Chapter 2264: The Bone Vessel of Boundless City

Lu Ye could offer this shortcut method to Zi Ying as a reference, but he would never tell You Die.

You Die continued to pester him, but after Lu Ye gave her a stern look, she finally settled down. She stamped her foot indignantly and glared at him reproachfully, "Brother Ye, you're playing favorites!"

Ya Yi and Ku Zhi lowered their heads even further.

Zi Ying arrived about fifteen minutes later.

To Lu Ye's surprise, she wasn't alone; she was carrying another person.

Upon entering the Bug Nest, Zi Ying dropped the person onto the ground.

"Sister Ying, this is..." Lu Ye looked closely and realized the person seemed to be a member of the monster race, but not fully transformed. Her ears were clearly fluffy cat ears, and she had a long cat tail behind her.

A cat demon?

The cat demon was petite, appearing undeveloped. She was clearly unconscious, curled up in a ball on the ground.

Lu Ye was somewhat astonished.

Although he couldn't determine the cat demon's exact cultivation level, anyone who could survive in such an environment had to be at least at the Dao Entry stage.

But if she was at the Dao Entry stage, why wasn't her transformation complete?

Lu Ye didn't know where Zi Ying had encountered this cat demon, or why she had captured her.

"There's a force nearby!" Zi Ying said. "I suspect the ghost cultivator you encountered earlier belongs to this force."

She glanced at the cat demon on the ground. "She's also part of them, but this one isn't very strong. Her temper, however, is quite stubborn, so I couldn't get much information from her."

"How far is it from here?" Lu Ye asked.

He knew, of course, that various forces existed in the Star Abyss. Some were formed by cultivators from shattered star zones grouping together for warmth, but more often, they were established by Star Abyss beings themselves. These forces, large and small, were scattered throughout the Star Abyss.

Judging by the ghost cultivator's previous actions, this force was definitely not weak.

If the Splendor was still drifting, they could naturally ignore it. But now that the Splendor had stopped, if there was a powerful force nearby, they absolutely couldn't just stand by.

For one thing, Lu Ye didn't want to be cautious every time he emerged from the Splendor, constantly on guard against sneak attacks.

Moreover, neither Zi Ying nor You Die could afford to be disturbed during their cultivation advancements. Therefore, the nearby force was undoubtedly a hidden danger to everyone.

If the ghost cultivator who previously ambushed Lu Ye indeed belonged to this force, then there was already an inherent enmity between them, as Lu Ye had killed a number of their members.

"Very close!" Zi Ying said gravely.

Lu Ye frowned. This was troublesome.

He hadn't expected the Splendor to stop in such an awkward location. With his current methods, he might be able to move the Splendor again, away from this spot.

But even if it were possible, it would undoubtedly consume a large amount of Dao power and energy, and then docking the Splendor again would be another significant expenditure of Dao power.

"Sister Ying means..." Lu Ye looked up at Zi Ying.

"First, we'll probe their strength. If possible, we'll talk to them. There's no deep-seated enmity to begin with, so peaceful coexistence would be best. If not..." A sharp glint flashed in her eyes.

Having finally emerged from the Splendor, just as she was preparing for her Harmonization Realm advancement, this matter had caused a delay. Her mood, naturally, wasn't good.

Lu Ye looked at You Die, who was standing nearby.

You Die smiled, pressing her lips together. "I'll do it."

When it came to gathering information and controlling others, You Die was undoubtedly superior to Zi Ying. This was also why Zi Ying had brought the cat demon.

As she spoke, a pale blue soul energy rippled outwards, enveloping the cat demon curled up on the ground like a wave.

Even in her unconscious state, the cat demon couldn't help but whimper, shrinking even further into a tighter ball.

Divine Source Illusion Sea! This was the same method You Die had used against Lu Ye previously, only to be bound to him by the Chains of Life.

But ultimately, there was only one Lu Ye in the world.

A cat demon with ordinary Dao Entry cultivation could not possibly resist You Die's soul secret technique.

It was unclear what she was experiencing, but her breathing gradually became rapid, her skin flushed, and her body squirmed continuously, occasionally moaning or letting out suppressed, high-pitched sounds.

You Die stood by, smiling serenely, only to be met with a fierce glare from Lu Ye.

Zi Ying's eyelids were lowered, as if she had entered a meditative state, hearing nothing and seeing nothing.

After about half a day, the cat demon suddenly trembled violently. Her petite body then stretched out, her face flushed crimson, and even in her unconscious state, she wore a blissful, contented smile.

Lu Ye felt his hair stand on end. Had it not been for the Chains of Life back then, his own experience might not have been much better than the cat demon's.

"Borderless City!" You Die suddenly spoke slowly.

"What?" Lu Ye looked at her.

"The force nearby is called Borderless City. It was once one of the strongest forces in a certain primal star zone. However, after the Star Abyss invasion, that star zone shattered, but Borderless City survived, absorbing many cultivators from that star zone and continuing its existence to this day."

"Then they were really lucky," Lu Ye remarked with admiration.

Generally, after a star zone shatters, the fate of its inhabitants isn't good, as cultivators within star zones are too weak compared to those from the Star Abyss and are usually slaughtered.

Yet Borderless City managed to survive, and it even seems to have developed quite well, reaching the peak of Harmonization Realm.

"What about their foundation?"

"This beast race member isn't highly cultivated, only at the Seventh Dao strength, so she doesn't know much. She only knows that Borderless City has around fifteen to twenty Harmonization Realm cultivators, and their City Lord, Mad Lion, is at the peak of Harmonization Realm."

"Beast race?" Lu Ye frowned slightly. He had seen and heard of many races, both in the star zones and the Star Abyss, some quite bizarre, but he had never heard of a "beast race." "Aren't they monster race?"

You Die explained, "They call themselves the beast race. For example, this one here is a member of the Cat Clan, a branch of the beast race. The biggest difference between them and the monster race is that they generally retain some bestial characteristics."

'They're still monster race, just not fully transformed,' Lu Ye thought to himself.

"Is Mad Lion also from the beast race?" Zi Ying, however, focused on a different point.

You Die nodded. "According to this little cat demon's memories, Mad Lion is from the Lion Clan and indeed belongs to the beast race."

Lu Ye and Zi Ying exchanged glances, both realizing something.

This Borderless City... has more than one Harmonization Realm peak cultivator!

Mad Lion is one, and so was the ghost cultivator they encountered earlier. Plus, there are at least a dozen more Harmonization Realm cultivators. Such strength is indeed formidable.

Furthermore, the information the cat demon could provide was clearly not comprehensive; Borderless City's actual strength might be even greater than what they had learned.

However, while the other side has two Harmonization Realm peak cultivators, so do they, so there's no fear. In addition, Ya Yi and Ku Zhi are both at the Harmonization Realm, and although Lu Ye is at the Dao Entry stage, his strength is not comparable to an ordinary Harmonization Realm cultivator.

Even if their overall numbers aren't as large as Borderless City's, they at least have the right to an equal dialogue.

"We can't avoid them," Zi Ying said. "I'll go talk to them. Peaceful coexistence would be best, but if not... we'll find another way."

Lu Ye had no objections. He figured Borderless City wouldn't want to make enemies with their five Harmonization Realm cultivators.

You Die, however, said languidly, "I advise you to give up that idea."

"Why?" Zi Ying looked at her.

You Die chuckled softly. "Unless you can tolerate some of Borderless City's practices."

"What have they done?" Zi Ying was even more puzzled.

"They've raised a large number of humans in a certain realm, selecting those with exceptional talent and helping them cultivate and break through until they reach the Dao Entry stage!"

"And then?" Lu Ye asked. Just hearing those words, it didn't seem like a big problem, but what You Die was about to say was clearly not that simple.

"Then it gets interesting..." You Die said, her expression perfectly calm. "Once they reach the Dao Entry stage, they become a renewable cultivation resource for the beast race."

"What do you mean by 'renewable cultivation resource'?" Lu Ye frowned deeply.

You Die looked at him. "Brother Ye, you explored the Star Abyss before entering the Splendor, haven't you heard of 'bone farming'?"

"'Bone farming'..." Lu Ye murmured, vaguely feeling he had heard the term somewhere before but couldn't quite recall.

He explained, "Before entering the Splendor, although I had explored the Star Abyss, it was for a very short time, so I don't actually know much about it."

"No wonder," You Die nodded. "Then it's understandable that you don't know. 'Bone farming' refers to making human cultivators at the Dao Entry stage practice a special cultivation method. Through this method, their internal structure is altered. To a certain extent, these humans practicing this method become vessels for bone farming, known as 'bone jars'."

"They can still cultivate and refine their Dao bones, but unlike ordinary Dao Entry cultivators, they can never engage in combat because their Dao bones are very fragile and cannot withstand the impact of power during a fight. However, this also has an advantage: once their Dao bones are taken, they can be easily re-refined. Then, when the time is right, they are taken again..."

At this point, both Lu Ye's and Zi Ying's expressions turned solemn, as they both realized the horrifying fate of the captive humans.

Lu Ye finally remembered where he had heard the term "bone farming."

It was when he first left the Splendor and entered the Star Abyss, encountering two passing Harmonization Realm cultivators. One of them had said they would take him back for bone farming!

It seemed, then, that making Dao Entry cultivators into bone jars and continuously harvesting their Dao bones was a common practice in the Star Abyss. Otherwise, there would be no reason for those two passing Harmonization Realm cultivators to want to take him back for bone farming.

This truly was a renewable cultivation resource.

Cultivators can gain Dao power through arduous cultivation. Once the bone jars successfully refine their Dao bones, they are dismantled and taken. They then continue to endlessly cycle through this suffering, never escaping unless they die.

No wonder Borderless City could have so many Harmonization Realm cultivators. By using bone jars for bone farming, as long as the base number of bone jars was large enough, the beast race members of Borderless City would never lack cultivation resources.