Chapter 1159: Risk

Despite various reasons, he had ultimately accomplished the feat of single-handedly slaying a Holy Seed. The fame was secondary; the practical benefits gained were what truly mattered.

A familiar soft cry reached his ears, carrying a hint of surprise and relief: "Senior Brother, you're awake."

Immediately after, Lan Qiyue's face came into view.

Lu Ye softly responded and closed his eyes again to check his injuries.

Fortunately, there were no serious injuries, and all his wounds were rapidly healing. Given his current physique, he would be almost fully recovered within three to five days.

His spiritual sense spread out, and he quickly realized his current location: he was, surprisingly, inside Moonlight Cave.

He figured Lan Qiyue must have brought him here after he fainted. This small Blood Race settlement held significant meaning for her; it was here that she had met Lu Ye and gained a new life. So, even though she had many places to go after the death of Holy Venerable Mohai, she had specifically chosen Moonlight Cave.

"Junior Sister Lan," Lu Ye said, "there's something I need you to do."

"Please tell me, Senior Brother," Lan Qiyue immediately responded with a serious expression.

"Holy Venerable Mohai is dead. Can you take over his territory?"

"Of course," Lan Qiyue nodded. Not only could she take over Holy Venerable Mohai's territory, but she could also reclaim all of her original domain. If she wished, she would effectively possess the territories of two Holy Seeds.

Within a radius of hundreds of thousands of li, she would be the sole dominant power. Ordinary Blood Race members would not dare to defy a Holy Seed.

However, Lan Qiyue had been too worried about Lu Ye's injuries to focus on anything else.

"What do you need me to do, Senior Brother?" Lan Qiyue asked.

"I need you to control the surrounding territories as much as possible, and then help me gather spirit rice. The more, the better, provided it doesn't affect the survival of the human race in this realm."

Controlling the nearby territories was mainly for future planning, and, of course, to facilitate the collection of spirit rice.

As for collecting spirit rice, it was naturally for the sake of the mortals suffering from the insect plague in Kyushu.

For several years, the insect race had been active, and the survival of mortals had been greatly suppressed. At the very least, their basic necessities for survival could not be guaranteed. Although four months had passed since the insect plague, and mortals should have resumed farming, it was hard to say how much they could harvest or if it would be enough to meet their needs.

In contrast, while mortals in the Blood Refining Realm lived precarious lives, constantly at risk of being hunted by the Blood Race, their daily lives were free from worries about food and clothing. Every human village had abundant spirit fields nearby.

Take Cangnan Village, where Lu Ye once stayed, for example. The village had a small population, but its food reserves were massive, enough to feed the entire village for over a decade.

Moreover, because the overall spiritual energy concentration in the Blood Refining Realm was far superior to that of Kyushu, the spirit rice grown by mortals here was much higher quality than that in Kyushu. Regular consumption by mortals had the effect of strengthening their bodies, and could even slowly enhance the strength of cultivators with low cultivation levels.

In this regard, the spirit rice grown in Kyushu could not compare, because the spiritual energy in Kyushu itself had never been abundant.

According to Lu Ye's estimate, the Blood Race army should be en route to the Divine Palace Sea. In other words, war between the two realms would soon erupt. At that time, Kyushu's Heavenly Mechanism would use the Heavenly Mechanism Pillars to establish a connection between the realms, and Kyushu cultivators would also descend like divine soldiers, arriving in the Blood Refining Realm.

First, gather a large amount of spirit rice. Once the connection between the two realms was fully established, the spirit rice could then be sent to Kyushu, which would certainly alleviate the food crisis for Kyushu's mortals.

It was inconvenient for him to handle such matters personally, but Lan Qiyue was perfectly suited to do so.

This was also one of the reasons he had returned to find Lan Qiyue, though he hadn't expected to find her in trouble.

Fortunately, the final outcome was satisfactory.

"I'll do it right away," Lan Qiyue said, nodding quickly. With her Senior Brother awake and his injuries recovering, she no longer needed to stay and guard him. Since he had given an order, she would naturally follow it diligently.

She turned to look aside, her voice turning cold: "Take good care of my Senior Brother. If anything goes wrong, I'll take your life!"

Not far away, Lu Chang, who was standing by the corner, trembled: "Yes!"

He had returned to Moonlight Cave from outside earlier and happened to encounter Lan Qiyue bringing Lu Ye back. He was almost killed on the spot by Lan Qiyue.

Fortunately, he had promptly revealed his identity as Lu Ye's soul slave, which allowed him to escape death.

Lan Qiyue soon left, and Lu Chang let out a huge sigh of relief. During his time with Lu Ye, he had felt no pressure; Lu Ye's attitude towards him had never been particularly harsh or demanding. However, facing Lan Qiyue was different. Perhaps due to her concern for Lu Ye's injuries, Lan Qiyue's mood had been unpleasant these past few days, and under this heavy atmosphere, Lu Chang had lived very cautiously.

A few days later, Lu Ye's injuries had mostly recovered with rest and healing pills.

At this moment, he was channeling his spiritual energy to burn a corpse: Holy Venerable Mohai's corpse!

When Lan Qiyue brought him back while he was unconscious, she hadn't forgotten to take the spoils of war with her. The corpses of ordinary Blood Race members were not considered spoils, but the corpse of a Holy Seed was different.

It took a full half-hour of burning for Holy Venerable Mohai's corpse to be completely incinerated. As the flames swirled and his spiritual energy retracted, a drop of golden blood appeared before Lu Ye.

Holy Blood!

In comparison, Holy Venerable Mohai's Holy Blood was indeed a circle smaller than that of the female Holy Seed he had killed. This was why he had been suppressed by Lu Ye's bloodline.

Lu Ye himself had already refined a drop of Holy Blood, and after devouring and refining the female Holy Seed's Holy Blood, he had achieved bloodline suppression.

As early as when he had slain the female Holy Seed and devoured her Holy Blood, Lu Ye had realized this was the ultimate method for enhancing his Holy nature.

If he hadn't been burdened with the task of placing the Heavenly Mechanism Pillars at that time, he would definitely have delved into the underground Blood River to search for more Holy Blood. It was unclear if he would have found any, but one had to try.

He hadn't expected to find such a pleasant surprise at the end of this journey. His own Holy nature was already very strong. If he refined this drop of Holy Blood from Holy Venerable Mohai, to what extent would his Holy nature be further enhanced? Lu Ye was very much looking forward to it.

Just as he was about to refine this drop of Holy Blood, Lu Ye's expression changed, and he turned his head to look outside.

It was Lan Qiyue, returning in a rush.

In just a few days, the matter had already been settled.

They met, and after Lu Ye asked some questions, he learned that Lan Qiyue had indeed completed the tasks he had assigned.

It wasn't surprising, considering the Blood Race naturally revered Holy Seeds. Now that Holy Venerable Mohai was dead, and Lan Qiyue was the only Holy Seed in this area, the Blood Race members had no power to resist her.

She didn't even need to do anything deliberate. She only needed to find some Blood Race members to spread the word, and the Heavenly Venerable Blood Race members from various grotto-heavens would flock to her.

The spirit rice collection was also underway. She was confident that Blood Race members would soon deliver the collected spirit rice.

"Senior Brother, are you going to refine this drop of Holy Blood?" Lan Qiyue asked, noticing the golden drop of blood in Lu Ye's hand. The strong Holy nature emanating from it made her feel a little suffocated.

"Indeed," Lu Ye nodded. To quickly slay Holy Seeds in the upcoming war, the only way was to quickly enhance his own Holy nature, and refining more Holy Blood was the quickest and most effective method.

"Senior Brother," Lan Qiyue said, "Holy Blood cannot be refined carelessly, especially the Holy Blood of veteran Holy Seeds."

In fact, ever since she saw Lu Ye again, she had a lingering doubt: why did Lu Ye also possess Holy nature? Logically, one could only possess Holy nature by refining Holy Blood, but after refining Holy Blood, there were only two outcomes: death, or transformation into a Blood Race member!

That was how she herself had become a Blood Race member.

Lu Ye was clearly different. He was human, yet possessed the same Holy nature as a Holy Seed. This was unprecedented in the entire history of the Blood Refining Realm.

However, Senior Brother always had his own fortunate encounters, so she hadn't asked about it. But if Senior Brother wanted to refine Holy Venerable Mohai's Holy Blood, the risk would be significant.

"How so?" Lu Ye asked, puzzled. The female Holy Seed he had killed earlier was also a veteran Holy Seed, and he seemed to have refined her Holy Blood without any issues.

Lan Qiyue explained: "Even Holy Seeds face immense risks when refining more Holy Blood. The stronger the Holy nature within the Holy Blood, the greater the risk. Therefore, the safest way for Holy Seeds to enhance their Holy nature is to delve into the Blood River and seek new Holy Blood, rather than slaying other Holy Seeds to seize theirs. Because most Holy Seeds have obtained more than one drop of Holy Blood, refining it this way would almost certainly lead to death. This is actually why the number of Holy Seeds in this realm has always been small. Throughout history, countless Holy Seeds have been born in the Blood Refining Realm; aside from a very small number who died in mutual combat, most died during the process of refining Holy Blood."

Lu Ye listened in surprise. He truly hadn't known about this. When he realized he could devour more Holy Blood to enhance his Holy nature, he had assumed that Holy Seeds would frequently hunt each other, leading to their scarcity.

He hadn't expected it to be for a different reason.

It was not surprising that Lan Qiyue knew all this. Relatively speaking, she was already a true Blood Race member, and she had spent more time in the Blood Refining Realm, so she could naturally gather information that Lu Ye didn't know.

For instance, at this moment, if Lan Qiyue were to refine Holy Venerable Mohai's Holy Blood, she would almost certainly die, because the Holy nature contained within Holy Venerable Mohai's Holy Blood was unbearable for her.

If she wanted to enhance her Holy nature, the only way was to search for new Holy Blood in the Blood River, and that too carried immense risk.

Let alone her, even true veteran Holy Seeds, when faced with this drop of Holy Blood in Lu Ye's hand, would not harbor the slightest covetousness.

There was no need for that. As for whether to risk enhancing Holy nature or prioritize their own lives, those Holy Seeds could still discern what was more important.