Chapter 2513: Resonance Mark

At the Grand Commander's Mansion, Lu Ye sat cross-legged, stroking his chin and lost in thought.

He had just sent Fu Wei back. This divination had consumed even more of Fu Wei's energy than last time; it would likely take him a year and a half to fully recover.

Although he was skeptical of the scene Fu Wei saw during the divination and didn't believe he would have a life-and-death battle with Ba Qiu, the scenario Fu Wei described gave him some ideas.

All along, the condition for the Talent Tree's transformation had been to devour enough fire-elemental energy. However, after the fourth transformation, devouring any amount of energy had no effect.

Lu Ye could feel that the fourth transformation was not the Talent Tree's limit; it had a higher potential. But if it no longer required devouring fire-elemental energy, then what did it need to devour?

Fu Wei said that at that future moment, the Talent Tree manifested behind him, burning fiercely with roots dangling, wrapped around Ba Qiu's Dao Soldiers, devouring madly.

Shang was a supreme treasure, so the Talent Tree probably couldn't devour it.

But Lu Ye remembered something: the Talent Tree could devour affiliated treasures!

Back then, he had a Dice of Destiny that wasn't very useful, so he let the Talent Tree devour it for a bit of Dao power. When the Talent Tree devoured this affiliated treasure, besides giving him some Dao power, there seemed to be some other subtle reactions. However, he hadn't paid much attention at the time, only immersed in the joy of quickly gaining Dao power.

Now that he thought about it carefully, even if it was useless, it was still an affiliated treasure, born from a supreme treasure. How could such a valuable item only provide him with so little Dao power?

It must have had other benefits, but he had never noticed them.

Lu Ye suddenly realized, the path to the Talent Tree's transformation had been right in front of him all along. It was laughable that he hadn't discovered it until now.

But... affiliated treasures again?

Currently, Liao needed affiliated treasures to pass the three hurdles, and several of them. The Talent Tree's transformation also required affiliated treasures. Judging from the reaction when it devoured the Dice of Destiny, the Talent Tree probably needed even more affiliated treasures than Liao.

Lu Ye felt a headache coming on. Even though he had the identity of a Son of the Star Abyss and could exchange items from the Star Abyss Treasury by accumulating Star Abyss Coins, it wouldn't be easy to make the Talent Tree transform again.

However, there was an opportunity right now. Yuan Xi City was about to participate in a grand event that countless Hegemon Cities would join. This was undoubtedly what Lu Ye craved, because only in such chaos could he kill enemies to his heart's content, and thereby obtain what he desired.

He was full of anticipation for this.

Travel time was tedious. Lu Ye could only pass the time with arduous cultivation, and he didn't feel bored.

One day, Yuan Xi's voice suddenly came from beside his ear: "Grand Commander, come over for a moment."

Lu Ye opened his eyes and quickly stood up, heading to the City Lord's Mansion. He soon saw Yuan Xi. "Madam."

Yuan Xi said, "Last time you said that person surnamed Qin was like a brother to you? Is that true?"

Lu Ye replied, "I helped him a little, so Brother Feng is very grateful to me."

Yuan Xi pondered thoughtfully. Such a title had been used; it seemed that person surnamed Qin really regarded her Grand Commander as a brother. That favor was probably not a small one.

She knew Qin Feng's discernment. Anyone who could be called a brother by him was a hegemon of a region. Lu Ye, a mere Integration cultivator, was probably the only exception.

"Then you should go to Hehe Realm."

"What for?"

"Find your Brother Feng, and tell him our city's stance in this war. He'll know what I mean."

"Yes." Lu Ye agreed, then turned and headed towards the Central Grand Hall.

A short while later, at the Combat Arena, Lu Ye looked at Gong Mao. "Brother Feng isn't here?"

Gong Mao smiled wryly: "The Arena Master has been very busy lately, so he rarely stays here. He's always traveling around."

Lu Ye couldn't help but recall that last time he was here, Qin Feng had suddenly left. Now, it seemed that his busyness must be related to this current conflict.

"If Fellow Daoist has anything, just tell us. The Arena Master said that Fellow Daoist's affairs are the Combat Arena's affairs, and we must cooperate unconditionally."

Lu Ye pondered for a moment and said, "Brother Gong should know what Brother Feng has been doing lately, right?"

"Of course."

"Our Hegemon City is preparing to get involved, so my City Lord Madam asked me to come find Brother Feng."

Gong Mao understood instantly: "Fellow Daoist wants to imbue the Hegemon Orb with a resonance mark, right?"

Lu Ye didn't know if that was the case; he just nodded vaguely.

Gong Mao said, "That's simple, the Arena Master doesn't need to be present. I can send a message for someone else to come over, and then accompany you back. Many Hegemon City Lords have come recently for this matter... How about City Lord Kun Li? I heard Lord Bobo say earlier that Fellow Daoist is also very familiar with City Lord Kun Li?"

"Alright!" Lu Ye nodded.

"Then Fellow Daoist, please wait a moment. I'll send a message to City Lord Kun Li's side." With that, Gong Mao withdrew.

Lu Ye waited in this secret chamber, casually picking up a spiritual fruit from a fruit plate and slowly eating it.

Less than half an hour later, the door was suddenly pushed open. A burly, tall figure stepped in. Upon seeing Lu Ye, he grinned: "Little Ye!"

It was Kun Li, who had arrived upon receiving the message.

"Brother Li." Lu Ye stood up.

"Let's talk as we go. I don't have much time." Kun Li beckoned.

Lu Ye quickly walked forward.

Leaving the Combat Arena, Kun Li activated his Dao power, enveloping Lu Ye and soaring forward. He transmitted his voice: "I heard Gong Mao say that your Hegemon City is siding with Old Qin this time? So you came to get a resonance mark?"

Lu Ye said, "The City Lord instructed me to come find Brother Feng. She didn't say anything else, so I actually don't know what exactly needs to be done."

Kun Li laughed loudly: "Then that's correct. She just wants a resonance mark."

"What is that for?" Lu Ye asked.

"It's to identify friend or foe!" Kun Li explained, "You should know, the situation in the Snowfield is very chaotic right now. Many Hegemon Cities have already gathered there, and even more Hegemon Cities are about to arrive upon hearing the news. With so many Hegemon Cities gathered together, if they encounter each other, who knows if they're friend or foe? You can't keep verbally probing after meeting; such probing wouldn't yield accurate results anyway. That's why a resonance mark is needed. This way, when two unfamiliar Hegemon Cities approach each other, they can easily distinguish between friend and foe."

Lu Ye understood. It was an identification system for friend or foe.

The Snowfield was the battlefield for this conflict. It was a celestial wonder itself, also an unimaginably huge floating landmass, tens of thousands of times larger than an ordinary star. It was a world of ice and snow, extremely cold, and often gave birth to wondrous treasures within.

However, many years ago, this celestial wonder suddenly disintegrated. The enormous floating landmass fragmented into countless smaller ones, scattered across an extremely vast void, creating a unique and complex environment there.

Precisely because of this reason, both sides of this conflict coincidentally chose the Snowfield as the battlefield. Only such a vast area could accommodate so many Hegemon Cities traversing through it.

Lu Ye knew about the Snowfield because Yuan Xi had casually mentioned it a few days ago, but she hadn't said much.

"And those who can imbue Hegemon Orbs with this resonance mark, besides me, there are seven other City Lords of Cosmic-tier Hegemon Cities. The battles in the Snowfield are temporarily presided over by us eight. The entire battlefield is also divided into eight major war zones, and the opposing side is similar."

Lu Ye secretly clicked his tongue in awe.

This conflict, although the Ten Greats haven't personally intervened, involves at least sixteen Cosmic-tier Hegemon Cities, and this is just the beginning.

No one knows how many years this war will last, nor whether more Cosmic-tier Hegemon Cities will join later.

Yuan Xi was right when she said this was a rare spectacle in the Inner Realm, unseen for countless millennia. Let alone Lu Ye, who had only been in the Inner Realm for a few years, even powerful figures like Yuan Xi and Kun Li hadn't experienced such a scene many times.

"So that means," Lu Ye asked, "all Hegemon Cities participating in this conflict must be personally visited by one of you eight to have the resonance mark imbued?"

"Exactly!" Kun Li nodded, "That's why your Brother Li has been busy to death lately! Running around everywhere. Old Qin, that guy, he starts trouble and then acts like a hands-off manager, doesn't care about anything, while his brothers have to run their legs off!"

"You've worked hard, Brother Li."

Lu Ye casually responded. Of course, he knew Kun Li wasn't truly complaining; it was just unreserved banter between brothers. Qin Feng was also very busy, but their responsibilities were likely different. Kun Li couldn't possibly not know this.

Kun Li then asked curiously, "But speaking of which, I'm not surprised that your City Lord wants to participate in this conflict. With her personality, she naturally can't stay still. Otherwise, at such an old age, she wouldn't have run away from home. But how did she end up siding with Old Qin? She doesn't like Old Qin very much."

Lu Ye said, "I persuaded her a bit. She originally wanted to side with Blood Drink City."

"I knew it!" Kun Li understood.

"Brother Li," Lu Ye asked, "what's the background of our City Lord? I used to hear people call her 'Madam'. Whose Madam is she? And why did she run away from home?"

Lu Ye had asked Kun Li similar questions before, but they weren't very familiar then, so Kun Li had been evasive. But their relationship was different now, so after a slight pause, Kun Li replied: "The one backing her is one of the Ten Greats. However, the relationship between them... well, it's a bit hard to explain. Just know that, and us big men shouldn't gossip behind people's backs."

One of the Ten Greats!

Lu Ye knew Yuan Xi had a significant background, but he didn't expect it to be this grand.

Didn't this mean that Yuan Xi's Dao Companion was on the same level as Ba Qiu?

He wondered what exactly happened to Yuan Xi that she had to run away from home. Furthermore, when Lu Ye first met Yuan Xi, she even killed an Integration cultivator who came to bring her back, showing no mercy.

Could it be a fractured relationship?

Then Lu Ye thought of another question.

Ba Qiu forcibly broke into the celestial wonder to battle the supreme treasure. Although he succeeded, he returned severely wounded. For some in the Inner Realm, this was undoubtedly a heaven-sent opportunity. And at such a critical moment, Qin Feng single-handedly instigated a major conflict. Was this a coincidence, or was it deliberate?