Chapter 344: 忍一时越想越气

Strictly speaking, the wine gourd on Li Baxian's waist could also be considered a type of weapon sheath. Its shape was a bit peculiar, but its functionality was much greater, as all his spirit artifacts were nurtured within it.

Lu Ye's weapon sheath was undoubtedly far inferior to Li Baxian's wine gourd, but it was already sufficient for his needs.

This item could be tied to the waist without hindering movement. Normally, spirit artifacts were placed within the sheath for nurturing, ready to be activated and deployed at a moment's notice.

It was much more convenient than retrieving items from a storage bag, especially since Lu Ye was planning to increase the number of spirit artifacts he could control.

The beehive-like weapon sheath had nine holes, each capable of holding one spirit artifact.

Lu Ye had already prepared the backup spirit artifacts; he only needed to refine them before use.

He bought the weapon sheath from the Heavenly Mystery Treasury and also purchased a full fifty portions of Earth Core Fire.

Although Lu Ye hadn't encountered a situation where the Talent Tree lost its ability to burn off pill toxins recently, he vaguely felt that the fuel stored in it was running low.

The reason was simple: as his cultivation gradually increased, his consumption of spirit pills continuously grew. Especially at his current ninth-level cultivation stage, if he solely relied on spirit pills for cultivation, it would take approximately forty Spirit Nurturing Pills to open a single spiritual aperture.

High pill consumption led to more accumulated pill toxins, which naturally increased the consumption of the Talent Tree's fuel.

Furthermore, the last time he was poisoned in the Heavenly Evolution Sect, that single incident significantly depleted the fuel stored in the Talent Tree.

He hadn't replenished the Talent Tree's fuel for a long time, nor had he acquired any new spirit patterns from it.

This was because he had been accumulating merit points previously to buy himself a Sky-tier cultivation technique and Aperture-Mending Pills for his Fourth Senior Brother.

Aperture-Mending Pills were so expensive primarily because they were almost extinct; each use meant one less in existence. If anyone in this world could still refine Aperture-Mending Pills to replenish the Heavenly Mystery Treasury's stock, their price would definitely drop significantly.

Now that he had his Sky-tier cultivation technique and his Fourth Senior Brother's Aperture-Mending Pills, he had no further major needs, apart from waiting to upgrade to better spirit artifacts after advancing to the Cloud River Realm.

Buying Earth Core Fire was no longer a financial strain.

The mid-grade spirit artifact level weapon sheath cost Lu Ye over nine hundred merit points. This price wasn't too expensive for him, but for an average ninth-level cultivator, it would still require careful consideration.

After all, even the lowest-grade Sky-tier cultivation technique cost just over a thousand merit points, so a single weapon sheath like this was almost equivalent to it.

Not all mid-grade spirit artifacts were this expensive. Low-grade spirit artifacts in the Heavenly Mystery Treasury generally ranged from thirty to one hundred and fifty merit points, mid-grade spirit artifacts were typically between two hundred and five hundred points, and only high-grade spirit artifacts cost close to a thousand merit points.

The weapon sheath was a special type of spirit artifact, so its price couldn't be calculated according to normal rates.

The pricing of items in the Heavenly Mystery Treasury was very fair because it was set by Heavenly Mystery itself; thus, trying to gain an advantage or find a bargain there was utterly impossible.

The fifty portions of Earth Core Fire cost Lu Ye ten thousand merit points.

Checking his remaining merit points, he found he had only just over two thousand left.

Recalling earlier, his merit points had totaled three hundred and ten thousand...

Merit points truly couldn't withstand spending.

Looking at his spiritual apertures again, he had already opened two hundred and twenty-five, with only fifteen more needed before he could switch to a Sky-tier cultivation technique.

When he emerged from the Hundred Arrays Tower, he had already opened two hundred and eighteen apertures. Now, after more than a month and a half, he had only opened seven more, primarily because he had spent this period leading the allied forces in various campaigns and truly hadn't had much time for cultivation.

However, to be fair, even this rate of aperture opening was not slow compared to the normal cultivation of an average ninth-level cultivator.

The auxiliary cultivation technique 'Gluttonous Feast', which was almost useless to others, combined with the Talent Tree's ability to burn off pill toxins, provided an unimaginable amount of help to Lu Ye.

After putting away the weapon sheath and Earth Core Fire, Lu Ye headed towards his residence.

Yiyi and Jujia were nowhere to be seen, not even Amber. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth in the outpost was so dense that when there was nothing pressing, no one wanted to waste time cultivating.

Lu Ye's residence was built by Chen Yu and his team early on. Hua Ci lived next door, and it was considered the most scenic spot in the entire outpost.

To be honest, Hua Ci and Chen Yu were no longer suitable to remain in the outer circle, as they had both advanced to the eighth level.

They should have departed for the inner circle.

But currently, the unrest in the inner circle hadn't completely subsided. Moreover, the concentration of spiritual energy in those sect outposts in the inner circle might not be as high as in the Crimson Blood Sect's outpost.

So, entering the inner circle a bit later wouldn't make much difference.

Upon returning to his residence, Lu Ye refined the few spirit artifacts he had kept, making up a total of nine, and then placed them into the weapon sheath for nurturing.

Finally, he fastened the weapon sheath securely to his waist, stood up and moved around a bit, and adjusted its position to ensure it wouldn't hinder him.

When he had previously consulted his Fourth Senior Brother about the art of artifact control, Lu Ye had understood the secret behind his ability to control a hundred artifacts.

Artifact control depended on natural talent and also on the strength of one's mental power, which was directly linked to one's divine soul.

For someone like Lu Ye, with a strong divine soul, it was undoubtedly a great help for artifact control. This was also why he could continuously increase the number of artifacts he controlled, as his divine soul power was constantly growing stronger.

Li Baxian's ability to control a hundred artifacts was partly due to his naturally robust divine soul, but a greater reason was his innate talent to transform his mental power from simplicity to complexity, subdividing it. Even if someone tried to cultivate this through acquired effort, it would be very difficult to reach Li Baxian's level.

Because his current artifact control methods were built upon his innate abilities and continuously refined through diligent cultivation, his starting point was naturally higher than others.

Lu Ye didn't need to control a hundred artifacts; otherwise, he wouldn't have chosen a weapon sheath with only nine holes.

Being able to masterfully control nine artifacts would be enough; with his current capabilities, he was capable of achieving this level.

The best training is real combat!

Lu Ye took out the Breath Fruit Core, which he hadn't used in a long time, and channeled his power into it.

He hadn't entered the Mirage Realm since reaching the ninth level, and he intended to temper his artifact control skills within it.

His vision shifted, and he entered the familiar small space.

Lu Ye paused slightly, startled, and looked ahead not far away.

Because there was a figure enveloped in mist in front of him.

This was something he had never encountered before. This strange small space had always been a transit point for entering the Mirage Realm; every time Lu Ye used it, he would spend fifty merit points to push open a door and then enter the Mirage Realm.

He had never found any anomalies here before, but this time, there was actually a figure present.

Were they beings from the Mirage Realm? Or had someone else, like himself, entered this place through a Breath Fruit Core?

The other party had clearly also noticed him, and for a moment, both were stunned into silence.

Moreover, Lu Ye realized that he himself was also enveloped in a layer of mist at that moment; he couldn't see the other person's appearance, and the other person undoubtedly couldn't see his either.

Just as Lu Ye was cautiously observing the other party, the person suddenly raised a hand, and a faint red glow permeated through the mist.

This fellow is from the Myriad Demon Ridge!

What was there to be polite about then? With a thought, several streams of light flashed out from the weapon sheath at Lu Ye's waist, intertwining and spinning, attacking the opponent like a pair of scissors.

"Spirit Stream Realm!" A voice of indeterminate gender came from the other side. Then, Lu Ye saw the mist-shrouded figure slowly push out a palm.

The streams of light, artifacts he controlled, flew back exactly as they had flown out. That single palm not only repelled several spirit artifacts but also struck Lu Ye's chest before he could even react.

Then Lu Ye's vision blurred, and his consciousness returned.

Was he killed?

Lu Ye was stunned for a long while, finding it difficult to accept such a result.

The moment the opponent struck, he judged that he was absolutely no match, because the opponent's spiritual energy fluctuation was not something a Spirit Stream Realm cultivator should possess; it was at least a top-tier Cloud River Realm or even a True Lake Realm.

But to be killed so inexplicably by someone else still made Lu Ye rather annoyed.

He didn't even get a chance to land a single blow!

Who was that guy?

In that strange small space, neither could see the other's appearance clearly. Currently, he only knew the other party was a cultivator from Myriad Demon Ridge; their cultivation level or gender was entirely unknown.

The other party being able to enter there clearly also possessed a Breath Fruit Core.

This wasn't strange. The Chess Sea of the Spirit Stream Defensive War had appeared more than once, and although the Breath Fruit Tree didn't appear every time, throughout history for so many years, there must have been more than one Breath Fruit Core capable of connecting to the Mirage Realm.

Lu Ye hadn't encountered this before, primarily because their entry times into the Mirage Realm were staggered, and those entering the Mirage Realm wouldn't linger long in that transit space.

This time, by coincidence, Lu Ye and the other party entered at the same time, which led to this encounter.

The more he thought about being patient, the angrier he got; the more he thought about backing down, the more he felt it was a loss. Lu Ye once again channeled his spiritual power and entered the small space.

The other party had one hand pressed against the great door leading to the Mirage Realm but hadn't yet entered.

Lu Ye drew the Pan Mountain Saber from his waist and slashed at them with one swift stroke.

Then came a dizzying sensation, and his consciousness was forced out of the small space.

Appearing a third time, the other party wasn't in a hurry to enter the Mirage Realm; their stance suggested they were waiting for him. As soon as Lu Ye appeared, a streak of light shot towards him, and then... Lu Ye was gone.

A fourth time, a fifth time...

Only after seven times did Lu Ye slowly calm down.

He was completely outmatched; this couldn't go on. And because he had been killed too many times inside, his head was already throbbing faintly.

From this, one could see the benefits of his divine soul becoming tougher. Previously, every time Lu Ye "died" and emerged from the Mirage Realm, he would suffer from a splitting headache, but now, it took several times before he felt any reaction.

Lu Ye was currently only annoyed that he couldn't ascertain the origin of that scoundrel; he wouldn't even know who to seek for revenge later.

In that small space, after waiting for a long time and with Lu Ye not reappearing, the mist-shrouded figure let out a soft chuckle, pushed open the door in front of them, and entered the Mirage Realm. In their view, that Spirit Stream Realm cultivator from the Vast Heaven Alliance was utterly foolish, acting bravely for a moment and getting killed so many times; their mental power must have been damaged. What was the point of it all?

Meanwhile, the Three Saints Academy, a second-rank sect in Bingzhou, welcomed a distinguished guest...