many years, without which, after enduring the countless wars and 'deaths', the Spiritual Bodies would have succumbed to the endless torment and become mindless beings of slaughter, irrespective of their strength.

This was also the reason why the Boundless Mirage Realm occasionally appeared in the Spirit Stream battlefield and various locations across the Nine Provinces. It was not only Xianyuan City, but all the Boundless Mirage Realms needed the presence of the living to dilute the pervasive gloom.

Within the City Lord's Residence, the City Lord sat with closed eyes, flanked on his left and right by the Great Commander of the Xianyuan Guard and the red-robed woman holding a white cat.

The former commanded all the Xianyuan Guards, and the latter commanded all other Spiritual Bodies beyond the Xianyuan Guards.

Suddenly, the City Lord opened his eyes, his piercing gaze seemed to penetrate the void as he looked above the city and called out softly, "Activate the formation!"