Sage of Humanity

Members from almost every sect in the Core Circle had come, which was a good thing for the Righteous Blood Sect, as those who came were led by Governors or Deputy Governors. Over the past few days, the Righteous Blood Sect had forged Alliance Pacts with these sects.

In the future, if disciples of The Righteous Blood Sect were to train and cultivate in the Core Circle, they would have plenty of choices, almost any of the Core Circle sects to choose from.

Guests from afar were always welcomed, and naturally, the Righteous Blood Sect treated them with meticulous care.

Moreover, it had been many years since the Righteous Blood Sect had seen such liveliness.

After exchanging greetings with the various guests for a while, Lu Ye took advantage of the Heaven's Augury Pillar to return to his own sect.

The sect headquarters was bustling with people, but they were all disciples from his own sect. On seeing Lu Ye, they paid their respects one after another.

Finding Shui Yuan who was busy at work, Lu Ye waited until she was finished before asking, "Second Senior Sister, why has my advancement to Cloud River caused such a big stir?"

Shui Yuan tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and said, "Have you ever heard of Heaven's Augury Bestowment?"

Lu Ye shook his head, he truly had not heard of it.

"The Heaven's Augury Bestowment is a legend. The last occurrence was decades ago." A reminiscent look flashed in Shui Yuan's eyes, as if recalling some old memories, and she paused a good while before continuing, "Attaining Heaven's Augury Bestowment is incredibly difficult; it requires continuously overcoming enemies at a higher level and accumulating the attention of the Augury. When the time comes for advancing to a great realm, the Augury then bestows its blessings. Overcoming enemies at a higher level may not be difficult for disciples from big sects, but the hard part is being able to overcome all enemies at a higher level. Looking at the cultivators of our generation, only you, little junior brother, have the opportunity and qualifications to do so."

Ever since the day he started his cultivation, Lu Ye had been fighting enemies beyond his own realm of power.

This wasn't particularly noticeable before he reached the Level 5 realm.

However, after the battle at Golden Light Peak, this accumulation became quite evident.

At Golden Light Peak, apart from the first cultivator who went to battle being at the Level 5 realm, the rest were all at Level 6.

During that battle, Li Baxian and cultivators from the Haotian Alliance had already seen the beginnings of Heaven's Augury Bestowment in him, but at that time, Lu Ye was still far from advancing to Cloud River, so it was just a hint of what was to come.

After that, be it in the outer, inner, or Core Circle, the enemies Lu Ye encountered were, eight or nine out of ten, cultivators with higher levels of cultivation than him.

But without exception, not one of them was a match for Lu Ye.

He had even reached the top of the Spirit Stream Ranking with his 8th Heaven cultivation, dominating the entire Spirit Stream battlefield. After advancing to 9th Heaven, he was almost synonymous with invincibility.

This continuous accumulation along the way made Heaven's Augury Bestowment a natural result.

"Gathering the attention of the Augury?" Lu Ye's heart stirred, "Sister means, this Augury..."

"The Augury, permeating the cultivation world, is not simple," Shui Yuan explained. "With your current low level of cultivation, you can't feel it distinctly, but as your cultivation grows, you'll understand."

Lu Ye nodded, "What are the benefits of this Heaven's Augury Bestowment?"

"I'm not sure about the specific benefits because there are too few people qualified to receive the Heaven's Augury Bestowment, and all information about it is top secret, not allowed to be disclosed. The last person to receive it was our eldest senior brother. However, he received the Augury's Blessing when he advanced from Cloud River to True Lake. Since then, his cultivation has advanced by leaps and bounds, which also led our sect to glory. But as you know the state of our sect, it was our eldest senior brother who led both its rise and fall."

"Eldest senior brother..." Lu Ye murmured, thinking about this senior brother he had heard about many times but never met.

"Don't think too much about it right now. No one knows if you'll receive the Heaven's Augury Bestowment. It's just that everyone thinks it's highly possible for you, which is why so many have come to witness the event," Shui Yuan encouraged.

Lu Ye nodded.

"When do you plan to advance?" asked Shui Yuan.

"I'm ready anytime."

"Let's set it for three days from now."

"I'll listen to you, senior sister."

Shui Yuan looked at him, her expression like that of someone watching their own child grow up, then she suddenly smiled, "It's happening so fast, you're about to advance to Cloud River."

She paused and then said, "However, after your advancement to Cloud River, you'll have to change your Spiritual Artifact."

"I was planning to consult with you about this matter," Lu Ye said, as this was indeed troubling for him. All of his current Spiritual Artifacts, whether the Boulder Mountain Saber or the weapon control implements in the supplies box, even his Flying Spirit Artifacts, were all Restriction Level 9 low-grade spirit artifacts.

Low-grade spirit artifacts were generally used by cultivators in the Spirit Stream Realm. After advancing to Cloud River, one should switch to mid-grade spirit artifacts above Restriction Level 9.

As for weapon control and Flying Spirit Artifacts, they can be swapped out at any time. Among the possessions paid by the various sects of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge, there were many spirit artifacts of various grades. If Lu Ye wanted to switch, he could do it at any moment.

But the Boulder Mountain Saber was the only exception...

This saber had been with him for two years, and there was Man-Sword Synthesis between them. Even if he were to switch to another long saber that had the same design as the Boulder Mountain Saber, it might not necessarily fit well in Lu Ye's hands. To reach the level of Man-Sword Synthesis again, it might take a long time to accumulate.

This was not cost-effective.

But if he didn't change it, the Boulder Mountain Saber would no longer keep up with his progress in cultivation, and after two years of battles, the blade of the Boulder Mountain Saber had many notches and was no longer fit for major use.

After relaying his concerns to Shui Yuan, she laughed and said, "As so with you saber users and your fourth senior brother who is a sword cultivator, you both cherish your Spiritual Artifacts and are reluctant to change them. The solution is simple though, upgrade it."

"Upgrade?"

"It will cost a bit, but you can hire an Artifact Refiner to elevate your saber to the level of a mid-grade spirit artifact. The cost is substantial, however, because an Artifact Refiner capable of upgrading a spirit artifact would have to be at least at the Grandmaster level. Those below Grandmaster level simply don't have that ability. But there's an advantage to this; you can make specific requests based on your needs, essentially getting a custom-made upgrade!"

Lu Ye's eyebrows rose in interest, "There's such a good thing? Does Senior Sister know any Artifact Refining Grandmasters with such skills?"

"I do know some, but they are far away, not in this province."

"That's alright…"

"Actually, it's not that complicated. When you go to the Heaven's Augury treasure vault later, connect your mind to Heaven's Augury, entrust the task of upgrading the spirit artifact, and someone will accept it."

"The Heaven's Augury treasure vault has this function?" Lu Ye was surprised; whenever he entered the Heaven's Augury treasure vault, he was only buying or selling items.

"Try it and see for yourself, but remember, transactions there are conducted exclusively with merit."

"Okay." Lu Ye said and hastened into the Heaven's Augury Hall, connecting his mind with the Heaven's Augury Pillar and entering the treasure vault.

The vast treasure vault stored an array of dazzling items. When Lu Ye had first seen it, he was overwhelmed by the choices. However, by stating some specific keywords for filtering, the number of items would decrease, leaving only those that met the criteria. The more specific the filters, the fewer the items that matched. Eventually, the cultivators who entered the Heaven's Augury treasure vault could easily find what they need—provided they have sufficient merit.

In the Heaven's Augury treasure vault, all transactions are recognized by merit only.

"Entrust, spirit artifact upgrade!" Lu Ye spoke softly.

The vast treasure vault twisted and changed, and Lu Ye felt as if he was in a small room with only a pedestal in front of him and nothing else.

Understanding the process, Lu Ye placed the Boulder Mountain Saber on the pedestal in front of him.

Unsure how long he would need to wait for someone to accept the entrustment, Lu Ye was about to leave when suddenly the space in front of him distorted, and a blurry figure appeared.

This was the first time he had seen another person in the Heaven's Augury treasure vault, and he couldn't help but size them up and down, unable to discern the newcomer's cultivation level or gender.

The figure picked up the Boulder Mountain Saber, glanced at it, and spoke in a disappointed tone, "Just a low-grade spirit artifact…"

For the figure, this was clearly a job with meager rewards.

"What requirements?" Despite the disappointment, the figure didn't leave. After all, opportunities to accept such tasks in the Heaven's Augury treasure vault were rare, and every little bit counted.

"Keep the shape and length the same, 18 layers of restriction, make it extremely durable, and if the weight could be tripled, that would be best." As his strength increased, a spirit artifact like the Boulder Mountain Saber had become too light for Lu Ye. If it were three times heavier, it would feel just right in his hands. As for sharpness, he had no particular demands because, after all, every strike he made was enhanced with the Sharpness spirit runes—as long as the saber was durable enough.

"Your demands are not low, name your price!"

Lu Ye pondered for a moment, "Eight hundred points."

A low-grade spirit artifact normally sells for between thirty to one hundred and fifty points in the Heaven's Augury treasure vault, while mid-grade ones go for around two hundred to five hundred points of merit.

Offering eight hundred points, Lu Ye's bid was more than enough to buy the best mid-grade spirit artifact with points to spare.

"Too little. To meet your specifications, just the cost of the materials would be no less than six hundred points of merit," the figure huffed lightly. "Kid, if you want to upgrade your spirit artifact, don't measure it by the artifact's original price."

"How much do you want?"

"Without two thousand points of merit, it's not worth my effort."

"Deal!"

Lu Ye now had a total of one hundred thousand merits on him; what were a mere two thousand points? As long as the Boulder Mountain Saber's grade could be raised, even if it cost a bit more, it would be acceptable.

The figure was momentarily taken aback by his straightforwardness and rued inwardly, wondering which wealthy and powerful family's disciple this could be, to spend so generously. Had they known, they would have quoted a higher price.

"Summon the Heaven's Augury Pact," said the figure.

A moment later, with the summoned Heaven's Augury Pact at hand, both parties left their imprints on it. It detailed the compensation Lu Ye would pay, his specific requirements, and the deadline.

The deadline was crucial because the Boulder Mountain Saber would be taken away for upgrading, and it would be troublesome if it was not returned in time.

And the deadline set in the Heaven's Augury Pact was three days!

This made Lu Ye somewhat contemplative; Artifact Refining skills at the Grandmaster level could earn two thousand points of merit in just three days, which seemed far too easy.

Withdrawing his consciousness from the Heaven's Augury treasure vault, Lu Ye returned to find Second Senior Sister Shui Yuan.

The issue with the Boulder Mountain Saber was resolved, and now he had to sort out his weapon control and Flying Spirit Artifacts.

Last time, he had handed over possessions worth fifty to sixty million points of merit to Shui Yuan, which were now stored in the Righteous Blood Sect's treasure vault.

After receiving the key from Second Senior Sister, Lu Ye entered the treasure vault for a haul.