Chapter 2093: From Nothing to Something A Qualitative Change

The Wind Rises Across the Nine Provinces

The Wind Rises Across the Nine Provinces

As time passed, Lu Ye observed carefully and discovered that the Star Abyss aura he had refined into his body could be divided into three parts. One part consisted of impurities incinerated by the Talent Tree, which were useless, even harmful, to cultivators.

The second part was normal spiritual energy, ubiquitous in the starry sky, and the very energy cultivators relied on for their practice.

As for the last part... Lu Ye hadn't even noticed it at first because its presence was too subtle, yet it was undeniably there.

Strangely, as he continued his refining practice, this tiny presence somehow integrated into the Talent Tree.

It wasn't absorbed by the Talent Tree but integrated. This led to Lu Ye discovering, an hour later, a tiny mark on one of the Talent Tree's blank leaves. Had he not been constantly sensing, he would have barely noticed the change.

Upon careful examination, Lu Ye keenly felt that this tiny mark was a concentration of an extremely profound power, so minimal that it was hard to detect.

This was... Dao power!

Although he had already suspected it, Lu Ye's heart still surged with excitement when his suspicion was confirmed.

According to information from Thunder Fortress, beings like him, not born from the Star Abyss, could not possess their own Dao power before establishing their Dao Foundation. Only by establishing the Dao Foundation and entering the Dao Realm could one gain Dao power within their body.

But now, thanks to the unique nature of the Talent Tree, he was able to break this rule by refining Star Abyss aura!

This had always been an exclusive advantage of Star Abyss beings.

This trace of faint Dao power was incomplete, and even if activated, it wouldn't significantly enhance Lu Ye. However, this was ultimately a good start; it was a leap from nothing to something, a qualitative change!

If he could possess more Dao power, his safety on this front-line battlefield would be greatly guaranteed.

Slowly opening his eyes, Lu Ye said, "Senior Sister, I need to cultivate for a while."

Jiu Yan paused for a moment, then nodded immediately: "Alright, I'll guard you."

In that brief moment, her expression had returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

Lu Ye closed his eyes again, continuing to maintain his previous cultivation state.

As time passed, the Dao power mark on the Talent Tree's leaf became clearer and more complete.

It took a full ten days before Lu Ye finally obtained a complete trace of Dao power. Upon examination, this trace was like a golden thread, flowing and moving on the leaf as if alive. Just by looking at it, one could feel the infinite profoundness it contained, and the mysterious energy within seemed capable of manifesting the ultimate truths of the world.

Lu Ye finally understood why the Star Abyss Outsiders cherished their Dao power so much. This power was incredibly difficult to cultivate. With the Talent Tree's power, he had created countless small spiritual gathering funnels on his body, and his cultivation speed was beyond imagination. Yet, even with that, it took him this long to obtain a single trace of Dao power.

Other cultivators would certainly take even longer!

Moreover, Dao power was easily consumed in combat. No wonder the Star Abyss Outsiders would consume their enemies' corpses to replenish themselves after fierce battles.

Of course, this also depended on the density of the Star Abyss aura in this location. Although this wasn't the edge of the battlefield, it wasn't a central area either. If he could cultivate in a place with denser Star Abyss aura, his efficiency should be higher.

Even if it was difficult to cultivate, he had to. After all, in such a place, Dao power was the foundation of one's existence.

Lu Ye spent another twenty days cultivating two more traces of Dao power before finally pausing.

These three traces of Dao power were all gathered on the same leaf of the Talent Tree, looking like three golden fish swimming around.

This trip into the battlefield was mainly to help Jiu Yan establish her Dao Foundation. Since he had already made progress, there was no need to rush. He could slowly cultivate later to obtain more Dao power.

He needed to first nourish the power of his Fire Gourd and Sword Gourd. To deal with those Star Abyss Outsiders possessing Dao power, the might of these two spiritual treasures was also crucial.

"Senior Sister, I'm done here," Lu Ye said, opening his eyes and addressing Jiu Yan.

Jiu Yan turned her head and examined him for a moment, then nodded and closed her eyes to begin her own cultivation.

Lu Ye pondered for a moment, then sacrificed a drop of precious blood to form a clone, which lay in wait outside, constantly vigilant. Meanwhile, his main body began nourishing the Sword Gourd and Fire Gourd.

This task was relatively simple; it only required sufficient resources to complete. He carried many resources for nourishing the two gourds, especially for the Fire Gourd. On the Giant Red Star, he had specifically stockpiled enough Sunflame Essence to nourish dozens of miraculous flames.

As it devoured a large number of magical artifacts of varying qualities, the sword qi within the Sword Gourd gradually became complete.

Once the Sword Gourd was fully nourished, Lu Ye began nourishing the Fire Gourd.

As the Sunflame Essence was absorbed, the miraculous flames within the Fire Gourd slowly materialized.

Just as Lu Ye was about to put the Fire Gourd away, he suddenly remembered a question: Would the Talent Tree undergo another transformation? If so, what were the conditions?

Ordinary fire-element resources clearly had no effect on the Talent Tree's transformation anymore; they could only serve as fuel supplements. The catalyst for the fourth transformation was devouring a large amount of miraculous flames. Would the next transformation also require this type of miraculous flame?

With a thought, Lu Ye prepared to try it. After all, it would just consume one miraculous flame. He would know if this was the catalyst by trying.

He activated the Talent Tree, and its invisible roots probed into the gourd's opening. However, the next moment, Lu Ye's expression changed, and he quickly retracted the Talent Tree's power.

In that brief moment of contact, he felt something was wrong.

The Talent Tree... seemed to want to devour the Fire Gourd!

Recalling carefully, Lu Ye confirmed it was not an illusion. If he hadn't reacted quickly, the Fire Gourd would likely have been devoured by the Talent Tree. Even if it couldn't be fully devoured instantly, its power would certainly be greatly diminished if it were damaged.

A Talent Tree after four transformations could actually devour spiritual treasures?

Although he knew that after this transformation, the Talent Tree would certainly undergo some unusual changes that he hadn't yet discovered, such a change was still unexpected.

Frowning in thought for a moment, Lu Ye dared not let the Talent Tree have any direct contact with the Fire Gourd again. Although he was certain he would gain many benefits by devouring the Fire Gourd, the Fire Gourd was still very useful.

He could only activate the Fire Gourd, release the miraculous flames within, and let them hover not far in front of him. Only then did he activate the Talent Tree's power, its invisible roots plunging into the miraculous flames. In an instant, the miraculous flames vanished without a trace, from existence to nothingness.

Lu Ye calmly sensed, and soon showed a disappointed expression. The Talent Tree had no significant reaction, or even no reaction at all. This undoubtedly indicated that even if it could transform again, the catalyst was not miraculous flames.

As he was thinking this, he suddenly noticed something was amiss.

Because after this cluster of miraculous flames was devoured, the Talent Tree's fuel reserve hadn't changed either.

Logically, if devouring miraculous flames wasn't a condition for transformation, then it should increase the fuel reserve. But the fuel reserve hadn't increased. So where did the devoured miraculous flames go? They couldn't have just vanished into thin air; they were treasures nourished by many strands of Sunflame Essence.

Settling his mind and checking carefully, Lu Ye soon discovered a change on the Talent Tree.

On the leaf that held the three traces of Dao power he had spent a month cultivating, there was now an additional golden thread, making it four traces in total.

The Dao power had increased...

Was this from devouring the miraculous flames?

Upon closer thought, this seemed to be the only explanation. He had previously speculated that the power unleashed by spiritual treasures contained Dao power; otherwise, they couldn't pose such a significant threat to the Star Abyss Outsiders. However, this speculation couldn't be confirmed, but now, the evidence was right before him.

The extra trace of Dao power couldn't have appeared out of thin air, nor could the miraculous flames have vanished without a trace. It was transformed into this trace of Dao power by the Talent Tree!

Although he was largely certain, he still needed to verify it.

Lu Ye used some more Sunflame Essence to cultivate another cluster of miraculous flames and let the Talent Tree devour it. This time, he carefully observed the leaf carrying the Dao power, and indeed found that as that cluster of miraculous flames was devoured, another golden trace of Dao power appeared on the leaf, turning four traces into five...

Lu Ye was overjoyed.

Given his own cultivation efficiency, in this location's environment, he would only gain one trace of Dao power every ten days. But if he utilized the power of spiritual treasures, the efficiency would be vastly higher. The only constraint would be the supply of resources. Even if he exhausted all the magical artifacts and Sunflame Essence he carried, he could obtain over a hundred traces of Dao power.

With a hundred traces of Dao power in hand, according to information from Thunder Fortress, this was a capital only possessed by cultivators who had entered the Dao Realm. Those who hadn't entered the Dao Realm, even the Star Abyss Outsiders, didn't have this much Dao power available.

In other words, if Lu Ye converted all the resources he had into Dao power, then even if he wasn't in the Dao Realm, he would be comparable to one.

Was there a more cost-effective deal in this world?

Furthermore, one cluster of miraculous flames from the Fire Gourd equaled one trace of Dao power. What if the Talent Tree truly devoured the Fire Gourd? How much Dao power could he obtain then? It would certainly be more than just a single trace. Ultimate treasures were concentrations of the Dao, and spiritual treasures were derivatives of ultimate treasures. Therefore, spiritual treasures were also concentrations of a portion of the Dao. Regardless of the type of spiritual treasure, a considerable amount of Dao power must be contained within!

Dao Tree... So that's it. The name "Dao Tree" held such profound meaning. In a flash, many things seemed to become clear. Lu Ye had never understood why the Talent Tree was called the Dao Tree, until today, when he finally glimpsed the truth.

He certainly wouldn't let the Talent Tree devour the Fire Gourd, nor the Sword Gourd. But he had more than just these two spiritual treasures!

With a thought, he took out a palm-sized, tattered small umbrella.

The Heavenly Net Umbrella.

This item couldn't be repaired by Hua Ci, nor at the Star Palace, due to incompatible affinities. Lu Ye had originally intended to place it in a spiritual jade ore vein, but had forgotten about it shortly after.

Since this treasure was already damaged, it was perfectly suitable for devouring!

However, just as Lu Ye was about to do this, he paused. After a brief moment of thought, he instead activated his Dao power and poured it into the Heavenly Net Umbrella.