Sage of Humanity

For those who possess Dao artifacts and wish to enhance their defenses, it's quite simple—just wear protective Dao artifacts. Like magic treasures, Dao artifacts are also divided into offensive and defensive types, but comparatively, the number of defensive Dao artifacts is very scarce, thus making them much more valuable.

Take the materials exchange list from the Hall of Battle Merits, for instance. Once you reach the Silver Guard level, you qualify to exchange for Dao artifacts, but the available Dao artifacts are all offensive ones. It is only on the Gold Guard exchange list that one or two defensive ones might occasionally appear, and the protection they provide is not very substantial.

This phenomenon seems to be due to the greater difficulty in refining defensive Dao artifacts.

Lu Ye currently uses the strength of the 14th Dao to strike at the enemy's protective force, naturally able to break through.

As his hammer fell, Lu Ye sharply noticed the opponent's protective force not just being the 9th Dao, but approximately the 11th Dao, which undoubtedly indicated that the Insect Race had worn a defensive Dao artifact. The extra two levels of protective force must be the enhancement of the Dao artifact.

The Insect Race sensed something was amiss and shifted its head in the key moment; thus, the hammer struck heavily on its shoulder, causing the arm to collapse inward.

At the same time, the dirk in the Insect Race's hand also pierced through Lu Ye's defenses, stabbing into his body.

This thrust was intended to pierce Lu Ye's heart; had it succeeded, Lu Ye would have been severely injured at the very least. But whether by coincidence or otherwise, the impact from Lu Ye's heavy strike caused the Insect Race's thrust to deviate slightly, not achieving the desired effect, as the dirk pierced into Lu Ye's side instead.

In an instant of confrontation, both adversaries were injured.

The icy gaze of the Insect Race flickered, losing its previous resolve, because it found that the human in front of him was different from all the others he had encountered before...

Attempting to withdraw, Lu Ye's left hand had already lifted, grabbing the Insect Race's wrist!

The Insect Race was taken aback, lifting its eyes to meet Lu Ye's cold gaze.

The short hammer was once again raised high, with Dao force surging.

The Insect Race found itself in a dilemma due to its misstep!

If it freed itself at this moment, its Dao artifact would be lost. Without the Dao artifact, it would lose eligibility to confront the enemy in front. But if it didn't quickly escape, it faced the risk of losing its life!

No time to ponder, its large hand holding the dirk suddenly exerted force, intending to break free from Lu Ye's grip.

In its opinion, this was a straightforward matter, as with the power of the Dao artifact, it could unleash the strength of the 14th Dao, whereas Lu Ye's left hand was merely an at best 9th Dao.

Amid the intense struggle, the dirk stirred wantonly within Lu Ye's body. Yet he remained unfazed, revealing a peculiar smile to the Insect Race in front of him.

The Insect Race was utterly shocked, unable to escape Lu Ye's control, as the strength in his left hand far exceeded the 9th Dao!

The second blow of the short hammer descended, accompanied by the impact of the 14th Dao, shattering half of the Insect Race's shoulder, along with the chain mail-like protective Dao artifact it was wearing!

The greatest flaw of Dao artifacts is their lack of sturdiness; Lu Ye discovered this the first time he slew the Sharp Claws Blood Race. When imbued with Dao force, it's not much of a problem, but without the Dao force enhancement, irrespective of quality, Dao artifacts are as fragile as porcelain.

Lu Ye's hammer broke through the opponent's defenses, destroying the chain mail in tandem.

Under usual circumstances, the Insect Race would undoubtedly feel heartache intense enough to cough blood. But at this moment, it had no time to concern itself over Dao artifacts, being heavily injured, and unable to free itself from this restraint, it faced imminent death here.

In the face of danger, it decisively twisted another hand at the captured arm, directly dislocating an arm.

With this as the price, it regained freedom.

Daring not to linger, it immediately attempted to flee.

Yet, Lu Ye's third hammer had already been swung. Having suffered from the previous two hits, this time he didn't strike downwards but swept horizontally.

The Insect Race had just begun to activate its escape method when, under the immense force of this blow, its head shattered.

The headless corpse stopped moving.

Only then did Lu Ye turn and spit out a mouthful of Blood Water, withdrawing the dirk from his side, sending blood spraying.

Reflecting on his response just now, he found no significant issues, so he promptly collected the spoils.

It's laughable to think that he, with almost 40 Dao force, had to exert such effort to kill an enemy with only 14 Dao...

But due to the Insect Matriarch's presence, there was no choice. Although lacking concrete evidence, Lu Ye was nearly certain that while he contended with the Insect Race earlier, the Insect Matriarch observed him through the sight of that race.

Throughout the ordeal, he didn't reveal any flaws; in the Insect Matriarch's view, he should merely be a very frenzied, battle-experienced human.

The Insect Race's demise largely stemmed from its negligence; otherwise, a powerful 14th Dao wouldn't have been vanquished so swiftly.

Moments later, Lu Ye departed from the location, seeking a nearby spot to recuperate.

The injuries were not severe, virtually insignificant to him.

While healing, he took out his Alliance Guard Token, considering for a while before transmitting a message.

He only needed to maintain appearances with this Dao artifact, having no need to retain it for long, thus the dirk seized this time needed to be dealt with.

The optimal solution, naturally, is selling it to those prestigious families. Ordinary Dao artifacts don't lack in those families, but no one finds too many top-grade Dao artifacts.

The Yan family is his only option at the moment.

I just don't know if Yan Hong is in seclusion. Last time Yan Yong mentioned that Yan Hong is recently resonating with a giant ant, and Lu Ye isn't sure what that specifically entails, just guessing that such resonance might allow Yan Hong to better fit with the giant ant and wield even greater power.

The message was sent out, and soon there was a response, "Brother Lu, something's up?"

Lu Ye wasted no time, getting straight to the point, "I have a newly acquired top-grade Dao artifact with me, and I've heard that your family is interested in acquiring it."

"Brother Lu, impressive!" Although he couldn't see the other person, Lu Ye could almost imagine his admiring expression. Enemies possessing top-grade Dao artifacts are not easy to kill, even he himself didn't have a surefire certainty back then. He didn't think Lu Ye would actually acquire one.

"My Yan family indeed intends to acquire top-grade Dao artifacts. If Brother Lu is willing, I can authorize a purchase for nine hundred Dao Bones."

That's a hundred Dao Bones more than the price Lu Ye knew, clearly a friendly price given by Yan Hong in light of their relationship.

Lu Ye was certainly willing, "I'm on the Spruce Battle Planet, Brother Yan can send someone over to meet me."

"I'll give the orders right away, but would Brother Lu like my Yan family to pay the nine hundred Dao Bones at once, or in installments?"

By asking such a question, Yan Hong was also being considerate of Lu Ye, as the quantity of nine hundred Dao Bones is excessively large, and no one can refine them in a short time, causing unnecessary waste.

Installments are different, providing Lu Ye a portion each month to comfortably refine, while the Yan family can also slowly gather the bones.

"Once would be better," Lu Ye replied, "I've joined Falcon, and these Dao Bones will need to be distributed externally."

"Brother Lu joined Falcon as well? With Brother Lu's abilities, there's great potential for the future."

"Brother Yan couldn't possibly..." Lu Ye felt a stirring in his heart.

"I'm Dragon Falcon!" Yan Hong replied, "What's Brother Lu's codename?"

Good codenames have all been snatched by you people!

"How many days will the Yan family need to come over?" Lu Ye shifted the topic.

"Three days at the shortest, five at the longest, I'll contact Brother Lu then."

After ending the communication with Yan Hong, Lu Ye took out the previously obtained Dao Bones and began refining.

He needed to wait several days, and he wasn't in a hurry to return to the Spruce Battle Planet. Wandering outside might yield some good finds.

A few days later, in the Spruce Battle Planet, Hall of Battle Merits.

Lu Ye stepped in, glanced around, and headed directly to a corner.

It was similar to Blue Water, with a table, and a young woman seated behind it. Seeing Lu Ye approaching, she promptly rose, "Greetings, Fellow Daoist."

Lu Ye raised his hand and tossed his Falcon Token onto the table, "Settle the mission!"

Falcon does not offer any substantial rewards for mission settlement, but without settling one, the next mission cannot be accepted.

The woman quickly picked up the Falcon Token, explored it, and showed an understanding expression, "Oh, it's Owl, Fellow Daoist. Please wait a moment, the mission level you accepted was..." While speaking, her eyes widened in disbelief. She looked up at Lu Ye, a bit incredulous, "Red?"

Red level tasks are rarely taken, and even if accepted, they may not be completed, as each red mission's target is the top tier of Entering the Path, typically impossible for Falcons to complete.

She's been here for several years, and this was the first time someone came to settle a red-level mission, and according to the task records, this Owl took the mission just a few days ago, less than ten days.

Gathering herself, she asked, "May I ask if Fellow Daoist, was the mission failed or completed?"

This had to be verified clearly.

"Completed," Lu Ye said, handing over the Dao artifact dirk along with a storage ring.

The woman picked up the storage ring and examined it. Inside was nothing but the shattered corpse of an Insect Race; the dirk matched the records.

"With the situation basically verified, mission settled." The woman respectfully returned Lu Ye's items and picked up her Falcon Token, performing actions on it, evidently removing the previous mission record.

Once she finished and looked up again, Lu Ye had already vanished.

Outside the Hall of Battle Merits, as Lu Ye was leaving, someone came hurriedly towards him, taking a look at him before speaking, "Are you Fellow Daoist Lu Ye?"

Lu Ye glanced at him and nodded, "From the Yan family?"

The newcomer clasped his fists, "Yan Xiaowu greets Fellow Daoist, under the orders of Brother Yan Hong, here to meet Fellow Daoist Lu."

"Yan Hong is your brother?"

"Cousin." Yan Xiaowu smiled.

Lu Ye nodded slightly. He certainly understood how the large clan of the Yan family had a thriving number of relatives, although someone who could represent Yan Hong for such a meeting must be highly regarded by Yan Hong.

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