Chapter 211: Lingxi Seven Levels

In the mirage realm, Lu Ye, covered in blood and wielding the Mountain Breaker Sabre, finally slew the last monster. The ground was littered with emerald-green blood, severed limbs, and organs. After days of effort, he had finally defeated all nine monsters that had appeared simultaneously.

Though his injuries were severe enough to make him dizzy, he remained vigilant. He didn't know if ten monsters would suddenly leap out next, and if they did, he would have no choice but to surrender.

The mist ahead swirled and churned, and a figure stepped out from within it.

Lu Ye focused his gaze, his eyes widening in astonishment. He hadn't expected the mirage realm to contain people, only various bizarre insectoid monsters.

Yet, "person" wasn't entirely accurate, as the figure was completely enveloped in mist, making its appearance unclear and its gender indistinguishable.

This was clearly not a real person, but a unique phenomenon of the mirage realm itself.

As Lu Ye was still observing the figure, the mist-shrouded entity raised a hand and pointed. A streak of light shot towards him—the power of an activated artifact!

This individual was undoubtedly a seventh-level cultivator.

A short while later, in the training room, Lu Ye opened his eyes, his face pale and his head aching as if pricked by needles. Though utterly exhausted, his expression was remarkably exhilarated.

He hadn't expected a cultivator to appear after he defeated the nine insectoid monsters, but it was a welcome development.

While slaying those insectoid monsters did refine his combat skills, it ultimately held little significance. In the Spirit Creek battlefield, his adversaries were always cultivators from the Myriad Devil Ridge. Having insects transform into cultivators undoubtedly better suited his needs.

He wondered if he would still have to fight insects the next time he entered the mirage realm. He secretly prayed that he wouldn't, as it would be quite troublesome.

Compared to killing insects, he preferred engaging in combat with the misty cultivator, as the opponent's displayed strength truly matched that of a top-tier seventh-level cultivator.

He would have to wait until tomorrow to verify this.

He popped two spirit pills into his mouth and then took out the ancient texts he had brought back from Madam Yun, beginning to study them.

Half a day later, his fatigue had receded, and his spiritual power was fully replenished.

He began to construct Spirit Pattern Thirty.

Whether it was due to his good mood or excellent touch, he succeeded on his first attempt today!

He dispelled the spirit pattern, then tried to construct it again, but failed.

However, with one successful attempt under his belt, the subsequent attempts became simpler. His third attempt succeeded, the fourth failed, the fifth succeeded, and the sixth succeeded as well.

Lu Ye practiced repeatedly, honing his technique with each success and accumulating lessons and experience from each failure. After dozens of attempts, his success rate reached around seventy percent.

This success rate was quite high, likely meeting Madam Yun's requirements. In other words, he could now go to her for the next stage of his learning.

Although constructing spirit patterns consumed his spiritual power, the Spirit Gathering Spirit Pattern and the gluttonous meal technique ensured that the total amount of spiritual power in his body not only didn't decrease but continuously increased.

He was now at full capacity.

He examined his spirit orifices and channeled his spiritual power to assault the barriers.

In just about half an hour, the spirit orifice barriers were broken, and he now had a total of one hundred and eight spirit orifices within his body.

This number precisely corresponded to the Spirit Creek Seventh Level!

He channeled his spiritual power to connect the unconnected spirit orifices, forming a minor circulation. As the spiritual energy surged, he officially reached the Spirit Creek Seventh Level!

Having discovered the mirage realm's further uses, successfully constructed Spirit Pattern Thirty, and advanced to the Spirit Creek Seventh Level, he could truly say that today brought three major blessings.

It had only been a month since his return from the Chess Sea, demonstrating the remarkable speed at which he had opened his orifices.

He did not continue cultivating. Instead, he left the training room and, while his spiritual power was abundant, went to construct several more Spirit Gathering Spirit Patterns for other training rooms. Through his continuous efforts over the past few days, almost all training rooms now had at least one Spirit Gathering Spirit Pattern, a few had two, and some, like Hua Ci’s, even had three. Coupled with the inherent Spirit Gathering Arrays within the rooms, the disciples' cultivation efficiency was remarkably high.

An hour later, Lu Ye appeared on Clearheart Peak, sitting opposite Madam Yun.

After inspecting Lu Ye's success in constructing Spirit Pattern Thirty, Madam Yun took out a handful of thin crystal chips. Each of these chips represented a spirit pattern named by a number. While they had no practical use, they played an indispensable role in the process of a spirit master imparting knowledge and skills.

In front of Madam Yun, Lu Ye meticulously deconstructed the foundational elements within each of these spirit patterns, without a single error.

Following this, Madam Yun instructed him on various spirit pattern construction techniques, including the method of integrating Yin and Yang elements. Lu Ye then posed his lingering questions, all of which received careful and thorough answers.

As dusk approached, Madam Yun took out two chips from the pile. "These are Spirit Pattern Eighty-Three and Spirit Pattern One Hundred Sixty-Five," she said. "Come back to me when you can successfully construct both of these spirit patterns."

She also handed Lu Ye dozens of books.

Lu Ye carefully put them away, bid farewell to Madam Yun, and, escorted by a maid, departed Clearheart Peak.

Upon returning to Upholding Justice Peak, he sought out Senior Sister Shui Yuan.

"You've reached the seventh level?" Shui Yuan gazed at Lu Ye in surprise, astonished by the speed of his cultivation. "Ah, yes, at the seventh level, you can begin cultivating the art of artifact control."

Lu Ye's reason for seeking out Shui Yuan was simple: he had encountered too many seventh-level cultivators in the Chess Sea and had long envied their ability to control artifacts for combat. Now that he had finally reached the seventh level himself, he naturally rushed to seek guidance.

"However, I'm not actually very proficient in the art of artifact control," Shui Yuan admitted, her eyes suddenly brightening. "You should message your Fourth Senior Brother. His mastery in this area is exceptional, and he would be the most suitable person to teach you."

"Fourth Senior Brother, then... I'll ask him."

After enjoying a delicious meal with his Second Senior Sister, replenishing his energy, and allowing Amber to absorb a bloodline from a scale, Lu Ye immediately returned to the training room in their outpost.

He cultivated while simultaneously sending a message to his Fourth Senior Brother.

Li Ba Xian was also somewhat surprised that Lu Ye had reached the seventh level so quickly. Upon hearing that Lu Ye sought his guidance on the art of artifact control, he naturally held nothing back, sharing all his knowledge.

Although he couldn't teach him in person, communicating through messages made little practical difference.

After meticulously explaining the various essentials of artifact control to Lu Ye, Li Ba Xian concluded, "Little Junior Brother, practice this first, and feel free to ask me anything you don't understand at any time."

"Thank you, Senior Brother!"

He took out his Mountain Breaker Sabre, placed it on his lap, and channeled his spiritual power into it.

According to Li Ba Xian, Spirit Creek cultivators primarily controlled artifacts using spiritual power, which therefore placed high demands on a cultivator's spiritual purity. The purer the spiritual power, the greater the artifact's power and speed. There was also the matter of control distance; generally, a seventh-level cultivator's artifact control range was around thirty zhang. However, the purer one's spiritual power, the greater the distance, which was undoubtedly a significant advantage in combat.

At the same time, artifact control also demanded extremely high mastery over one's own spiritual power, as the degree of control equally affected the artifact's speed and range.

Speed and distance were the two major factors for using artifacts in combat, while spiritual purity and control were the two main requirements for controlling artifacts.

When cultivators of the same cultivation level engaged in artifact combat, the one with superior speed and range would undoubtedly be stronger, in addition, of course, to the inherent destructive power of the spiritual artifact itself.

Lu Ye had no concerns about spiritual purity; his Talent Tree burned away all pill toxins, ensuring his spiritual power was always pure and flawless. As for spiritual power control, that was even less of a concern.

Lu Ye could effortlessly construct and transform even the tiniest Yin and Yang elements, let alone anything else.

In this world, when it came to spiritual power control, no one could surpass a spirit master!

The primary reason cultivators could only practice the art of artifact control at the seventh level was that only cultivators at this stage could, to some extent, control spiritual power after it left their bodies.

Below the seventh level, spiritual power became uncontrollable once it left the body.

This reminded Lu Ye of a persistent problem that had always bothered him: his Fire Phoenix technique. Until now, Lu Ye rarely deployed this spell in combat unless in specific environments, as accuracy was a major issue. Wasting spiritual power to cast a spell that missed its target not only squandered energy but could also provide an opening for his enemies.

However, when he was being pursued by Dong Shu Ye, the latter had unleashed a massive fireball that could turn corners, relentlessly chasing him and Amber and leaving them in a sorry state.

Now, it occurred to him that this was the difference between a seventh-level cultivator and those below it. Dong Shu Ye could control spiritual power after it left his body, which was why his fireball technique could turn.

And now, he too had reached the seventh level.

To verify this, Lu Ye stepped out of the training room, activated a Fire Phoenix technique, and launched it towards the sky. Instantly, hot spiritual energy surged, and a plump bird flapped its wings, soaring upwards.

In the past, once this plump bird flew out, Lu Ye would lose control over it; whether it hit an enemy was left to fate.

But now, he could distinctly feel that the spiritual power forming the Fire Phoenix technique was still under his control. With a slight thought, the plump bird soaring towards the sky immediately changed direction, flapping its wings cheerfully in mid-air. However, as time passed, the spiritual power coalesced into the spell rapidly dissipated, appearing as though it would completely vanish within a few breaths.

"Pfft!" A burst of laughter came from nearby.

Lu Ye turned his head and saw a young girl shading her eyes with her hand, looking up at the sky, her gaze following the plump bird's flight path.

The girl looked familiar...

As if sensing Lu Ye's gaze, the girl quickly averted her eyes and began looking left and right.

"What's your name?"

The girl instantly stood ramrod straight, swallowed hard, and loudly declared, "Replying, Fifth Senior Brother, my name is He Xiyin!" Her eyes quickly darted towards Lu Ye as she meekly added, "And I wasn't laughing at you just now."

"Then what were you laughing at?"

The girl, He Xiyin, swallowed again. "I don't know what I was laughing at," she mumbled, "I just suddenly felt like laughing... Fifth Senior Brother, I really wasn't laughing at you..." As if realizing her words held no conviction, she immediately squatted down and hugged her head. "I was wrong, Fifth Senior Brother, please don't hit me!"

After an anxious moment, she looked up to find no trace of Lu Ye. Only then did she pat her chest and let out a long sigh of relief.