Chapter 2263: The Crux of the Matter

Navigating the Star Abyss, Lu Ye's entry into the Shimmering Expanse was definitely the most fortunate event for him. Had he not been there, his strength could never have improved so rapidly, as he would have spent a significant amount of time searching for targets to hunt for Dao bones.

But in the Shimmering Expanse, it was different; enemies were everywhere in the various battle zones, large and small.

Two hundred and one... Two hundred and two... Two hundred and ten Dao!

As his strength increased, refining Dao bones consumed more and more Dao power. Now, even with the aid of Enlightenment Tea leaves, refining a single Dao bone consumed over ten thousand units of Dao power.

He continued refining. Failure, the Dao bone shattered, then reformed. Another failure...

Lu Ye remained calm and composed. Even though each shattered Dao bone brought unimaginable pain, his expression did not change in the slightest. He had experienced such encounters far too many times.

Ordinary cultivators entering the Dao only needed to refine five Dao bones, yet he had already refined over two hundred, and his failures numbered in the tens of thousands.

Failure... Failure... Still failure...

A day later, Lu Ye furrowed his brow slightly, feeling that something was amiss.

Based on past experiences, after each failure, the selected bone would quickly reform and become more solidified until it could bear Dao power, eventually leading to successful refinement.

But this time, it seemed different.

After the selected bone shattered and reformed, there seemed to be no change, which was the fundamental reason for his continuous lack of success.

And for this single Dao bone, he had already expended over thirty thousand units of Dao power.

No longer attempting to refine the Dao bone, Lu Ye focused his mind and examined himself.

Since there was an abnormality, he naturally had to find out the cause and then devise a targeted solution; otherwise, Lu Ye felt he would never succeed, even by continuing to try.

However, a careful examination revealed no abnormalities, which left Lu Ye perplexed.

Previously, refining Dao bones had always been smooth; even with countless failures, each one had paved the way for eventual success. What was happening now?

He was clearly only five Dao bones away from completion, yet he was stuck.

The number five Dao bones was quite intriguing. Ordinary cultivators entering the Dao could only refine five; could it be that he had five that were impossible to refine? But what could be the reason?

There was no one he could consult about this. Even if Nine Infants were still alive, Lu Ye doubted it could offer any explanation.

Looking across the entire Star Abyss, he was likely the only anomaly of his kind.

Activating his Dao power slightly, Lu Ye felt his entire body overflowing with strength. As the Dao power he wielded increased step by step, Lu Ye's eyebrows suddenly rose.

While he had been immersed in his mental examination earlier, he hadn't detected any abnormalities. But now, as he wielded his Dao power, he suddenly made a discovery.

He quickly steadied his mind, continuing to increase the Dao power he wielded while carefully observing.

When his power reached two hundred Dao, his entire body suddenly trembled slightly, and his skin began to flush red.

He continued to increase it...

With a ripping sound, a gash appeared on Lu Ye's arm, and blood spurted out. As if triggering a chain reaction, numerous wounds instantly appeared all over his body, turning Lu Ye into a blood-soaked figure in a flash.

Not only his external appearance, but even his internal organs felt severely impacted, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

As his Dao power dissipated, Lu Ye's expression was dejected and haggard.

But there was a gleam in his eyes!

He knew where the problem lay.

It wasn't a rare problem; rather, it was an issue all cultivators entering the Dao had to face!

Foundation!

Even before entering the Dao, Lu Ye had encountered information regarding this, but he had never imagined he would one day face it himself.

When cultivators entered the Dao, their strengths varied due to differences in their foundations. For instance, among the group of Sun-Illuminated cultivators brought to the Automaton Starry Sky by the Ghost Palanquin, their wielded Dao power differed after advancing into the Dao. Those with stronger foundations could directly reach five Dao, while those with weaker ones only had four or even three.

Of course, subsequent improvements in strength were also part of the process of enhancing one's foundation. Only with a sufficient foundation could one wield more Dao power.

Lu Ye practiced the ancient Three Flowers technique, reaching the peak in all three realms: Star Constellation, Moon Illumination, and Sun Illumination. Finally, he forged himself with the Furnace Method, making his foundation far stronger than that of ordinary cultivators.

That was why he could wield so much Dao power.

However, there was ultimately a limit.

Two hundred and ten Dao was his limit, a limit that ordinary cultivators could only hope to achieve at the Dao Fusion stage.

The reason the Dao bones could not be successfully refined was due to the constraint of his own limit.

In fact, even the current two hundred and ten Dao was something Lu Ye could not sustain for long; it could only be used as a burst of power. The amount of Dao power he could safely wield was around two hundred Dao, which would not harm him as long as his Dao power reserves were sufficient.

Realizing the problem, Lu Ye felt a sense of melancholy.

He had never imagined he would encounter such a problem. Everything had been fine before, only for a sudden turn of events at the final hurdle.

However, this increase in strength was indeed significant, a gain of over forty Dao power, from one hundred sixty-seven to two hundred and ten Dao, which was what allowed him to discover something he hadn't noticed before.

This was somewhat tricky.

Although he had identified the problem, how was he to solve it?

In his current state, improving his foundation was no simple task, as his groundwork was already too solid, leaving virtually no room for further advancement unless his cultivation realm increased.

But Lu Ye was unwilling to advance his realm without fully refining his Dao bones.

This was a deadlock.

He believed that if he fully refined his Dao bones before advancing, there might be unexpected benefits, so he would absolutely not advance prematurely.

After all, only the last five Dao bones remained.

He still had a considerable amount of Dao power left, but he couldn't continue refining the Dao bones, which was absurd; he had always been short on Dao power before.

After pondering for a while with no immediate solution, Lu Ye could only stand up and head towards the exit.

A moment later, Lu Ye appeared in the Star Abyss, beside the colorful, miniaturized starry sky.

"Greetings, Lord."

Not far away, two Insect Race Dao Fusion cultivators stood side by side, greeting Lu Ye with complex expressions.

They were You Die's two direct subordinates: the female Insect Race member named Yayi and the male Insect Race member named Kuzhi.

Their recent experiences had left them feeling as if they were in a dream.

First, their own Insect Queen had teamed up with Lu Ye to commit an act of rebellion, causing chaos throughout the entire war zone. They themselves had acted as accomplices under the Insect Queen's command. Immediately after, Lu Ye had taken them into a ruin, leaving the Shimmering Expanse and entering the Star Abyss.

It was profoundly shocking!

Initially, they hadn't understood why their powerful Insect Queen would obey a mere human, but after leaving the Shimmering Expanse, they realized this human could accomplish what ordinary people could not.

Clearly, the temptation of leaving the Shimmering Expanse had led the Insect Queen to choose to follow him.

Putting themselves in her shoes, if they were in the Insect Queen's position, they probably couldn't resist such a temptation either. What did betraying the Insect and Blood races matter if they weren't returning anyway? Leaving the Shimmering Expanse offered hope of advancing to Dao Integration.

Following You Die's instructions, the two Insect Race Dao Fusion cultivators dared not show any disrespect to Lu Ye. They had been guarding this spot, waiting for his appearance.

"Lord, Insect Queen You Die requests your presence," Yayi added.

Clearly, You Die had already seen Lu Ye appear through their vision.

"Lead the way." Lu Ye looked around but found no trace of You Die. She must have settled down somewhere.

"This way, please!" Yayi gestured, leading the way with Kuzhi.

While traveling, Lu Ye took out his waist token and sent a message to Ziying.

He quickly received her reply: "You're out? I'll come find you."

Ziying was clearly not nearby, and from the tone of her message, it seemed she had something to discuss with Lu Ye.

A moment later, led by Yayi and Kuzhi, Lu Ye entered the interior of a dead star.

It was unclear if You Die had a particular quirk, but her chosen settlement was still the very core of this dead star. It seemed she intended to build a new insect nest here.

As Lu Ye stepped inside, You Die happily greeted him, "Brother Ye, you're here!"

Yayi and Kuzhi exchanged startled glances, then lowered their heads.

It was the first time they had heard You Die address Lu Ye in such a manner, and they found it quite incredible.

"How is it?" Lu Ye asked, looking around. Due to the short time, there were no signs of an insect nest yet, just a simple hollow area, with You Die's physical body placed in the deepest part.

"It's better than being in the Shimmering Expanse," You Die said, clearly in good spirits. Last time, she had been too cautious, only sending out her soul form to scout. This time, she had brought her physical body out as well, and could finally attempt to advance to Dao Integration.

As she spoke, she held up a jade slip in her hand. "Brother Ye, what was that shortcut you mentioned before? Why isn't it recorded in here?"

"You don't need to know," Lu Ye said, not bothering to elaborate.

He had recorded the shortcut to advancing to Dao Integration in the jade slip he gave Ziying because he trusted Ziying's character and knew she wouldn't do anything that would harm natural order.

But he wouldn't tell this method to You Die.

No matter how well-behaved You Die seemed in front of him, she was still an Insect Queen. If there was no opportunity, so be it, but if one arose, she would certainly not miss it and would undoubtedly use that shortcut to advance.

And the so-called shortcut was invading star systems!

Once one could act as the primary instigator and corrupt a certain star system, when the entire star system shattered, the powerful instigator would receive a reward from the Star Abyss, or rather, another kind of Star Abyss blessing. Obtaining this reward would greatly aid in advancing to Dao Integration.

This was also Yin Luo's original plan. The cultivators gathered near the Star Abyss Gate were all considered her soldiers.

If she could successfully corrupt and destroy a star system, she would have a strong chance of advancing to Dao Integration.

Unfortunately, after Lu Ye's lecture, Yin Luo likely had no further interest in corrupting star systems; she had already become a hidden guardian of the starry sky.