Chapter 893: Soul-Calming Tower

Upon learning that these battle merits were issued by the Heavenly Machine and not granted as a special privilege by Nian Yuexian, Lu Ye's worries vanished. He was overjoyed!

He immediately turned towards the Heavenly Machine Hall, realizing that the treasure he wanted could finally be acquired. He hurried into the Heavenly Machine Hall, placed his hand on the Heavenly Machine Pillar, and connected his consciousness to the Battle Merit Pavilion.

The next moment, he appeared before the ancient entrance of the Battle Merit Pavilion. Suddenly acquiring a large sum of battle merits, Lu Ye was naturally excited. Upon arriving, he immediately pushed open the grand door before him.

The Golden and Silver Jiao, who had just poked their heads out upon sensing his arrival, were each pushed back by one of his hands. The door was heavy, but it didn't take much effort to push. It wasn't until the door was fully open that Lu Ye realized something seemed off.

Instead of rushing in, he stood at the entrance and looked around. The Golden and Silver Jiao poked their heads out together again. The Silver Jiao exclaimed delightedly, "Kid, what delicious food did you bring this time?"

"Nothing!" Lu Ye thought. He had fed them just two days ago, yet he didn't know why the Silver Jiao always seemed like a hungry ghost reincarnated. Besides, he was in a hurry today to buy that soul artifact and had completely forgotten to bring meat for the two Jiao. More than that, Lu Ye was concerned about something else.

After a slight pause, he asked, "This door... doesn't it require both of you to open it together?" The first time he came, the two Jiao had writhed and twisted on the door, forming a concentric circle, and then the door slowly opened. This led Lu Ye to assume, based on his initial impression, that the opening and closing of the door were controlled by the two Jiao.

But now, it seemed that wasn't the case. The Heavenly Machine had already granted him permission to enter the Battle Merit Pavilion, allowing him to come and go as he pleased, with no need for the two Jiao to exert any effort.

Hearing Lu Ye's question, the Silver Jiao was momentarily stunned, unsure how to explain, and could only look towards the Golden Jiao. The Golden Jiao's seemingly majestic voice rang out: "Of course not... but... we *can* open it."

Lu Ye was puzzled: "Then why do you always intertwine and twist into a concentric circle before opening the door each time?" He had thought that pattern was the key to opening the door.

The Golden Jiao was momentarily speechless, and the Silver Jiao's eyes darted around in agitation. Lu Ye generally understood their intentions and found it amusing. He didn't expose them but simply cupped his hands and said, "Thank you for your trouble." With that, he flashed inside the Battle Merit Pavilion, heading straight for the stone platform where the soul artifact rested.

"Brother, the kid found out, what do we do?" the Silver Jiao urgently asked. "If he knows he won't need us to open the door in the future, he probably won't bring us delicious food anymore!"

"It won't come to that. This kid doesn't seem like the type to abandon a bridge after crossing it," the Golden Jiao said calmly on the surface, though inwardly he was also annoyed. He couldn't figure out how they had been discovered. The previous kid who came in hadn't noticed anything for years.

"Brother, you're mistaken! Humans are the most cunning. This kid may seem honest and straightforward, but who knows what kind of person he really is? We can't rely on his generosity."

"You mean..." The Golden Jiao looked up at the Silver Jiao. A flicker of resolve flashed in the Silver Jiao's eyes: "Since we've been found out, we can only do *that*. Otherwise, if we brothers are left guarding this place without even smelling blood in the future, wouldn't that be tragic?"

The Golden Jiao pondered for a moment, then sighed and nodded: "Let's do it then." The two Jiao's conversation was silent, and Lu Ye, inside the Battle Merit Pavilion, was naturally unaware.

At this moment, he stood before a stone platform, gazing at a small pagoda-shaped treasure resting upon it. The pagoda had nine layers, small and exquisite. Most importantly, it didn't appear to be a physical object but constantly shifted between ethereal and solid states.

A soul artifact: the Soul Suppressing Pagoda! This ethereal yet solid appearance was a characteristic of most soul artifacts, as they were meant to be absorbed by cultivators into their Divine Sea. Such items were extremely difficult to refine; even powerful cultivators of the Divine Sea realm found it incredibly hard to obtain a single soul artifact. For instance, the golden lock Nian Yuexian had given Lu Ye earlier, while offering some protection to the soul, was far from being a true soul artifact.

This item was rare and incredibly expensive: 108,888 battle merits. This price left Lu Ye muttering inwardly, unsure how to express himself. He felt as though the Heavenly Machine had a mischievous sense of humor; otherwise, why would it create such a specific, non-rounded price?

Without hesitation, he exchanged it. His battle merits immediately decreased by the corresponding amount, leaving him with only 205,762 points. The restriction on the stone platform vanished, and Lu Ye reached out and took the Soul Suppressing Pagoda. As his divine sense surged forth, enveloping the pagoda, Lu Ye clearly felt signs of the small Soul Suppressing Pagoda perfectly merging with his own divine sense. As he withdrew his divine sense, the Soul Suppressing Pagoda vanished as well, as if it had never been there.

Not rushing to leave, he now had so many battle merits that items he previously wanted but couldn't afford were within his reach. The Battle Merit Pavilion contained many treasures. On previous occasions, though Lu Ye had plenty of battle merits, he had used them all to exchange for Golden Spirit Talismans because he was eager to advance to the True Lake realm, forcing him to reluctantly pass on the various other items. Now, with his capital, he could confidently declare, "I want them all!"

Dueling Platform, 11,000 battle merits, exchanged. Tracking Compass, 30,000 battle merits, exchanged. Spirit Severing Sword, 26,000 battle merits, exchanged. After acquiring a series of unique treasures, he still had approximately 140,000 battle merits remaining.

Lu Ye had never experienced such a feeling of wealth. Although he occasionally had opportunities to gain large amounts of battle merits in the past, they would quickly be spent. This time, however, even after exchanging for so many treasures, he still had a large surplus. He didn't use the remaining battle merits. His cultivation had already advanced to the True Lake realm, so further improvements were not an immediate priority.

Without further delay, he left the Battle Merit Pavilion. Just as he reached the entrance, he was stopped by the Silver Jiao.

"Senior, what guidance do you have?" Lu Ye was eager to return and investigate the power of the Soul Suppressing Pagoda, so he naturally didn't want to linger here. Although he hadn't brought food for the two Jiao this trip, it had only been two or three days since his last visit. Moreover, feeding them was his own initiative; no one had required him to do so. It was unlikely the Jiao would bother him over this.

The Silver Jiao tried to appear profound: "Kid, when you came last time, I noticed you had already formed a soul body and developed divine sense."

"That's right!" Lu Ye nodded, still unsure what it was getting at.

"Divine sense has always been exclusive to powerful cultivators of the Divine Sea realm. Although I don't know what fortune or opportunity you've had to develop divine sense while only in the True Lake realm, have you considered that if you encounter a Divine Sea cultivator, you would still be nothing more than an ant that can be crushed with ease? You would be utterly unable to withstand a Divine Sea realm cultivator's divine sense attack."

"That's true!" Lu Ye wholeheartedly agreed, recalling how he had instantly fallen into a coma after Wan Zhanggang's soul attack earlier, feeling a lingering sense of fear.

"If you hadn't developed divine sense, it wouldn't be an issue; at most, your soul would be injured. But since you *have* developed divine sense, you must possess a Divine Sea. If you encounter another divine sense attack from a Divine Sea realm cultivator, it won't be as simple as just an injured soul. It's highly probable your Divine Sea could shatter, preventing you from ever reaching the Divine Sea realm again!" The Silver Jiao's tone gradually became serious.

Lu Ye nodded continuously: "Senior is right." Nian Yuexian had mentioned this in the jade slip she gave him earlier, which was also why Lu Ye was eager to exchange for the Soul Suppressing Pagoda. While developing a soul body and divine sense in the True Lake realm seemed beneficial, it actually increased his inherent risk. He had to quickly guard against the possibility of such a dire situation.

"Senior, what are you trying to say?" The Silver Jiao was beating around the bush, and Lu Ye truly didn't know what it wanted.

The Silver Jiao chuckled, "Kid, do you want to know if there's any way to protect your Divine Sea?" No sooner had it spoken than Lu Ye produced the Soul Suppressing Pagoda: "Does this work?"

The Silver Jiao's eyes widened like brass bells. It had never expected Lu Ye to have already purchased this treasure. Speechless for a moment, it stammered, "This... yes, it works." If *that* didn't work, then there would be no treasure in the world capable of protecting one's soul. It quickly looked up at the Golden Jiao.

The Golden Jiao understood immediately and spoke with majesty: "Though this item is wonderful, it can only suppress internally, not defend externally."

Lu Ye put away the Soul Suppressing Pagoda and looked seriously at the Golden Jiao: "Please enlighten me, Senior."

The Golden Jiao said, "This item is called the Soul Suppressing Pagoda. Once you refine it, it can guard your Divine Sea. Should you encounter a divine sense attack again, no matter how strong the enemy, it can keep your Divine Sea undisturbed and unyielding. However, its function is limited to this; it cannot *defend* against the enemy's divine sense attacks. Do you understand?"

Lu Ye was enlightened: "So, even with this item, while it can guard my Divine Sea and keep it from breaking, I'll still endure the attacks themselves."

"Clever," the Golden Jiao said, as if instructing a promising student.

Lu Ye's good mood instantly dampened by half. If that were truly the case, then the Soul Suppressing Pagoda would be even inferior to the golden lock Nian Yuexian had given him, for while that lock wasn't a soul artifact, it at least had some ability to resist divine sense attacks. Lu Ye had originally thought that with the Soul Suppressing Pagoda, he wouldn't have to worry about divine sense attacks from Divine Sea realm cultivators anymore. But now, it seemed the pagoda's effects were far less than he had imagined. He was simply ill-informed. If a true Divine Sea realm cultivator saw the Soul Suppressing Pagoda, they would certainly discern all its functions, unlike Lu Ye, who naively assumed that with this pagoda, he could even contend with Divine Sea realm cultivators.

The two Jiao suddenly telling him all this, and mentioning "internal suppression but no external defense," led Lu Ye to some suspicions. He immediately said respectfully, "May I also ask, Senior, what methods can resist divine sense attacks?"

"Then you've asked the right people," the Silver Jiao instantly boasted, "My brother and I find you quite agreeable, so we've decided to impart a secret technique to you, specifically for protecting your soul. Consider it repayment for all you've done before."

"How could I possibly..." Lu Ye said, but then, with a crisp gesture, he cupped his fists: "As a senior bestows, one dares not refuse. Thank you both for your kindness."

The Silver Jiao stared at him speechlessly, realizing for the first time that this kid in front of him had quite a thick skin.