Chapter 2716: The Spirit of the Harmonized Dao Pearl

Lu Ye was stunned, then said, "Yes!"

He quickly stepped forward and rummaged through the Minor Flower Realm.

The last time he practiced the Minor World Secret Art, he had taken everything out of the Minor Flower Realm, then put it all back. Now that the Inner Heaven Secret Art had reached the first stage of perfection, there was no risk of collapse, and it could still be used as storage space in the future.

He took out a jar from it and handed it to Ba Qiu.

Ba Qiu simply looked at him indifferently and let out a cold scoff.

Lu Ye was bewildered by him, unsure what the cold scoff meant.

However, he soon found out, because Ba Qiu raised his hand, grabbed the wine jar, tore open the seal, and tilting his head back, drank all the wine in one go. He then casually tossed the empty jar away and held out a hand to Lu Ye.

So, he was complaining there wasn't enough to drink...

Lu Ye quickly handed over another jar. Not only that, he continuously took out more from the Minor Flower Realm, placing them before Ba Qiu for him to take as he pleased.

Lu Ye himself didn't have a habit of collecting alcohol, but having encountered and defeated so many enemies along the way, his spoils of war contained all sorts of miscellaneous items. The amount of alcohol stored in his Minor Flower Realm was at least eight thousand, if not ten thousand.

While Lu Ye was busy, Ba Qiu suddenly picked up a wine jar and gestured towards him.

The strongest expert in the Inner Realm apparently found drinking alone uninteresting.

After a moment's thought, Lu Ye also picked up a jar of wine, tore open the seal, and drank along with him from a distance.

This was undoubtedly a peculiar drinking session; there was no verbal communication between them, only simple, mechanical actions. Furthermore, although both were Dao-Harmony cultivators, neither used their power to dissipate the effects of the alcohol.

Ba Qiu, with his immense pride, would never do such a thing. And as a junior, Lu Ye was even less inclined to; doing so would be a sign of disrespect towards Ba Qiu.

As jar after jar of wine was consumed, Lu Ye continuously retrieved more from the Minor Flower Realm.

There was no pause.

Even though he was now a Dao-Harmony cultivator, he gradually found it harder to bear. The origins of these wines were complex, and their quality varied, but without exception, they were all incredibly potent.

By the end of it, Lu Ye completely lost consciousness.

This was simply absurd!

When he woke up again, he felt a splitting headache and a burning throat. He was lying on a fragrant bed, and a familiar scent wafted around his nose.

"You're awake!" a somewhat familiar voice said. Lu Ye looked over, his blurry vision slowly clearing, revealing Su Yun's face reflected in his eyes.

Su Yun's face was filled with a mix of curiosity and mischief. "Brother-in-law, who were you drinking with? How did you get so drunk?"

Lu Ye's mind went blank for a moment. After a brief recollection, he remembered that he had been drinking with Ba Qiu in Yifu City. How had he ended up here in the blink of an eye?

He was familiar with this bed; it was Su Yan's couch. Su Yan was sitting beside him, looking at him with concern. "Did something happen?"

Lu Ye slowly got up, furrowing his brow as he activated the power of the Talent Tree. Instantly, all discomfort vanished, and his mind became clear.

He shook his head and said, "Nothing serious, I just went to visit a senior."

As he spoke, he checked the Minor Flower Realm's storage and gasped in surprise. There wasn't a single jar of wine left in it; that drinking session had completely depleted all his alcohol reserves.

"You can't drink like that again," Su Yan said, very distressed. She could vaguely sense that something was troubling Lu Ye, something very sad.

It was highly probable that it was related to the fragments of time and space he had previously seen in the River of Time and Order.

Lu Ye nodded. "I won't."

He would only let down his guard completely in front of Ba Qiu, because even if he were wary, it would be useless. In any other situation, he would never allow himself to be in such a disheveled state.

A moment later, Lu Ye returned to his own dwelling.

"How did I get back?" Lu Ye asked.

Asking Su Yan and the others was pointless; he could only ask Liao. The crucial thing was that he had no memory of how he returned.

Liao replied, "You came back yourself."

Lu Ye thought about it and realized that was true. The authority to enter and exit Dragon City lay with him. Besides him returning himself, Liao wouldn't be able to bring him into Dragon City, and neither could Ba Qiu.

"I didn't say anything I shouldn't have, did I?" Lu Ye felt a faint worry. He had never been truly drunk before and didn't know how he behaved when intoxicated.

However, he had heard that people behaved differently when drunk: some liked to act crazy, some babbled nonsense, and some just quietly lay down. He hoped he was the last kind.

"No, you and Ba Qiu didn't say a single word from beginning to end. Only when he knocked you out, Ba Qiu laughed three times, seemingly very pleased with himself."

"That's good!" Lu Ye let out a breath of relief. It was good that he hadn't spoken nonsense; he was truly afraid he might have said something he shouldn't have.

Dragon Sovereign's previous warnings still echoed in his ears; he dared not be careless.

But why was Ba Qiu so pleased after getting him drunk? When Ba Qiu fought alone against a group, repelling several of the Ten Great City Lords, he didn't seem to show much pride.

Compared to those Ten Great City Lords who were renowned throughout the Inner Realm, he was merely an unknown, insignificant figure.

This strongest expert in the Inner Realm was truly interesting.

Hearing Liao's words, Lu Ye inexplicably felt as though he had lost a match.

He then turned his head to look at a small package nearby. The aura of Dao-Harmony Orb fragments clearly emanated from within it.

The war between the Dragon and Phoenix races against the Insect and Blood races' Cosmic-grade City had ended. The Phoenix Lord personally led the team, even borrowing the power of the Primordial Parasol Tree. Under such divine intervention, the Cosmic-grade City was simply unable to resist.

In that battle, the Dao-Harmony City was breached, many cultivators within were severely injured or killed, and its Dao-Harmony Orb was shattered.

These fragments were part of the spoils of war from that conflict. Of course, there were more fragments than this, but Lu Ye had only requested this amount at the time.

The Phoenix Lord had sent someone to deliver them, and there were even a few extra.

For the entire cultivation world, the fragments of a Dao-Harmony Orb had only one purpose: to be integrated into another Dao-Harmony Orb to strengthen the foundation of a specific Dao-Harmony City.

Few people would carry this item with them.

This was because it couldn't be stored in any storage space, and its aura was extremely noticeable, causing many inconveniences if carried around.

However, for Lu Ye, the Dao-Harmony Orb fragments had another use: practicing the Minor World Secret Art!

He didn't really understand the reason, but the practice of the Minor World Secret Art indeed required these fragments. This secret art originated from the Dragon and Phoenix ancestors, and they must have meticulously deduced it when creating it.

In other words, Dao-Harmony Orb fragments were indispensable cultivation tools.

Even when all these fragments were placed together, there was no sign of them merging, as they lacked a central point.

The Dao-Harmony Orb within a Dao-Harmony City served as the central point, allowing the fragments to easily merge into it.

Lu Ye took out a fragment from the package, examined it briefly, and then activated the power of the Talent Tree!

Since entering the Inner Realm, he had shattered many Dao-Harmony Orbs from various Dao-Harmony Cities, acquiring countless fragments, but he had never thought of using the power of the Talent Tree to refine them!

This was because the fragments themselves were useless for enhancing a cultivator's strength. Unlike Dao Fish, which could replenish a cultivator's Dao power reserves, cultivators couldn't refine these fragments.

Lu Ye, having a preconceived notion, naturally hadn't considered this.

However, now with the power of the Talent Tree activated, its invisible roots penetrated the fragment, and he could clearly sense something being absorbed by the Talent Tree from within the fragment.

Additionally, the Star Abyss aura that had infiltrated the fragment was being refined.

The fragment's color visibly darkened at a rapid pace.

As the nameless substance was absorbed into Lu Ye's body, he immediately calmed his mind and guided it, instantly feeling a cool sensation moving within him.

Under his guidance, this nameless substance smoothly flowed into the Minor Flower Realm, re-coalescing at its very center.

Dao-Harmony Orb fragments could not be directly stored in the Minor Flower Realm, because strictly speaking, the Minor Flower Realm was a spatial dimension. However, being absorbed and then re-coalescing within it was not an issue.

In just a few breaths, the Dao-Harmony Orb fragment in Lu Ye's hand vanished without a trace.

In its place, a tiny spherical orb appeared at the center of the Minor Flower Realm.

That was undoubtedly a Dao-Harmony Orb!

However, this Dao-Harmony Orb was minuscule, barely the size of a grain of rice, and it had no rank, as it had only re-coalesced from a single fragment.

It could arguably be called the smallest Dao-Harmony Orb in the world.

Almost the instant this tiny Dao-Harmony Orb formed, Lu Ye distinctly felt something from within his body rush into the Minor Flower Realm and merge with the small orb.

He was startled and quickly used his inner vision to inspect. He saw the tiny Dao-Harmony Orb was now emitting a light even more dazzling than that of Dragon City's Dao-Harmony Orb, blazing as brightly as a bursting sun.

It was known that the brightness of a Dao-Harmony Orb was directly related to its rank. Lu Ye had personally witnessed Yuanxi City's progression from nothing to its current Cosmic-grade status, having advanced significantly within that tier. Yet, it still couldn't compare to the Dao-Harmony Orbs of the Ten Great Cities like Dragon City.

Yet, at this moment, the light from the unranked Dao-Harmony Orb within his Minor Flower Realm was actually brighter than Dragon City's, indicating something unusual.

The light lasted only for a moment, then quickly receded and vanished, returning to normal.

This was...

Lu Ye gradually realized.

Focusing his mind slightly, his soul body appeared in the Minor Flower Realm, standing before the tiny Dao-Harmony Orb. Lu Ye tentatively called out, "Senior?"

There was no response.

However, two breaths later, an ancient voice reached Lu Ye's ears: "It seems you already had a guess."

Lu Ye raised an eyebrow. "It really is you!"

He had heard this ancient voice once before.

That was when he first entered the Harmony Realm and was about to leave.

At that time, he had suddenly entered a vast, snow-white world and heard this voice. Since then, he had gained the miraculous ability to shatter Dao-Harmony Orbs and collect all their fragments.

He had always felt that this ability wasn't his own, but rather came from that ball of light that had entered his body back then.

That was definitely the Spirit of the Dao-Harmony Orb!