Chapter 2858: Picked Up a Supreme Treasure

Wind Rises in the Nine Provinces

"Get out of the way, quick!" Qin Feng anxiously pushed aside the crowd blocking his way and finally managed to lead Lian into the great hall.

A strong, pungent smell of blood assailed his nostrils.

He looked left and right, only to see countless cultivators all around staring dumbfounded, and the hall was utterly silent.

In an open space ahead, blood stained the floor, and a severed head lay there. The cut was perfectly clean, and its eyes were wide open in fury. Qin Feng took a closer look and realized it was none other than Zong Shenliang's head.

This man... he's truly dead!

His body, however, was nowhere to be seen; no one knew where it had gone.

Lian, who had rushed in with him, also gasped, raising a hand to cover her mouth as her eyes trembled; she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Zong Shenliang... how could he actually be dead?

What about the Hehe Realm's restrictions?

It was well known that fighting freely within the Hehe Realm wasn't due to an explicit rule, but rather a consequence of numerous tragic lessons learned throughout history.

Every cultivator who had ever resorted to violence within the Hehe Realm, regardless of their cultivation level or power, had met a terrible end. These numerous past examples ensured that no one dared to cross that line.

Logically, even if Lu Ye had indeed attacked Zong Shenliang here, the Hehe Realm's restrictions should have been activated the moment he made his move, making it impossible for Zong Shenliang to be killed.

Yet, the reality was that Zong Shenliang's head lay on the ground before them, his eyes wide in death.

"Where is Lu Ye?" Qin Feng asked with a grim face.

A nearby cultivator, who had witnessed everything, recognized Qin Feng and spoke up: "After he killed Zong Shenliang, a white light swept over, and he vanished!"

White light...

It was indeed as the rumors claimed; that white light was the Hehe Realm's restriction. It was said that any cultivator who resorted to violence within the Hehe Realm would be swept away by this light, disappearing without a trace, never to be seen again.

Qin Feng's heart sank.

The Hehe Realm's restrictions were still active and had clearly taken effect, but why was Zong Shenliang still dead? Shouldn't these restrictions have been triggered before Lu Ye even made his move?

He secretly resented Zong Shenliang for deliberately provoking Lu Ye, inciting him to a fit of rage. Now that Lu Ye was missing, where was he supposed to find him?

Zong Shenliang was truly laughable. His original plan must have been to use the power of the restrictions against Lu Ye, but in the end, he actually died here!

After the commotion, the crowd gradually dispersed. However, the slaying of the Lord of Senluo City in the Hehe Realm's Initial Hall was undoubtedly one of the greatest marvels in Xingyuan's history, and it would surely spread far and wide before long.

Amidst the chaos, Zong Shenliang's head was picked up by someone unknown.

"Arena Master..." Lian followed behind Qin Feng, "I heard that the Arena Master can communicate with the Spirit of the He Dao Pearl?"

Throughout the Hehe Realm, no one was permitted to fight freely except within the Battle Arena. Thus, rumors circulated that the Battle Arena Master once had the good fortune to communicate with the Spirit of the He Dao Pearl, which allowed him to establish the Battle Arena in such a unique location within the Hehe Realm.

Qin Feng shook his head and said, "Those are all rumors. This Battle Arena is an inheritance left by the old Arena Master. There were several generations of Arena Masters before the old one. Perhaps the first Arena Master had this ability, but I do not."

He had never communicated with any Spirit of the He Dao Pearl, and he wasn't even sure if such a thing truly existed.

"Alas, it's merely youthful impetuousness," Qin Feng sighed, his heart filled with worry. Lu Ye was now nowhere to be found, and even if he wished to rescue him, he had no means.

Lian's delicate brows furrowed as well, leaving her speechless for a moment.

A vast, boundless land of pure white.

Lu Ye turned his head and looked around; his vision encompassed nothing but endless white.

The scene looked somewhat familiar. After a brief recollection, he remembered this was the place he had encountered upon his first entry into the Hehe Realm, just as he was leaving.

It was also here that he heard the voice of the Spirit of the He Dao Pearl.

He was naturally aware of the rules and restrictions within the Hehe Realm: any cultivator who dared to act violently would be swept away by a white light, vanishing without a trace.

But since he dared to act, he naturally had something to rely on.

It was laughable how Zong Shenliang had provoked him, intending to use the power of the restrictions against him, a complete miscalculation. He hadn't even been on guard when Lu Ye made his move; otherwise, with Zong Shenliang's strength, Lu Ye wouldn't have been able to kill him so easily with a single strike.

Zong Shenliang was dead. By now, Dragon City and Phoenix Nest should have begun their operations. As long as the Dragon and Phoenix clans cooperated to breach Senluo City, the greatest crisis facing the starry sky would be averted.

Since the Dragon and Phoenix clans had previously managed to breach Blood Drink City, conquering Senluo City now should be no difficult task. After all, the situations of these two great He Dao cities were remarkably similar: their city lords were not present to oversee them.

Thinking this, Lu Ye's mind stirred, and a headless corpse appeared before him.

It was Zong Shenliang's remains. Before the white light swept him away to this place, he had already stored the body in his small world.

It wasn't that he wanted to seize Zong Shenliang's Dao bones; with his current resources, a few Dao bones meant little to him.

What he wanted was the Dingjun Flag!

This was Zong Shenliang's supreme treasure, and it was certainly hidden somewhere on his person.

After a search, he indeed found a small, blood-colored flag, unmistakably emitting the aura of a supreme treasure. Besides that, he also found Zong Shenliang's storage ring, which contained many valuable items.

However, compared to a supreme treasure, the other spoils of war were nothing.

After a brief contemplation, Lu Ye activated the power of his Talent Tree to devour the Dingjun Flag.

This time, he didn't channel the supreme treasure's essence into any other fruit. The Dingjun Flag's power was quite impressive; it was, in fact, the only supreme treasure he had encountered so far that could bestow its power upon others.

As the tree devoured it, a bulge gradually appeared on its trunk, slowly blossoming and bearing fruit.

When another Dingjun Flag fruit appeared on the Talent Tree, the number of supreme treasure fruits had reached six. Including the Time-Sequence Fruit, he now possessed seven.

Lu Ye's spirits lifted. His confrontation with Zong Shenliang had brought him two supreme treasure fruits: the Dingjun Flag and the Nine Profound Heavenly Thunder Seal. This brought him a step closer to his envisioned magnificent scene where, with his Talent Tree fully manifested, the powers of various supreme treasures would soar through the heavens.

After finishing these tasks, Lu Ye immersed his mind and softly called out: "Pearl Spirit!"

His arrival here wasn't the doing of the Pearl Spirit but the result of the restrictions. However, these restrictions must have been left in the Hehe Realm by the Spirit of the He Dao Pearl. Therefore, to leave this place, he ultimately had to rely on the Pearl Spirit.

This was his true reliance.

No response.

Ever since Lu Ye began cultivating the Small World Secret Art and the Spirit of the He Dao Pearl entered his small world, it had remained dormant, never communicating with him.

But Lu Ye knew that the Pearl Spirit was always there.

Its dormancy was likely a form of evasion.

The aura of the Star Abyss not only corroded the bodies and minds of cultivators but even supreme treasures found it difficult to escape its influence. The He Dao Pearl, renowned as the foremost supreme treasure of the Star Abyss, was rumored to possess the power to manipulate the scattered Dao energy of the entire Star Abyss, making it a long-standing target of the Abyss.

It had shattered itself years ago for this very reason. Had it not, after years of erosion, its fate would likely have been the same as that of the Primeval Parasol Tree.

Shattering itself was evasion, but also a strategy for self-preservation.

Although Lu Ye received no response to his call at this moment, he soon sensed a faint guiding presence.

He immediately began walking forward.

The vast, snowy white space stretched endlessly. As Lu Ye walked, he occasionally encountered withered bones. Most of these had already shattered, with only a few still retaining their posture from before death.

These should be the remains of cultivators who had previously triggered the Hehe Realm's restrictions and been exiled here.

For countless millennia throughout history, there had always been cultivators within the Hehe Realm whose minds were warped by fury or clouded by rage, causing them to lash out recklessly. Once banished here, there was no escape; even those with a He Dao body would eventually perish in this desolate place.

A moment later, Lu Ye, who was still walking forward, suddenly felt a stir in his heart. He looked up ahead, a strange expression on his face.

He seemed to have sensed a trace of a supreme treasure's aura!

At first, he thought it was a delusion, but upon careful inspection, he realized it was no such thing.

The aura of a supreme treasure was truly coming from ahead.

He instinctively quickened his pace. Following the source of the aura, he arrived at the location after roughly the time it takes to steep a cup of tea.

Here was a skeleton seated cross-legged on the ground, having been dead for an unknown number of years. In its hands, the skeleton still held a small bell.

It looked rusty and mottled, but the aura of a supreme treasure was indeed emanating from this very bell.

This was clearly a supreme treasure!

Lu Ye felt a complex mix of emotions.

If someone had told him before that he could simply pick up a supreme treasure while walking, he would never have believed it. Yet, this incredible thing had truly just happened to him.

He suddenly understood.

So this was why the Pearl Spirit had specifically guided him in this direction—there was a supreme treasure here.

Judging by the scene, the skeleton had clearly been the supreme treasure's owner in life.

Lu Ye gasped. This person, in life, must have been a powerhouse on the level of the Ten Great City Lords. Otherwise, how could they have had the ability to tame a supreme treasure?

He wondered which era this Ten Great City Lord belonged to. Having died of old age here, they must have lived a very long time ago.

The Dao bones on their body had already lost their luster, their Dao power having drained away, leaving only ordinary mortal bones.

Yet, Lu Ye wondered what could have driven them to such despair, triggering the Hehe Realm's restrictions and leading to their exile here.

Gathering his thoughts, Lu Ye raised his hand and picked up the small bell. He gently shook it, and a clear, jingling sound entered his ears.

Lu Ye couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, for as the bell chimed, his Soul Sea began to ripple uncontrollably.

This was indeed a supreme treasure!

Having only recently refined the Dingjun Flag, he had now picked up another supreme treasure. Lu Ye was in an exceptionally good mood.

What made him particularly pleased was that this supreme treasure... was geared towards the soul.

Since he began cultivating the Small World Secret Art, his strength had grown at an astonishing pace. In just a few short years, he had reached heights that ordinary cultivators might struggle to achieve in millennia. This rapid increase in power, however, also brought certain disadvantages.

Specifically, his soul power couldn't keep pace with his rapidly escalating combat strength. Soul power required time to settle and accumulate. Even with the opportunities Lu Ye had once found in the Soul Clan Ancestral Land, his current soul power growth simply couldn't match the speed of his physical and spiritual advancements.