Chapter 2363: Chen Wulei's Choice

"How is the progress?" Lu Ye asked.

Chen Wulei sighed, "I am ashamed to say that I have betrayed the trust of Elder Tree and Ancient Realm Master, wasting both time and many dao bones."

The plan to forge a Fusion Dao had begun several years ago.

Chen Wulei had attempted breakthroughs several times, but unfortunately, he had never succeeded. Not only was the dao power he had painstakingly accumulated completely depleted, but even his dao bones were slightly damaged. Each time, he had to rest for several months before starting again, until he tried once more three months ago and failed again!

He wasn't concerned about the damage to his own dao bones; his concern was the wasted dao power.

It's worth noting that since this plan was implemented, he had stopped going out to battle enemies. While his nine-dao strength meant no single invading enemy could match him, fighting still consumed power.

So he had remained here, refining dao bones supplied by the entire war fortress. Half of the dao bones hunted by over eighty Dao Initiates were sent to him for refinement.

Lu Ye saw his expression and knew he was under considerable pressure.

Because at the current stage of the starry sky, obtaining dao power was not easy. Every Dao Initiate needed dao power, yet for his sake, half of the dao bones collected by everyone were sent back, but he repeatedly failed.

This state of affairs wouldn't do; if it continued, the success rate would remain very low.

Lu Ye sat directly cross-legged in front of Chen Wulei, thought for a moment, and said, "Brother Chen, guess my current cultivation level."

"Fusion Dao Stage Two?" Chen Wulei blinked.

Lu Ye smiled, "So Brother Chen already knew."

Chen Wulei said, "Ancient Realm Master visited me a few days ago and told me some things."

"In that case, Brother Chen should know about the Mottled."

"Naturally."

"That makes it easy to talk about. Actually, even without the Mottled, the current crisis in the starry sky isn't a big deal. Although I'm only at Fusion Dao Stage Two, I've killed more Fusion Dao Peak cultivators than I can count on two hands."

"Fusion Dao Peak!" Chen Wulei exclaimed in surprise.

"What is called Fusion Dao Peak means that a cultivator has reached the limit of Fusion Dao in terms of cultivation, and has nurtured their Dao weapon to its peak. An ordinary Fusion Dao Peak cultivator possesses two hundred and forty-nine strands of dao power!"

Even Chen Wulei, who had weathered many storms, couldn't help but gape at this moment.

Two hundred and forty-nine strands of dao power!

He could hardly imagine how powerful such cultivators were. After all, he only possessed nine strands of dao power...

And Lu Ye had killed more than could be counted on two hands of such powerful cultivators? How strong must Lu Ye be then?

If he remembered correctly, back in the Mechanoid Starry Sky, Lu Ye wasn't even a Dao Initiate. After just a few years, was he already so far ahead that Chen Wulei couldn't hope to catch up?

"So, Brother Chen, the crisis in the starry sky isn't too severe. To put it bluntly, if I wanted to, I alone could wipe out all the invading enemies from the six major war zones. Not to mention, we now have the Mottled Humans as allies."

Chen Wulei paused, then quickly showed a wry smile. He slowly realized Lu Ye's intention in telling him all this.

This was to tell him not to feel too much pressure.

The pressure indeed seemed to be gone... but he felt disheartened.

He didn't even know what he had been cultivating all these years! In comparison, he felt like a complete waste.

However, his dejection was only momentary. Slowly, Chen Wulei's gaze became firm: "My own starry sky was shattered. At that time, we were too weak to protect the place that nurtured us. I came here, and just like back then, the starry sky is being invaded. But compared to then, I now have some strength! Even though this isn't my starry sky, I still want to protect it!"

Protecting the starry sky was an unfulfilled long-cherished wish from back then. This was an act of redemption and self-redemption, so Chen Wulei would never give up easily.

"Brother Lu, please lend me a hand!"

He knew that Lu Ye needed him; otherwise, he wouldn't have come specifically to tell him all this.

Even if he was truly a waste compared to Lu Ye, he could still play his part in some capacities!

All pressure vanished, replaced by boundless fighting spirit. He felt like he could do anything now!

Lu Ye observed Chen Wulei's change of mindset and said, "I came here precisely for this matter!"

As he spoke, he waved his hand, and ten jade tablets engraved with dao patterns appeared before Chen Wulei: "Brother Chen, take a look. These are the dao patterns I've prepared for you. Choose one as your foundation."

Chen Wulei raised an eyebrow and examined them, then quickly pointed to the Divine Edge: "The dao pattern I chose before is very similar to this one, it should be the same kind. However, my dao pattern was taught by Elder Tree, and compared to that, yours is simpler."

Lu Ye thought to himself, 'It's not just simpler; this dao pattern can unleash greater power. Although Elder Tree is a supreme treasure, when it comes to dao patterns, he's truly not as good as me.'

"So, you'll choose this one?" Lu Ye asked.

With the foundation of two past failures, he should be able to convert them into successful experience.

Chen Wulei was tempted, but still asked, "Can you explain the functions of the other dao patterns?"

"Of course!"

As Lu Ye explained, the wondrous uses of various dao patterns slowly unfolded before Chen Wulei.

Gradually, Lu Ye noticed that Chen Wulei's gaze wasn't quite right.

He had been staring at the "Tied by a Common Spirit" dao pattern!

"Brother Chen, you're not thinking of using this dao pattern as your foundation to advance to Fusion Dao, are you?" Lu Ye asked.

Chen Wulei looked very excited: "I've heard of this dao pattern before. In the Myriad Elephant Sea, there are array disks created with this dao pattern as their core! Brother Lu, if I use this dao pattern as my foundation to advance to Fusion Dao, wouldn't I become a human array disk, able to freely help others form arrays?"

"Hmm..." Lu Ye pondered, "That's true in a sense, but if Brother Chen chooses this dao pattern, it won't help your personal combat ability at all. It will only enhance the cohesion and destructive power of your dao power."

In other words, if Chen Wulei chooses this dao pattern, after advancing to Fusion Dao, he could still wield twenty strands of dao power, exhibiting the strength of twenty-two strands.

However, compared to Lu Ye's Divine Edge, his dao power would lack a touch of destructive power.

The difference caused by a single dao pattern might not be obvious at first, but as his cultivation level increased later, the gap would slowly widen.

Lu Ye had not expected Chen Wulei to be interested in the "Tied by a Common Spirit" pattern at all. Lu Ye had primarily created this pattern simply to make up a complete set.

There was no Fusion Dao cultivator in this world who would choose such a dao pattern as the foundation for their breakthrough.

"I don't need it," Chen Wulei said excitedly. "Even if I advance to Fusion Dao, dealing with ordinary Dao Initiates will be easy enough. In the future, more and more Fusion Dao cultivators will emerge in the starry sky, but our foundation is still shallow. Fighting alone, we might not be a match for others, but if we can form arrays, it will be different."

"This is it." Without waiting for Lu Ye to speak again, Chen Wulei made his decision.

"Brother Chen, are you sure?" Lu Ye asked with a serious expression.

"I'm sure!" Chen Wulei smiled. "And Brother Lu, don't worry. Elder Tree said that for Fusion Dao Stage Nine, there's one dao pattern per stage. When I advance again later, it won't be too late to choose other dao patterns."

That's true!

With that thought, Lu Ye no longer tried to persuade him.

"Then let's begin familiarizing ourselves," Lu Ye said. "Brother Chen, do not resist!"

Chen Wulei waited solemnly. Although he didn't know what Lu Ye was going to do or how he planned to help him, he guessed that Lu Ye must have his own method.

Lu Ye pointed a finger at the center of Chen Wulei's chest. With dao power activated, a Life Chain quickly formed.

Chen Wulei's expression changed, and within moments, he felt an extremely peculiar sensation.

"This is a Life Chain. From this moment on, Brother Chen, you and I will share life and death. In other words, if you die, I will surely perish, and if I die, you cannot live alone either."

Chen Wulei immediately jumped up: "Brother Lu, absolutely not!"

He wasn't worried that Lu Ye would harm him; he was only worried that he would drag Lu Ye down. If any accident happened to him, leading to Lu Ye's death as well, then all hope for the entire starry sky would be lost.

"Don't fret, Brother Chen," Lu Ye said, raising a hand to reassure him. "The dao pattern has already been constructed, so resisting is useless. This dao pattern can be dispelled later, so there's no need to be nervous. I used it to help you quickly accumulate dao power!"

Back when he first discovered some of the effects of the Life Chain, Lu Ye had considered using this dao pattern to help others cultivate once he returned to the starry sky.

Back then, You Die's cultivation was much higher than Lu Ye's, so whenever You Die refined dao bones, he would inexplicably gain considerable benefits.

Now that Lu Ye's cultivation surpassed Chen Wulei's, Chen Wulei should be able to receive benefits when Lu Ye refined dao bones.

As for how much he would receive, they would only know by trying.

After all, Lu Ye's efficiency in refining dao bones was incomparable to that of an ordinary person. As long as this method was faster than Chen Wulei's own dao bone refinement efficiency, it would be useful.

The storage ring that Huang Cui'er had previously given Lu Ye contained the dao bones recently hunted by their group of people.

While the number of dao bones hunted by over a thousand people wasn't excessively large, it was certainly not small either.

"This dao pattern can help me accumulate dao power?" Chen Wulei didn't understand its mystery.

Lu Ye smiled faintly, "Let's try it!"

Saying this, he took out a large pile of dao bones from the storage ring and quickly refined them by activating the power of his Talent Tree.

Then he saw Chen Wulei's expression change: first astonishment, then wonder, followed by shock, and finally numbness.

His eyes were practically popping out!

Lu Ye also roughly sensed what was happening.

Because, generally speaking, from one intact dao bone, he could obtain twenty strands of dao power, a refining efficiency unmatched by any other cultivator.

However, the dao power he now received was not twenty.

It was short by about seven or eight strands.

The missing dao power had clearly been shared with Chen Wulei.

The Life Chain dao pattern, after being re-derived, was significantly more effective than the one Lu Ye and You Die had constructed previously.

After refining just over a hundred dao bones, Chen Wulei hastily exclaimed, "Enough, that's enough!"

His dao power reserves were almost overflowing!

It's important to know that the last time he failed to advance, his dao power was almost completely depleted, with his remaining reserves barely reaching a hundred strands.

But now, the five dao bones within him were brimming with dao power, fully meeting his needs for another advancement attempt.