Chapter 2810: Nurturing the Celestial Mirror

On Yuandao, Lu Ye and Xue Jiu stood side by side, gazing into the distance.

In their view, Xue Yuan and Xue Li’s figures quickly receded.

These two Blood Race Half-Sages ultimately failed to learn the truth about Xue Tianxing’s death from Xue Jiu. The only thing they could confirm was that Xue Tianxing’s death was related to Xue Jiu.

Yet, they couldn’t believe Xue Jiu truly had the ability to kill a Half-Sage strong cultivator.

Under these circumstances, if Xue Jiu wouldn’t tell the truth, they were powerless.

The matter was settled; there was no point in them continuing to pester.

Xue Li, however, still wanted to retrieve Xue Tianxing’s relics. The other items were negligible, but the crucial point was the supreme treasure obtained from a previous ritual, which Xue Tianxing had taken.

How could Xue Jiu hand over this supreme treasure? He and Lu Ye had made a blood oath, and now that he had gained something, that supreme treasure already belonged to Lu Ye.

"Fantastic!" Xue Jiu burst into laughter. Although there had been complications, they had ultimately passed through safely. Having survived this ordeal with immense gains, he was truly in high spirits.

Lu Ye also let out a sigh of relief as an overwhelming sense of fatigue swept over him.

This battle had involved first confronting Xue Tianxing, then escaping the pursuit of two Blood Race Half-Sages, and finally encountering Yang Qing here, which had shaken his mind.

He turned his head and looked towards the depths of Yuandao, extending his spiritual sense, but found nothing.

Even now, he didn’t know where the True Sages were hiding, or how Yang Qing could have become Saint One.

From the current situation, Yang Qing must have been in the Origin World countless millennia ago. If so, what was the deal with the Yang Qing he encountered in the starry sky?

He desperately wanted to find Yang Qing and ask for clarification, but he knew in his heart that it would be futile.

The True Sages were all puppets, devoid of their own intelligence. Yang Qing and Saint Seven’s previous appearances were merely acts driven by instinct.

Yuandao fell silent, undisturbed by anyone.

Xue Jiu and Lu Ye each found a spot to rest and recuperate from their injuries.

Although their injuries looked grim, both were exceptionally vital individuals, so recovery was not a difficult task.

After several days, Xue Jiu began to diligently refine Xue Tianxing’s bloodline, preparing himself to become a Saint.

Meanwhile, Lu Ye inscribed Dao marks within his Inner Heaven and Earth while taking out the supreme treasure he had obtained from Xue Tianxing’s relics.

This supreme treasure was a purely offensive type, possessing its own unique mysteries, but it was useless to Lu Ye. Therefore, he intended to fully refine and absorb it, turning it into nutrients to nourish his other supreme treasure fruits.

As for which fruit these nutrients should be channeled to, Lu Ye hesitated slightly.

Currently, the Talent Tree had two mature fruits: the Myriad Poison Bead and the Starry Sky Chessboard, and one undeveloped fruit, which was Xue Jiu’s Heavenly Firmament Mirror.

The power of the Myriad Poison Bead had already been proven. Its contribution was immense in his and Xue Jiu’s ability to kill Xue Tianxing. This item was highly useful, whether for sneak attacks or creating an army of poisoned corpses.

However, the Myriad Poison Bead fruit had already undergone significant growth previously, and its current power even surpassed its normal state. While there was still room for further growth, even if more nutrients were supplied, the efficiency of growth wouldn’t be very high.

Thus, Lu Ye was inclined to channel the nutrients to either the Starry Sky Chessboard or the Heavenly Firmament Mirror fruit. Faced with this choice, Lu Ye deliberated for only a moment before making a decision.

Activating the power of the Talent Tree, invisible roots plunged into the supreme treasure, devouring it freely.

The mystery transformed into nutrients, flowing into the tree trunk and, under Lu Ye’s guidance, towards a slight bulge on the tree.

Visibly, the bulge slowly grew larger, then transformed into a small bud, gleaming with colorful light, truly delightful.

The bud continued to absorb nutrients, blooming open, becoming even more radiant.

Once the petals withered, the fruit slowly took shape.

The small Heavenly Firmament Mirror hung on the branch, steadily growing larger.

Until a certain moment, when the supreme treasure in Lu Ye’s hand turned to dust and dissipated, this Heavenly Firmament Mirror fruit finally fully recovered.

Lu Ye immediately immersed his mind, comprehending its mysteries.

In fact, he had been doing this while the Heavenly Firmament Mirror fruit was continuously growing, but since the fruit hadn’t fully matured, his comprehension wasn’t thorough.

The more he comprehended, the more delighted Lu Ye became.

His choice this time was indeed correct.

He chose the Heavenly Firmament Mirror fruit over the Starry Sky Chessboard primarily because Lu Ye subconsciously felt that the Heavenly Firmament Mirror fruit could enhance his individual strength to a greater extent. The Starry Sky Chessboard was different; it was a rule-based supreme treasure. Once the chessboard was spread out and the game began, it had to follow various rules, and even Lu Ye, its master, would have to pay a certain price to break them.

The Heavenly Firmament Mirror would not have these limitations, allowing it to enhance his combat power to a greater degree.

Moreover, Lu Ye keenly noticed something: Xue Jiu, the Heavenly Firmament Mirror’s former owner, had not fully utilized the supreme treasure’s power.

From everything Lu Ye had currently investigated, if Xue Jiu could truly unleash the full power of this supreme treasure, he would be virtually invincible in the Inner Realm, matching even Ba Qiu without losing an inch.

In reality, however, in the battle on the snowfield that day, Xue Jiu, even when teaming up with several of the Ten Great City Lords, was ultimately defeated by Ba Qiu.

This was fortunate, because if Xue Jiu truly possessed such strength, he wouldn’t have been able to escape from the Blood Race territory that day.

Now that the Heavenly Firmament Mirror’s power was fully restored, Lu Ye’s combat strength had significantly increased, even without inscribing Dao marks in his Inner Heaven and Earth.

The only thing that frustrated him was that wielding the power of a supreme treasure consumed a considerable amount of his own energy, as evident from his repeated activation of the Myriad Poison Bead fruit’s power earlier.

This indicated that Xue Jiu’s inability to unleash the full power of the Heavenly Firmament Mirror was not due to his personal aptitude, but rather insufficient strength and cultivation realm.

Lu Ye estimated that only at the Half-Sage level could one barely unleash the full power of a supreme treasure.

He continued to inscribe Dao marks. With the Inner Heaven and Earth Secret Art reaching its eighth stage, the upper limit for Dao marks within his small world had increased again, leading to an astonishing consumption of Dao fish on Lu Ye’s part.

Xue Jiu was also on the other side, refining Xue Tianxing’s bloodline, with neither disturbing the other.

Lu Ye found it hard to imagine that he and Xue Jiu would one day coexist in such a manner.

In the current situation, as long as Xue Jiu could become a Half-Sage, he would be able to establish a firm foothold among the Blood Race. Consequently, Lu Ye’s own status as a "blood slave" would also rise, and at the very least, survival in this Origin World would no longer be an issue.

There was only one thing to be wary of.

Despite the blood oath, Xue Jiu wouldn’t have any immediate ulterior motives, but it was hard to say what he would be like once he truly became a Half-Sage.

However, it was pointless to consider such things now. Lu Ye figured that even if Xue Jiu harbored ill intentions towards him, he wouldn’t turn hostile as long as he still wanted to borrow the power of the Conjoint Dao Bead.

After all, Xue Jiu’s Grand-tier Conjoint Dao Bead was still in his possession.

With this Conjoint Dao Bead, even if he was a newly advanced Half-Sage, he could display strength far surpassing other Half-Sages.

Furthermore, Lu Ye himself was not a soft persimmon to be easily manipulated. Once his Inner Heaven and Earth reached the eighth stage of perfection, his strength might not be inferior to a Half-Sage’s.

"Clatter..." A strange sound interrupted Lu Ye’s thoughts, and he quickly looked up.

Above the firmament, boundless mysterious energy had transformed into a chain stretching across the sky, like a long dragon, appearing and disappearing among the clouds.

Lu Ye’s expression instantly turned solemn.

"Is this for real now?" Xue Jiu appeared beside him at some unknown point, observing the phenomenon with great interest.

Since the Blood Race ritual several months ago, some phenomena had appeared in this Origin World. From Si Shengya, Lu Ye learned that someone in the Inner Realm was about to become a Saint, and moreover, a True Saint, which was why these phenomena were occurring.

Looking across the entire Inner Realm, there was no one else qualified to take this step except Ba Qiu.

Over these past few months, such phenomena had appeared intermittently, sometimes present, sometimes not.

This undoubtedly showed that Ba Qiu had been striving continuously. The entire Star Abyss was divided into three realms—Outer, Inner, and Origin—much like three levels of a pool of water. The stronger an individual, the heavier their essence, causing them to involuntarily sink deeper.

When Ba Qiu’s cultivation realm reached a certain level, he would naturally descend into the Origin World.

This was also the root cause of the various phenomena appearing.

However, none of the previous phenomena had ever been as real and visible as this one.

That’s why Xue Jiu uttered those words.

Lu Ye’s mood grew heavy.

Xue Jiu could watch the spectacle and feel schadenfreude, but Lu Ye was different. Deep down, he did not wish to see Ba Qiu become a Saint, because once he took that step, he would inevitably be completely eroded by the Abyss’s will, turning into a puppet like Yang Qing, losing all sense of self.

How could a proud person like him tolerate such a thing happening? If it truly came to that, it would probably be more agonizing than death itself.

In the Inner Realm, no one knew the truth about becoming a Saint; Ba Qiu surely didn’t either, otherwise, he definitely wouldn’t have made this choice.

Although Lu Ye wished to inform him, how could he, being in two separate realms?

Furthermore, Si Shengya had said that the more True Saints there were, the clearer the Abyss’s consciousness would become. From all past indications, the Abyss’s consciousness, even if not fully born yet, was not far from it.

Therefore, if Ba Qiu truly became a True Saint, it was highly likely to trigger some extremely dire consequences.

"Xue Jiu, what do you think this restriction is all about?" Lu Ye suddenly asked softly.

The visible chain phenomenon was a form of restriction in this realm. Being a restriction, it certainly wasn’t naturally formed.

But whose hand created it? The Abyss?

Probably not. The Abyss’s consciousness hadn’t fully emerged, so it naturally couldn’t possess such a method.

But if not the Abyss, then who could it be?

"You’re asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?" Xue Jiu scoffed. "This lord doesn’t care about that."

What he cared about most now was refining Xue Tianxing’s bloodline and becoming a Half-Saint. He had already seen hope. If it weren’t for the prominent phenomenon at this moment, and its connection to Ba Qiu, he wouldn’t have taken a break from his busy schedule to watch the show.

Compared to Ba Qiu becoming a True Saint, he preferred becoming a Half-Saint. Hadn’t he seen how those True Saints were like walking corpses, devoid of thought?

He wouldn’t even deign to look at such a True Saint, even if someone knelt and begged him.

But just thinking that his greatest enemy in the Inner Realm was about to become like that filled him with immense joy.

"Clatter..." The chain-like restriction became increasingly solid, piercing through the clouds, seemingly penetrating into another world, as if to chain the one who triggered the restriction in that realm.

Lu Ye sighed, knowing in his heart that Ba Qiu was truly serious this time. With his qualifications and foundation, the path to becoming a Saint was unstoppable!