Chapter 288: Golden Armor and Iron Horses

The benefits extended far beyond an increase in his own perception. Even if Lu Ye couldn't directly access soul power at the moment, it was something everyone possessed, influencing all aspects of life, cultivation, and combat.

With the enhancement of soul power, many other things also changed.

Lu Ye had already noticed this when he was forming the Great Funnel Spirit Pattern in the Soul Cleansing Pool: his control over spiritual power had reached a new level.

Previously, due to his continuous practice of spirit patterns, his control over spiritual power already surpassed that of cultivators at the same level. Now, on top of that, he had made a significant improvement.

With a slight shift in his thoughts and a surge of spiritual power, fiery red light pulsed in Lu Ye's hand, transforming into a ball of flame.

Lu Ye gently tossed it out. The flame immediately began to dance, constantly shifting in mid-air. His thoughts shifted again, and the flame instantly transformed into a magnificent firebird, flying with a long, trailing tail and leaving trails of light in the air.

The Fire Phoenix Art had finally become normal!

Lu Ye couldn't help but sigh. Ever since he learned this spell, it had been somewhat abnormal. A proper Fire Phoenix Art would turn into a fiery quail. Even as his cultivation level steadily increased, there was no improvement. This led him to never use the spell before reaching the seventh level of the Spirit Stream Realm unless absolutely necessary, to avoid being mocked.

It wasn't until after reaching the seventh level that he learned the Fire Dragon Art.

The Fire Phoenix then began to twist and transform, swaying into a fire dragon.

This was no longer a simple spell. Even those cultivators specializing in spells, with cultivation at the eighth or ninth level of the Spirit Stream Realm, couldn't achieve this.

This was a more advanced level of fire manipulation.

The spiritual power slowly dissipated, and the fire dragon vanished.

Lu Ye suddenly recalled that he had always been dissatisfied with the power of his controlled artifacts. This was mainly because he couldn't form spirit patterns on the artifacts, which would increase their lethality and speed.

Therefore, he had always wanted to imbue the artifacts he controlled with spirit patterns while manipulating them. However, this was too difficult. He had attempted it several times before, all ending in failure.

Although he still had control over spiritual power separated from his body, his degree of control decreased significantly. Simply controlling an artifact wasn't a major issue, but trying to form spirit patterns at the same time was simply a fantasy.

He had originally thought he would have to wait until his cultivation was higher to realize this idea.

Now, it seemed he could try it earlier.

Thinking this, Lu Ye took the hiltless short blade from his storage bag. He casually sent it forth, and the artifact immediately transformed into a streak of light, darting away.

With a slight movement of his consciousness, a flash of light appeared on the hiltless short blade. Infused with the Windwalk effect, its already extremely fast streak of light suddenly accelerated, reaching an astonishing speed.

Controlled artifacts were already known for their speed. With the added Windwalk enhancement, such speed was something ordinary cultivators at the eighth or ninth level of the Spirit Stream Realm couldn't react to. Even cultivators who had switched to Heaven-tier cultivation techniques might not be able to block this strike if they weren't careful.

The hiltless short blade flashed with light again, infused with the Sharpness effect!

A moment later, Lu Ye recalled his controlled artifact, feeling quite satisfied.

An artifact that could be imbued with spirit patterns had its lethality greatly enhanced. However, there was one drawback: the duration of its effect was shortened.

The spiritual power consumed by the artifact was stored within it beforehand. Both Windwalk and Sharpness required spiritual power consumption. This meant that after Lu Ye formed the spirit patterns, the spiritual power stored in the artifact would decrease significantly in an instant, naturally shortening the duration of its effect.

This wasn't a major problem. Killing an enemy often only required a moment. Lu Ye didn't need to engage in prolonged battles using his controlled artifacts. If such a situation arose, Lu Ye would simply take out his Pan Mountain Blade and fight them head-on.

He could now refine two more spiritual artifacts.

Previously, Lu Ye's limit for controlling artifacts was more than two. He simply felt that controlling too many would divide his concentration, which was why he hadn't refined more.

But now that his soul power had become stronger, his concentration naturally grew stronger as well. Refining and wielding two more spiritual artifacts would not weaken his combat power.

If one day he could reach the level of his Fourth Senior Brother, Li Baxian, where a single thought could summon a hundred swords, then he could truly dominate the Spirit Stream Battlefield.

However, this depended on talent. It wasn't just about having sufficiently strong soul power and concentration.

In all these years on the Spirit Stream Battlefield, only one Li Baxian had emerged.

He had many spiritual artifacts he could wield, including quite a few nine-forbidden artifacts, all obtained from killing enemies. He found two suitable ones among them. While consuming spiritual pills to restore his spiritual power, Lu Ye slowly refined the restrictions within them.

Ju Jia was still meditating. Amber was sound asleep. Yi Yi remained silent. In the small courtyard, only Lu Ye remained.

He didn't feel bored. He continued his daily routine of cultivation and reading.

Now, his reading efficiency was also higher than before, and his understanding of the knowledge in the books was much more thorough. These were all benefits brought by the enhancement of his soul power.

Time flew by, and several days passed.

Lu Ye, who was cultivating and studying books, suddenly felt a faint repulsive force coming from all around him. He quickly closed the thick book in his hand and stood up.

Ju Jia, who was nearby, also got up.

The two walked side by side towards the outside. Just as they reached the courtyard gate, Ji Yan came to meet them: "Brother Yi Ye, Xian Yuan City is about to close."

"I feel it," Lu Ye replied.

They continued forward and soon met up with Gu Canyang and the others. The reason for gathering was that if they weren't together, they might be scattered when expelled from Xian Yuan City. By gathering together, they would remain together even after leaving Xian Yuan City, avoiding unnecessary trouble.

Everyone waited in silence. The repulsive force around them grew stronger and stronger, until it reached a certain limit. The scenery before everyone's eyes began to blur, and then twist.

When everything became stable again, they found themselves in a wilderness area.

Meanwhile, inside the City Lord's Mansion in Xian Yuan City, the City Lord sat peacefully. The Grand Commander of the Xian Yuan Guards stepped forward to report: "City Lord, everyone has left."

The City Lord slightly raised his hand, and with a gentle wave, said, "Lift the prohibitions."

"Yes!"

As command after command was relayed, one prohibition after another was lifted throughout Xian Yuan City. The city trembled, and Xian Yuan City underwent immense changes.

When Lu Ye and the others were there, the city had shown signs of extreme dilapidation. But that was merely the superficial appearance of Xian Yuan City.

With the lifting of the grand prohibition, ripple-like waves spread out, and the true Xian Yuan City slowly revealed itself.

Rows of dilapidated houses disappeared, replaced by solid defensive lines. These defensive lines were covered with formations and large-scale offensive and defensive spiritual treasures. Each of these items would be priceless in the Nine Provinces, yet they were ubiquitous in Xian Yuan City.

The soul mist in the Soul Cleansing Pool churned. From within that soul mist, powerful spiritual entities emerged one after another. Roughly half were dressed as Xian Yuan Guards, and the other half were the original residents of Xian Yuan City.

Unlike the spiritual entities Lu Ye and the others had encountered before, the weakest of these spiritual entities were at the Cloud River Realm. True Lake and Divine Sea Realm entities were countless. Such a force was incomparable to any sect in the Nine Provinces, even those first-rank sects with long legacies.

They walked out from the Soul Cleansing Pool, their expressions solemn, their battle intent surging. They knew that war was about to begin again! And this war had been going on for an unknown number of years.

If Lu Ye were standing here, he would definitely recognize some of the Xian Yuan Guards—those he had previously killed.

No one knew that the Xian Yuan Guards could not truly die. Even if their spiritual bodies were shattered, as long as the Soul Cleansing Pool remained, they could emerge from it again. This was because the soul imprints of all spiritual entities were within the Soul Cleansing Pool. As long as the soul imprints weren't broken, the spiritual entities would never perish.

Therefore, the Soul Cleansing Pool was the foundation of Xian Yuan City. Not only Xian Yuan City, but many Boundless Mirages were also like this.

In the gambling house, a flicker of clarity passed through Liu Sanbao's eyes. He strode out, his stout body taking flight, soaring directly towards the City Lord's Mansion.

In the brothel, the Pipa girl, cradling her pipa, walked onto the street with a melancholic expression.

In the academy, the scholar dropped his half-written essay, shook his head, and sighed: "Heaven and Earth are inhumane; they treat all things as straw dogs!"

In the butcher shop, the butcher sharpened his knife.

At the street corner, the blind fortune teller tossed up coins. After a brief divination, he sighed repeatedly: "A bloody disaster."

The five wraiths that Lu Ye had previously taken under his command now displayed strength far beyond the Spirit Stream Realm. Each was clearly a powerful cultivator of the Divine Sea Realm.

The strength they had displayed earlier was merely superficial, or rather, the result of being suppressed by prohibitions.

Throughout Xian Yuan City, the only two not suppressed by the prohibitions were the City Lord and the red-dressed woman.

This was also the reason the City Lord told Lu Ye that the spiritual entities of Xian Yuan City could not leave. Not to mention whether Lu Ye could take them away, even if he did, Amber's current strength would be insufficient to bear such powerful wraiths. The only outcome would be for them to explode upon leaving Xian Yuan City.

In just the short span of an incense stick's burning time, the dilapidated and desolate Xian Yuan City transformed. At this moment, Xian Yuan City had spiritual entities standing densely along its defensive lines. The entire city was enveloped in a solemn, murderous atmosphere, a prelude to battle.

The spiritual entities greedily sensed their surroundings, experiencing the scent of living people after a long time. It was left behind by the cultivators who had been active in Xian Yuan City. Ordinary people couldn't detect this scent; even Yi Yi, also a spiritual entity, couldn't. But for these spiritual entities who had abandoned their physical bodies and had been fighting here for countless years, the scent was incredibly clear.

It was precisely the scent of these living people that allowed them to maintain their sentience for so many years. Otherwise, after years of war, and having "died" countless times, the spiritual entities would have long since been unable to endure this endless torment, transforming into mindless beings that only knew how to kill. This had nothing to do with their strength.

It was also for this reason that Boundless Mirages occasionally appeared in the Spirit Stream Battlefield and various parts of the Nine Provinces. Because whether it was Xian Yuan City or other Boundless Mirages, they all needed living people to dilute the pervasive, heavy aura of decay.

Inside the City Lord's Mansion, the City Lord sat with his eyes closed. To his lower left and right, stood the Grand Commander of the Xian Yuan Guards and the red-dressed woman holding a white cat, respectively.

The former commanded all Xian Yuan Guards in Xian Yuan City, while the latter commanded the spiritual entities other than the Xian Yuan Guards.

The City Lord suddenly opened his eyes. His sharp gaze pierced through the void, looking above the city. He softly commanded, "Activate the formation!"