Chapter 2408: 融道 Six Realms

Lu Ye quickly calmed himself. The Harmonization City was in ruins, clearly having suffered immense damage. Moreover, his divine sense had just scanned the area, confirming there was no life nearby.

This meant it was likely an empty city!

It was a good place to be. Lu Ye had been intrigued when Yun Shiwang first mentioned such a place, but he hadn't expected to encounter one so soon. It was the perfect opportunity to investigate.

To be safe, Lu Ye meticulously re-examined Harmonization City, making sure there was no life within before finally heading inside.

He arrived shortly.

Stepping into the city, he saw broken walls and crumbling ruins everywhere. There were even traces of dried blood on the ground, indicating that a colossal battle had once taken place here.

The cultivators of the original Harmonization City must have been defeated; otherwise, it wouldn't be an empty ruin.

Lu Ye searched around but found nothing valuable, only some uncollected dry bones.

According to Yun Shiwang, battles and plundering often occurred between Harmonization Cities, seemingly involving a treasure called a Harmonization Bead. This item could not be used for offense or defense, but it was the core of an entire Harmonization City. Once plundered, the Harmonization City would lose its original mystical properties.

In the center of the ruined city, Lu Ye found a main hall, which appeared to be the core. Its floor and surrounding walls were covered with intricate patterns, likely a formation. However, due to its ancient age and the impact of the past war, the formation, like the city itself, was heavily damaged and no longer decipherable.

A few hours later, he found a relatively clean spot and sat down cross-legged.

Activating the power of the innate talent tree, he formed countless invisible small funnels on his body. Instantly, the surrounding Star Abyss aura surged into him like a whale swallowing water.

Although he had twice acted against the natural order in the Starry Sky, triggering certain rules and incurring deadly punishments, his status as a Son of the Star Abyss remained.

This meant he had a stronger affinity for the surrounding Star Abyss aura, making his cultivation efficiency higher than that of ordinary cultivators.

Coupled with the countless small funnels...

Such cultivation efficiency was almost unattainable, even for true Harmonization realm cultivators.

A moment later, Lu Ye silently estimated that with his cultivation efficiency, he could gain roughly two hundred units of Dao power in a single day!

Two hundred might not sound like much, but it was important to remember that when he first entered the Star Abyss, he could only gain one unit of Dao power per day even with intense cultivation, and that was at full exertion.

Compared to then, this was an astonishing two hundred-fold increase in efficiency.

In this state, even through mere diligent cultivation, Lu Ye could accumulate tens of thousands of Dao power units in a year. With such long-term accumulation, as long as he remained patient and not overly eager, his strength would undoubtedly increase at a significant rate.

However, what Lu Ye was doing now was not primarily for Dao power; he intended to change his aura.

His aura was pure because the power of his innate talent tree incinerated the Star Abyss aura that tried to infiltrate his body. If he simply allowed the Star Abyss aura to invade without incinerating it, his aura would naturally become like that of other Star Abyss cultivators.

Although this might have some minor drawbacks, it wouldn't affect his fundamental being.

He could periodically use his innate talent tree to purify himself, preventing any potential long-term issues.

In just a few hours, as a large amount of Star Abyss aura permeated him, Lu Ye's aura transformed.

In this new state, he wouldn't encounter any problems even if he fought at full strength.

With that issue resolved, Lu Ye checked his Dao power reserves on the innate talent tree. He silently estimated he had enough to advance to the sixth stage of Harmonization, so he decided to begin engraving the Divine Edge Dao pattern onto his Dao bone.

Originally, advancing his cultivation wasn't so urgent, but now that he was in the Inner Realm, the situation was different. With many Harmonization realm cultivators here, the higher his cultivation, the better.

In the Harmonization realm, although there was only a one-stage difference between the fifth and sixth stages, it was a crucial stage where the gap between powerful cultivators and mediocre ones truly widened.

This was because during each advancement in the Harmonization realm, cultivators had to choose a Dao pattern to engrave. If the chosen Dao pattern was too repetitive, the difficulty would increase significantly.

In most cases, Harmonization cultivators would choose the same Dao pattern for the first five stages to maximize its amplification. Of course, this wasn't absolute; some might choose the same Dao pattern for only the first four or even just the first three stages.

Only cultivators with absolute confidence in themselves and a fervent desire for the strongest power dared to maintain the same Dao pattern choice when advancing to the sixth stage of Harmonization.

Just like Lu Ye, who had chosen the Divine Edge Dao pattern for his first five stages, perfectly aligning with his identity as a weapon master. He would continue to choose Divine Edge for the sixth, seventh, eighth, and even ninth stages without alteration.

However, engraving the same Dao pattern more times increased the difficulty significantly. If an accident occurred midway, damage to the Dao bone would be a minor issue; a drop in cultivation realm would be the real headache.

There were precedents of cultivators failing to advance from the fifth to the sixth stage of Harmonization and directly regressing to the Dao Initiation realm. As for those who fell back to the fourth or third stage of Harmonization, they were countless.

Without the innate talent tree as a safeguard, Lu Ye would have had to weigh the consequences of failure and only proceed if he was sure he could bear them. But with the innate talent tree, he didn't need to overthink; he just needed to commit to Divine Edge.

As Dao power surged and the Dao pattern was engraved onto his Dao bone, the unbearable pain once again swept through his body. However, having experienced it numerous times, Lu Ye was now indifferent to it.

The Dao power reserves on the innate talent tree were rapidly depleted.

This was the final surge. After this, Lu Ye might find it difficult to acquire large amounts of Dao power as quickly as before, unless he encountered another fortunate opportunity.

With the tracing of the last fundamental component, the sixth-stage Divine Edge Dao pattern was perfectly engraved onto his Dao bone.

Sixth stage of Harmonization!

Lu Ye quietly observed.

As before, a small realm advancement increased his fundamental Dao power by twenty units, now reaching three hundred seventy. Coupled with the sixth-stage Dao pattern's amplification, his power reached five hundred ninety-two units.

Including the Stonepeak Saber, his destructive power would be nearly six hundred forty units!

In the Harmonization realm, the higher a cultivator's stage, the greater the disparity in power, primarily due to the amplification provided by Dao patterns.

However, six hundred forty units of destructive power was merely a theoretical figure.

In reality, Lu Ye's strength should be even greater!

He slowly drew the Stonepeak Saber from his waist, and as Dao power surged into it, a faint glow visibly emanated from the dark, straight blade. The glow wasn't striking, but it conveyed an incredibly sharp sensation.

At the fifth stage of Harmonization, there hadn't been such a clear manifestation. Logically, a mere one-stage advancement shouldn't have caused such a significant change.

But this was precisely the change brought about by the sixth-stage Divine Edge Dao pattern.

If the accumulation of the first five Dao patterns was merely a quantitative change, then the addition of the sixth stage had triggered a qualitative transformation.

Lu Ye suddenly found himself anticipating the subsequent seventh, eighth, and ninth stages. If he truly reached the ninth stage of Harmonization, with the amplification of nine Divine Edge patterns, what in this world could he not cut through?

This single advancement didn't completely exhaust his Dao power reserves on the innate talent tree, but very little remained.

In this state, Lu Ye dared not wander aimlessly. He didn't want to encounter a formidable enemy later and find himself short on Dao power during a fight; that would be quite awkward.

Therefore, the most urgent task was to quickly replenish his Dao power reserves.

Accumulating two hundred units of Dao power per day.

Lu Ye remained in the ruined city for a full six months without daring to move. He spent this time accumulating his Dao power reserves and nurturing his Dao bone.

It wasn't until six months later that he first ventured out of the ruined city to survey the surroundings.

For half a year, he hadn't encountered any disturbances, making it almost certain that there wasn't significant danger nearby. However, to be safe, he still needed to conduct a thorough investigation to avoid being caught unprepared if something did happen.

Having just entered the Inner Realm, Lu Ye didn't dare venture too far. While his current strength was considerable, it was hard to say if he could defeat a true Harmonization realm cultivator.

After spending a month surveying the surroundings and confirming that there wasn't even an insect within a million-mile radius, Lu Ye returned to the ruined city.

It was time to plan for the future.

Staying here to cultivate diligently was one option; as long as he had the patience, Lu Ye would eventually advance to the ninth stage of Harmonization, significantly enhancing his self-preservation abilities.

However, this path would undoubtedly be very long, as each advancement now required too much Dao power.

Relying solely on diligent cultivation, it might take him over a decade to advance a single minor realm, even with his current cultivation efficiency.

Furthermore, Lu Ye wasn't the type to settle for isolated tranquility. There were many opportunities in the Inner Realm. For instance, the Dao Pools he had encountered in the Outer Realm were common here; they were excellent places to quickly accumulate Dao power, though their appearances usually led to conflicts.

His only regret was that entering the Inner Realm from the same location in the Outer Realm didn't guarantee arriving at the same spot. Otherwise, he could now summon some people from Splendor, perhaps even two or three Harmonization realm cultivators, instead of having to rely solely on himself.

While he was contemplating his options, he remained completely unaware of a new presence in the ruined city. This figure, like a bird newly freed from its cage, explored everything with extreme delight. Even the dilapidated city seemed incredibly novel in her eyes.

When Lu Ye returned from outside, the figure noticed him, yet Lu Ye remained completely oblivious to her presence.

He didn't even realize that an uninvited guest had arrived in the city during his absence; he had assumed the place was still deserted.

So, when faint footsteps suddenly sounded beside him, Lu Ye was startled.

He looked up to see a figure in pristine white walking leisurely toward him. It was a woman, tall and strikingly beautiful, with skin so fair it seemed to glow. Her fitted top accentuated her breathtaking curves, and her pants, reaching only to her thighs, showcased long, straight, fair legs that drew the eye. She also wore a coat resembling a trench coat.

As she approached, she wore no adornments on her head, her hair tied neatly in a ponytail, giving her a capable and clean appearance.

Lu Ye, however, felt as if he were facing a formidable enemy, with no thought of admiration whatsoever.