Sage of Humanity

The sun bore down, and in the Land of Fiery Flames, which spanned thousands of miles, Lu Ye shed his robe, walked bare-chested with the Boulder Mountain Saber in hand, stepping forward gradually.

He did not activate the spirit force to protect his body, allowing the searing heat around him to erode his form, using this to heighten his bodily resistance to the harsh environment, and simultaneously felt more acutely the limits of what his body could endure.

Back when he was a mining slave in Evil Moon Valley, due to intensive labor and scarce food, Lu Ye's physique had been rather frail.

But after he embarked on the path of cultivation, his physical strength slowly increased, especially after gaining the Scale Armor in Dragon Spring, the enhancement to his physique was visibly apparent.

At this moment, his bare upper body was covered in robust muscles, crisscrossed with scars from sharp weapons.

These scars were all marks from bloody battles with his enemies.

Last time, after returning to the Righteous Blood Sect from the inner circle, Second Senior Sister, with her skills as a healing cultivator, had removed the remaining scars on his body.

But for cultivators, fights and battles were inevitable, old scars faded and new ones formed, a normal occurrence.

Sweat slid down his spine and chest, evaporating quickly, and even for a 7th Heaven level cultivator like him, he had to occasionally take out his water flask to replenish the water his body lost.

His pace was not fast, which allowed the surrounding environment to constantly temper his flesh, continuously enhancing his physical resistance to the searing heat, so though slow, his steps never ceased.

Occasionally, he would stop and engage in a fierce battle with a demon beast encountered along the way.

The demon beasts that lived here were all of the fire type, drawn by the unique conditions of this place, as they could grow faster here than elsewhere.

The deeper he went, the stronger the demon beasts he encountered, yet none were a match for Lu Ye.

The demon beasts he killed were not wasted, their blood collected, and their unique body parts were useful for Artifact Refining; even their skins could be sold, and their flesh was highly nourishing for cultivators.

Amber loved eating these the most.

After communicating with Yiyi, Lu Ye learned that Giant Armor had taken her and Amber away from Fog-shrouded Mountain, hiding in a secluded location; he instructed them to stay hidden and wait for him to finish his matters here before joining them.

Night fell, and the full moon rose, but the Land of Fiery Flames did not cool off with the arrival of darkness; it remained unbearably hot.

He kept moving forward.

On the third morning after escaping the swarm of bees, Lu Ye had ventured deep into the core of the Land of Fiery Flames. According to the ten-part map, he was less than about 30 miles from the heart of the Land of Fiery Flames.

Even for someone with Lu Ye's strong constitution, such deep penetration was becoming unbearable.

Using the pervasive heat of this place to fortify his body's resistance had its limits; since last night, Lu Ye had begun to activate his spirit force for protection, barely managing to reach this point.

At his current location, even with the protection of the spirit force, it was hard to progress further.

In such an area, no demon beast could survive; even those of the fire type couldn't endure the extreme conditions here.

The name 'perilous land,' a forbidden zone for cultivators, was not given lightly.

This made Lu Ye somewhat unwilling.

If there truly were fire-element treasures in the Land of Fiery Flames, they must be at the very center; if he were too far, he wouldn't insist, but now he was less than about 30 miles away...

Giving up here would render all his previous efforts in vain.

But he had indeed reached his limit; to persist would only be inviting misery.

He examined himself, looking for any possible items or methods he might use, and it seemed that the Talent Tree might help.

The Talent Tree could devour the power of the fire attribute; using its power to withstand the heat here shouldn't be a problem.

But the key point was that this object was rooted in his Root Spiritual Orifice, somewhat virtual yet somewhat real, never manifesting externally; how could he utilize it?

After some thought, Lu Ye realized a problem: since the environment here was so intense, it meant it was rich in fire attribute Spiritual Energy, invisible to the naked eye but certainly within the scope of the Talent Tree's absorption...

Why did he need the Talent Tree to manifest externally to protect himself, when he could just stimulate the Talent Tree to devour the surrounding blistering power?

With this realization, Lu Ye suddenly found that his understanding of the Talent Tree had always been misled; if this were the case, then facing enemies who had cultivated a fire-element technique later on would give him an immense advantage.

A thought flickered through his mind, and he stimulated the power of the Talent Tree; the next instant, the roots of the Talent Tree in his Root Spiritual Orifice suddenly multiplied significantly, then disappeared as if they had reached into some unknown space.

Lu Ye sensed something and immediately activated his Insight Spirit Runes, enhancing his eyes.

He looked down at his hands, and the sight in his field of vision caused him a moment of surprise.

The vision enhanced by the Insight Spirit Runes was different from normal vision, for the Insight Spirit Runes could reveal things invisible to the naked eye, like the flow of spirit force.

Under the enhancement of Insight, the world Lu Ye saw was full of multicolored brilliance, these were the rich colors displayed by the various attributes of Spiritual Energy.

At that moment, the scene within his field of view was a fiery red color, with no other colors present.

This was because the fire attribute spiritual energy of this area was excessively dense.

The spirit force flowing in his hands was also a fiery red, mixed with a faint shade of gold, as Lu Ye's own spirit force was primarily fire-supported by gold.

However, atop the flowing spirit force in his hands, there now appeared countless root-like things, swaying with the flow of the spirit force.

Those roots were clearly the roots of the Talent Tree.

Not only were they on his hands, but everywhere within sight on his body.

At first glance, Lu Ye looked like a furry humanoid monster.

In the past, when he had activated the Talent Tree to devour the Earth's Core Fire, Lu Ye had never used the Insight Spirit Runes to observe, and only at this moment did he understand how the Talent Tree devoured the Earth's Core Fire.

It clearly used its own body as an intermediary, with the roots acting as a bridge.

No wonder he never felt the heat of the Earth's Core Fire when the Talent Tree devoured it, even if he held the Earth's Core Fire in his hands, because his hands were covered with invisible roots of the Talent Tree.

As the Talent Tree's devouring showed results, the intense heat around rapidly receded, and the sudden change in the environment gave Lu Ye an unreal feeling of coolness.

Having verified his thoughts, Lu Ye strode forward.

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Activating the Talent Tree in this way did not consume much of his own spirit force, but it greatly exhausted his mental power, a fact Lu Ye clearly felt, so he needed to quicken his pace, as lingering too long would not be to his advantage.

After walking some distance and confirming there were no problems, Lu Ye simply summoned the spirit ark and flew forward.

The speed of weapon control-flying was much faster than walking, and he quickly crossed about thirty miles.

Lu Ye, traveling through the air, suddenly halted his movement and stood on the spirit ark, looking down.

On the dark red land below, a figure lay prostrate diagonally, her exquisite curves visible, her snow-white skin forming a stark contrast with the dark red of the earth, jarring his vision. She was wearing only a beast skin bustier and a beast skin miniskirt on her lower body, her elongated figure not only aesthetically pleasing but also emanating an explosive sense of power.

There's actually someone here? Lu Ye felt extremely surprised.

Since yesterday, he had not seen a single demon beast, yet here he encountered a person.

She must still be alive, as Lu Ye could feel her vitality.

She was likely here to search for treasures in the Land of Fiery Flames, and considering she managed to traverse this harsh environment, her strength was imaginable.

But based on her current posture, she was clearly at her limit, otherwise, she would not be lying prostrate here motionless.

Just as Lu Ye was preparing to activate the Insight Spirit Runes to closely observe the extent of her cultivation, the woman suddenly sat up straight, and a pair of chilly crimson eyes met Lu Ye's gaze.

Lu Ye immediately felt something was amiss, without any hesitation, the spirit ark rapidly ascended, leaving a lingering image below as it moved to a nearby location. The spirit ark trembled slightly, nearly throwing Lu Ye off.

Lu Ye turned his head to look to one side, the woman who had just been lying on the ground was now on all fours, her body ignited with flame-like spirit force, her fiery red hair billowing, baring her teeth at Lu Ye as if she were a cheetah ready to pounce.

The wildness of the spirit force on her body and the brilliance of the spirit light startled Lu Ye.

Even in Feng Yuechan and Li Baxian, he had not seen such brilliant spirit light.

And the spirit force on her body… that wasn't spirit force, that was boiling demonic power!

This woman was a demon, and a big demon at the Overlord level!

A grave sense of danger sprouted in his heart, causing Lu Ye's heart to contract sharply, a stinging pain emanating from his chest as his strong mental power alerted him to her imminent attack.

Almost at the moment he sensed danger, Lu Ye instinctively constructed a Defense Spirit Rune in front of his chest.

His vision blurred, and the female demon, who had just been on the ground, was now close at hand, her hand transformed into a claw, aiming for his chest.@@novelbin@@

A snapping sound followed, as the sturdy Defense Spirit Runes were punctured by sharp nails, creating cracks, and Lu Ye could even feel the pain of her claws piercing his chest.

If it weren't for the Defense blocking it, her claw would certainly have dug out his heart.

A sonorous sound followed, as nine rays of light burst forth from the supplies box at Lu Ye's waist, striking towards the female demon.

The female demon retracted her hand, her body spinning nimbly; without any obvious movement, she dodged all attacks while her long legs, like whips, lashed out in the air.

Lu Ye's Boulder Mountain Saber was drawn from his waist, a blow with Double-Sharpness spirit runes hacked towards her leg whip.

The blow struck air; her ability to change moves was extremely fast, probably having sensed the sharpness of that slash, she instantly shifted from a whip to a kick, the speed of which left no time to react.