Chapter 927: The Time Has Come

Wind Rises Across the Nine Provinces

At the same time, Lu Ye hadn't forgotten his previous plan to use the environment here to store Talent Tree fuel.

He quietly activated the power of the Talent Tree, and roots, visible only to him, extended from beneath his feet, delving deep underground.

The roots couldn't extend very far, but since the Earth Vein Fire could be drawn to the refining platform, it indicated that the fire's source wasn't too deep. Therefore, there was a high chance the Talent Tree's roots could directly penetrate it. With a mental command, he controlled the roots searching underground, quickly locating the Earth Vein Fire. The next moment, the roots began to devour and absorb, drawing the energy of the Earth Vein Fire into themselves.

After the Talent Tree completed its transformation, Lu Ye could control where the absorbed energy went. It could either be stored as fuel for the Talent Tree or used to ignite the tree's leaves to unlock new spirit runes. He had previously acquired seven spirit runes at once and hadn't fully mastered them yet. Thus, he had no intention of unlocking more. Furthermore, being in this place, he wasn't in the mood to research new spirit runes, so he stored all the absorbed energy as fuel.

Inside the vast refining workshop, only he was present. Lu Ye removed his Crimson Dragon Battle Suit, baring his upper body, and toiled in front of the refining platform, sweating profusely. With each strike of his refining hammer, a new pattern appeared within the sword blank. As these patterns increasingly multiplied and interlocked, a spirit rune gradually took shape. Upon completion, this formed a restriction. This method of constructing spirit runes by hammering the sword blank was undoubtedly countless times more difficult than using his spiritual power. Therefore, refining was not merely about being able to construct spirit runes.

Days passed by.

Lu Ye progressed incredibly fast in the art of refining. Because he had set himself a goal of leaving this mystic realm within half a year, he was truly dedicated to learning refining. Every morning, he would arrive promptly at the straw hut to listen to Kongkong's teachings. The Sect Master of Sword Artifact Sect was undoubtedly very pleased with Lu Ye's performance. Moreover, it was rare to encounter such an outstanding successor in this mystic realm, one who held great promise to inherit the Sword Artifact Sect's refining legacy. Therefore, he taught without any reservations, further accelerating Lu Ye's growth.

Lu Ye's first creation was a low-grade spirit artifact with five restrictions. Two days later, he was already capable of refining low-grade spirit artifacts with nine restrictions. Nine restrictions were the limit for low-grade spirit artifacts; anything beyond that belonged to the mid-grade. Lu Ye hadn't fully understood the difference between nine and ten restrictions before, simply thinking that one restriction wouldn't make much difference. However, only when he personally began refining did he realize the significant difference. The difficulty of refining a ten-restriction spirit artifact was by no means comparable to refining a nine-restriction one.

Ten more days passed, and Lu Ye could effortlessly refine mid-grade spirit artifacts of considerable quality. After another month, the first high-grade spirit artifact was born in his hands. By this time, Ying Wuji had only just passed the first trial and entered the refining workshop to begin refining alongside Lu Ye. The contrast between them was immediately apparent. Kongkong's expectations for Lu Ye grew even greater because Lu Ye's performance so far had repeatedly exceeded his expectations, to the point of being almost unbelievable.

What he didn't know was that Lu Ye's rapid progress wasn't just because he was a spirit runemaster, but also because he possessed divine sense. When activating his divine sense, Lu Ye could clearly perceive the internal state of the spirit artifact he was refining. This allowed him to precisely adjust the force of his strikes. Indeed, divine sense significantly aided in refining.

The more outstanding Lu Ye's performance, the more mediocre Ying Wuji appeared. Originally, Kongkong would actively teach Ying Wuji some refining techniques, but after a month, unless Ying Wuji specifically asked, Kongkong no longer proactively instructed him. Clearly, with Lu Ye as his hope, Kongkong no longer cared whether Ying Wuji was there or not. Ying Wuji had no complaints. With Kongkong leaving him alone, his days were more relaxed. He even hoped Lu Ye would refine the required flying sword soon and pass the mystic realm's trial, so he could leave with him. Like Lu Ye, he wasn't particularly interested in the art of refining; he had only been forced into it before. Now that Kongkong wasn't bothering him, he could pursue his own cultivation, which made him quite content.

Life within the mystic realm was monotonous and repetitive. Lu Ye was completely immersed in refining, rarely returning to the wooden hut and spending almost his entire day in the refining workshop. Kongkong would occasionally visit the refining workshop, teaching Lu Ye through both words and example. Another month passed in the blink of an eye.

One day, Lu Ye gazed at the freshly forged supreme-grade spirit artifact in his hand, his mood calm and unperturbed. Soon, his refining progress had reached the point where he could forge supreme-grade spirit artifacts within two months. Although the creation of this particular supreme-grade spirit artifact involved some luck, if he could forge one, he could naturally forge another.

After supreme-grade spirit artifacts came magic artifacts. Comparatively, the difficulty of refining these would undoubtedly increase dramatically. The 'required flying sword' likely referred to a magic artifact level. Kongkong couldn't possibly ask him to refine a spirit treasure-grade longsword, as that wouldn't align with his True Lake Realm cultivation. Therefore, as long as he could refine a magic artifact-grade flying sword, he should be able to meet Kongkong's requirements, and then he would naturally be able to leave this mystic realm.

Lu Ye casually tossed the supreme-grade spirit longsword in his hand aside and prepared to gather more materials to continue refining. However, the moment the longsword hit the ground, an unexpected change occurred. Accompanied by a clang, the entire refining workshop shook violently. At the same time, Lu Ye's expression changed, as he clearly sensed unusual movements from the Earth Vein Fire underground. The reason he could detect this was precisely because the Talent Tree's roots had been constantly embedded underground, absorbing the energy of the Earth Vein Fire. The Talent Tree's roots were essentially an extension of Lu Ye himself, making him acutely sensitive to any anomalies concerning the Earth Vein Fire.

Before he could figure out what was happening, the Earth Vein Fire suddenly erupted uncontrollably from the dragon-head spouts of the refining platforms. In an instant, the entire refining workshop was engulfed in a sea of flames. A short while later, a dishevelled Lu Ye rushed out of the refining workshop, his body flushed red, like a boiled shrimp. Given the situation just now, had he not activated the Talent Tree's power to protect himself in time, he would likely have met with a grim fate.

The ground continued to tremble incessantly, and even the sky began to change inexplicably. Lu Ye turned to look around, only to see dark fissures appearing everywhere, large and small, like cracks, spreading across the area. "What's happening?" Lu Ye wondered, bewildered.

After a good while, all the anomalies gradually ceased. Those void fissures, like cracks, slowly vanished. Ying Wuji ran over from the wooden hut, with Amber perched on top of his head, its paws clinging tightly to his hair. At first glance, he looked as if he was wearing a tiger-head hat.

Ying Wuji appeared somewhat flustered: "Lu Yiye, what happened?"

Lu Ye slowly shook his head. He also had no idea what was happening. Just then, Kongkong's voice suddenly reached his ears: "Come to the straw hut!"

"Yes!" Lu Ye replied, flashing towards the straw hut. He turned his head only to find Ying Wuji hadn't followed, and he frowned, saying: "Come on."

Ying Wuji said with a crestfallen face: "I can't move!"

Lu Ye understood instantly. Kongkong wanted him to go alone; Ying Wuji clearly wasn't qualified to accompany him.

"Then wait here," Lu Ye said, turning and leaving. Soon, Lu Ye flew to the front of the straw hut, where Kongkong sat as he had during their first meeting. Lu Ye stepped forward and bowed: "Sect Master."

"Sit," Kongkong said softly, looking into the distance with profound eyes. Lu Ye sat cross-legged before him, vaguely feeling that Kongkong had called him over because of the recent anomalies. However, after waiting for a good while, Kongkong showed no intention of speaking. Lu Ye didn't want to disturb him. Although he had been trapped here for some time, honestly, Lu Ye was quite grateful to the old man. Regardless, he had indeed taught him refining techniques diligently and without any reservations. In just two months, his immense progress in refining was partly due to his own strong foundation, but having such a good teacher was the most crucial factor.

"The time has come," Kongkong suddenly sighed.

"Sect Master?" Lu Ye frowned, feeling that Kongkong today seemed somewhat desolate yet also relieved, though his words were unclear.

"It was bound to," Kongkong smiled, withdrawing his gaze and looking at Lu Ye: "I am merely a wisp of obsession; the true Kongkong died long ago."

"A wisp of obsession..." Lu Ye wasn't particularly surprised, as Nianyue Xian had already speculated as much on their first day here.

He continued: "So-called obsession is merely the manifestation of divine sense. The true Kongkong... I am him, yet not him. It is only for the sake of preserving our sect's legacy that I have endured until now. Over these thousands of years, some have come here, but none have ever passed the trial, until I saw you." As he spoke, Kongkong looked at Lu Ye with a gratified gaze: "Your talent in the art of refining is no less than mine, perhaps even stronger. I had hoped to see the day you graduated as a master, but now it seems that was ultimately just a wishful dream."

"Sect Master, what has happened?" Lu Ye asked.

"Something has indeed happened," Kongkong sighed, "but it has nothing to do with you. This mystic realm is on the verge of collapse."

"Why?" Lu Ye frowned. Kongkong, knowing he was a wisp of obsession, naturally also knew this was a mystic realm. If the mystic realm couldn't be sustained, it meant Lu Ye and the others could leave. Yet, facing this outcome, Lu Ye felt no great joy; instead, his mood was somewhat heavy.

"No matter how extraordinary the restrictive techniques, there will always come a day when they fail. This mystic realm's continued existence naturally requires the consumption of energy. Currently, the foundation supporting the mystic realm shows signs of instability. Therefore, the mystic realm is nearing its end."

Upon hearing this, Lu Ye suddenly felt a sense of unease and tentatively asked: "The foundation that sustains this mystic realm... what is it?"