Chapter 1469: The Change of the Talent Tree

Wind Rises in the Nine Provinces

With the talent tree having undergone three transformations, Lu Ye could no longer deduce spirit patterns, so he continued to study the blade techniques passed down in the small saber.

Whenever he needed to recover his spiritual energy, he would go out and practice his blade techniques, making good progress.

This uninhabited island was indeed rarely visited. Lu Ye had been there for over a month, and even though it was still part of the Myriad Manifestation Sea, few people passed by.

For a homeless person like him, this was clearly a good place to settle down.

One day, as Lu Ye wielded his long blade in front of the cliff, he felt a subtle intuition but couldn't quite grasp it. Frustrated, he put away his blade and stood still.

He knew some things couldn't be forced. Since the saber technique inheritance was in his hands, he would eventually comprehend its true meaning, so he wasn't in a hurry.

Observing the transformation of the talent tree within him, it had not yet finished, but the core flame had significantly grown and radiated a brighter light.

It looked as if the talent tree's transformation would be complete within the next few days.

Lu Ye no longer hesitated. He returned to the cave, collected the array flags he had set up, summoned his starship, and headed in the direction of Myriad Manifestation Island.

Soon after he left, several streams of light descended. The leader looked around for a moment and burst into laughter, "This is it! From now on, this place will be the territory of our Grandeur Palace!" A beautiful, seemingly dull-witted woman meekly said, "Brother Chu, we have no objection to your choice of location, but the name… perhaps we could reconsider it slightly?"

The other people quickly nodded, clearly feeling the name was not ideal.

Brother Chu waved his hand, emanating an imposing aura. "What's there to reconsider? Grandeur Palace sounds grand! It's decided!"

His excitement left the accompanying women feeling helpless. However, the group had always deferred to him, so it was naturally difficult to object now.

Moreover, given Brother Chu's background, although Grandeur Palace sounded unappealing and prone to drawing hostility, few would dare to cause trouble, especially on such an uninhabited island. Taking it was simply taking it.

Brother Chu said, "We've found our territory. What should we do next? Does anyone have any good ideas?"

A delicate-looking woman, appearing as if she could be blown away by a gust of wind, softly suggested, "I've noticed that other spirit islands have many people. Should we recruit some personnel?"

Brother Chu's eyes lit up. "Yes, we should recruit soldiers and strengthen our forces now! Only with sufficient strength can we stand firm. One day, the name of our Grandeur Palace will resound throughout the Myriad Manifestation Sea, and countless spirit islands will come to pay homage!" He seemed to have already envisioned this scene, his expression filled with excitement. The women exchanged glances, feeling a pang of despair, sensing they might have followed the wrong person.

They had all come from impoverished backgrounds, step by step. While their knowledge was limited, they understood the principle that the strong reign supreme. Brother Chu was different; he came from an extraordinary family with a powerful background. He had never suffered hardships or grievances since childhood and held naive expectations and fantasies about this tattered cultivation world.

Lu Ye was currently piloting his starship towards Myriad Manifestation Island when he received a message. He checked it and found it was from Chu Shen.

"Big Brother, your humble brother has occupied a spirit island and is currently short on personnel. Are you interested in coming to oversee it?"

Chu Shen had actually occupied a spirit island, which surprised Lu Ye. He wondered why this guy came to the Myriad Manifestation Sea to occupy a spirit island. Generally, only external forces needing a foothold would occupy spirit islands. Moreover, spirit islands in the Myriad Manifestation Sea were themselves a resource; good spirit islands had abundant energy and even spirit jade ore veins. When forces occupied spirit islands, it was equivalent to seizing a share of cultivation resources.

However, Chu Shen was a native cultivator of the Myriad Manifestation Star System. The Myriad Manifestation Star System already occupied the largest Myriad Manifestation Island, so there was no need to occupy others.

And whatever Chu Shen could occupy was likely not a spirit island at all, Lu Ye estimated it was an uninhabited island.

This young master from the Cheling Realm was probably playing a game of house...

Naturally, Lu Ye had no interest and didn't even bother to reply.

Two days later, he returned to Myriad Manifestation Island, activated the Thousand Faces spirit pattern to slightly alter his appearance, and entered the Myriad Manifestation Chamber of Commerce.

His purpose this time was, of course, to purchase fire-attribute treasures. After the talent tree completed its transformation, the previously consumed fuel would surely be depleted.

Lu Ye needed to prepare early.

He casually found a chamber of commerce manager and, after some discussion, the manager was overjoyed upon hearing the quantity of goods Lu Ye wished to purchase. He immediately pulled out a list; the chamber of commerce had all listed items in stock.

Lu Ye haggled a bit, trying to get the batch of fire-attribute treasures at the best possible price. Afterward, he purchased a large quantity of various elixirs.

Only then did he leisurely leave the Myriad Manifestation Chamber of Commerce.

This purchase significantly depleted Lu Ye's wealth, making him sigh. Indeed, there was never enough spirit jade.

He wandered around Myriad Manifestation Island for a while, found an unobserved spot, changed his appearance again, and returned to the Myriad Manifestation Chamber of Commerce.

Mainly, he had nowhere else to go temporarily. The talent tree's transformation was set to complete within these two days, and he didn't want to wander aimlessly, so he decided to stay at the Myriad Manifestation Chamber of Commerce.

The third floor of the chamber of commerce was specifically for lodging, though the prices were exorbitant. This was why Lu Ye hadn't stayed there before, but now he couldn't afford to be so particular.

Two days passed quickly. Lu Ye was in his guest room studying the saber technique inheritance when he felt a change within his body.

He quickly focused his mind and observed, discovering that the talent tree had indeed completed its transformation.

His heart immediately filled with anticipation, wondering what new changes the talent tree would exhibit after this transformation.

Upon careful observation, the talent tree still burned fiercely, like a massive tree of flames. However, from a sensory perspective, Lu Ye noticed that the talent tree seemed somewhat different from before. It wasn't its shape, but the flames burning on it.

Previously, the flames on the talent tree gave a sense of ferocity and destruction, but now, these flames seemed to possess a vibrant vitality, even a touch of nimble elegance!

This was a very contradictory feeling, yet Lu Ye could genuinely perceive it.

As he carefully experienced the novelty brought by the flames, Lu Ye vaguely sensed that the talent tree's power to incinerate impurities seemed to be usable not only by himself but also by others!

Before this transformation, the talent tree did not possess such power.

When he first obtained the talent tree, Lu Ye had considered whether he could use its power to purify impurities within others, making their spiritual power as pure as his own.

At the time, he even considered trying it on Amber but didn't dare to act rashly without certainty, to avoid causing any harm to Amber.

The subsequent two transformations also didn't give Lu Ye this feeling, yet unexpectedly, after this transformation, this long-held idea actually came true.

Despite lacking a subject to experiment on, Lu Ye could still conclude that the talent tree indeed possessed the power to incinerate impurities within others. As for whether this process would cause any harm to others, Lu Ye couldn't determine; he would need to try it to know.

It was highly likely it would, so he would need extremely strong control over his spiritual power. This change was quite good; in the future, if his friends or relatives had any inextinguishable forces invading their bodies, he could help resolve them.

But the talent tree's transformation surely went far beyond this.

While taking out the fire-attribute treasures he had bought earlier and letting the talent tree consume them, Lu Ye continued to observe.

He soon discovered that after this transformation, the talent tree's absorption efficiency had also greatly improved. Compared to a few days ago, the talent tree could consume the same fire-attribute treasures in a much shorter time.

This was because the talent tree's roots had become denser and longer, which was clearly the fundamental reason for the increased efficiency.

This was to be expected.

Lu Ye then activated Blood Shadow and Twin Lotus, using the talent tree's fission ability to condense a clone. He was disappointed to find that he still only had one clone; he couldn't condense a second one.

He continued to try for a while, but Lu Ye found that apart from the previous changes, the talent tree seemed to have no other new transformations.

That's it?

If this was all, then this transformation seemed insignificant. The previous transformation had at least granted the talent tree the power to deduce spirit patterns.

Lu Ye was speechless for a moment, wishing he could grab the talent tree by the neck and make it spit out the fuel it had consumed, which was worth ten million spirit jade.

However, since things had come to this, Lu Ye could only reluctantly accept it, silently comforting himself that the talent tree must have other changes that he simply hadn't discovered yet.

He continued to let the talent tree consume the energy from the fire-attribute treasures he had bought. This time, he didn't have to worry about it transforming again. Based on previous experience, the next transformation would undoubtedly require an even larger fuel reserve. Lu Ye wondered if even using all the spirit jade he possessed to buy fire-attribute treasures would be enough to meet its transformation requirements.

The talent tree's greatly improved efficiency in consuming fire-attribute treasures also saved Lu Ye a lot of time.

Three days later, he left Myriad Manifestation Island.

He had to go to the mermaid tribe's territory. He had bought a large quantity of elixirs from the Myriad Manifestation Chamber of Commerce specifically for this trip, as the mermaid tribe greatly lacked such items.

Lu Ye did consider buying some spiritual treasures to bring along, but in an underwater environment, spiritual treasures would not be very effective.

He found a nearby uninhabited island, located a hidden spot, set up an array for protection, and took out the Azure Conch to blow it.

To reach the mermaid tribe's territory, he had to take two steps: first, he needed to return to the Star Palace to erase the conch mark he had left, and then return. Only when he could use the Azure Conch again could he directly enter the mermaid tribe's territory, teleporting outside the Heavenly Conch Palace. Otherwise, if Lu Ye were to swim there himself from the Star Palace, he wouldn't have enough time. If he reached the mermaid territory but the Star Palace portal had disappeared, he would be trapped underwater.