Chapter 911: I Gained Another Skill

A mid-grade spirit stone's spiritual power was quickly absorbed, turning into dust that fell from Lu Ye's fingertips. He promptly took out another one.

The same thing happened!

After its transformation, the Talent Tree had actually gained the ability to absorb spiritual power from spirit stones!

It hadn't possessed this ability before. Previously, the Talent Tree could only absorb fire-attributed energy, like core fire or fire spirit stones, and showed no reaction to non-fire energy.

Now, with the Talent Tree's metamorphosis, its capabilities had clearly undergone a fundamental change, no longer limited to fire-attributed energy.

A mid-grade spirit stone like this would typically last a True Lake Realm cultivator for at least half a day.

Yet, in Lu Ye's hands, its spiritual power was depleted in mere moments.

This meant Lu Ye could absorb the power from spirit stones at an incredible speed for his own use, drastically reducing the time required for both cultivation and recovery.

In other words, with this method, Lu Ye's efficiency during cultivation and recovery was incomparable to other cultivators at the same realm, exceeding theirs by dozens of times or more!

Due to the presence of the Spirit Gathering Funnel, his cultivation speed was already much faster than cultivators of the same realm. Now, with this added ability, his cultivation efficiency would further increase significantly.

Faster cultivation speed and higher efficiency meant he could reach higher realms in a shorter amount of time!

For a cultivator, this was simply a dream come true. However, while absorbing the spirit stone's spiritual power, Lu Ye also noticed something: the fuel stored in the Talent Tree was rapidly depleting.

This indicated that the fire spiritual power stored in the Talent Tree wasn't just fuel for burning impurities, but also the energy source for maintaining and activating the Talent Tree's power!

After all, the spiritual power absorbed from spirit stones was extremely pure, with almost no impurities, so it didn't require the Talent Tree to refine it. Yet, the fuel stored in the Talent Tree was still rapidly consumed, which undoubtedly highlighted a key point.

He hadn't noticed this before, partly because he couldn't perceive the amount of fuel stored, and partly because he didn't have this method of cultivation.

This implied that if he wanted to use spirit stones to boost his cultivation speed in the future, he would also need to consume fire spirit stones...

Lu Ye couldn't help but feel fortunate that he had made that deal with Qian Wudang in Haotian City; otherwise, his current stock of fire spirit stones wouldn't last long.

Originally, his need for fire spirit stones was only for activating the spiritual patterns on the Talent Tree. While he needed a fair amount, sufficiency was the goal.

But now, if he needed them for cultivation, the demand would be endless. In this situation, having a stable source for fire spirit stones was incredibly important.

Mid-grade spirit stones were consumed one after another, leaving Yiyi and Amber, who were watching nearby, utterly dumbfounded. The spirit and the tiger had no idea what method Lu Ye was using to deplete the spirit stones so rapidly.

Lu Ye didn't offer an explanation. However, he then noticed Amber chewing on a monster core, crunching it loudly...

A bold idea suddenly sparked in his mind. Under Amber's bewildered gaze, he reached into the storage bag hanging around Amber's neck, pulled out a monster core, held it in his hand, and activated the Talent Tree's power. Roots spread out, enveloping the monster core.

The next instant, potent energy was absorbed from the monster core and flowed into Lu Ye's body. As the spiritual power circulated, it was refined by the Talent Tree's burning and tempering, transforming into pure power.

It really worked!

Lu Ye was astonished. He had only thought of it on a whim: since the Talent Tree was no longer limited to absorbing fire-attributed energy and could handle spirit stones, could it also handle monster cores?

He never expected it to actually work!

Noticing the change in the monster core in Lu Ye's hand, Yiyi covered her red lips, and Amber's tiger eyes widened even further.

The energy stored within a monster core was undoubtedly far greater than that in a mid-grade spirit stone. After all, it represented the essence of a monster's lifelong cultivation, something a single mid-grade spirit stone couldn't compare to.

Yet, even so, it was completely drained in less than the time it takes to brew a cup of tea. What remained in Lu Ye's palm was just a dry, date-pit-sized lump of impurities.

Lu Ye's spirits soared.

After its transformation, the Talent Tree was no longer limited to absorbing only fire-attributed energy. Spirit stones worked, monster cores worked, so spiritual pills certainly would too.

And the spiritual power within a cultivator's body... could that also work?

This chilling thought surfaced, but Lu Ye immediately suppressed it. Although he was highly confident the Talent Tree could absorb spiritual power from a cultivator's body for his own use, doing so would be no different from "devouring people," and he had significant psychological barriers against it.

Lu Ye secretly warned himself: this path must not be opened; once it was, it would very likely lead to extremely negative consequences.

Under Amber's wary gaze, Lu Ye took another monster core from its storage bag, examined it for a moment, and then directly popped it into his mouth.

Every time he saw Amber eat them with such gusto, he had long wanted to know what monster cores tasted like.

"Lu Ye!" Yiyi could no longer hold back and gasped in surprise. Amber's eyes were nearly popping out of its sockets.

"Master, how can you eat monster cores? Those are my snacks!" A crunching sound emanated, and Lu Ye was surprised to find that the monster core actually tasted quite good, with no peculiar smell.

He swallowed it whole, secretly activating the Talent Tree's power. Roots coiled within his abdomen, rapidly absorbing the energy from the monster core. The Gluttonous Feast was also activated, emitting a hum.

In just a short while, the energy from one monster core was completely digested. This was much more efficient than holding it in his hand and letting the Talent Tree absorb it. "Lu Ye, are you alright?" Yiyi asked with concern, puzzled as to why Lu Ye had suddenly made such a reckless move.

Monster cores were typically used for alchemy and array formations. While monsters would consume cores of their own kind, it was unheard of for humans to eat them.

"I'm fine," Lu Ye reassured her. "I've gained a new ability; I can digest them. Don't worry."

Only after hearing him say this did Yiyi relax, though she still closely monitored Lu Ye for any abnormal symptoms.

Lu Ye reached for Amber's storage bag again, but Amber clamped its paws firmly over it, looking at Lu Ye with a pleading expression.

The meaning was clear: "I don't have many left either!"

Lu Ye glared at it, and Amber reluctantly loosened its paws. Although the Talent Tree's transformation didn't directly boost Lu Ye's cultivation realm or strength, its current abilities gave him many more methods for cultivation and greatly enhanced his efficiency.

As a result, his growth rate would far surpass that of his peers. Such a benefit was almost unimaginable; more than a simple increase in power, this transformation truly affected Lu Ye's entire life and was something he desperately desired.

However, with this came a much higher cost in the future. For now, he wouldn't dwell on it.

The Talent Tree's transformation was complete, and Lu Ye was in excellent spirits. He decided to reward himself with a period of dedicated cultivation. After all, it had been a while since he ascended to the first layer of the True Lake Realm. With such a stable cultivation environment and new methods at his disposal, he should at least raise his cultivation to the second layer of the True Lake Realm.

Connecting his mind to the Heavenly Secret, a spiritual power vortex appeared before him. Pure spiritual energy from heaven and earth surged from the vortex, pervading the surroundings and enveloping the man, the spirit, and the tiger.

Adjusting it to the most suitable level for himself, Lu Ye continued to absorb the power of fire spirit stones to replenish the Talent Tree's energy reserves while simultaneously constructing the Spirit Gathering Funnel.

Yiyi gazed at the spiritual power vortex, filled with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, her eyes slightly unfocused: "Lu Ye, what do you think is beyond this vortex?"

"Who knows?" Lu Ye replied casually. "But I've heard that these spiritual power vortices likely connect to terrestrial or spiritual ley lines of varying qualities, which is why there's a continuous stream of spiritual energy flowing out for cultivators to refine and cultivate with."

This was considered common knowledge, but no one had been able to confirm it so far, because even a Divine Sea Realm cultivator's divine sense couldn't penetrate the spiritual power vortex to investigate what lay beyond.

However, there was no unrooted wood or water without a source in this world. Such dense spiritual energy from heaven and earth couldn't appear out of thin air; it had to originate somewhere.

Therefore, the explanation that spiritual power vortices connected to terrestrial or spiritual ley lines of varying qualities was accepted by most cultivators in Kyushu.

"Then if we could pass through this vortex, wouldn't we be able to cultivate directly within a terrestrial or spiritual ley line?" Yiyi wondered aloud, struck by a sudden thought.

Lu Ye chuckled. "Good idea, but unfortunately, we'd need a way to do it first."

Even a Divine Sea Realm grand cultivator's divine sense couldn't investigate the other side of the vortex, so how could they possibly pass through?

As he chuckled, Lu Ye's expression suddenly shifted. Another bold thought stirred in his mind.

A Divine Sea Realm grand cultivator's divine sense indeed couldn't pass through this spiritual power vortex. But what about the Talent Tree's roots... could they?

If they could, wouldn't that mean...

Thinking of this, Lu Ye could no longer hold back. He quickly raised a hand and pressed it onto the spiritual power vortex.

Yiyi didn't know what he was doing and simply watched curiously. Amber, meanwhile, was pouring out the monster cores from its storage bag, fiddling with them one by one, looking disheartened as it tried to count them.

Its paws weren't quite enough; it couldn't quite count them all...

On the other side, with a slight thought from Lu Ye, a root, visible only to him, extended from his palm and probed into the spiritual power vortex before him.

This time, the Talent Tree's transformation allowed Lu Ye to perceive the existence of this divine object. As a result, he could naturally sense the extension of its roots clearly. For him, the extended roots were like his own feelers.

The root did not pass through the other side of the spiritual power vortex, meaning it had successfully probed into the vortex itself!

Lu Ye's expression instantly changed to one of shock.

In his perception, on the other side of the spiritual power vortex, there was an incredibly vast and dense concentration of heaven and earth spiritual energy. The roots' senses were extremely acute; Lu Ye felt as if he was surrounded on all sides by this immense power.