Sage of Humanity

After pondering for a moment, Lu Ye had a vague suspicion.

But whether things were as he thought still needed verification.

He turned his head to look, and Dao Thirteen immediately turned around, using his body to block the roasted meat in his hand... he was afraid it would be snatched by Lu Ye again.

Lu Ye wasn't going to take it from him; he got up and walked to the side, took the bag of Spirit Rice previously given by the village chief, opened the bag, grabbed a handful of Spirit Rice, and stuffed it into his mouth.

Although the Spirit Rice was uncooked and hard to swallow, it was no problem for Lu Ye.

He casually chewed a few times and swallowed it, simultaneously activating the Bestial Gluttony Feast to expedite digestion, quietly sensing.

The mysterious force that confined his cultivation was noticeably dissipating faster.

Lu Ye raised an eyebrow; things were just as he thought.

It wasn't the meat that accelerated the dissipation of the confinement force; it was necessary to consume the native products of this realm, be it meat or Spirit Rice...

As for why this was the case, Lu Ye wasn't quite sure.

He subconsciously felt there might be some special power hidden in the food of this realm that could dissolve his confinement force.

But on second thought, he felt it was unlikely, because none of the meat or Spirit Rice he ate was special in any way. If they contained some special power, he would surely be able to detect it.

Moreover, the mysterious confinement force was a means left by Heaven's Augury on him, and Heaven's Augury did this to conceal him from being discovered. If so, why would eating native products of this realm accelerate the dissolution of the confinement force?

While eating the Spirit Rice, Lu Ye pondered deeply.

What exactly was Nine Provinces Heaven's Augury guarding against? Who in this realm could be worth such precautions by Nine Provinces Heaven's Augury, even sending him here using the Meteorite rain for concealment, and sealing ninety-nine percent of his cultivation, rendering him almost like an ordinary man?

Suddenly, Lu Ye thought of a possibility.

What Nine Provinces Heaven's Augury was guarding against... might not be a person, but this entire realm?

The realm has a consciousness.

Though no one had ever told Lu Ye anything, he always felt that the mysterious and omnipresent Heaven's Augury was indeed the will of the Nine Provinces World.

That's why it could have so many profound aspects.

The Soaring Dragon World he once visited also had a will, which manifested as Ye Liuli accompanying him, eventually giving him the broken origin of the Soaring Dragon World.

If so, it was highly likely this unknown world also had a consciousness.

Being sent to this realm through the means of Nine Provinces Heaven's Augury is equivalent to an invasion, easily detectable by the realm's consciousness. That's why Nine Provinces Heaven's Augury confined his cultivation and used the Meteorite rain's concealment to bring him here.

By eating the beast meat and Spirit Rice of this realm, he was essentially imprinting this realm's information onto himself, assimilating his existence with it... this way, the realm's consciousness would find it hard to perceive him as an intruder.

Thus, the confinement force dissipated faster.

The more he thought, the more it seemed like this hypothesis was correct.

Many doubts were solved in the process.

Take, for example, how he arrived in this realm; when he and Ying Wuji went to the shattered Unparalleled Continent before, Nine Provinces Heaven's Augury directly transported them there, with no upheaval as they appeared all over the Unparalleled Continent.

But this time, they relied on the concealment of the Meteorite rain.

Because only by doing so could he fool the consciousness under the nose of this realm.

If this were true, then this realm's consciousness is certainly not as refined as Nine Provinces Heaven's Augury; otherwise, it would have already noticed him, the outsider, and wouldn't have been deceived by various means of Nine Provinces Heaven's Augury.

It's very likely that this realm's consciousness is in a hazy state, not as perfected as Nine Provinces Heaven's Augury.

If he were to compare himself to Nine Provinces Heaven's Augury, then Dao Thirteen's spiritual intelligence would be analogous to this realm's consciousness.

A large piece of half-eaten beast meat suddenly appeared in front of Lu Ye's eyes. He came back to his senses from pondering and looked up to see Dao Thirteen with a reluctant expression, but resolutely handing over his piece of beast meat, probably seeing Lu Ye eating Spirit Rice, he felt compassion...

Lu Ye chuckled, patted his shoulder, "Follow me, I'll take you to find more delicious things."

Since consuming the products of this realm could accelerate the dissipation of the confinement force, then it was very simple.

The mountain was full of roaming demon beasts, which he and Dao Thirteen had previously killed some of; they just hadn't eaten them, and thus hadn't discovered this mystery until today.

The whole village was silent; everyone had their doors and windows shut tight. Lu Ye and Dao Thirteen's departure didn't disturb anyone.

Venturing deeper into the mountains, master and servant soon had a fruitful hunt, made a fire on the spot, simply roasted their catch, and feasted heartily.

All along, Lu Ye had a significant appetite, and with the aid of the Bestial Gluttony Feast, he could digest as much as he ate.

Dao Thirteen was even more formidable, as he had a Divine Sea Realm physique, eating at a much faster pace than Lu Ye.

So, in less than two hours, the harvest of half the night was gobbled up completely by the two.

The confinement force within dissipated somewhat, and Lu Ye's cultivation restored to the level of Spirit Stream Level 4, the same for Dao Thirteen.

Instead of continuing, they returned to the village with Dao Thirteen.

During the day, hunting teams like theirs didn't need to do farm work. They only needed to venture into the mountains every five days to hunt some game to bring back, which saved Lu Ye quite a bit of trouble.

He would spend the day chatting idly with people, gathering information about this realm, and at night, he would lead Dao Thirteen into the mountains to forage.

Gathering information was not going smoothly; Lu Ye hadn't even figured out the name of this realm, and the villagers had never left the village since birth.

He only knew that this world was inhabited not only by the human race but also by another race called the Sacred Race by the villagers.

As for what kind of race the Sacred Race was, Lu Ye was unsure, and the villagers couldn't clearly explain either.

What weighed on his mind was the seemingly inviolable status that the Sacred Race held in the hearts of the villagers. Whenever Lu Ye tried to gather more about them, the villagers were deeply apprehensive, leaving him quite helpless.

On the fifth night since arriving in the village, Lu Ye still led Dao Thirteen trekking in the mountains hunting. Over the days, their cultivation had restored to Spirit Stream Level 6. Although not much compared to their original cultivation, it was still a good start.

Moreover, Lu Ye noticed something: consuming demon beast flesh and blood was far more effective than eating beast meat.

Perhaps it was due to the rich essence contained within demon beasts' flesh and blood, so he had been seeking powerful demon beasts, but unfortunately, with little success.

By now, it was late in the night. Lu Ye was leading Dao Thirteen back towards the village, aiming to make it back before dawn; otherwise, if villagers saw them, the village head would surely scold them for not understanding the rules.

Exiting the forest, as the village scene appeared in the distance, Lu Ye's steps halted. A blood-red light swept from the village direction, with faint screams emanating from within.

The screams sounded familiar, and a woman's image flashed in Lu Ye's mind.

After interacting for a few days, Lu Ye had become acquainted with many Cangnan Village residents.

He had exchanged a few words with this woman; she was about twenty years old, had a Spirit Stream Level 3 cultivation, and was a member of the hunting team.

The scream was hers, but the blood light wasn't because the spirit force fluctuation in the light was distinctly of a Cloud River Realm level!

Cangnan Village had no Cloud River Realm cultivators!

Lu Ye did not know who she had encountered to be captured like that. Now wasn't the time to spectate. As he was about to go rescue her, her screams abruptly ceased.

Perhaps his movement attracted the blood light owner's attention; after a glance, the figure within the blood light flew straight towards them.

In a short while, the figure landed before Lu Ye.

The blood light receded, revealing a figure.

The newcomer was tall and wearing a long robe, taller than Lu Ye by at least a head, with skin as red as blood, resembling a boiled lobster. Furthermore, he possessed pointed ears, and sharp, gleaming fingernails.

The woman Lu Ye recognized was carried like a rag doll in his hand, silent, with two bloody holes on her white slender neck, but no fresh blood flowed from them.

Her entire being had turned extremely pale, as if all blood had been drained.

Lu Ye quietly observed the eerie figure before him, eyelids lowering slightly.

He finally understood what the Sacred Race mentioned by the villagers was.

Blood Race!

He had encountered many Blood Races in the Soaring Dragon World and personally killed quite a few, so how could he be unfamiliar with them?

Moreover, during his honing within the Mirage Realm using the Breath Fruit Core, the figures rushing out of the mist often included Blood Races.

The downfall of the Soaring Dragon World had a direct connection with the Blood Race, their invasion and the Blood World's siphoning led to Soaring Dragon's destruction.

He had entered the Soaring Dragon World for training, bringing another possible future for it, and despite that future being impossible now, he still received the Soaring Dragon's final Origin gift.

So, is this the Blood World?

"Where did this Blood Food pop up from?" The unfamiliar Blood Race examined Lu Ye and Dao Thirteen, eyes brightening. "Quality is quite good!"

Saying this, he tossed the woman's corpse aside and reached out to grab Dao Thirteen.

To a Blood Race, someone like Dao Thirteen with abundant blood Qi was undoubtedly more attractive, so he struck straight at Dao Thirteen.

But this time, he hit a tough wall.

With a hand clutched onto Dao Thirteen's shoulder, the sharp nails didn't break through Dao Thirteen's body. After all, it was a strong cultivator's body from the Divine Sea Realm; how could a Cloud River Realm Blood Race breach it?

The unfamiliar Blood Race's expression changed.

Dao Thirteen turned his head towards Lu Ye.

"Take him down!" Lu Ye's deep voice sounded.