Sage of Humanity
Chapter 911 - 909: Another Price Increase

For Lu Ye, branding Explosion Spirit Runes on the fire spirit stones wasn't really difficult, so he held a fire spirit stone in each hand; the one in his left hand was for branding the Explosion Spirit Runes, and the one in his right was to be absorbed by the Talent Tree.

Not only that, but there was also a vortex of spirit force before him, and the many small spirit energy gathering funnels on his body were in full effect.

To be able to do these two things simultaneously with cultivation, only he could achieve this under the heavens.

As for his righteous claim in front of Qian Wudang about sacrificing his future for the sake of the provincial guard… it was completely nonexistent!

For cultivators, cultivation has always been the priority; Lu Ye had long understood this principle that anything that could delay the progress of cultivation, no matter how beneficial it seemed, should not be pursued.

Time passed by.

In just half a day's work, he had refined all 7,000 pieces of Explosive Fire Spirit Stones, and Lu Ye refined 200 more before he stopped.

The numbers shouldn't be so exact, or it would look too obvious.

With 10,000 pieces of raw materials, yielding 7,200 pieces of Explosive Fire Spirit Stones, this was a result that was entirely presentable.

Qian Wudang gave him seven days, and he didn't feel comfortable leaving just yet, so he continued with his cultivation.

Instead of refining the Origin of the Soaring Dragon World, he took out the Breath Fruit Core, planning to hone his skills in the Mirage Scene for a while.

Ever since advancing to the True Lake Realm, he hadn't entered the Mirage Scene nor had many chances to test his own strength. Additionally, he had obtained many new spirit runes recently, and Lu Ye wanted to familiarize himself with how effective these spirit runes would be in actual combat while honing his skills in the Mirage Scene.

He was particularly excited about the Split Shadow spirit rune; among the seven new spirit runes he acquired last time, only this one could be exceptionally effective in solo duels.

He infused spirit force into the Breath Fruit Core, and his vision blurred as he found himself in the familiar small space.

On both sides were large doors; one led to a place for self-training, and the other entered Xianyuan City.

Opening the door to Xianyuan City required consuming 10,000 points of merit, and naturally, Lu Ye wouldn't open it easily. Moreover, when he last returned from Xianyuan City, the City Lord had already told him that he was considered a member of the Butcher Squad of Xianyuan City. If there were any battles, special means would be used to alert him, and he would enter Xianyuan City to join the fight directly.

So far, Lu Ye hadn't received any notification from Xianyuan City, which he assumed meant that things were stable there since the last major battle was just a few months ago.

Lu Ye turned his gaze to the other door, raised his hand to push it open, and words immediately appeared as light flowed on the door.

Upon a closer look, Lu Ye thought, as expected.

The price had increased again!

When he was in the Spirit Stream Realm and obtained the Breath Fruit Core, each use cost 50 points of merit. When he reached the Cloud River Realm, it required 100 points, doubling the cost.

Now, in the True Lake Realm, the merit cost to enter the Mirage Scene had indeed increased again.

Just like the price increase during the Cloud River Realm, the cost doubled based on the original.

200 points of merit!

Naturally, Lu Ye wouldn't be bothered by a mere 200 points of merit, so without hesitation, he pushed open the door and stepped into the rolling mist.

The honing process was monotonous and boring, as enemies continually emerged from the mist to attack, only to be slain by Lu Ye or himself killed.

What surprised Lu Ye was that this time, his opponents were no longer limited to human race cultivators and the Insect Race.

The opponents even included two peculiar races, the Blood Race and the Corpse Race.

The Blood Race was the enemies he encountered in the Soaring Dragon World, and the Corpse Race was the enemies from the Unparalleled Continent. There was no reason for them not to appear before, but now they suddenly did.

Lu Ye speculated that the enemies appearing within the Breath Fruit Core were likely related to the cultivator's previous experiences who entered here.

Because he had encountered the Blood Race and Corpse Race before, these enemies also appeared here.

If he encountered some chaotic and bizarre races in the future, the Mirage within the Breath Fruit Core should be able to reflect them as well.

With his cultivation advanced to the True Lake Realm and significant progress in his saber skills, along with mastering new spirit runes and comprehending the second form of Tyrannical Saber Technique, this honing session was quite fruitful.

Except for the unbearable pain felt every time he was slain or exhausted.

That was a genuine feeling of death, a sensation Lu Ye imprinted in his heart, for only in that way could he maintain enough vigilance in the real world.

Within the Mirage Scene, no matter how many times he died, it only resulted in mental exhaustion. In reality, life was ultimately singular.

Time flew by, and seven days had passed.

The cultivator who had delivered the fire spirit stones arrived on schedule, taking away the Explosive Fire Spirit Stones Lu Ye had provided.

Momentarily, Lu Ye felt some movement in the battlefield marking, and he looked down to investigate.

His name, identity, and cultivation hadn't changed.

The change in location, needless to say, was simply from Cangyan Mountain Pass to Bingzhou's Haotian City.

The merit column had dropped by more than 100,000 points, leaving just over 35,000; after all, when cultivating like this daily and entering the Mirage Scene repeatedly, the consumption wasn't trivial.

The most significant was the battle merit column: 274,762 points!

Originally, after replenishing the power of the Mental Consciousness Destruction Sword, his battle merit had only just over 100,000. But just a few days ago, it increased by a whole 130,000 points.

Needless to say, this was earned from the recent mission carried out with the A-3 squad.

A normal mission couldn't possibly yield such great gains, but this time, many problems and troubles arose during the mission. Ultimately, a cultivator at Divine Sea Level 2 was captured and killed through the combined efforts of the A-3 squad, naturally earning a significant reward boost.

Moreover, Warlord Geng mentioned on the return journey that he would report to the Department Chief, requesting him to petition Heaven's Augury. All battle merits obtained from this mission were to be halved and allocated to Lu Ye.

All these factors combined allowed Lu Ye to receive such substantial rewards.

According to the initial mission, if the A-3 squad went out to capture a True Lake Level 9 cultivator, each person could earn ten to twenty thousand points of battle merit at best.

But even with the merits halved and allocated to Lu Ye this time, the battle merits earned surpassed the expectations, with a minimum of twenty to thirty thousand.

And the excess battle merits were naturally gained from crafting the Explosive Fire Spirit Stones, totaling 36,000 points.

Considering all these, Lu Ye's battle merits now totaled over 270,000.

Throughout the Nine Provinces, no one else could obtain large amounts of battle merits as frequently and continuously as Lu Ye, otherwise he wouldn't have been promoted to the rank of Colonel while still at the True Lake Realm.

As Lu Ye was checking his battle merits, the guard token suddenly showed movement.

Lu Ye investigated and discovered it was an order from Qian Wudang via the guard token, commanding him to proceed to the Justice Department immediately.

The guard token was inviolable; Lu Ye might have bargained with Qian Wudang over the Explosive Fire Spirit Stones issue, but he dared not be slack at this moment and immediately soared into the sky, heading to the Justice Department.

Soon, he met Qian Wudang in the Annex Hall where they last met.

Compared to last time, Qian Wudang's attitude was undeniably warmer. Upon Lu Ye's arrival, he kindly patted his shoulder, "Well done!"

Despite having previously signed the Heaven's Augury Pact and having an agreement, it was only when the results were presented that Qian Wudang confirmed Lu Ye's ability to craft a thousand Explosive Fire Spirit Stones daily!

With these, the law enforcement squad of the Justice Department could have an additional means of dealing with adversaries while on missions, effectively reducing many casualties.

The minor discomfort from Lu Ye bargaining had long vanished.

"As long as you are satisfied," Lu Ye replied.

"I grant you a day's leave, continue crafting tomorrow. But let me remind you, you mustn't slack on your cultivation progress. The higher your cultivation, the more efficient your crafting becomes."

Lu Ye mused that crafting these things didn't seem to have much connection with his cultivation level, but it was unnecessary to voice this thought.

Soon, he realized something was amiss, "Sir, am I to stay in Haotian City to craft the Explosive Fire Spirit Stones from now on?"

"Is there a problem?" Qian Wudang looked at him in puzzlement.

Lu Ye said, "Sir, perhaps you've forgotten, I belong to Cangyan Mountain Pass. I was granted just one day's leave for military rank promotion, but it's nearly ten days now. Although the Mountain Pass Chief hasn't pressed, I can't possibly not return. That would be neglecting my duty."

He still held the positions of Base Lieutenant Colonel and Roving Lieutenant Colonel at Big Moon Checkpoint's Cangyan Mountain Pass.

Of course, with his rank promotion, he was now a Base Colonel and Roving Colonel.

If he stayed here for long, the monthly salaries from these positions would surely evaporate, something Lu Ye could not accept.

The monthly salary from these two positions alone was 60,000 battle merits.

Qian Wudang looked at him in astonishment, momentarily speechless.

In his joy, he had completely forgotten this!

Suddenly, he felt a stab to his heart!

Such talent, yet not part of my Justice Department!

How hateful! Why wasn't this kid at the True Lake Realm when he came to Haotian City? If Lu Ye had been at the True Lake Realm, he would likely have been recruited into the Justice Department.

Lu Ye didn't notice the change in his expression and continued, "Sir, how about this, you give me the fire spirit stones, and I'll take them back to Cangyan Mountain Pass for crafting. Periodically, you can send someone to collect them. It's a bit of a hassle, but it's the only solution I can think of."

Qian Wudang raised his hand to stop him, "Hold on a moment."

He said this while tapping his battlefield marking, sending out a message, though it was unclear to whom.

Lu Ye stood quietly aside.

Qian Wudang paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, appearing somewhat anxious, and sent several more messages in succession, but they seemed to sink into the ocean.

With no option left, Qian Wudang finally looked at Lu Ye, "Use your guard token to contact your Mountain Pass Chief, tell her I need to speak to her!"

Last time, when Warlord Geng ordered him to bring Lu Ye back from the frontlines to join the A-3 squad, he feared Nian Yuexian would rip off his scalp and didn't dare agree. But upon realizing Lu Ye's ability to craft large quantities of Explosive Fire Spirit Stones, his desire for talent finally outweighed his fear.

He had to take the risk and try!

How embarrassing it was when Nian Yuexian didn't respond!

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