Sage of Humanity
Chapter 856 - 854 Departure

"Joining the Bingzhou Guard comes with a monthly salary that varies according to your rank. That salary isn't given as elixirs or Spirit Stones, but... as battle merit!" Shui Yuan began to explain.

Lu Ye raised an eyebrow!

Battle merit—these two words held immense appeal to cultivators in the Nine Provinces because it could be directly exchanged for spirit fortune sticks from the Heaven's Augury treasure vault. This was one of the ways for cultivators to rapidly enhance their cultivation.

And it was distributed as a monthly salary. In other words, by joining the Bingzhou Guard, one would earn battle merit every month. Just this alone made countless cultivators from the Nine Provinces eager to join the guard.

With this as an incentive, the Bingzhou Guard didn't need to draw people from the major sects. Cultivators from various sects and families, regardless of size, would actively choose to join the Bingzhou Guard once their cultivation reached a certain level.

The situation for the Righteous Blood Sect was a bit unique. Lu Ye had never even known about the Bingzhou Guard before, so he hadn't considered this option.

"The monthly salary is just the beginning. Completing tasks for the Bingzhou Guard or killing enemies in wartime can also earn you battle merit."

"That sounds quite advantageous."

"Indeed, the Bingzhou Guard isn't just made up of Cloud River Realm cultivators. Many Spirit Stream Realm cultivators also join. Some disciples from various sects prepare in advance and join the Bingzhou Guard while still in the Spirit Stream Realm to earn battle merit for their future plans."

Of course, Spirit Stream Realm cultivators didn't have high combat abilities and their self-defense capabilities were limited. Even if they joined the Bingzhou Guard, they wouldn't be assigned to highly dangerous tasks. Most of them would stay in one place and cooperate with higher-realm cultivators to defend against outside enemies. They wouldn't stay long either, usually returning to the Spirit Stream battlefield after earning some battle merit.

Relative to the Spirit Stream battlefield, the Bingzhou Guard was more dangerous, but the amount of battle merit they could earn was unmatched.

The more Lu Ye listened to Shui Yuan's descriptions of the Bingzhou Guard, the more excited he became. He had no aversion to joining the guard previously, and now he even looked forward to it.

However, he also understood that once he joined the Bingzhou Guard, his days wouldn't be as carefree as on the Cloud River battlefield.

So far, whether in the Spirit Stream battlefield or the Cloud River battlefield, the enemies Lu Ye had encountered were always at the same cultivation level. But in the Bingzhou Guard, he would face not just similarly ranked cultivators but also those in the True Lake Realm and Divine Sea Realm, who were active on the front lines of the two opposing camps.

"Do you feel confident in ascending to the True Lake Realm within three days?" Shui Yuan asked.

Lu Ye shook his head, "I just ascended to the Level 9, and I'm still a ways from the True Lake Realm."

He had enough gold-hued spirit fortune sticks, but the time was too short, and three days wouldn't be enough.

"That's unfortunate," Shui Yuan remarked.

If Lu Ye could ascend to the True Lake Realm before joining the Bingzhou Guard, his self-defense capabilities would improve significantly. Moreover, every Bingzhou Guard member had a position, and the higher the cultivation, the higher the initial position and the more substantial the monthly salary.

The treatment of a Cloud River Level 9 and a True Lake Realm cultivator was vastly different.

Fortunately, Lu Ye wasn't too far from the True Lake Realm at this point.

"Second Senior Sister, I want to know how to cultivate after I ascend to the True Lake Realm. The natural spiritual energy in the Nine Provinces isn't that dense, and it's not even comparable to the Spirit Stream battlefield. Wouldn't cultivating by absorbing natural spiritual energy be too inefficient?"

He normally didn't rely primarily on absorbing natural spiritual energy to cultivate. But if the energy were dense enough, it would certainly enhance his cultivation efficiency.

Understanding how True Lake Realm and Divine Sea Realm cultivators in the Nine Provinces cultivated was something he needed to figure out. Initially, he planned to ask his Second Senior Sister this question after his advancement. But with the transfer order from Haotian City in three days, he might not have another chance to ask her in person for a while.

He took this opportunity to understand, with Hua Ci and Giant Armor listening in as well.

"Cultivating beyond the True Lake Realm involves a significant consumption..." Shui Yuan explained slowly.

Lu Ye and the others listened intently and finally understood how True Lake Realm cultivators cultivated.

Silently awed, Lu Ye previously only knew that cultivation beyond the True Lake Realm required extensive resources, but the specifics were unclear.

It wasn't until now that he understood!

Now he realized why Shui Yuan had remained at the True Lake Realm for so long. Despite her considerable talent, she couldn't advance until Lu Ye brought back a large amount of resources for the Righteous Blood Sect, which allowed Shui Yuan to break through to the Divine Sea Realm.

It was all due to the lack of resources at the Righteous Blood Sect.

Before Lu Ye came, the entire sect had only Shui Yuan and the sect master. Even if they served in the Bingzhou Guard and received a monthly salary, it was still far from enough for their cultivation needs.

So before he left, Lu Ye needed to prepare thoroughly.

Shui Yuan continued explaining many aspects of the Bingzhou Guard to Lu Ye, who noted everything down carefully. Her accumulated experience could be of great help to him.

Shui Yuan only stopped talking when night fell.

She had said everything she needed. The fledgling had to leave the nest and soar into the sky someday. The sect master previously hesitated to let Lu Ye join the Bingzhou Guard too early because of the sect's sparse members and Lu Ye's safety.

But as Lu Ye's cultivation improved, he would eventually have to take this step.

It was inevitable.

Hua Ci and Giant Armor returned to Emerald Bamboo Peak, while Lu Ye followed Shui Yuan to the Righteous Blood Sect's treasure vault.

Soon after, he found himself before the Heaven's Augury Pillar, connecting his mind to the Heaven's Augury treasure vault. He sold a large amount of resources taken from the sect's treasure vault to the Heaven's Augury treasure vault.

His merit points skyrocketed dramatically.

Two Shichen later, Lu Ye emerged from the Heaven's Augury Hall, swiftly heading to Emerald Bamboo Peak.

He entered his bamboo tower and sat down cross-legged. Amber and Yiyi were nowhere to be seen, with the former at Giant Armor's place and the latter with Hua Ci.

Lu Ye held a ten-part map, searching for the location of Haotian City.

The ten-part map, which he had just bought from the Heaven's Augury treasure vault, detailed the entire Nine Provinces. It was quite expensive but well worth it, an indispensable item for future travels.

The map showed the Nine Provinces divided into nine major territories, corresponding to the nine provincial states.

Qingzhou, Wuzhou, and Cangzhou were marked in blue. As Shui Yuan had said, these three states were under the control of the Haotian Alliance.

Yunzhou, Leizhou, and Youzhou were marked in red.

Meanwhile, Tianzhou, Bingzhou, and Dingzhou were marked in both red and blue, indicating contested areas between the two camps.

A quick glance and the corroboration with Shui Yuan's previous explanations gave Lu Ye a basic understanding of the overall situation in the Nine Provinces.

In Bingzhou, the areas of red and blue interaction were marked with twelve checkpoints, like towering mountains, forming the front line of the Haotian Alliance's defense.

These were the 12 Checkpoints of Bingzhou, each guarded by a vast number of cultivators.

Beyond these twelve checkpoints stood a grand city—Haotian City.

This city served as the central hub of the Bingzhou Guard. All orders and decisions related to warfare originated here. Zhao Che, who had appeared earlier, belonged to the Heralds Office in Haotian City.

Haotian City also hosted an Elder Council, headed by Pang Zhen of the Righteousness Sect, and comprised of Divine Sea cultivators from various major sects in Bingzhou.

The sect master Thang Yifeng was actually a member of the Elder Council. He was eligible to reside in Haotian City as a decision-maker, but he had never involved himself in these affairs.

Because of the disastrous war decades ago, the Righteous Blood Sect's reputation plummeted, and many strong cultivators from various sects resented them. Considering this, the sect master never sought recognition.

All these years, despite being an elder of the council, he had never participated in any decision-making, focusing solely on following orders, so low-key that the world almost forgot about him.

If not for Lu Ye's sudden rise, which made the sect master see hope for the Righteous Blood Sect's resurgence, he wouldn't have changed his understated approach.

Now, his dignified image was almost completely shattered, and the mere mention of Thang's name sent shivers down the spines of the major sects in Bingzhou.

Lu Ye's task now was to report to Haotian City within three days, join the Bingzhou Guard, get assigned a position, and see which checkpoint he would be dispatched to.

This wasn't something he could decide; he could only resign himself to fate.

However, it was evident that someone in Haotian City had their eye on him. As soon as a problem arose on the Cloud River battlefield, the transfer order was issued, suggesting high efficiency.

Therefore, Lu Ye knew that he wouldn't be given an easy task in the Bingzhou Guard.

Overthinking was pointless; focusing on improving his cultivation was crucial. Though time was tight, it was still enough for him to use a gold-hued spirit fortune stick.

Calling back Yiyi and Amber, Lu Ye crushed a gold-hued spirit fortune stick and began his cultivation.

After one night, the spirit fortune stick's effect was exhausted. Rising to his feet, Lu Ye stepped outside.

"Time to set off!" he whispered softly, ascending into the sky.

There was no need for farewells; they would meet again one day. Partings and reunions among cultivators were perfectly normal.

On Righteous Peak, Shui Yuan opened her eyes, gazing into the distance toward where Lu Ye had left, and slowly stood up.

On Bright Heart Peak, two figures stood—Thang Yifeng and Madam Yun.

"Have you found out who it was?" Madam Yun's voice was icy cold.

With the transfer order, even Lu Ye sensed someone was watching him. How couldn't Madam Yun sense it?

Although she and the sect master had been busy repairing the Dragon Throne, they were still aware of external matters. For powerful Divine Sea cultivators like them, nothing within a hundred miles could escape their senses.

The sect master shook his head, "Just a vague idea. It's nothing more than those few families."

"Does it involve the Loyal Heart Sect?"

"It shouldn't. Though the Loyal Heart Sect has separated from us, they wouldn't resort to such actions."

"Hmph, I don't care who it is. If anyone dares to harm my disciple, I will make them pay in blood!"

"They are acting within the rules..."

"I care not for rules. I have only one disciple, and if anything happens to him, others will not live!"