Sage of Humanity

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Healing, cultivating, the days passed without disturbance.

With the consumption of one elixir pill after another and the assistance of the Spirit Energy Gathering Spirit Runes, Lu Ye's speed of opening his orifices was much faster than he had anticipated. Now, if he dedicated all his efforts, it would take less than two days to open one orifice.

This efficiency was terrifying. The supplementary Cultivation Technique, Bestial Gluttony Feast, was of great help to Lu Ye.

Hua Ci came to visit every night as promised, and under her care, Lu Ye's injuries quickly improved.

They occasionally chatted, and through her, Lu Ye accidentally learned an interesting piece of news - Ten Thousand Demons Ridge's Nine Stars Sect's domain two hundred miles away had been taken over by the Xuanmen.

Message passing among cultivators was quite convenient due to the presence of battlefield markings. Simply by adding each other as friends, one could easily exchange messages as long as they were in the same space.

This news caused some stir primarily because, among the two sects' grades, it was Nine Stars Sect that held the higher rank.

To conquer a sect's domain was no simple matter since every sect's domain was guarded by a big array. Without breaking the array, one could not possibly conquer it. Even if the array was broken, success was not guaranteed since the cultivators stationed at the domain were not just for show.

In the outer circle of the battlefield, it was rare for a sect's domain to be taken over because the sects of the outer circle had lower grades, and their cultivators' cultivations were comparatively weaker. Stationing a group of low-level cultivators at the domain's big array was a bit too much to ask of them.

It was said that the reason Xuanmen could succeed this time was mainly because they used a very powerful Spirit Talisman, specifically designed for array destruction.

As a result, Nine Stars Sect suffered huge losses, many disciples were killed, and the goods stored in their domain were looted clean. After Xuanmen withdrew, they even set fire to the Nine Stars Sect domain, leaving nothing but ashes.

When Lu Ye heard this news, he was not surprised. If Xuanmen dared to make a move, they must have been confident of their chances.

To this, Lu Ye felt some schadenfreude. All his injuries were caused by Dong Shuye, and now that the Nine Stars Sect's domain had been conquered, he felt as though he had gotten his revenge, even though he had not participated in the action.

However, from what Hua Ci implied, the takeover of the domain seemed different from what he had thought.

He had assumed that once Xuanmen took over Nine Stars Sect's domain, that territory would become theirs, but in reality, that was not the case. Xuanmen had only killed many of the Nine Stars Sect disciples and looted some resources before setting the place on fire and withdrawing.

This seemed to mirror what Haotian Alliance did after they took over Evil Moon Valley. After conquering Evil Moon Valley, they didn't stay long before withdrawing since it was essentially Ten Thousand Demons Ridge's territory, and lingering would certainly lead to a counterattack from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge's forces.

The same logic applied to the battlefield. Nine Stars Sect surely had allies for support, and Xuanmen's people would've been attacked if they continued to stay in the Nine Stars Sect's domain. Rather than that, they chose to take advantage of the situation and then retreat.

Hua Ci mentioned that Xuanmen's successful conquest of the Nine Stars Sect's domain brought them great benefits, not just the looting of some materials. It seemed there were other even more important gains, because she said this meant that at the next sect grade assessment, Xuanmen's advancement to 8th grade was a certainty, while it was inevitable for Nine Stars Sect to fall to 9th grade.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Just by looting some cultivation resources, Xuanmen's grade wouldn't have risen by one. Lu Ye didn't press for details, so he just listened.

Hua Ci seemed to have always thought he was a disciple of some big sect... He didn't know how this misunderstanding came about. Maybe it was because he had spent money generously? As a 'big sect's disciple,' he couldn't possibly be unaware of these common knowledge items.

Liusu Place was a nearby marketplace, not much different from the other marketplaces Lu Ye had visited before, with disorderly buildings incorporating styles from all across the Nine Provinces.

The largest building belonged to the branch of Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union.

Lu Ye could be considered a regular customer of Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union, and today, he followed Hua Ci and others to this marketplace and headed straight for it.

There was no other reason; his stock of elixir pills was running low.

In just half a month of healing, he had paid Hua Ci more than a hundred elixir pills, making this greedy woman very wealthy. Combined with his own daily cultivation needs, his original stock of over three hundred elixir pills was now greatly depleted. He had opened up to thirty-five orifices, and the remaining elixir pills were definitely not enough for him to cultivate to the Spirit Stream Level 4.

Of course, he could slowly improve himself with the effect of the Spirit Energy Gathering Spirit Runes, but for him the benefits they provided were just auxiliary. His cultivation mainly relied on consuming elixir pills.

Once used to exotic delicacies, who would have the heart to gnaw on corn?

The layout inside Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union branches was almost the same. Led by a maid, Lu Ye entered a private room to wait, as usual drinking several pots of Spiritual Tea...

This time, the man who came to trade with him looked to be about thirty, cultured and refined.

This time, Lu Ye sold four pieces of origin magnetic ore, leaving only six pieces remaining in his possession.

He also dealt with the storage sacks of the four individuals from Nine Stars Sect, including the Young Sect Master. He had carried these four storage sacks for some time now, and while he didn't need to pay much attention to three of them, as they likely contained nothing valuable, Lu Ye sold them to the mercantile union for a total of fifteen Spirit Stones...

He had sold storage sacks before; they weren't worth much, because opening them carried risks. Low-level cultivators didn't have much of value, so Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union typically offered five Spirit Stones for one.

Of course, one could also opt to pay the mercantile union to unlock the restriction lock, and whatever was found inside the storage sack was entirely dependent on luck and chance.

Good luck might bring a fortune, while bad luck could mean a total loss.

As for the storage sack of the Young Sect Master of Nine Stars Sect, Lu Ye would never sell it cheaply. That individual surely had some valuable items.

After stating his demands, the union side readily agreed. They couldn't care less where your storage sack came from; they only cared about making money by providing services.

In the entire Spirit Stream battlefield, Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union was a peculiar entity, belonging to no single faction.

The union's manager led Lu Ye to a secret room, where he met an elderly cultivator, then left.

This elderly cultivator specialized in unlocking restriction locks, having a remarkable talent for locksmith work, almost magical. Such people had a specific name in the cultivation world.

Locksmith!

Lu Ye brought out the storage sack of the Nine Stars Sect Young Sect Master, which the elderly cultivator examined for a moment before quoting a price.

Lu Ye paid without hesitation and then waited quietly.

In just half an hour, a light flashed in the hands of the elderly cultivator, who handed the storage sack back to Lu Ye, saying, "All done."

Lu Ye took it without checking the contents and took out the tiny bell-shaped Spiritual Artifact, requesting, "Please help me unlock the restrictions on this item as well!"

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