Chapter 2891: Time Sequence River

Hongtu's options were limited.

Given the precedents of Zong Shenliang and Xuan Wuzong, he must have been on tenterhooks, likely maintaining his guard for days.

At such a critical juncture, with three Half-Saints from the Origin Realm suddenly arriving, he would likely struggle to protect his Hedao City, even if he fought to the death.

Given the circumstances, the wise choice was to be pragmatic.

Whether he handed over his Hedao City or integrated the three Half-Saints as vice-city lords, it was preferable to his city being destroyed and its inhabitants perishing.

Moreover, he was highly likely to attempt to ascend to the Half-Saint rank himself. If he could gain the protection of the three Origin Realm Half-Saints at the cost of one Hedao City, it would certainly not be a loss for Hongtu.

Because once he ascended to Half-Saint, even if he lost his Hundred Wars City, he would still possess the combat power equivalent to the Ten Great City Lords.

Hongtu could easily make this simple calculation.

This situation made Lu Ye frown.

Xuezhe was even more annoyed: "If only we had known, we should have attacked Hundred Wars a few days ago!"

With the three Half-Saints from the Origin Realm present, Hongtu was no match. If the three of them had attacked, Hongtu would still have had little power to resist, and they would likely have been able to forcefully breach Hundred Wars. After all, unlike the day they invaded Ten Steps City, they now had Si Shengya as a Half-Saint, a Si Saint blessed by a Cosmos-grade Hedao Pearl.

Lu Ye shook his head upon hearing this, saying, "How many things in the world can one foresee?"

Previously, they had planned to ambush the three Half-Saints to fundamentally resolve the problem. However, they hadn't anticipated that Xue Yuan would transmit a message before his death, putting the three on guard.

Regretting it now was futile.

Xuezhe suggested, "Hundred Wars is currently garrisoned by those three, so we can't touch it for now. Why don't we attack Thousand Streams instead?"

Lu Ye looked up at him: "Hongtu and Gu Mingyue are currently dependent on each other. Do you think Hongtu would stand idly by if we attacked Thousand Streams? He only needs to explain the stakes to those three, and he'll likely be able to enlist their help as well!"

Lu Ye could adhere to the principle that an enemy's enemy is a friend, so the three from the Origin Realm surely understood this. Therefore, they would certainly protect Thousand Streams City and would not stand idly by.

Xuezhe considered this and agreed, feeling frustrated: "Neither this nor that works, so what should we do?"

"Instead of fretting here, you'd be better off properly refining Xue Yuan's bloodline," Lu Ye said, annoyed.

Xuezhe couldn't help but scoff: "Why should I fret? You're the one who should be anxious. Once those guys establish a firm foothold here, they definitely won't let you off. Anyway, I've already obtained Xue Yuan's bloodline, and I don't need anything from them, so it doesn't matter whether they live or die."

With that, he turned and left.

Lu Ye remained silent.

He naturally knew what Xuezhe was anxious about. Indeed, as Xuezhe said, he had already obtained Xue Yuan's bloodline and had no need for those Half-Saints. However, he still wanted to quickly eliminate them.

Only then could he ensure that the news of his betrayal would not leak.

Otherwise, when numerous Half-Saints from the Origin Realm descended upon Star Abyss in the future, Xuezhe would certainly be targeted by the Blood Clan Half-Saints, who would wish to eliminate him swiftly.

But if he could quickly deal with the remaining three, Xuezhe could still lie low and plot to seize the bloodlines of other Blood Clan Half-Saints.

This fellow's ambition was considerable.

Even though he knew, Lu Ye had no good solution.

Since the opportunity was missed, and both Hundred Wars and Thousand Streams were now untouchable, they could only think of other solutions.

In this cultivation world, where power was ultimately supreme, if he possessed strength beyond a Half-Saint, why would he fear much?

Relatively speaking, his growth rate in strength was unmatched, and his growth potential was promising. Therefore, as long as he had ample time, improving his strength would not be an issue for him; this was his greatest advantage.

Xue Yuan's death would certainly make the three Origin Realm Half-Saints vigilant, so even if they took control of Hundred Wars City, they probably wouldn't dare make any rash moves in the short term.

After all, among those who came this time, Xue Yuan was the strongest. With him dead, who wouldn't feel a sense of dread?

But in the long run, it would be hard to say, because the Origin Realm was in the process of merging back. Perhaps it wouldn't be long before more Half-Saints arrived from there, all of whom would be potential enemies.

Therefore, for Lu Ye, the only way to break the deadlock was to find a way to eliminate the current enemies before a new batch of Half-Saints arrived.

This required him to achieve a significant increase in strength within a short period, as Xuezhe and Si Shengya could not be relied upon; their strength would not change much in the short term.

However, even with his rapid growth in strength, he currently faced a significant problem.

That was, after cultivating the Minor World Secret Art to the ninth layer, engraving Dao Marks within his inner world had become increasingly difficult.

Unlike before, when he could easily engrave Dao Marks, this secret art was now approaching its limit, and his cultivation efficiency was incomparable to the past.

He had noticed this before, and recently, the situation had become increasingly apparent.

If not for this, he would have long since perfected the secret art to the ninth layer, as he used to be able to complete it quickly whenever his Dao power was ample.

This shouldn't be a problem with his cultivation. As for the reason, Lu Ye had not yet figured it out.

While pondering, Lu Ye slowly rose, sent a message to Si Shengya, and then headed to a tree hollow in the Primordial Firmiana.

Here was a large spatial array, personally set up by the Phoenix Clan's first Phoenix Lord, which could directly connect to Saint Dragon City.

Dragon City and Phoenix Nest also used this spatial array, allowing their respective clansmen to travel freely between them.

A short while later, Lu Ye appeared in Saint Dragon City and swiftly moved in one direction.

A moment later, in a palace, Lu Ye sat opposite an old dragon, who was the current Grand Elder of the Dragon Clan, named Zhu Yun.

Lu Ye had interacted with him a few times before, but they weren't very familiar.

Currently, the Dragon Venerable was in seclusion, and this Grand Elder was managing everything in Saint Dragon City. Lu Ye had contacted him via the Dragon Scroll before arriving.

"You wish to enter the Tower of Time?" Zhu Yun slightly raised an eyebrow.

Lu Ye nodded: "I know the Tower of Time is hidden in the River of Time and only appears on its own every certain period. But the Dragon Venerable once mentioned to me during a casual conversation that the Dragon Clan has a way to actively summon the Tower of Time, though the cost is significant, so they don't easily use it."

Currently, his cultivation efficiency was too low, yet the situation wouldn't wait. Lu Ye thought long and hard and concluded that only by entering the Tower of Time for secluded cultivation could he quickly improve his strength.

After all, inside the Tower of Time, the flow of time was different from the outside world; the higher the tower level, the greater the time ratio.

Zhu Yun nodded upon hearing this: "The Dragon Clan indeed has a way to actively summon the Tower of Time. How about this... please wait a moment, I'll send someone to prepare."

Lu Ye didn't expect the Grand Elder to be so accommodating. Although he was nominally recorded in the Dragon Scroll as a Dragon Clan member, he was, after all, human by origin. He had expected some complications upon his arrival.

Zhu Yun seemed to have read his thoughts and smiled slightly: "The Dragon Venerable specifically instructed before his seclusion that everything in Dragon City is at your disposal. So, until the Dragon Venerable emerges, you are the acting Dragon Venerable of Dragon City. The cost of summoning the Tower of Time is indeed considerable, but since you wish to use it, there's naturally no problem."

Lu Ye cupped his fist gratefully: "Many thanks, Grand Elder."

It was said to require preparation, but it actually didn't take much time.

After only a short half-day, Zhu Yun led Lu Ye to a certain location.

This was none other than one of Dragon City's forbidden areas, the Dragon Pool.

When Lu Ye arrived, he saw that at least a hundred Dragon Clan members had already gathered there.

Although the Dragon Clan had a slightly larger population than the Phoenix Clan, they were still weak compared to other races. The Dragon Clan members gathered here probably accounted for half of their entire population.

Seeing Lu Ye and Zhu Yun arrive, many Dragon Clan members cupped their fists in salute.

Zhu Yun raised his hand and, without much preamble, said, "You all should already know why I summoned you here. Without further ado, let's begin now!"

As he spoke, he suddenly took something from his embrace. The object was golden and initially inconspicuous, but soon a profound aura began to emanate from it.

Lu Ye looked up, his gaze sharpening.

He recognized at a glance that the gleaming golden object was a dragon scale. The aura emanating from it felt subtly familiar, reminding him of the Dragon and Phoenix Ancestors he had once encountered across countless times and spaces.

This dragon scale... was actually an item left by that ancestor.

In a trance, Zhu Yun had already raised his hand, sending the dragon scale flying to hover above the Dragon Pool. Without any external force, the dragon scale hung suspended.

Even with Lu Ye's current discernment, he couldn't discern any anomaly.

"Sacrifice your true blood!" Zhu Yun shouted sharply, and with a flick of his finger, a drop of Dragon Clan true blood shot out, landing on the dragon scale.

Like parched earth, the dragon scale completely absorbed the drop of true blood.

And with Zhu Yun's action, drops of true blood gathered from all directions, all falling into the dragon scale.

The golden light on the dragon scale became increasingly dazzling. After absorbing over a hundred drops of Dragon Clan true blood, it shimmered so brightly that it made one's eyes squint.

The dragon scale vibrated, and within the Dragon Pool, something profound seemed to be stirred. Immediately, an inexplicable aura surged skyward from the Dragon Pool, pouring into the dragon scale.

The golden light suddenly unfurled.

A rich and mysterious power of time surged in all directions.

A rushing sound emanated, and a river seemingly without beginning or end subtly spanned across, appearing within the golden light.

"Lu Ye!" Zhu Yun called out softly, his aura somewhat weakened. The sacrifice of a single drop of true blood might be nothing, but presiding over such a ritual was a tremendous drain on him. "Take the Ancestor Dragon Scale and enter quickly!"

Lu Ye heard this and no longer hesitated. He unleashed his movement technique, plunging into the long river. At the same time, he extended a hand, grasping the dragon scale in his palm, as Zhu Yun's voice echoed in his ear: "When you wish to return, let the Ancestor Dragon Scale guide you!"

Splash...

Lu Ye felt as if he had fallen into a turbulent river. Under the ceaseless washing of boundless temporal power, he found it difficult to stabilize his body.

At this point, how could he not know that the Dragon Clan's method was not to summon the Tower of Time, but to summon the River of Time itself?

He was now in the River of Time. To enter the tower, he would first have to find the Tower of Time hidden within it.