Chapter 2877: Want to do something big?

The Wind Rises in Kyushu

A Grand-tier Dao Convergence Orb can boost the strength of a Dao Convergence realm cultivator by several tens of percent, but for a Half-Saint like Xue Jiu, it only provides a ten percent increase!

Lu Ye genuinely didn't know about this, as no Half-Saint had ever possessed a Dao Convergence Orb since ancient times. Xue Jiu could be considered the very first.

However, on second thought, it seemed quite reasonable.

Half-Saints already possess incredibly strong foundations, so a ten percent increase is already quite substantial.

From this perspective, Lu Ye's initial thought that Xue Jiu, upon becoming a Half-Saint, could freely navigate the Source Realm with a Grand-tier Dao Convergence Orb was baseless.

The only reason he managed to establish himself in the Source Realm afterward was purely because he belonged to the Blood Clan!

With the Blood Clan having lost Xue Tianxing as a Half-Saint and Xue Jiu taking his place, the other Blood Clan Half-Saints had no alternative but to accept him. Could they really afford to fight among themselves and kill him?

Not to mention that such an action would create internal turmoil within the Blood Clan, even if they actually killed Xue Jiu, it wouldn't bring any particular benefit to the clan.

"Lu Ye, how about we go for another big one?" Xue Jiu asked, a restless eagerness in his expression.

"What do you have in mind?" Lu Ye asked, turning to look at him.

Xue Jiu chuckled softly, "Among the five Half-Saints who came from the Source Realm this time, besides me, Xue Yuan has also arrived!"

Xue Yuan... Lu Ye had encountered this Half-Saint in the Source Realm previously. At that time, Xue Yuan was with another Half-Saint named Xue Li, and they had pursued Xue Jiu and Lu Ye to Abyssal Island after Xue Tianxing's death. However, they were later deterred by many True Saints and did not dare to make a move.

The moment Xue Jiu uttered those words, Lu Ye knew he was up to no good.

This guy was clearly addicted to acquiring others' bloodlines; killing one Xue Tianxing wasn't enough, and now he was targeting Xue Yuan.

Compared to Xue Jiu, a newly ascended Half-Saint, Xue Yuan was a veteran Half-Saint within the Blood Clan, significantly surpassing Xue Jiu in both bloodline and strength.

Before encountering Lu Ye, Xue Jiu wouldn't have dared to entertain such notions. But now that he had met Lu Ye and formed an alliance with him, some improper ideas began to surface in Xue Jiu's mind.

This was especially true now that Lu Ye had already demonstrated his own strength.

If the two of them cooperated and used the same method they had employed against Xue Tianxing to deal with Xue Yuan, they might just succeed.

Lu Ye looked at Xue Jiu with a profound gaze. "The Blood Lord certainly has grand ambitions," he said. "But if you do this, aren't you afraid of punishment from the Abyss?"

Xue Jiu scoffed, "The will of the Abyss is supremely lofty; how could it concern itself with such personal squabbles? Just tell me if you're in or not. Right now, Xue Yuan and the others have just entered the Star Abyss and are dispersed. It's the perfect opportunity to take them down one by one!"

He had originally told Xue Yuan and the others to disperse primarily to facilitate his meeting with Lu Ye, but he hadn't anticipated this added benefit. It was truly a case of unintended positive consequences.

Lu Ye pondered, "By your estimation, what are our chances of success if we team up?"

"Fifty percent!" Xue Jiu replied.

A fifty percent chance wasn't low, but it wasn't secure enough.

Xue Yuan and the other five Half-Saints had come to the Star Abyss either to seize core fragments or to exterminate the Human, Dragon, and Phoenix races. In either case, they would be his enemies, so their positions were naturally adversarial.

If he could kill Xue Yuan, it would only benefit Lu Ye, with no downsides.

In fact, if possible, Lu Ye even wanted to eliminate the other Half-Saints as well.

More Half-Saints from the Source Realm would certainly arrive later. If they couldn't stabilize the situation from the outset, the situation would become even worse once the number of Half-Saints increased.

"Of course, if you could poison Xue Yuan," Xue Jiu urged, "our chances of success would increase by another ten or twenty percent."

Lu Ye shook his head. "Poisoning isn't that easy. Think about how much time and effort we expended to deal with Xue Tianxing. They're gathering here in half a month, so we don't have enough time. Furthermore, to poison him, you'd need to make contact, and if you approach him now, he'll definitely become suspicious."

"Then what do you suggest?" Xue Jiu asked.

A figure flashed through Lu Ye's mind, and his eyes lit up as he said, "We'll get Si Shengya to cooperate!"

Xue Jiu raised an eyebrow and slowly nodded. "If he cooperates, Xue Yuan will surely die. However, Si Shengya was severely injured when he left the Source Realm, and he likely won't have the strength to fight for some time."

"You don't need to worry about that," Lu Ye said. If Si Shengya hadn't encountered him, he truly wouldn't have been able to fight for some time. However, Lu Ye had already helped him incinerate the intrusive Dao intent, and Si Shengya was currently recuperating in the Hehe Realm, where he would fully recover soon.

Still, they would need to wait a few more days.

And they couldn't just wait idly until then... As Lu Ye thought this, an idea suddenly struck him. He looked at Xue Jiu and said, "I have an idea, and I'll need your cooperation!"

Looking at Lu Ye's gaze, Xue Jiu's heart skipped a beat. He had an inexplicable feeling that someone was about to suffer terribly.

A short while later, two figures slowly appeared in the central hall of the Phoenix Nest.

The Phoenix Clan elder stationed there looked up. He wasn't surprised to see that one of them was Lu Ye, as Lu Ye had been frequently entering and exiting the Phoenix Nest lately.

However, when he clearly saw the other figure standing beside Lu Ye, his expression drastically changed, and he roared, "Xue Jiu!"

The Phoenix Clan elder had never imagined that he would one day see that scoundrel Xue Jiu in the Phoenix Nest!

It was well known that Xue Jiu and the Phoenix Clan shared a profound animosity; the current Phoenix Lord's greatest desire was to personally kill Xue Jiu to avenge the Phoenix Clan members who had perished. Unfortunately, she had never succeeded.

The current situation was akin to an enemy, holding a deep blood feud, brazenly walking into the home of the other party. How could the Phoenix Clan elder not be enraged?

What puzzled him even more was how Xue Jiu was with Lu Ye, and by the looks of it, Lu Ye had clearly brought Xue Jiu into the Phoenix Nest.

"Elder Feng Qi, please calm down!" Lu Ye quickly said, raising a hand.

He had already anticipated this situation before bringing Xue Jiu along.

Elder Feng Qi's Dao power surged. He looked at Xue Jiu, then at Lu Ye, and asked in a deep voice, "Lu Ye, what is the meaning of this?"

If Lu Ye couldn't provide a reasonable explanation today, he wouldn't let the matter rest, no matter what.

Lu Ye quickly explained, "Xue Jiu has now been subdued by me; he is my blood slave. I've kept him alive because he still has great use!"

As he spoke, he gave Xue Jiu a quick wink.

Xue Jiu was utterly disgusted, but remembering Lu Ye's instructions before they arrived, he adopted a humble posture, standing silently with his head bowed.

Before arriving, Lu Ye and Xue Jiu had already devised this excuse. Only by doing so could they appease the Phoenix Clan elder's anger; otherwise, any other explanation might have ignited a conflict between the Phoenix Clan and Xue Jiu.

Of course, Xue Jiu was unwilling. As the dignified Blood Lord, didn't he have his pride?

But Lu Ye's simple question, "Don't you want Xue Yuan's bloodline anymore?", immediately brought him to heel.

Compared to future gains, what was a little humiliation?

The current Blood Lord had always been adaptable.

"Blood slave!" Feng Qi was utterly astonished, barely believing his ears. Yet, seeing Xue Jiu standing silently beside Lu Ye, it seemed genuine.

This was Xue Jiu, the master of Blood-Drinking City and the co-ruler of all Blood Clan members in the Inner Realm. Now, he had become Lu Ye's blood slave?

This was utterly unbelievable.

"Go on, greet Elder Feng Qi!" Lu Ye said, giving Xue Jiu a casual slap on the head.

A fierce glint flashed in Xue Jiu's eyes, and he glared at Lu Ye. However, when his gaze met Lu Ye's equally sharp eyes, the anger in his heart immediately subsided.

He still had potent poison in his body. If he were to truly start a conflict with the Phoenix Clan here, Lu Ye certainly wouldn't side with him, leaving him with nowhere to escape.

He quickly composed himself, lowered his head, and spoke with utmost respect: "Your servant, Xue Jiu, greets Elder Feng Qi!"

Feng Qi was utterly bewildered.

So, he truly had been taken as a blood slave?

After being stunned for a long while, Feng Qi finally managed, "But..."

He stammered for a while, unable to articulate more. Lu Ye understood his meaning and continued, "Don't worry, Elder Feng Qi. Xue Jiu and I have important matters to attend to right now. Once they are handled, I will naturally hand him over to the Phoenix Lord for judgment!"

Feng Qi was immediately relieved and asked, "What is it? Does the Phoenix Clan need to assist?"

Before the Phoenix Lord entered seclusion, she had instructed that everything at the Phoenix Nest should follow Lu Ye's directives until she emerged. Since there was an important matter now, the Phoenix Clan naturally couldn't stand by.

Lu Ye shook his head. "No need. I just need to take Xue Jiu for this matter; having too many people would make things more difficult."

Feng Qi nodded, "If you need anything, you can have the Dragon Clan send word!"

Lu Ye didn't have a direct means of contact with the Phoenix Clan at all times, but he could contact the Dragon Clan through the Dragon Tome. Therefore, if he truly had a need, he only had to contact the Dragon Clan, and they would relay the message to the Phoenix Clan, which wouldn't waste much time.

Lu Ye agreed, then led Xue Jiu out of the central hall.

A short while later, inside a tree hollow, Lu Ye softly called, "Elder Tree!"

The Primordial Parasol Tree immediately appeared, gave Xue Jiu a deep look, then asked, "Where are we going this time?"

Every time Lu Ye called upon him, it was to utilize his teleportation ability. This time was clearly no exception, and the Primordial Parasol Tree was already accustomed to it.

The Primordial Parasol Tree had also overheard Lu Ye's previous conversation with Feng Qi, so it naturally understood the situation now.

Xue Jiu, however, was stunned. He gasped, "The Primordial Parasol Tree?"

"Didn't they say that the Phoenix Clan's foundation had been in a deep slumber for years, its spirit almost eroded and extinguished? How does it look completely unharmed now?"

With this revelation, however, he understood why Lu Ye had been able to find him so quickly.

It was, in fact, through the power of the Primordial Parasol Tree.

With such a supreme treasure, no matter how vast the Star Abyss, there was nowhere one could not go.

Lu Ye had already indicated the location on the star map to the Primordial Parasol Tree. When the tree saw it, its eyelids twitched. "What are you going there for?" it asked.

Lu Ye chuckled. "To lay siege, of course! Don't worry, Elder Tree, I'm taking Xue Jiu with me. We're sure to succeed this time, and there won't be much danger."

The Primordial Parasol Tree's thoughts shifted, and it instantly grasped the situation. It turned to look at Xue Jiu and asked, "Can he be trusted?"

In the central hall, although Lu Ye had appeased Feng Qi, the Primordial Parasol Tree had seen through the deception at a glance.

Xue Jiu could never be Lu Ye's blood slave, but the tree also knew that Lu Ye would not do anything detrimental to the Phoenix Clan, so it had turned a blind eye to the matter.

But if Lu Ye was truly going to proceed with his next plan, then whether Xue Jiu could be trusted was the biggest question.