Sage of Humanity
Chapter 894 - 892: Gained Additional Battle Merit

Lu Ye observed for a moment, noticing that the rate at which his merit decreased was quite slow. If he continued cultivating for a day and a night at this rate, the merit consumed wouldn't exceed five thousand points.

Five thousand points of merit naturally wasn't a big deal for Lu Ye, but cultivation for a cultivator wasn't a matter of a day or two—it took years and months.

At five thousand per day, it would be one hundred fifty thousand in a month, and one million eight hundred thousand in a year, which was a rather frightening number.

And the concentration of the spiritual energy from the surrounding environment was comparable to the conditions found in the Class A Spirit Ground of the Great Reversal Valley.

Lu Ye was naturally not satisfied with this environment, and with a thought, he immediately made a change.

In the next instant, the spiritual energy surging out from the vortex became richer, and correspondingly, the rate at which his merit decreased also quickened.

Utilizing his own merit, he opened a vortex capable of pouring out dense spiritual energy, a unique method of cultivation exclusive to those above the True Lake Realm.

In the Nine Provinces, this cultivation method is known as Borrowing Heaven's Augury.

In this process, the richness of the spiritual energy emanating from the vortex can be adjusted as desired. The cost is merely the speed at which merit decreases: the denser the spiritual energy drawn from the vortex, the faster the merit decreases, and vice versa. It is exceedingly convenient.

This method of cultivation is divided into different levels based on the rate of merit consumption.

What Lu Ye needed to do now was to find the level that suited his cultivation the best.

It is not the case that the higher the level, the denser the spiritual energy, and the faster the cultivation speed.

Everyone has their own limits; if the concentration of spiritual energy exceeds a cultivator's refining speed, unnecessary waste will occur.

No one's merit comes blowing in with the wind.

However, if the concentration of spiritual energy is slower than the cultivator's refining speed, it will unknowingly reduce the cultivator's cultivation efficiency.

Normally, cultivators who have just entered the True Lake Realm would choose the most basic first level, because it is already sufficient to meet their cultivation needs.

But this was clearly not suitable for Lu Ye.

Around him, he had constructed numerous small spirit energy gathering funnels, allowing him to refine spiritual energy at a much faster rate than ordinary True Lake cultivators.

The second level wasn't sufficient either.

It wasn't until he adjusted the spiritual energy gushing from the vortex to the third level that Lu Ye felt it was about right, a level generally chosen by cultivators after the True Lake Level 6.

As for the higher levels, those are the exclusive domains of cultivators in the late stages of the True Lake Realm.

Beyond that, there are levels suitable for the great cultivators of the Divine Sea Realm, of course, the higher the level, the greater the consumption.

Lu Ye noticed that the speed of his merit consumption had approximately doubled compared to at the beginning.

In other words, if he maintained such a cultivation environment, he would consume ten thousand merit points in a day and night, or three hundred thousand in a month.

Of course, cultivation certainly wouldn't sustain for prolonged periods, but even if he only cultivated for half a month, it would still consume one hundred fifty thousand merit points.

Lu Ye had a considerable amount of merit. After he learned from Shui Yuan about the cultivation method of the True Lake Realm, he specifically went to the Righteous Blood Sect's treasure vault to select and sell some items to the Heaven's Augury treasure vault, amassing fifty thousand merit points in hand.

Previously, he bought some meat for two flood dragons, now he had around forty-eight thousand left.

This number wasn't small, but it could only support Lu Ye's cultivation for two or three months, after which he would have to return to the Righteous Blood Sect.

It wasn't much of a hassle.

Such a cultivation method was undoubtedly very convenient.

Cultivators above the True Lake Realm in the Nine Provinces, regardless of their location or time, can always connect with Heaven's Augury, open a vortex, and create a suitable cultivation environment for themselves, reducing many restrictions. Unlike in the Spirit Stream battlefield and Cloud River battlefield, where they must be at their sect's stationed location or in a spirit ground to enjoy such convenience.

Moreover, they can terminate it at any time without causing significant waste.

This is incomparably better compared to cultivating with spirit fortune sticks.

Once you start cultivating with spirit fortune sticks, you cannot easily interrupt it.

Therefore, merit is extremely important to any cultivator, especially those in big sects. Only with enough merit can cultivators above the True Lake Realm continuously improve their cultivation, strengthening the sect's foundation.

The Righteous Blood Sect had been sparsely populated and desolate, with hardly any income. Thus, even with Shui Yuan's outstanding talent, she couldn't advance into the Divine Sea Realm.

This was because there was no way to earn merit.

Once Lu Ye gifted her Soul Cleansing Water and brought tremendous benefits to the sect, Shui Yuan soared high due to the plentiful resources at her disposal, allowing her to cultivate without concern.

The heritage of a big sect requires unity from top to bottom; the leaders shield the members, and in their efforts to grow, the members also create and bring wealth to the sect—an interdependent relationship where they share both glory and shame.

Lu Ye had not yet tried what the fourth level cultivation environment was like. Since his current setup was already sufficient for his cultivation needs, opting for the next level would certainly lead to unnecessary waste.

Beside him, Yiyi and Amber had already begun cultivating.

He appeared idle, so he decided to take out some fire spirit stones and activated the Talent Tree's power to keep devouring them.

The fire spirit stones contained extremely pure fire spirit power, precisely the power the Talent Tree craved. Although the benefits one fire spirit stone provided to the Talent Tree were far less than those from a lump of Earth's Core Fire, the number of fire spirit stones Lu Ye obtained was sufficient to solve many problems.

Soon, the fire spirit stone in his hand exhausted its energy and turned to dust, prompting Lu Ye to quickly take out another.

As time passed, both his merit and fire spirit stones were continually being consumed.

The process of cultivation is monotonous, yet Lu Ye doesn't find it dull. He has something to look forward to in his heart—he really wants to know what the Talent Tree will look like after this transformation.

However, he hasn't forgotten his duties as a patrol officer. Since he's receiving a monthly salary, he naturally must fulfill his responsibilities, so every day he sets aside two hours to patrol around with Yiyi and Amber.

Even though he knows it's purely a formality...

Two days later, while Lu Ye was cultivating, he suddenly felt a slight warmth on the battlefield marking on the back of his hand.

He quickly focused his mind to investigate.

Name: Lu Yiye.

Identity: Disciple of the Righteous Blood Sect, Base Lieutenant Colonel of the Cangyan Mountain Pass Big Moon Checkpoint, Roving Lieutenant Colonel of the Cangyan Mountain Pass Big Moon Checkpoint.

Cultivation: True Lake Level 1.

Location: Bingzhou Cangyan Mountain Pass.

Merit: Four hundred sixty-five thousand six hundred thirty-two points.

Battle Merit: Three hundred ninety-four thousand six hundred fifty points.

Lu Ye was startled and carefully checked, making sure he wasn't seeing things. The battle merit indeed read over three hundred ninety thousand.

How could this be?

He distinctly remembered his battle merit should be eighty-eight thousand four hundred ten points. In recent days, he had been staying here at the Cangyan Mountain Pass cultivating and patrolling around. He hadn't done anything else, so how could there be a sudden increase of more than three hundred thousand battle merit for no reason?

Such a massive amount of battle merit could only compare to the gains from Xianyuan City that one time, where he also earned three hundred thousand battle merit. But that was from killing the Insect Race, a credit with traceable achievements.

What is this over three hundred thousand battle merit about?

Lu Ye didn't feel any joy but rather found that something seemed off.

Heaven's Augury is reputed to be fair and impartial. Previously, Nian Yuexian assigned him some random tasks, which seemed like she was messing with him, but actually, she was looking for ways to increase his battle merit. Lu Ye thought that method was improper and could eventually cause trouble.

This sudden increase of over three hundred thousand battle merit was a recipe for big trouble!

After a little contemplation, Lu Ye had some guesses. If things were as he suspected, it might be no bother. But if not, it would be troublesome.

He immediately stopped his cultivation, flashed out of the bamboo building, and looked for Nian Yuexian.

He searched for a long time but couldn't find her and didn't know where she went.

Helpless, he could only try to contact her through the Guard Token.

Still no response, just as Lu Ye was at his wits' end, the woman suddenly appeared mysteriously in front of him, looking like she had just been in a fight, somewhat disheveled, with hair hanging loosely.

Lu Ye's eyelid twitched, and he immediately understood what she had been up to.

Obviously, she went to find trouble with Wan Zhanggang, though it was unclear if she benefited from it.

"What is it?" Nian Yuexian spoke, still with that icy demeanor.

"My lady, I've suddenly received a large amount of battle merit," Lu Ye replied.

"Good thing, what's the problem?"

"The amount is too large; I'm feeling anxious and uneasy."

Nian Yuexian immediately understood what he was worried about. He was a little paranoid from her previous torment, fearing that this was her using the authority of a Mountain Pass Chief to gift him battle merit.

"It's what you deserve, don't worry."

Lu Ye frowned, "Please, my lady, explain!"

Nian Yuexian then slowly explained, "The Ten Thousand Demons' siege on Gushan City Pass before incurred severe losses, and the Fire Spirit Race's attack was considered your doing, so the credit naturally counts in your favor. Plus, you saved my life, which is a significant achievement. I already requested Heaven's Augury to reward your accomplishments, so this is what you deserve."

Lu Ye was stunned, "The Fire Spirit Race's attack on Gushan City Pass counts as my credit?"

"Why wouldn't it?"

After thinking it over carefully, it barely made sense. The Fire Spirit Race was stirred up by him and people like Ying Wuji, then led to Gushan City Pass, resulting in massive losses there. Relatively speaking, it was also a contribution to the Haotian Alliance.

Moreover, using his True Lake Realm cultivation to perform various tactics right under the eyes of three enemy Divine Sea Realm experts to rescue Nian Yuexian was indeed a huge merit.

If this matter were reported to Haotian City, they would surely grant a reward.

However, Nian Yuexian knew that it was not appropriate for Lu Ye to be too high-profile at the moment, so she only requested Heaven's Augury to bestow battle merit without reporting the prior incidents to Haotian City.

"How much battle merit did they give you?" Nian Yuexian hadn't intended to ask, but her curiosity got the best of her.

"Over thirty thousand!" Lu Ye reported truthfully.

"Not bad," Nian Yuexian remarked flatly and then turned to leave, but a spark of shock glinted in her eyes.

She knew Lu Ye's harvest this time wouldn't be small, but she hadn't expected it to be so much.

Heaven's Augury seemed to lavish this little guy with some extra favors?