Chapter 1034: Defective on the Outside, Precious on the Inside

Lu Ye wandered around the Holy Mountain. He thought, "What's there to see? There are only a few main halls and a few side rooms; everything is obvious at a glance."

As he was new, however, he couldn't just wander aimlessly, so he had to pass the time like this.

Passing by a main hall, Lu Ye cast a casual glance. His steps suddenly halted, and he immediately strode towards the entrance of the hall.

The hall was empty, with only a pillar-like object standing in its center.

Lu Ye excitedly approached the pillar, a reminiscent look on his face.

He hadn't seen this object in a long time.

Creatures of the Blood Refining World might not recognize this object, but for cultivators from Kyushu, its identity was common knowledge.

It was, in fact, a Heaven's Mystery Pillar!

After arriving in the Blood Refining World, Lu Ye had been contemplating why Kyushu's Heaven's Mystery had sent him here, while also considering how he might return to Kyushu.

He couldn't stay here forever. Since Heaven's Mystery could send him here, it surely had a way to send him back.

However, this situation was fundamentally different from his last entry into the Peerless Continent. During his previous visit, he had carried four Heaven's Mystery Pillars, which allowed him to establish contact with Kyushu. This time, he had none.

Unexpectedly, there was one right here on the Holy Mountain. With a Heaven's Mystery Pillar, he no longer needed to worry about returning; he could simply use it for teleportation.

He could also purchase cultivation resources from the Heaven's Mystery Treasure Vault. What he had been lacking recently were cultivation resources, which was the fundamental reason for his slow cultivation progress.

He raised his hand and pressed it against the Heaven's Mystery Pillar, his mind surging as he attempted to connect with Heaven's Mystery.

Lu Ye frowned. No response!

He tried to connect again, but still, nothing happened.

This was the first time he had encountered such an issue. Connecting with Heaven's Mystery via its pillar was a common ability for every Kyushu cultivator, a right bestowed by Kyushu's Heaven's Mystery. There was no logical reason for it to be unresponsive.

Despite multiple attempts, Lu Ye had no success. "Junior Brother," Feng Wujiang's voice called from behind him.

Lu Ye turned his head, puzzled, and asked, "Senior Brother, why isn't this Heaven's Mystery Pillar working?"

Feng Wujiang explained, "Junior Brother, you aren't aware, but this place isn't like Kyushu. The Heaven's Mystery Pillar here can only be activated once every five years, and it remains active for only about a quarter of an hour. During this time, a large quantity of resources is transported from Kyushu. Afterward, it enters a dormant state."

Lu Ye was stunned; he hadn't expected this. He had previously wondered how human cultivators managed to cultivate in the Blood Refining World, given the apparent lack of suitable resources like spirit stones.

They couldn't solely rely on absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, could they?

So, Kyushu would indeed transport resources here.

"It's still about a year until the Heaven's Mystery Pillar is activated again, so you naturally can't use it now."

"Why is that?" Lu Ye asked, bewildered.

"I don't know the exact reason, but I suspect it's related to this world's will. When Kyushu's Heaven's Mystery sent us here, it employed concealment methods to prevent this world's will from detecting our intrusion. The Heaven's Mystery Pillar's dormancy is likely for the same reason. If it remained constantly active, this world's will would surely be able to trace back to Kyushu's existence. That's why it's activated only once every five years, and for a limited duration each time."

Lu Ye nodded thoughtfully.

"Junior Brother, what did you intend to purchase?" Feng Wujiang asked.

"I'm short on cultivation resources; I was hoping to exchange for some."

Feng Wujiang smiled. "If that's the case, I'll have someone send some to you later. We still have a surplus from the last batch of resources that were transported."

"Okay," Lu Ye nodded, then asked, "By the way, Senior Brother, does the Holy Land have blood crystals?"

"Yes, we do. Do you need them, Junior Brother?"

Over the past few decades, the Blood Race army has besieged the Holy Land numerous times. While many Blood Race members were utterly annihilated, leaving no trace, some also perished on the surrounding islands.

Human cultivators extracted and collected the blood crystals from these Blood Race members.

The Holy Land had initially considered researching how to use the energy of blood crystals for setting up formations. However, the energy within the blood crystals proved somewhat corrosive, making them unsuitable for array use, so they had been kept in storage.

After every major battle, the Holy Land would collect vast quantities of blood crystals. Since they had no practical use, these crystals simply accumulated over time.

Currently, the Holy Land has a dedicated storeroom for blood crystals, where crystals of various sizes and qualities are piled up like mountains.

For others, these blood crystals might be useless, but for him, they were invaluable resources. With enough blood crystals, he could advance to the ninth layer of the True Lake Realm and then attempt to break through to the Divine Sea.

"I'll have someone deliver them all to you later," Feng Wujiang said, then beckoned, "Come with me, someone wants to meet you."

Lu Ye followed Feng Wujiang.

A short while later, in the Artifact Forging Workshop, Lu Ye met Ouyang Zi.

Feng Wujiang introduced them to each other. Upon learning that Ouyang Zi was the Chief Artifact Forger of the Heaven's Mystery Mercantile Alliance centuries ago, Lu Ye was filled with profound respect.

The Heaven's Mystery Mercantile Alliance was a massive organization with countless talents. For Ouyang Zi to have become its Chief Artifact Forger, his forging skills must have been exceptionally profound, far beyond what a novice like himself could achieve.

After all, he had only studied the art of artifact forging under Kong Kong for two months in the Sword Artifact Sect's secret realm. Even with some innate talent, mastery in artifact forging requires years of dedicated practice and immersion.

Ouyang Zi, on the other hand, was even more surprised, primarily by Lu Ye's youth.

Yesterday, when Feng Wujiang mentioned that his junior brother had forged the 'Same Spirit Connection Array Plate,' Ouyang Zi assumed that as Feng Wujiang's junior, he would at least be in his early fifties.

Yet, the young man before him clearly appeared to be in his early twenties!

"You forged this?" Ouyang Zi asked, holding the array plate. His eyes were still a bit red, suggesting he hadn't rested well the previous night.

"Yes, I did," Lu Ye confirmed with a nod.

"Forge another one for me to see," Ouyang Zi said, looking unconvinced. He simply couldn't fathom how someone of Lu Ye's age, even if he had begun studying artifact forging from birth, could possibly engrave such intricate spirit patterns so perfectly onto an array plate.

Lu Ye turned to glance at Feng Wujiang, who nodded, "Junior Brother, go ahead and forge one."

Since his Senior Brother had spoken, Lu Ye naturally didn't refuse. He retrieved some materials from his storage space, activated his spiritual power to conjure a scorching flame, and enveloped the materials, beginning the refining process.

With his current cultivation at the eighth layer of the True Lake Realm, he could already forge simple artifacts from thin air. All his previous array plates were made this way.

Under his precise control, impurities were continuously separated, and the crude form of an array plate slowly began to emerge.

Shortly after, Lu Ye withdrew his spiritual power, and a brand new 'Same Spirit Connection Array Plate' was freshly produced. He handed it to Ouyang Zi.

Ouyang Zi took the plate and used his spiritual power and divine sense to examine its interior, a look of utter disbelief on his face. "This makes no sense," he murmured.

He had observed Lu Ye's forging technique, which was indeed quite rudimentary. The array plate in his hand, in terms of its overall quality, was merely passable. How could such basic forging skills fully engrave such intricate spirit patterns?

This array plate was truly a case of "rotten outside, precious inside." While it appeared unremarkable externally, its true value lay within.

Lu Ye understood Ouyang Zi's astonishment and explained, "Senior, I am a spirit pattern master. Constructing spirit patterns is not a challenge for me."

Even after Lu Ye's explanation, Ouyang Zi remained astonished. "That truly is divine skill," he murmured.

He had met spirit pattern masters before, but none possessed such an extraordinary ability.

"Young friend, would you be willing to teach this old man how to construct this spirit pattern?" Ouyang Zi's demeanor became significantly more courteous. Although he could discern the complete structure of the 'Same Spirit Connection Spirit Pattern' through his divine sense and spiritual power, constructing a spirit pattern in different ways presented varying difficulties. He wished to understand Lu Ye's method of construction, hoping to glean some insights.

He had spent the entire previous day studying the array plate and naturally understood its remarkable utility. This item could be considered a deadly weapon in large-scale conflicts, offering irreplaceable assistance to the Holy Land in repelling the Blood Race army's impending assaults.

He naturally wished to begin forging this item to equip the Holy Land's human cultivators.

"Of course, no problem," Lu Ye readily agreed.

Immediately, the old man and the young man huddled together, murmuring, as Lu Ye periodically demonstrated the construction of spirit patterns to Ouyang Zi.

Feng Wujiang stood silently by, waiting.

Standing beside them, still like a wooden post, was Dao Shisan.

Several hours later, Feng Wujiang led Lu Ye out of the Artifact Forging Workshop, leaving Ouyang Zi with a grim, frustrated expression.

He had discovered that Lu Ye constructed the spirit patterns with effortless ease, as simple as eating and drinking. Yet, when Ouyang Zi attempted it, he repeatedly made errors, often failing right at the critical moment.

This was the nature of spirit pattern construction: to successfully create a spirit pattern, the entire process must be flawless. Even a minor error, such as a slip in the balance of yin and yang, would lead to complete collapse.

This was also why true spirit pattern masters were rare in Kyushu.

Array masters, artifact forgers, and even alchemists in Kyushu generally possess some knowledge of spirit pattern construction to aid them in forming arrays, forging artifacts, or concocting pills. However, the spirit patterns they master are confined to their specific professional fields, and they typically only construct the few patterns they use most often.

Unlike true spirit pattern masters, who can effortlessly construct any type of spirit pattern.

"It seems Senior Ouyang... might not be able to help with this," Feng Wujiang mused, having discerned the situation. While Ouyang Zi was unparalleled in artifact forging, with few in even modern Kyushu matching his skill, specialized knowledge was key. The exceedingly complex 'Same Spirit Connection Spirit Pattern' was, for Ouyang Zi, undoubtedly an insurmountable obstacle.

Perhaps with diligent practice in the future, he could gradually improve his success rate in constructing this spirit pattern and integrate it into his forging. However, what the Holy Land lacked most at present was time.

The Blood Race army was sure to invade within two months, so relying on Ouyang Zi for this task was impractical.