Chapter 1126: Divine Sea Fifth Layer Realm

If the Mother Nest was truly an entity beyond the Divine Sea Realm, then it surely contained something worth extracting. This was precisely why Lu Ye insisted on refining the vitality amassed in the Blood River, hoping to make a discovery through this process.

The Mother Nest's vitality was immense and refined. While a portion of it was consumed during the battle to hatch insect guards and another for healing, the Mother Nest likely used less than half of its total vitality.

In other words, Lu Ye, utilizing the Talent Tree's absorption, had channeled over half of the vitality into the Blood River.

However, this power was not yet fully his; he still needed to meticulously refine it.

This situation was akin to a farmer who had plundered a large quantity of grain from a landlord's estate. The grain now lay piled in his home, but it wouldn't truly be his until he had consumed it.

Leveraging the immense volume of the Blood River, the Talent Tree's power was greatly amplified. The Blood River was permeated with the Talent Tree's roots, making the efficiency of absorption and refinement vastly superior to his normal cultivation pace.

As time passed, the Blood River's volume gradually diminished.

The vast Insect Grand Secret Realm was now eerily silent. All cultivators from the Nine Provinces had withdrawn, leaving only Lu Ye and Nianyue Xian, who remained to protect him.

News of the human cultivator army's decisive victory in the Insect Grand Secret Realm had already spread, filling the entire Nine Provinces with jubilation. The common people, who had endured a prolonged period of darkness under the insect plague, were particularly ecstatic, finally seeing the dawn of hope.

They would no longer be confined to cities protected by cultivators and could finally resume their former peaceful and leisurely lives.

Through the overt and covert promotion by certain individuals, Lu Yiye of the Bi Blood Sect, the most significant contributor to quelling the spiritual fire, became renowned throughout the Nine Provinces, truly making a name for himself across the land.

The crafting of the "Connected Spirit" formation disks increased the overall strength of the Nine Provinces' expeditionary cultivators by at least twenty to thirty percent. These disks significantly reduced casualties, with almost every True Lake Realm cultivator benefiting from their existence.

When the Insect Grand Secret Realm remained a mystery to everyone, he had already accomplished the remarkable feat of infiltrating it alone, bringing back comprehensive first-hand intelligence.

He then provided the method for refining insect blood, equipping the cultivator army with the essential conditions for a counterattack.

In the final battle, when over two hundred Ninth-Level cultivators were at a loss and the situation was stalemated, he single-handedly breached the insect nest's core. Through his individual effort, he created an environment suitable for a decisive battle, took charge of coordination, and helped the Ninth-Level cultivators successfully slay the Mother Nest, thereby resolving the crisis for the Nine Provinces.

This was a stark contrast to his earlier, minor exploits. Previously, whether in the Spirit Stream Realm or Cloud River Realm, even his most impressive actions were regarded as mere child's play by truly accomplished cultivators.

This time, however, was different. The counterattack against the Insect Grand Secret Realm was arguably his initiative, and the ultimate victory was profoundly linked to his efforts, even playing a decisive role.

After this battle, no one would view him as merely a rising star in his early twenties. In terms of both fame and prestige, this young man had already surpassed ninety-nine percent of the Divine Sea cultivators in the Nine Provinces.

He was precisely the kind of person described by the saying, "Heroes emerge in turbulent times."

The Myriad Devil Ridge faction naturally knew the source of this propaganda. As the saying goes, "A tree that stands out in the forest will be felled by the wind." Lu Yiye had played too significant a role in this great war and gained too much prominence. It was difficult to guarantee that some individuals wouldn't become wary and subsequently act covertly against him.

Of course, with the two major factions still allied, such an event was unlikely in the short term. However, how long could this relationship truly last—one year, two years, or three?

The two major factions would eventually dissolve their alliance, leading to renewed, incessant conflict.

When that time came, even the heroes would be targeted, with every available resource thrown against them.

Under such widespread publicity, Lu Ye's safety was at least guaranteed in the short term. In truth, all of humanity in the Nine Provinces owed him a debt of gratitude. Before the situation shifted, anyone daring to harm him would be seen as defying the entire world, and all of humanity in the Nine Provinces would unite to eliminate them.

While Lu Ye was refining the abundant vitality within the Blood River, the Nine Provinces homeland was equally busy.

Although the Insect Grand Secret Realm had been captured, all insects within it eradicated, and even the Mother Nest slain on the spot, numerous scattered insects still remained within the Nine Provinces' territory, all requiring elimination.

While these scattered insects might not pose a significant threat to cultivators, for uncultivated commoners, even a single insect could devastate their hard-tilled fertile fields and ruin an entire year's worth of crops.

Therefore, these insects had to be utterly annihilated, with not a single one left behind.

Recently, cultivators throughout the Nine Provinces had been performing this task. In every province, large numbers of cultivators were actively searching for any lingering insects, promptly eliminating them upon discovery.

This task would not take much time. The truly vexing problem for cultivators would be what came next.

The common people's recovery and recuperation!

During the previous insect plague, all commoners were gathered in cities, where cultivators stood guard, ensuring their safety.

Thanks to these measures, the number of casualties among commoners due to insect attacks within the Nine Provinces had remained low, thus preserving the most fundamental vitality of the cultivation world.

However, common people require sustenance. For over three years, they had been gathered in cities, subsisting on accumulated grain from previous years. Despite their frugality, their food reserves had long been exhausted.

While cultivators could consume the flesh and blood of insects, commoners could not, as the energy contained within was far too potent for mortal bodies to endure.

Many cities had reported deaths due to starvation.

New crops could be planted now, but that would take time. How long could the starving commoners endure before the new crops fully matured?

Messages converged on the central hubs of the various provinces, leaving many Ninth-Level cultivators feeling overwhelmed.

Based on current data, if a sufficient food supply was not secured within six months, it was feared that over half of the common population would starve to death.

That would be a true human tragedy, and the very foundation of the cultivation world would inevitably be shaken.

Would six months be enough time for a new batch of crops to grow and mature? Normally, yes, but currently, the entire Nine Provinces lay devastated by the insect plague. Vast tracts of land were barren; moreover, even once-lush mountains were now completely bare, transformed into desolate peaks.

From a high-altitude perspective, green was a rare sight across the entire Nine Provinces.

It would take time for commoners to resume cultivation, making six months a very tight deadline.

While cultivators in the Nine Provinces homeland remained relentlessly busy, within the Insect Grand Secret Realm, Lu Ye's side remained as still as ever.

Two months had swiftly passed since the Ninth-Level cultivators withdrew to the Nine Provinces.

Then, one day, the crimson hue within the insect nest's core completely vanished. Lu Ye, still seated, felt spiritual energy surge around him, his vitality overflowing.

He had initially used the Blood River as an aid, significantly enhancing the Talent Tree's power. While absorbing the Mother Nest's vitality only took a few days, refining that enormous vitality for his own use required a full two months.

The sheer magnitude of that vitality was astonishing.

The gains were enormous!

Just as he had initially anticipated, after refining this immense vitality, his physique experienced a substantial increase in strength.

When his cultivation was lower, he had acquired several dragon scales. By refining the vital energy within these scales, his physique developed a foundation comparable to cultivators of the same level.

However, he was not a traditional body cultivator, and his cultivation path differed. As his cultivation advanced, this advantage became less pronounced. While his physique surpassed that of typical weapon cultivators, he gradually fell behind true body cultivators.

Until now...

After refining the Mother Nest's immense vitality, this advantage was not only re-established but greatly amplified.

Lu Ye didn't know the precise extent of his current physical strength, but he was certain it was formidable.

As a weapon cultivator possessing a physique that now surpassed even body cultivators, he could fight without restraint against any powerful enemies, no longer needing to worry excessively about sustaining injuries.

The enhancement of his physique was just one aspect; another significant gain was the surging vitality within his body.

This led to a significant increase in the number of essence blood drops Lu Ye could condense. Previously, using the secret techniques of blood arts, he could only condense three drops of essence blood, a limitation directly tied to his physical foundation and cultivation realm. The stronger one's physical foundation and the higher one's cultivation, the more essence blood drops could be condensed.

Essence blood possessed infinite wondrous applications. Virtually every secret technique of the blood race could be infused with essence blood to amplify its power.

When Lu Ye previously cast the Blood River Art, he had directly detonated all three drops of his essence blood. This action greatly amplified the art's power and scope, forming the very foundation of their ultimate victory.

Now, however, he possessed nearly a hundred drops of essence blood in his body, a truly earth-shattering change compared to the mere three drops he had before.

The enhancement of his physique and the accumulation of vitality were intrinsic changes, imperceptible to ordinary individuals.

The noticeable change, however, was the elevation of his cultivation realm!

As the Talent Tree refined the vitality accumulated within the Blood River, it concurrently boosted his cultivation to a certain degree.

This was a natural consequence. The Talent Tree could incinerate and refine all external energy for its own use. While bolstering his own vitality and strengthening his physique, his spiritual power reserves naturally expanded as well.

Consequently, he broke through to the fifth level of the Divine Sea Realm, which was an unexpected pleasant surprise.

However, considering the time, even with normal cultivation, his realm should have already advanced to the fifth level. The delay was solely due to his recent preoccupation with the counterattack on the Insect Grand Secret Realm.

The fifth-level cultivation realm was already considerably high, arguably placing him among the stalwarts of the Nine Provinces' cultivation world—a height most Divine Sea cultivators would never reach in their lifetime.