Chapter 640: Leisure

The transaction went smoothly; the manager never asked Lu Ye for his name throughout the entire process.

The manager already knew Lu Ye's identity the moment those thousands of storage bags were presented.

The battle in the mine, where two thousand cultivators from Demon Ridge were poisoned to death, caused a huge commotion. How could the Divine Machine Merchant Alliance not know about it? In fact, they knew even more than most cultivators.

After all, the Divine Machine Merchant Alliance conducts all kinds of business, including intelligence.

At this stage, looking at the entire Cloud River Battlefield, who else but Lu Ye could produce so many storage bags at once?

Empty storage bags weren't valuable, but their sheer number compensated for that. Along with the miscellaneous items Lu Ye wanted to sell, it was a rare and significant transaction overall. Thus, the manager meticulously calculated the price, and it took nearly half a day for the payment and goods to be exchanged.

As he left Lu Ye's guest room, the manager suddenly turned back. With a hesitant expression, he looked at Lu Ye and said meaningfully, "It's been a bit lively near the merchant alliance lately. I hope it won't disturb your rest, honored guest."

After speaking, he cupped his hands slightly, then turned and departed.

Lu Ye closed the door, walked to the window, and, concealing himself, subtly peered outside.

"What's wrong?" Yi Yi asked, puzzled.

"Our location might have been exposed."

"Ah?" Yi Yi was startled. "How could that be?"

"It's normal. When I was carrying such a large package, many people must have seen me. As a cultivator, carrying such a large package is inherently suspicious, so it's inevitable that those with intentions would pay attention."

This was within Lu Ye's expectations, but at the time, there was truly no other way. Unless he was willing to abandon all his spoils, there was no way to hide himself in the wilderness while carrying so much.

"However, those people didn't see my face, and at the time, I had put Amber into my spirit beast bag. So, while some might suspect I've hidden here, there's no conclusive evidence."

Yi Yi suddenly remembered what the manager had said before leaving. She hadn't thought much of it at the time, but now it dawned on her: "That manager was warning you?"

Lu Ye nodded.

Yi Yi was puzzled. "But isn't the Divine Machine Merchant Alliance always neutral and never involved in the conflicts between the two factions? Why would they suddenly do you a favor?"

"It might not be doing me a favor..." Lu Ye walked away from the window, sat down, poured himself a cup of tea, took a sip, and said, "They might be afraid I'd misunderstand and think they leaked the information about me being here."

That's why the manager looked so hesitant before leaving.

The Divine Machine Merchant Alliance never interferes in the struggles and conflicts between the two factions, so technically, they don't need to provide Lu Ye with any intelligence.

But if they didn't warn Lu Ye, and he was suddenly ambushed the moment he left the alliance, he would inevitably develop an unnecessary misunderstanding, believing the Divine Machine Merchant Alliance leaked the information. If this made Lu Ye resent the alliance, it would go against their original purpose.

The manager's expression was hesitant, and he spoke vaguely, but the hint was clear enough. How could Lu Ye not understand?

Furthermore, even if the manager hadn't said anything, Lu Ye might still have noticed.

These past few days, he had been busy unlocking the seals on the storage bags and hadn't paid any attention to the situation outside. But if he had taken the time to observe his surroundings, he would surely have noticed some clues.

The manager's hint was merely a helpful, non-essential gesture.

"So what do we do now?" Yi Yi asked.

"Let them wait. What else can we do?"

No matter how much those from Demon Ridge wanted to kill him, they couldn't possibly storm into the Divine Machine Merchant Alliance and cause trouble, as all conflict is forbidden within the alliance.

Although Lu Ye believed that even if he rushed out, those Demon Ridge cultivators might not be able to do anything to him, he had been constantly on the move and fighting wits and strength against Demon Ridge ever since he left Rejuvenation Valley. He was truly a bit tired, so this was a good opportunity to rest here for a while.

He raised his hand, tapped his battle imprint, and checked his own information.

Name: Lu Yiye.Identity: Disciple of the Azure Blood Sect.Cultivation: Cloud River Fifth Layer.Location: Cloud River Battlefield.Merit points: 176,520.Battle Contribution: 56 points.

When he left Rejuvenation Valley, he only had over 70,000 merit points, but now he had over 170,000. This was naturally his gain from the mine.

For most cultivators, a few thousand or tens of thousands of merit points was already a considerable sum, but for Lu Ye, the number of merit points was just a number...

In the short term, merit points, apart from allowing him to buy some rare flames from the Divine Machine Vault or summoning the Divine Machine Pillar in times of crisis, didn't have much other use.

However, as far as he knew, after reaching the True Lake cultivation stage, merit points would become extremely useful.

It could be said that in the cultivation world of Kyushu, merit points accompany cultivators throughout their entire lives. No matter how high their cultivation, merit points would always be indispensable.

Especially after reaching the True Lake stage, the demand for merit points would become immense.

As for the specific details, Lu Ye hadn't inquired deeply; he had only chatted about it with Shui Yuan when he was at the Azure Blood Sect's main branch.

Because of the high demand for merit points, the foundation of a sect isn't solely supported by a few powerful individuals; the quantity and quality of its disciples also become exceptionally important.

The reason Shui Yuan lingered at the True Lake Ninth Layer for so many years, only advancing to the Divine Sea last year, was because the Azure Blood Sect was too poor. She didn't have enough merit points, which prevented her from improving her cultivation. Otherwise, with her talent, she could have advanced to the Divine Sea much earlier.

The senior brothers and sisters of the previous generation in the Azure Blood Sect were all among the top talents in Kyushu in terms of aptitude.

There's no need to mention the late Senior Brother Feng Wujiang. He was someone who could lead a massive faction and nearly crush their opponents. Even though he had been dead for over thirty years, various legends about him still circulated throughout Kyushu.

Shui Yuan, Xiao Xinghe, and Li Baxian were all exceptionally talented. Especially Li Baxian; if not for his spiritual aperture being damaged, which caused him to languish in the Spirit Stream Battlefield for over a decade, he would probably not be far from the Divine Sea Realm now.

For now, he didn't plan to leave the Divine Machine Merchant Alliance. With abundant resources at hand, he could cultivate in peace.

This made the Demon Ridge cultivators who were secretly observing his movements quite uncomfortable.

Although these Demon Ridge cultivators, who had received the news and gathered from various places, inferred through various clues that Lu Ye had entered this Divine Machine Merchant Alliance, no one had seen him with their own eyes. So no one knew for certain if he was actually inside.

They could only wait outside for Lu Ye to show himself, provided he was actually inside.

But seven or eight days passed in a row, and not even a glimpse of Lu Ye was seen. Some of the Demon Ridge cultivators couldn't sit still any longer.

From their perspective, even if Lu Ye was inside the Divine Machine Merchant Alliance, he wouldn't show up anytime soon. The outside world was dangerous, and hiding in the Divine Machine Merchant Alliance was safe. Furthermore, Lu Yiye was a person of immense wealth, with countless merit points. Coupled with the over two thousand cultivators' storage bags he had previously confiscated, he certainly wouldn't lack cultivation resources.

No one would find it strange if he stayed inside for one or two years.

Lu Ye could stay inside for one or two years, but could they wait outside for one or two years? This was clearly impossible.

Without knowing for sure if Lu Ye was hiding there, and without knowing when he would come out, many Demon Ridge cultivators gradually lost patience and left one after another. However, some continued to wait, such as Chu Yun and Zhou Pei from the Sacred Fire Sect. They had no shortage of patience; as long as they could kill Lu Ye, they could wait not just one or two years, but even ten or eight years!

A few more days passed in a flash, and Lu Ye's days were very leisurely.

Every day, he took spirit pills, cultivated, and read books. Although his efficiency wasn't as high as in the spiritual land of Rejuvenation Valley, the difference wasn't too significant.

His requirements for a cultivation environment were not that high after all.

Furthermore, the spiritual energy within this guest room was equivalent to a Class B spiritual land. However, the nightly accommodation fee was quite high, and most people genuinely couldn't afford to stay there. Only someone as wealthy as Lu Ye didn't mind it at all.

His reasoning was simple: no matter how many resources one had, they were still external objects. Only by promptly converting these external objects into one's own power could they truly serve their purpose.

Most of the time, Yi Yi also cultivated silently beside him. She and Amber had a symbiotic relationship, so no matter which of them cultivated, it would enhance the strength of both.

This was an advantage that no other cultivator or monster beast in Kyushu could match, and it was also the reason why Yi Yi and Amber's strength could keep pace with Lu Ye.

Previously, Lu Ye's cultivation had always been slightly higher than Yi Yi's and Amber's, but now they were on par. The biggest contribution to this was the demon core of that Overlord-level Demon General.

However, there were also times when Yi Yi would go out to buy Lu Ye some delicious food or to gather information.

The world only knew that Amber followed Lu Ye, but never knew that Yi Yi was also by his side.

This greatly facilitated Yi Yi's movements.

The door opened, and Yi Yi walked in enthusiastically. "Lu Ye, Lu Ye, there's a spirit lottery auction in the alliance tonight!"

"Oh?" Lu Ye showed interest. It had been about half a year since he entered the Cloud River Battlefield, and he had obtained quite a few spirit lotteries through various channels. However, he had only encountered a spirit lottery auction once before.

And this was the only way to obtain spirit lotteries using merit points.

As for merit points... Lu Ye never lacked them. The last time he participated in a spirit lottery auction, he almost bought up all the spirit lotteries.

"What kind of spirit lotteries are there?"

"They say there's a purple spirit lottery," Yi Yi said, putting down the food box in her hand. Amber poked its head over, sniffed, and seeing it was cooked food, immediately lost interest.

"Should we go?"

"Let's go take a look. We can also check if the Divine Machine Vault has any Earth Core Flames for sale."

In the battle at the mine, while he indeed killed two thousand enemies, the fuel for his Talent Tree should have also been significantly consumed.

Although he had some spare Earth Core Flames, they were meant for emergencies, so Lu Ye didn't plan to use them.

Now that he had abundant merit points, it was a good time to visit the Divine Machine Vault and buy some goods.