Chapter 888: Because of Misfortune Comes Good Fortune

Wind Rises in Kyushu

Shui Yuan was delighted. She knew that although her junior brother was still unconscious, his instincts remained. He had lowered his guard after sensing her presence. She no longer hesitated; her spiritual sense surged, and she delved into it.

In the next instant, she arrived in a peculiar world. This was likely the depths of Lu Ye's spirit. At the center of this hazy world, a faint human figure was curled up, as if sleeping in a womb. Surrounding the figure was a mass that was neither mist nor liquid. Looking closer at the figure, it clearly resembled Lu Ye.

Witnessing this bizarre scene, Shui Yuan was stunned. Her cultivation had progressed step by step, and she had naturally undergone the transformation from the True Lake to the Divine Sea realm. Furthermore, because the Blood Jade Sect was sparsely populated and lacked cultivation resources at the time, this transformation process had kept her stuck for a very long time. She remembered it vividly.

Was the blurry figure she saw her junior brother's soul entity? And the substance encasing the soul entity, which was neither mist nor liquid—was it the manifestation of spiritual sense? How could this be?

Even though Shui Yuan was a grand cultivator of the Divine Sea realm, she was now shaken to her core. For cultivators to advance from True Lake to Divine Sea, the most crucial step was this very one: for their spirit to be powerful enough to birth their own soul entity! Normally, cultivators would only gradually accumulate such a foundation after reaching the ninth level of the True Lake realm. And not every True Lake realm cultivator could even achieve this accumulation.

While there were many grand cultivators in the Divine Sea realm in Kyushu, there were even more in the True Lake realm. Even some cultivators with exceptional talent were stuck at this bottleneck, unable to progress, because their spirits were not strong enough. If the spirit wasn't strong enough, it couldn't birth a soul entity. If a soul entity couldn't be birthed, spiritual sense couldn't manifest. Naturally, one couldn't touch the threshold of the Divine Sea realm. Generally, less than one in a hundred True Lake cultivators successfully advanced to Divine Sea. This was even considering Kyushu's uniquely favorable cultivation environment. Outside of Kyushu, for instance, in the Dragon Ascension Realm or the ancient Unrivaled Continent, the difficulty of advancing from True Lake to Divine Sea was even greater. In Kyushu, the Heavenly Dao operated in various ways. The Heavenly Dao Treasury stored a vast array of treasures. Cultivators only needed to find ways to accumulate merit or battle achievements to purchase the resources they required. The Dragon Ascension Realm and Unrivaled Continent did not have these conditions.

A soul entity that even ninth-level True Lake cultivators might not be able to birth had unexpectedly appeared in her junior brother. Shui Yuan truly couldn't understand why this was happening. Could it be that her junior brother's spirit was already strong enough to birth a soul entity? But he had only recently advanced to True Lake. A first-level True Lake cultivator already beginning to birth his own soul entity—no one would likely believe such a thing if it were told. However, on second thought, if her junior brother's spirit was indeed strong enough to birth a soul entity, then the reason for his unconsciousness would be found!

After observing carefully for a moment and confirming she wasn't mistaken, Shui Yuan withdrew her spiritual sense. As she looked up, Yi Yi's anxious face came into view. Nian Yuexian was also quietly waiting nearby.

"Yi Yi, I need to ask you something, and you must tell me the truth," Shui Yuan said.

"Mhm," Yi Yi nodded her head vigorously like a chick pecking rice.

"That Soul Cleansing Dew Lu Ye obtained before, did he consume all of it, aside from what he gave to me and fourth junior brother?"

"Before?" Yi Yi looked a little bewildered. "Which time are you talking about?"

Shui Yuan was taken aback. "There was another time?"

Shui Yuan knew that Lu Ye possessed Soul Cleansing Dew. Her own rapid advancement to the Divine Sea realm back then was not only due to the immense resource income Lu Ye brought to the Blood Jade Sect but also to the Soul Cleansing Dew he gifted her. As far as she knew, besides giving some to her, Lu Ye had also given some to Li Baxian, and should have kept a portion for himself. But hearing Yi Yi ask "which time," Shui Yuan realized the situation was more complicated than she thought. From Yi Yi's words, it seemed Lu Ye had obtained Soul Cleansing Dew more than once.

Indeed, Yi Yi nodded. "A few months ago, he entered Xian Yuan City again and acquired a good amount of Soul Cleansing Dew. The initial batch he got was used up long ago."

Shui Yuan was somewhat dumbfounded by this. That was Soul Cleansing Dew, not some trivial item. Lu Ye had given her some back then, and besides what she used for her advancement to Divine Sea, she had kept most of it, unwilling to use it, in case of future need. Because this item couldn't be bought from the Heavenly Dao Treasury, every bit used meant one bit less, and there weren't many ways to acquire it.

Yi Yi added, "Anyway, I often saw him consume Soul Cleansing Dew..." He used it when challenging the Hundred Formations Tower, when examining newly acquired spiritual patterns, and when activating the power of his Talent Tree. Perhaps he also used it to refresh himself whenever he felt low on energy.

Nian Yuexian's expression also turned peculiar. She really wanted to ask if the Soul Cleansing Dew they were talking about was the same as what she understood. Shui Yuan suddenly felt a headache coming on. She nodded slightly. "In that case, I understand."

"What do you mean?" Nian Yuexian asked from the side. She didn't understand why Shui Yuan suddenly asked about Soul Cleansing Dew after examining Lu Ye's condition. Shui Yuan didn't hide anything from her. After years of friendship, they were not only friends but also family, with enough trust to confide in each other. "Lu Ye is currently birthing his own soul entity."

Nian Yuexian was stunned for a moment before frowning and saying, "That's impossible!"

"I also find it hard to believe, but I saw it with my own eyes; there's no mistake." Shui Yuan took a slow breath, her chest rising. "His prolonged consumption of Soul Cleansing Dew has caused his spirit to become far stronger than his actual cultivation, barely giving him the foundation to birth a soul entity. Without external stimulation, he would probably have reached this stage soon anyway. However, he recently experienced some external stimulation, and his spirit must have been impacted. He might not know what birthing a soul entity means, but driven by instinct, he made this choice to protect himself."

Nian Yuexian nodded. "Yes, Wan Zhanggang attacked him with spiritual sense."

"Wan Zhanggang!" A cold light flashed in Shui Yuan's eyes. "A Divine Sea realm cultivator, bullying a junior, utterly shameless!" Nian Yuexian confirmed, "Yes, he was indeed impacted by Wan Zhanggang's spiritual sense attack, his spirit becoming unstable. That's why, driven by instinct, he adopted this method to protect himself."

Shui Yuan nodded. "It's indeed a blessing in disguise, but now there's a problem..." She turned to Yi Yi. "As I just said, even though his spirit is strong, it's barely at the level to birth a soul entity. Many cultivators at this stage fall at this hurdle, just like Lu Ye's current state. If he fails to successfully birth his soul entity, he'll be stuck at this point forever."

"What should we do then?" Yi Yi became anxious.

Shui Yuan raised a hand and tapped her on the head. "Silly. He's birthing a soul entity, so naturally, it consumes a lot of spiritual energy. We just need to replenish the spiritual energy he's expending, and the moment his soul entity is successfully birthed, he'll naturally wake up."

"Soul Cleansing Dew!" Yi Yi's eyes lit up.

Shui Yuan nodded. "Exactly!"

"They're all here," Yi Yi quickly said, taking out the bottle containing Soul Cleansing Dew and handing it to Shui Yuan. "The rest are all in Lu Ye's tattoo space."

"This should be enough," Shui Yuan smiled faintly. Now that she understood Lu Ye's current situation and had a solution, her mood relaxed. Moreover, she still had some Soul Cleansing Dew herself. If it wasn't enough, she could go find Li Baxian, who should also have some. After all, no one else consumed Soul Cleansing Dew as if it were water, like Lu Ye did.

This matter was simple to resolve here. If it were someone else in this situation, it would be much harder to resolve. Unless they sought out spiritual fruits or elixirs that could replenish spiritual energy, but such items were invariably precious and rare, highly treasured by major sects and not easily shared.

On another note, Lu Ye might genuinely benefit from this misfortune. Wan Zhanggang probably never imagined that his spiritual sense attack, fueled by anger, would force Lu Ye to instinctively begin birthing his soul entity. And if Lu Ye succeeded, it would mean a first-level True Lake cultivator possessed his own soul entity and spiritual sense. This would be an unprecedented event. At that time, a first-level True Lake cultivator like him would be able to employ some abilities only grand cultivators of the Divine Sea realm could use. He was already capable of defeating opponents above his cultivation level. No one could predict how his true combat power would change then.

Inside the bamboo house, everyone guarded him closely, not leaving his side. Shui Yuan periodically sent her spiritual sense into Lu Ye to check his condition, and then took targeted actions. She originally thought one drop of Soul Cleansing Dew per day would be enough for Lu Ye, but after checking, she found the dosage was still too low. She immediately changed it to two drops per day, then three... Aside from the preciousness of Soul Cleansing Dew, an ordinary cultivator couldn't handle consuming so much in a single day. This is the essence of the saying, "a weak body cannot tolerate strong tonics." However, due to his prolonged consumption of Soul Cleansing Dew, Lu Ye showed no adverse reactions. Furthermore, thanks to the effects of the Soul Cleansing Dew, the speed at which his soul entity was forming significantly increased. Under Shui Yuan's observation, the originally blurry figure gradually solidified, and the peculiar substance surrounding the figure showed signs of liquefaction.

Three days later, when Shui Yuan completed her final check and slowly rose from the bedside, she said, "He will wake up at the earliest tonight, or tomorrow at the latest." Yi Yi, who had been on tenterhooks, finally smiled upon hearing this.

"You won't wait for him to wake up?" Nian Yuexian sensed the underlying meaning in Shui Yuan's words.

Shui Yuan shook her head. "No need. With him here with you, I'm at ease."

Nian Yuexian let out a soft hum. She wondered who it was that had looked like they were about to devour someone just a few days ago.

Shui Yuan pretended not to notice. "I'm going back first. There are many matters in the sect right now, and the old man is too busy to get away."

Nian Yuexian nodded slightly.

Shui Yuan took a step, then looked back at Nian Yuexian. "If you have time, go see the old man. He worries about you a lot."

"I know."

As her spiritual power surged, Shui Yuan ascended into the sky and quickly departed. When she looked back, Yi Yi was standing at the doorway, waving goodbye to her.