Chapter 2415: The Opportunity for Liao's Promotion

Currently, Lu Ye could have quickly left the area, as his Talent Tree clone was waiting for him at a distance. However, he chose not to. Although the aura of the Dao Integration Orb he had acquired might not have been fully exposed, to be safe, it was best to eliminate all potential witnesses. Even Yuan Xi understood the importance of prevention, let alone him.

The newcomer quickly approached. With just a glance, Lu Ye recognized him as one of the many pursuers from before. The pursuer had previously been disoriented by the Blood Shadow Art but must have quickly realized something was wrong. For some unknown reason, he had tracked them to this vicinity and was then drawn by the aura of the Dao Integration Orb. It was unclear whether his luck was good or bad.

Lu Ye couldn't immediately identify his race because the individual was extremely peculiar-looking, with a head pointed and elongated like an enlarged date pit. It was hard to tell if this was a racial characteristic or simply his unique appearance. After arriving, the Dao Integration cultivator, shaped like a date pit, immediately spotted the two corpses nearby. Far from being afraid, he gazed at Lu Ye with an intrigued expression. "Do you have the Dao Integration Orb?" Without waiting for Lu Ye's response, he continued, "Hand it over, and I'll spare your life!"

Having cultivated for many years, Lu Ye had encountered all sorts of arrogant enemies. Many merely boasted, but some truly possessed great power. The "date pit" Dao Integration cultivator before him, who could speak so confidently even after seeing two corpses, undoubtedly belonged to the latter category. Lu Ye gripped his long saber tightly and charged towards him like lightning.

"Stubborn fool!" the date pit cultivator snorted. With a flick of his wrist, a ruler made of white jade suddenly appeared in his hand. Facing Lu Ye's fierce incoming saber strike, he casually swung the ruler to block, yet his Dao power surged with immense force.

The moment saber and ruler clashed, the date pit cultivator's expression drastically changed, and Lu Ye's eyebrow rose. In that instant, both realized the immense power of their opponent.

In Lu Ye's estimation, this date pit cultivator possessed nearly four hundred Daos of power, making him even stronger than Ri Yan, whom Lu Ye had encountered during the Star Abyss Son Contest. Lu Ye understood why the man had been so arrogant earlier; he indeed had reason to be. The white jade ruler in his hand was no ordinary Dao weapon; it was an artifact! Moreover, it was an artifact cultivated to a very high degree, as a Dao Integration cultivator could not possess such power otherwise. It was fortunate that Lu Ye never underestimated opponents; the saber strike he just unleashed carried five hundred Daos of power. If he had treated the opponent as an ordinary Dao Integration cultivator, he would have suffered a minor setback in that exchange.

In that brief clash, Lu Ye clearly had the upper hand. Realizing something was wrong, the date pit cultivator shook his hand, and the white jade ruler suddenly shattered, splitting into two, then four, then eight... In the blink of an eye, countless ruler illusions filled the air. This was the full burst of his power. Facing a formidable enemy like Lu Ye so suddenly, he dared not hold back in the slightest.

At the same time, he retreated rapidly, attempting to put distance between himself and Lu Ye. He was not a blade cultivator; strictly speaking, he was a spell cultivator, whose strength heavily relied on activating his artifact's power. Engaging in close-quarters combat with a blade cultivator was undoubtedly unwise. He was utterly frustrated. All along, he had relied on his strength, which surpassed that of ordinary Dao Integration cultivators, easily crushing opponents. But today, he had encountered someone even more terrifying, hitting a solid wall.

One wrong step led to another. He didn't even clearly see what Lu Ye had done before the countless ruler illusions suddenly collapsed. Immediately, the blade cultivator advanced like a tiger descending from a mountain, closing in and delivering a ferocious saber strike.

In that instant, his artifact Dao weapon was still re-coalescing. Relying solely on his two hundred Daos of protective power, how could he withstand such a furious onslaught? The sharp blade sliced through his neck as easily as tofu, gliding through without resistance.

"Hold your blade!" As blood gushed like a fountain from the severed neck, a voice suddenly echoed in Lu Ye's ear.

Lu Ye was momentarily stunned. However, he quickly realized whose voice it was. He looked down at the Pan Mountain Saber. "You're awake?"

The last time Liao had awakened was when Lu Ye broke through to the Dao Entry realm. At that time, Lu Ye had used the Furnace Method to refine himself and, along with it, refined the Pan Mountain Saber. This allowed Liao, a weapon spirit, to advance alongside Lu Ye, joining the ranks of Dao weapons. Since then, Liao had been in a deep slumber, which was the way of life for weapon spirits and the secret to their survival for countless ages. Thus, when Liao's voice rang out, Lu Ye was momentarily slow to react. Crucially, it had even cried out, "Hold your blade!"

"Oh, no, why did you kill him?" Liao exclaimed, looking utterly distressed. "Why wouldn't I kill him? Keep him around for New Year's?" Lu Ye didn't understand Liao's reaction. The date pit cultivator just now hadn't seemed particularly special; he merely possessed a highly cultivated artifact.

"We'll talk later," Lu Ye said, quickly moving to clear the battlefield. Regardless of why Liao had awakened at this moment, or why it lamented Lu Ye's killing of the date pit cultivator, the priority was to leave this place immediately. Even if the brief emanation of the Dao Integration Orb's aura attracted only the date pit cultivator, others might also have detected it. Furthermore, although the exchange of blows here was short, the burst of power was significant. Therefore, they had to leave quickly.

Lu Ye collected the three Dao Integration corpses into his Small Flower World, planning to deal with them later when he had time, and also picked up a Star Abyss Coin. Ever since Lu Ye advanced to the Dao Integration realm, he was no longer guaranteed to obtain a Star Abyss Coin after killing an enemy. For instance, in this case, only one coin was found among the three Dao Integration cultivators. These three Dao Integration cultivators certainly surpassed Lu Ye in cultivation realm, but he was now at the sixth level of Dao Integration, so the difference in their cultivation levels wasn't particularly vast. Consequently, the theoretical chance of receiving a Star Abyss blessing was not high. With Lu Ye's current status as a Son of the Star Abyss, he could no longer guarantee receiving a Star Abyss Coin every time. To guarantee a Star Abyss Coin, he would need to kill enemies of a higher realm, such as a Dao Harmonization cultivator!

After clearing the battlefield, Lu Ye immediately teleported to his clone's location and then hastened towards the direction of the Starry Sky Wonder. He wondered about Yuan Xi's situation. Since the Dao Integration Orb had already been brought out, the battle there should have concluded. He had the star map Yuan Xi had given him and had secretly noted the locations of various wormholes, so he wasn't worried about being separated from Yuan Xi. At worst, he could return to Yuan Xi City and wait for her.

"What's going on with you?" Lu Ye finally had time to speak with Liao in detail. "I don't know," Liao replied, giving an unexpected answer.

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Lu Ye was puzzled. "I just don't know!" Liao stated, sounding perfectly at ease. "I was suddenly awakened, and then I felt some subtle sensations."

"Awakened?" Lu Ye frowned. Liao had always been in a deep slumber. What kind of event could awaken it? The last time it woke up was when Lu Ye and it advanced together. Normally, even when Lu Ye wielded his saber to slay enemies, no matter how great the commotion, it wouldn't disturb Liao in the slightest.

"The aura of an artifact!" Liao replied. "So you were awakened by the aura of an artifact?"

"Yes?" Lu Ye couldn't help but frown. "You've encountered artifacts before, so why would you suddenly be awakened now?"

Aside from anything else, Lu Ye himself possessed a Saber Gourd, which he had dedicated significant effort and resources to cultivate for a long time previously, yet Liao hadn't been awakened then either.

"It's different. Those previous artifacts weren't enemies."

What's the difference? "Let me put it this way: I've sensed a breakthrough opportunity for myself!" Liao declared, dropping a bombshell.

"A breakthrough opportunity!" Lu Ye's expression stirred. He could never part with the Pan Mountain Saber, as it had been his companion since the very beginning of his cultivation, practically a part of his body.

So, even though he knew the Pan Mountain Saber's cultivation limit was forty-nine Daos, he had never considered abandoning or replacing it. His previous cultivation of the Saber Gourd was precisely for this consideration: if his clone wielded it and the Saber Gourd's cultivation level increased, its effectiveness in combat would be similar, potentially even leading to a situation where the clone's strength surpassed his main body's.

But he never imagined that Liao would actually sense a breakthrough opportunity! What would happen if it broke through? Lu Ye's mind couldn't help but race. Did this mean that if Liao broke through, it could exceed the forty-nine Dao limit? If so, wouldn't Liao then ascend to the ranks of artifacts?

He suddenly recalled that weapon spirits were, in fact, a race themselves. However, unlike most other races, they were living beings without life force. Since they were living beings, not inanimate objects, they could naturally break through their own limits, just like cultivators. Increased accumulation of their foundation would lead to an elevation of their realm.

Suppressing his excitement, Lu Ye eagerly asked, "How can you break through?" If Liao could truly advance to the artifact sequence, it would be an immense help to him in the future.

"I can't explain it clearly, which is why I said I didn't know what was happening at first," Liao replied, sounding a bit frustrated. Ultimately, no member of its race in the Starry Sky had ever reached its current height. In the past, Liao had followed many masters, but all of them had only reached the Sunlit realm as their limit.

Lu Ye's ability to cultivate with it and enable it to become a Dao weapon had already broken records. As for the path forward after becoming a Dao weapon, there was no precedent, no experience; both the weapon spirit and its master had to explore it on their own.

Lu Ye pondered for a moment, then said, "Let's clarify something. You sensed your breakthrough opportunity from an artifact, but I've had artifacts on me before, and you weren't stirred. Even during the Star Abyss Son Contest, I had you contend with an artifact, and you still weren't stirred."

"That happened?" Liao was completely confused. It had no recollection of ever contending with an artifact.

"But today, you were stirred. Comparing the situations, the only difference is that you've now reached your own limit!" During the Star Abyss Son Contest, Lu Ye had only just entered the Dao Entry realm, and Liao had not yet been cultivated to its full potential. Therefore, one of the key factors for its awakening today was that it had been cultivated to the very limit of a Dao weapon!