Chapter 2292: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

When it came to Dao Power reserves, Lu Ye was confident that no one at the Integration stage could match him.

After a previous battle in the Yellow Springs War Zone, his Dao Power reserves had reached seven to eight hundred thousand. Although a significant amount was later consumed for strength enhancement and by the *Bailan* during its stop, a substantial portion still remained. During a battle against numerous Integration stage cultivators from Boundless City, Lu Ye had set the *Bailan* adrift again, which also consumed a vast amount of Dao Power. Even so, his Dao Power reserves still exceeded one hundred thousand. This was a figure beyond the reach of any other Integration stage cultivator.

In just a brief moment of entanglement, the enemy hidden in the shadows fired seven or eight arrows consecutively, surprisingly preventing Lu Ye from closing the distance. However, such an offensive also had little effect on Lu Ye.

Then, the enemy's attack suddenly ceased. Apparently, the enemy realized that such a direct confrontation would only lead to an increasingly severe drain on their own Dao Power. Lu Ye would not miss such a prime opportunity. A cloud of blood mist burst from his body as he activated the Blood Escape Art, lunging straight forward. He felt a little strange, as his perception showed no signs of the hidden enemy attempting to flee; the opponent seemed to be quietly standing still, waiting for him.

He vaguely felt something was amiss, but having committed, he had no choice but to proceed. His long saber swept out horizontally, shattering a floating landmass that blocked his path. Amidst the flying debris, his figure surged forth like a fierce tiger descending a mountain.

Behind the floating landmass, a figure appeared. Lu Ye finally saw his enemy!

She was exceptionally tall, dressed in a fiery red gown, with flowing golden hair. Her golden eyes calmly observed Lu Ye, who was approaching with formidable momentum, yet showed no trace of fear. Her hands hung by her sides, her left hand holding a magnificent longbow adorned with intricate patterns. This was clearly her Dao Weapon, and all the previous attacks were its creation. She stood there quietly, yet she exuded a sense of nobility and holiness.

Their eyes met, and Lu Ye couldn't immediately discern the woman's race. She looked human, but definitively wasn't, as her aura was very peculiar—vaguely familiar to Lu Ye, yet he couldn't recall where he had encountered it.

The distance between them rapidly closed. Lu Ye's momentum was formidable, but the golden-haired woman remained perfectly serene; she neither fled nor dodged, nor did she even show any intention of engaging in battle. Lu Ye paid no heed. Since they were already enemies, he naturally intended to eliminate her completely!

His long saber vibrated in his hand, and with Dao Power unleashed, he swung it upward diagonally, sending forth a massive saber light. The golden-haired woman, who had remained perfectly still, finally moved. She took one last deep gaze at Lu Ye, then her body lightly stepped back a single pace.

The saber light struck the spot where the woman had just been, and Lu Ye followed closely, intent on killing. But the woman's figure was no longer there!

Standing at the woman's original position, saber in hand, Lu Ye's divine sense surged as he probed in all directions, his brows tightly furrowed. He had seen it clearly just now: as the golden-haired woman took that single step back, she vanished like a ghost. It was as if what had been there all along was just an illusion, and his attack hadn't hit her at all. But Lu Ye knew clearly that it was definitely no illusion; what he had seen earlier was a flesh-and-blood cultivator.

What kind of technique was this? It was vaguely similar to his own Void Spirit Mark, but seemed more profound, as Lu Ye didn't detect any traces of the opponent constructing a spirit mark. She took one step back and then strangely vanished. Even his divine sense couldn't detect a single trace of her aura.

He closed his eyes and concentrated, sensing more carefully...

A moment later, Lu Ye opened his eyes and rapidly moved towards the spot where the demon had died. After finding a Star Abyss Coin, he swiftly departed from this troublesome area. After about another quarter of an hour, Lu Ye was already hidden in another secret location.

He secretly mused that this contention among the Sons of the Star Abyss was indeed filled with hidden talents. He had only just encountered the first wave of enemies, and such a tricky individual had already appeared. Admittedly, he was slightly stronger than the golden-haired woman in terms of raw power, but her techniques were simply too strange. From that last detailed scan, he had discovered something.

At the location where the golden-haired woman disappeared, there remained a very faint trace of spatial turbulence. This undoubtedly indicated that her vanishing technique was similar to his own Void Spirit Mark, both being ingenious applications of spatial power. In comparison, however, his own Void Spirit Mark had a drawback: it required a clone or an anchor point to be left in advance at a specific location. The golden-haired woman didn't need such preparations, making her secret art more powerful by comparison. And then there was her long-range hunting technique, which guaranteed a hit...

Such an enemy, possessing both excellent offensive capabilities and extremely strong escape abilities, was certainly impossible to kill. Being targeted by her would instead be very troublesome. Lu Ye was only thankful that her strength wasn't overwhelming. If she had truly been at the peak of the Integration stage, Lu Ye estimated he would have already been defeated, with no other recourse but to flee. Yet, against such an opponent, could he truly escape?

He felt a faint sense of lingering fear. He warned himself not to underestimate any enemy he encountered this time, as one could never tell what trump cards others might possess. In the recent battle, he had sustained some non-serious injuries, and the vibrations from his saber had also caused some minor internal damage. He needed some rest to recover.

He quietly recovered from his injuries...

Lu Ye suddenly opened his eyes.

"Wait a minute!" He suddenly remembered something. "Why was I thinking of being enemies with that golden-haired woman?" Qing Rou had been killed by him due to internal conflict, and the golden-haired woman's demon companion had also been slain by him. It was clear that the golden-haired woman and the demon were merely temporary companions with no deep bond. Both of them were without companions, and conveniently, one was male and one female. Couldn't they just team up?

With Qing Rou gone, he would eventually need to find a suitable companion, because in this contention, only one male and one female would ultimately survive. Fighting alone was certainly an option, but others were in pairs, and facing two opponents would naturally put him at a disadvantage. This was especially true given that quite a few peak Integration stage cultivators had already teamed up on the White Jade Platform. Therefore, a suitable companion was still necessary. That golden-haired woman undoubtedly met his requirements! This woman's strength was comparable to his own, and her techniques were impressive. Especially since he was a weapon cultivator and she could be considered an arrow cultivator, their combined efforts would perfectly complement each other, with neither holding the other back.

He had been careless... At the time, he hadn't thought much, only focusing on killing the opponent. Now that he reflected on it, it was too late. He wasn't exactly regretful, just a little disappointed, as such a suitable companion was truly rare. As things stood now, he could only see if there would be an opportunity to meet again in the future. If there was, perhaps he could try; if not, it didn't matter. Among tens of thousands of Integration stage cultivators, there would always be suitable choices.

More than half a day later, Lu Ye had almost completely recovered. He took out the two Star Abyss Coins he had obtained. After killing Qing Rou earlier, he had wanted to see what valuable items these Star Abyss Coins could be exchanged for, but he had been interrupted by the ambush. Only now did he have the time.

After pondering for a moment, Lu Ye manifested a Talent Tree clone to stand guard, while his main body's divine sense surged, using the Star Abyss Coin to connect with that mysterious space. The next instant, his consciousness indeed entered a somewhat ethereal space. This immense space was like a treasure vault, filled with a dazzling array of items.

Lu Ye immediately saw many Dao Bones... Moreover, these Dao Bones were clearly from deceased Integration stage cultivators, covered with patterns of Dao Marks. As Lu Ye observed, the number of Dao Bones, which hadn't been very numerous initially, was actually slowly increasing. "Could these be the Dao Bones left by Integration stage cultivators who had died in this Starry Sky Fragment?"

Previously, when he killed Qing Rou or the demon, their bodies had vanished after death. In such circumstances, cultivators participating in this contention couldn't recover their Dao Power by killing enemies and extracting bones. Lu Ye had originally thought he could only recover through arduous cultivation, as the Dao Power in this Starry Sky Fragment was very rich, and the efficiency of such cultivation wouldn't be too low. But now it seemed that wasn't the case; Star Abyss Coins could be exchanged for Dao Bones here.

The more he observed, the more certain Lu Ye became that the Dao Bones here were indeed those left behind by Integration stage cultivators who died in the contention, as their number was continuously increasing. This undoubtedly indicated that Integration stage cultivators were constantly falling in battle! After a brief investigation, Lu Ye discovered that one Star Abyss Coin could only be exchanged for two Dao Bones here!

"What a profiteer!" Lu Ye grumbled inwardly. Whether at the Enlightenment or Integration stage, cultivators all possessed five Dao Bones. If the bodies didn't disappear, the death of each Integration stage cultivator would yield five Dao Bones for the victor. Furthermore, the residual Dao Power in Integration stage Dao Bones was quite substantial, incomparable to those of the Enlightenment stage. But here, the Star Abyss Coins obtained from killing one Integration stage cultivator could only be exchanged for two Dao Bones. This meant a loss of three Dao Bones for free. What else could this be but a profiteer? However, there was no doubt that cultivators would exchange for Dao Bones here, because every participant needed to maintain sufficient Dao Power reserves. If arduous cultivation proved too slow, this was the only alternative.

Lu Ye didn't need these; his Dao Power was sufficient.

He continued to examine other items. The more he looked, the more astonished he became. The treasures stored in this mysterious space truly had everything imaginable. It could be said that, aside from supreme treasures, anything a cultivator could conceive of, or even fail to conceive of, could be exchanged here. Even Sub-Treasures were available. Of course, the prices were incredibly high. Each Sub-Treasure required at least two thousand Star Abyss Coins, and these were merely auxiliary types, like the Dice of Destiny, not for combat or defense. Sub-Treasures for combat or defense would be even more expensive.

As he looked, Lu Ye paused, startled, because he saw a very familiar gourd! Gazing intently, information about the gourd immediately surfaced in his mind. The Water Gourd, a Sub-Treasure of the Supreme Treasure, the Creation Vine.

Lu Ye was stunned. He thought he had seen it wrong, but after another careful look, he confirmed he was indeed correct. This Water Gourd was indeed a Sub-Treasure of the Creation Vine.

"But... why would a Sub-Treasure of the Creation Vine appear here? Wasn't the Creation Vine a Supreme Treasure in his own Starry Sky? And his Starry Sky hadn't been destroyed, so why would its Sub-Treasure appear in this place?"