Chapter 563: Master Yu

Every day, besides helping the monster wolves tattoo different spirit patterns, Lu Ye spent the rest of his time cultivating and reading. The spiritual energy in the spirit land had now completely stabilized, providing an excellent cultivation environment. Coupled with taking Primordial Spirit Pills, Lu Ye's cultivation efficiency reached an unprecedented high.

Of course, even with these advantages, it still couldn't compare to cultivating with a spirit talisman.

For cultivators, using a spirit talisman was always the fastest way to improve their cultivation.

Three days later, all the monster wolves had received their unique tattoos.

During these three days, Lu Ye also acquired over a dozen monster cores from the wolves. These were all brought back by the pack from their hunting trips, and while their quality varied, they were generally quite good.

After the last monster wolf received its tattoo, the entire pack suddenly gathered. The alpha wolf's tall figure stood out prominently among them. It let out a long howl at the sky, and the pack responded with a resounding chorus.

Immediately after, the alpha wolf turned and led its pack in a swift, powerful dash, surging out of Hui Tian Valley.

Lu Ye watched in surprise, wondering what the wolf pack intended to do.

Lately, although the wolves had gone out hunting, they had never all departed together. At most, a portion of the monster wolves would be dispatched for hunting, while most remained in the valley.

This was the first time they had all left, like today.

Furthermore, the manner in which the pack departed gave the distinct impression of an army marching to war.

*Could they be going to seek revenge on some other monster beast?* Lu Ye mused.

While such a wolf pack was undeniably powerful overall, they likely had enemies in Mount Taimang. Perhaps they had suffered losses against some foe in the past, which was why they sought to enhance their pack's strength through Ju Jia's cultivation. Now, with Lu Ye having tattooed them with spirit patterns, their overall strength had certainly increased by at least twenty to thirty percent, if not more, giving them the confidence to seek vengeance.

Of course, Lu Ye wasn't sure if his speculation was correct.

By nightfall, the wolf pack still hadn't returned.

Lu Ye roasted some snake meat, ate a casual meal, then got up and approached the Heavenly Secret Pillar. He pressed his hand against it, connecting to the Heavenly Secret Repository.

Soon, he found himself in the small private room designated for spirit weapon upgrades.

It was time for his appointed meeting with the woman.

To his confusion, he waited for over an hour, but there was no sign of her.

Lu Ye wasn't worried that she would embezzle his Pan Mountain Blade. They had signed a Heavenly Secret Contract, and if she failed to deliver the blade on time, she would undoubtedly face severe punishment from the Heavenly Secret, which even a grand cultivator of the True Lake or Divine Sea Realm could not withstand.

Therefore, as long as she was alive, she would definitely return the Pan Mountain Blade.

However, if she were dead, things would be troublesome. The Pan Mountain Blade had been with Lu Ye for several years, and they were deeply attuned. Even if he found an identical long saber, it would inevitably affect his performance.

*It couldn't be such a coincidence, could it? She isn't actually dead, is she?*

Time ticked by. Just as the deadline was approaching, the space before Lu Ye suddenly warped, and then the woman's figure appeared.

Lu Ye looked up and saw that her face was pale, and there were faint traces of undried blood at the corners of her mouth. Clearly, she had just been in a fierce battle and had sustained injuries.

Seeing Lu Ye waiting, the woman let out a long breath, her chest rising and falling. She then placed the Pan Mountain Blade on the stand before them, continuing to use her raspy voice to confuse Lu Ye: "Fortunately, I didn't fail my mission. Please check it."

Lu Ye picked up the Pan Mountain Blade and casually weighed it. He found that its weight had indeed doubled, and the feel was just right.

Drawing the blade from its sheath, the already pitch-black saber body appeared even deeper in color, yet within its darkness, a keen sharpness had been added. With a surge of mental energy, he inspected the various enchantments on the blade.

There were indeed twenty-seven enchantments.

All requirements had been met. As for how much the Pan Mountain Blade's power had increased, that would need to be tested in actual combat.

Since the Pan Mountain Blade's upgrade from low-grade to mid-grade had also been done by her, and given their previous cooperation, Lu Ye was quite confident in her craftsmanship for this upgrade from mid-grade to high-grade. He didn't expect any issues.

"No problem," Lu Ye confirmed with a nod. As he spoke, the Heavenly Secret Contract took effect, and a slight warmth spread across the back of his hand as the agreed-upon merit points were deducted.

With the transaction complete, there was no need to linger. Lu Ye didn't want to know how she had gotten injured, nor was there any need to ask, to avoid revealing his own secrets.

Just as he was about to leave, the woman suddenly called out, "Young friend, please wait."

Lu Ye looked up at her.

"You are of the Cloud River Realm, aren't you, young friend?"

"Yes," Lu Ye replied. Given the quality of the Pan Mountain Blade, she could naturally guess this with ease.

"In the future, you'll likely want to upgrade this blade to peak-grade quality, won't you?"

"Perhaps."

"Then perhaps you'd like to leave my mark. If you have any further needs, you can directly message me, which would save you a lot of trouble."

Her suggestion was somewhat unexpected to Lu Ye, but judging by her demeanor, she seemed to want to earn more from him.

This was understandable; after all, if he wanted to upgrade the blade again in the future, he would still need to commission it here. Having a familiar contact could save him some hassle.

"Alright."

The woman immediately raised her hand and brushed her battle imprint. A speck of light drifted towards Lu Ye. He raised his hand, and the light settled onto the battle imprint on the back of his hand.

"What should I call you?" Lu Ye asked.

"You can call me Master Yu," the woman replied. "However, if you wish to find me, you'll have to leave the Cloud River Battlefield. You can't contact me while you're still there."

The woman's cultivation level was undoubtedly higher than the Cloud River Realm, and her true body was located somewhere in Kyushu.

"Understood," Lu Ye nodded slightly. With a thought, his figure dissipated, and he left the space.

The woman, left behind, frowned. "He didn't even say his name. Truly an impolite young man."

Muttering to herself, she also hastily departed. She was injured and needed to heal quickly.

In the spirit land's wooden cabin, Lu Ye inspected the Pan Mountain Blade. When spiritual energy flowed into it, it felt smoother than before. Moreover, after so much time spent battling with the blade, there had inevitably been tiny marks on its surface, no matter how sturdy the Pan Mountain Blade was.

However, after this upgrade, all these minuscule marks had vanished, and the entire blade seemed to have been reborn.

Setting aside the woman's penchant for affectation, her refining craftsmanship was truly excellent.

In fact, if Lu Ye wished, he could also cultivate the path of artifact refining. With his foundation as a spirit pattern master, practicing artifact refining would yield twice the results with half the effort.

However, a person's energy was always limited. Besides his primary role as a spirit pattern master, he had already concurrently cultivated the paths of formation array and tattoo artistry, leaving him with no more energy to spare.

He took out a Breath Fruit core from his storage space, preparing to enter the Mirage Realm for a practical test.

Immersing his consciousness, he quickly appeared in the unique small space. Lu Ye immediately scanned his surroundings with vigilance.

Ever since he was inexplicably attacked by someone during a previous visit, Lu Ye had been vigilant every time he entered the Mirage Realm using a Breath Fruit core.

However, in all this time, he hadn't encountered that person again.

Firstly, neither of them might enter the Mirage Realm for practice very often, as each entry cost some merit points.

Secondly, this small space was merely a transit area; they wouldn't meet unless they entered at the exact same time.

Their previous encounter in this space had truly been an extraordinary coincidence.

Spending one hundred merit points, Lu Ye pushed open the large door and stepped into the Mirage Realm, standing with his saber.

Mist swirled all around him. Soon, a figure shrouded in mist charged out. Before the figure even reached him, streaks of light from controlled artifacts were already attacking.

The opponent he encountered in the Mirage Realm this time was a cultivator, and judging by the power of their attacks, they were at the fourth-layer Cloud River Realm, equivalent to Lu Ye's own cultivation.

The strength of opponents in the Mirage Realm was always tied to Lu Ye's own power. Since he entered at the fourth-layer Cloud River Realm, his opponent's strength would also be at the fourth layer. The difficulty would gradually increase until he could no longer bear it and was ultimately killed out of the realm.

Though both were at the fourth layer, Lu Ye was accustomed to defeating enemies above his rank. Facing the many incoming streaks of light, he charged forward. The Pan Mountain Blade burst into flames, deflecting all attacks one by one. He rushed directly to his enemy, and with a sweep of his blade, the opponent's figure disintegrated.

Mist churned around him. This time, two figures charged out...

His long saber danced, its light sweeping through the air. Lu Ye's figure moved nimbly within the Mirage Realm. The Pan Mountain Blade blazed with dazzling fire as one enemy after another fell.

After being upgraded to high-grade, the Pan Mountain Blade's destructive power was undoubtedly much greater. However, correspondingly, its consumption of spiritual energy also became more intense.

This was unavoidable.

This was also why cultivators of different cultivation levels could use spirit artifacts of varying qualities.

If a Spirit Stream Realm cultivator used a high-grade spirit artifact, even if they could activate it, they wouldn't last long; their spiritual energy would quickly be depleted.

At his current fourth-layer cultivation, Lu Ye could barely manage the energy consumption of a high-grade spirit artifact. If he could advance one more layer to the fifth-layer, controlling it would be much easier.

He had originally considered replacing the controlled artifacts in his weapon case with high-grade ones, but after this test, he decided against it.

It wasn't that he couldn't afford them, but rather that there was no need.

A weapon cultivator's primary method of engaging enemies was close-quarters combat. The path of controlled artifacts was merely an embellishment, providing weapon cultivators with a means of fighting enemies at medium to long range, thus avoiding awkward situations where they might be attacked from afar without being able to retaliate.

However, compared to other weapon cultivators' controlled artifacts, Lu Ye's were undoubtedly more lethal because he could imbue them with spirit patterns. Wind-channeling patterns could increase their speed, and sharpness patterns could enhance their destructive power, an advantage most other cultivators could not match.

Over half an hour later, Lu Ye was killed out of the Mirage Realm. A faint stinging sensation arose in his mind but quickly faded, which was undoubtedly a benefit of his powerful soul.