Chapter 2296: Dissolution

Winds Rise Across the Nine Provinces

Winds Rise Across the Nine Provinces

For the following period, Lu Ye searched everywhere for traces of enemies. His true self and the Talent Tree clone operated, one hidden and one visible. He intentionally made the clone appear miserable, as if it had just engaged in a battle and was severely wounded.

Using this method, he successfully lured out many hidden enemies and repeatedly achieved victories.

One day, he used the same method to lure out two more enemies. His true self and clone attacked together, easily dispatching one of them. Seeing defeat was imminent, the surviving female Fusion Dao cultivator instantly cried out, "Brother Dao, wait! I have a secret I can tell you. I only ask for your mercy and that you spare my life!"

Lu Ye was moments away from striking her down with his blade. Hearing her words, he paused. The Panshan Blade rested against her slender neck, immediately cutting a shallow wound in her delicate skin from which crimson blood seeped out.

"What secret?" Lu Ye asked, looking at her.

It wasn't that Lu Ye possessed an intense curiosity, but at such a critical moment, any secret she mentioned was highly likely to be related to the current competition.

Feeling the pain in her neck and hearing Lu Ye's question, the female Fusion Dao cultivator let out a breath. Knowing she was safe for the moment, she weakly turned her head, looking pitifully at Lu Ye from the corner of her eye. "Brother Dao," she pleaded, "if I tell you, will you spare me?"

"That depends on whether your secret is useful," Lu Ye replied.

"It's useful! It concerns this competition, Brother Dao, you'll definitely want to know!" she insisted.

"Speak!" Lu Ye commanded.

However, the woman did not immediately comply, offering only a strained smile. "But... how can I trust that Brother Dao will spare me? If Brother Dao wouldn't mind, perhaps you could..."

The Panshan Blade pressed down slightly. Lu Ye's voice was cold. "Speak, or die!"

The female Fusion Dao cultivator shivered, realizing she couldn't use that condition to manipulate Lu Ye. After a moment of thought, she finally spoke: "Brother Dao, do you know that this spatial fragment we are in is dissolving?"

"Dissolving? What do you mean?" Lu Ye questioned.

"It means exactly what it sounds like," she replied. "The spatial fragment is continuously dissolving and shrinking."

"How do you know?" Lu Ye frowned.

"I saw it with my own eyes!" The female Fusion Dao cultivator gave a bitter smile. "Brother Dao, don't you think this spatial fragment we're in is a bit too large? Even with over fifty thousand Fusion Dao cultivators competing and dying constantly, fewer and fewer will remain, making it harder and harder to encounter each other. If it continued like this, when would the Child of the Star Abyss ever be decided? That's why the spatial fragment is dissolving and shrinking. This way, our area of activity keeps getting smaller, so no matter how much the numbers decrease, it will never become difficult to encounter each other."

Lu Ye had indeed considered this problem. From his observations over the past while, this spatial fragment was vast. As the female Fusion Dao cultivator explained, with fewer survivors, it would become increasingly difficult for people to encounter each other in such a vast area. Those with weaker strength could simply keep hiding.

But if the spatial fragment was dissolving, then this wouldn't be an issue. No matter how people hid, the last two surviving groups would eventually meet!

"Where did you see it?" Lu Ye asked. Since the female Fusion Dao cultivator had seen it, he wanted to see it for himself; hearing was one thing, but seeing was believing.

"In this direction, Brother Dao, just keep flying straight ahead and you'll see it," the female Fusion Dao cultivator said, pointing.

Lu Ye put away the Panshan Blade and immediately darted towards that direction.

The female Fusion Dao cultivator was left with an incredulous expression. She had never expected Lu Ye would actually let her go; she had already prepared for him to go back on his word.

After only a moment's hesitation, the female Fusion Dao cultivator exerted herself and chased after Lu Ye. At the same time, her divine sense surged, sending a message: "Brother Dao, would you like to travel together?"

Her companion had just been killed by Lu Ye, and she would eventually need to find another. Lu Ye was strong enough, and judging by his willingness to keep his word, his character also seemed reliable. He was undoubtedly an excellent potential partner.

She naturally didn't want to miss this opportunity.

Unfortunately, Lu Ye showed no intention of responding to her. After chasing for a moment, she soon lost sight of Lu Ye in the distance. The female Fusion Dao cultivator then stood in place, a look of disappointment on her face.

A sudden feeling of helplessness arose within her. What should she do next?

In fact, ninety-nine percent of the over fifty thousand Fusion Dao cultivators felt helpless and lost. Their chances of winning this competition were extremely low, almost nonexistent. According to the competition's rules, they were already waiting to die the moment they entered this place; the only difference was whether they died sooner or later.

This made many Fusion Dao cultivators feel indignant and uneasy. However, the Star Abyss Will dictated the matter, and once they were here, resistance was impossible, unless they spent one thousand Star Abyss Coins to obtain the qualification to withdraw from the competition.

However, obtaining one thousand Star Abyss Coins was almost impossible for these Fusion Dao cultivators.

Star Abyss Coins could only be obtained by killing enemies; there was no other method.

Even seizing Star Abyss Coins from others was unrealistic, because once a cultivator died, their body and everything they possessed would vanish.

During this time, Lu Ye had even tried to extort Star Abyss Coins from others by making them hand over their coins, storage rings, and even Dao artifacts before killing them.

But it didn't work. Any cultivator who harbored such an intention would immediately feel an extremely intense malicious presence descend upon them.

The helpless female Fusion Dao cultivator didn't notice at all that a mass of shadow silently attacked her from behind. Then, within the shadow, a massive mouth, tens of feet long, split open with crisscrossing fangs. In a single gulp, it swallowed the female Fusion Dao cultivator whole.

The female Fusion Dao cultivator didn't even have time to react throughout the entire process.

Lu Ye, of course, was unaware that the enemy he had just spared had already met with misfortune. Following the indicated direction, he flew straight ahead.

Approximately a few days later, he finally confirmed the secret the female Fusion Dao cultivator had spoken of.

He personally saw the spatial fragment dissolving...

Ahead was a mass of chaotic mist, identical to the mist he had encountered outside the White Jade Plain. Anyone who fell into it would meet a grim end.

The chaotic mist was boundless; as Lu Ye observed, he couldn't see its end. From his vantage point, it extended in all directions—up, down, left, and right. What was even more unsettling was that this chaotic mist was advancing at a constant speed towards his location, devouring everything in its path!

The situation was indeed as the female Fusion Dao cultivator had described: the spatial fragment was dissolving, continuously shrinking the available space. This meant that even as the number of cultivators in the competition decreased, a decisive moment would inevitably arrive.

Lu Ye frowned deeply, many thoughts swirling in his mind.

The fact that the spatial fragment was dissolving alone made it clear that all cultivators participating in this competition did not have a complete understanding of its rules.

Although Qi had announced two rules on the White Jade Plain, it was clear that many more hidden rules had not been mentioned.

The dissolving spatial fragment was just one example; were there others?

That's right, Qi hadn't mentioned anything about the Star Abyss Coins either.

Therefore, this competition was not merely a test of a cultivator's strength, but also of their understanding and utilization of various rules.

Lu Ye did not linger here. Since he now knew about the dissolving spatial fragment, he naturally needed to take precautions and stay farther away. Otherwise, if he were to be cultivating or healing in seclusion and was accidentally swallowed by the chaotic mist, his death would be truly unjust.

Not long after he started moving, Lu Ye suddenly felt something and turned his head to look in a certain direction.

In that direction, a point of light bloomed, extremely far away. Under normal circumstances, even with Lu Ye's keen eyesight, he wouldn't have been able to see what was happening there.

But this light was clearly abnormal; its radiance ignored spatial barriers, allowing him to see it easily.

Lu Ye didn't know what it was, but after a second thought, he still darted towards that direction.

Since he could see it, then surely more cultivators nearby had also seen it. Driven by curiosity, it would likely attract many people to gather.

This was undoubtedly a situation desired by powerful cultivators like Lu Ye, as it meant he wouldn't have to painstakingly search for targets to hunt.

He traveled at lightning speed.

By the time Lu Ye arrived at the location, half a day had passed. He quietly concealed himself nearby, gradually approaching the source of the light.

But he soon realized he had been a bit too cautious.

Because a chaotic battle had already erupted near the light.

Many cultivators were battling in pairs not far from the light. However, none of them were fighting with their full strength; instead, they were clashing while also guarding against something.

Consequently, anyone who dared to approach the light would be met with a full-force encirclement from the others!

Lu Ye focused his eyesight on the light. Although it had appeared incredibly dazzling from far away, upon closer inspection, it was just a hazy, undazzling glow—incredibly strange.

Within the hazy glow, a finger-tall, ancient-looking bottle was encased.

Lu Ye immediately understood what this was.

A rare treasure!

Qing Rou had previously mentioned that during the competition for the Child of the Star Abyss, rare treasures would occasionally appear, and these would undoubtedly become targets of contention for all cultivators.

The spatial fragment was vast. Although Lu Ye had killed many enemies during this time, he had not encountered any rare treasures until now!

This bottle was undoubtedly a rare treasure. Lu Ye didn't know its function, but with such a treasure present, no one could remain unmoved.

This must be the reason why so many cultivators had gathered here to fight.

Lu Ye arrived relatively late, so quite a number of cultivators had gathered here. Some were currently clashing, while others, like him, were observing either openly or covertly. The current situation remained a stalemate precisely because no one was confident they could escape alive after seizing the rare treasure.

Under these circumstances, even Lu Ye dared not act rashly. There were over a dozen teams gathered here, nearly thirty Fusion Dao cultivators in total. If he were to be targeted by their combined fire, he wouldn't be able to withstand it.

Wiping out everyone else was also unrealistic. The reason they remained in a stalemate was that any powerful individual who revealed themselves would inevitably provoke a combined assault.

Yet, delaying was also not an option, because the longer they delayed, the more cultivators would gather.

He needed to think of a way to seize this treasure. Lu Ye fell into deep thought.