Chapter 2800: Swallowing the Ultimate Treasure

Winds Stir the Nine Provinces

"Repeat after me!" Xue Jiu formed an intricate seal with his hand, his expression solemn as he gazed at Lu Ye, then began to chant. What he chanted was nothing more than the agreement he had made with Lu Ye earlier.

As the chanting continued, Lu Ye felt the burning sensation on his forehead intensify, as if his skull would be seared through, though he knew it was merely an illusion. Moments later, as Xue Jiu altered his hand seal, the patterns on both their foreheads slowly faded, and the burning sensation gradually subsided. Only then did Xue Jiu let out a long breath, exclaiming, "It's done!"

Lu Ye silently assessed himself, discovering that his bloodline indeed held a new constraint. This constraint prevented him from easily violating their prior agreement while working with Xue Jiu; otherwise, he would suffer a massive backlash. This backlash might not be fatal, but it was certainly not something one could casually endure. He was secretly surprised. This blood oath truly proved effective. While not comparable to the Star Abyss Oath, it was a profound and exceptionally firm restriction originating from the bloodline itself.

In silence, Lu Ye slowly extended a hand toward Xue Jiu. Xue Jiu stared fixedly at him, his eyes filled with reluctance, but ultimately, he sighed and took out the Cāng Qióng Mirror, offering it to Lu Ye. With the blood oath set, there was no turning back. If this scheme succeeded, he would rise to prominence; if it failed, he would lose everything. It was easy to say, but how could he bear to take this step? After years of arduous management in the Inner Realm, this was his only supreme treasure.

Lu Ye reached out to take it, but couldn't. Xue Jiu clutched the Cāng Qióng Mirror tightly.

"Is there anything else you wish to say, Blood Lord?" Lu Ye asked, looking at him.

Xue Jiu's lips twitched, but in the end, he shook his head and released his grip. Lu Ye picked up the Cāng Qióng Mirror and examined it from all sides. At first glance, this supreme treasure appeared remarkably ordinary, like a common bronze mirror used by any household. Yet, the aura of a supreme treasure emanating from it was incredibly potent. Xue Jiu had controlled this artifact for countless millennia, clearly dedicating immense energy and time to nurturing it.

"It has no sentience?" Lu Ye asked.

Xue Jiu retorted impatiently, "How proud are supreme treasures? If it had sentience, why would it let me use it?" He explained that when he first sought to claim the Starry Sky Chessboard, he also had to first destroy its sentience; otherwise, he couldn't acquire it. Unfortunately, by a twist of fate, Lu Ye ended up benefiting from that.

Lu Ye nodded, said nothing more, and with a flip of his hand, put the Cāng Qióng Mirror away. For him, this was an unexpected boon. Originally, his plan was to find an opportunity to kill Xue Jiu and seize this supreme treasure once his strength was sufficient. But honestly, with his current power, that would have been quite difficult. The Lord of Blood Drinking City was not someone to be easily manipulated. With the supreme treasure in hand, Lu Ye wasn't confident he could defeat him. He had not expected Xue Jiu to willingly hand over the supreme treasure now. If Xue Jiu hadn't wanted to seize Xue Tianxing's bloodline, and if the Blood Clan in the Inner Realm hadn't been likely under attack, Xue Jiu would never have made such a decision.

He didn't rush to have the Talent Tree devour the Cāng Qióng Mirror. Instead, he continued collecting the Fusion Orb fragments. Xue Jiu had already paid his chips; now it was his turn to reap some reward.

"Blood Lord," Lu Ye slowly began, "I've been thinking, constructing a Fusion City wouldn't be a wise decision!"

Xue Jiu replied, "I just said that casually. You just need to help me condense the Fusion Orb!"

In the Inner Realm, there are many Fusion Cities because Fusion Orbs are too fragile. Therefore, city lords need to build Fusion Cities and rely on their defenses to protect the Fusion Orbs. They couldn't carry Fusion Orbs with them into battle; otherwise, collateral damage from a fight could destroy the orb, leaving them with nothing but regret. But with a Fusion City, it's different. Protected by numerous formations and guarded by their subordinates, the Fusion Orb would be in a relatively secure environment. This applies to the Inner Realm, but not to the Prime Realm, because the Prime Realm has never had Fusion Orbs, let alone Fusion Cities, since ancient times. So, if Xue Jiu were to truly build a Fusion City, no matter how small, it would attract attention from all sides, making it impossible to proceed with their plans. Therefore, Xue Jiu could only possess a Fusion Orb, not a Fusion City.

"It's good that the Blood Lord understands!" As he spoke, Lu Ye had already collected dozens of fragments and handed them over to Xue Jiu.

Xue Jiu joyfully accepted them, channeling his power to merge the fragments. Fusing Fusion Orb fragments was not difficult; it only required a cultivator to provide a slight guide, as the fragments were originally a single entity. And Xue Jiu himself had risen step by step from the lower ranks, so he was naturally proficient in this matter. In just a moment, a dimly colored Fusion Orb was created. He immediately began refining it. There was one thing he urgently needed to confirm. Although it should be fine, he wouldn't be at ease without verifying it.

After a day passed, Xue Jiu revealed a joyful expression: "It works!" He had been worried about one thing: whether the Fusion Orb's amplification effect would work in the Prime Realm, as it was something unprecedented in the Prime Realm's history, with no prior examples. Now that he had refined the Fusion Orb and experienced it firsthand, he could confirm this point. The Fusion Orb in his hand was only of the lowest Yellow-grade quality. Yet, with it, he could increase his base strength by ten percent. Given his already profound foundation, this ten percent was quite substantial. He turned, looking at Lu Ye with an eager expression, his meaning unmistakably clear.

Lu Ye didn't hesitate. Since he now had a large collection of Fusion Orb fragments, he simply needed to share some with Xue Jiu. Thus, for the next period, both men were busy merging Fusion Orb fragments. As time passed, the quality of the Fusion Orb in Xue Jiu's hand gradually improved.

Until a certain moment, Lu Ye frowned. Xue Jiu stood beside him, his face so grim it looked like water might drip from it. The reason was simple: the flow of Fusion Orb fragments passing before them had begun rapidly diminishing several days prior. By this point, they hadn't seen a single fragment for three hours.

"The war has probably ended," Lu Ye slowly stated.

How could Xue Jiu not know this? Previously, there was a large number of Fusion Orb fragments because many Fusion Cities were successively breached. Now, after such a long time without seeing any fragments, there was no explanation other than the war's conclusion. If his and Lu Ye's previous conjecture was true, it meant the Blood Clan had suffered a crushing defeat in this war. What about Blood Drinking City? What was its condition? Xue Jiu was deeply distressed by this, yet unable to verify it, which made him feel extremely uneasy.

"Blood Lord, there's something I've long wanted to ask," Lu Ye suddenly said.

Xue Jiu composed himself and gravely asked, "What is it?"

"They say the Ten Great Fusion Cities each have something special about them. What exactly is this special quality?"

Xue Jiu pondered for a moment. Before their cooperation, he certainly wouldn't have bothered with Lu Ye. But now, he mostly needed Lu Ye's help, so he could only reply, "The core of the Fusion Orb!"

"What do you mean?" Lu Ye asked, confused.

"Legend has it that when the Fusion Orb shattered, its most essential core split into ten parts. You can consider these ten core parts as fragments, but they are different from ordinary Fusion Orb fragments. Only by integrating one of these core fragments can a Fusion Orb be promoted to the Cosmos-grade!"

"I see!" Lu Ye realized. He couldn't help but entertain a thought: if Blood Drinking City was breached, then this core fragment would, predictably, fall into the hands of the Dragon and Phoenix Clans. This stirred a desire in Lu Ye. If he ever had the chance to return to the Inner Realm, he might be able to ask the Dragon Lord and Phoenix Lord for this core fragment. That way, he could also build a Cosmos-grade Fusion City. With his current foundation, he was certainly qualified to contend for a position among the Ten Great City Lords.

"That should be enough, right?" He looked at the Fusion Orb in Xue Jiu's hand. The war in the Inner Realm had concluded. It would be difficult to encounter such a favorable situation again, where large quantities of Fusion Orb fragments could be collected at will. Although they could continue collecting here, the efficiency would surely be much lower than before. After these busy days, the Fusion Orb in Xue Jiu's hand had reached the Desolate-grade quality. With this orb, his exerted strength had undoubtedly seen a significant boost.

Xue Jiu silently examined it: "It's not far from the Grand-grade. Would you mind working a bit longer? That way, we'll have greater certainty later."

Lu Ye thought for a moment, then nodded, "As you wish!" Anyway, he needed to cultivate the small world secret technique, and the subsequent construction of the World Pillar and engraving of Dao marks would require a great deal of time. For him, cultivating anywhere was still cultivating; there was no difference.

As he spoke, Lu Ye began to immerse his mind, constructing the World Pillar within his small world. He was already adept at this; with his spatiotemporal power surging, a World Pillar quickly came into being. Now, he could even divide his attention and take out the Cāng Qióng Mirror. Xue Jiu's gaze was immediately drawn. After a brief thought, he realized what Lu Ye was about to do and instantly widened his eyes, watching with curiosity. Not long ago, he had witnessed an artifact turn to dust in Lu Ye's hands, knowing it was due to the Myriad Poison Bead's devouring. So he was very curious: could the Myriad Poison Bead truly devour a supreme treasure? If so, that would be truly incredible.

As he watched, he didn't notice any obvious changes in the Cāng Qióng Mirror. He didn't even perceive any extra movements from Lu Ye, who simply held what was once his supreme treasure in his hand. What he didn't know was that at this moment, Lu Ye had activated the power of the Talent Tree, its invisible roots burrowing into the Cāng Qióng Mirror and devouring its mysterious essence. As the mysterious essence flowed into the Talent Tree, Lu Ye immediately guided it, pouring it into the Myriad Poison Bead fruit.

A supreme treasure was a supreme treasure after all. Compared to the numerous artifacts he had devoured previously, this unique nourishment was clearly much richer and more abundant. As this nourishment infused the Myriad Poison Bead fruit, the fruit visibly underwent changes: its size slowly increased, and its inner spiritual essence subtly shifted, gradually tending towards the original majestic appearance of a supreme treasure. The birth of both the Myriad Poison Bead fruit and the Starry Sky Chessboard fruit on the Talent Tree could be attributed to the Talent Tree directly devouring supreme treasures, though the processes differed. After bearing fruit, the supreme treasures' power was somewhat diminished, but they gained the characteristic of being able to grow. Therefore, Lu Ye estimated that by channeling all the mysterious essence from the Cāng Qióng Mirror into the Myriad Poison Bead fruit, it would undoubtedly restore it to its peak power, or even surpass it.