Chapter 2569: Fusion of Nine Realms

The Winds of Kyushu

The Battle Arena's profits are calculated after deducting all expenses, including both the arena's operational costs for the fight and the payouts owed. For example, there was the 500,000 Dao Fish for Fu Wei. Although not many cultivators bet on Lu Ye in the entire Battle Arena this time, due to the extremely high odds, the arena ultimately paid out a significant amount of Dao Fish. What remains after all expenses are subtracted is the Battle Arena's net gain.

With a profit of 50 million Dao Fish, it implies that at least 60 to 70 million, or even more, Dao Fish flowed into the Battle Arena's betting pool this time. And this was under the premise of the chaos in the Snowfield. Had it not been for this chaos in the Snowfield, more cultivators would surely have come, and the betting pool could easily have exceeded 100 million. Looking back at the history of the Battle Arena, it's rare to see such a large betting pool for a single fight. Gong Mao had taken a significant risk this time; if Lu Ye had genuinely lost that death match, the Dao Fish payout would have severely crippled the Battle Arena.

At the Grand Governor's Residence in Yuanxi City, Lu Ye was also quite excited. He had never seen so many Dao Fish. He distinctly recalled that after his first death match with Que Yue, he had only received a little over 100,000 Dao Fish from the Battle Arena. Even that amount had helped him successfully advance to the seventh stage of Fusion Dao. How much time had passed? Now he commanded a fortune in the tens of millions. Beyond Fusion Dao cultivators, even few Harmonization Dao cultivators possessed such vast wealth.

With the Dao Fish acquired, Lu Ye's immediate priority was naturally to quickly improve his cultivation. Although advancing to the ninth stage of Fusion Dao would reduce the probability of obtaining Star Abyss Coins when fighting other Fusion Dao cultivators, a cultivator's ultimate pursuit is higher cultivation realms. He couldn't possibly suppress his cultivation indefinitely just for Star Abyss Coins; that would be prioritizing the trivial over the essential. Moreover, higher cultivation would present more opportunities to slay Harmonization Dao cultivators, which was another benefit. Currently in a dangerous environment like the Snowfield, although Yuanxi and Lian in the city were powerful, Lu Ye couldn't rely entirely on others. True strength lies in self-reliance.

With little preparation needed, Lu Ye simply activated the residence's protective enchantment to prevent any disturbances. With a wave of his hand, a large quantity of Dao Fish spread out beside him. The power of the Talent Tree activated, and invisible roots spread out in all directions, greedily devouring the energy. The golden glow on the Talent Tree gradually intensified. He already had a substantial reserve of Dao power, so this time it didn't take long for him to feel the Talent Tree reach a saturated state. This was the Talent Tree's limit, which Lu Ye had previously confirmed to be one million units of Dao power. Immersing his mind and gazing at the brightly glowing Talent Tree, Lu Ye let out a soft breath.

After a long journey of cultivation, he had finally reached this point. The Dao pattern he was about to engrave was the final one at the Fusion Dao stage. Taking this step meant Lu Ye would be qualified to advance to Harmonization Dao at any time, though it was merely a qualification. Without hesitation, Lu Ye's mind stirred, and he began engraving Dao patterns onto his own Dao bones. It was still Divine Edge, and it could only be Divine Edge. The eighth-level Divine Edge Dao pattern had already allowed him to experience its immense power, so there was naturally no other choice for this final one.

Pileshan Blade could now effortlessly shatter the Dao weapons of Fusion Dao and even Harmonization Dao cultivators. This was partly due to its properties after being promoted to a sentient treasure, and partly due to the eight-level Divine Edge Dao pattern Lu Ye had engraved. These two factors combined to give Pileshan Blade its current extreme sharpness. If eight levels yielded such power, what about nine? It would surely be even stronger. With such a method, even if he couldn't defeat a powerful enemy outright, as long as he could stalemate, there would be a chance to shatter the enemy's Dao weapon, thereby turning defeat into victory.

Dao power rapidly depleted. Under the power of the Talent Tree, tiny, intricate fundamental units were engraved onto his Dao bones, and a soul-gnawing, heart-wrenching pain spread throughout his body. The pain from engraving this final Dao pattern seemed several times more intense than before. Lu Ye's body instantly trembled, his clothes drenched with sweat. Even ordinary cultivators with resolute minds might be disturbed in such a situation, leading to a failed engraving. However, Lu Ye primarily relied on the Talent Tree for engraving Dao patterns, just as he activated each pattern. Therefore, even with some disturbances, the engraving process remained unaffected.

Time passed, and the pain intensified sharply, causing Lu Ye's face to turn pale and devoid of color. The sweat streaming from his body had formed a small stream. Yet, he still had the presence of mind to check on the Talent Tree's condition. The Dao pattern was less than halfway engraved, but the Talent Tree's Dao power reserve was already over half depleted! In other words, even if all the Dao power reserves on the Talent Tree were completely consumed, it would not be enough for this engraving. Lu Ye secretly felt fortunate he had been prudent. Otherwise, realizing only after the Dao power was completely depleted might have been too late. Losing a million units of Dao power would be a minor issue; the consequences of a failed advancement might be beyond what he could bear.

He checked the Talent Tree's reserves at this point mainly due to his experience from previous advancements. He clearly remembered spending 800,000 units of Dao power when advancing to the seventh stage of Fusion Dao and over 900,000 when advancing to the eighth stage. Following this pattern, his current advancement to the ninth stage implied that a million units of Dao power would be insufficient. Therefore, he needed to replenish it midway. The Dao Fish previously spread around, not yet fully consumed, now came into play. The Talent Tree's power was activated again, devouring freely. The total Dao power reserves continued to decrease as time passed, but thanks to the replenishment, the rate of depletion was not as drastic as before. Thus, there were no significant problems! Only the unbearable pain made the hours feel like years for Lu Ye. After an unknown period, as the final fundamental unit was engraved, the ordeal finally ended.

Lu Ye slowly opened his eyes and let out a long breath. His bones felt tingly and numb, as if he could still feel the lingering aftereffects of the pain. He briefly checked the Talent Tree's Dao power reserves and found a little over 100,000 units remaining. Accounting for the recent replenishment, this confirmed his previous experience was correct: this advancement had consumed more than a million units of Dao power. Relying solely on the Talent Tree's original reserves would not have been enough. Fortunately, he had prepared in advance. After a brief rest, Lu Ye felt refreshed and invigorated.

He had reached the ninth stage of Fusion Dao. Now it was time to assess the extent of his strength increase from this advancement. In fact, no deliberate testing was truly necessary, as he generally knew how much his strength would improve with each advancement. Nevertheless, he still wanted to carefully perceive the change. Activating his own power slightly, Lu Ye's expression remained calm. As expected, with this advancement to the ninth stage of Fusion Dao, his fundamental Dao power, as usual, increased by 20 units, reaching 430 units.

This was just his fundamental Dao power... Combined with the amplification from his nine-level Dao patterns... Lu Ye clenched his fist, and Dao power surged around it. "Hmm?" Lu Ye couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, sensing something was amiss. The amount of Dao power he was wielding didn't quite match his expectations; it seemed to be slightly more. He quietly sensed it, confirming that it was indeed more. With 430 units of fundamental Dao power and the amplification from nine-level Dao patterns, the Dao power he should be able to wield with his physical body alone ought to be 817 units. Yet, it had now exceeded 900, precisely 903 units!

This was clearly unusual. The difference between the actual and expected amount was 100 units of power, which was quite significant. In a cultivator's battle, a difference of 100 units in strength could decide life or death. He had also never heard of anyone experiencing such a significant change in strength increase when advancing to the ninth stage of Fusion Dao. However, he quickly had a realization. Immersing his mind, he examined the nine-level Dao patterns on his Dao bones. Upon inspection, he saw that when he activated his power, the nine Dao patterns resonated with each other, connecting end to end, seemingly coalescing into a single entity.

This had never happened before. Whether Lu Ye was at the seventh or eighth stage of Fusion Dao, when his Dao power was amplified by the Dao patterns, the patterns themselves had never shown such a change. Only this time... He suddenly understood that the discrepancy between his actual strength increase and his expectation stemmed from this change in the Dao patterns. So, how did this change occur? Lu Ye was unsure if any other cultivator in the Inner Realm had engraved nine identical Dao patterns on their Dao bones, but even if they had, it would be extremely rare. Choosing the same type of Dao pattern made engraving increasingly difficult and the risks during advancement increasingly greater. Therefore, even prodigies with outstanding talent would not dare to make such a choice.

Furthermore, even if someone did engrave nine identical Dao patterns, their situation would still differ from Lu Ye's, because his entire body was composed of Dao bones – a unique characteristic in the Inner Realm. After observing for a while, Lu Ye vaguely felt that this was a special change that had emerged after he had engraved nine Divine Edges. The nine-level Dao patterns now seemed to truly coalesce into one, providing a greater boost to his strength than usual. Approximately 20% more. This was undoubtedly a pleasant surprise! He had initially felt a little regretful, because even with this advancement to the ninth stage of Fusion Dao and the aid of a Dao weapon, his overall strength would still struggle to break 1,000 units. But now, with his strength augmented by a Dao weapon, it had already surpassed 1,000 units! Many Harmonization Dao cultivators struggled to achieve such power. This advancement had increased his overall strength by approximately 170 units of power, a greater improvement than any previous advancement. This undoubtedly meant that this advancement had significantly boosted his strength once again.

"Little Lu, come try out the blade!" Liao urged from the side. Every time Lu Ye advanced, he would test how an additional Divine Edge would change the Pileshan Blade. Liao had grown accustomed to this and was now somewhat impatient. Lu Ye smiled, reached out, grabbed the Pileshan Blade, and drew it from its sheath with a clang. He activated his Dao power. Over the blade, a blue light spread out like flowing water, then quickly retracted, vanishing without a trace.

"Hmm?" Liao's voice rang out, "This..." After a brief pause, it burst into laughter: "Now, I'm afraid even Harmonization Dao cultivators' Dao weapons won't withstand many of your slashes!"