Chapter 2696: 合道！

Lu Ye flashed into the pit, his voice reaching Ba Wei’s ears: "Help me clear out all the cultivators on this level!"

"What exactly are you going to do?" Ba Wei asked, her face full of confusion.

"Cultivate!"

"Cultivate?" Ba Wei was even more bewildered. At a time like this, what was he cultivating? And why had he specifically come all the way to the tenth level? The time flow here was only ten times that of the outside world, and relatively speaking, the concentration of Star Abyss energy was also weaker than on the levels above.

Standing rooted to the spot, Ba Wei's expression flickered. She gritted her teeth, feeling that Lu Ye might truly get her killed this time! If she had known this, she would have parted ways with Lu Ye long ago. But at this point, she had no opportunity to do so.

As her thoughts raced, Lu Ye had already set up a simple formation to conceal his location. Ba Wei gritted her teeth, activated her Harmonization stage power, and swept around, expelling the Fusion Dao cultivators who were still on this level. With her strength, this task was quite simple. The Fusion Dao cultivators on this level were not highly cultivated; after sensing the power of a Harmonization cultivator, how could they dare to stay? They scattered in all directions, most fleeing to lower levels, a few moving to higher ones. After a period of activity, Ba Wei did not return to Lu Ye's side. Instead, she stayed at the entrance to the ninth level, secretly resolving that if anything went wrong, she would immediately escape into the ninth level. After all, those people were looking for Lu Ye. As long as Lu Ye was apprehended, she, as an outsider, should not be greatly implicated.

Inside the pit, Lu Ye composed himself and focused his mind. Given the current situation, his Fusion Dao cultivation was no longer sufficient, leaving him with only one path forward: advance to the Harmonization stage!

Many years ago, he had already begun preparing for this. His accumulated reserves had long reached their limit; the only reason he hadn't advanced was that he was waiting for Liao’s breakthrough. Liao's breakthrough happened at an inconvenient time, right before entering the Time Tower. He had been delayed for decades in the Ancestral Abyss. Therefore, for him, a breakthrough was possible at any moment. His original plan was to advance to the Harmonization stage after this visit to the Time Tower. However, with the current urgent circumstances, advancing a bit earlier or later made little difference. The reason he had fled all the way to the tenth level was simply to buy himself more time. The frenzy of earning Star Abyss coins during his Fusion Dao stage had already ended, so advancing now wouldn't result in too great a loss.

For cultivators, every major realm advancement along their cultivation path represents a significant hurdle. Stepping out from the starry sky, merging one's cultivation to transform personal strength into Dao power, one can then enter the Dao realm. Countless prodigies across various starry heavens have fallen at this very hurdle, for once this step is taken, there is no turning back. Refining the Dao bones and inscribing Dao patterns upon them leads to the Fusion Dao stage. While this stage doesn't pose a significant threat to life, failure means wasting many years of accumulation, and many cultivators also stop here. For a Fusion Dao cultivator to enter the Harmonization stage, the first step is to merge their nine layers of Dao patterns into one!

This is just the first step. This single hurdle has stumped countless Fusion Dao cultivators, as most of them inscribe Dao patterns of different types onto their Dao bones. This makes it extremely difficult to merge all nine layers into one; even a slight error during the process could lead to complete failure. It can be said that the more types of Dao patterns inscribed, the greater the difficulty. Conversely, for someone like Lu Ye, whose nine layers of Dao patterns are all of the same type, the difficulty is much lower. Therefore, in the Star Abyss, any cultivator aspiring to reach the Harmonization stage will not inscribe more than three types of Dao patterns during their Fusion Dao cultivation. Generally speaking, if more than three types of Dao patterns are inscribed into the Dao bones, there is absolutely no possibility of reaching the Harmonization stage. Fusion Dao and Harmonization are interconnected; cultivators who endure a difficult path in the early stages will find the later stages easier, and vice-versa.

Although the merging of Lu Ye's nine layers of Dao patterns was simple, it still took him over half a month. This was mainly because his Dao patterns covered an extremely large area; other Fusion Dao cultivators' patterns were only inscribed on five Dao bones, while his were inscribed all over his body. This was also the primary reason he expended so much Dao power every time he advanced. When the nine layers of Dao patterns merged into one, an boundless sharp force suddenly erupted from within Lu Ye's body. Even the scattered Dao power seemed to instantly transform into blade glints and sword auras, striking the surrounding walls with sizzling sounds. If not for the sturdy walls within the Time Tower, they would surely have collapsed. Not only that, but even Lu Ye's own flesh and blood tore open, as the sharp essence pierced through, instantly turning him into a blood-soaked figure. The power of the Nine-layered Divine Edge was already immensely strong, and when merged, it saw a massive increase. Such a sharp essence was difficult even for Lu Ye's current physical body to withstand.

At this moment, the nine layers of Dao patterns originally inscribed had vanished, instead condensing intensely into an "intent." Dao Intent! It was formless and invisible, yet it merged into Lu Ye's Dao power. From then on, Lu Ye's Dao power possessed the characteristic of this "intent," which was extreme sharpness! Every Harmonization cultivator possesses their own Dao Intent. Depending on the types of Dao patterns from which the Dao Intent is derived, Harmonization cultivators' Dao Intents also differ, providing various boosts and enhancements to cultivators in different areas. However, this amplification and enhancement are consistent with the cultivators' circumstances during their Fusion Dao stage, merely becoming more potent. For Lu Ye, the first step of Harmonization was complete! Now came the main event.

The reason Harmonization cultivators are much stronger than Fusion Dao cultivators is simply that they can draw upon external forces. Wherever Star Abyss energy exists, Dao power is contained within it, and Harmonization cultivators utilize this Dao power, enabling them to exert strength far beyond their own. Fusion Dao cultivators, on the other hand, cannot; they can only wield their own inherent power. Naturally, there's no comparison between the two. To draw upon external forces, one must first resonate with them. Only then can they be utilized anytime, anywhere. How to achieve this resonance? One must use their own body as a vessel, drawing these external forces to infuse themselves, and during this process, comprehend the mysteries to achieve resonance. The strength of a Harmonization cultivator depends, firstly, on their own foundation, and secondly, on the proportion of external forces they can draw upon. Among these, their own foundation is fundamental. The proportion of external forces they can draw upon is related to the frequency and quality of their resonance.

To advance to the Harmonization stage, Lu Ye had consulted many Harmonization cultivators for their insights back during the Snowfield Strife. Naturally, he knew exactly what he needed to do now. With a wave of his hand, he scattered a large quantity of Dao fish, which shattered into dust. The concentration of Star Abyss energy within the Time Tower was actually quite good. Not to mention the levels above ninety, even this tenth level offered a cultivation environment almost equivalent to that inside a prefecture-level Harmonization city. But for Lu Ye, this was far from enough. As large numbers of Dao fish shattered, their Dao power dispersed, rapidly increasing the concentration of Dao power in the surrounding environment. After briefly sensing his surroundings, Lu Ye felt it was sufficient. He then closed his eyes, concentrated, and formed a hand seal. Instantly, the Baihui acupoint on the crown of his head opened, and all his spirit acupoints simultaneously pulsed. As a powerful suction emanated, dense Dao power surged into his body.

Lu Ye's face flushed, feeling his body swell. At such a critical moment, if he were to activate the power of his Talent Tree, he could naturally resolve this situation and easily refine the incoming Dao power. However, this time was for advancement, not merely to increase his Dao power reserves. Therefore, the Talent Tree's power could not be activated at all. With such abundant Dao power surging into his body instantly, even Lu Ye found it somewhat difficult to bear. Fortunately, he wasn't relying solely on his own strength at this moment. Cultivators, when advancing to the Harmonization stage, can utilize their Natal Dao Soldiers. This was also why Lu Ye insisted on waiting for Liao to awaken before making his breakthrough. Generally, Harmonization cultivators rely heavily on their Natal Dao Soldiers, especially combat cultivators. This was determined by their cultivated discipline. At this very moment, the Mountain-Shattering Saber lay horizontally across Lu Ye's lap, the man and the weapon intimately connected in energy, forming a single entity. With Liao sharing the immense pressure, Lu Ye immediately felt much better, though it remained very challenging. He made slight adjustments, keeping the pressure within a range he could barely tolerate, and then settled his mind.

The dense Dao power surged in from all directions through the Baihui acupoint, circulated through his entire body and the Mountain-Shattering Saber, then flowed out through the Yongquan spirit acupoints in his feet. One could say this was purely a cleansing by rampant Dao power. What Lu Ye needed to do was, for the duration of this process, achieve a state of resonance between his mind, body, and the external forces. Only then could he advance to the Harmonization stage and, in the future, manipulate external forces. He felt it carefully as time passed.

The only reason Harmonization cultivators fail to advance at this stage is if they persist for too short a time. Theoretically, as long as one perseveres long enough and their comprehension isn't too poor, they can succeed in advancing. The difficulty lies in having to persevere for a long time. Under normal circumstances, even cultivators with exceptional comprehension and talent would need to continue this process for at least several days at this stage. Lu Ye, however, suddenly gained an insight after only half a day. While his comprehension and talent were indeed good, they weren't enough to achieve this level. The biggest reason was his identity as a Child of the Star Abyss! He had even seized the blessings of two other Children of the Star Abyss. This had given him an affinity for the Dao power within the Star Abyss energy long ago. This affinity would become even more pronounced as he successively seized the blessings of other Children of the Star Abyss. That was why he could so easily achieve resonance with the external forces.

While Lu Ye was undergoing his breakthrough, at the entrance to the ninth level, Ba Wei was suspiciously observing his direction. For half a day now, she had vaguely sensed that something wasn't quite right with Lu Ye. The Star Abyss energy from the surroundings was frantically converging towards him, as if a colossal, invisible vortex was devouring everything in its vicinity. She initially thought Lu Ye was just cultivating, secretly astonished by the sheer scale of his cultivation's commotion, which was truly rare. However, upon reflection, given Lu Ye's considerable strength, such a large disturbance was understandable. No wonder he wanted her to expel all the Fusion Dao cultivators from this level; he was clearly afraid of being disturbed.