Sage of Humanity
Chapter 914 - 912: Theft of Heaven's Augury

If we set the concentration of nature's spiritual energy in his current cultivation environment as a standard, then the environment the roots are currently in is at least three times that standard.

A threefold difference!

Moreover, the deeper the roots extend inwards, the greater the difference.

Until the roots reach a certain extreme, the difference in the cultivation environment has reached a fivefold level!

The extension of the roots is not endless, and Lu Ye just realized it seems related to the strength of his mental consciousness. Now, when he activates the power of the Talent Tree, the roots can extend about three feet at most.

Even so, a fivefold difference is quite an exaggeration, meaning one thing; if Lu Ye uses the roots of the Talent Tree to absorb the Heaven and Earth spirit force from the other side of the spiritual vortex for cultivation, it will certainly be faster than the normal cultivation state.

Perhaps reaching a fivefold increase, perhaps less, or perhaps... even more!

After all, in a normal state, he relies on many small spirit energy gathering funnels for cultivation. The difference in cultivation methods between this and using the roots of the Talent Tree to absorb and draw can't be accurately compared by Lu Ye himself.

But undeniably, he unintentionally found another method to quickly enhance his own cultivation, and this method is based on the transformation of the Talent Tree.

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, a new question emerged in Lu Ye's mind.

Are the different levels of spiritual vortices different inside?

In his current "Borrowing Heaven's Augury" created cultivation environment, the spiritual vortex is at the third level, consuming about ten thousand merits a day and night.

Above, there are higher levels suitable for strong cultivators in the True Lake Realm Late Stage and even in the Divine Sea Realm, while below, two slightly lower levels are suitable for Nine Provinces cultivators newly entering the True Lake Realm.

He is somewhat of an exception, so when he previously tried borrowing Heaven's Augury as a cultivation method, he chose the third level.

Exploring isn't difficult; the level of the spiritual vortex changes according to one's will. A simple adjustment of the vortex level can reveal the truth.

With this in mind, Lu Ye immediately changed the level of the spiritual vortex.

A moment later, he arrived at an astonishing conclusion—regardless of the level of the spiritual vortex, the world inside is the same!

Thus, the rumors he heard before aren't true; the saying that different levels of spiritual vortices connect with different qualities of Earth Veins or Spirit Veins is baseless.

They may indeed connect to a specific Earth Vein or Spirit Vein; otherwise, where does that rich spiritual energy come from? But the location is the same.

The reason for differences in cultivation environments created by Borrowing Heaven's Augury lies in the varying levels of spiritual vortices.

If the world inside the spiritual vortex is likened to a bottle and the spiritual energy to water in the bottle, then the vortex is the bottle's mouth.

The size of the bottle's mouth determines the speed at which water flows out, thus creating different cultivation environments.

The lower the level of the spiritual vortex, the smaller the bottle's mouth...

If that's the case, then Lu Ye doesn't need a large bottle mouth at all. He only needs a basic opening to let the roots of his Talent Tree probe inside...

He can totally use the lowest level spiritual vortex for cultivation; this way, the merits consumed by cultivation will be significantly reduced.

And his cultivation efficiency will not be affected at all.

This is no longer borrowing Heaven's Augury for cultivation but stealing Heaven's Augury!

Lu Ye felt that his actions were no different from a thief and wondered what Heaven's Augury would think of this.

Cautiously maintaining this state for a while, discovering nothing unusual, he then relaxed.

Heaven's Augury is everywhere, omniscient. Such blatant "theft" cannot go unnoticed, and since it wasn't stopped, it means it was tacitly approved.

On reflection, whether or not I'm "stealing," this is still my own ability. Why should Heaven's Augury stop me?

One cannot say it's wrong simply because I have a Talent Tree...

Understanding this, Lu Ye felt completely at ease.

The transformation of the Talent Tree incited various subsequent events, completely altering Lu Ye's cultivation method of several years. Numerous thoughts burst forth in his mind.

Suddenly, Lu Ye stood up.

"What happened?" Yiyi asked, puzzled, not understanding why Lu Ye suddenly stood up when his cultivation was going well.

"Wait!"

Lu Ye said, flying out through the window directly, quickly arriving at the Heaven's Augury Hall in the ruined Cangyan Mountain City, linking up with Heaven's Augury, he entered the Hall of Battle Merits, not in the mood to chat with the gold and silver flood dragons, and went straight to the spot where gold-hued spirit fortune sticks were exchanged, waving his hand to exchange for ten gold-hued spirit fortune sticks.

He left the Hall of Battle Merits hurriedly and returned to his bamboo building.

Seeing Lu Ye holding a handful of spirit fortune sticks in his hand, Yiyi then realized what he had done.

Lu Ye sat down again, crushing one of the gold-hued spirit fortune sticks, its powder converging and twisting to form a golden vortex.

Immediately, extremely pure and dense spiritual energy began flowing out from it!

Yiyi and Amber quickly sat upright, inhaling and exhaling spirit force for cultivation. This spirit force could almost be transformed into their powerful foundation without much refinement, so using spirit fortune sticks for cultivation has always been a way for Nine Provinces cultivators to swiftly become stronger.

Lu Ye didn't rush into cultivating, instead gazing at the golden vortex in front of him, feeling both excited and anxious.

If things were truly as he imagined, then the transformation of the Talent Tree would be an immense boon for him!

He gently inhaled, raised his hand, and pressed into the space in front of the golden vortex, activating the power of the Talent Tree. Invisible roots extended and, in Lu Ye's perception, probed into the vortex.

The next moment, Lu Ye's expression brightened!

The cultivation environment created by the spirit fortune sticks was already the best that Nine Provinces cultivators could have, but beyond the vortex, there existed an even better, unknown environment!

Lu Ye could clearly perceive the Talent Tree's roots touching upon a water-like substance.

It wasn't real water but a condensation of pure spirit force, a power that anyone could freely absorb!

In an instant, he felt as if he were floating on a cloud, his whole body feeling dizzy.

Forcing himself to steady his mind, he continued to invoke the Talent Tree's power, pushing the roots deeper in.

But unexpectedly, this situation was a bit different from his previous exploration of a spirit force vortex; within the spirit force vortex, the deeper he went, the better the environment.

However, inside this vortex created by the spirit fortune stick, there didn't seem to be much difference.

It made sense—this pure spirit force had already condensed into something akin to water, what more could it offer?

The difference between the environment within and outside the vortex was at least threefold!

Unable to hold back, Lu Ye let out a hearty laugh, pulling Yiyi over and planting a firm kiss on her cheek: "Yiyi, I've struck it rich!"

Yiyi was dumbfounded!

She was cultivating so well when Lu Ye suddenly did this, making her flustered. Having spent years with Lu Ye, they were as close as real family, and Lu Ye had never shown her such affection, aside from occasional pats on her little head or pinching her cheeks.

This was the first time she had been directly kissed like that...

"I've struck it rich, Yiyi!" Lu Ye repeated excitedly, grabbing Amber and giving it a strong kiss too!

"Meow..." Amber wore a look of disdain, struggling mightily.

Steadying herself, Yiyi sensed Lu Ye's excitement and couldn't help but ask, "What happened?"

Lu Ye didn't mention the Talent Tree, finding it complex to explain, simply saying, "I have a special method that allows me to delve inside this vortex and cultivate using its environment!"

Yiyi was curious, "And what's the environment inside the vortex like?"

"It's hard to describe, but the cultivation environment in there is three times better than what we have here."

"Three times!" Yiyi was amazed; the fact that Lu Ye suddenly kissed her was distant from her mind, her little head immediately realizing the advantage this could bring to Lu Ye, "Doesn't that mean you could grow at three times the speed of others?"

"Not just!" Lu Ye smiled slightly, "It's three times my previous speed!"

His previous cultivation speed was already much faster than the average cultivator, granting him invisible advantages when using the spirit fortune sticks for cultivation, so it was naturally not a standard measure of cultivation speed.

"Lu Ye, you're amazing!" Yiyi sincerely praised, genuinely happy for Lu Ye.

Her little head seemed to hit upon another idea, tilting, she said, "Lu Ye, if that's the case, I suggest you trade for white spirit fortune sticks for cultivation in the future!"

"Why is that?" Lu Ye asked.

"You see, a white spirit fortune stick only requires two hundred meritorious points, right? But a gold-hued spirit fortune stick requires fourteen thousand five hundred and eighty points—a huge difference. If you cultivate using a white spirit fortune stick and it's the same as using a gold one, wouldn't that save a lot of merit points? With so many good things in the Hall of Battle Merits, you can buy whatever you want later."

"Hmm?" Lu Ye was taken aback by her words, thinking there seemed to be some truth, but upon deeper thought, something felt amiss.

"Ah..." Amber lowered its eyes, somewhat unable to comprehend its two owners' spirited discussion.

Even I, a tiger, understand it, but how are these two having such an earnest debate?

Lu Ye finally realized where it went wrong, chuckling, "The cultivation environment created by gold-hued and white spirit fortune sticks is, in fact, the same. The difference lies only in the duration of maintenance. A white spirit fortune stick lasts for one incense stick's time, while a gold one lasts for an entire day and night."

Having heard Yiyi's words, he suddenly found them reasonable, but he was too excited at the moment to think it through. Now that he understood, he realized Yiyi's suggestion wouldn't work.

Yiyi also realized her mistake, a blush spreading across her face.

Lu Ye ruffled her hair, "My Lu Yiyi is the best!"

Yiyi gave a sweet smile.

"To cultivation, then!" Lu Ye waved his hand grandly. The Talent Tree's transformation had granted him such a unique cultivation method, so naturally, it couldn't go to waste.

Currently at True Lake Level 1, he was eager to know how long it would take him to reach True Lake Level 2.