Chapter 910: Talent Tree Transformation Completed

Upon hearing Qian Wudang, Lu Ye realized he had been sending messages to Nian Yuexian.

Though they hadn't spent much time together, Lu Ye understood his Pass Master's temperament well. If she didn't want to engage with someone, no matter how many messages that person sent, she wouldn't respond. Clearly, Qian Wudang couldn't reach Nian Yuexian and wanted Lu Ye to relay his message.

With no other choice, Lu Ye used his military token to contact Nian Yuexian. A response quickly came, and seeing this, Qian Wudang looked quite helpless.

"Sir, how should I respond?" Lu Ye looked up at Qian Wudang.

"Tell her I have urgent matters to discuss and she needs to contact me," Qian Wudang instructed.

Lu Ye did as told, then looked up at Qian Wudang with a strange expression. "What is it?"

"Sir, my Pass Master told you to scram!" Lu Ye reported truthfully. Qian Wudang immediately got a headache.

Lu Ye also felt a headache coming on. Being a messenger between two Divine Sea Realm masters, especially when one of them was so blunt, was quite a situation.

"Also, Sir," Lu Ye continued, "the Pass Master ordered me to return to Blazing Flame Mountain Pass within two days, with no delays for any reason!"

Qian Wudang sighed. With the military order issued and Nian Yuexian unreachable, Lu Ye couldn't stay. This left him feeling regretful. After some thought, he could only agree to Lu Ye's earlier proposal: "It will be as you suggested. Every seven days, I will send someone to Blazing Flame Mountain Pass to collect the goods. If you need to go out, let me know in advance."

"Understood," Lu Ye acknowledged.

"Here are the materials needed for the next seven days," Qian Wudang said, tossing a storage bag to Lu Ye.

Lu Ye took it and checked inside. It contained another ten thousand fire spirit stones.

After leaving the Law Enforcement Department, Lu Ye did not immediately head for Blazing Flame Mountain Pass. Instead, he messaged Geng Wuwang and the others, inviting them for a small gathering. A few days prior, when the members of Squad Three had recovered from their injuries, they had suggested this. Regardless, they had faced life and death together and completed the mission with flying colors, so it was certainly worth celebrating. However, at the time, Lu Ye was busy refining Explosive Fire Spirit Stones by order and couldn't easily leave, so he had postponed it. Now that he was about to return to Blazing Flame Mountain Pass, he naturally had to fulfill his promise to others.

The gathering location, chosen by Geng Wuwang, was a restaurant in Vast Heaven City. Cultivator gatherings weren't particularly elaborate; it was mostly about drinking, chatting freely, and occasionally, when the mood struck, demonstrating their abilities in a friendly spar. It was quite lively, and their camaraderie deepened.

After the meal, everyone dispersed. Lu Ye then made a trip to the Heavenly Mystery Palace. His Pan Shan Dao was repaired! Retrieving his blade, Lu Ye felt a sense of calm. Days without his Pan Shan Dao always felt like something was missing; now, with the blade back, he finally felt complete.

Without further delay, he channeled his spiritual power, instantly clearing any lingering alcohol, and soared into the sky, flying directly towards Blazing Flame Mountain Pass. The journey there had involved an encounter with that mysterious organization, but the return trip was smooth, without any further incidents.

By evening, he finally arrived at Blazing Flame Mountain Pass, heading straight for the spiritual peak where Nian Yuexian's bamboo building was located. From a distance, he saw Nian Yuexian sitting by the second-floor window, seemingly bored, propping her face with one hand, gazing in his direction. Their eyes met, and Nian Yuexian immediately retracted her gaze, turning to fiddle with her fingers instead.

Lu Ye landed below the bamboo building, cupped his fists, and spoke in a low voice: "Adult, your subordinate has returned from leave and reports for duty!"

"Hmm," Nian Yuexian responded softly, continuing to inspect her slender, fair fingers, as if there were a flower blooming on them.

Lu Ye remained in his bowing posture below, waiting quietly for a moment. Seeing no further instructions from her, he spoke: "Your subordinate requests to be excused." He then turned and walked towards his own bamboo building.

Behind him, Nian Yuexian opened her mouth, wanting to ask about his experience on the mission with the Law Enforcement Department's team, and if he had encountered any dangers. But in the end, she said nothing. Years of solitary existence had made her forget how to properly communicate with others. She had no idea that on this mission, Lu Ye had actually slain a Divine Sea Realm master.

Since returning from Vast Heaven City, life had been largely uneventful. Every day, Lu Ye cultivated, fed fire spirit stones to the Talent Tree, and then patrolled for half an hour with Yiyi and Amber. Although he knew that patrolling around Blazing Flame Mountain Pass wouldn't yield much, he still wanted to earn his monthly salary as a Patrol Captain. Without such patrols, he wouldn't feel right accepting the thirty thousand battle achievements for his monthly pay.

Nian Yuexian remained as elusive as ever; Lu Ye often didn't see her for days. When they did occasionally meet, they simply exchanged bows and passed each other.

While things were quiet at Blazing Flame Mountain Pass, another significant event occurred in Kyushu: the Cloud River Battlefield reopened! Calculating the time, nearly two months had passed since the realm fusion began, so it was indeed time for it to conclude. The reopening of the Cloud River Battlefield meant that a large number of Cloud River Realm cultivators would leave the major front-line passes, as the Cloud River Battlefield was their primary destination. Of course, not every Cloud River Realm cultivator would head to the battlefield. The various passes never lacked cultivators eager to earn battle achievements; not just Cloud River Realm cultivators, but even Spirit Stream Realm cultivators were present. After all, regardless of cultivation level, as long as one joined the Bing Province Guard and held a rank and position, they received a monthly salary. There were also tasks at the passes that Cloud River and Spirit Stream Realm cultivators could perform, allowing them to earn their monthly pay to exchange for spirit tokens for cultivation, ensuring their cultivation speed wouldn't fall too far behind.

Compared to this major event in Kyushu, something also happened in Bing Province: Ziwei Dao Palace was established! On that day, it was announced throughout Bing Province that Ziwei Dao Palace would be a subordinate sect to Azure Blood Sect, choosing thirty peaks within Xiangshan as its sect foundation, to protect and assist Azure Blood Sect.

When the news spread, it did attract some attention, but that was all. Not to mention that Ziwei Dao Palace was a sect from the Peerless Continent with no truly formidable masters, even Azure Blood Sect itself was long past its former glory. The alliance of these two sects was like a newborn infant seeking refuge with an ancient elder, largely unnoticed by more powerful forces. Fortunately, the elder had extensive connections, so on the day Ziwei Dao Palace was founded, many Divine Sea Realm cultivators from major sects attended to offer congratulations, making the scene quite lively. This also allowed the cultivators from Peerless Continent in Ziwei Dao Palace to truly experience the might of the Divine Sea Realm!

Inside the bamboo building, Lu Ye sat cross-legged, holding a fire spirit stone in each hand. He continuously channeled the power of his Talent Tree, absorbing energy. His expression was calm, but his heart was filled with anticipation. No other reason: the Talent Tree's transformation seemed to be nearing completion! It was finally going to be complete.

More than a month had passed since he first detected signs of the Talent Tree's impending transformation at the Blazing Flame Mountain volcano. During this period, Lu Ye didn't know how many fire spirit stones he had consumed. Most of what he had gained from the underground molten cave had been fed to the Talent Tree; the consumption was immense. He had thought that with the haul from the underground molten cave, he would never have to worry about fuel for his Talent Tree again, but now it seemed he had been too naive. Such enormous consumption made him expect even more from the Talent Tree's transformation. Now that the transformation was imminent, he devoted himself entirely to it, even setting aside his own cultivation.

After another half a day, after consuming who knew how many more fire spirit stones, as his mind was fully immersed, the Talent Tree hidden within his source spirit aperture suddenly erupted with brilliant light, its roots swaying. In that instant, for the first time, Lu Ye clearly perceived the Talent Tree's existence! He had been unable to perceive it before. Although the Talent Tree had always been hidden within his source spirit aperture, and he could "see" it whenever he immersed his mind, Lu Ye had never felt its actual presence. Until now! Lu Ye clearly sensed that at the location of his source spirit aperture, a wondrous entity coexisted with him!

"Has the transformation completed?" As this thought crossed his mind, Lu Ye was somewhat dumbfounded. The Talent Tree suddenly contracted violently, transforming in a blink of an eye into a tiny flame... Or rather, it was more appropriate to call it a "fire seed," because its shape was exactly like a seed.

The change was not yet over. The seed burned fiercely, and suddenly, the firelight surged. As the flames churned, the seed sprouted, grew, and then a large tree appeared in his vision. Lu Ye focused intently, and only then did he finally confirm that the Talent Tree had completed its transformation! But... there didn't seem to be much change. The unlit leaves on the Talent Tree were still shrouded in darkness, though the lit leaves seemed slightly brighter. Other than that, there was nothing particularly different. The roots seemed to have become more luxuriant...

Lu Ye's heart sank. He had expended a massive amount of fire spirit stones, most of his gains from the underground molten cave had gone into the Talent Tree's transformation, and he had toiled for over a month for this. And the result... was just this?

"No, it shouldn't be like this!" He immediately calmed himself and sensed again. Sure enough, he soon had some different feelings. Previously, he couldn't sense the Talent Tree's existence, and naturally, he couldn't perceive anything within the Talent Tree. Now it was different. He could sense the existence of this divine object itself, and he could also perceive its internal workings by sensing the Talent Tree. For example... the amount of stored fuel!

The Talent Tree had just completed its transformation, so naturally, there was no stored fuel inside. There had been some before, but it had all been consumed during the transformation process. Now, as the power of the fire spirit stones in his hands continued to be consumed, fuel began to accumulate within the Talent Tree. Continuing to sense calmly, Lu Ye's expression quickly changed. Although he couldn't put it into words, he seemed to have perceived certain changes in the Talent Tree, and the external manifestation of these changes...

Thoughts surged. He immediately took out a mid-grade spirit stone, held it in his palm, then activated the Talent Tree's power and focused his gaze. The next moment, a scene that both thrilled and shocked him appeared. Invisible roots, visible only to him, extended from his palm, wrapping around the mid-grade spirit stone. As he willed it, a powerful sucking and devouring force emanated from the tiny roots. The spiritual power within the mid-grade spirit stone vanished at a terrifying speed, surging into Lu Ye's body along the roots!