Chapter 2455: 獠晋属宝

"Though the Inner Realm is vast, we may yet meet again. There will be plenty of time for you to take your revenge then, sir," Lu Ye said, comforting her.

Yuan Xi nodded. "This is the only way forward. When the time comes, I'll make him spit out ten, no, a hundred times the valuable items he took this time!"

Fan Wu, standing nearby, spoke up. "City Lord, if I may ask, what is the method for increasing Dao Fish yield?"

Yuan Xi smiled slightly. "Blood sacrifice!"

"Blood sacrifice?" Fan Wu looked astonished. Evidently, with all his knowledge and experience, he had never heard of such a thing, which only piqued his curiosity further. "How does one perform a blood sacrifice?"

"If we can capture members of the Dragon and Phoenix clans and kill them in the Dao Pool, then by pouring their dragon or phoenix blood into the Dao Pool, the Dao Fish production will significantly increase."

Lu Ye blinked.

Fan Wu's face twitched even more.

Yuan Xi spoke of it lightly, but these were the Dragon and Phoenix clans, two of the most powerful races in the entire Star Abyss. Holy Dragon City and Phoenix Nest were even among the Ten Top Harmonization Cities. Who would be audacious enough to capture members of these clans for a blood sacrifice? They would surely be razed to the ground by these two clans the moment such an act was carried out. Furthermore, even if someone possessed such audacity, would the Dragon or Phoenix clans truly be so easily captured alive?

After a moment of silence, Fan Wu asked, "Why would a blood sacrifice involving the Dragon and Phoenix clans have such an effect?"

Yuan Xi shook her head. "I don't know. I've only heard it said, and I've never witnessed it myself."

Lu Ye changed the subject. "Sir, is everything settled here?"

He had some connections to both the Dragon and Phoenix clans. For the Dragon clan, there was Yang Qing, whom he still didn't know how to find. Holy Dragon City was a clue, and he might visit it if an opportunity arose. As for the Phoenix clan, it was naturally Su Yan. He had a pact with her to visit Phoenix Nest once he reached the peak of Harmonization. Therefore, Lu Ye truly did not want to discuss this topic further.

"There's nothing else. Let's all head back," Yuan Xi said, motioning for them to follow as she flew first toward their city.

The many Integration cultivators followed closely.

Only an empty city remained, seemingly intact but now of little value. In the Inner Realm, there were many empty cities like the one that was once Chen Shuang City, drifting continuously. Perhaps they would someday become a refuge or safe harbor for a cultivator, or, like Yuan Xi City initially, be taken over by a powerful Harmonization cultivator and rebuilt with significant effort.

Following the battle, Yuan Xi City reaped substantial rewards. The greatest gain was the Harmonization Pearl fragments, followed by the allegiance of Fan Wu and a few other Integration cultivators. This slightly increased the city's personnel, with over ten Integration-level cultivators, which would make their defensive formation more robust in future conflicts. Most crucially, Fan Wu and the others were all proficient in formation arts, which would significantly ease Yuan Xi's efforts in the future.

Yuan Xi headed straight for the Central Grand Hall. This time, Lu Ye didn't follow to join the excitement but returned to his own Grand Commander's Residence. He had urgent matters to attend to.

Shortly after his return, Lu Ye suddenly felt the entire Yuan Xi City tremble slightly, and then the Star Abyss aura around it abruptly became denser. He understood immediately: Yuan Xi had successfully integrated those Harmonization Pearl fragments. Chen Shuang City's Harmonization Pearl was originally Heaven-grade quality, and now, combined with their existing Harmonization Pearl, Yuan Xi City had instantly been promoted to Heaven-grade! As for how many more Harmonization Pearl fragments would be needed for the next promotion, Lu Ye wasn't entirely sure, but he was certain that Yuan Xi would not halt her efforts to expand the Harmonization City. In the future, she would attack even more Harmonization Cities. With this experience, attacking other Harmonization Cities in the future would undoubtedly be much easier.

In the Grand Commander's Residence, Lu Ye sat cross-legged, the Pan Shan Saber resting across his knees. He raised his hand, gripped the hilt, and slowly drew the saber. Compared to before, the Pan Shan Saber showed no substantial changes on its surface; it remained as black as ink. However, he knew that the current Pan Shan Saber was vastly different from its former self.

As he channeled a bit of Dao power into it, Lu Ye's eyebrows rose. Although he had confirmed that Liao had been promoted to a subordinate treasure the moment it awakened, this had not yet been verified until now! Previously, when Liao was merely a Dao Weapon, he couldn't channel Dao power to nurture it further, because forty-nine Dao patterns were the limit for ordinary Dao Weapons. But now it was different; forty-nine Dao patterns were no longer Liao's limit. After its promotion to a subordinate treasure, its upper limit had significantly increased.

"Comfortable!" Liao's voice reached Lu Ye's ears, sounding utterly languid.

"Can you sense your new limit?" Lu Ye asked. Although he had some understanding from the information Qin Feng provided, he still wanted to confirm it himself.

"How can I sense it if I haven't reached the limit? I'll tell you when I do. Why are you so stingy with your Dao power? Even when feeding a dog, you make sure it's full, right?"

Lu Ye immediately looked a bit disdainful. "By the way, you don't need to go into dormancy anymore?"

Liao was momentarily stunned by the question, then belatedly realized, "It seems I don't." Before Lu Ye entered the Inner Realm and it felt the opportunity for a breakthrough, Liao had mostly been in dormancy. But ever since feeling that breakthrough opportunity, it hadn't gone back to sleep and was now chattering incessantly, disturbing the peace. It couldn't even grasp what was happening.

Lu Ye felt it necessary to lay down some ground rules. "When I'm fighting, you keep quiet."

"You think I'm noisy?" Liao immediately sounded displeased.

Lu Ye remained silent. Couldn't it tell for itself if it was being noisy? However, Liao couldn't really be blamed. Having been in constant dormancy and finally awakening, it was naturally noisier than a normal person. It was just that sometimes its timing for chattering was inappropriate.

"Have you forgotten who has always been by your side, fighting alongside you, shedding blood and killing enemies?" Liao complained indignantly. "We've been together for so many years, and now you're telling me to be quiet? Has your conscience been eaten by dogs? Anyway, I won't be quiet. Let whoever wants to be quiet, be quiet!"

Lu Ye simply put it back into his storage ring.

A knock came at the door. Lu Ye looked up and said, "Come in!"

You Die immediately rushed in excitedly. "Brother Ye, our city has become a Heaven-grade Harmonization City!"

"I know," Lu Ye said, looking at her with a neutral expression.

You Die was both excited and perplexed. "But why did it become a Heaven-grade Harmonization City? I observed earlier that our Yuan Xi City only recently advanced to Earth-grade. Even if we took Chen Shuang this time, the Harmonization Pearl fragments we obtained shouldn't have been enough for another promotion."

It was normal for You Die to have this doubt. The level of a Harmonization City was directly related to the grade of its Harmonization Pearl, and jumping from Earth-grade to Heaven-grade was somewhat incredible.

"We were lucky this time; we obtained enough Harmonization Pearls," Lu Ye casually explained.

You Die mused, "Considering this, Chen Shuang might not have been far from becoming a Desolate-grade city." She then chuckled, "This is great! It was indeed the right choice to seek refuge with Brother Ye." It wasn't that she was unqualified to join an existing Heaven-grade Harmonization City, but the sense of accomplishment that came from growing with a Harmonization City was something mere defection couldn't compare to. And if she had stayed in her original Harmonization City, who knew when it would advance to Heaven-grade? It might even have been destroyed by a stronger Harmonization City in a siege battle, and she would have been implicated. Through this major battle, she had truly witnessed Yuan Xi's power. Such a formidable backer was rare in the Inner Realm.

"The City Lord and the newcomers are preparing to build a Dao Pool. Brother Ye, would you like to come and see?" You Die asked eagerly.

"No, I have some other matters to attend to."

You Die understood. "Then I won't disturb you."

After she left, a good while later, Lu Ye took the Pan Shan Saber out of his storage ring.

"Ugh!" Liao let out a heavy sigh, completely losing its temper. "Fine, I'll try not to make a sound when you're fighting from now on, alright?" It only regretted being a weapon spirit, without flesh or blood; otherwise, it would surely leap up and fight Lu Ye.

"I have a question!" Lu Ye said.

"Go on!"

"Among the Dao Weapons of Harmonization cultivators, is there also that mysterious essence you can devour?"

"No, only subordinate treasures have it. Hmm, supreme treasures definitely have it too, and there's certainly a lot."

Lu Ye pretended not to hear. Liao was clearly getting a taste for it. After just one promotion, it even dared to set its sights on supreme treasures. What kind of powerful individual could possibly wield a supreme treasure? Lu Ye certainly didn't want to seek death.

"Then why were you able to shatter a Harmonization cultivator's Dao Weapon?"

During the previous battle, it was precisely because Liao shattered the Dao Weapon of that Green Wild clan Harmonization cultivator that Lu Ye was able to kill him in one blow. Otherwise, it would have taken much more effort. At the time, he mistakenly thought that the Dao Weapons of Harmonization cultivators also contained some mysterious essence that Liao could devour, just as Liao had shattered the Measuring Heaven Ruler. Now it seemed he had been mistaken.

"Why are you asking me? I'm a weapon spirit, yes, but I don't understand weapon spirits myself. For so many years, I've often been lonely, and no one has ever told me about weapon spirits. It's rare that I find a master, and yet you dislike me and tell me to be quiet. It's really not easy for me..."

Liao chattered on incessantly, but Lu Ye fell into deep thought.

Liao actually possessed many unique characteristics of weapon spirits. For instance, wounds inflicted by it would be wrapped in Liao power, making them difficult to heal. Furthermore, Lu Ye could even control this Liao power through Liao to tear open the opponent's wounds at critical moments, inflicting greater damage on enemies. Lu Ye also recalled that as early as in the Starry Sky, Liao had always possessed a characteristic that countered defensive magic treasures. This was clearly demonstrated during the attack on Flowing Light City, where the body cultivator wearing defensive Dao Armor was directly cleaved open by his saber.

Viewed this way, after its promotion to a subordinate treasure, Liao's characteristic must have been amplified, enabling it to shatter Harmonization cultivators' Dao Weapons through continuous clashes.

A thought sparked in Lu Ye's mind, and his eyes lit up.

The strength of Harmonization cultivators lay in utilizing external power, and their Dao Weapons were a fundamental part of that foundation. If Liao's characteristic was truly amplified, then he wouldn't need to be so wary when encountering Harmonization cultivators in the future. He would just need to find a way to shatter their Dao Weapons, and their strength would instantly plummet.