Chapter 2715: Return

Dragon City, Zhu Yin's temporary palace.

Lu Ye and others were temporarily staying here. Since they had to wait for the Dragon Pool to open, there was no need to return to Phoenix Nest for now.

In a side room, Lu Ye was meditating and cultivating, temporal power permeating his surroundings.

When the River of Time previously manifested, he first gained numerous insights, which then allowed him to see brief fragments of the future. Although the duration was short, those insights greatly assisted his control over temporal power. He had a feeling that if he were to construct the Pillar of the World again now, it would be much easier than before.

Su Yan lived in the adjacent room, while Su Yun was across the hall.

A knock came from the door. Lu Ye opened his eyes and said, "Come in!"

The door was pushed open, revealing a figure in snow-white, pure and untainted.

“Brother-in-law,” Zhu Yin stepped in and stopped before Lu Ye.

“Is there something you need, Junior Sister?” Lu Ye looked at her.

Zhu Yin took out a storage ring and handed it to Lu Ye: “Dragon Venerable asked me to give this to you. He said it’s what he promised you earlier.” Lu Ye was initially surprised, then reacted and accepted it with pleasure.

A quick check confirmed his suspicion: the ring contained attribute treasures. However, these were not for offense or defense. Those two types of attribute treasures are extremely valuable and usually used by cultivators to advance to Dao Fusion. The attribute treasures remaining in Dragon City were generally not very useful.

“So many?” Lu Ye was slightly astonished. Before entering the Ancestral Abyss, he had made this request to Dragon Venerable, but the number of attribute treasures he asked for at that time was far less. Now, Dragon Venerable had Zhu Yin deliver a full twelve items. Lu Ye suspected that Dragon Venerable might have taken out all the attribute treasures from Dragon City’s inventory.

“I don’t know,” Zhu Yin shook her head. “Dragon Venerable just told me to give them to you. Also, he said that if you want fragments of the Dao Fusion Pearl, you’ll have to wait a few more days.”

In truth, it would be simple for Lu Ye to find Dao Fusion Pearl fragments; he merely needed to explore the void, find a low-level Dao Fusion City, and shatter its Dao Fusion Pearl. He had only mentioned it casually, wondering if Dragon City might have any spare fragments. It seemed Dragon City had no remaining Dao Fusion Pearl fragments, which was understandable. Dao Fusion Pearl fragments are useless on their own; their sole purpose is to be integrated into a Dao Fusion City's Dao Fusion Pearl, so virtually no one keeps them; they are generally used up.

Currently, the Dragon and Phoenix clans were preparing a surprise attack on one of the Blood Clan’s Cosmic-level Dao Fusion Cities. With the enemy’s location already scouted, this calculated strike against an unaware target was bound to succeed. This was why Dragon Venerable told Lu Ye to wait. Ordinarily, the loss of a Cosmic-level city would not be tolerated by Blood Scourge. However, since he had instigated trouble first this time, if the Dragon and Phoenix clans jointly destroyed a Cosmic-level city, he would have no choice but to accept it. After all, he had caused trouble in the Tower of Time first. This matter concerned Dragon City’s prestige, so a counterattack from Dragon City was only natural.

Upon hearing this, Lu Ye’s heart stirred. He wondered if he should join the expedition; he could then shatter the Dao Fusion Pearl himself and collect all the fragments. However, after careful consideration, he decided against it. His miraculous ability was currently known only to a few in Yuanxi City. If his guess was correct, this ability was not inherent to him but was connected to a profound secret. It was better to expose it as little as possible outside.

Yuanxi City was already a Cosmic-level city. Beyond that were the Ten Great Levels, but advancing to the Ten Greats was not an issue of Dao Fusion Pearls. Therefore, accumulating more would be useless. In other words, as a single Dao Fusion City, Yuanxi City had essentially reached its peak. There was little hope of it replacing one of the Ten Greats. Otherwise, with so many Cosmic-level cities in this realm, surely some would have reached the Ten Great Levels over countless years.

Zhu Yin did not stay long. After handing the items to Lu Ye, she departed. Lu Ye took out all the attribute treasures and placed them before him, then activated the power of the Talent Tree to absorb their mystical essence.

Time passed. One by one, the attribute treasures shattered into dust. Only when the last one broke did Lu Ye stand up and head outside.

He went straight to the central hall of Dragon City. He first found the Dragon Clan elder stationed there to report his presence, then approached the dazzlingly bright Dao Fusion Pearl and pressed his hand against it. He had previously received a boon from Dragon Venerable, allowing him free access to Dragon City from then on. Counting it, he now had free access to three of the Ten Great Dao Fusion Cities, a unique privilege in the entire cultivation world.

He gracefully entered the Hegemonic Realm, appearing in a place that was still bustling with activity.

Great wars raged on, with countless cultivators perishing in the inner realm. Yet, this group was like chives; a new crop would emerge after one was cut down, endlessly.

Lu Ye had no other purpose for coming to the Hegemonic Realm this time than to visit the battle arena and retrieve the attribute treasure he had previously given to Gong Mao. The transformation of the Talent Tree was a long and arduous process, and every single attribute treasure was useful.

Lu Ye had a rare encounter with Qin Feng. He held Bo Bo in his hands and chatted with Qin Feng for a while. Bo Bo still felt wonderfully soft and springy to the touch.

Upon learning that Lu Ye had advanced to Dao Fusion, Qin Feng was very happy for him. They had become sworn brothers because Lu Ye had helped him immensely in the past. This brotherhood was not superficial; Qin Feng was a loyal and righteous man. Once he called someone a brother, he truly held them in his heart. He didn't have many brothers, but he didn't have few either. Now that his younger brother Lu Ye had advanced to Dao Fusion, he was naturally delighted.

While they chatted, Gong Mao brought over the attribute treasure.

A moment later, Lu Ye took his leave.

Qin Feng handed him a storage ring. Lu Ye took it and saw that it was full of Dao Fish, about a million of them. Before Lu Ye could even speak, Qin Feng affectionately put an arm around his shoulder: “Little Ye, don’t refuse. I don’t have anything else, your Brother Feng only has these. I know you gained a lot from the battle arena last time, but now that you’ve advanced to Dao Fusion, your cultivation consumption will be even greater in the future. Keep these for now, and if you run out, come find me again. If you refuse, then our brotherhood is over.”

Since he put it that way, what could Lu Ye say? He could only accept it. On that note, while he had indeed gained a huge amount in the battle arena last time, his consumption was also high.

Before advancing to Dao Fusion, which battle didn't consume tens or hundreds of thousands of Dao power? Especially when he lent power to Yuanxi, his Dao power reserves flowed out like floodwaters from a breached dam. Now, cultivating the Small World Secret Art and carving Dao marks in the Small Flower Realm, the consumption was even more terrifying; just one layer consumed over a million Dao power from him. For an ordinary Dao Fusion cultivator, just accumulating that much would take an unknown amount of time. In contrast, carving Dao marks on his own Dao body didn't consume much; that was the only area where he could compare with normal cultivators. The only pity was the extreme difficulty! A full 120 years, for the result of fifty Dao marks...

Returning to the great hall, Lu Ye had originally intended to go straight back to Dragon City. As far as he knew, the Dragon and Phoenix clans' operation against the Blood Clan’s Cosmic-level city had already begun. This time, the Phoenix Clan was personally leading the team, using the power of the Primordial Parasol Tree to directly open a wormhole near that Cosmic-level city. Therefore, it probably wouldn't be long until results were seen.

However, just as Lu Ye was about to do so, he suddenly looked down at the Panshuan Saber at his waist: “Since we have nothing else to do, how about we go chat with Senior Shang?”

“Yes!” Liao responded decisively. Since following Lu Ye, its wielder, it had only encountered one other of its kind, Shang, and naturally cherished the connection.

“Then let’s go,” Lu Ye nodded.

Liao immediately exerted its power. The authority to enter and exit One-Husband City was not with Lu Ye but had been granted to Liao by Shang, so entering One-Husband City still depended on Liao.

His vision shifted, and when Lu Ye reappeared, he found himself in the dilapidated small city. The city was even more ruined than when he had first seen it.

Only the throne in the entire city remained intact; everything else was in ruins. During the battle on the Starry Sky Chessboard, Ba Qiu fought against multiple opponents. Although he had the blessing of a Dao Fusion City, his adversaries were all Ten Great City Lords, and they came with the intent to kill him. In that battle, although Ba Qiu successfully repelled the invaders, he himself was severely wounded. If not for Ba Xia’s timely assistance at the last moment, he might not have escaped unscathed. None of the Ten Great City Lords were easy to deal with.

On the throne, a majestic figure sat, seemingly recovering from injuries. Only when Lu Ye appeared did he slowly open his eyes and glance at him. “Greetings, City Lord,” Lu Ye bowed.

Ba Qiu showed no reaction, indifferently closing his eyes. Lu Ye then turned and bowed in another direction: “Lu Ye of the Human Race, greetings, Senior Ba Xia.” Besides Ba Qiu, there was another surge of life in One-Husband City, directly beneath it. With a mere sweep of his divine sense, Lu Ye knew that Ba Xia had revealed his true form, carrying One-Husband City on his back. From that direction, a massive head slowly turned, gave Lu Ye a deep look, nodded slightly, and then slowly turned away again.

Lu Ye had originally intended to speak a few more words with Ba Xia; after all, this senior was the ancestor of the Fugen clan. To his surprise, this senior also had a detached nature, so Lu Ye had no choice but to give up.

Lu Ye looked around, finding his surroundings unfamiliar, unsure of their location. Ba Qiu was currently injured. Although protected by Ba Xia, he still needed a quiet place to heal and to avoid his whereabouts being discovered by powerful enemies.

He stepped forward, approached the throne, unstrapped the Panshuan Saber, and placed it beside Shang. Lu Ye then stood quietly to the side, waiting silently.

In his mind, he involuntarily recalled the fragment he had seen in the River of Time: would such an event truly happen someday in the future? Unfortunately, he could not speak of this to anyone.

One-Husband City was completely tranquil. Ba Qiu healed, Lu Ye stood still, and even Ba Xia fell silent. Only Shang and Liao seemed to be communicating.

At one point, a voice suddenly reached Lu Ye’s ear: “Kid, got any wine?”