Chapter 109: Mountains and Rivers Meet Again

Lu Ye slowly walked out of Tassel Market's Heavenly Secret Commerce Alliance, respectfully escorted by a manager. He had sold his last six pieces of primordium magnetic ore, along with the storage bags he had acquired earlier from the individuals at Dark Cloud Mountain, all to the Heavenly Secret Commerce Alliance.

Lu Ye hadn't sold Senior Brother Zhou's storage bag. Instead, he paid a fee to have the old cultivator from the Commerce Alliance open its sealed lock, curious to see if there was anything valuable inside. To his great disappointment, comparing the gains with the costs, he not only didn't profit but actually incurred a loss! It was indeed true: opening a bag carried risks, and investment required caution. Senior Brother Zhou's most valuable possession was likely his spiritual artifact longsword, which Lu Ye had already severed during their confrontation. This lesson secretly solidified his resolve: from now on, he would simply package and sell any storage bags he obtained, unless they belonged to a prominent figure like a young master.

Conversely, the beast-taming ring sold for over ten spiritual stones. This item, Senior Sister Yu's spiritual artifact, was specifically designed to handle spirit beasts; its limited utility meant it wasn't particularly valuable.

Most of the spiritual stones he acquired were exchanged by Lu Ye for spiritual pills, leaving only thirty spiritual stones as a reserve. This was because transactions among cultivators were primarily conducted using spiritual stones; while spiritual pills could be used, it typically resulted in a slight loss. At the Commerce Alliance, ten spiritual stones would only buy nine spiritual pills.

The primordium magnetic ore pieces he dealt with this time were quite large, making them valuable. Ultimately, he acquired five hundred spiritual pills. Including the dozens of Spirit Nurturing Pills he still possessed, this represented his entire current wealth. For a low-level cultivator, this was an extremely vast fortune.

Yet, with a brief calculation, Lu Ye realized these spiritual pills wouldn't last long. His cultivation was steadily increasing, and his efficiency in refining spiritual pills had also improved, a process that would only accelerate once he reached the fourth-level realm. Amber had also become a heavy consumer of pills. The spiritual pills Lu Ye gave Yiyi that day, he discovered yesterday upon asking, seemed to have barely any left.

Nevertheless, there was no denying that after just over ten days, Amber's oppressive aura had intensified, indicating significant growth. Huaci had privately mentioned to Lu Ye that Amber might be an extremely rare exotic beast, a fact evident from its ability to transform Yiyi into a "tiger spirit." Such exotic beasts, given sufficient resources, could grow rapidly and were highly likely to become a powerful asset in the future. Lu Ye, however, hadn't fully perceived this himself, as his knowledge was not extensive. He merely understood that he would likely need to find ways to acquire cultivation resources in the future.

The primordium magnetic ore he had brought from Evil Moon Valley was now depleted. Once his current supply of spiritual pills ran out, he couldn't possibly rely on the Spirit Gathering Spiritual Mark to slowly enhance his strength; that method was far too inefficient. Thus, despite his current abundance of spiritual pills, Lu Ye's mood remained somewhat melancholic.

As he walked down the street, Lu Ye headed towards Huaci's medical point. He hadn't gone far when he suddenly heard an enraged roar from the second floor of a nearby tavern: "Wine! Where is everyone? Are you all dead?" Lu Ye paused, slightly startled, because the voice sounded somewhat familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before. Yet, he hadn't encountered many people since leaving Qingyun Mountain. How could he possibly meet an acquaintance here?

He pondered for a moment, and his expression turned grave. He turned and walked towards the tavern. As soon as he entered, someone greeted him, "Please come in, fellow cultivator. What would you like to eat? What would you like to drink?" Although the greeter didn't bow and scrape like a common tavern waiter, his demeanor was quite enthusiastic. Most individuals making a living in the market were rogue cultivators. With no sect to rely on and no elders to look after them, they could only slowly accumulate the resources needed for cultivation in this manner.

"I'm looking for someone," Lu Ye said, lowering his voice, and walked directly towards the stairs. The rogue cultivator smiled and stepped back.

He ascended the stairs step by step. Only when he reached the landing of the second floor did Lu Ye stop and peek around the corner. By the window sat a disheveled, miserable-looking man. A few small dishes were on the table before him, and both the table and the floor were cluttered with wine jars. The man appeared to have encountered something deeply upsetting and was drowning his sorrows in alcohol.

Lu Ye merely glanced, then immediately retreated, his heart pounding.

Dong Shuye!

Although Lu Ye found the voice familiar when he first heard it, he initially dismissed it as unlikely. To be safe, however, he had risked coming up to confirm. Upon seeing him, he realized it truly was Dong Shuye, the man who had once pursued him. He didn't know what Dong Shuye had gone through. The man who had once pursued him with such a fearsome presence now looked utterly desolate, like a stray dog. He even had a new scar on his cheek. Lu Ye was utterly baffled; how could Dong Shuye have ended up here?

One thing was certain: he wasn't here looking for Lu Ye. Dong Shuye must have believed Lu Ye was dead at the time, which explained why he left. If he were truly hunting Lu Ye, he wouldn't be hiding here, drowning his sorrows. Lu Ye then recalled what Huaci had told him previously: the Nine-Star Sect's stronghold had been captured by the Profound Gate, and the entire complex had been burned to the ground. Even so, the stronghold remained; the Nine-Star Sect would simply need to rebuild it at great cost. The Profound Gate, after all, lacked the capacity to occupy two strongholds simultaneously.

It now appeared that although the Nine-Star Sect's stronghold had been captured, Dong Shuye was not dead. As a seventh-level realm spell cultivator, he wouldn't be easily killed. Lu Ye didn't understand why Dong Shuye was here, nor was he interested in knowing. He only knew that he had to leave quickly. If he remained in this area, and Dong Shuye happened to spot him one day, ten lives wouldn't be enough for him to escape.

On the second floor, Dong Shuye stared blankly at the street below, watching the endless stream of people. The world's clamor filled him with an urge to kill everyone. That day, while pursuing Lu Ye, he received a message from Cao Ye and hastily returned to the sect's stronghold. What he found was a scene of countless corpses and rivers of blood, the entire stronghold engulfed in flames. Amidst that devastation, Wang Yang, who had been waiting for him, attacked with his sword! Having rushed back and forth, his spiritual energy was severely depleted. Wang Yang, having conserved his strength, naturally held a complete advantage. Moreover, he was somewhat outmatched by Wang Yang to begin with.

In that battle, he was nearly killed by Wang Yang on the spot. Although he narrowly escaped, three of his spiritual apertures were shattered by Wang Yang, causing his seventh-level realm cultivation to plummet to the sixth level. He had hidden in the wilderness for over a month, recuperating from his injuries, and only then had he reappeared.

The Nine-Star Sect had summoned him multiple times, but how could he possibly respond? The sect's stronghold had been captured, and countless disciples were killed or injured—that was one thing. The critical issue was that all the enchantments on the Heavenly Secret Pillar had been seized by the Profound Gate. While the stronghold buildings could be rebuilt, disciples re-enrolled, and lost resources re-accumulated, those enchantments were not easily restored. They represented the culmination of decades of effort by all the sect's Spiritual Creek Realm cultivators. It could be said that this single battle had completely destroyed the Nine-Star Sect's many years of development in the Spiritual Creek Battlefield. Furthermore, the Young Sect Master had been killed under his supervision.

Such a multitude of failures was something Dong Shuye, a seventh-level realm cultivator, certainly couldn't bear; even a ninth-level realm cultivator would be unable to. The sect's summons were simply to hold him accountable. If Dong Shuye dared to return, he likely wouldn't even see tonight's moon, let alone tomorrow's sun. He was terrified. So, he exhausted all the merit points he had accumulated over the years, erased the Nine-Star Sect's mark from his battlefield imprint, and thus defected from the sect!