Sage of Humanity

"Junior Brother, can you take charge of refining that array disc?" Feng Wujiang spoke.

"No problem, I had that intention to begin with."

"Good, I'll have someone send all the necessary materials to you later." Feng Wujiang said delightedly. Just now, he saw Lu Ye refining the array disc with ease, not spending much effort, and successfully producing one. At this rate, he could refine at least 200 pieces a day, saving plenty of time.

Following Feng Wujiang, they walked in another direction, and before long, they reached an entrance at the foot of the Sacred Mountain. Several cultivators were stationed at the entrance, and upon seeing Feng Wujiang, they all saluted: "Sacred Master!"

Feng Wujiang nodded and led Lu Ye inside.

Initially, they proceeded straight ahead, then spiraled downwards, reaching a deep underground cavern a hundred feet below. The cavern's surroundings flickered with firelight, casting a clear yet not dim glow.

Lu Ye gazed around, seeing that at every several distances within the cave, there was a large container resembling a water vat, and inside each vat were round objects.

At first, he couldn't see clearly what those round objects were, but when his vision focused, he couldn't help but be slightly startled: "Senior Brother, these are..."

"Dao soldiers!" Feng Wujiang replied softly, standing beside Lu Ye with hands clasped behind his back.

"So many!" Lu Ye exclaimed.

The number of vats in this cavern was nearly a hundred, and the round objects he saw were actually heads!

The key point was that beside each of those heads were long, pointed ears, indicating these Dao soldiers were clearly not from the human race, but from the Blood Race!

Over the decades, the Sacred Land had fought the Blood Race several times. Each time, the Blood Race suffered heavy losses, and naturally, many Blood Race members were captured alive by the Sacred Land.

These captured Blood Race individuals were refined into Dao soldiers by Feng Wujiang, as Lu Ye saw before him.

The method of refining Dao soldiers was something Feng Wujiang obtained from a place in the Nine Provinces years ago. Mount Tai also learned to refine Dao soldiers from him, so if Mount Tai could do it, he naturally could as well.

However, he felt that creating Dao soldiers was against the will of heaven, so he never did it.

But he clearly wasn't someone inflexible or unwilling to change. Using the human race to refine Dao soldiers would be against the will of heaven, but using the Blood Race was not a problem at all.

In these years, from the many captured Blood Race individuals, he selected those with good aptitude to start refining into Dao soldiers.

Yet, the casualty rate for refining Dao soldiers was absurdly high, with a success rate of only one in a hundred. Over decades, only a hundred or so Dao soldiers were created.

Lu Ye stepped forward to inspect the nearest vat, finding that it was filled with a peculiar liquid with a strong medicinal aroma, its composition unknown. A Blood Race member sat inside, eyes closed, with only their head above the liquid surface.

Their breathing was barely discernible, but Lu Ye could sense they weren't dead.

"These are considered finished Dao soldiers. However, since they're Blood Race members, even if successfully refined, they have an innate rebellious nature. Under normal circumstances, it's not a problem, but if attacked or in too much pain, they might defect during battle, so they remain sealed here."

Lu Ye immediately understood: "Senior Brother, do you want me to enslave them?"

Feng Wujiang nodded: "Initially, I thought these Dao soldiers wouldn't be of much use, but since you have the ability to control minds, perhaps these Dao soldiers could be turned over to you."

Having learned yesterday about Lu Ye's ability, Feng Wujiang immediately thought of these stored Dao soldiers. It's a pity that these arduously refined Dao soldiers couldn't be used due to concerns.

"No problem," Lu Ye agreed readily.

"But junior brother, are you sure your method will work on these Blood Race members? This matter cannot be taken lightly. Each of these Dao soldiers is beyond your cultivation; if they devour their master, it won't be a joke."

"They're at the Divine Sea realm?" Lu Ye was astonished.

Feng Wujiang nodded: "All of them are at the Divine Sea realm!"

The Blood Race members he selected were exceptionally suitable for refining Dao soldiers, with secret techniques to catalyze and maximize their potential. Over decades, they naturally advanced to the Divine Sea, but the cost was damage to their spiritual intelligence, leaving no room for further improvement, just like Dao Thirteen.

Lu Ye raised his eyes to observe; a hundred Dao soldiers meant a hundred at the Divine Sea realm, and even if these Dao soldiers were not high-level within that realm, Divine Sea was Divine Sea.

Deploying such a force would undeniably be a significant aid to the Righteous Blood Sacred Land.

"Therefore, I need to be sure that your method, junior brother, will not go wrong."

"Absolutely not," Lu Ye guaranteed, "You may not know, Senior Brother, but my method is actually a divine rune. If dealing with a fully intelligent Divine Sea realm, there might be a risk of rebellion, but with these soldiers having damaged spiritual intelligence, I have absolute command and suppression."

"A divine rune?" Feng Wujiang was astonished, "Isn't that..."

Though not a spirit runes master, Feng Wujiang knew what divine runes were, something only constructible with Mental Consciousness, yet Lu Ye was clearly just at the True Lake realm.

Mid-sentence, Feng Wujiang sensed a Mental Consciousness diffusing from Lu Ye.

"Junior brother, you actually have Mental Consciousness!" Feng Wujiang was genuinely shocked, for he had never seen something so extraordinary.

How could someone at the True Lake realm develop Mental Consciousness, even if the junior brother had reached True Lake Level 8, there was no precedent in the world for a True Lake cultivating a soul body.

"I once had the fortune to obtain a good amount of Soul Cleansing Water, and after long-term consumption, my psyche became solid. Later, through a fortuitous coincidence, I nurtured a soul body and developed Mental Consciousness."

There was no need for too much concealment in front of his own senior brother, as both the Second Senior Sister and Nian Yuexian were aware of it.

Moreover, when employing the method to enslave these Dao soldiers later, the senior brother would be able to sense it.

Feng Wujiang was at a loss for words. He thought his life's experiences were extraordinary, but Lu Ye's were even more so.

Feng Wujiang steadied his mind and said, "Then let me see my junior brother's methods."

Lu Ye smiled, raised his hand, and tapped on the Dao soldier's forehead, urging his mental consciousness.

The Dao soldier was in a deep sleep, evidently sealed by Feng Wujiang's methods, similar to how he had incapacitated Dao Thirteen with a single touch the previous day, causing him to sleep on the spot.

Against Lu Ye's technique, there was naturally no resistance, and given the Dao soldier's lack of spiritual intelligence, the Soul Taming Psyche was successfully established without a hitch.

In the span of a few breaths, Lu Ye withdrew his hand.

Feng Wujiang turned to look, his expression inquiring, and Lu Ye said, "It's done, Senior Brother, you can awaken him now."

Feng Wujiang then stepped behind the Dao soldier, raised his hand to press on the back of the soldier's head, and though it was unclear what he did, the spirit force surged, and the sleeping Dao soldier awoke suddenly.

In the dim environment, the opened eyes were like two beams of blood-red light; then, standing up, his spirit force surged uncontrollably, shattering the vat that held him, spilling the medicinal syrup all over the ground.

Feng Wujiang watched quietly, ready to take action and suppress him if there was any inappropriate behavior from the Dao soldier.

However, the Dao soldier merely glanced around before obediently standing in front of Lu Ye, head lowered in a respectful manner.

The chaotic spirit force also gradually settled down.

Once Feng Wujiang confirmed there was no issue with the Dao soldier, he relaxed his guard.

Lu Ye moved toward another large vat, repeating the process.

Along the way, vat after vat shattered, and one by one, the sleeping Dao soldiers awoke.

It took less than an hour for all the Dao soldiers to have the Soul Taming Psyche implanted by Lu Ye.

Almost every Dao soldier, upon waking, experienced some disorder in their spirit force. This was an aftereffect of waking from a long slumber, causing them to instinctively operate their inner forces.

As a result, their cultivation levels became distinct in Lu Ye's eyes.

Senior Brother was right; all these Dao soldiers were of the Divine Sea Realm, not a single one below it.

The cultivation levels were fairly uniform, mostly between Divine Sea Level 2 and Level 4, with very few at Level 5, only a handful of five in total.

Dao Thirteen was also Divine Sea Level 5.

Thus, while this method of crafting Dao soldiers is effective, it has significant flaws with a high failure rate, where failure means death.

Judging from the number of Dao soldiers present, even though Lu Ye did not know how many of the Blood Race Feng Wujiang had captured over the years, only about a hundred stood before him in total.

"I'll leave these Dao soldiers in your care, junior brother," Feng Wujiang said.

"Rest assured, Senior Brother, I will ensure they fulfill their potential," Lu Ye replied.

"Let's head out," Feng Wujiang suggested.

Three people entered, but they left in a grand procession.

Feng Wujiang had other business to attend to, so he left first.

Lu Ye led a large group of the Blood Race back to the peak of the Sacred Mountain, startling the green-robed attendant. Mistakenly, he thought the Blood Race had invaded.

In the room, the green-robed attendant walked in, quivering with several storage sacks in hand, "My Lord, these are the items the Sacred Master instructed me to give you."

Lu Ye reached out to accept them, "Thank you for your trouble."

"It's no trouble," the green-robed attendant forced a smile and, mustering his courage, backed out quickly and disappeared in a flash.

There was no help for it; there stood over a hundred Blood Race Divine Sea Realm cultivators at Lu Ye's door, each as silent as gold, with grim faces, truly intimidating.

In the room, Lu Ye checked the contents of the storage sacks. Two of them were filled with various materials for refining array discs, and the remaining two sacks were filled with Blood Crystals.

Lu Ye emptied one of the bags of Blood Crystals, and immediately a small mountain formed beside him.

Gazing at these Blood Crystals, Lu Ye let out a long breath; now, he wouldn't lack the resources to advance to True Lake Level 9.

Not only were these Blood Crystals numerous, but their quality was also quite good. Lu Ye picked one up, feeling the powerful energy within, and instantly determined that it was a Blood Crystal from a Divine Sea Realm Blood Race member.

He had never obtained a Divine Sea Realm Blood Race Crystal before.

Many Blood Race members had perished on the archipelagos surrounding the Sacred Land, naturally including some Divine Sea Realm ones.

He directly tossed it into his mouth to chew it.

The taste was still the same, crunchy and full of crispness, though not very flavorful.

Feeling the energy within the Blood Crystal, Lu Ye felt extremely satisfied.

He leaped upward and landed on top of the mountain-like pile of Blood Crystals, activating the power of the Talent Tree. Invisible roots extended out, penetrating the nearby Blood Crystals and began absorbing without restraint.