Chapter 255, Spirit Creek Realm Eighth-Order

Three days had passed since the Sky Pillar Sect’s Outpost was conquered.

Luo Fu was receiving a few cultivators in the guest hall of the Silverlight Island Outpost. They were all Ninth-Order cultivators. Every man or woman was either a Legate or a prolegate whose Outpost was located close to the Silverlight Island.

He knew why they were here since Qi Shi had warned him about this. As expected, they were all here to ask about the Great Serpent and to express their desire in conquering another enemy Outpost. They offered to give up sixty percent of the loot if Silverlight Island would agree to lend their support.

Zou Qi’s dying message was an effective one. Not only were all nearby Thousand Demon Ridge factions wary of them, even the Grand Sky Coalition factions believed that they were actually capable of controlling the Great Serpent. That was why they had come to discuss business with Luo Fu today.

Unfortunately, Luo Fu could not fulfill their wishes. If he was actually capable of controlling the Great Serpent, then this meeting would end in ten minutes at most. He would happily cooperate with these Grand Sky Coalition factions to take out all nearby Thousand Demon Ridge Outposts and drown in the spoils of war.

The problem was that they were not the controller of the Great Serpent, but they could not reveal the truth either because they would be breaking their promise with Lu Ye. In the end, he had to swear a Heavenly Oath declaring that it was pure luck that the Silverlight Island was able to conquer the Sky Pillar Sect’s Outpost, and that they had nothing to do with the Great Serpent whatsoever. 

Knowing that Luo Fu was telling the truth, the Legates and prolegates had no choice but to withdraw in disappointment.

After he had seen off his peers, Luo Fu shot the training chambers a glance and asked, “Did Brother Yi Ye express his wishes to train in our Outpost, Brother Qi?”

“Unfortunately, no.” Qi Shi shook his head.

“That is truly unfortunate.”

It could only be good news if Lu Yi Ye was willing to stay in Silverlight Island. Forget the Great Serpent, his personal strength alone was worthy of their attention.

Since Lu Ye had not mentioned anything like this, it most likely meant that he was going to leave in the near future. It could not be helped. It wasn’t like they could force him to stay with them.

“Remind me to ask him if he’s willing to lend us his aid again. If he truly can control the Great Serpent, then our next target would be the Cloud Smoke Sect. I’ve been wanting to crush those preachy weirdos for a long time.”

The Cloud Smoke Sect was another Thousand Demon Ridge faction that neighbored the Silverlight Island. Although their feud wasn’t quite as bad as the one they shared with the Sky Pillar Sect, it wasn’t a pleasant relationship by any means.

If they could take out both the Sky Pillar Sect and the Cloud Smoke Sect, then there wouldn’t be anyone left within a few thousand kilometers who could challenge them. They would be able to do whatever they wanted in these lands.

Meanwhile, Lu Ye was making a breakthrough inside a training chamber. He was channeling his Spiritual Power and breaking down the barrier surrounding his Spiritual Points little by little.

There was a soft pop, and the barrier blocking his one hundred and forty fourth Spiritual Point was breached. Streams of Spiritual Power immediately flowed into it.

A cultivator was considered an Eighth-Order Spirit Creek Realm Master when they had unlocked one hundred and forty four Spiritual Points.

Lu Ye proceeded to fill up the Spiritual Point with Spiritual Power until it had formed a Microcosmic Orbit.

He officially entered the Eighth-Order when a gust of energy spread out of his body.

It had taken him between fifty to sixty days to ascend to the Eighth-Order, which was pretty slow if he were to be honest with himself. It was because he had to spend half a day studying the Way of Glyphs with Lady Yun everyday when he was still at the Crimson Blood Sect.

It was fine though. If he moved up the cultivation realms too quickly, he would not have the time to solidify his skills. Over time, he would become a cultivator whose strength did not match his cultivation realm. It was why Li Baxian had advised him to solidify his skills in between his cultivation.

Plus, his progress was slow only if he compared to himself. To most cultivators, ascending from Seventh-Order to Eighth-Order was pretty quick all things considered. Moreover, he had accumulated plenty of battle experience including his time in the Rift of Illusions. The Rift of Illusions was a hyper-realistic battlefield where everything he experienced including the sensation of death felt as real as it could be. 

The combat experience and skill he had accumulated by dying repeatedly wasn’t something that could be replicated in a normal setting. They were essences he had engraved into his soul via repeated injuries and death. This was why Lu Ye was so much stronger than his peers even though he was ascending the cultivation realms fairly quickly.

Lu Ye still didn’t stop after successfully entering the Eighth-Order. He consumed a Spirit Pill and started cultivating because he wanted to know how many Spirit Pills it would take to unlock a single Spiritual Point at his current level.

A quarter of a day passed, and he concluded that he needed around thirty five Spirit Pills to unlock a single Spiritual Point.

It was a terrifying number to say the least. Back when he was a Third or Fourth-Order cultivator, it had only taken him a dozen or so Spirit Pills to unlock a Spiritual Point. He had thought his consumption rate was crazy back then, but it was nothing compared to his current consumption rate.

The higher one’s cultivation realm, the more Spiritual Power it took to unlock a Spiritual Point.

If he wished to ascend to the Ninth-Order, he would have to unlock another thirty six Spiritual Points. Assuming that he cultivated using Spirit Pills only, it would cost him over one thousand and two hundred Spirit Pills!

Of course, consuming Spirit Pills wasn’t his only method of cultivation. His actual consumption rate would probably be half of that, if not lower.

Suddenly, Yi Yi jolted and let out a muffled groan beside him. Her complexion also looked paler than normal. It was because she had just awoken from the Rift of Illusions.

Yi Yi had Contribution Points since the Sect Master had bestowed Yi Yi a Battlefield Imprint and made her a disciple of the Crimson Blood Sect. She could also earn Contribution Points by slaying enemies. However, most of her Contribution Points were made up of the monthly wages Hua Ci had given her a while ago. She only had less than one thousand Contribution Points including the ones she earned via killing enemies. It wasn’t much.

Since she didn’t have much use for her Contribution Points right now, Lu Ye decided to put her through the Rift of Illusions. They had a long, tumultuous journey ahead of them, and the Rift of Illusions would prepare her adequately for those trials.

“Was it fun?”

“Not in the slightest!” Yi Yi grumbled loudly. Clearly, she had been taught a painful lesson by the Insectoids of the Rift of Illusions.

“It’s fine. Just take it one step at a time.”

“Mhm.” Yi Yi responded unhappily before assuming a meditative position and began recovering her strength.

Lu Ye grabbed a Spirit Artifact from his Storage Bag. It was the flying Spirit Artifact belonging to the Ninth-Order cultivator Yuan Guang, and he was planning to refine it for himself.

The Seventh-Order was considered a dividing line for Spirit Creek Realm cultivators. It was because it was the level where a cultivator could start using controlling Spirit Artifacts via telekinesis to attack their enemies.

Technically, the Eighth-Order was also a dividing line of its own. It was the minor realm where a cultivator was powerful enough to fly on a Spirit Artifact. However, most Eighth-Order cultivators refrained from doing so not only because it cost too much Spiritual Power, but also because they generally could not fly fast and/or high enough to be useful in battle. If anything, it was fairly easy to target such a cultivator in the open. Defeat was almost a certainty if they were to be struck down from the sky.

This was less of a problem only after a cultivator had reached the Ninth-Order. That was why most cultivators who dared to fly in the open were Ninth-Order cultivators.

Technically, Lu Ye could already fly without a flying Spirit Artifact. However, Wings only had a lifespan of six hours. Lu Ye had used it as sparingly as he could since he obtained the Tattoo-type Glyph, but it was only a matter of time before it ran out completely.

That was why he needed to master an actual flight ability as soon as possible. The good news was that he was now qualified to attempt flying on a Spirit Artifact.

A day later, Lu Ye exited his training chamber with Yi Yi right behind him.

Luo Fu visited him immediately after he heard the news. It wasn’t long before they took their seats in the guest hall.

“Brother Yi Ye, I’m not the type to beat around the bush, so I’m just going to give it to you straight, okay?” They had known each other long enough to skip the pleasantries. “A few days ago, I was visited by several Grand Sky Coalition Legates and prolegates. The long story short is that they wanted our help to attack a Thousand Demon Ridge Outpost or two.”

Lu Ye nodded. It was perfectly normal to ask for a nearby ally’s help to attack an enemy. For example, he had contacted the Atheneum of Finality when he was attacking Clan Feng.

“As you’re aware, it’s incredibly difficult to breach an Outpost’s Grand Defensive Ward. In fact, two sects can work together and still not destroy the ward unless they possess a specific trump card. In this case, they would like to borrow the strength of the Great Serpent.”

It was clear what Luo Fu was trying to say.

“That is why I’d like to know if you can still control the Great Serpent. If you can, then I would like us to pull off another big one.”

“You misunderstand, Brother Luo. I am incapable of controlling the Great Serpent. At best, I can lure it in a certain direction. I have no control over its actions whatsoever.”

“That’s enough. If you can lure it to an Outpost, there’s a good chance they would break without much resistance considering what had happened to the Sky Pillar Sect. With luck, they might even back off without needing us to fire a single spell. It’s a high reward, low risk attempt, don’t you think?” Luo Fu said while rubbing his palms in excitement.

Lu Ye gave it some thought before nodding. “There’s no harm in giving it a try, I suppose.”

Delight immediately bloomed across Luo Fu’s face. “We are in agreement then?”

“Yes, but please don’t contact our allies yet. It would be highly disappointing for everyone if it turned out that I couldn’t lure the Great Serpent after all. I’ll contact you once I’m certain about our chances.”

“That would be for the best!”

Luo Fu walked Lu Ye out of the guest hall. A short while later, the young man was already riding across the wilderness on Amber’s back. The Legate would’ve sent the Hao brother and sister with him, but Lu Ye had turned down his offer.

Lu Ye was willing to give it a try, but frankly, he did not think well of his chances. That was why he had given Luo Fu no promises.

The Great Serpent was powerful enough to be quite intelligent. That was why he wasn’t sure that it would fall for the same trick twice.

After moving about five kilometers away from the Silverlight Island’s Outpost, Lu Ye climbed off Amber’s back and produced an item from his Storage Bag. He filled it with Spiritual Power and tossed it into the air.

The item immediately transformed into a small boat about three meters long and one meter wide. There were beautiful engravings all over its surface. It was none other than Yuan Guang’s flying Spirit Artifact. 

There were several recesses on the bow and the stern of the boat. They were meant to fit Spirit Stones.

A cultivator’s Spiritual Power did not necessarily have to be the only source of power of a flying Spirit Artifact. Some could be installed with Spirit Stones to decrease the strain on the cultivator’s reserves. Obviously, the better the quality of the flying Spirit Artifact, the lesser the strain on the cultivator.

Yuan Guang’s boat, for example, was a high quality flying Spirit Artifact.

The boat was only big enough to fit two or three people at best, but since Lu Ye was alone, it wasn’t a problem whatsoever.

Lu Ye was extremely careful when he planted his first step on the flying boat. He could still remember the disastrous experience when he attempted to fly with Wings for the first time as clear as yesterday.

It wasn’t until he was standing steadily on the boat that he beckoned Amber to get on. The tiger immediately transformed into its cat form and leaped onto his shoulder. As for Yi Yi, she had slipped inside Amber’s body a while ago.

Lu Ye channeled his Spiritual Power after everyone was ready. At first, it looked like things would go smoothly even though the boat was shaking quite badly as it took flight. However, it soon fell from the sky at an odd angle.