Sage of Humanity

In the room, Lu Ye took out all the Dao Bones from his storage ring and activated the Talent Tree's power to refine them.

Leaf after leaf on the tree began to turn brilliantly golden.

Once the refining was done, it was naturally time to enhance his strength; only by using this Dao force to constantly temper his own Dao Bones could his power continue to grow.

After half a day, Lu Ye lightly clenched his fist and swung it once, only to feel that the Dao force he could command had increased again compared to before.

It had indeed risen, and quite considerably at that. After leaving himself a sufficient reserve of Dao force, Lu Ye consumed all the excess Dao force, tempering it into several Dao Bones. At present, he had thirty Dao Bones in his body, and the Dao force he could wield had already reached thirty-nine.

He was just one step away from the Power of the 40th Dao.

If this kind of terrifying improvement were known to others, they would certainly be shocked out of their minds.

For any cultivator who has Entered the Path, the increase of each strand of power is extremely arduous; never has there been someone like Lu Ye who can raise several strands of power in one go.

That he can do this is, on the one hand, thanks to his own peculiarity: every bone, after being tempered and shattered, will recondense, becoming even tougher, so as long as Dao force is poured in to a certain limit, there will always come a time when the tempering succeeds.

On the other hand, it is thanks to the Talent Tree. With the Talent Tree's devouring and refining, his efficiency in refining Dao Bones and his refinement rate of the residual Dao force within the Dao Bones are things others simply cannot match.

With the same Dao Bone spoils of war, if the residual Dao force inside were refined by Lu Ye, he could obtain ten threads of Dao force. But if someone else were to refine it, they might only get two threads, three threads at most...

Lu Ye had noticed this difference a long time ago, tracing back even to when he was in the Cover Armor stellar space.

So with the same amount of resources, Lu Ye's side could use them far more efficiently. And if the refining speed is fast, he can, to a certain extent, curb the dissipation of Dao force in the Dao Bones. This is also his unique advantage.

Right now, with the Power of the 39th Dao, if his previous speculation is correct, then after he steps into the Power of the 40th Dao, the Dao force needed to temper Dao Bones will increase again.

It's a pity he didn't obtain the Star Abyss Blessing from this great war. If he could have gotten that wondrous boon that allows him a one-shot success, he should already have reached the 40th Dao.

But the Star Abyss Blessing is completely without pattern; it is the Will of the Star Abyss's manifestation. Whether one obtains it or not depends entirely on luck.

Steadying his mind, Lu Ye took out the star map and carefully examined it.

After the last great battle, he had guessed that this war zone would at least be peaceful for several years. In the end, he guessed wrong—not because his judgment was off, but because he never expected Zi Ying's temper to be that hard.

After this battle, this war zone would probably truly become peaceful.

The Blood Cloud Battle Planet had been destroyed; the Insect and Blood Races no longer had any foundation here. That was no ordinary star—that was an insect hive.

A war zone like this naturally was no longer suitable to stay in.

Lu Ye had to quickly find a war zone suited to his own cultivation.

There were still plenty of places he could choose from, especially those fiercely contested front-line war zones.

He hadn't chosen such war zones at the beginning but had picked Blue Water instead, mainly considering that his strength had been insufficient and that, if he ran into Dao Fusion experts, he would not have much capacity to resist.

But now, compared to back then, his strength had improved. Perhaps he could go take a crack at them.

However, before that… there should still be some matters he needed to personally handle!

Sure enough, only three days later, the steward at Zi Ying's side came looking for him in person: "Commander Lu, Lord Governor invites you!"

Lu Ye blinked and nodded. "Got it."

Following the steward to the bamboo building where Zi Ying lived, Lu Ye caught sight of Zi Ying at a glance. Compared with a few days ago, her complexion was a bit better, but still pale.

At this moment she was sitting upright at a stone table, holding a cup of hot tea in both hands and taking light sips, looking as if she were somewhat afraid of the cold.

It wasn't just her sitting at the stone table; there were two others. One of them Lu Ye had only recently met—it was that Yan family member, Yan Yong.

There was also an old man whom Lu Ye had never seen before.

But judging from Yan Yong's careful, attending posture at his side, this old man was surely someone of considerable background, and his own strength was likely extraordinary as well; otherwise he wouldn't warrant such treatment from a Dao Fusion expert of the Yan family.

"Lu Ye greets Lord Governor!" Lu Ye stepped forward, cupped his fists, and offered a salute, then glanced at Yan Yong. "Uncle Yong."

Zi Ying slightly inclined her head, her gaze soft as she looked at him. To be honest, in this counterattack on the Blood Cloud Battle Planet, she hadn't expected the camp under Lu Ye to play such a huge role. She had indeed valued Lu Ye before, but what she valued was only the Power of the 14th Dao within Lu Ye himself, thinking he could make some contributions on the battlefield.

The result was far more than "some contributions." She had read the summarized report of the battle: the role that a single Crane Wings Camp played in that fight was almost equivalent to that of thousands upon thousands of troops.

If not for her injuries being so severe these past few days, she would have already called Lu Ye over for a talk.

Lu Ye's gaze shifted to the old man, maintaining his saluting posture, but not knowing how to address him, he could only remain temporarily silent.

"This is Lord Huang, Huang Zhen of the Military Affairs Office from our home planet." Afraid that Lu Ye might not know of the Military Affairs Office's prestige, Zi Ying added, "The Military Affairs Office commands all the guardian armies under the battle alliance, including the deployment of governors on the various battle planets."

Lu Ye immediately understood the weight carried by this Huang Zhen.

"I have met Lord Huang."

Lu Ye wasn't surprised that someone of this caliber had been alerted, it was even within his expectations; no wonder even Yan Yong seemed to shrink a head shorter in front of him.

And this one's surname was Huang… his background was practically self‑evident.

"Nephew, you really are…" Yan Yong wore a bitter smile, thought for a moment before he settled on, "really quite active."

He had originally wanted to say that Lu Ye really knew how to stir up trouble—just a few days ago he had caused that giant ant incident, which had set all the major clans on the home planet itching to move, and this time was even more excessive, to the point of alarming the Military Affairs Office.

Looking across Banlan, there really wasn't any other Beginner this capable of tossing the place upside down.

The reason he'd come this time was because he'd had dealings with Lu Ye previously, so he counted as a familiar face, and he also held a nominal post in the Military Affairs Office; this time he was mainly accompanying.

"You don't look surprised at all, as if you knew we were coming?" Huang Zhen gazed at Lu Ye, a hint of scrutiny in his eyes.

"I didn't know, but I was certain someone would come," Lu Ye replied.

The Crane Wings Array's performance on the battlefield had been too eye‑catching; the battle alliance side couldn't possibly remain unmoved, so Lu Ye had been waiting these past few days.

"Smart kid. Since that's the case, you surely know the reason this old man has come?" Huang Zhen asked.

Lu Ye stepped forward, handed over a jade slip, then retreated again.

In an instant, the gazes of the three Dao Fusion cultivators all converged on the jade slip. Without needing to ask, they could tell what the jade slip contained.

Huang Zhen slowly raised his hand, took up the jade slip, and immersed his mind to inspect it.

At the side, Yan Yong and Zi Ying likewise let their Mental Consciousness surge into the jade slip. Yan Yong even smiled ingratiatingly: "Lord Huang, let's examine it together, examine it together!"

Huang Zhen showed no intention of refusing him.

After a good while, Huang Zhen gently set down the jade slip in his hand and opened eyes brimming with sharp light: "So these are the array runes of the Crane Wings Array?"

"Yes." Lu Ye nodded.

Huang Zhen frowned: "This rune may be complicated, but it's not particularly profound. From what I see, it truly can have the effect of aligning people's minds and strength, but how does it lead to forming a big array like the Crane Wings? Could you instruct me, little friend?"

Lu Ye's brows lifted as he immediately realized that Huang Zhen possessed extremely high attainment in the Path of Spirit Runes, and was very likely also a spirit runes master; otherwise he wouldn't have seen through so much at a glance.

He dipped his chin slightly: "I wouldn't dare speak of instructing, but if this rune is used as the Central Hub, anyone's qi flow can easily merge and link through it. In that case, naturally, it becomes easy to form an array."

A flash of sharp light passed through Huang Zhen's eyes: "So according to you, with this array rune, what can be formed isn't only a single Crane Wings? There are other arrays as well?"

"This rune is only auxiliary. What array you form still has to be adapted to the terrain."

At the side, Yan Yong and Zi Ying both turned their heads, looking at him in some shock.

They'd originally thought this was simply the array runes of the Crane Wings, but it turned out not to be that at all. From Lu Ye's wording, this rune seemed to be all‑purpose. If so, then its value was undoubtedly far greater than that of a single, specialized Crane Wings Array Runes.

Huang Zhen closed his eyes, fingers lightly tapping the table, his pure Mental Consciousness almost starting to spill outward; the space around his body twisted, clearly showing he was concentrating to carry out some deductions.

After a short time, he suddenly opened his eyes, and the various twisted phenomena vanished at once. "Little friend, something doesn't add up. As you describe it, the pressure the array rune Central Hub would have to bear should be enormous. I've reviewed the battle logs from the great battle a few days ago; if I'm not mistaken, the Crane Wings' Central Hub at the time was on you. With merely a Beginner physique, how could you possibly withstand such a burden?"

That wasn't pressure coming from one or two people; it was the pressure brought by the entire Crane Wings Camp linking through the array runes.

There was no reason a Beginner could endure it.

Lu Ye's expression didn't change: "My physique has been different from ordinary folk's since I was little."

That was indeed an explanation, though a rather strained one.

Huang Zhen continued: "Even putting that aside, how could you construct such a complex array rune in the midst of such a fierce battle?"

Even someone like him, an apex Dao Fusion cultivator, wouldn't dare claim he could succeed casually. And once it failed, naturally there would be no way to lead Crane Wings Camp to form an array.

Lu Ye didn't explain with words. He simply lifted his clothes at his chest, revealing the spirit runes there.

"Rune tattoo!" Huang Zhen understood. From the looks of it, Lu Ye had prepared beforehand, tattooing this marvelous array rune onto his own body. When it needed to be used, he simply had to activate it, which removed the hassle of constructing it on the spot and avoided the risk of failure.

At the side, Zi Ying blinked. When Lu Ye had shown her the giant ant last time, he hadn't had this rune tattoo. Now he did…

Of course, it couldn't be ruled out that Lu Ye had made his preparations just before the battle.

"So little friend is also a spirit runes master." Huang Zhen's gaze toward Lu Ye softened a bit. Although cultivators, once they reached Dao Fusion, more or less dabbled in spirit runes, not everyone was a spirit runes master. For Lu Ye to tattoo such a complex spirit runes onto himself meant his attainment in this Path was clearly quite high.

With someone like this, he would naturally have certain advantages later on when he advanced to Dao Fusion and in his subsequent cultivation.

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