Chapter 2256: Counterattack

In just a few days, Lu Ye's injuries had completely healed. However, this experience made him realize some things he hadn't noticed before.

Logically, with the Chain of Life binding them, his severe injuries this time should have also affected You Die. Yet, she was clearly unaffected. Was it because they were in different spaces? Or perhaps the distance was too great. Regardless of the reason the Chain of Life didn't work, it wasn't a bad thing. For Lu Ye, this was actually good news.

He couldn't be bound to You Die forever. He had previously considered finding an opportune moment to talk to her about releasing the Chain of Life's constraint. But now, it seemed there was no need for that. As long as they were far enough apart, the Dao Mark wouldn't function, and You Die wouldn't affect him. Furthermore, when the Dao Mark *did* function, he could still leverage You Die to recover his cultivation. By any calculation, it was advantageous to him. From this perspective, once the Chain of Life Dao Mark was established, it seemed quite unfair to the party with higher cultivation.

Lu Ye couldn't help but think of something else: ordinary cultivators' cultivation efficiency wasn't as terrifying as his. Even with abundant Dao Bones, refining them wasn't easy. But he was different; with the power of the Talent Tree activated, any amount of Dao Bones could be refined with ease. Perhaps in the future, he could use this method to help others improve their cultivation? If needed, it was indeed an excellent approach.

"Are your injuries healed?"

Just as Lu Ye was deep in thought, You Die's voice suddenly rang out. Her perception was incredibly sharp, and with their interconnected Dao Mark, there was no way Lu Ye's condition could be hidden from her.

"More or less," Lu Ye nodded.

You Die chuckled, "Then, Brother Ye, don't you have something to tell me?"

Lu Ye blinked, "What do you want to know?"

*What do I want to know? There's so much! And would you even tell me if I asked?* Suppressing the irritation in her heart, You Die tried to keep her tone calm and asked the question that concerned her most: "Then please tell me, Brother Ye, how did you refine the Variegated Core?"

She had been constantly thinking about the Variegated Core. After all, she had almost succeeded in refining it deep within the ruins, but at the last moment, she was expelled by some prohibition of the ruins, losing control of the core. Everything Lu Ye had done recently only fueled her many conjectures.

Before Lu Ye could answer, she added, "Don't try to deceive me! You know I can sense if you're lying, and... if you hadn't refined the Variegated Core, how could you possibly travel freely throughout this starry sky? You must have used the power of the Variegated to do all this."

"I wasn't trying to deceive you," Lu Ye replied indifferently.

"You really refined the Variegated Core!" You Die exclaimed, now agitated.

Conjectures were just conjectures; until proven, they didn't count. Having refined the Variegated Core herself, she naturally understood the hardships and difficulties involved. One could say that without Lu Ye's assistance back then, she might have been devoured by the core. For any living being, the destruction of one's soul essentially meant death. Therefore, she truly couldn't understand how Lu Ye, an Initial Dao cultivator, had succeeded in refining it, even though his Initial Dao stage was vastly different from that of ordinary Initial Dao cultivators.

"This matter, in fact, was largely thanks to you," Lu Ye sighed softly. "Jiu Ying must have laid some prohibition deep within the ruins, which caused some accidents when you were refining it. And at the very last moment, you were repelled by the ruin's prohibition."

Lu Ye's expression remained unchanged as he spoke, and because he wasn't lying, You Die couldn't detect anything amiss.

"Then why were you able to stay?" You Die asked.

"Perhaps it was due to my cultivation realm? Anyway, I'm just an Initial Dao cultivator," Lu Ye casually brushed her off. "After you left, I took over the refinement of the core, and then I succeeded."

He didn't provide many details, but You Die fell silent. To say she wasn't heartbroken would be lying to herself. The Variegated Core! She was just one step away from controlling it. If she could have, she would have become the master of this Variegated, reigning supreme throughout the entire starry sky, utterly free and unfettered. But it was precisely at that final step that she failed. Darn that Jiu Ying! You Die wished she could resurrect it just to kill it again.

On second thought, with the Variegated Core now refined by Lu Ye, and she sharing life and death with him, it didn't seem so difficult to accept. Moreover, since things had come to this, there was nothing she could do but accept it...

"So, can you control the Variegated now?" You Die asked again.

"No," Lu Ye shook his head. "The Variegated is too high-tier. Not to mention me, even if you had refined the core, you wouldn't be able to control it. Right now, I can only use my authority as the Master of the Variegated to travel throughout this starry sky, and it still takes quite a bit of time."

"What about leaving the Variegated?"

You Die's voice trembled as she asked this. This was her dream, and the ambition of all Peak Dao Fusion cultivators in the entire Variegated.

"Yes! I've been out before. I was ambushed and injured out there."

*Been out before...* You Die's heart pounded with excitement and agitation, completely ignoring the latter half of Lu Ye's sentence. A vague thought suddenly surfaced in her mind, as if something was amiss, but she didn't dwell on it, interrupted by her overwhelming excitement.

Lu Ye clearly felt You Die's spiritual sense uncontrollably spreading out as he spoke that sentence. No wonder she found it so hard to suppress her emotions. For countless years, all cultivators had been trapped in the Variegated, and no one had ever left. Although there had always been rumors that a method of leaving was hidden deep within the ruins, no one had ever been able to prove it. Until now, Lu Ye had confirmed it right in front of her. You Die wasn't just thinking about escaping this cage; more importantly, she now had hope of achieving Dao Integration! Regardless of their race, as cultivators, they always pursued higher realms and greater strength.

"Brother Ye..." You Die called out, her voice trembling.

"Calm down first," Lu Ye knew exactly what she was thinking. "I have a few questions for you."

"Ask away," You Die replied, incredibly docile.

"I can take you out, but if I do, what are your plans afterward?"

"Plans?" You Die was stunned. Happiness had come too suddenly; she truly hadn't thought about her future plans. After a moment of careful thought, she said, "Try to advance to Dao Integration?"

"And then?"

"Then... I don't know. What do you want me to do?" You Die threw the question back at him.

"I need a large quantity of Dao Bones!" Lu Ye said calmly.

You Die readily agreed, "From now on, you can take half of the Dao Bones sent to me!"

"Not enough!" Lu Ye shook his head.

"Then 70%? Any more, and I won't have enough for my recovery," You Die hesitated.

Lu Ye smiled, "I don't want your Dao Bones."

"What does Brother Ye want?" You Die was bewildered.

Lu Ye said leisurely, "The Variegated is vast, and there are so many cultivators from the Insect and Blood races. Each of them has their own Dao Bones. Such a reserve should be enormous, right? It should be enough to satisfy my needs."

You Die's voice trembled, "You want to annihilate the Insect and Blood races within the Variegated?"

"Not necessarily," Lu Ye shook his head. "Leaving aside whether I even have that ability, even if I did... a clear stream has no fish. While I don't have any particular fondness for the Insect and Blood races, I wouldn't go as far as wanting to completely eradicate them. If the Variegated had no Insect and Blood races, then the Human and Giant races would inevitably clash. Wars and conflicts would be unavoidable. Even if one day a victor emerged between those two factions, there would still be internal strife afterward. Restlessness is the nature of all living beings; this problem cannot be solved."

"Then what do you want to do?" You Die asked, her voice solemn. Having spent so much time with Lu Ye, she realized she seemed to have never truly understood him.

"I just want you to help me when I have a need for Dao Bones."

"You want me to be a traitor to the Insect and Blood races?"

"Fool, don't put it so harshly," Lu Ye's tone was gentle. "There's no such thing as a traitor. You're just making the right choice at the right time for your own Dao. In this world, which cultivator's path to growth isn't paved with countless bones?"

You Die retorted curtly, "Easy for you to say, but isn't it still betrayal?"

"If you insist on seeing it that way, there's nothing I can do."

"What if I don't agree?"

"Can you force a cow to drink if it refuses? Your strength surpasses mine. If you don't agree, there's nothing I can do. I'm just offering you an idea. Whether you act on it, and how, is entirely your decision."

You Die's spiritual sense enveloped Lu Ye, as if 'seeing' him. She scoffed, "As expected, humans are all hypocrites."

Lu Ye said, "I'm being frank and sincere with you, yet you call me a hypocrite. In that case, there's nothing more to discuss." With that, he stood up and patted his rear. "I'm leaving. Think it over yourself."

"Where are you going?" You Die asked, startled.

"Out for a stroll. Or would you prefer I stay here and argue with you?"

"Don't leave!" You Die's spiritual sense moved, completely enveloping Lu Ye. "We haven't finished talking."

After finally returning, You Die would absolutely not allow Lu Ye to leave again this time, especially since he had now refined the Variegated Core and had the ability to take her outside. This was the hope she had yearned for over many years. If anything were to happen to Lu Ye outside, she would regret it for the rest of her life.

Lu Ye looked at her calmly and chuckled, "If I want to leave, you can't stop me." As he spoke, he lightly flicked his finger. You Die's expression became one of extreme astonishment. Because she realized that even though Lu Ye was clearly standing beside her, and she could see him distinctly, he was a complete void in her perception. This meant she couldn't suppress him with her spiritual sense at all. She immediately understood that this must be Lu Ye's authority as the Master of the Variegated. In this starry sky, even if his cultivation and strength weren't high, he could still accomplish many incredible feats.

Space began to distort, and ripples emerged.

You Die urgently cried out, "Lu Ye, finish what you're saying before you leave!"

"You think it through first." Lu Ye ignored her, letting her clamor, and then suddenly vanished thirty breaths later.