Sage of Humanity

Liusu Place's Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union, Lu Ye walked out slowly accompanied by the respectful send-off of a manager.

The final six pieces of origin magnetic ore had been sold, along with the storage sack he had obtained from those individuals from Cloudy Mountain, which he also sold to the Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union.

He didn't sell Senior Brother Zhou's storage sack, instead, he paid some fee to have an elder cultivator from the mercantile union unlock the restriction lock, hoping to find something valuable inside.

To his great disappointment, after comparing the gain with the cost, he not only made no profit but actually suffered a loss!

Indeed, opening sacks comes with risks, and investment should be made with caution.

The most valuable thing on Senior Brother Zhou's person was probably that Spiritual Artifact Longsword, which was already broken by Lu Ye during their encounter.

This lesson led him to secretly decide that in the future, unless the storage sack belonged to someone like a Young Master, he would sell them all in bulk.

By contrast, the beast-taming collar was sold for more than a dozen Spirit Stones. That was Senior Sister Yooi's Spiritual Artifact, specifically designed for dealing with demon beasts, and it had limited use, so it wasn't worth much.

The Spirit Stones he received were mostly exchanged for elixir pills by Lu Ye, who only kept thirty Spirit Stones for emergencies, as transactions between cultivators were primarily based on Spirit Stones, and although using elixir pills was possible, it came at a loss.

In the mercantile union, one could only buy nine elixir pills for ten Spirit Stones.

This time, the pieces of origin magnetic ore he dealt with were fairly large, which is why they were quite valuable, and in the end, he obtained five hundred elixir pills.

Counting the dozens of Spirit-Nurturing Pills he still had left, that was all of his current assets.

For a low-level cultivator, this was a significant fortune.

But after some brief calculations, Lu Ye knew that these elixir pills wouldn't last long. As his cultivation gradually improved and the efficiency at which he refined elixir pills increased, the consumption rate was set to accelerate even more once he reached Level 4.

Amber had also turned into a major consumer of pills. That day, Lu Ye had given Yiyi several bottles of elixir pills, and upon asking yesterday, it seemed there weren't many left.

Undoubtedly, in just over ten days, Amber's imposing aura had grown stronger, having clearly grown considerably. Hua Ci had privately mentioned to Lu Ye that Amber might be an extremely rare exotic beast, which could be inferred from its ability to transform Yiyi into a minion spirit.

Such exotic beasts, if provided with sufficient resources, could grow rapidly and might become a strong ally in the future.

Lu Ye, however, hadn't really noticed it himself, as his knowledge wasn't extensive. He only knew that in the future, he would likely need to find ways to earn resources for cultivation.

The stash of origin magnetic ore he had brought from Evil Moon Valley was dwindling, and once the elixir pills he had were consumed, he couldn't rely on the Spirit Energy Gathering Spirit Runes to slowly enhance his strength — that efficiency was far too low.

So even though Lu Ye currently had an abundance of elixir pills, his mood was rather melancholic.

Walking on the streets, Lu Ye headed towards Hua Ci's medical spot. He hadn't gone far when he suddenly heard an angry roar coming from the second floor of a tavern nearby, "More wine! Where is everyone? Have you all died?"

Lu Ye listened and was momentarily stunned because the voice sounded familiar, as though he had heard it somewhere before.

But since departing from Qingyun Mountain, there were not many people he had come into contact with on his journey. How could he have encountered someone he knew here?

After a brief moment of contemplation, his expression turned solemn.

He turned and walked towards the tavern. As he entered, someone came up to greet him, "Fellow Daoist, please come inside. What would you like to eat? What would you like to drink?"

Although his demeanor didn't resemble the obsequiousness of an inn's server in the mundane world, his attitude was quite enthusiastic.

Those who work in the marketplace are mostly independent cultivators. Without a sect to rely on or elders to look after them, they accumulate the resources for cultivation through this means.

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"Looking for someone," Lu Ye said in a low voice and headed straight for the stairs.

The independent cultivator then backed away with a smile.

Ascending the stairs step by step, Lu Ye only stopped when he reached the entrance to the second floor, peering into the second level.

By the window, a disheveled and desolate-looking man sat with several small dishes laid out before him on the table, which along with the floor was littered with empty wine jars...

He seemed to be experiencing something extremely upsetting and was attempting to drown his sorrows in alcohol.

Lu Ye only glanced briefly before quickly retreating, his heart pounding.

Dong Shuye!

Although Lu Ye thought the voice sounded familiar when he heard it, he considered it somewhat unlikely. To be safe, however, he still took the risk to confirm.

With one look, he confirmed that this person was indeed Dong Shuye, who had been pursuing him.

Lu Ye couldn't understand what exactly Dong Shuye had gone through. The man before him bore no trace of the formidable presence he once had while pursuing Lu Ye. To say he looked like a dog that had lost its home would not be an exaggeration—his appearance was extremely bleak, and a scar now marred his cheek.

Lu Ye was baffled as to why Dong Shuye would come to this place.

What he could be sure of was that Dong Shuye was not here to find him. At the time, Dong Shuye must have thought he had killed him, which is why he had left. If he were truly here to continue the pursuit, he wouldn't be hiding away drowning his sorrows in alcohol.

Lu Ye also remembered what Hua Ci had told him previously: the Nine Stars Sect's outpost had been overrun by Xuanmen, the entire place razed by fire.

Even so, the outpost was still there; it's just that the Nine Stars Sect would have to pay a hefty price to rebuild it. Xuanmen didn't have the capability to occupy two outposts.

Now, seeing Dong Shuye alive despite the outpost having been captured, Lu Ye thought it plausible since Dong Shuye was a Level 7 magic cultivator—it wasn't easy to kill someone that strong.

Lu Ye couldn't figure out why Dong Shuye was here, nor did he have any interest in finding out. All he knew was that he needed to get out of there as fast as possible.

Continuing to stay in this area was dangerous. If Dong Shuye were to stumble upon him one day, even nine lives wouldn't be enough to save him.

On the second floor, Dong Shuye looked down at the street below with a vacant gaze, watching the constant stream of people. The bustle of the world filled him with an urge to slaughter them all.

The day he chased Lu Ye, he received an urgent message from Cao Ye to return to the sect's outpost. What he saw upon arrival was a maelstrom of carnage and blood, the entire outpost engulfed in flames.

In the midst of that chaos, having waited for a long time, Wang Yeang approached with sword in hand!

Dong Shuye, his spirit force greatly depleted from his constant traveling, was outmatched by Wang Yeang's calm and measured tactics.

Moreover, he was already somewhat no match for Wang Yeang.

In that battle, Dong Shuye nearly lost his life to Wang Yeang on the spot. While he was lucky enough to escape with his life, three of his spiritual orifices had been damaged by Wang Yeang, which caused his cultivation from Level 7 to fall back to Level 6.

He hid in the wilderness for more than a month to nurse his injuries before he dared to reappear.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The Nine Stars Sect had called for him multiple times, but how could he dare to respond?

It was bad enough that the outpost had been captured, and countless disciples had been killed or wounded, but what was crucial was that a variety of enhancements granted by the Heaven's Augury Pillar had been stolen by Xuanmen.

The outpost's buildings could be reconstructed, new disciples could be recruited, and lost resources could be accumulated again, but those enhancements were not so easily restored. They were the result of decades of effort by the whole sect's Spirit Stream Realm cultivators.

One could say that with this single battle, years of the Nine Stars Sect's operations on the Spirit Stream battlefield were destroyed in an instant.

Furthermore, the Young Sect Master had been killed under his watch.

With these failings, it wasn't just that Dong Shuye, a Level 7 cultivator, couldn't shoulder the responsibilities— even a Level 9 wouldn't suffice.

The sect's call was undoubtedly to assign blame. If Dong Shuye dared to return, he wouldn't live to see the moon tonight, much less tomorrow's sun.

He was scared, and thus he used all the merit he had accumulated over the years to erase the Nine Stars Sect's mark from the battlefield marking, effectively defecting from the sect!