Chapter 2768: The Seventh Level

On the isolated island, Lu Ye stood still, gazing into the distance.

Xue Jiu had left.

Although they had reached a consensus and agreed to cooperate, it was merely a verbal agreement. Both Lu Ye and Xue Jiu knew well that such an agreement carried no binding force.

Their animosity couldn't be easily set aside. It was simply the unique nature of their current predicament that made Xue Jiu disinclined to continue battling Lu Ye, especially after encountering Saint Qi.

Should an opportunity arise in the future, Xue Jiu would certainly seek retribution, just as Lu Ye wouldn't easily let Xue Jiu off if given the chance.

They were both fully aware of this.

Turning to look around, Lu Ye felt a pang of bewilderment, momentarily unsure of where to go.

Xue Jiu claimed this place was the Origin Realm, and Lu Ye could only provisionally believe him. However, Lu Ye had no idea how much this Blood Lord truly knew about the Origin Realm.

He certainly didn't believe the other party would be so kind as to share all their intel.

Therefore, he would have to investigate the situation in the Origin Realm himself.

As far as he knew, the Origin Realm was a domain, but its environment differed significantly from domains in the starry sky. Within the Origin Realm, Dao power was incredibly dense, and the cultivation environment was excellent. Moreover, when Lu Ye and Xue Jiu fought earlier, he noticed another issue: the impact and destruction their powers caused to the surrounding environment were much less severe than under normal circumstances.

Comparatively, the destructive effect was perhaps less than ten percent.

This undoubtedly meant that the stability of the Origin Realm far surpassed any place Lu Ye had ever visited.

After a brief contemplation, he leaped up and flew upwards.

Since the Origin Realm was a domain, could he escape it by continuously flying upwards? What did it look like outside the Origin Realm? Would he return directly to the Inner Realm?

Although he felt there wasn't much hope, he still had to try.

As his body ascended, numerous islands dotted the vast blue ocean in his vision, scattered like stars. Beneath the surface, unknown dangers seemed to lurk, moving with the undercurrents.

At a certain point, Lu Ye suddenly frowned.

He felt a subtle resistance pressing down from above, which became increasingly pronounced as he continued to ascend.

When he was roughly ten thousand zhang above the sea, Lu Ye stopped.

He could no longer fly higher. By this point, the resistance from above was significant; while not insurmountable, it wasn't the only force preventing his ascent.

There was also an invisible pulling force from below…

It felt as if an invisible shackle was fastened to his legs, dragging him downwards.

However, Lu Ye observed carefully, yet found nothing, neither above nor below.

A moment later, Lu Ye returned to the original small island, his expression solemn.

Through his recent attempt, he could confirm that mere flight wouldn't allow him to leave this domain. There seemed to be an invisible force preventing living beings from departing.

He was greatly frustrated.

If that were the case, then wouldn't this Origin Realm be a cage? Just as Xue Jiu had said before, this damned place was easy to enter but difficult to leave.

Throughout history, those who achieved sainthood and entered here were effectively trapped, never to leave in their lifetime.

How did Qi get out?

During the Star Abyss Progeny's competition, she was in charge of presiding. She must have left the Origin Realm then.

However, Lu Ye then reconsidered: the arena for that competition was a fragment of the starry sky. She might not have truly left the Origin Realm; perhaps that fragment was located within the Origin Realm itself.

And San…

Lu Ye recalled that after San struck him, chains suddenly appeared from his body, dragging him down into the ethereal unknown.

Judging from this, even if San could leave the Origin Realm, he couldn't do so for long. The moment he exerted power outside, a certain force from within the Origin Realm would bind him and pull him back.

Just like how Unity Realm cultivators couldn't stay in the Outer Realm for extended periods before.

What kind of force was this?

It was so powerful that even Saints found it hard to resist. Faced with the restraint of those chains, San was utterly helpless, which was simply terrifying.

Unable to figure these things out for now, Lu Ye put his thoughts aside, returned to his previous hiding spot, made some quick arrangements, and sat down cross-legged.

His current situation was unfavorable, but no matter the circumstances, personal strength was paramount. As long as one was powerful enough, there was always a chance to carve out a path, no matter how dire the situation.

While entangled with Xue Jiu, he had already refined all the previously acquired Unity Orb fragments into his Inner World.

Currently, the grade of the Unity Orb in his Inner World had already been elevated to the Flood-tier, and based on Lu Ye's observations, it was not far from the Cosmos-tier.

His only regret was not being able to break a Cosmos-tier Unity City in the Blood Race territory; otherwise, his current grade would undoubtedly be above Cosmos-tier.

The Flood-tier Unity Orb was sufficient to support his Small World Secret Art in completing its seventh stage of cultivation, which was his foundation.

At the sixth stage, the Small World Secret Art had brought him a power increase of 2,800 Dao marks. He wondered how much more his strength would grow if he cultivated it to the seventh stage completion.

Lu Ye was filled with anticipation.

Unlike the mainstream cultivation systems of the current cultivation world, the cultivation of the Small World Secret Art brought remarkably significant and substantial improvements.

It was a pity that the cultivation method left by the Dragon and Phoenix Ancestors had overly stringent entry requirements; even the Dragon and Phoenix clans themselves were not qualified to practice it, making widespread adoption impossible. Otherwise, the cultivation world would likely see everyone become like dragons.

As before, the cultivation of the seventh stage began with constructing the Pillars of the World.

Lu Ye simultaneously activated the power of the Space Dao Seed and the Fruit of Time within him, harmonizing Yin and Yang, and evolving the power of space-time.

With practice, Lu Ye's efficiency in constructing the Pillars of the World within his Small World was now immeasurably faster than before.

The construction of each Pillar of the World made the Small World more stable, and Lu Ye could clearly feel that the volume of his Small World was continuously expanding.

His initial Small World, the Little Flower Realm, wasn't exactly tiny, but it certainly wasn't large.

However, compared to its initial state, the Small World had expanded by more than a hundredfold in volume alone. And this was only the seventh stage; the secret art had a total of nine stages. He truly wondered what his Small World would become after reaching the ninth stage completion.

Moreover, in Lu Ye's perception, there seemed to be something more beyond the ninth stage.

After the Dragon and Phoenix Ancestors created this secret art, it seemed no one had cultivated it, so even the Dragon Ancestor couldn't fully predict the trajectory of its cultivation.

The Origin Realm seemed very peaceful.

Since the day his commotion attracted Saint Qi, Lu Ye hadn't encountered any other living beings, and the small island he was on remained undisturbed.

Even Xue Jiu had sent no news.

From this alone, it was clear that the Blood Lord wasn't genuinely interested in cooperating with him; otherwise, he would have contacted Lu Ye by now, given the time that had passed.

He must have gathered some intelligence, yet he never intended to share it with Lu Ye.

Lu Ye couldn't be bothered with him and continued his cultivation.

For now, his strength was considerably weaker than Xue Jiu's, but if he could cultivate the Small World Secret Art to its seventh stage completion, it would be hard to say who was stronger.

The next time they met, if Xue Jiu wished to contend with him again, he would certainly be in for a surprise.

Over a month later, the final Pillar of the World was completed.

The Small World hummed, and the entire world vibrated incessantly, yet Lu Ye felt no discomfort whatsoever; instead, he was in a pleasant mood.

He vaguely sensed that with this period of cultivation, the Small World seemed to have undergone some indescribable changes.

He even had a premonition that if he continued to cultivate, this Small World within him might truly evolve into a real world!

At that time, with lush greenery, singing birds, and fragrant flowers within the domain, he wondered what a magnificent sight it would be.

The preliminary preparations were complete, and next was the engraving of Dao marks.

This stage was also Lu Ye's favorite, as the engraving of each Dao mark represented an increase in his own strength. The clear and perceptible growth in power was truly addictive and irresistible.

Time flowed, and his Dao power was continuously consumed.

Compared to mainstream cultivation systems, the biggest issue with engraving Dao marks using the Small World Secret Art was the immense consumption of Dao power. Almost every Dao mark required Lu Ye to expend over ten thousand units of Dao power.

This was something impossible in normal cultivation systems.

Lu Ye had also engaged in normal cultivation, and comparatively, the Dao power consumed when engraving Dao marks during normal cultivation was practically negligible.

But the efficiency was too low.

Even after many years in the Tower of Time, he had only managed to engrave fifty Dao marks onto his Dao Bone.

During his cultivation, Lu Ye discovered something quite interesting.

The Dao power storage limit of the Talent Tree was now over a million.

This was clearly due to the Talent Tree's transformation.

Before the transformation, the Talent Tree's maximum Dao power storage was one million; it couldn't accommodate any more. But now, it had surpassed this limit. As for the true limit... Lu Ye didn't know.

He couldn't use up so much Dao power all at once. The process of engraving Dao marks consumed Dao power, and when his reserves were low, he would devour and refine Dao fish to replenish them, repeating the cycle.

Several months passed in a flash.

Then, one day, Lu Ye frowned deeply.

His cultivation had proceeded smoothly. The total number of Dao marks in his Small World was currently three thousand five hundred, meaning the Small World Secret Art alone could provide him with 3,500 units of basic power.

Including his own 1,300-plus units and the fifty Dao marks engraved on his Dao Bone, his total basic strength was nearly 5,000 units.

Compared to before, his basic strength had increased by another 700 units.

This was a significant improvement. After a cultivator reached the Unity Realm, increasing their basic strength was often very difficult, requiring time, precipitation, and accumulation.

This demonstrated the formidable power of the Small World Secret Art.

And 3,500 Dao marks was not the limit for the seventh stage of this secret art; Lu Ye still had room for continuous improvement.

The awkward situation, however, was that his supply of Dao fish was almost depleted.