Chapter 1780: Core World

Almost at the same moment Lu Ye felt a glimmer of hope, the core, transformed into a meteorite, accelerated again and pursued him.

Lu Ye felt utterly helpless. The core seemed completely unresponsive to him, ignoring his every attempt at communication.

The chase continued, and Lu Ye sadly realized that he was not as fast as the core. If this continued, he would eventually be caught. Judging by the power the core had just displayed, anyone who got too close would be instantly devoured into its inner world.

Lu Ye dared not take that risk.

After a brief moment of thought, he raised a hand. A drop of precious blood seeped from his fingertip, and with a flick, it shot off in one direction.

He planned to use his Precious Blood clone and Void Spirit Runes to escape the core's pursuit. He had employed similar tactics many times before, and they had always allowed him to escape from powerful enemies.

However, he usually relied on artifacts in the past; using his Precious Blood clone now was undoubtedly more convenient.

Yet, he never imagined this action would trigger an even greater change.

As the precious blood shot out, the core, which had been unassuming and looked like any ordinary meteorite, suddenly flared with red light, instantly transforming into a blood-red stone.

If that were all, it would have been fine. But crucially, after the core transformed into a blood-red stone, a mysterious and potent pressure emanated from it.

This mysterious pressure wasn't tangible, but it felt incredibly familiar to him!

Lu Ye couldn't help but show a look of astonishment.

At the same time, the already fast core suddenly surged in speed, closing the distance between itself and Lu Ye in the blink of an eye.

A terrifying devouring force swept in all directions.

Within a hundred-mile radius, all dust, meteorites, along with Lu Ye and the precious blood he had flicked away, vanished completely in that instant!

The void returned to stillness!

The crimson glow gradually faded, and the core reverted to its original appearance. Even if a cultivator passed nearby, they would never detect anything unusual about it.

Dizzy and disoriented, Lu Ye felt himself continually plummeting into a bottomless abyss, endlessly.

Although the experience was far from pleasant, he wasn't panicked deep down. If his assumption was correct, he wasn't in significant danger; he had merely been swallowed by the core.

In other words, he would likely reappear within the core's inner world!

During this descent, various thoughts surged through his mind. Combining them with his recent experiences, many things suddenly became clear to him.

He activated his magic power and applied a defensive spirit rune to protect himself.

He didn't know how long passed, but his sight, devoid of light, suddenly turned crimson. Immediately after, the essence of an entire world enveloped him.

However, before Lu Ye could make any move, a sharp pain shot through his back, and he crashed heavily onto the ground, directly creating a large crater.

Fortunately, his physique was robust, so such a fall caused him no substantial harm.

Dust rose all around him. Lu Ye was not in a hurry to get up; he simply gazed steadily at the gloomy sky.

He was alive, which meant his earlier conjecture was correct: being swallowed by the core didn't pose a fatal threat; it merely transported him into its inner world.

His mind was clearer than ever, and he finally understood many puzzling points that had previously eluded him.

Previously, Su Yuqing had told him that the core of Mount Fangcun seemed to be deliberately avoiding the Little People's Moon Glimmers. This had puzzled him, as logically, if the core truly possessed sentience, it should have been close to the Little People; even if not close, it shouldn't have actively avoided them.

Now he understood that this deliberate avoidance was the core of Mount Fangcun protecting the Little People, as it didn't want them to have any contact with its current state.

The root of everything lay in the core's transformation.

This core… carried the aura of the Blood Race!

And it was the aura of an extremely noble Blood Race.

The Blood Ancestor!

Mount Fangcun's fragmentation was due to the Blood Ancestor desiring this supreme spatial treasure. Many years ago, the Blood Ancestor led its Blood Race forces in an attack on Mount Fangcun. Lu Ye didn't know the ultimate outcome of that battle, but judging from the current situation, although the Blood Ancestor shattered Mount Fangcun, it didn't achieve its ultimate desire.

Despite this, the core of Mount Fangcun had been contaminated by the Blood Ancestor's sacred blood.

This was evident from the core's sudden transformation into a blood-red stone while pursuing him earlier; when it became a blood-red stone, a pressure incredibly familiar to Lu Ye clearly emanated from it.

That was the unique sacredness of the Blood Race! Others couldn't perceive it, but Lu Ye could, as he had refined a great deal of sacred blood himself and possessed a profound sacredness.

Previously, no matter what kind of Blood Race member he encountered, even those with higher cultivation, their sacredness couldn't even compare to a fraction of his.

Take Ma Shangsi, for example: a Moon Glimmer peak's sacredness couldn't even match a fraction of Lu Ye's, and just one drop of his precious blood was enough to turn him into a Blood Servant!

However, the sacredness emanating from the blood-red stone, into which the core transformed just now, was beyond Lu Ye's reach. If he were truly a Blood Race member, he wouldn't even have the strength to lift a finger under that pervasive sacredness.

All his sacredness came from refining countless sacred bloods through the Talent Tree. What other Blood Race member in this world could compare to him in terms of sacredness?

Only the source of the Blood Race, the deceased Blood Ancestor, could surpass him in this domain!

Mount Fangcun's fragmentation and the core's contamination by the Blood Ancestor's sacred blood made sense. However, the core's sentience clearly still existed, so the Little People's Moon Glimmers coming here wouldn't discover anything amiss.

The core also feared the Little People taking it away. If that happened, once the three parts of Mount Fangcun merged, the entire Little People race would be implicated.

Lu Ye finally understood why he and the core resonated with each other, and why the core was even deliberately searching for him.

Because he possessed the Blood Race heritage, the core, contaminated with the Blood Ancestor's sacred blood, could sense his presence.

The core had been fragmented by the Blood Ancestor, so it must intensely loathe the Blood Race. That's why it relentlessly pursued him after sensing his presence!

The core clearly mistook him for a Blood Race member. As for all of Lu Ye's previous messages, the core, judging from its preconceived notions, certainly wouldn't believe them.

Having understood these matters, Lu Ye immediately realized that the Little People's plan to retrieve the core and reunite the three fragmented parts would likely be difficult to achieve.

To accomplish this, he first needed to find a way to leave this world, and second, resolve the issue of the Blood Ancestor's sacred blood eroding Mount Fangcun.

As for the latter, he might be able to try, relying on the power of the Talent Tree.

So, only one problem remained before him: how to leave this world.

This task wouldn't be easy. Lu Ye estimated that he was certainly not the only cultivator who had accidentally fallen into the core world throughout history, yet no one had ever revealed any information about this place. They were likely all trapped here.

He gazed steadily at the sky, which was covered in haze. Crucially, the thick haze was crimson, not the ink-black he knew.

He could even sense a faint Blood Race aura emanating from that crimson haze…

In his perception, several auras were suddenly rapidly approaching, each seemingly quite strong.

As expected, there were indeed many trapped cultivators within the core world!

His fall from the sky had created quite a commotion, likely alerting nearby cultivators to investigate.

These cultivators stopped about a dozen miles from him, not intending to approach further. It wasn't out of fear of him, but rather because they were holding each other back.

Several divine senses probed towards him, examining his condition.

Soon, a deep voice rang out: "He's not dead, still alive. He might be stunned from the fall."

Another slightly aged voice immediately followed: "This young man… I'll take him."

The deep voice instantly spoke again, clearly displeased: "Wang Taisheng, have some shame! This place is clearly closest to my cave dwelling. Why should you get him?"

The aged voice replied, "Because I am human, and he is human!"

The deep voice scoffed, "Human? Here, there's only one race. How dare you call yourself human now? Go outside and see which human would acknowledge you!"

The aged voice fell silent for a moment.

The deep voice spoke again: "According to our agreed-upon rules, since he landed near my cave dwelling, he's mine!"

"Following the rules is fine…" a soft, pleasant voice spoke, presumably a woman's. "This place is also very close to our sisters' cave dwelling, so can't he be considered ours too?"

The deep voice retorted angrily, "You already got one last time, and you want another this time? Why don't we just give you everyone who lands near here from now on!"

The soft voice chuckled, "If you're willing, esteemed brother, our sisters would be immensely grateful."

"You must be dreaming!"

The aged voice spoke again: "Both of you, since he is human, please hand him over to me. I would be immensely grateful!"

The deep voice cursed, "Stop bringing up the human race! You're only after the resources he brought with him; do you actually care about him as a person?"

The three parties argued incessantly, their clamor unending.

"You're too noisy!"

A slightly displeased voice came from the center of the three parties. The arguing cultivators all turned their heads to look, only to see a young figure slowly rising from the crater, dusting himself off.

However, the figure's gaze wasn't on them, but fixed on the sky.

Seeing this, the cultivators all knew what Lu Ye was thinking, because they had all had the same thought the moment they found themselves stranded here.

The owner of the deep voice folded his arms, adopting a stance as if watching a good show.

The owner of the aged voice frowned slightly, intending to offer a warning, but also knew that words alone were insufficient; some setbacks needed to be experienced personally before one could truly understand.

As the cultivators watched, Lu Ye indeed shot into the sky.

"He's a mid-stage Moon Glimmer!" the deep voice exclaimed, identifying Lu Ye's cultivation level and simultaneously showing delight. A mid-stage Moon Glimmer should have a considerable amount of resources on him.

In their sight, Lu Ye's figure had already vanished into the crimson haze.

Soon, from deep within the haze, the fluctuations of magic power could be heard.