Sage of Humanity

In the valley where the vanguard camp was stationed, Lu Ye gave a brief speech and then let everyone disperse.

But unlike the leisurely atmosphere before, the mood in the vanguard camp was now significantly more solemn. Everyone found a place to adjust themselves in preparation for the upcoming battle.

Under the astonishing feat of defeating Dao Fusion with Enter the Path, Lu Ye's name naturally held a sense of authority. Moreover, having easily dealt with Wang Xun just now, everyone now knew that this new leader brought in by Lord Governor was truly competent.

Such elites as they might possibly be unruly on ordinary days, but they easily accepted and respected those stronger than themselves.

"Thank you, Brother Wang."

On the other side, Lu Ye and Wang Xun sat facing each other.

Wang Xun chuckled, "No need for the polite words, Commander. I was merely acting under Lord Governor's orders."

Lu Ye nodded, "Lord Governor is considerate."

Zi Ying apparently understood the character of this camp of cultivators, so he specifically arranged for Wang Xun to cooperate with Lu Ye in staging a scene to help him quickly win over people's hearts.

Lu Ye wasn't aware of this before he came, but after Wang Xun secretly communicated with him, Lu Ye knew what actions to take.

Otherwise, as a newcomer, he wouldn't have deliberately made things difficult for Wang Xun. If handled poorly, the efforts might backfire.

"How many people here have Dao artifacts?" Lu Ye asked about the matter at hand.

Wang Xun replied, "Besides me, there are two others." He glanced around and pointed in one direction, "Over there, the man in the blue robe, Liu Yi." Then he pointed in another direction, "And this is Yang Mingfang. With the amplification of their Dao artifacts, both can exert the power of the 11th Dao."

In a battalion of a hundred people, only three possess Dao artifacts; counting Lu Ye makes it four. This was already an elite vanguard camp, illustrating the rarity of Dao artifacts.

Lu Ye knew that such vanguard camps like theirs were by no means just one, as in the upcoming great battle, the impact a hundred men could have is actually limited.

This battalion of a hundred was simply one of many vanguard camps.

And the power of the 11th and 12th Daos was actually the normal level of strength Dao artifact holders could exert. Someone like Yan Hong with the power of the 14th Dao could be described as elite among elites.

With Lu Ye's current strength, a difference of one or two Daos might not seem like much, but for most Enter-the-Path cultivators under the 10th Dao, such a power gap often meant the difference between life and death.

After inquiring about some matters, Lu Ye roughly grasped the situation of this vanguard camp, then let him carry on with his own affairs.

Sitting cross-legged, Lu Ye fell into deep thought.

Looking back on the imminent battle, his personal safety wasn't something he needed to worry too much about. Without the appearance of Dao Fusion, none could harm him with his strength. However, achieving a fruitful outcome in such a war wouldn't be easy.

After all, he shouldn't expose too much of his power.

Hence, what he could rely on was this camp of elite subordinates.

Moreover, since Zi Ying entrusted this camp of cultivators to him, he ought not to betray the trust of the Lord Governor.

Lu Ye focused his mind and looked at the Talent Tree.

The As-Close-As-Siblings Spirit Runes... he wondered if it would be of use.

This spirit runes had brought Lu Ye quite a bit of help before, but as his strength grew, it became somewhat less useful since he mostly fought alone.

Strictly speaking, this spirit rune should be useful; it can aid unfamiliar cultivators in quickly merging their auras. With this, a big array could be easily formed.

If this hundred-strong vanguard camp could form a big array to charge, then both their safety and offensive power could be greatly enhanced, achieving remarkable effects in the upcoming battle.

It's worth a try!

With this in mind, Lu Ye quickly called over a few nearby cultivators.

The few had no idea what Lu Ye intended, but given the previous intimidation and his reputation, these cultivators obeyed very docilely.

Lu Ye explained, leaving the few with brightly lit eyes.

All knew the power of an array, but truly forming one was no easy feat. It required extended daily interactions and repeated trials and practices to cultivate enough tacit understanding. It was said that cultivators who could form an array were all as close as brothers, entrusted with life and death.

Yet from what the newly arrived Lord Commander said, he seemed to have the capability to solve this problem.

Lu Ye immediately used himself as a base, constructing the As-Close-As-Siblings Spirit Runes on his body surface, and then, under his instruction, the few induced their auras to connect with the spirit runes.

A scene that stunned them unfolded — their auras miraculously fused easily. Aura integration meant their powers could merge seamlessly, managing as one.

Under Lu Ye's guidance, a Black Tortoise Array was effortlessly formed.

The commotion here attracted the attention of other cultivators who were meditating; they opened their eyes and looked over in astonishment.

In the valley, under Lu Ye's guidance, the massive illusion of the Black Tortoise appeared vividly, soaring back and forth as if an ancient Sacred Beast had descended upon the place.

Suddenly, the Black Tortoise stopped in mid-air, and Lu Ye called out, "Wang Xun, come and attack!"

Wang Xun, surprised by what he heard, immediately leaped up and thrust out his sword. He knew Lu Ye's capabilities, so he didn't hold back with this strike, unleashing the full might of his Twelve Dao.

However, he was astonished to see that with the power of his strike, the Black Tortoise Array suddenly collapsed.

"What happened?" Wang Xun was dumbfounded. How could such an array prove to be nothing more than a fancy pillow?

Lu Ye frowned and stood in place for a while before saying, "It's all scattered. Let me think it over again."

When forming the array, he had noticed that the spirit runes constructed with mana seemed to become unstable after being influenced by his Dao force. That's why he had Wang Xun test it, and the result proved it wouldn't work; once the Dao force was exerted too much, the spirit runes suddenly crumbled.

It felt like the original spirit runes couldn't withstand his Dao force!

This undoubtedly indicated that while the As-Close-As-Siblings Spirit Runes could be used, they couldn't function in battle.

To change this situation, there was only one way: to construct spirit runes with Dao force. But the problem was that the spirit runes themselves couldn't bear Dao force, so how could they be constructed with it?

Ultimately, it was still a problem with the spirit runes!

Lu Ye sat down nearby, focused on observing the As-Close-As-Siblings Spirit Runes on the Talent Tree, and gradually devised a plan in his mind.

Using the existing spirit runes as a foundation, derive a new spirit rune!

Early on when the Talent Tree underwent its second evolution, the ability to derive spirit runes emerged, and Lu Ye had benefited from this many times. All the spirit runes currently on the Talent Tree had gradually taken shape through multiple derivations.

However, it had been a long time since he'd done such a task.

He wasn't sure if this idea could succeed, but it needed to be attempted.

Closing his eyes and concentrating, the complex pattern of the As-Close-As-Siblings Spirit Runes began to slowly undergo some mystical changes, but the speed was undoubtedly slow. At this rate, it was uncertain when a new spirit rune might emerge.

Lu Ye immediately increased the fuel input.

After the Talent Tree's third evolution, sacrificing a large amount of fuel reserves could greatly enhance the Talent Tree's derivation abilities.

With time being critical, Lu Ye naturally hoped the derivation speed could be accelerated. If a suitable spirit rune could be derived before the battle, it would undoubtedly have a significant impact.

As for the consumption of fuel reserves, it wasn't a problem for him.

With the substantial input of fuel, the derivation speed of the spirit runes indeed increased. Observing closely, the pattern of the As-Close-As-Siblings Spirit Runes began to change at a noticeably faster rate than before, with old patterns disappearing and new ones appearing continuously.

Nevertheless, Lu Ye remained unsatisfied, because even at this current speed, deriving a new spirit rune within three days still seemed a difficult task.

Wouldn't it be great if there was a way to further increase the derivation speed?

As he was thinking this, he suddenly noticed the pattern of the As-Close-As-Siblings Spirit Runes rapidly changing, becoming dizzyingly fast, more than ten times faster than before.

Lu Ye was momentarily stunned, completely unaware of what had happened.

But soon he realized, for his Dao force was continuously being consumed.

Focusing his mind and observing, he saw clearly how the color of Dao force on a leaf of the Talent Tree gradually faded until it was completely used up...

Consuming Dao force can also accelerate spirit rune derivation? Lu Ye was amazed; he truly hadn't known about this.

After all, this was his first time deriving a spirit rune since the fourth evolution of the Talent Tree, and acquiring Dao force had only been possible post-evolution.

The speed at which Dao force was being consumed was quite swift, far more rapid compared to any battles he had encountered before. Lu Ye was worried and even considered interrupting the process for a moment.

But considering it was his first time deriving a spirit rune in a while, he was curious about the eventual result.

Ultimately, he decided to endure.

After two full days, the changes in the As-Close-As-Siblings Spirit Runes finally slowed and ultimately settled into their final form.

During these two days, how much Dao force had Lu Ye consumed? Over a thousand, perhaps even two thousand. Fortunately, he had accumulated Dao force recently; otherwise, it might have been overwhelming.

Two thousand Dao force consumed for a brand-new spirit rune, who knows if it was a loss or a gain.

Examining closely, the new As-Close-As-Siblings Spirit Runes vaguely contained structures that seemed familiar to him, as if he'd seen them somewhere before.

With a bit of thought, Lu Ye suddenly realized that those familiar structures came from giant ants!

Inside giant ants, there's a space filled with intricate patterns. Now, it seemed that the construction of the new spirit rune bore some slight traces of those patterns from inside the ants, not obvious and not much, but indeed present.

For a long time, Lu Ye understood one thing: the Talent Tree's derivation of spirit runes was not unfounded. The results always built on his understanding and knowledge of the Path of Spirit Runes.

In other words, the Talent Tree couldn't derive spirit rune patterns he had never seen or encountered.

Conversely, all he had seen could serve as a basis for derivation.

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