Sage of Humanity

Yiyi chose a spirit mountaintop that was enveloped in a vast bamboo forest starting from mid-mountain all the way to the peak, turning the entire mountaintop into a picturesque scene with blooming flowers and willows. The peak was named Emerald Bamboo Peak, but due to decades of uninhabitance, the structures here had all fallen into disrepair. Lu Ye landed and walked among the dilapidated remains, faintly sensing the hustle and bustle the sect had seen in years past. A spirit mountaintop was vast, and it had many buildings. However, they were not suitable for habitation at the moment. Having settled on this spirit mountaintop, Lu Ye then took Yiyi back to Righteous Peak to find his Second Senior Sister and asked her to help assign a task to the disciples of rebuilding Emerald Bamboo Peak. There were hundreds of disciples in the Righteous Blood Sect, and aside from cultivation, they generally had little else to occupy their time. A task issued by the sect was a perfect opportunity for them to earn merit, and Lu Ye believed the disciples would be eager to help. Second Senior Sister had no objections to this. The merits of the Righteous Blood Sect were almost solely earned by Lu Ye, so spending some to rebuild a spirit mountaintop for him was naturally not an issue. "By the way, Junior Brother, now that you have reached Cloud River, the spirit stones and Spirit-Nurturing Pills you used before are no longer suitable for your realm. Go to the treasure vault and pick out a new batch," instructed Shui Yuan as she handed him the key to the vault. The so-called key was actually a jade cluster that unlocked the restriction. The treasure vault of the Righteous Blood Sect now contained treasures worth tens of millions of merit points, and it harbored all sorts of items. The restriction on the vault was personally set up by Madam Yun upon Second Senior Sister's request. Without this jade cluster, anyone who attempted to trespass would either face death or come out skinned alive. Even if Shui Yuan hadn't mentioned it, Lu Ye was planning to ask her for it. Spirit Stream Realm cultivators used low-grade spirit stones, and the Spirit-Nurturing Pill was the most basic elixir pill. Having reached the Cloud River Realm, continuing to use these would not keep up with the pace of cultivation. As for spirit stones, that goes without saying, but when Lu Ye was in the 8th Heaven, consuming Spirit-Nurturing Pills meant he had to take dozens a day, which was almost unbearable. Better elixir pills, more suitable for Cloud River Realm cultivators, were available above the Spirit-Nurturing Pill. Using these superior elixirs meant he wouldn't have to consume them in such large quantities daily. With the jade cluster in hand, Lu Ye made his way to the treasure vault with practiced ease. He shook the jade cluster, and the massive door of the vault, constructed against the mountainside, opened with a thunderous noise. Lu Ye stepped inside. The vast treasure vault was not overflowing, but it was exceedingly abundant. These were all the protection money from the big sects of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge, now piled up in the Righteous Blood Sect's treasure vault. Sorted and classified, various treasures were placed in their respective areas. Lu Ye first took out his unused spirit stones and elixir pills and placed them in their rightful spots before taking several thousand mid-grade spirit stones from the spirit stone area into his storage space. There was no need to take too many; since he began his cultivation journey, all of his resources came from defeating enemies, and typically the resources he gained from them far exceeded what he used for cultivation. Despite now having a storage space constructed by a Void Rune Tattoo, Lu Ye still habitually hung a storage sack around his waist, but it contained nothing of interest, just some food. This precaution was mainly to avoid drawing attention. Otherwise, a cultivator without even a storage sack would obviously have a rune tattoo space, which could attract unwanted attention. Amber wore a storage sack around her neck too, shared by Yiyi and Amber, since Yiyi, as a Spiritual Body, found it inconvenient to carry things. Thus, it hung from Amber's neck. Removing the storage sack, Lu Ye also filled it with a few hundred mid-grade spirit stones. Lu Ye then proceeded to the elixir pill area. Spirit Stream Realm cultivators used Spirit-Nurturing Pills, but Cloud River Realm cultivators used Origin Spirit Pills. The latter were much more potent, and ordinary cultivators of the Spirit Stream Realm could hardly withstand them. Lu Ye took a bottle of Origin Spirit Pills, poured out one, and popped it into his mouth to chew. He raised an eyebrow; it tasted surprisingly good. A sense of relief washed over him. He wouldn't have to consume Spirit-Nurturing Pills anymore. This was probably the most comforting thing he had experienced since advancing to Cloud River Realm. Amber gazed at him with longing eyes. Lu Ye fed her one, then watched for her reaction. She showed no particular reaction; after eating it, Amber looked back at Lu Ye with an expression that seemed to say she wanted more. There was no need to worry if Amber could withstand it, being a demon beast that could even consume spirit stones. Nibbling on some Origin Spirit Pills certainly wasn't a problem. The potency of the Origin Spirit Pill was indeed much stronger than the Spirit-Nurturing Pill. Once ingested, Lu Ye quickly felt a warm current surge in his belly, which then transformed into his own spirit force, pouring into his spirit force river and expanding its volume. A rough estimate indicated that the potency of one Origin Spirit Pill was about equivalent to over ten Spirit-Nurturing Pills, though the price difference was also more than tenfold. After placing some Origin Spirit Pills into both his rune tattoo space and Amber's storage sack, Lu Ye continued to look around the treasure vault for a while. Not seeing anything else he needed, he left. He returned the jade cluster to Shui Yuan then went back to his room. Instead of rushing into cultivation, he took out the Breath Fruit Core. Having just advanced to Cloud River Realm, Lu Ye naturally needed to familiarize himself with the various methods of this realm, and using the Breath Fruit Core to enter the Mirage Realm for combat was the best way to do so. Ever since he encountered someone from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge inside last time, and killed him a few times, he had not used the Breath Fruit Core to enter the Mirage Realm for a long while. It wasn't that he was afraid to encounter that person again, but these days he was either engrossed in cultivation or matching wits and bravado with the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge, with no time to divide his attention. Suddenly, he remembered the encounter with that powerhouse from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge before entering the Mirage Realm; it was just like when he entrusted his Spiritual Artifact for upgrading in the Heaven's Augury treasure vault: they were both shrouded in a mist, making it impossible to see the other's face. Now with Heaven's Augury Bestowment, he could see through that mist and directly look upon their true faces… If he encountered them again, he would definitely remember their faces and take back what he owed, with interest. Thinking this way, he almost looked forward to encountering that person, at the very least to clarify their identity. Channeling spirit force into the Breath Fruit Core, Lu Ye's figure appeared in that small transfer room, with nothing inside but a door. Every time, it was by pushing open this door that he would enter the Mirage Realm. Moving forward to push the door, characters appeared upon it, causing Lu Ye to gaze in astonishment. The price had gone up! Back in the Spirit Stream Realm, each entry into the Mirage Realm for refining cost only fifty points of merit, but now in the Cloud River Realm, it unexpectedly cost one hundred points each time—double the price. He wondered how much it would be upon reaching the True Lake Realm. Lu Ye currently had ninety-seven thousand nine hundred and fifty points of merit left, so a mere hundred points of merit were not a concern for him. Pushing the door and entering, he looked back to see that, just like before, there was nothing behind him; the door and the small transfer room he came through had vanished as if he had stepped directly into a different setting after passing through the door. The scene before his eyes was different than when he was in Spirit Stream Realm. In Spirit Stream Realm, he could only see clearly within a radius of about ten zhang. Beyond that, everything was enveloped in thick fog, obscuring his vision. Those figures of the Insect Race or other cultivators would charge out from within the fog, often catching Lu Ye off guard. Now that his cultivation had reached Cloud River, there was no fog within a hundred zhang radius, and only beyond that distance was it shrouded in mist. He had just steadied himself when the fog ahead began to roll violently, and in the next moment, a huge insect with a human-sized body charged out; it resembled a mantis, with black carapace giving off a solid feeling, wielding two flashing cold mantis sabers, closing the hundred zhang distance swiftly. The Boulder Mountain Saber was unsheathed, and Lu Ye took the initiative to meet the insect head-on. By the rules of the Mirage Realm, since Lu Ye's cultivation was now at Cloud River Level 1, the insect that appeared should also be at that level, but Lu Ye's strength was far beyond that of a typical Cloud River Level 1 cultivator. At the Spirit Stream Realm level, he had reached the limit and become the first cultivator of the human race to ascend to the class of an Overlord. This was something that neither Li Baxian nor Feng Yuechan had achieved. It can be said that Lu Ye's Spirit Stream Realm was without any watered-down cultivation. With such a solid foundation and advancing to Cloud River, he naturally possessed a combat power that ordinary Cloud River cultivators did not have. Within moments, the menacing mantis was sprawling in a pool of blood. Compared to the power he could wield in the Spirit Stream Realm, his advancement to Cloud River had brought about a huge increase—a breakthrough of a major realm could bring about an earth-shattering change for a cultivator. Not only did his own power undergo such a transformation, but the Boulder Mountain Saber had also been upgraded, and the saber that achieved Man-Sword Synthesis with him now wielded even stronger lethality. The mist churned again, and two mantises charged out, one from the left and one from the right. Lu Ye swung his saber down... After almost an entire hour, Lu Ye finally opened his eyes, feeling a slight sting in his psyche, which then faded away. His Soul Power was far stronger than before; therefore, the side effects from dying once in the Mirage Realm had significantly diminished. Feeling his spirit force, ready for another battle, Lu Ye channeled spirit force into the Breath Fruit Core and entered the Mirage Realm again. Another hour later, he opened his eyes, his face pale. Although his psyche had not drained much, his spirit force was nearly depleted. Without entering the Mirage Realm again, he took out an Origin Spirit Pill and swallowed it, then took out a saber skills manual to study. All three hundred and sixty orifices in his body had achieved a Major Circumambulation cycle. At this point in cultivation, a cultivator's practice was no longer limited by their Cultivation Technique. In other words, any Cultivation Technique that had been learned could be operated at any time, without interfering with the Major Circumambulation cycle. Therefore, Lu Ye did not need to switch Cultivation Techniques to activate Bestial Gluttony Feast; his stomach hummed, and like a grinding wheel, it ground up the elixir pills he had ingested, quickly replenishing the spirit force he had expended. As time passed, every time his body's spirit force was replenished, Lu Ye would enter the Mirage Realm to refine himself, to become familiar with how the new realm enhanced him, and during rest, he would study the saber skills, absorbing what was useful to him. Combining the two, through numerous battles, Lu Ye's progress was swift, and his saber skills improved noticeably.