Chapter 2846: Yu-Level

The Winds of Kyushu Rise

Within the mystical site, Lu Ye stood silently, immersing his mind in examining the Talent Tree.

Compared to before, the Talent Tree had not changed much, except for a new bulge on its surface. This bulge represented the mysterious essence preserved from the Black Coffin. If the opportunity arose in the future, Lu Ye could restore the Black Coffin supreme treasure as a fruit on the tree.

Beyond that, the Sky Mirror fruit appeared to have grown a size larger. The Sky Mirror fruit had virtually absorbed ninety percent of the Black Coffin’s mysterious power this time, so it naturally grew. Just as the Myriad Poison Pearl fruit significantly enhanced the supreme treasure’s power after its growth, the Sky Mirror fruit would also gain power. The extent of its enhancement would require verification in future battles, and Lu Ye was quite looking forward to it. With this improvement, if he were to face formidable opponents like Zong Shenliang again, his chances of victory would increase.

Just as Lu Ye was about to withdraw his consciousness, he suddenly sensed something unusual. From the newly formed bulge on the Talent Tree, a small head unexpectedly emerged. Lu Ye was startled. Before he could react, a tiny figure floated out from the bulge, gazing around with curiosity and confusion. Such an unexpected development truly astonished him. Nothing like this had ever happened on the Talent Tree before.

Upon closer inspection, Lu Ye quickly identified the small figure as the materialized spirit of the Black Coffin. She had appeared to obstruct him during the final stages of refining the Black Coffin, though she hadn't succeeded. The Black Coffin had been refined, yet the spirit of this supreme treasure had been preserved? This was undoubtedly a surprising turn of events. It was known that the supreme treasures currently held by the Ten City Lords either had their spirits erased before being forcibly subdued, or they never possessed spirits to begin with. Ba Qiu's 'Shang' was an exception; Shang itself wasn't a supreme treasure. It was a weapon spirit, growing alongside Ba Qiu's cultivation. Lu Ye had expected the Black Coffin's spirit to be erased by the Talent Tree's refinement and absorption, but to his surprise, it wasn't.

The tiny figure looked like a miniature person. After silently observing its surroundings, it began flying around the Talent Tree, seemingly enjoying its current environment. Lu Ye carefully sensed and confirmed that this change had no adverse effect on the Talent Tree, which put him somewhat at ease. With another thought, the tiny figure flying on the Talent Tree was immediately caught as if by an invisible binding force. It involuntarily transformed into a streak of black light, re-entering the bulge and vanishing. It appeared that although the supreme treasure's spirit was preserved after the Talent Tree absorbed the Black Coffin, it remained subject to the Talent Tree's control. This greatly reassured him; otherwise, having such a peculiar existence within the Talent Tree would ultimately be a security risk.

Speaking of which, this was his first time using the Talent Tree to absorb a supreme treasure with a spirit. The spirits of the Starry Sky Chessboard and Sky Mirror fruits on the Talent Tree had long been erased by Xue Jiu. While the Myriad Poison Pearl initially possessed a spirit, it naturally vanished after being refined into ninety-nine subsidiary treasures by the Creation Divine Cauldron. Lu Ye suddenly felt a sense of anticipation. He wondered what it would be like when the Black Coffin's supreme treasure power was restored in the future, especially with its spirit intact. But that was for later.

Without further thought, Lu Ye flashed out of the mystical site and soared towards the direction of the original wormhole. The mystical site still remained behind him, but without the Black Coffin, its fundamental anchor, it might vanish completely after several thousand or tens of thousands of years. The objective of this trip had been achieved. In the starry sky, the remaining supreme treasures were the Creation Vine and the Ghost Ship. However, neither Tree Elder nor anyone else knew the whereabouts of either the Creation Vine or the Ghost Ship, so even if Lu Ye wanted to find them, he had no means.

He continued his journey, traversing wormholes, approaching the Illusory Demise Star System. At one point, Lu Ye's body suddenly paused slightly, and a look of joy appeared in his eyes. Within his small world, the Harmonization Pearl's quality had finally been elevated to the Universe-grade. Although he had been constantly busy during this period, encountering various battles big and small since returning to Splendor, he had continuously refined Harmonization Pearl fragments whenever he had free time. The leap from the Cosmos-grade to the Universe-grade was an extremely long one; even with a sufficient number of Harmonization Pearl fragments in his possession, he couldn't complete the task quickly. Until now!

The Harmonization Pearl reaching the Universe-grade meant that he could now begin cultivating the ninth stage of the Small World Secret Art. Next, he naturally had to construct the Pillars of the World. Lu Ye was already skilled at this, as the powers of the Time-Sequence Fruit and Space Dao Seed surged simultaneously, using his human body to harmonize Yin and Yang, thereby evolving the power of time and space. The birth of each World Pillar brought increasingly significant changes to the small world.

In the Illusory Demise Star System, Lu Ye returned to the area without stopping, heading directly into the Star Abyss Gate. He had struck a deal with Ni Chilian in the Myriad Forms Sea. Now, the other Star Abyss Gates were guarded and deterred by cultivators from Scarlet Flame City. Under the reputation of the Ten Harmonization Cities, foreign cultivators would largely no longer dare to invade casually. However, the situation here in the Illusory Demise Star System was different. Only by resolving the issues here could the starry sky truly be considered safe. Otherwise, with such close proximity, Senluo City would always pose a huge threat to the starry sky. But how difficult was it to deal with one of the Ten Harmonization Cities? Previously, when Xue Jiu disappeared, the Dragon and Phoenix clans had to join forces to swiftly breach Blood Drink City, sending the Insect and Blood clans fleeing in disarray. If Xue Jiu hadn't fallen into the Origin Realm with Lu Ye, even the combined efforts of the Dragon and Phoenix clans might not have achieved their desired outcome.

Upon entering Splendor, Lu Ye swept his divine sense and found no abnormalities. He took a step, already having left the area. At Zhehuang City, upon Lu Ye's return, his clone guarding the area, accompanied by Fu Wei, came to greet him. There were no other figures to be seen. "Senior Brother!" Fu Wei greeted. Lu Ye nodded slightly, then raised a hand to recall his clone, examining its memories. During his time back in the starry sky, his biggest concern had been Zong Shenliang discovering the anomaly here and launching an attack. If that happened, the current defensive forces in Zhehuang City would likely be insufficient to resist. Fortunately, his fears had not materialized. Instead, there had even been some gains.

Shortly after Lu Ye left, several more Harmonization cultivators arrived at Zhehuang City, coming from Senluo City. One of them was Senluo City's Seventh Deputy City Lord, an ancient Abyss race cultivator named Manu. This race was extremely rare in the Star Abyss, seemingly remnants from a shattered primordial starry sky. Manu came to Zhehuang City primarily to rendezvous with Zong Shenliang's clone and see if any assistance was needed. Lu Ye had killed Zong Shenliang's clone within Splendor and breached Zhehuang City with lightning speed. The news of these changes hadn't spread in such a short time. Thus, Manu had no idea that a vast Cosmos-grade city had already fallen into someone else's hands. He entered without any precautions and was ambushed by Soul Deficit, who was controlling Zong Shenliang's clone. Lu Ye's clone and Fu Wei attacked together, killing his attendants and capturing Manu alive.

"Where is Manu?" Lu Ye asked. "Senior Brother, follow me!" Fu Wei said, leading the way. Lu Ye followed, sweeping his divine sense and noticing that the Harmonization cultivators of the starry sky were all cultivating within the Azure Palace in the city. The situation was urgent, and a great battle could erupt at any moment, so more cultivation meant more strength.

A moment later, in a side hall, Lu Ye saw Manu. At first glance, this ancient Abyss race cultivator resembled an octopus that had gained sentience, possessing a human body but with fleshy tentacles covering his cheeks and lower jaw. He was currently seated on a massive tortoise shell. Lu Ye found the tortoise shell somewhat familiar. Looking closer, he realized it was the treasure Ba Xia had left for Ba Qiu before his death. A transparent light barrier surrounded Manu like a cage, preventing him from moving. This tortoise shell was the Diviners' clan's treasured artifact, passed down through generations. In terms of quality, it was almost comparable to a supreme treasure. Lu Ye only knew of its extremely strong defensive capabilities but had never realized it also had the effect of trapping enemies. Manu was covered in various wounds, and his aura was extremely weak. As the Seventh Deputy City Lord of Senluo City, Manu himself was powerful, at least on par with a Cosmos-grade city lord. With such cultivation, if he hadn't been severely wounded, Fu Wei would have been unable to restrain him here. "Senior Brother, we haven't been able to get much out of him," Fu Wei said. Manu was kept alive not out of any particular concern, but to glean information about Senluo City from him. However, in recent days, no matter what Fu Wei asked, Manu refused to respond, and when pressed, he would simply curse, adopting an attitude of facing death bravely.

Lu Ye nodded slightly. Manu slowly opened his eyes, looked at Lu Ye, and then let out a cold snort. Having seen Lu Ye's clone before, he assumed the one in front of him was still that clone and naturally didn't pay it much mind. "Release him," Lu Ye commanded. Fu Wei immediately performed a hand seal, and the confinement on the tortoise shell instantly dissipated. The shell itself transformed into a streak of light, flashing into Fu Wei's body and vanishing. Manu stood up, swaying his head. Despite his pale face, he maintained an arrogant and defiant posture: "Kill me if you want, but don't ask any more questions. The City Lord will know everything that happened here sooner or later, and then your deaths will come!" It wasn't that he hadn't considered resisting, but previous encounters had made it clear to him that he was no match for either of these two, let alone in his current weakened state.

With a raise of his hand, Lu Ye gripped Manu's neck, exerting such force that Manu's face instantly twisted in pain. He struggled only slightly before giving up, his gaze fixed coldly on Lu Ye. Lu Ye had no intention of asking him anything; his clone had tried before, but as Fu Wei said, nothing could be extracted. Since that was the case, there was no need to waste time. He raised his other hand and slowly pointed it towards Manu's forehead. Manu frowned, feeling a faint unease. Yet, at this moment, he could do nothing but accept his fate. As Lu Ye pointed, soul power surged. Manu's eyes widened in fury: "Wishful thinking!" He thought Lu Ye was trying to forcibly invade his soul sea and pry into his secrets. Soul power erupted abruptly, and with a muffled grunt, Manu's face grew even paler. In the clash of soul power, he was undoubtedly no match. Lu Ye's face also lost a touch of color. In terms of pure strength, he could indeed crush Manu and kill him at will, but the gap in soul power was not as significant. Manu had cultivated for countless millennia, and his soul power was dense and tenacious. Even if Lu Ye was stronger than him, he couldn't achieve a crushing victory in that aspect.