Chapter 2816: Eightfold Perfection

"Dragon Sovereign, please keep an eye on the situation over there. If a battle breaks out, inform me immediately," Lu Ye messaged.

"What do you intend to do?" the Dragon Sovereign asked.

Lu Ye replied, "Tyrant Qiong has helped me greatly. If he falls into trouble, I cannot stand by and do nothing."

The Dragon Sovereign immediately retorted, annoyed, "This is an adult matter; what business does a child like you have meddling in it?"

If a battle were to genuinely erupt, Lu Ye, being a lower-tier Dao Integration cultivator, would be courting death by rashly getting involved. The Dragon Sovereign didn't deny Lu Ye's strength, acknowledging that he would undoubtedly grow even stronger in the future, perhaps reaching heights the Dragon Sovereign himself had never achieved. However, Lu Ye was currently far from capable of participating in such a conflict.

Despite this, the Dragon Sovereign continued, "You should first return to Dragon City and rest well for a while. I will discuss it with you in detail once the Phoenix Master and I return. I will keep you updated on the situation here at all times."

"Thank you, Dragon Sovereign," Lu Ye replied.

His Dao power surged frantically, and Lu Ye dedicated himself even more intently to engraving the Dao marks within his Inner Heaven and Earth.

With a major battle imminent, any increase in strength was beneficial. After such a long period of continuous effort, he vaguely felt that he was not far from completing the eighth stage of the Small World Secret Art.

At this very moment, in the starfield where Dragon City was located, a modestly sized Dao Integration City floated quietly.

It was Yuan Xi City.

Lu Ye had left after taking over as city lord back then. Considering the city's weak foundation and sparse population, he had instructed You Die to pilot the city near Dragon City for protection.

Given his relationship with the Dragon Race, this was naturally a minor matter.

Subsequently, You Die followed Lu Ye's orders and brought Yuan Xi City to this location.

Over this long period, everyone in the city had been cultivating quietly, striving to improve themselves.

Only Fu Wei seemed to have nothing to do all day.

Fu Wei was somewhat flustered. This was because ever since he found Lu Ye, his designated destiny, his strength had been increasing at an extremely abnormal rate.

The Divination Tribe was a unique race; their numbers had been scarce since ancient times. Furthermore, the Divination Tribe members were not born through reproduction like other races; they were begotten by the universe itself.

The cultivation of the Divination Tribe was also very peculiar. For instance, Fu Wei had been at the peak of Dao Fusion many years ago, yet before he found his destiny, no matter how hard he cultivated, he couldn't take that crucial next step.

It wasn't until he followed the prophecy left by his ancestor, appearing at the right place at the right time, that he found his destiny.

From then on, his fate and Lu Ye's became intertwined, much like Tyrant Qiong and Tyrant Xia, sharing both glory and disgrace.

The day Lu Ye broke through his restraints and ascended to Dao Integration was also the day Fu Wei shattered his own shackles.

After that, every increase in Lu Ye's strength brought a corresponding feedback to Fu Wei.

Consequently, Fu Wei didn't need to cultivate himself. Over the years, his strength had surged, climbing steadily as if reaching for the sky.

According to his understanding, the ten great city lords typically possessed a fundamental strength of only about three to four thousand units of Dao power. With their cultivation as high-tier Dao Integration cultivators, if they were near their own Dao Integration Cities, their full power could reach nearly ten thousand units of Dao power.

Yet, his current fundamental strength was far more than three to four thousand. It had already reached five thousand!

In terms of fundamental strength alone, he had even surpassed the ten great city lords. He wasn't sure if he had exceeded Tyrant Qiong, but the fundamental strength of the Inner Realm's strongest individual was undoubtedly far greater than that of the other ten city lords, which was why he could securely hold his position as the Inner Realm's top powerhouse.

The crucial point was that this strength continued to increase. Every so often, a new Dao mark inexplicably appeared on his Dao bone.

This left him astonished, delighted, and apprehensive all at once.

He had no idea how Lu Ye cultivated or how he could achieve such a significant increase in strength in such a short time. Considering Fu Wei himself possessed such a formidable foundation, Lu Ye's foundation must undoubtedly be even stronger!

For him, this was a truly blissful dilemma, as he was unsure if such an increase in strength was normal. From ancient times until now, such strange phenomena had never occurred in the Star Abyss.

Crucially, he couldn't discuss this with anyone. He had thought about asking his ancestor, but his ancestor was as elusive as a dragon, impossible to find.

As he was troubled, a layer of luminescence suddenly flashed in Fu Wei's eyes. He suddenly froze, and his entire aura became incredibly ethereal. He raised his hand, took out several turtle shells, and tossed them forward.

The turtle shells immediately darted and shifted before him, gradually forming a straight line.

He stared at them for a moment, then raised his hand to collect them, putting the turtle shells back into his pouch. He then strode towards the Central Grand Hall.

Inside the Central Grand Hall, only You Die was present. Even in Dragon City, You Die had not let down her guard. Lu Ye had entrusted Yuan Xi City to her before he left, and she naturally intended to guard it carefully.

Sensing movement, she slightly opened her eyes and looked at Fu Wei as he stepped inside. She couldn't help but frown, as Fu Wei felt somewhat strange today. Usually, he was the most unreliable and erratic person in all of Yuan Xi City, but today, Fu Wei's expression seemed very solemn.

"What's wrong?" You Die asked.

The luminescence in Fu Wei's eyes still lingered. He slowly said, "Senior Sister, we need to go somewhere."

"Where?" You Die frowned.

"Here!" Fu Wei took out a star map, made a mark, and handed it to You Die.

You Die took it and, puzzled, asked, "Why?"

Fu Wei said, "Senior Brother Lu is waiting for us there!"

You Die paused, then exclaimed in surprise, "Brother Ye is back?"

Ever since Lu Ye left, there had been no news of him. Yuan Xi City, having taken in Zhu Yin and Su Yan, was able to gather some intelligence and learned that Lu Ye had somehow gone missing. This had caused great worry among everyone in the city. Upon suddenly hearing news of Lu Ye, You Die was naturally overjoyed.

"I don't know!" Fu Wei shook his head.

"You don't know?" You Die asked, puzzled. "Then why do you say Brother Ye is waiting for us there?"

"He is waiting for us there!" Fu Wei looked at You Die earnestly.

You Die gazed at him silently for a moment, then nodded slightly. "I understand!"

She knew something of Fu Wei's abilities and had never seen him this serious before. She vaguely realized that Fu Wei must have foreseen something, which was why he had come to her.

However, she couldn't make such a significant decision alone, so she immediately summoned the other Dao Integration cultivators in the city.

Moments later, Su Yan, Zhu Yin, and Huan Qing gathered there.

Yuan Xi City currently had only ten members in total, but five of them were at the Dao Integration level. Furthermore, both Su Yan and Zhu Yin were already mid-tier Dao Integration cultivators and, as deputy city lords, could receive a certain degree of power amplification from the Dao Integration Orb.

Time flowed by, and more than a month passed in a flash.

Lu Ye, who had been sitting still, slowly opened his eyes.

The eighth stage of the Small World Secret Art was complete!

When he entered the Origin World, his Small World Secret Art had only recently broken through to the seventh stage. His smooth advancement and breakthrough this time were entirely due to acquiring a large number of Dao Integration Orb fragments from the abyss in the Origin World.

Otherwise, if Lu Ye had to rely solely on conquering cities and strongholds to collect Dao Integration Orb fragments, it would have been troublesome. Although his strength was formidable now, he was not yet capable of single-handedly breaching a Cosmic-level city. Relying only on attacking Dao Integration Cities below the Cosmic level to gather fragments would ultimately require a significant accumulation of time.

However, it was different beneath that abyss. All shattered Dao Integration Orb fragments, after vanishing into the void, would flow from that location. Lu Ye only needed to intercept them, which was convenient and fast.

Silently feeling his own power, Lu Ye's eyes were clear. Compared to the completion of the seventh stage, his current completion of the eighth stage had brought about a massive increase in his own strength.

Previously, upon completing the seventh stage, the Small World Secret Art had boosted his fundamental strength by 4,500 units of Dao, but now it was a full 7,000 units!

This was nearly consistent with Lu Ye's previous expectations. However, because this increase in strength had accumulated little by little, Lu Ye didn't feel a sudden surge of power.

If the eighth stage was 7,000 units, wouldn't the ninth stage, upon completion, exceed 10,000? Lu Ye was shocked.

He had previously estimated that individuals like Xue Jiu had a fundamental strength of around 4,000 units of Dao. This was because in the Origin World, without the amplification of the Dao Integration Orb, his own strength was not significantly different from Xue Jiu's.

Yet, his current fundamental strength was already close to 8,500 units of Dao. Compared to Xue Jiu, this was a difference of more than double, an immense disparity.

If he hadn't been rejected, with his current foundation, he could easily stand at the pinnacle of the Inner Realm.

Presently, due to the Abyss's malice, he found it difficult to borrow external power. However, it wasn't entirely impossible; the Abyss's will couldn't completely sever his connection with the outside world, though the external power he could borrow was minimal. Therefore, if he truly had to contend with someone, he could still exert over 9,000 units of power.

With such strength, he could barely participate in the battle that might break out soon. Compared to the ten great city lords, his strength might be slightly inferior, but he still had the Ten Thousand Poisons Orb. As long as he could injure his enemies during battle, he could gradually seize the advantage.

"It seems they can't hold back any longer," came the Dragon Sovereign's thought through the Dragon Scroll at that moment.

Although Lu Ye had been cultivating during this period, his communication with the Dragon Sovereign had never ceased, and he was thus aware of Tyrant Qiong's situation.

Ever since the Inner Realm's top powerhouse failed his breakthrough and departed dejectedly, those conniving individuals had been shadowing him, both openly and covertly, even making a few probing moves during that time.

Now, they could finally no longer restrain themselves and were preparing to act against Tyrant Qiong.

Hearing this, Lu Ye abruptly stood up.

The timing was perfect!

He first checked the Dao power reserves within his Talent Tree, confirming they were abundant. Although engraving Dao marks during this period had consumed a vast amount of energy, he had continuously replenished it with the help of Dao Fish, so the Dao power reserves in his Talent Tree had only increased, never diminished.

With such reserves, let alone one major battle, even ten wouldn't be a problem.

Several fruits swayed on the Talent Tree, especially the Ten Thousand Poisons Orb fruit, which was enveloped in an inexplicable aura. This was a potent venom Lu Ye had concocted using massive amounts of Dao power, ready to be deployed at any moment during battle.

Raising his hand, he pointed forward, and a halo rippled through the void before him.

Lu Ye stepped forward, and his figure vanished.

When he reappeared, he was already in the grand hall of the Confluence Realm.