Chapter 1663: Seven Colors!

"What's going on?" The Soul Clan's Sun-Exposed elders were all astonished, feeling that everything they had witnessed today was far too strange.

The human, Lu Ye, could rapidly refine the divine lotus, which could be attributed to the Ancestral Land's will. But how was it possible for their own Li Shang to do the same? And it was a five-colored divine lotus, the highest quality divine lotus in the lotus pond.

Logically, even if Li Shang could refine it, it shouldn't have taken less than half an hour to succeed. Yet, Li Shang only spent a few breaths. Compared to the efficiency of other clan members, it was astonishing! Under their observation, other clan members refined divine lotuses at a normal speed and efficiency. This was clearly not normal.

Li Shang's ability to do this was definitely due to that human boy. The Ancestral Land's will had shown him exceptional favor, allowing him to effortlessly refine numerous divine lotuses. He gave that five-colored divine lotus to Li Shang, and as a result, even Li Shang received the same treatment.

"This boy... he's not bad after all!" The woman who had previously found Lu Ye detestable now looked at him again, finding him much more pleasing to the eye.

Although he had refined many divine lotuses, which meant fewer opportunities for their own clan members, allowing Li Shang to also refine a five-colored divine lotus compensated for everything. Not every time the lotus pond opened did a clan member manage to successfully refine a five-colored divine lotus; often, only one would succeed after ten openings. In this instance, the Sun-Exposed ones hadn't expected any clan member to refine a five-colored divine lotus, so Li Shang's success was an absolute pleasant surprise.

With the aid of this five-colored divine lotus, Li Shang could truly be said to possess the qualifications of a Sun-Exposed cultivator, making him worthy of significant cultivation in the future.

"This old man does want to know something..." Xu Yuan rubbed his aching head. "Where did he get that five-colored divine lotus?"

At his words, many of the Soul Clan's Sun-Exposed ones were stunned. Right, where did he get a five-colored divine lotus?

After this opening of the lotus pond, the five-colored lotus Li Shang refined was the first to appear. Although Lu Ye had refined many divine lotuses before, the highest quality he had obtained was four-colored; most were single- or double-colored. How could he possibly have a five-colored divine lotus? Yet, he had clearly summoned a five-colored divine lotus moments ago!

Furthermore, Li Shang could sense that his five-colored divine lotus was somewhat different from the one he had refined, and how could the elders not see it too? Lu Ye's five-colored divine lotus... was not normal! Both its color and luminosity were vastly different from the five-colored divine lotuses they knew.

Recalling his previous actions, an incredible thought suddenly sprang into the minds of the Sun-Exposed elders. The woman looked at Soul Que with a shocked expression, "Patriarch, could it be..."

Soul Que slowly shook his head, not in denial, but because he himself didn't know. The Soul Clan had lived here for tens of thousands of years, and he had led them for thousands, yet he hadn't seen as many novelties in his entire life as he had today alone. It was truly eye-opening.

"We'll know once the lotus pond closes and we ask him." Normally, these Sun-Exposed cultivators wouldn't bother prying into others' privacy, but the five-colored divine lotus Lu Ye displayed was simply too intriguing. If they didn't figure it out, the Soul Clan's Sun-Exposed cultivators might not be able to cultivate properly afterward.

In the lotus pond, Lu Ye declined Li Shang's invitation. After refining a divine lotus, the Soul Clan members were unburdened and could cultivate peacefully until the pond closed. But Lu Ye still had to be busy. None of his three Blood Avatar clones were idle, so his main body naturally couldn't slack off.

He explained to Li Shang that he wanted to look around, and Li Shang naturally didn't stop him. Bidding farewell to Li Shang, Lu Ye continued searching for and refining divine lotuses.

Over two hours later, Lu Ye observed the divine lotus in his Spiritual Sea. Through his two hours of effort, the five-colored divine lotus had now transformed into a six-colored one! And it could continue to refine divine lotuses, clearly evolving towards seven colors!

This greatly invigorated Lu Ye. The nourishing effect of a six-colored divine lotus on the soul significantly surpassed that of a five-colored one. If he could evolve it into a seven-colored one, it would definitely be even stronger! Sensing the progress of his three Blood Avatar clones, Lu Ye felt that his own progress was still quite a way from reaching seven colors! He needed to redouble his efforts. By his calculations, the lotus pond would close in just one more day.

However, there was good news: one of his clones had discovered another five-colored divine lotus, and Lu Ye's main body quickly rushed over.

Although the clones inherited Lu Ye's full strength and could almost exert his normal power with suitable weapons, being Blood Avatars, they differed from Talent Tree avatars in that Blood Avatars could not rapidly activate divine patterns. In such a competitive environment, divine patterns were crucial for combat, so only his main body could act.

The powerful destructive force of the Divine Edge divine pattern was simply irresistible to Soul Clan members of the same realm. His main body only briefly displayed his abilities, causing the several Soul Clan members vying for the five-colored divine lotus to retreat, much like when he encountered Li Shang.

After refining this five-colored divine lotus, he was another step closer to seven colors!

With only a little less than half a day left before the lotus pond closed, Lu Ye was the only figure still active within the entire pond.

The other Soul Clan members had either already refined a divine lotus and, having achieved their goals, were cultivating in this unique environment, or they had gained nothing, knew they couldn't refine any divine lotuses, and chose not to waste more time, instead focusing on cultivating in this place.

This made things even more convenient for Lu Ye. Even though he had been continuously refining divine lotuses in recent days, single- and double-colored divine lotuses continued to reappear in the pond, which he refined into nourishment for the evolution of the divine lotus in his Spiritual Sea.

He secretly congratulated himself, fortunate to have the Blood Avatars; otherwise, relying solely on his main body, there definitely wouldn't have been enough time.

At a certain moment, a voice suddenly resounded in the ears of everyone in the lotus pond: "The lotus pond will close in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. All clan members, depart quickly!"

This was clearly a powerful Soul Clan member informing the others, to prevent any accidents from happening if they emerged too late. Immediately, numerous Soul Clan figures darted and flew upwards throughout the lotus pond.

Lu Ye also stopped his busy movements. Time was up. He wasn't sure if the divine lotuses from his main body and three clones, combined, would result in a seven-colored one, but he estimated it wouldn't be a big problem. This was because not only was his main body's divine lotus six-colored, but one of his Blood Avatar clones also had a six-colored one. Although the other two clones only had five-colored ones, neither the two six-colored nor the two five-colored lotuses were in a freshly evolved state; rather, they had progressed significantly by refining many more divine lotuses beyond their initial evolved states.

With four such divine lotuses combined, there was a high probability they could evolve into a seven-colored one... right?

Of course, if it didn't work, Lu Ye could do nothing about it; he couldn't just stay there. Whether six-colored or seven-colored, this was an unexpected gain, a benefit he hadn't even imagined before coming to the Soul Clan's ancestral land. Being able to possess it now was already good enough; there was no need to be overly demanding.

As spiritual power surged around him, a void spiritual pattern unfolded beneath his feet. The next instant, his three Blood Avatar clones teleported from three different directions, one by one merging into Lu Ye's body and vanishing.

Lu Ye did not linger, his figure soaring upwards. At the same time, he could clearly feel some mysterious changes occurring within his Spiritual Sea.

Under close observation, the originally six-colored divine lotus in his Spiritual Sea, after merging with the divine lotuses brought back by the three Blood Avatar clones, indeed rapidly evolved towards seven colors!

Instantly, the Spiritual Sea burst forth with dazzling light, filling every corner.

And at this moment, Lu Ye's mind was filled with an unprecedented sense of clarity, like spotless, pure jade.

He clearly felt that if he were to comprehend any secret techniques or obscure matters in this state, his efficiency would greatly improve! This was undoubtedly very useful to him, as such mental clarity was required whether he was comprehending the inheritances left by many ancestors within the Fang or deducing spiritual patterns with the Talent Tree.

It was foreseeable that in the future, his efficiency in deducing spiritual patterns or comprehending inheritances would greatly increase.

In addition, Lu Ye had a very peculiar sensation: it felt as if he had formed some mysterious connection with the space of the entire Ancestral Land.

However, before he could fully understand the nature of this connection, he had already exited the lotus pond. The next instant, he immediately felt many gazes turning towards him.

He looked up and saw the several Sun-Exposed elders of the Soul Clan watching him with complicated expressions...

Lu Ye felt a little guilty... Could it be that his actions in the lotus pond had all been witnessed by them? It must be. Otherwise, why would these Sun-Exposed cultivators be looking at him like this?

A booming sound suddenly rang out, and the enormous lotus pond trembled slightly, its waters rippling. Then, under the gaze of numerous Soul Clan members, the opened petals of the lotus pond slowly closed, quickly returning to the appearance of a budding flower.

The contention for the lotus pond had thus come to a complete end.

Soul Que's voice resounded once more, essentially encouraging the clan members who had participated in this lotus pond contention: those who had gained something were urged to avoid complacency and continue their efforts, while those who had gained nothing were advised to cultivate peacefully, improve themselves, and look forward to gaining something the next time the lotus pond opened.

Before long, many Soul Clan members dispersed. Lu Ye also rejoined Li Shang, Yi Yi, and Amber. Learning that both Li Shang and Lu Ye had gained something this time, Yi Yi was visibly happy and very much looked forward to her own participation in the next lotus pond contention.

The group was about to head towards Li Shang's Five-Colored Lotus Land.

"Lu Ye, don't be in a hurry to leave," Soul Que suddenly called out to him.

Lu Ye turned his head to look at Soul Que, seeing that all the Soul Clan Sun-Exposed ones were watching him.

"I'll go over. Elder Soul Que probably has something to say. You all go back first," Lu Ye said.

Li Shang nodded. Yi Yi, however, was a little worried: "Are you alright?" Lu Ye smiled: "I'm fine." If something were truly wrong, he couldn't escape anyway, with several Sun-Exposed cultivators present.

Li Shang, being quite confident in her own Sun-Exposed elders, reassured Yi Yi and then left with her and Amber.

Only then did Lu Ye approach Soul Que and the other Soul Clan Sun-Exposed cultivators, bowing and saying, "Greetings, elders."