Chapter 1988: Today Shanxi Rizhao

Lu Ye already had a premonition, even without checking. At this very moment, although he wasn't actively doing anything, his spiritual power was circulating wildly within his body at an unprecedented speed. A burning sensation radiated from the location of his Spiritual Source in the Divine Aperture.

His Spiritual Source was complete! Lu Ye let out a sigh, reflecting on how arduous the journey had been. In the early and middle stages of the Moon Glow realm, he hadn't had a clear understanding of this, as no one had guided him. By the time he realized he needed to refine his Spiritual Source to perfection to condense the Flower of Qi, he was already in the late Moon Glow stage. It wasn't until then that he set off for the Asura Realm, where he gained many benefits in the Asura Arena. After returning to the Myriad Manifestations Sea, he acquired some more, and Jiu Yan sent him some.

As he quietly focused, the speed of his spiritual power circulation increased. Faintly, Lu Ye felt a warmth emanating from his glabella. Having experienced the condensation of the Flower of Body, this unusual change undoubtedly excited him. It was clearly a sign that the Flower of Qi was about to condense! He remained still, making no reaction, simply allowing his spiritual power to flow.

Time passed. When the burning sensation in his glabella reached its peak, something seemed to suddenly emerge. In the next instant, the rapidly circulating spiritual power slowly subsided. Lu Ye quickly opened his eyes, flipped his hand, and took out a mirror-shaped magic treasure from his storage ring. Reflecting it, he indeed saw a crescent moon mark slowly fading from his glabella.

The Flower of Qi had condensed, which undoubtedly meant he had reached the pinnacle of the Moon Glow realm. He had now passed two stages of the Three Flowers technique, with only the final Flower of Spirit remaining. But before that...

His spiritual power was abundant, his vitality solid, and both the Constellation and Moon Glow realms were perfectly complete. Today, he would advance to the Sunlit realm! Normally, cultivators breaking through a major realm would choose a suitable and stable environment, at the very least ensuring no interference during their advancement to avoid failure caused by external factors. But Lu Ye had no choice. To reach this point, he had even resorted to devouring Sunlit and Moon Glow cultivators from the Myriad Manifestations Sea, solely to leave no regrets. Now that the Flower of Qi had condensed, it was naturally time to quickly advance to the Sunlit realm.

Moreover, he didn't need a stable or suitable environment. Long ago, he had already been ready to advance to the Sunlit realm at any moment. What was a life-or-death barrier for ordinary cultivators could be broken at will by him. This was the benefit of his extremely solid foundation and the convenience of having pushed his previous realms to their absolute limits.

Emptying his mind, no longer restraining or suppressing himself, as his vitality surged and spiritual power swelled, the barrier shattered! Lu Ye suddenly felt his entire body lighten. While devouring the foundations of three Sunlit cultivators and a hundred Moon Glow cultivators had indeed refined his Spiritual Source to perfection, it had also brought a sense of bloating. This was because what he devoured from those cultivators wasn't just their Spiritual Source, but also their vitality, spiritual power, and even their souls—everything. With the foundations of so many cultivators accumulated within him, his peak Moon Glow body naturally felt bloated. During this time, he had even channeled the excess power into his Sea of Blood, which was why the Sea of Blood was able to withstand the frantic assault of a hundred Moon Glow cultivators.

But at this moment, as that barrier shattered, all sense of bloating vanished instantly without a trace. A joy even more intense than that from devouring living beings arose within him. Unlike before, this joy did not lead to degradation; instead, it cleared his mind. Lu Ye felt as if his entire being, from the inside out, had undergone an indescribable baptism and sublimation. In that instant, his spiritual power became many times more formidable and continued to increase steadily. It wasn't just his spiritual power; his vitality also followed suit. Lu Ye's flesh and blood seemed to wriggle, becoming more solid and robust. This was undoubtedly the enormous change brought about by advancing to a higher realm. Why are the physiques of Sunlit cultivators so powerful? Even those from a magical cultivation background have formidable physiques, precisely because of this baptism during realm advancement. It was the transformation of one's entire being, inside and out, by the foundation accumulated over many years. His Divine Sea also rapidly expanded, its waters becoming more solid and profound, and his soul strength experienced a leap-like increase. Lu Ye could feel that this transformation would continue until it gradually stabilized. Only then would his Sunlit realm be truly consolidated!

He gently clenched his fist, feeling a world-altering change in his strength. He didn't know what level he was currently at, as he had just advanced and hadn't yet engaged in combat with other Sunlit cultivators. The only thing he knew was that even as a freshly advanced Sunlit cultivator, he was definitely not comparable to an ordinary early-stage Sunlit cultivator. He really wanted to find someone to fight! A no-holds-barred, blade-to-flesh, bloody battle! As he thought this, he found it difficult to restrain himself for a moment. Lu Ye frowned. It seemed that although the black fruit on the Talent Tree hadn't fully ripened, it was still constantly influencing his disposition. This needed to be guarded against.

Suddenly, a faint tremor came from his waist. Lu Ye looked down, pondered for a moment, then drew his saber. "Are you awake?" he asked softly. His saber, which was originally the Mountain-Shattering Saber, had been transformed by Fangs of the Bingtribe. Fangs had been in a deep slumber all this time. This was a characteristic of the Bingtribe: an extremely ancient race without flesh and blood bodies, only able to transform into various weapons. If a living being gained their recognition as a master, the Bingtribe would fall into a deep slumber. Only when their master died in battle would the Bingtribe awaken again, awaiting the arrival of their next master.

Lu Ye hadn't activated the Mountain-Shattering Saber just now, yet it had reacted, making him think that Fangs had awakened. However, upon sensing it, the Mountain-Shattering Saber was still the same; there was no sign of Fangs awakening. If so, what was that anomaly just now? After a brief thought, Lu Ye suddenly had a realization and immediately channeled his spiritual power into the Mountain-Shattering Saber. The Mountain-Shattering Saber vibrated slightly, causing Lu Ye to raise an eyebrow, realizing his idea was correct. The Mountain-Shattering Saber was about to be unsealed!

It had been unsealed once before, when he advanced from the Constellation realm to the Moon Glow realm. When he first obtained Fangs, it was merely at the Spirit Treasure level. When he advanced to Moon Glow, it became a Magic Treasure. This wasn't an advancement in quality because the true Fangs blade was of extremely high quality. After recognizing him as its master, it had placed layers of seals upon itself based on Lu Ye's strength at the time. Only when Lu Ye, its master, increased his strength would the seals be removed. Now that Lu Ye was in the Sunlit realm, Fangs' seal was about to be unsealed once again! This made Lu Ye secretly anticipate what would happen. Fangs was already at the Magic Treasure level; if it were unsealed again, would it perhaps become a Supreme Treasure? Was Fangs a Supreme Treasure? Lu Ye didn't know, but he would soon find out.

Channelling spiritual power into the Mountain-Shattering Saber caused some changes, but it wasn't enough... Lu Ye quickly understood why. The Sunlit realm was the cultivation of a deity; merely channeling spiritual power wouldn't suffice. With this thought, he immediately activated his divine sense to envelop the Mountain-Shattering Saber. The blade vibrated even more noticeably. In just a few breaths, a faint, ethereal light suddenly flashed across the Mountain-Shattering Saber, and an intensely sharp aura permeated from within the blade, then vanished instantly.

Lu Ye gazed at the newly unsealed Mountain-Shattering Saber, his brows furrowing slightly. It wasn't quite what he expected. The Mountain-Shattering Saber didn't seem to be a Supreme Treasure. Compared to before, the entire blade didn't appear to have any particularly obvious changes, except... He flicked the blade of the Mountain-Shattering Saber with his finger, and immediately a cut appeared on his hand, bleeding profusely. The Mountain-Shattering Saber seemed to have become sharper and more durable! This made it undoubtedly more suitable for conflicts in the Sunlit realm, eliminating worries about the saber being damaged during battle and making it easier to slay enemies. If the Mountain-Shattering Saber's quality before was that of a decent Magic Treasure, then at this moment, it should be at the peak Magic Treasure level! It not being a Supreme Treasure left Lu Ye slightly disappointed, but he could accept it.

He exhaled softly. The Flower of Qi had been condensed, and he had advanced to the Sunlit realm. It was time to put an end to all of this! With a thought, the Sea of Blood that had enveloped him suddenly retracted. In an instant, Lu Ye's figure was revealed. Three of the five Sunlit guardians of the Myriad Manifestations Sea were already dead, leaving only two. Including Zi Xuan's Black Cloud, that meant there were three Sunlit cultivators left to deal with! Previously, his side only had Ma Bin, Luan Xiao'e, and Yan Miao, who had been fighting on equal terms with the enemy. Now, with him added to the mix, they should be able to turn the tide of battle. Oh, and Hua Ci! With her attacking, no matter how many Sunlit cultivators came to the Myriad Manifestations Sea, it wouldn't be enough to kill them all!

Lu Ye was about to look towards Hua Ci but found himself frowning. He turned his head to look sideways, in the direction of Three Realms Island's commercial district. It should have been peaceful there. Even when Yuan Du attacked Three Realms Island earlier, he hadn't intended to involve that area because the businesses there were connected to too many factions. If the conflict were to spread there, too many people would be offended. But at this very moment, the commercial district was filled with wails and the chaos of war. Countless cultivators were fighting fiercely there, and the streets were strewn with dismembered bodies and shattered flesh.

What was happening? Lu Ye found it somewhat incomprehensible. Even if the recent upheaval on Three Realms Island was significant, the commercial district shouldn't have been affected. Yet, in reality, the commercial district was in complete disarray, countless shops smashed, and Lu Ye even saw cultivators looting supplies. Turning his head, he noticed that the cultivators who were originally around Three Realms Island had also disappeared, and even the battling Sunlit cultivators were gone. In the cultivators' garrison area on the main island, he stood alone in mid-air!

Where was Hua Ci? Lu Ye's heart tightened. He vaguely realized that during the half-day he had spent wholeheartedly condensing the Flower of Qi and advancing to the Sunlit realm, something unknown had happened here. Otherwise, it wouldn't be in such chaos. He looked towards the alchemy room, but Hua Ci, who should have been there, was nowhere to be seen. Lu Ye's expression changed, and he quickly took out a sound-transmission talisman, intending to send a message to Hua Ci.

Just then, a sound came from not far away, accompanied by a familiar aura. He quickly turned his head to look, and there, the waters of the Myriad Manifestations Sea surged, and a familiar figure entered his sight. Who else could it be but Hua Ci?

(End of chapter)