Chapter 255: Lingxi Eight-Layer Realm

Three days had passed since the Qingtian Sect's stronghold was breached.

At the Silverlight Island stronghold, in the guest hall, Luo Fu was hosting several cultivators. These cultivators were all at the ninth level, both men and women. Each served as either a Guardian or Deputy Guardian of a sect's stronghold, and without exception, their strongholds were all located not far from Silverlight Island.

Because Qi Shi had warned him beforehand, Luo Fu knew immediately what was happening when he saw them arrive together.

As expected, these individuals had come to inquire about the Flood Dragon. They all offered a 40-60 split of benefits, with them taking 40% and Silverlight Island 60%, if Silverlight Island was willing to command the Flood Dragon to help them capture enemy strongholds.

The message transmitted by Zou Qi before his death had taken effect. Now, not only were the nearby Myriad Demon Ridge forces extremely wary of Silverlight Island, but even some from the Vast Heaven Alliance had believed it, which was why they had come to discuss a joint operation with Luo Fu.

However, Luo Fu was willing to help, but lacked the means.

If Silverlight Island could truly command the Flood Dragon, there would be no question about it. They could perfectly cooperate with these sects, conquer several Myriad Demon Ridge strongholds, and then share various benefits — wouldn't that be wonderful?

The crucial point was that they couldn't control the Flood Dragon at all; the one who could truly command it was someone else entirely.

Luo Fu couldn't openly explain this.

Finally, cornered, he had no choice but to swear a Heavenly Secret Vow. He informed them that Silverlight Island's success in capturing the Qingtian Sect's stronghold was purely due to good fortune, and that the Flood Dragon had no connection to Silverlight Island whatsoever.

Under the Heavenly Secret Vow, everything he said was true, and the Guardian envoys who had come seeking assistance then departed in disappointment.

After seeing them off, Luo Fu glanced towards the training room: "Junior Brother Qi, did Brother Yi Ye mention whether he plans to cultivate and train here with us?"

"No, he didn't," Qi Shi replied, shaking his head.

"What a pity," Luo Fu sighed.

If Lu Yi Ye were truly willing to affiliate with Silverlight Island, it would undoubtedly be great news for them. Even setting aside the Flood Dragon, Lu Ye's demonstrated personal strength alone was enough to warrant their attention.

Since Lu Ye hadn't mentioned it, it was highly likely he wouldn't stay here long. Such matters couldn't be forced and depended entirely on personal will.

"Later, I'll sound him out to see if we can ask for his help again. If he can truly command that Flood Dragon, then we'll go destroy the Misty Cloud Sect. I've been annoyed by those pretentious dog-things for a long time."

The Misty Cloud Sect was another Myriad Demon Ridge force neighboring Silverlight Island. Although their enmity wasn't as great as that between Silverlight Island and Qingtian Sect, as neighbors, friction was inevitable.

If they could first destroy the Qingtian Sect and then the Misty Cloud Sect, Silverlight Island could then reign supreme within a thousand-li radius and do as they pleased.

Meanwhile, in a training room, Lu Ye's spiritual power surged around him, continuously impacting the spiritual aperture barriers under his urging.

With a soft pop from his spiritual aperture, the barrier of his 144th aperture broke, and spiritual power flowed into it.

Opening 144 spiritual apertures was the standard for advancing to the eighth level.

Lu Ye didn't stop, continuing to channel his spiritual power to circulate through the idle apertures, forming a Minor Heavenly Cycle.

As waves of energy swept around him, he had already reached the eighth level.

From the seventh to the eighth level, Lu Ye had taken roughly fifty to sixty days. For him, this wasn't considered fast, because he had spent his days at the Jade Blood Sect cultivating the path of spirit patterns with Madam Yun.

However, he didn't need a rapid promotion speed at the moment. Cultivating too quickly without enough time for accumulation wasn't a good thing; it would only create a showy practitioner with cultivation but no matching strength.

Li Baxian had also told him that he must pay attention to self-accumulation alongside cultivation.

For a normal cultivator, advancing from the seventh to the eighth level in less than two months was still very fast. Fortunately, Lu Ye had experienced quite a few battles, and he could also enter the Mirage Realm at any time to temper himself. Everything he experienced in the Mirage Realm was extremely real, including the feeling of death.

The combat skills and experience accumulated through repeated deaths couldn't be matched by ordinary means; they were the essence recorded by his own life and injuries.

Therefore, even with Lu Ye's fast cultivation speed, he could still maintain combat power far superior to those of his peers.

He continued to cultivate by taking spiritual pills, wanting to see how many spiritual pills it would take to open an aperture at the eighth level.

After a little over half a day, he concluded that opening one aperture now required approximately thirty-five spiritual pills.

This was undoubtedly a terrifying number. He recalled that when he was at the third or fourth level, opening an aperture only required a dozen or so spiritual pills, which he considered a lot at the time. Compared to now, that was merely a drop in the ocean.

The higher one's cultivation, the greater the consumption for opening apertures.

From the eighth to the ninth level, thirty-six new spiritual apertures needed to be opened. If only spiritual pills were used for this, it would consume more than 1,200 pills!

Of course, Lu Ye didn't rely solely on consuming spiritual pills for his cultivation at the moment, so the actual consumption would certainly be about half of that number.

Suddenly, Yiyi let out a muffled groan nearby, her face turning somewhat pale. She had 'died' and exited the Mirage Realm.

Yiyi also had merit points. Since the Sect Master had branded her with a battlefield mark, she was a Jade Blood Sect disciple and could earn merit points by killing enemies. However, most of her merit points came from the monthly stipend Hua Ci had given her previously, which wasn't much, and with her previous combat earnings, she had less than a thousand in total.

Her merit points were of little use, so Lu Ye had her enter the Mirage Realm for training. She wouldn't encounter few battles in the future, and the Mirage Realm was an excellent place to temper oneself.

"Was it fun?"

"Not at all!" Yiyi said angrily, looking as if she had clearly been taught a lesson by bugs in the Mirage Realm.

"Take your time."

"Hmm," Yiyi mumbled in response, then sat in meditation to recover.

Lu Ye, meanwhile, took an item from his storage bag to refine.

This was a flying spirit artifact from the ninth-level cultivator named Yuan Guang, and its quality was quite good.

The seventh level marked a turning point for cultivators; once their cultivation reached this stage, they could wield artifacts to attack enemies.

Advancing to the eighth level allowed for flight using artifacts. Of course, how fast and how far one could fly depended on their own foundation.

Generally, eighth-level cultivators didn't frequently fly with artifacts because the consumption was too great, and they couldn't fly fast or high enough. In the wilderness, they could easily be targeted, and if knocked down from the sky, the consequences would be dire.

This situation would only improve at the ninth level, so those who dared to fly with artifacts in the wilderness were generally ninth-level cultivators.

Although Lu Ye had the Winged Spirit Tattoo, it had a limited lifespan. Madam Yun had initially said it could only be used for a maximum of three hours. Since obtaining it, Lu Ye had used it occasionally, and by his reckoning, its lifespan had greatly diminished and it probably wouldn't last much longer.

Therefore, he needed a personal means of flight that he could control, and the eighth level marked the threshold for artifact flight.

A day later, Lu Ye emerged from the training room, with Yiyi following behind him.

Luo Fu sent a message immediately.

A short while later, in the guest hall, the two men sat down as host and guest.

"Brother Yi Ye, I'm a straightforward man, so let's get straight to the point," Luo Fu said, dropping formalities now that they were more familiar. "A few days ago, several Guardian envoys from the Vast Heaven Alliance came to us, seeking to cooperate with Silverlight Island to attack Myriad Demon Ridge strongholds."

Lu Ye nodded; cooperation between neighboring or nearby forces of the same faction was normal. He had contacted Wuji Xuan when he led people to attack the Feng clan previously.

"But Brother Yi Ye also knows that breaking through a stronghold's protective formation isn't easy," Luo Fu continued. "Without powerful assistance, even two forces working together might not succeed, and the assistance they value is the Flood Dragon!"

With Luo Fu's words, Lu Ye fully understood his intention.

"So I want to ask, Brother Yi Ye, can you command the Flood Dragon again? If so, then let's go for a big one."

"Brother Luo, you've misunderstood," Lu Ye replied. "I can't command the Flood Dragon; I can only guide its direction of movement to a certain extent."

"That's enough!" Luo Fu exclaimed excitedly, rubbing his hands together. "As long as Brother Yi Ye can guide the Flood Dragon to the strongholds of those Myriad Demon Ridge forces, with the Qingtian Sect as a precedent, those Myriad Demon Ridge forces surely won't dare to hold out strongly. They might even be scared away directly! Then we just go in and reap the benefits!"

Lu Ye pondered for a moment, then nodded: "It's worth a try."

Luo Fu was overjoyed: "So it's settled?"

"Don't contact those sects yet," Lu Ye advised. "I'll inform you, Brother Luo, when I have concrete news. We won't be late to act then."

"That's excellent!"

Lu Ye stood up, and Luo Fu saw him off. Soon, Lu Ye rode Amber out of the Silverlight Island stronghold's perimeter. Luo Fu had initially wanted Hao Ren and his sister to accompany Lu Ye, but Lu Ye declined.

Although he was willing to give it a try, he didn't think it was very reliable, which was why he hadn't committed fully.

A fierce creature like the Flood Dragon already possessed considerable intelligence. After falling for a trick once, it might not fall for it a second time.

Ten li after leaving the Silverlight Island stronghold, Lu Ye dismounted from Amber's back. He took an item from his storage bag and, channeling his spiritual power, tossed it in front of him.

The item immediately transformed into a light, small boat, about one zhang long. The boat's surface was carved with intricate patterns, indicating fine craftsmanship.

This was Yuan Guang's flying spirit artifact, roughly four chi wide.

At the bow and stern of the small boat, there were several grooves for placing spiritual stones.

Flying with an artifact consumed not only the cultivator's spiritual power but also the spiritual power from spiritual stones placed on it beforehand. This reduced the cultivator's own consumption.

The higher the quality of the flying spirit artifact, the greater the reduction in consumption.

The quality of Yuan Guang's small boat was excellent.

Such a small boat could accommodate at most two or three people; any more and there wouldn't be enough space. However, it was sufficient for Lu Ye.

The small boat hovered before him. He stepped onto it, and having previous experience trying out the Winged Spirit Tattoo, Lu Ye was extremely cautious.

Once he stood firm, he called to Amber. Amber transformed to a chi long, jumping onto his shoulder. As for Yiyi, she had already hidden inside Amber's body.

With everything ready, Lu Ye channeled his spiritual power. The small boat immediately wobbled into the air, but after flying only a short distance, it tilted and plunged downwards.