Sage of Humanity

Lu Ye wandered around the Sacred Mountain, though there wasn't much to see. There were just a few main halls and some side rooms, all visible at a glance.

But as he was new here, it wasn't appropriate for him to roam carelessly, so he could only spend his time like this.

Passing by a main hall, Lu Ye glanced casually, then suddenly stopped, and next he stepped inside the hall.

The hall was empty, with only a single pillar standing in the center.

Lu Ye approached the pillar with a slightly excited expression, his face full of reminiscence.

It had been a long time since he last saw this thing.

The creatures of the Blood Refinement World might not recognize this thing before him, but among Nine Provinces cultivators, who wouldn't know it?

This was a Heaven's Augury Pillar!

Actually, after arriving in the Blood Refinement World, while pondering the purpose of the Nine Provinces Heaven's Augury sending him here, Lu Ye also considered how he could return to the Nine Provinces.

He couldn't possibly stay here forever. Since the Nine Provinces Heaven's Augury could send him here, they must have a way to bring him back.

However, this situation differed from the previous time he entered the Unparalleled Continent. Last time, he carried four Heaven's Augury Pillars with him, allowing him to connect with the Nine Provinces. This time he had none.

Unexpectedly, there was one on this Sacred Mountain. With a Heaven's Augury Pillar, there's no need to worry about returning; he could use it to complete the transfer.

It would be good to buy some cultivation resources from the Heaven's Augury treasure vault. He's been lacking in cultivation resources recently, which is the fundamental reason for his slow progress in cultivation.

He placed his hand on the Heaven's Augury Pillar, his mind stirring, attempting to connect with the heaven's augury.

Lu Ye frowned. No response!

He tried to connect again, yet still no response.

This was something he encountered for the first time. Every Nine Provinces cultivator can connect with the heaven's augury using the Heaven's Augury Pillar, a right granted by the Nine Provinces Heaven's Augury. There's no reason for no response.

But despite several attempts, it was still useless.

"Junior Brother." Feng Wujiang's voice came from behind.

Lu Ye turned and asked, puzzled, "Senior Brother, why can't this Heaven's Augury Pillar be used?"

Feng Wujiang explained, "Junior Brother might not know, but unlike in the Nine Provinces, the Heaven's Augury Pillar here can only be activated once every five years, lasting about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, after which substantial resources are transmitted from the Nine Provinces, and then it goes silent."

Lu Ye was surprised, not having expected this.

Previously, he was wondering how human race cultivators could cultivate in the Blood Refinement World without suitable materials, like Spirit Stones.

They couldn't solely rely on absorbing nature's spiritual energy.

It turns out that resources are sent over from the Nine Provinces.

"There's still about a year until the Heaven's Augury Pillar activates next, so you naturally can't use it now."

"Why is it like this?" Lu Ye asked, puzzled.

"I'm not sure of the specific reason either, but I guess it's related to the will of heaven and earth of this world. When the Nine Provinces Heaven's Augury sent us over, it used some concealment methods so that the will of heaven and earth of this world wouldn't detect our invasion. The silence of the Heaven's Augury Pillar is likely for the same reason. If it remained active continuously, the will of heaven and earth here would inevitably trace back to the presence of the Nine Provinces, which is why it only activates once every five years, and the time it stays active is also not long."

Lu Ye appeared thoughtful.

"What did Junior Brother come over here to buy?" Feng Wujiang asked.

"I'm short on cultivation resources, and I thought about exchanging for some."

Feng Wujiang laughed, "If that's the case, I'll have some sent your way later. There are still some reserves from the last transmission."

"Alright." Lu Ye nodded, then asked, "By the way, Senior Brother, does the Sacred Land have any Blood Crystals?"

"Yes, Junior Brother wants them?"

Over the decades, the Blood Race has besieged the Sacred Land numerous times, and each time a vast number of Blood Race members died. Although most fell into the Empyrean Sea, leaving no remains, some died on the surrounding islands.

The Blood Crystals from these Blood Race members were collected by human race cultivators.

The Sacred Land originally intended to study using the energy of Blood Crystals for array setups, but the energy in Blood Crystals is somewhat corrosive, making it unsuitable for array setups, so they've been kept instead.

After each great battle, the Sacred Land collects a large number of Blood Crystals, but they're not practically useful, so they've been accumulating more and more.

Now, the Sacred Land has a dedicated storeroom for storing Blood Crystals. Inside, there's a mound of large and small Blood Crystals of varying quality.

"Yes, I do." Lu Ye nodded without hesitation. To the other human race cultivators, Blood Crystals might be like poison, but to him, they are a good elixir. With enough Blood Crystals, he could advance to True Lake Level 9 and even challenge the Divine Sea.

"I'll have someone deliver it to you later." Feng Wujiang said, beckoning, "Follow me, there is someone who wants to meet you."

Lu Ye followed behind Feng Wujiang.

After a while, inside the artifact crafting workshop, Lu Ye met Ouyang Zi.

Feng Wujiang briefly introduced them to each other, and upon learning that Ouyang Zi was the chief Artifact Refiner of the Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union from a few hundred years ago, Lu Ye felt a deep respect.

The Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union, being such a colossal entity, boasts a plethora of talents. Ouyang Zi's ability to become the chief Artifact Refiner naturally signifies an exceedingly high level of skill in artifact refining, incomparable to someone like him, who is still learning.

In the end, he had merely followed Khong Khong in the Sword Weapon Sect's secret realm, learning the Path of Artifact Refining for just two months. Even if he had some talent in this field, artifact refining requires years of immersion to achieve profound mastery.

On the other hand, Ouyang Zi was more astonished, mainly because Lu Ye was so young.

Yesterday, upon hearing from Feng Wujiang that the As-Close-As-Siblings Array Disc was refined by his junior disciple, Ouyang Zi thought that being Wujiang's junior could imply someone just over fifty.

Yet the young man in front of him was clearly in his early twenties...

"Did you refine this?" Ouyang Zi held the array disc in his hand, his eyes somewhat red, apparently from not having rested well the previous night.

"Yes, I refined it." Lu Ye nodded.

"Would you refine another for me to see?" Ouyang Zi appeared skeptical, mainly because it was hard to believe that, at Lu Ye's age, even if he had started learning artifact refining from the womb, he should not be able to inscribe such complex spirit runes completely onto an array disc.

Lu Ye turned to look at Feng Wujiang, the senior brother nodded: "Go ahead, junior brother, refine one."

With senior brother's permission, Lu Ye naturally didn't refuse and took out some materials from his own storage space, channeling his spirit force into a blazing flame to wrap and refine the materials.

With his current cultivation at True Lake Level 8, he could already refine some simple artifacts out of thin air, as he had done with previous array discs.

Under his manipulation, impurities were constantly separated, and a nascent array disc slowly took shape.

A short while later, Lu Ye withdrew his spirit force, and a brand new As-Close-As-Siblings Array Disc was freshly made, which he then handed to Ouyang Zi.

Ouyang Zi took it, channeling spirit force and mental consciousness to probe inside the disc, his face full of disbelief: "That's unreasonable."

He had watched Lu Ye's refining method, which indeed appeared quite clumsy. The array disc in his hand, judging solely by its quality, just barely passed muster. With such artifact refining skills, how could he imprint such complex spirit runes completely?

This array disc truly had an appearance of decay outside but was strikingly generous inside. It appeared unremarkable from the outside, but the treasures were all within.

Knowing what Ouyang Zi was marveling at, Lu Ye explained: "Senior, I am a spirit runes master; constructing spirit runes isn't much of a challenge for me."

Even as he said this, Ouyang Zi still looked amazed: "Truly incredible."

Though he had seen spirit runes masters before, none he had met had such extraordinary skills.

"Young friend, could you teach this old man how to construct that spirit runes?" Ouyang Zi's attitude had obviously become more polite. Although he could perceive the complete structure of the As-Close-As-Siblings Spirit Runes through mental consciousness and spirit force, constructing a spirit rune varies in difficulty depending on the method. He wanted to know how Lu Ye constructed these runes, hoping to learn something from it.

He studied the array disc for a whole day yesterday and naturally recognized its wonders. In large-scale warfare, it can be seen as a strategic weapon, playing an irreplaceable role in the Sacred Land's defense against the Blood Race army.

He was naturally inclined to refine this for the human race cultivators in the Sacred Land to be equipped with.

"Of course, no problem." Lu Ye readily agreed.

Immediately, the old and the young conversed quietly, with Lu Ye demonstrating the construction of the spirit runes to Ouyang Zi from time to time.

Feng Wujiang stood silently by their side waiting.

Alongside stood Dao Thirteen, like a wooden stake.

After several hours, Feng Wujiang led Lu Ye away from the artifact crafting workshop, leaving behind an Ouyang Zi with a distressed face.

He discovered that Lu Ye constructed those spirit runes with ease, as simple as eating and drinking, yet when it came to him, he frequently made mistakes, often falling short after coming quite far.

Constructing spirit runes is just like that; the entire process must be flawless to successfully form a spirit rune. Even a single discrepancy in Yin-Yang Dual Origins could lead to total failure.

This is also why genuine spirit runes masters are scarce within the Nine Provinces.

Although those Array Masters, Artifact Refiners, and even Pill Masters are adept at constructing some spirit runes, aiding their array setup, artifact refining, or Alchemy processes, the runes they specialize in are clearly defined within specific fields. They usually construct the few spirit runes they use most frequently.

Unlike true spirit runes masters, who can effortlessly handle any type of spirit runes.

"Seems we can't rely on Senior Ouyang for this..." Feng Wujiang noticed something as well. In the field of artifact refining, Ouyang Zi was second to none. Even in today's Nine Provinces, very few could match his level in artifact refining. But with specialized skills, the intricate As-Close-As-Siblings Spirit Runes are undoubtedly a hurdle he can't overcome.

Perhaps in the future, he could gradually improve the success rate of constructing this spirit runes through practice and apply it to artifact refining, but the Sacred Land is currently pressed for time.

Within two months, the Blood Race army is certain to invade, so relying on Ouyang Zi is not feasible.