Sage of Humanity

After a short moment, figures flew in from all directions, obviously coming to investigate the commotion of the meteor shower from the local entities.

For cultivators in any world, these meteors falling from the sky contain a vast amount of precious minerals that can be used for artifact refining, naturally making them highly coveted.

By this time, Lu Ye had already fled about 30 miles with Dao Thirteen carrying him.

During this escape, they encountered local entities flying overhead. Fortunately, Lu Ye was on alert due to his Mental Consciousness and thus didn't get exposed.

After running several hundred miles, Lu Ye found a cave and brought Dao Thirteen inside.

His cultivation was too severely suppressed to set up arrays, so he could only remain vigilant.

He didn't know what kind of world this was or what the entities of this realm were, nor did he understand why Heaven's Augury had sent him here.

As for how to return to the Nine Provinces, he had no clue whatsoever.

Therefore, the urgent task now was to gather intelligence on this realm, at least to figure out whether the entities here were of the human race or some other race.

Restoring cultivation was also a top priority. In such an unfamiliar environment, the cultivation of Spirit Stream Level 3 brought no sense of security to Lu Ye.

With this in mind, Lu Ye slowly began to form a plan.

Sitting cross-legged at the bottom of the cave, Lu Ye attempted to mobilize his spirit force to see if he could break through the mysterious suppression.

His cultivation was not fallen but suppressed, so if he could break through the mysterious suppression, he could restore it.

But after considerable effort, Lu Ye had to reluctantly give up, as he found that the mysterious force was extraordinarily solid and completely unshakeable for him.

However, he felt slightly comforted by the fact that the force suppressing his cultivation was dissipating at an extremely slow pace.

This meant that even if he did nothing, his cultivation could gradually recover, though the timeline for this process was uncertain.

With no immediate way to restore cultivation, he couldn't cultivate, nor could he leave hastily, rendering Lu Ye somewhat bored for the moment.

With an idea rising in his heart, he glanced at Dao Thirteen standing like a wooden stake beside him: "Sit down."

Dao Thirteen, having been implanted with the Soul Taming Divine Runes by him, was naturally obedient to his commands, and sat cross-legged.

"What kind of person is your Venerable Lord?" Lu Ye asked, having nothing else to do, hoping to gather information about the Venerable Lord from Dao Thirteen.

Though trapped in this unknown world, he knew he would return to Nine Provinces someday. Based on his brief interaction with the Venerable Lord, it was clear that this person harbored grand ambitions and had miraculous methods, potentially stirring up turmoil in Nine Provinces in the future.

Having more knowledge about the Venerable Lord would help him respond better once he returned to Nine Provinces.

Dao Thirteen shook his head, indicating he didn't know.

Lu Ye frowned: "What's his name?"

Dao Thirteen shook his head again.

Lu Ye continued to ask several questions, but Dao Thirteen either remained silent or shook his head, leaving Lu Ye rather helpless.

He had long noticed Dao Thirteen wasn't very smart; now, he realized this guy wasn't a fool but not far from one.

"Dao Thirteen is a Dao soldier!" Dao Thirteen suddenly uttered an inexplicable sentence.

"Dao soldier?" Lu Ye was puzzled.

"Yes." Dao Thirteen nodded.

What is a Dao soldier? Lu Ye had never heard of this term, but he vaguely sensed a few things.

Dao Thirteen was likely cultivated and refined by the Venerable Lord using some mysterious method, so despite having a strong cultivation, his spiritual intelligence was unclear. With a thought, Lu Ye asked, "Your name is Dao Thirteen, is there Dao Twelve, Dao Fourteen, and others like you?"

Dao Thirteen shook his head again.

Lu Ye suddenly lost interest in conversing.

In truth, it wouldn't be difficult to investigate the information Dao Thirteen knew; Lu Ye only needed to deploy a little telepathy. Once this divine rune was employed, any secrets in Dao Thirteen's mind could be probed by Lu Ye.

However, if he did that, Lu Ye's secrets would also be exposed to Dao Thirteen, so he was unwilling to use this method.

Even though Dao Thirteen had dim spiritual intelligence, Lu Ye still had to be cautious.

Abandoning the idea of gathering information from Dao Thirteen, the cave fell silent, with master and servant sitting wordlessly across from each other.

Time flew by, and three days later.

Lu Ye frowned deeply; in three days, his cultivation recovered a bit, but it was still only at Spirit Stream Level 3!

At this rate, restoring his original True Lake Realm cultivation could take forever, and without breaking the mysterious suppression, no matter how much he cultivated, it would be pointless.

He truly couldn't understand why Heaven's Augury was suppressing his cultivation or what it was masking.

Originally, he planned to leave this place once his cultivation recovered, to explore what kind of world this was, but now this plan was unfeasible.

He couldn't possibly stay here for a decade or two.

With no other choice, Lu Ye could only leave the hideout cave with Dao Thirteen.

In unfamiliar territory, Lu Ye didn't know which way to go, so he randomly chose a direction.

The master and servant traveled along the road, occasionally encountering some beasts, which they easily dealt with.

Although their cultivation was lacking, their Mental Consciousness was intact, so minor beasts posed no threat to them.

Fortunately, in just half a day, they exited the dense forest and saw a village at the edge.

The village seemed to have a large population because there were many houses. Lu Ye didn't rush in but instead explored the area for a long time from the outside.

Using his Mental Consciousness, he sensed that there were about a hundred households in the village, with a population approaching a thousand.

Lu Ye was relieved to find that the inhabitants were humans rather than some strange race. With his prior secret realm experiences, Lu Ye knew that in this vast Universe, not only is there one Nine Provinces World, but there isn't just the human race either.

However, there were some aspects that puzzled Lu Ye.

This village didn't look impressive, yet each household seemed quite affluent, and there were many children. The people here seemed particularly fecund. Each family had at least two or three children, some had six or seven.

Outside the village were large spirit fields, growing something similar to Spirit Rice. Lu Ye casually picked some and tasted them. The spirit force contained within was not strong, but if consumed for years, it could not only enhance one's cultivation level but also prolong life.

If true, then there should be many long-lived individuals in this world.

However, there were no notably elderly people in the village; those over forty were rare, and most appeared to be in their twenties or thirties.

There were cultivators in the village, numbering over a hundred. Strangely, they were all at the Spirit Stream Realm level. However, they didn't have the aura of cultivators; they seemed like ordinary farmers working in the fields just like other common people.

Logically, in such a well-off village, its people should be living freely. Yet, in Lu Ye's observations, everyone seemed to be in a state of constant anxiety, as if a danger could arise at any moment.

Even the children, who should have been carefree and smiling, seldom appeared as such.

These oddities left Lu Ye perplexed.

After observing for half a day, Lu Ye decided to enter the village.

No matter what, only by contacting the human race of this world could they gather information. Hiding in the mountains with Dao Thirteen wouldn't accomplish anything.

Before revealing himself, Lu Ye put away the Boulder Mountain Saber and even stuffed the storage sack into his clothes, leading Dao Thirteen into the village from one end.

The people working in the fields glanced at them but didn't pay further attention.

This puzzled Lu Ye even more. Normally, the arrival of strangers would cause some vigilance, but these people acted as if they hadn't seen them at all.

However, the children playing at the village entrance, upon seeing him and Dao Thirteen, ran towards the village's depths, with one older child shouting, "Village Chief, some escapees have arrived."

Escapees...

It seemed this world wasn't as peaceful as it appeared. Some unknown danger must be hanging like a mountain over these humans, causing their unrest.

Moreover, this danger seemed like it could descend at any time.

What exactly was this danger?

Lu Ye pondered uncertainly.

Perhaps the child's shout had alarmed the villagers, as people gradually opened their doors to observe but did not approach.

Until a middle-aged man in his forties approached from the front.

Lu Ye scrutinized him and found that he also had cultivation, but since the man didn't activate his spirit force, his realm couldn't be determined.

The middle-aged man was probably the village chief. Though possessing cultivation, he dressed as a farmer, which left Lu Ye bewildered.

In the Nine Provinces, anyone capable of cultivation wouldn't do fieldwork, as each sect and family sheltered numerous commoners who provided the mundane necessities.

But in this unknown world, such a setup seemed common.

The village chief looked somewhat pitiful, likely troubled, with reddened eyes indicating poor rest. He sized up Lu Ye and then Dao Thirteen behind him, and spoke, "Escapees?"

Lu Ye nodded silently and frowned deeply, portraying a look of considerable anguish.

Having no understanding of this world, he naturally adhered to the principle of saying less to make fewer mistakes. If they mistook him for an escapee, he might as well go along with it. Given his presumed status as an escapee, an expression of sorrow and resentment was fitting.

"Do you have cultivation?" the village chief asked again.

Lu Ye nodded once more, activating his own spirit force, revealing the meager fluctuations of his Spirit Stream Level 3 realm.

The village chief sighed, "You're quite lucky. Since you're here, stay. Whether it's fortune or disaster depends on your fate."

With that, he beckoned to Lu Ye.

Lu Ye then followed with Dao Thirteen.

Before long, under the village chief's guidance, the three arrived at a small courtyard.