Chapter 2070: The Cost of Hostility

The Wind Rises in Kyushu

Liehuo felt like retreating but dared not make a move, as he wasn't sure what Lu Ye's attitude towards him was.

Although he sensed no overt hostility, Lu Ye's recent decisive and fierce actions showed he was not someone easy to deal with. Liehuo knew from experience that outwardly calm individuals who struck with such power were the most difficult to handle.

He felt pity for Ji Boyun and Jiuse. If Ji Boyun had initially agreed to the other party's proposal, he wouldn't have faced a deadly fate. However, one coveted the method to control the Solar Beast King, and the other coveted the rare artifact. Their greed led to their demise, and now Liehuo himself was in a difficult situation, caught between a rock and a hard place.

Gritting his teeth, he said, "Fellow Daoist, this matter has nothing to do with me. Fellow Daoist Ji and Jiuse are already dead. Let's just stop here."

Lu Ye nodded. "Indeed, it has nothing to do with you, but..." He shifted his tone, a faint smile playing on his lips. "If I hadn't acted quickly just now, you three would probably have ganged up on me, wouldn't you?"

His words were true. When Ji Boyun made his move, he had called out to them, and both Jiuse and Liehuo had been tempted by his proposition. After all, they had come to this place to cultivate using its unique environment, and if there was a better method, no one would pass it up.

Knowing he was in the wrong, Liehuo solemnly said, "Then what do you intend to do, Fellow Daoist? Just tell me directly!"

Lu Ye knew that most barbarians were straightforward and disliked beating around the bush. He nodded and said, "In that case, I'd like to ask you to stay here and help refine the essence of the blazing sun. Since you chose to cultivate here, you should have a way to refine this material."

Liehuo was utterly astonished. "You want me to help you refine the essence of the blazing sun?"

Lu Ye narrowed his eyes, looking at him. "Any unprovoked hostility in this world comes with a price, wouldn't you agree, Fellow Daoist?"

Liehuo's expression darkened, full of unwillingness, yet he acknowledged Lu Ye's words. If he were in Lu Ye's shoes, he certainly wouldn't let it go. After all, he had indeed shown hostility towards Lu Ye earlier; it just hadn't materialized because Lu Ye had acted too quickly.

After a moment of internal struggle, Liehuo sighed dejectedly. "Alright, I'll help you refine the essence of the blazing sun, but there has to be a time limit, right?"

Lu Ye said, "How about a thousand units of the blazing sun's essence?"

He didn't know Liehuo's efficiency in refining the essence of the blazing sun, but as a late-stage Sunlit cultivator, his refining speed shouldn't be too slow. A thousand units probably wouldn't take too long.

Liehuo silently calculated in his mind, his eye twitching slightly, but he eventually agreed. "Alright!"

"Then it's settled," Lu Ye said, pleased.

Keeping Liehuo wasn't because he lacked his share of the blazing sun's essence. Rather, any late-stage Sunlit cultivator had a background. Since he had killed Ji Boyun and Jiuse here, letting Liehuo leave might expose what happened, which would certainly cause some trouble.

He had come here to cultivate, and he didn't want to be disturbed.

On the vast Crimson Star, where four cultivators originally resided, now only two remained. Lu Ye collected Ji Boyun's and Jiuse's storage rings. A quick check revealed they had decent possessions, which counted as a modest gain.

Liehuo settled nearby, calmly beginning to refine the essence of the blazing sun using his own method, clearly having resigned himself to his fate. He was also a reasonable person; if he had insisted on fleeing earlier, Lu Ye wouldn't actually have stopped him.

After a moment's thought, Lu Ye took out the beast-attracting incense he had put away and lit it.

A strange aroma wafted out, spreading with the solar wind.

The nearby Solar Beasts gathered, circling the incense, greedily inhaling its fumes, each one showing an expression of pure ecstasy.

The Solar Beast King, naturally, took the best spot.

As time passed, more Solar Beasts were drawn by the incense, and their numbers and overall scale gradually increased significantly.

Previously, the Solar Beast King would occasionally venture out to find its kin and bring them back to work for Lu Ye, but the efficiency wasn't very high. Now, lighting this beast-attracting incense made things much easier.

By the time the incense burned out, the population of Solar Beasts had more than tripled.

This likely wasn't every Solar Beast on the Crimson Star, but only a few stragglers should remain.

With the Solar Beast King in command, Lu Ye had little to worry about. The individual Solar Beasts dispersed, diligently refining the essence of the blazing sun.

Initially, Lu Ye had to periodically collect the refined essence himself, but after a few times, finding it too troublesome, he called the Solar Beast King over and gave it strict instructions.

After a while, he no longer needed to collect it himself; whenever a Solar Beast finished refining the essence, it would proactively bring it to him.

This greatly simplified things.

Although some Solar Beasts were lazy and tried to escape during this period, it wasn't a major issue. As long as he controlled the Solar Beast King, he could indirectly control the entire Solar Beast population.

In addition to the Solar Beasts' efforts, Liehuo was also contributing his share of the blazing sun's essence.

Every three days, he would deliver a highly purified unit of the blazing sun's essence to Lu Ye, then return to his spot nearby to continue refining.

Lu Ye realized he had overestimated Liehuo's refining speed, or perhaps Liehuo had extremely high standards for the quality of the essence he refined. Otherwise, it wouldn't take a late-stage Sunlit cultivator three days to refine a single unit.

He could certainly refine several units a day... but in that case, the quality of the essence would undoubtedly be poor.

Unlike now, the quality of the blazing sun's essence refined by Liehuo was almost indistinguishable from, or even slightly better than, that produced by the Solar Beast King.

One unit every three days, and he had requested a thousand units... even refining non-stop, that would take over eight years. It was surprising that Liehuo had agreed to it.

But honestly, over eight years was truly not a significant amount of time for a late-stage Sunlit cultivator.

With this arrangement, the efficiency of the Fire Gourd in nurturing exotic flames dramatically increased. On average, it could produce nearly three exotic flames every two days, all of which were absorbed by the Talent Tree.

All Lu Ye had to do was wait.

He wasn't idle.

While waiting, he either refined spirit jade to enhance his cultivation or consumed top-grade Soul Refining Pills to practice the Soul Suppressing Secret Art.

Although the Soul Suppressing Secret Art had achieved initial mastery, its cultivation spanned the entire Sunlit realm, so he couldn't afford to be complacent.

Day after day, the continuous absorption of exotic flames caused some changes in the Talent Tree, but Lu Ye didn't know when it would finally transform. The difficulty of this transformation was infinitely greater than the previous three.

Without the aid of an artifact like the Fire Gourd, this would be almost impossible to achieve, as Lu Ye simply couldn't find enough fire-element resources comparable to the Fire Gourd's exotic flames for the Talent Tree to absorb.

One day, Liehuo delivered another refined unit of the blazing sun's essence. Watching Lu Ye activate the Fire Gourd to absorb it, he seemed to want to speak but held back, restraining himself repeatedly.

Although he had agreed to Lu Ye's previous request due to being in the wrong, anyone in such a situation would harbor some resentment. Thus, in the days that followed, he and Lu Ye had no communication. He was like a laborer under Lu Ye, quietly performing his duties.

But he was also curious...

Seeing his expression, Lu Ye couldn't help but smile. "Fellow Daoist Liehuo, if you have anything to ask, feel free to speak. Currently, there are only two of us on this Crimson Star, and I might not stay for too long. After I leave, you'll be the only one left, and then there will be no one to talk to."

Hearing this, Liehuo thought the same. He no longer held back and sat down in front of Lu Ye, looking at the Fire Gourd. "If I'm not mistaken, this is the realm-guarding treasure of the One Origin Realm, isn't it?"

Liehuo had suspected this when Jiuse died, and after days of observation, he became increasingly certain that it was indeed that particular artifact.

"You have keen insight, Fellow Daoist," Lu Ye nodded. "This artifact is indeed the realm-guarding treasure of the One Origin Realm."

"Then are you from the One Origin Realm?" Liehuo asked curiously, looking at Lu Ye. He had never heard of such a person from the One Origin Realm before.

Lu Ye slowly shook his head, not answering directly but instead asking, "How long have you been cultivating in seclusion here, Fellow Daoist?"

"Quite a long time," Liehuo calculated briefly. "About twenty years or so."

No wonder then. Judging by Liehuo's demeanor, he was clearly unaware of the changes in the outside world. He probably hadn't imagined that the Myriad Manifestations Sea had already undergone a major upheaval, and the Myriad Manifestations Star System had lost its rule over it.

If he knew this, he should have been able to guess Lu Ye's identity, as the fact that the Fire Gourd of the One Origin Realm was now in Lu Ye's possession was not a secret.

While Three Realms Island wouldn't publicize it, nor would Jiuyan spread it everywhere, the news had still circulated, clearly originating from the One Origin Realm.

Liehuo then said, "The treasured gourd you used to kill Ji Boyun initially was very similar to this artifact. Could that treasure also be one of the Fortune Vine's associated artifacts?"

Lu Ye smiled but remained silent. Seeing this, Liehuo didn't press further.

He wasn't a dull person; his previous lack of interaction with Lu Ye was mainly due to his frustration. Now that a conversation had started, the two would occasionally engage in casual chats in the coming days, which helped pass the time.

Lu Ye didn't mention Abulou to him. One thing was one thing; he hadn't attacked Liehuo initially out of consideration for Abulou. If Lu Ye hadn't recognized Liehuo's barbarian identity earlier, he might have truly eradicated him.

"By the way, Fellow Daoist, you mentioned earlier that you wouldn't be staying here for too long. Approximately when will you leave?" After some more time passed, Liehuo suddenly asked about this.

Lu Ye immersed his consciousness, checked the progress of the Talent Tree, and slowly shook his head. "I don't know."

When he would leave depended on the changes in the Talent Tree. Although the Talent Tree had undergone changes after absorbing so many exotic flames, it hadn't yet reached the point of transformation, making it difficult for Lu Ye to judge at the moment.

Liehuo said, "When you leave, Fellow Daoist, could you teach me how to control the Solar Beast King? Don't worry, I will certainly offer you satisfactory compensation!"

In the past few days, he had personally watched each Solar Beast deliver the refined essence of the blazing sun to Lu Ye, filling him with envy. If he possessed such ability, he wouldn't have needed to waste so much time here; his cultivation would have already reached mastery.