Sage of Humanity-Chapter 484 - 482: The Spring Spirit is Stolen

Lu Ye immediately surveyed his surroundings to ensure there were no dangers.

A message came from the battlefield marking. He lowered his head to check it and saw that Xia Qianqian had sent a message, asking to meet him at the nearby Heaven’s Augury Mercantile Union.

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Inside the secret realm of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, Lu Ye and others, including Xia Qianqian, had agreed that after they left the secret realm, they would sell the Beast Seal Method to Heaven’s Augury treasure vault. For them, selling a secret technique capable of altering the framework of an entire faction was not about the merits earned; the real benefit was the attention from Heaven’s Augury.

He took out the ten-part map to identify the direction and, with the map in hand, Lu Ye conjured his Flying Spirit Artifact and soared into the sky.

Two hours later, Lu Ye landed in front of the Heaven’s Augury Mercantile Union.

At the entrance of the union, three figures stood erect. Seeing Lu Ye arrive, Shen Xiaomao waved at him, and Xia Qianqian was also there.

Lu Ye narrowed his eyes at the last figure, feeling quite surprised.

He had not expected Lan Ziyi to be there as well.

How she left the insect hive and returned to Two Worlds City was unclear to Lu Ye, but her being here obviously meant she had left the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain earlier than everyone else and had waited here on purpose.

As their eyes met, Lu Ye’s face was expressionless while Lan Ziyi’s demeanor was indifferent.

"I thought you wouldn’t show up, kid," Xia Qianqian chuckled and patted Lu Ye on the shoulder, saying in a mature tone, "Young man, not bad. If there’s anything you need on the Cloud River battlefield later, just give a shout!"

Lu Ye turned his head to look at her, "You should be close to advancing to True Lake, right?"

Once she advanced to True Lake, Xia Qianqian would undoubtedly leave the Cloud River battlefield. How could Lu Ye find her then?

Xia Qianqian laughed, "It’s still early." Her tone shifted, "Everyone’s here, so let’s stick to our previous agreement and sell the secret technique to Heaven’s Augury treasure vault. But before that, we need to draft a Heaven’s Augury Pact to indicate that the four of us are selling this secret technique together. Of course, Ye Liu, you’ll take the main share - about seventy percent. How about that? Each of us three will take ten percent."

Shen Xiaomao and Lan Ziyi naturally had no objections, and Lu Ye nodded as well.

He wouldn’t go back on his word now. Although the secret technique was handed to him by the Great Elder, the four of them had worked together in the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain. The three women had always stayed by his side, acting as his maids, so if Lu Ye was to feast on meat, it was only fair that the three women also had a sip of soup.

"I will fetch the Heaven’s Augury Pact." Xia Qianqian volunteered, her expression earnest. After murmuring for a while, a golden light descended from the sky. She reached out to grab it, pulling a Heaven’s Augury Pact from the light, and handed it over for everyone to inspect.

Once verified to be correct, each person pressed their handprint onto it.

"Alright, let’s sell it now."

Lu Ye stepped into the Heaven’s Augury Mercantile Union and approached the Heaven’s Augury Pillar.

Each Heaven’s Augury Mercantile Union had its own Heaven’s Augury Pillar, and cultivators could use it without having to pay any fee.

However, due to the constant stream of people at the union wanting to use the Heaven’s Augury Pillar, a queue was necessary.

After waiting for a while, it was Lu Ye’s turn. He raised his hand to touch the Heaven’s Augury Pillar, his consciousness connecting with the Heaven’s Augury treasure vault.

With a blur of vision, he found himself inside the Heaven’s Augury treasure vault, surrounded by a dazzling array of items. He took out the jade slip given to him by the Great Elder and tried to sell it, checking the price.

As expected, the price was high. Selling directly to the Heaven’s Augury treasure vault would bring in fifty thousand merits. Lu Ye, taking seventy percent, would earn a total of thirty-five thousand merits at once.

This was, after all, something that could change the entire structure of a faction, naturally warranting a high value.

Without hesitation, he sold the jade slip. The battlefield marking on the back of his hand warmed up slightly, and Lu Ye checked it.

Name: Lu Yiye.

Status: Disciple of the Righteous Blood Sect.

Cultivation: Cloud River Level 2.

Location: Cloud River battlefield.

Merits: ninety-two thousand two hundred and fifty.

Battle merits: fifty-six.

His original merits were over fifty-seven thousand, and now with an addition of thirty-five thousand, the numbers matched up.

Moreover, compared to the previous records in the battlefield marking, there was now an additional entry for battle merits, displaying the number left after he exchanged for the spirit fortune stick at the military supplies area.

Ninety thousand merits were undoubtedly substantial. Looking over the entire Cloud River battlefield, there were probably only a few cultivators with that many merits.

After all, no one would deliberately accumulate merits as they generally converted them into their own strength as quickly as possible.

The secret technique had been sold and the Heaven’s Augury treasure vault had recorded it. From now on, cultivators from the beast-taming faction could spend a certain amount of merits to purchase it from the vault.

Lu Ye was curious. The item sold for fifty thousand merits, but he wondered how much it would cost to buy it.

Upon searching, he quickly found the Beast Seal Method secret technique and saw its price tag—over eight thousand merits, more expensive than the best Heaven Rank technique.

Compared to the fifty thousand he had sold it for, eight thousand did not seem like much. But one must not forget that while Lu Ye made a one-off sale, the Heaven’s Augury treasure vault could sell it repeatedly. The number of cultivators from the Nine Provinces Beast-taming Faction was not small, and while it was a minor faction compared to the mainstream, it was considered large compared to other minor factions.

Undoubtedly, many would be interested in this secret technique. Selling one copy for eight thousand might seem less, but selling ten copies would amount to eighty thousand.

In terms of business, the Heaven’s Augury treasure vault had a natural advantage. However, Lu Ye could not possibly seek buyers to sell the technique on his own, as transactions between cultivators could not utilize merits, and selling to cultivators wouldn’t garner the attention of Heaven’s Augury. Compared to the merits earned, this was the greatest benefit.

Lu Ye’s fortune was indeed good enough as it was, but no one would mind their fortune being a little better.

His mind disconnecting from the Heaven’s Augury treasure vault, Lu Ye stepped out of the Heaven’s Augury Mercantile Union. Xia Qianqian and Shen Xiaomao were still waiting for him, but Lan Ziyi was nowhere to be seen.

The woman had obviously taken the chance to run away.

She had waited here only because she didn’t want to miss this opportunity. Now that she had reaped the benefits, why would she stay any longer? If Lu Ye found an opportunity, he would undoubtedly kill her. Currently, she probably wasn’t a match for Lu Ye.

Xia Qianqian said, "With the matter here settled, I will also take my leave. Call on me if you need anything in the future."

Shen Xiaomao bade her farewell and watched as Xia Qianqian soared into the sky.

"Ye Liu, shall we head back?" Shen Xiaomao asked.

"I need to buy some things. You go ahead first."

"I’ll wait for you, since it’s not urgent."

Lu Ye turned around and entered the Heaven’s Augury Mercantile Union once more.

He needed to buy materials for crafting array banners. During his time in the secret realm of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, he had nearly exhausted all his array banners, and for an array cultivator like him, not having enough array banners and array bases significantly affected his performance.

In the past, when he was still in the Spirit Stream Realm, Lu Ye could only buy premade array banners from the Heaven’s Augury treasure vault because his cultivation was too weak to craft array banners out of thin air. Lu Ye had been constantly on the move, and even if he had materials, he had no suitable place to craft them.

But now that he had reached the Cloud River Realm, things were different.

His cultivation had improved greatly, and he could almost craft array banners in midair without relying on external forces.

Lu Ye planned to craft a batch of array banners himself, which would save him a great deal of merit.

Half a shichen later, Lu Ye once again stepped out of the Heaven’s Augury Mercantile Union, having spent nearly all his Spirit Stones and exchanged them for a large pile of materials for crafting array banners.

Shen Xiaomao was still waiting outside.

"Let’s go," Lu Ye called to her and shot into the sky, with Shen Xiaomao following closely behind.

Two streaks of light, one after another, swept toward the direction of the spirit ground.

Suddenly, Shen Xiaomao remembered something and asked in surprise, "Ye Liu, where is Yiyi?"

Since entering the secret realm of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, she hadn’t seen Yiyi at all. Although it was strange at the time, she hadn’t thought much of it, but now that Yiyi was still nowhere to be seen, it was somewhat abnormal.

"She didn’t enter the secret realm. I asked her to stay and watch the house," Lu Ye casually made up a story.

"Oh," Shen Xiaomao said, not doubting his words.

Half a day later, when Lu Ye and Shen Xiaomao returned to the airspace above the spirit ground and looked down at the chaotic scene below, they both stood frozen in place.

There used to be a hidden big array covering the area, and even if ordinary cultivators passed by nearby, they might not be able to discover the spirit ground without careful investigation. But now, the ruined spirit ground was exposed in plain sight, making it obvious that the big array Lu Ye had left behind had been destroyed.

The two hastily entered the spirit ground to investigate.

After a while, Lu Ye stood before a dried-up spring, his brow furrowed deeply.

Shen Xiaomao came over from the side, her face serious: "Ye Liu, I didn’t find Yiyi!"

Lu Ye had said that Yiye was watching the house, but now Yiyi was missing, and the spirit ground had been invaded. It was clear that Yiyi’s fate was more likely grim than not!

This worried Shen Xiaomao a great deal.

Although Yiyi had always been cool towards Shen Xiaomao, she wasn’t a petty person. Since Yiyi was Lu Ye’s sister, that naturally made her a partner to Shen Xiaomao.

Lu Ye still looked at the dried-up spring, his expression puzzled.

When he first settled here, the spring had been dry, which is why, despite the remaining buildings, it was an abandoned spirit ground. However, he was lucky enough that on the night he arrived, the Spiritual Spring revived, making the spirit ground once again rich with Spiritual Energy.

But after his time spent in the secret realm of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, this once-revived Spiritual Spring had dried up again.

If it were a natural drying up, it would have been different.

But the traces left in the big array clearly indicated that this was the result of someone’s deliberate actions.

"Can a Spiritual Spring be destroyed?" Lu Ye turned to ask Shen Xiaomao. To him, this was clearly the work of someone with malicious intent, not only destroying his big array but also ruining his Spiritual Spring.

"It’s not the Spiritual Spring that has been destroyed, but the spring spirit has been stolen," Shen Xiaomao corrected.

"What is a spring spirit?"

"Every spirit ground has a Spiritual Spring, and every Spiritual Spring has a spring spirit. The spring spirit is the source of the Spiritual Spring’s gushing Spiritual Energy. Without the spring spirit, the Spiritual Spring is just a dead thing. Therefore, the spring spirit is the core of a spirit ground," Shen Xiaomao patiently explained.

Furthermore, if cultivators are willing to spend some merit, they can ask the Heaven’s Augury to manifest the spring spirit and use a special container to collect it, enabling them to take the spring spirit with them.

As a result, the Spiritual Spring becomes a dead object.

Lu Ye listened with a face full of surprise. Although he had bought a lot of information from the Heaven’s Augury Mercantile Union when he first entered the Cloud River battlefield, none of those reports had mentioned anything about a spring spirit.

It seemed there was still much he didn’t understand.