Chapter 593: Enchantress

The sudden, unusual sensation that descended from the sky felt familiar, as if he had encountered it somewhere before.

Lu Ye thought carefully and soon recalled what this familiar feeling was.

It was the favor of the Heavenly Dao!

Back in the Myriad Beast Domain secret realm, he had obtained the Beast Seal Art and the Life Essence Technique from the Myriad Beast Sect's Grand Elder. Xia Qianqian had once told him that if items capable of changing the dynamics of an entire lineage were sold to the Heavenly Dao Vault, one could gain the Heavenly Dao's favor, thereby boosting their own luck.

This proved true. After exiting the Myriad Beast Domain secret realm and selling the jade slip inscribed with the Beast Seal Art and Life Essence Technique to the Heavenly Dao Vault, he not only gained many merits but also felt the Heavenly Dao's presence descend upon him in a subtle way.

It was exactly the same sensation as he had just experienced.

In the hunting ground, he had turned misfortune into fortune, primarily because he obtained a Golden Body Token. Such a heaven-defying item was incredibly precious, coveted even by cultivators in the Divine Sea Realm. Yet, a mere Cloud River Realm cultivator like him managed to acquire it from spoils of war. Not only did he overcome danger, but he also achieved first place on the hunting ground's kill list, receiving a reward from the Heavenly Dao.

Given all this, wasn't it a clear manifestation of his own luck?

Luck, though intangible, constantly influenced him.

Last time, he received the Heavenly Dao's favor because he brought out something from the Myriad Beast Domain secret realm that could change the dynamics of an entire lineage.

What about this time?

After slaying the fox demon and saving those cultivators, he also received it?

He suddenly recalled the fox demon's inexplicable last words, in which she stated that the Heavenly Dao had already delivered its punishment.

Lu Ye hadn't understood what she meant at the time, but now, combining it with his own experiences, he vaguely began to grasp it.

For twenty years, the fox demon had lorded over Fox Immortal Valley, using a soul secret technique that shouldn't have appeared on the Cloud River Battlefield to enslave numerous cultivators for her revenge. Countless cultivators had died because of her over the years. Although Lu Ye killed her primarily for self-preservation and to save Li Baxian, it ultimately benefited the region.

If he hadn't killed the fox demon this time, many more cultivators might have suffered misfortunes in the future.

His reason for entering Fox Immortal Valley was following Li Baxian in pursuit of Tan Sheng and Xia Liang, which led to their encounter with Zhou Yuntian and others.

Looking back now, when Tan Sheng and Xia Liang fled from the spiritual land, they should have escaped towards the outer regions of Mount Taimang. Yet, for some unknown reason, they fled deeper into the mountain...

This clearly didn't align with their situation at the time, and two cultivators at the ninth-level Cloud River Realm should never have made such a foolish choice.

He and Li Baxian pursued them all the way, only to encounter Zhou Yuntian and others, who then brought them into Fox Immortal Valley. Coincidentally, he possessed the Talent Tree, making him immune to the fox demon's soul secret technique. Even more coincidentally, he also had a pack of wolves he could command!

Even the battle in Fox Immortal Valley to encircle and kill the berserk giant ape went unbelievably smoothly.

The fox demon hadn't achieved her revenge for twenty years, yet shortly after Lu Ye arrived in Fox Immortal Valley, he helped her complete her grand plan of vengeance...

Everything seemed reasonable, but upon deeper reflection, one could find many inexplicable coincidences.

It was as if an invisible, powerful hand was subtly orchestrating everything from behind the scenes.

What exactly was the Heavenly Dao?

Was he the punishment the Heavenly Dao sent upon the fox demon?

By killing the fox demon and eliminating this menace, did the Heavenly Dao once again increase its favor towards him?

As his thoughts raced, Lu Ye suddenly felt a shiver down his spine.

He looked down at the back of his hand. Just as the Heavenly Dao's favor descended, the back of his hand had warmed slightly. Now, looking at it, Lu Ye's face showed surprise.

A golden mark had distinctly appeared on the back of his hand, identical to the mark bestowed by the Heavenly Dao when he achieved first place on the kill list last time!

Not only had it increased its favor, but it had also bestowed a reward?

However, Lu Ye currently didn't know what this reward was. The reward for first place on the kill list was obvious, but to discover what this new reward was, he would need to return to a spiritual land and use a Heavenly Dao Pillar.

Gathering his thoughts, Lu Ye looked to the side. Ju Jia stood nearby, head bowed, looking dispirited.

Clearly, he was bothered by having attacked Lu Ye and pursued Yi Yi earlier.

Dismissing the extraneous thoughts, Lu Ye walked over, patted his arm, and consoled him, telling him not to worry since even Fourth Senior Brother couldn't resist the fox demon's secret technique, let alone him.

Ju Jia looked up at him. Though still silent and gloomy, his expression eased considerably.

Lu Ye then turned to look at Li Baxian, only to see Feng Yuechan smiling playfully, asking Li Baxian what was going on with Daoist Friend Yu, as she seemed quite close to him.

Just before the group of cultivators from Fox Immortal Valley left, Yu Daiwei had specifically bid farewell to Li Baxian. Her unusual demeanor and tone had not gone unnoticed by Feng Yuechan, which clearly irked her.

Li Baxian's expression remained unchanged as he explained that Yu Daiwei was also a sword cultivator who often sought him out for sword sparring in Fox Immortal Valley, though he wasn't very familiar with her. He then scoffed, asking why he was even telling her all this, reminding her that he was her martial uncle and scolding her for her "blabbering." He raised a hand and lightly tapped Feng Yuechan's head.

Feng Yuechan's cheeks puffed out slightly, looking indignant.

Li Baxian walked towards Lu Ye and asked with concern about the extent of his injuries.

Lu Ye replied that they were all superficial wounds and nothing serious.

Li Baxian sighed with emotion, expressing his surprise that such a dangerous demon beast existed on the Cloud River Battlefield. He recounted how he hadn't felt anything amiss when she planted her soul secret technique to enslave him, but recalling it now was truly terrifying. He then asked Lu Ye how he had managed to break free from the soul secret technique.

This was what puzzled him most. That day, he and Lu Ye's group were brought back together; logically, they should all have been subjected to the soul secret technique. For all these days, Lu Ye had shown no signs of abnormality. It was only today that he realized his Little Junior Brother had never been affected by the fox demon's soul secret technique and had been secretly plotting to kill her all along.

Before Lu Ye could answer, Feng Yuechan spoke first, scolding Li Baxian for forgetting how powerful Junior Brother Lu's soul was. She asserted that the fox demon, at best, was a demon general, so even if she could activate a soul secret technique, it would have little effect on Junior Brother Lu.

Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan were both aware that Lu Ye had obtained a significant amount of Soul Cleansing Water. This divine substance could strengthen a cultivator's soul. Li Baxian himself had even received some from Lu Ye, indicating that Lu Ye must have used a great deal of it himself if he could afford to gift it to others.

Feng Yuechan naturally assumed that Lu Ye's ability to resist the fox demon's secret technique was related to his powerful soul.

This was exactly what Lu Ye wanted. Since he couldn't easily explain too much about the Talent Tree, he went along with Feng Yuechan's words, confirming that Senior Sister Feng was right.

Li Baxian acknowledged that it was thanks to Little Junior Brother this time, otherwise he feared he would have met a grim fate.

Feng Yuechan then instructed them to let Little Junior Brother heal his injuries first, as she had something to ask Li Baxian and pulled him aside.

Lu Ye shook his head, chuckling. However, he indeed needed to meditate and recover for a while.

With the wolf pack guarding him, there was no need to worry about danger.

He found a spot, sat down cross-legged, popped some spiritual pills and a healing pill into his mouth, and quietly began to refine them.

After half a day, his depleted spiritual power was almost fully recovered.

Lu Ye immersed his consciousness, examining the pink leaf on the Talent Tree. As his mind focused, a torrent of information flooded his brain, causing his consciousness to tremble slightly.

After carefully examining the information, Lu Ye's expression became peculiar.

This time, his luck was quite good; he directly obtained a Spirit Mark.

But this Spirit Mark was quite different from all the Spirit Marks he had obtained before.

It wasn't that it was particularly complex. Among the Spirit Marks Lu Ye currently mastered, the most intricate was undoubtedly the Fire Phoenix Spirit Mark, followed by the Void Spirit Mark. However, the Void Spirit Mark was learned from a book, making it impossible to construct it as freely as the Spirit Marks from the Talent Tree.

Furthermore, since it was just information carried by a single leaf, it couldn't be overly complex.

The reason it was special was that, according to the information, this Spirit Mark, when activated, consumed not spiritual power, but soul power.

In short, it was the power of the divine soul.

Lu Ye's heart stirred slightly; this was actually a Soul Spirit Mark, or a Divine Mark!

The path of Spirit Marks was vast and profound. What Lu Ye had learned and mastered so far could all be constructed using spiritual power. However, if Lu Ye's cultivation reached the Divine Sea Realm and he possessed his own soul power, then many Spirit Marks could be constructed with soul power, allowing them to exert even greater abilities.

For example, Sharpness: when constructed purely with spiritual power, it could increase the lethality of a spiritual artifact. But if constructed with soul power, it could transform into a soul attack.

Defense also applied: constructed with soul power, it could form a soul barrier.

However, there were some special Spirit Marks that could only be constructed with soul power. These types of Spirit Marks were all called Divine Marks.

What he received this time was a Divine Mark.

It was Charm!

Based on the abundant information contained within the leaf, this Charm Divine Mark had the effect of confusing and enchanting the mind, quite similar to the soul secret technique used by the fox demon.

The fox demon's soul secret technique was incredibly potent, but that was an innate divine ability of a six-tailed Heavenly Fox, impossible for ordinary cultivators or demon beasts to master. If the Charm Divine Mark could even exert one-tenth of the fox demon's secret technique's power, it would be extremely remarkable.

Unfortunately, this was a Divine Mark that required soul power to activate. With his current Cloud River Realm cultivation, Lu Ye couldn't utilize it at all. While he could construct it with spiritual power, it would serve no purpose.

However, one day his cultivation would reach the Divine Sea Realm, and then this Divine Mark would naturally come into play.

This single Divine Mark alone brought him immense gain, not to mention the Heavenly Dao's favor, which would likely make his luck even more prosperous in the future.

And there was also a reward bestowed by the Heavenly Dao, though he still didn't know what it was...

He slowly opened his eyes and stood up.

Li Baxian, who had been standing guard nearby, saw him rise and asked if they were returning to the spiritual land.

With the fox demon dead and the cultivators from Fox Immortal Valley dispersed, there was naturally no need to return to Fox Immortal Valley.

Lu Ye nodded, then suddenly remembered something and suggested they go to Fox Immortal Valley first, as there was something there he was interested in.

Li Baxian merely nodded and agreed.