Chapter 1046: Entering the Blood Sea

Lu Ye felt a warmth in his heart.

Yue Ji asked curiously, "How are you able to cultivate with blood crystals?"

"Because I'm gifted?"

"Let me see you use one."

Yue Ji's curiosity intensified.

Lu Ye took out a blood crystal, popped it into his mouth, and crunched it loudly. The stark visual contrast of the crimson crystal against his snowy-white mouth interior was so striking that even someone like Yue Ji couldn't help but avert her gaze, murmuring, "Little monster."

She didn't press for details. Everyone favored by great fortune had their own little secrets, and it could be said that every elder sent to the Blood Refining Realm by the Heavenly Mechanism had their own hidden aspects.

Cultivation continued.

The blood crystals in the room had been replenished many times, always personally delivered by Senior Brother.

However, Lu Ye noticed that Senior Brother was bringing fewer blood crystals each time.

Even if the Holy Land had a blood crystal reserve, it wasn't limitless; they had only collected them for a few decades in total.

Lu Ye felt himself expanding.

Not a mental expansion, but a genuine internal one.

His physical form remained unchanged, but the spiritual power within him accumulated more and more, growing increasingly vast and potent with his continuous cultivation.

Judging by the fluctuations of his spiritual power alone, his current energy level was no less than that of a Divine Ocean Realm cultivator.

But in reality, he hadn't advanced to the Divine Ocean Realm because his divine sense was strong enough to control the power within him. Subconsciously, he hadn't yet reached the point of needing to transform.

The biggest hurdle to advancing to the Divine Ocean Realm had arrived, as Lu Ye had expected.

He had developed his divine sense during the first layer of the True Lake Realm, granting him the advantages of a Divine Ocean Realm cultivator early on. But there were no free lunches in this world; eventually, he would have to pay a price for it.

Logically, a True Lake Realm cultivator shouldn't be able to accumulate such immense power within their body. By this stage, most True Lake cultivators would either have found an opportunity to advance to the Divine Ocean Realm and be making their final push, or, due to insufficient mental fortitude, they would struggle to control the constantly accumulating power, making further accumulation of spiritual energy in their physical body difficult. Yet, Lu Ye was an exception.

He could continue to accumulate it without limit, leading to an increasingly formidable physical foundation.

After another month or so, the spiritual power accumulated within Lu Ye became even denser, and all his spiritual apertures throbbed continuously, a result of the immense pressure from the overflowing spiritual energy inside him.

He faintly felt himself touching upon that crucial opportunity.

Lu Ye was delighted. At this critical juncture, he stopped wandering and focused solely on his cultivation.

Several days later, the room's restriction formation was suddenly triggered. Lu Ye lifted his hand to open it, and Senior Brother strode inside.

Looking at Lu Ye's state, Feng Wujiang asked with concern, "How is your cultivation progressing?"

"It should be soon."

Feng Wujiang nodded, then shook out a few storage bags, immediately depositing some blood crystals, along with various pills and spirit stones, onto the floor.

"Then continue cultivating diligently. There's still time, no need to rush."

He also recognized the difficulty Lu Ye was facing, but he couldn't offer any assistance, leaving Lu Ye to manage on his own.

"Senior Brother, you don't need to search for more blood crystals."

During this period, the blood crystals Senior Brother brought back had become increasingly scarce. This time, he even brought some pills and spirit stones, which showed that the Holy Land's resources were also running low.

Furthermore, he felt uneasy about Senior Brother and the elders having to tirelessly collect blood crystals outside.

"Hm?"

Feng Wujiang looked at him, puzzled. "Do you have enough resources yourself?"

Lu Ye shook his head. "I don't, but I know a good place. Don't worry, Senior Brother."

Feng Wujiang pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "In that case, be extra careful yourself. If you need anything, be sure to tell me."

"Understood," Lu Ye replied.

The resources Senior Brother brought this time weren't extensive; Lu Ye consumed them all in less than ten days.

With no more cultivation resources available, Lu Ye could still vaguely grasp that hint of a breakthrough opportunity. Primarily, his long period of accumulated cultivation had built his physical foundation to an incredibly terrifying degree. Even with his divine sense, he felt a faint sense of being unable to fully control it.

He was still a little short!

He stood up, pushed open the door, and swept out.

He quickly reached the edge of the Sacred Island, glanced at the blood sea before him, and without hesitation, plunged headfirst into it, splashing crimson water.

This was the "good place" he had mentioned to Senior Brother.

For other human cultivators, there were no usable cultivation resources in the Blood Refining Realm apart from the ambient spiritual energy.

But for him, it was different.

The omnipresent blood rivers were the most immense cultivation resources. Of course, cultivating by absorbing the blood rivers came with a price, and Lu Ye was unwilling to take this step unless absolutely necessary.

Because once he took this step, it meant his final push. He had to advance to the Divine Ocean Realm before the Talent Tree's fuel was completely depleted, otherwise, no one could withstand the strange phenomena in the blood sea.

The moment he vanished, figures darted from all directions around the Sacred Island. These were the elders, and dozens of them gathered in the blink of an eye.

Their ability to gather so quickly clearly indicated that they had all been keeping an eye on his movements.

"Holy Lord, what's with your junior brother? He dares to delve deep into the blood sea," an old man with crane-white hair and a youthful complexion asked.

The others also showed curious expressions.

They certainly didn't think Lu Ye was being reckless. Since he dared to venture deep into the blood sea, it meant he had the ability to resist its erosion. Although they also possessed such capabilities, their cultivation levels were immensely profound, far beyond anything Lu Ye could compare to.

Moreover, even they were unwilling to linger in the blood sea for long, as it consumed too much spiritual energy.

Feng Wujiang shook his head and remained silent, a faint worry etched on his face.

"Don't worry, Holy Lord."

Yue Ji spoke, "Since he can cultivate using blood crystals, the blood sea probably won't pose much of a problem for him. Holy Lord, you might not know this, but he eats blood crystals whole, one after another, crunching them loudly."

A group of elders twitched at the corners of their eyes upon hearing this; it was the first time they had heard such a thing.

The elders gathered there, but they couldn't perceive what was happening beneath the blood sea. The blood sea's suppression of divine sense was too strong; even individuals of their caliber couldn't probe too deeply.

Deep within the blood sea, Lu Ye relaxed his mind and body, sinking thousands of feet before finally reaching the seabed.

Here, indescribably immense pressure converged from all directions, causing discomfort and further burdening his physical body.

Lu Ye suddenly realized that this was indeed an excellent place to advance to the Divine Ocean Realm.

With the pressure from the vast spiritual power inside his body and the pressure from the blood sea outside, under this twofold intensity, that subtle, unseen opportunity became significantly clearer.

He invigorated his spirit, immediately activated the power of the Talent Tree, and unreservedly absorbed the surging power from the surrounding blood.

On the Talent Tree, large swathes of gray mist burned and rose, a much more dramatic display than when he absorbed blood crystals.

He didn't know if he could successfully advance to the Divine Ocean Realm this time. If not, he would have to find another way upon returning to Kyushu—assuming, of course, that he could actually return to Kyushu.

Senior Brother's previous statements were merely speculation; there was no clear evidence that Lu Ye could definitely use the Heavenly Mechanism Pillar for transportation.

So it was possible he couldn't return.

If that were truly the case, there would be nothing he could do; it would simply mean the Heavenly Mechanism was unreliable.

However, based on his interactions with the Heavenly Mechanism so far, it seemed unlikely that it would simply abandon him after exiling him to the Blood Refining Realm. After all, his situation was ultimately different from that of the elders.

Where he was, a vortex quickly formed, drawing in seawater from all directions.

Time flowed on.

His physical foundation continued to strengthen, and the feeling of his divine sense struggling to control his body gradually became clearer. Lu Ye suddenly entered an extremely peculiar state.

It was as if his mind had detached, silently observing his own breakthrough and advancement as an outsider.

This sensation was extremely strange, and Lu Ye couldn't tell if it was good or bad. But at this moment, there was little he could do. Since he had decided to advance to the Divine Ocean Realm that day, he was fated to follow this path without turning back—either he would fail miserably, or he would achieve success.

Although his mind was detached, Lu Ye's perception of himself remained.

He could clearly feel his physical body growing increasingly bloated, and the fluctuations of his spiritual power became extremely unstable, at times surging like a fierce tide, at others as still as a calm sea.

This was a clear sign of his struggle to control the physical power.

The opportunity for breakthrough was already very clear. Within his mind, his Divine Pool seemed to have taken on a life of its own, constantly expanding and contracting.

Yet, he couldn't take that final step.

Lu Ye had anticipated that his advancement to the Divine Ocean Realm would be difficult due to his early development of divine sense, but he hadn't expected the difficulty to be this immense.

Now he faced a dilemma: could he grasp that sliver of opportunity before his physical body could no longer withstand the pressure?

It just felt like he was missing something, a tiny bit...

Yet in life's encounters, it was often this small difference that created a chasm, turning into a world of difference.

He could only continue to absorb the energy from the blood sea, pushing himself to his limits.

Fortunately, his physical strength was sufficient. If an ordinary weapon master had come here, the accumulated power within their body would likely have caused them to explode.

Even so, tiny cracks had appeared on the surface of his skin, like a shattered mirror, with blood oozing from these minute fissures.

The opportunity for breakthrough became increasingly clear, and the Divine Pool's expansion and contraction frequency grew higher and higher. At this point, it was truly the final push.

Succeed, and all would be well; fail, and everything would cease.

Lu Ye's mood, however, was unprecedentedly calm, devoid of any anxiety.

He understood clearly that he had done everything he could. Cultivation, after all, was simply a matter of doing one's utmost and leaving the rest to fate.

Just at this most critical moment, Lu Ye suddenly felt something unusual, as if a light was flickering before his eyes. Although his eyes were closed, he could still sense the distinct luminosity.

Slowly opening his eyes, he immediately saw a peculiar sight.

Within the crimson blood, a cluster of golden light was spinning towards him.

It was clearly being drawn by the vortex around him.