Chapter 2147: God's Flower

Cultivating the soul is much more troublesome than simply improving one's cultivation level.

However, cultivators in the cultivation world discovered long ago that if the soul is severely damaged and then recovers, its resilience will improve.

This is the principle of "no destruction, no construction."

This is actually a method for cultivating the soul.

Yet, even knowing this method, no one dared to practice it. This is because minor injuries wouldn't have much effect, but if the injuries were severe, no one could guarantee a full recovery.

This would be gambling with one's future.

Inside the Soul Nurturing Lotus, Lu Ye's soul endured hundreds, even thousands, of severe injuries. Yet, thanks to the power of this supreme treasure, his soul always perfectly recovered. Through repeated cycles of destruction and rebuilding, his soul's resilience at this moment was unparalleled throughout the cosmos, past and present.

As a vast amount of soul energy infused his body, Lu Ye felt no discomfort whatsoever; instead, he was exceptionally pleased.

Immersed in this comfort, his mind cleared, and his expression gradually became serene.

Several days later, Lu Ye gradually felt a sense of fullness, indicating that even with the current toughness of his soul body, its capacity for soul energy had reached its limit.

For no apparent reason, Lu Ye felt as if a path had appeared before him—a grand path of soul cultivation.

With a thought, his soul returned to its rightful place the next moment.

Within his Sea of Consciousness, his soul body manifested, sitting cross-legged on the Seven-Colored Divine Lotus. Radiant seven-colored light emanated, bathing him in warmth.

As his soul power surged, the seven-colored light grew brighter, gradually engulfing Lu Ye's form.

A moment later, the seven-colored light, as if sentient, poured into Lu Ye's soul body, seemingly being absorbed.

The light gradually dimmed until it completely vanished.

The Seven-Colored Divine Lotus was gone, undoubtedly completely refined into Lu Ye's body. From then on, this lotus, obtained from the lotus pond, would be integrated with Lu Ye's soul body.

At the center of his soul body's forehead, seven-colored light began to condense, then blossomed.

A small pattern suddenly formed, initially resembling a great sun, but upon closer inspection, it revealed many petal-like traces, as if an infinitely miniaturized lotus flower was imprinted there.

The Divine Flower was complete!

This undoubtedly meant that Lu Ye's cultivation had truly reached the peak of the Sunlit Realm, meeting the standard for forging his Dao Foundation.

There was no imagined excitement, as Lu Ye had already foreseen this outcome. Nevertheless, it was ultimately the result of years of effort, and he felt genuinely happy.

The birth of the Divine Flower made Lu Ye feel that his entire soul body had undergone a subtle transformation. This change wasn't merely an increase in power, but rather a sense of flawless completeness. It meant his soul body had no weaknesses, and even if someone else had a soul body of equal strength, he could easily win in a purely soul combat.

There might be other benefits, but for now, he couldn't explore them.

Slowly opening his eyes, Lu Ye solemnly bowed: "Thank you, senior!"

If not for the Soul Nurturing Lotus on this trip, he would have emerged from seclusion five years ago. Had that happened, he would certainly have found himself unable to condense the Divine Flower, and it might have taken a long time to realize the problem.

By then, compensating for it would have taken much longer.

The Soul Nurturing Lotus remained as unresponsive as ever, but Lu Ye knew it possessed its own will, otherwise it wouldn't have continuously trained him for five years.

Now at the peak of the Sunlit Realm, he should be able to effortlessly wield eight strands of power, and unleash nine strands during bursts.

Thinking this, Lu Ye activated eight strands of power and found he could indeed wield them effortlessly, without any pressure.

When he activated nine strands, he was slightly taken aback.

He found that he could now wield nine strands without any pressure either.

This made him realize that the changes in his soul body had significantly boosted his inherent strength; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to wield even nine strands of power without pressure.

What about ten strands?

As he considered this, he activated a trace of Dao power; this time, he felt some pressure, but it wasn't significant.

Indeed, for cultivators at the Dao Initiation level, there was no concept of ten strands; nine was the limit. However, if they could utilize a personal treasure, they could exert ten strands of power.

Lu Ye and others had verified this point long ago in the Star Abyss.

Therefore, ten strands represented the power a cultivator could unleash, not a standard of cultivation level. In terms of cultivation, after nine strands came the Dao Integration level. Even the weakest Dao Integration cultivator could unleash twenty strands of power. Because of this vast disparity in power, Dao Integration cultivators were simply insurmountable for those at the Dao Initiation level.

Lu Ye's current strength had undoubtedly reached the peak of the Dao Initiation level.

He was very satisfied with this. With the three flowers now gathered and having reached the peak of the Sunlit Realm, his next step should be to return to the Myriad Manifestation Sea to forge his Dao Foundation.

He had waited too long for this day.

Without delay, Lu Ye bid farewell to the Soul Nurturing Lotus and swiftly exited the Ancestral Land space. Using the Star Pool, he returned to the Nine Provinces Star System.

As soon as he returned to the starry sky, Lu Ye frowned and looked down at the back of his hand.

The next moment, he changed direction and headed towards the Thousand Mound Graves.

Several days later, in Nine Provinces, Lu Ye's figure swept into the realm.

He immediately sensed the changes in Nine Provinces. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth was incredibly dense. On the various spiritual peaks, spiritual mist steamed, creating a magnificent sight. He also sensed that a spiritual jade ore vein had already emerged within Nine Provinces.

Furthermore, no fewer than five hundred Sunlit cultivators were in seclusion across Nine Provinces, each of their cultivation sites imbued with pure and dense spiritual energy.

In front of the Tianzhou Guard Hall, Lu Ye descended, approaching the Reincarnation Tree clone, and bowed respectfully: "Elder Tree!"

There was no response. After a long wait, a faint voice reached Lu Ye's ears: "This reincarnation will last anywhere from a few decades to over a hundred years. I leave the starry sky to you all."

"Rest assured, Elder Tree. When you awaken, the starry sky will undoubtedly remain as it is."

The small tree swayed, its last withered yellow leaf falling with the wind, as if it had completely lost its vitality, transforming into a dead tree.

The Reincarnation Tree had truly entered a state of reincarnation. In this state, Elder Tree would fall into a deep slumber. Before this, he had already transferred his consciousness to this clone in Nine Provinces.

In other words, this seemingly insignificant small tree was now the true body of the Reincarnation Tree.

It would slowly grow when it awakened next time.

Lu Ye had anticipated this day ever since he returned from the Star Abyss, so it wasn't much of a surprise now. For years, everything in the starry sky had been orderly under Elder Tree's coordination. Even without Elder Tree now, there would only be minor delays in information transmission; other aspects wouldn't pose significant problems.

"Little Nine!" Lu Ye called softly.

Little Nine did not appear, but an inexplicable force descended upon the area. Soon, the Reincarnation Tree, along with that entire section, inexplicably vanished.

Clearly, Little Nine had used the power of the Asura Field to conceal this area.

"How are things here in Nine Provinces?" Lu Ye asked.

He hadn't returned since moving Nine Provinces here. Although everything seemed fine on this visit, only Little Nine knew the precise situation.

"Don't worry, there are no issues. I have everything under control," Little Nine replied.

Hearing this, Lu Ye felt relieved.

Turning around, Lu Ye exited Nine Provinces again. He looked around and quickly flew in one direction.

Since he had returned, he decided to visit Azure Bird to ask some questions.

In that direction, a giant mound rose, where Azure Bird lay prostrate. As soon as Lu Ye approached, Azure Bird sensed him and looked up.

At the same time, another figure emerged from a nearby mound, stretching its enormous wings.

"Don't move!" Azure Bird suddenly turned its head and barked at it.

"Oh..." a somewhat aggrieved voice responded, like a wronged young wife.

Lu Ye focused his gaze and realized that the figure on the nearby mound was none other than the Dancer!

He couldn't help but break into a cold sweat. He finally understood why Azure Bird had told her not to move. With one flap of the Dancer's wings, Lu Ye wasn't sure if his current nine-strand power could withstand it. It would be embarrassing if she were to fully unleash her power right there.

Azure Bird had previously asked Lu Ye to help find the Dancer, and Lu Ye had entrusted this task to the Reincarnation Tree. It seemed she had been found, otherwise the Dancer wouldn't be here.

"Greetings, seniors," Lu Ye said, stepping forward and stopping about ten li from Azure Bird.

"What brings you here?" Azure Bird asked.

"I wish to consult you, senior, about Dao Integration." He had now reached the peak of the Dao Initiation level, and once he forged his Dao Foundation, he would likely need to prepare for Dao Integration. However, cultivators in the starry sky knew nothing about this, and Azure Bird was the only one he could ask.

He had originally planned to seek out Azure Bird only after entering the Dao Realm, but since he was here now, it was a convenient opportunity.

"Dao Integration..." Azure Bird murmured.

The Dancer, however, couldn't endure the silence and timidly interjected from the side: "No one needs to teach you this. When you go to the Star Abyss and your strength reaches that level, you'll naturally understand."

These words... sounded familiar!

Old Man Duan had said the same thing back then, and Lu Ye had thought he was just being lazy. Now, for the Dancer to say it too, it was quite strange.

"Is there something inconvenient to say?" Lu Ye asked.

Azure Bird shook its head: "If we were in the Star Abyss, it would indeed be inconvenient to speak of, but here..."

After a brief pause for thought, Azure Bird continued: "Since you've been to the Star Abyss, you should know that it possesses its own will!"

Lu Ye nodded: "I have heard so!"

Azure Bird continued: "The will of the Star Abyss is a grand and immense existence, more akin to a concept. It is omnipresent, controlling the entire Star Abyss and all its living beings, while also guiding the cultivation path of Star Abyss cultivators. That's why I said that in the Star Abyss, once your strength reaches that level, you will naturally know how to achieve Dao Integration, because at that point, the Star Abyss's will will inform you of these things, without needing guidance from others. If anyone presumptuously takes it upon themselves to instruct you on these matters, and the Star Abyss's will detects it, unfavorable consequences will ensue."