Chapter 847: Cloud River Nine-Level Realm and Mutation

Lu Ye naturally couldn't feed them until they were full. Given the immense size of the two dragons, truly satisfying their hunger would require an enormous amount of merit points.

This was just his first attempt. In the future, he would likely need to visit frequently. Spending ten or twenty thousand merit points each time was manageable for Lu Ye, but too much more would be beyond his capacity.

"Not bad, kid!" the Golden Dragon said, its tone a little kinder, perfectly demonstrating that a full belly leads to a softer tongue.

"Next time you come, remember to bring more. That bit of flesh wasn't even enough for a snack," the Silver Dragon instructed.

"I've noted that," Lu Ye replied. The Golden Dragon asked, "I explained the rules of the Merit Pavilion to you last time, do you remember?"

Lu Ye nodded, "Everything within the Merit Pavilion is for personal use only, and nothing about the Merit Pavilion may be revealed to anyone!"

"Good that you remember," the Golden Dragon said, retracting its body. "You may enter now."

The two dragons coiled around each other, quickly forming concentric circles. With a click, the Merit Pavilion's large door opened.

Lu Ye stepped inside.

Numerous stone platforms immediately came into view, each holding a treasure rarely seen in the outside world.

Last time he entered, he was pressed for time because he had borrowed the Heavenly Mechanism Pillar at the Heavenly Mechanism Alliance, and many people were queuing behind him. Lu Ye only took a quick, cursory look and didn't thoroughly examine everything. This time, being in his own spirit land, he wasn't as rushed.

He could now take his time to explore properly.

Skipping the areas he had examined last time, Lu Ye walked deeper into the Merit Pavilion, his heart stirring with excitement as he went.

Everything here was extremely precious and rare, not easily found in the Heavenly Mechanism Vault. For example, the Aperture Replenishment Pills in the Heavenly Mechanism Vault were almost sold out, but they were still available here.

There were many exotic treasures with varying effects, as well as numerous high-quality artifacts. The artifacts placed here were all masterpieces among masterpieces. Lu Ye even saw a top-tier artifact-grade long blade, which he could certainly afford with his current worth.

However, Lu Ye merely glanced at it. His Mountain-Shattering Saber was sufficient; even if its quality wasn't as high as that blade, what suited him best was always superior.

As he ventured deeper, Lu Ye was surprised to find that the stone platforms there were all shrouded in a hazy white light, obscuring their contents and preventing him from discerning what items were displayed.

After a brief thought, Lu Ye suspected that his cultivation level was insufficient, which was why he couldn't see the true forms of the treasures on those platforms.

It seemed that to see more good things, he would need to diligently improve his cultivation.

After roughly browsing all the treasures he could see and having a clear idea in his mind, Lu Ye quickly walked to a stone platform and reached out to grasp the item on it.

The treasure was in his hand, but there was no sign of merit points being deducted. This was an extra reward for his trip to the Peerless Continent.

The moment Lu Ye returned to the Cloud River Battlefield through the portal, he received guidance from the Heavenly Mechanism: he had earned one free selection of any treasure in the Merit Pavilion!

Since it was a free selection, the value was irrelevant; he could take whatever he wished.

This extra reward was likely the Heavenly Mechanism's commendation for his actions in the Peerless Continent.

Of the four Heavenly Mechanism Pillars, all but the one given to Ying Wuji for placement in Mount Sumeru were personally installed by Lu Ye. Not to mention the trouble of locating secret realms and finding ways to enter them.

Furthermore, before the Heavenly Mechanism of Kyushu established a connection with the Peerless Continent, Lu Ye had also slain many Corpse Race members, none of which had been tallied into his merit points.

The Heavenly Mechanism would naturally not overlook all these diligent efforts and sacrifices.

Therefore, Lu Ye received the privilege of freely selecting a treasure from the Merit Pavilion. As for whether others received similar additional rewards, Lu Ye didn't know.

Even if they did, it would likely just be an additional sum of merit points, not a free selection like his.

With this extra reward in hand, Lu Ye's sense of security greatly increased.

He then stepped forward to the stone platform displaying the golden spiritual tokens and exchanged for ten more.

Including the twenty golden spiritual tokens he already possessed, he now had a grand total of thirty!

With such wealth, it was certainly no exaggeration to call him the top cultivator in the Cloud River Realm. Even cultivators in the True Lake Realm might not possess so many golden spiritual tokens at once.

Advancing to True Lake was now assured.

As a result, his personal merit points were reduced to 40,672.

He didn't spend all of them, mainly because he wanted to keep some merit points in reserve, in case they might be needed later.

Having claimed his deserved rewards and exchanged for what he needed, Lu Ye calmly walked out of the Merit Pavilion. Under the watchful eyes of the two dragons, his figure quickly faded.

He faintly heard the Silver Dragon telling him to come earlier next time...

Upon returning to his wooden house, Lu Ye first activated the power of his talent tree to absorb the exotic fire and pill fire he had purchased. Watching the leaves brighten slightly in color but still show no signs of igniting, he couldn't help but feel disappointed.

Lu Ye was still highly anticipating this new spirit pattern, which was on the verge of emerging. However, the spirit patterns on the talent tree could only be examined once all the leaves carrying them were fully ignited. This current limbo state was quite frustrating.

Although he still had some Earth Core Fire reserved, Lu Ye kept it for emergencies. If the talent tree ever ran low on fuel and he found himself in a dire situation, this Earth Core Fire would come in handy.

Moreover, even if he consumed all the Earth Core Fire, it seemed unlikely to fully ignite those leaves.

He would have to wait for later.

"Time to cultivate!" Lu Ye refocused his mind, let out a low cry, and placed all thirty golden spiritual tokens before him.

"So many!" Yiyi exclaimed, the dazzling golden light almost blinding her.

As usual, Lu Ye constructed numerous small spirit-gathering funnels on himself before picking up a golden spiritual token and crushing it.

The golden powder swirled, forming a vortex, from which a large amount of pure spiritual energy immediately surged out, thoroughly enveloping Lu Ye's surroundings.

The spiritual energy was abundant, seemingly inexhaustible, yet not a single wisp dissipated. It gathered within three feet of Lu Ye, swiftly absorbed by the pulling force of the small spirit-gathering funnels and converted into Lu Ye's powerful cultivation base.

Lu Ye sat cross-legged, his mind immersed in reflecting on the fragmented origin of the Dragon Ascent Realm.

He refused to believe he couldn't find a strong practitioner of saber techniques to reflect upon!

Each golden spiritual token lasted for approximately a day and a night. When a token's effect ran out and the golden vortex vanished, Yiyi would crush another one. With the aid of his small spirit-gathering funnels, Lu Ye didn't need to worry about anything; he just needed to focus on his cultivation.

Time passed, and one golden spiritual token after another was consumed.

Until one day, when Lu Ye opened his eyes again, he was surprised to find that he had somehow already advanced to the ninth level of the Cloud River Realm.

Only a dozen or so of the golden spiritual tokens in front of him had been used.

Compared to other cultivators, Lu Ye had a massive advantage when cultivating with spiritual tokens. Because the duration of each token's effect was fixed at about a day and a night, no other cultivator at the same level gained as much benefit as Lu Ye did during that period.

The small spirit-gathering funnels continuously devoured the pure spiritual energy surging from the golden vortex. While a single funnel's effect wouldn't be very noticeable, the cumulative effect of the numerous funnels Lu Ye constructed on himself, matching the number of the Great Heavenly Cycle, was truly terrifying.

This was also the primary reason for his rapid progress in the Cloud River Realm. Compared to other cultivators, a single golden spiritual token brought him two, three, or even more times the benefits.

Even with Yiyi and Amber cultivating alongside him, it wouldn't diminish the benefits he received.

Ninth level of the Cloud River Realm, just one step away from the True Lake Realm.

Lu Ye's mood remained calm. After a brief check, he confirmed that his advancement had no hidden dangers. He had already confirmed this point, so when he realized something might have happened externally, he immediately withdrew his consciousness and opened his eyes.

Beside him, Yiyi also stopped cultivating, looking around with a stunned expression.

Lu Ye turned his head and couldn't help but frown, as what he saw was utterly bizarre.

This was his wooden house, with very simple furnishings inside. But now, the scenery within the house seemed to overlap with another blurry scene, which constantly shifted, making it impossible to see clearly.

Not only that, but Lu Ye distinctly felt a repulsive force enveloping him.

This repulsive force was very familiar; he had felt it before when he advanced to the Cloud River Realm in the Spirit Stream Battlefield. As he advanced to the Cloud River Realm, that repulsive force expanded to its limit, directly sending him out of the Spirit Stream Battlefield.

Therefore, upon sensing this familiar repulsive force, which seemed to be steeped within the origin of the Dragon Ascent Realm,

The golden spiritual tokens continued to dwindle. Lu Ye would wake up every two or three days, so he wasn't worried about suddenly advancing to True Lake and leaving the Cloud River Battlefield.

He planned to stop cultivating just before the final step to True Lake. The expansion of his spirit land should have been completed by then, and while the range of the many formations he had set up was vast, some modifications would be needed as the spirit land expanded.

All these tasks had to be completed before he left the Cloud River Battlefield.

However, human calculations are no match for fate. Lu Ye hadn't expected that, with his well-laid plans, an unexpected turn of events would occur.

After a full month back in his spirit land, while he was reflecting on the origin of the Dragon Ascent Realm and gaining insights from a powerful cultivator during a certain period in the Dragon Ascent Realm, his mind suddenly experienced a huge shock.

He immediately realized something had happened externally.

Since he could always interrupt his reflection on the origin, Lu Ye's first reaction was that he was about to advance to True Lake. But upon closer inspection, that was clearly not the case. Although his current state was not far from True Lake, it wasn't yet time for advancement.

And... what was this blurry scene, as if space and time were overlapping?