Sage of Humanity

In Heaven's Augury Hall, Lu Ye placed his hand on the Heaven's Augury Pillar, connecting his mind and spirit. When he was in the Spirit Stream Realm, connecting his mind to the Heaven's Augury Pillar could only allow him to enter the Spirit Stream battlefield. But now, being in the Cloud River Realm, he had another choice available. He could enter the Spirit Stream battlefield, but correspondingly, he would have to pay three thousand merits, and after entering the Spirit Stream battlefield, his strength would be suppressed to the level of 9th Heaven, reverting him to his state before advancing to the Cloud River Realm. Cloud River Realm cultivators forcefully entering the Spirit Stream battlefield must pay three thousand merits, and if one is in the True Lake Realm, even more merits are needed. The higher the cultivation, the greater the cost, which is why high-level cultivators normally do not forcefully enter a battlefield not their own. Of course, he wasn't going to enter the Spirit Stream battlefield; he intended to enter the Cloud River battlefield. Having made his choice, he did not enter immediately because the Cloud River battlefield, unlike the Spirit Stream battlefield, had no sect enclaves inside; thus, there were several ways to enter the Cloud River battlefield. The first way was to appear randomly at some location within the Cloud River battlefield. With good luck, one could remain unharmed, but with bad luck, one might appear where many enemies gathered or within the territory of a powerful demon beast, which would undoubtedly lead to combat. If one were not strong enough, there was a high likelihood of being killed. The second way was fixed-point transmission. The Cloud River battlefield contained spirit grounds, which are rich in nature's spiritual energy, and most spirit grounds have a Heaven's Augury Pillar. If a cultivator could leave a mark on the Heaven's Augury Pillar in a spirit ground in advance, they could directly teleport into the spirit ground. This method of teleportation was suitable for those cultivators who owned spirit grounds. As Lu Ye had never entered the Cloud River battlefield before, naturally, he had no spirit ground. The only option applicable to him was the third way. This was also a fixed-point transmission, only with many more available locations to choose from. Although the sects had no enclaves within the Cloud River battlefield, there were many Heaven's Augury Mercantile Unions distributed across various locations in the battlefield. These mercantile unions provided cultivators with places for resupply and rest; each mercantile union had its own Heaven's Augury Pillar, and cultivators from any faction could use these pillars to move in and out of the Cloud River battlefield. It could be said that the areas near the Heaven's Augury Mercantile Unions in the Cloud River battlefield were the most heterogeneously populated. In the Heaven's Augury Hall, with his eyes tightly closed, Lu Ye connected his mind to the Heaven's Augury Pillar below, and numerous points of light appeared in his mind, each representing a Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union. He could choose any of these, and then use the Heaven's Augury Pillar to teleport into that particular mercantile union. Choosing which one was a problem. Shui Yuan had instructed him to look for his Fourth Senior Brother, Li Baxian, once he entered the Cloud River battlefield, but Lu Ye was more inclined to find Giant Armor first. This big fellow was straightforward and had entered the Cloud River battlefield a few months before him. His current whereabouts were unknown, as was whether he had suffered any losses. The points of light emerging in his mind numbered over a thousand, indicative of the vastness of the Cloud River battlefield. In comparison, the Cloud River battlefield was several times larger than the Spirit Stream battlefield. After all, upon reaching the Cloud River Realm, cultivators could fly through the air, and if the battlefield was too small, it wouldn't accommodate the cultivators coming from across the Nine Provinces. After some contemplation, Lu Ye chose a light point in a central location. This way, no matter where Giant Armor was, he wouldn't be too far from him. "Amber, are you ready?" Lu Ye quietly asked. Crouched on his shoulder, Amber made a soft sound in response. Lu Ye smiled, his thoughts shifted, and in a flash, he felt a slight sensation of weightlessness, which came and went quickly. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a large hall. Not far beside him, another cultivator also opened their eyes, clearly having just been transported from the Nine Provinces, making the same choice as Lu Ye to come to this particular Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union. However, there was no intention of communication between them. Lu Ye once again placed his hand on the Heaven's Augury Pillar, trying to teleport back to the Nine Provinces. To his surprise, the information fed back from the pillar indicated that a considerable amount of his merits would be deducted. He immediately understood that the information he had heard earlier was correct. Cultivators entering the Cloud River battlefield could not leave at will within a month unless they paid sufficient merits. Though it was his first time in the Cloud River battlefield, he had learned some information about it through various channels, just not systematically and comprehensively. Lu Ye didn't know why such a rule existed but speculated that the teleportation via Heaven's Augury Pillar also had some cost. To avoid unnecessary movement of cultivators constantly entering and exiting between the Nine Provinces and the Cloud River battlefield, such restrictions were imposed. The cultivator who appeared with him had already turned and left, and Lu Ye did not linger, following quickly out of the hall. The bustling atmosphere hit him as he stepped out; this place was a Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union, naturally frequented by large numbers of cultivators. Lu Ye tapped the battlefield marking, trying to contact his Fourth Senior Brother, intending to let him know that he had arrived in the Cloud River battlefield. To his surprise, he couldn't send the message. His Fourth Senior Brother's marking hadn't disappeared, indicating he was safe. If the message couldn't be sent, it meant only one possibility—his Fourth Senior Brother was not in the same realm as him at the moment. He tried to contact Feng Yuechan as well, but the situation was the same. Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan always stuck together, advancing and retreating as one. If one couldn't be contacted, the other certainly couldn't be either. Lu Ye transmitted a message to Giant Armor. This time, the transmission was successful, and Giant Armor quickly responded. After a brief exchange, Lu Ye furrowed his brows because Giant Armor could not figure out his current location, and Lu Ye was also unclear about his whereabouts. He could only ask Giant Armor to first buy a ten-part map from Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union and then ended the communication. Upon finding a mercantile union manager, Lu Ye spent some Spirit Stones to purchase the ten-part map and various basic information about the Cloud River battlefield. What astonished Lu Ye was that the mercantile union manager he dealt with was only from the Spirit Stream Realm! A Spirit Stream Realm cultivator appearing in the Cloud River battlefield probably could only be managed by Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union, which made Lu Ye feel that this union was no ordinary organization. Sitting in that compartment, Lu Ye examined the ten-part map, ascertained his current location, and then delved into that information. Only after two hours did Lu Ye put down the jade slip in his hand, digesting the myriad of information he had acquired. Compared to the Spirit Stream battlefield, the Cloud River battlefield was undoubtedly much more complex and competition was much fiercer. Here, cultivators' opponents included not only those from the opposing factions but also those within the same faction. However, as long as one had sufficient ability, cultivation could quickly increase in this place. In the Spirit Stream battlefield, every sect had its own stronghold, where nature's spiritual energy's concentration was closely linked to the strengthening purchased—the more enhancements bought, the richer the spiritual energy, and the faster the disciples' cultivation progress. But in the Cloud River battlefield, there were no strongholds. Only spirit grounds! A spirit ground was a place where nature's spiritual energy converged. Looking over the entire Cloud River battlefield, the average concentration of nature's spiritual energy was only equivalent to the wild outskirts of the Core Circle of the Spirit Stream battlefield. Such a cultivation environment did not offer much help even to Spirit Stream Realm cultivators, let alone those of the Cloud River Realm. Indeed, cultivating in such an environment would undoubtedly be very inefficient. Therefore, spirit grounds became coveted locations among cultivators. Spirit grounds were similar to the strongholds of the Spirit Stream battlefield where the spiritual energy was much denser than in the wilderness. However, unlike strongholds that were occupied by sects, spirit grounds might be dominated by three or five close friends or crowded by ten to twenty people. Generally, a spirit ground could not accommodate too many cultivators because with more people, the shareable spiritual energy would decrease. The spirit grounds were graded into four categories—Class A, B, C, and D, with Class A being the highest and Class D being the lowest. The higher the grade of the spirit ground, the denser the spiritual energy, allowing cultivators to advance their cultivation more efficiently. Thus, frequent skirmishes to seize spirit grounds from others occurred within the Cloud River battlefield. In the Spirit Stream battlefield, taking over a sect's stronghold was not an easy task. Once the protective array was activated, it was nearly impregnable because the power that Spirit Stream Realm cultivators could exert was limited, hardly enough to break through the defense of a big array, unless one had the means to destroy arrays like Lu Ye. However, it was different once a cultivator reached the Cloud River Realm—their strength greatly increased, and they had more methods at their disposal. Thus, even if a protective array was set up after occupying a spirit ground, it might not be safe. Overall, spirit grounds in the Cloud River battlefield were rarely dominated for long by anyone; they usually changed hands frequently, one after another. Moreover, some spirit grounds were not permanent; perhaps today a region was a Class A spirit ground, but tomorrow the spiritual energy there might suddenly disappear, losing its status as a spirit ground. Or a region might suddenly accumulate spiritual energy and transform from an ordinary wilderness into a spirit ground—such occurrences were common. The Cloud River battlefield was vast with countless spirit grounds, yet some cultivators lacked the strength to seize others' spirit grounds. How should they cultivate if relying solely on consuming elixir pills was too inefficient? Therefore, in the Cloud River battlefield, besides the method of seizing spirit grounds and ruling over them, there was another way—snatching spirit fortune sticks. In the Cloud River battlefield, anywhere and at any time, spirit fortune sticks might descend from heaven! The spirit fortune sticks came in five colors: white, green, blue, purple, and gold. The worst were white, and the best were gold. When spirit fortune sticks descended from heaven, people within about 30 miles could all see them clearly. The cultivator who managed to snatch a spirit fortune stick only had to find a safe place, crush the stick, and a vast amount of nature's spiritual energy would burst forth, providing cultivation nourishment. So far, no one knew where these spirit fortune sticks came from; it was speculated that they were a gift from Heaven's Augury. Every day, a large amount of spirit fortune sticks appeared in various places of the Cloud River battlefield, benefiting countless cultivators. But snatching spirit fortune sticks was not easy, for each time they appeared, many cultivators contended for them. To succeed in grabbing a spirit fortune stick, it was not merely a competition of eyesight and speed, but also of strength. Those with sufficient strength naturally went for the gold-hued spirit fortune sticks, while those less powerful could only aim for the white ones. Thus, in the Cloud River battlefield, there was no limit to the speed of cultivation—if one truly had the capability, advancing to the True Lake within one or two years was possible.