Chapter 58: Protective Charm

Two hours later, Lu Ye finally sheathed his blade. He walked to a dark spot, took out his water skin, washed himself briefly, got dressed, and returned to the foot of the cliff.

Dahu was already fast asleep, snoring loudly enough to shake the heavens. Yi Yi was still sitting there, seemingly waiting for him.

However, seeing Lu Ye's expression, she found it a bit strange. He looked as if he had made a difficult decision, with a resolute expression that seemed to say, "Though a thousand men stand against me, I will go."

She couldn't help but tilt her head.

Lu Ye, troubled and perplexed, sat down cross-legged. After a moment's thought, he instructed Yi Yi, "If I pass out in a bit, don't worry too much."

"Huh?" Yi Yi looked utterly confused.

Lu Ye didn't explain further. He closed his eyes, immersed his mind, and once again 'saw' the Talent Tree residing in his Origin Spirit Aperture.

On the massive canopy, three leaves were burning fiercely, while a fourth had begun to glow but wasn't yet ablaze.

Back in the mine shaft of Evil Moon Valley, the first leaf on his Talent Tree had ignited, bestowing upon him a spirit pattern called 'Sharpness.' Without that Sharpness spirit pattern, he wouldn't have been able to kill the heavily injured Zhou Cheng so easily later, nor would he have pierced through the clean-faced man's protective spiritual power with a single sword thrust, let alone severely wound the serpent demon and ultimately win.

It's fair to say that this spirit pattern had significantly helped Lu Ye at several critical junctures.

Now, with two more leaves on his Talent Tree ignited, he felt both apprehensive and eager to discover what kind of spirit patterns he would acquire.

Slowly concentrating, Lu Ye gazed at one of the burning leaves. Just like before, the small leaf rapidly expanded, filling his entire vision and mind in the blink of an eye.

Simultaneously, a flood of information uncontrollably surged into his mind. Lu Ye once again felt as if someone had violently smashed his head with a hammer.

Last time, he had simply passed out.

This time, although he felt the world spin and the pain was unbearable, he managed not to faint.

Lu Ye would have preferred to pass out, because the entire process made him feel as if he were better off dead. It was as if someone had pried open his skull, forcefully crammed in things he completely didn't understand, and then vigorously stirred them around...

He abruptly opened his eyes, a suppressed growl rumbling in his throat, his eyes bloodshot.

Yi Yi, who had been watching him, jumped in fright. Even Dahu, awakened from his sleep, let out a roar and looked around warily, mistakenly thinking they were under attack.

It took a while for Lu Ye to gradually calm down. His vision was still a blur of red, and his entire body was drenched in sweat. Yi Yi and Dahu stood by in alarm, unsure what to do.

In fact, Lu Ye's appearance at that moment was truly ferocious. Not only were his eyes bloodshot, but veins bulged prominently at his temples, as if he were enduring immense torture.

After several heavy gasps, Lu Ye recovered slightly and assured the anxious Dahu and Yi Yi, "It's alright."

He closed his eyes once more.

The pain had passed; it was time to reap the rewards.

Yi Yi and Dahu exchanged a glance, both utterly perplexed. However, this matter seemed related to Lu Ye's cultivation, and since he wasn't speaking, Yi Yi found it inappropriate to ask. They could only stand by and guard him.

At this point, Lu Ye was examining the characteristics of the second spirit pattern.

Guard!

This was the name of the second spirit pattern. Judging purely by its name, it appeared to be a defensive spirit pattern.

Lu Ye had previously speculated that since the first spirit pattern was offensive, the second might be defensive, and it seemed his guess was correct.

He opened his eyes, and after a brief moment of concentration, a visible layer of spiritual light suddenly shimmered on his palm. The light transformed into the shape of a triangular shield, intricately carved with complex patterns and designs.

"This is... a spirit pattern?" Yi Yi, who had been silently observing Lu Ye, was startled. Although she had lost many memories, she still retained common knowledge of the cultivation world, and in fact, knew more than Lu Ye. Therefore, seeing Lu Ye actually construct a spirit pattern using his own spiritual power was simply unbelievable.

One must understand that low-level cultivators like Lu Ye typically focused primarily on increasing their cultivation. They didn't even have time to study and master spells, let alone complex spirit patterns. Of course, some spells could also be considered manifestations of spirit patterns.

In fact, the spirit pattern Lu Ye was now activating could be seen as a defensive spell.

Spells and spirit patterns are closely related, often sharing commonalities yet not being entirely identical; it's difficult to explain in a few words.

Nevertheless, it was still incredible for a low-level cultivator to be able to construct a spirit pattern.

Yi Yi became increasingly convinced that Lu Ye was likely a disciple of a top-tier sect, and his status within that sect was undoubtedly not low. Perhaps he was even the illegitimate child of a sect master, forced to venture out alone for cultivation due to some unavoidable circumstances...

In just a few breaths, she had already concocted a full-blown dramatic tale filled with grudges and romantic entanglements in her mind.

Lu Ye, however, didn't notice Yi Yi's gaze. He was currently assessing the sturdiness of 'Guard.' Purely in terms of defensive power, Guard's protective ability completely dwarfed his own body-protecting spiritual power. Compared to each other, there was at least several times the difference in defensive strength.

This meant that in the future, whenever he encountered an attack, he would have a much better means of defense.

However, despite its excellent protective power, its consumption was not low. This palm-sized Guard spirit pattern alone consumed the spiritual power reserves of one of Lu Ye's spirit apertures.

It consumed even more than Sharpness.

In other words, if he activated such a spirit pattern twenty times consecutively, Lu Ye would completely deplete his spiritual power.

Furthermore, if the protective range were expanded, the consumption would increase further. Lu Ye was currently only activating a palm-sized Guard spirit pattern, but that didn't mean the Guard spirit pattern was limited to that size. If he wished, he could activate a much larger one.

All in all, this was an excellent spirit pattern. Although he possessed items like the Golden Body Talisman, talismans would eventually run out, whereas this Guard spirit pattern was an inherent ability of his own.

Moreover, comparatively, activating Guard was instantaneous, requiring only a thought, while activating a talisman was more cumbersome. First, he would have to retrieve the talisman from his storage bag and infuse it with spiritual power. In intense combat, Lu Ye often wouldn't have the time to do such things.

If he had possessed such a spirit pattern before encountering the clean-faced man, he could have completely withstood the opponent's attacks and directly fought him head-on.

Although this spirit pattern didn't enhance Lu Ye's cultivation, it significantly boosted his combat prowess.

There was still another one...

Lu Ye shivered slightly, recalling his previous experience. He wasn't ready to investigate the other spirit pattern, at least not for the next couple of days.

His mind was currently a mess; if he tried to examine that spirit pattern again, he might very well die.

So he needed to rest for a few days first.

Taking out a Spirit Nurturing Pill and consuming it, Lu Ye prepared to investigate a question that had always puzzled him: whether his cultivation through consuming pills had no hidden drawbacks because of its connection to the Talent Tree!

As he quietly focused, he quickly 'saw' the Talent Tree hidden within his Origin Spirit Aperture.