Translator: Truth Editor : Dhael Ligerkeys Lu Ye did not need to say anything. Yi Yi immediately adopted a meditative stance and began absorbing the Spirit Mist around her, her body brightening and dimming in intervals. Amber straight up manifested its true body, opened its bloody jaws, and inhaled the Spirit Mist into its stomach. They all knew that their time was limited even though this was the first time they were pulled to this place. According to Feng Yuechan, even the champion wasn’t allowed to stay here for over an hour, not to mention that the opportunity arrived only once a month. Naturally, they could not afford to waste even a second. As for Lu Ye, he immediately constructed Gathering Spirits in his Spiritual Points. This would be the third time he experienced something like this. The first time was when he was tempering his body at the Dragon Spring of One Hundred Peaks, and the second time was when he was improving his Divine Soul at the Pool of Divine Purification of the Lost City of Xianyuan. Suffice to say, his skills were critical in an environment like this. At Lu Ye’s current speed and mental strength, it only took him a moment to create three hundred and twenty Gathering Spirit “funnels”. After that, well, there was no after that. The mini funnels would automatically draw the surrounding mist into his body and convert them into the appropriate gains using his Spiritual Power. As a warm feeling swam throughout his body, Lu Ye mused that the Spirit Mist was as good as advertised. He could feel his body and soul growing stronger by the minute. However, he noticed that the Spirit Mist was simultaneously less potent than the blood qi he absorbed from the dragon scale and the soul mist of the Pool of Divine Purification. Moreover, he could not feel his Spiritual Power growing purer at all. It was probably because it was perfectly pure thanks to the Tree of Glyphs. Overall, the Spirit Mist of the Pool of Heavens was like the inferior version of the Dragon Spring and the Pool of Divine Purification combined. That said, the Spirit Mist was hardly useless to Lu Ye. Quite the contrary, it reminded him of the first time he absorbed the blood qi in the dragon scale. At the beginning, he did not dare to devour the blood qi directly because it would have destroyed his body. Even Amber would “die” a little every time it inhaled just a wisp of the blood qi… It wasn’t until they grew stronger that the process became bearable. They had used up the blood qi in the dragon scale a long time ago. In the past, Lu Ye thought that the dragon scale contained more blood qi than he could ever use at the Spirit Creek Realm level. In reality, it ran out faster than they expected because he was sharing it with Amber, and then with Ju Jia later on. Today, the dragon scale was nothing more but a pretty decoration and a memento. The Spirit Mist of the Pool of Divine Purification strengthened both his body and his soul very gently. Not only did he not feel discomfited in the slightest, he was relaxed enough to fall asleep. After Lu Ye was done constructing Gathering Spirits in his Spiritual Points, he planted ward flags in his surroundings and set up a Gathering Spirits Ward to gather the Spirit Mist even faster. The effects were as immediate as they were obvious. The mist became so thick that he could barely see his companions. He wasn’t done though. Having bottled up the Soul Mist of the Pool of Divine Purification once, he wondered if he could do the same to the Spirit Mist around him. It should be possible judging from the concentration of the Spirit Mist. He immediately channeled his Spiritual Power and constructed a massive Gathering Spirits. He then shaped it into a massive funnel. So far, everything was going smoothly. The Spirit Mist began gathering within the funnel and clinging to its walls. Soon, they condensed into liquid and began flowing down the funnel’s neck. Lu Ye immediately took out a jade bottle and held it to the hole. Right before the condensed liquid would drip into the bottle though, an invisible energy abruptly swept through the funnel and damaged it instantly. Lu Ye frowned. Unwilling to give up, he tried constructing another funnel only to see it destroyed the second it took form. Not only that, Lu Ye’s skin abruptly prickled like he was being watched. His senses were warning him that something bad would happen if he persisted in his ways. [Am I… Am I being watched by the Heavens right now?] To say Lu Ye was shocked would be an understatement. He had heard the term at least a million times since he embarked on this journey. One might say that a cultivator’s life was intricately tied to the Heavens. He had always thought that the Heavens were a set of rules or laws that governed all living things, but now, he realized that he might be mistaken. This unnatural sensation he was feeling… [Could the Heavens actually be… alive?] His muscles stiffened. The feeling of impending doom felt terrible to put it mildly. Lu Ye channeled his Spiritual Power and tried constructing the funnel a third time, but this time he was assaulted by an inexplicable sense of panic before it could even take form. His heart beat faster and faster until it felt like it might leap out of his throat. The panic only dissipated after he dispelled his Spiritual Power. At that moment, Lu Ye knew that the Heavens forbade him from bringing the Spirit Mist out of the Pool of Heavens, and the unnatural sensation that assaulted his body before was their warning! [Come on!] Lu Ye was unhappy at first, but on second thought, the Spirit Mist was the Heavens’ reward to all those who managed to stay on the Scroll of Supremacy for a month’s time. It wouldn’t be a reward anymore if they allowed Lu Ye to bring it out of the Pool of Heavens and distribute it freely among his friends, would it? It was like attending a buffet. If you could eat your money’s worth, then good for you. However, no business owner would condone takeaways for obvious reasons. Lu Ye finally abandoned his desire after realizing this. While he was sad that he couldn’t collect the Spirit Mist, he wasn’t stupid or crazy enough to force things when the Heavens had warned him as explicitly as they could. It would not end well for him if he persisted in his ways. Still, one question plagued Lu Ye: Were the Heavens truly alive and sentient? Knowing that he wouldn’t get an answer any time soon, Lu Ye pushed the question to the back of his mind and sat down at a random spot. For everyone else, they had to clear their mind of all stray thoughts and focus on inhaling the World Spiritual Qi around them to cultivate their strength. It wouldn’t work if they were too distracted. But Lu Ye? Lu Ye did not need to worry about such things. For as long as the Gathering Spirits remained in his Spiritual Points, he could fall asleep and still cultivate like any other cultivator. Lu Ye quietly sensed the changes to his body and soul while waiting. They were definitely growing stronger bit by bit. Time had never felt so short until now. Before he knew it, his vision warped, and he was back at the courtyard. An hour had passed just like that. He checked his body and soul again. Both aspects were already plenty powerful, but his gains were still obvious after an hour in the Pool of Heavens. He reckoned that both his physique and his mind were at least ten percent stronger than before. Ten percent might not sound like a lot, but it was. Lu Ye’s foundation was solid as a rock to begin with, and now that foundation had been strengthened by a further ten percent. He was confident he could fight Shi Guang again and defeat him without suffering a scratch. That was how much a better foundation improved his overall strength. Of course, it was also thanks to his unusual cultivation technique. Other cultivators had to concentrate throughout the inhalation to receive the maximum benefits, but Lu Ye could fall asleep and achieve more or less the same result thanks to his Gathering Spirits. Even the most talented cultivator in the world could just barely beat Lu Ye in terms of cultivation efficiency, and that was before mentioning the Gathering Spirits Ward he had set up. Yi Yi and Amber had benefited indirectly from the ward as well. Suddenly, Yi Yi exclaimed in surprise while sizing up Lu Ye with great interest, “Lu Ye, Lu Ye, I think you’re paler than before!” “What nonsense are you talking about?” Lu Ye frowned and began squeezing Yi Yi’s cheeks like dough. “Huh. You feel even more realistic than before.” Lu Ye didn’t know when it would happen, but he strongly suspected that Yi Yi might look and feel as real as a normal human being at a high enough cultivation level. In fact, she already looked no different from a normal person even though she was, in essence, an apparition. Yi Yi tried to escape Lu Ye’s demonic grip to no avail. So, she cried for help, “Sister Hua Ci, save me!” Hua Ci heard the noise and stepped out of the wooden building. She immediately slapped Lu Ye’s hand away and put Yi Yi behind her back like a mother hen. “Are you a grown-up or not? Stop bullying the kid already.” Yi Yi poked her head from behind Hua Ci and stuck out her tongue cheekily at Lu Ye. She then told Hua Ci, “Sister Hua Ci, I told Lu Ye that he looks paler than before, but he doesn’t believe me! Tell him it’s true!” Hua Ci looked Lu Ye up and down long enough to make him nervous. Finally, she said, “Your vitality has certainly grown much stronger than before. I would believe it if you tell me you’re pregnant…” Before Lu Ye could shoot a retort, she looked at Amber and praised, “You look mighty fine too, Amber. It seems that the Heavens’ reward is even greater than I thought.” “Of course it is. Why else would a Heaven Nine cultivator stay at the Spirit Creek Battlefield for weeks or even months? That’s why I told you to challenge the Scroll of Supremacy.” “What? You want me to defeat you and claim your spot that badly?” Lu Ye exclaimed in realization, “You’re a pretty ambitious woman, aren’t you? Unfortunately, I don’t think you’ll ever be able to defeat me.” So long as he had the Tree of Glyphs, he was completely immune to all forms of poison. How could Hua Ci defeat him when her greatest weapon was completely useless against him? Now Lu Ye understood why Hua Ci still refused to challenge the Scroll of Supremacy. It wasn’t because she couldn’t, but because he was occupying the champion spot right now. As it turned out, her ambition was just as great as his; they were both aiming for the number one spot. This meant she would challenge the Scroll of Supremacy only after he had ascended to the Cloud River Realm. He tried to imagine the future for a bit. He immediately felt great pity for the Thousand Demon Ridge. He had already defeated their champion and claimed the top spot of the Scroll of Supremacy as a Heaven Eight cultivator. If Hua Ci, a medicine cultivator, managed to claim the number one spot as well, it wasn’t just the Thousand Demon Ridge who was going to lose face. The Grand Sky Coalition would be biting their nails as well. After all, there had never been a medicine cultivator among the top fifty. However, Lu Ye did not doubt in the slightest that Hua Ci possessed the strength to become the champion of the Scroll of Supremacy. Even now, she was already powerful enough to enter the top thirty. Lu Ye needed to get used to his enhanced physique and mind, so he started practicing Flash after Hua Ci and Yi Yi had left. He immediately noticed something different after making his first swing. Not only was his attack stronger than before, his chest wasn’t hurting anymore. Shi Guang had pierced his chest with a spear. Although he had quickly recovered under Hua Ci’s care, she was just a Heaven Eight cultivator. Even if she hadn’t spared any effort in treating him, it was inevitable that some hidden injuries had remained in his body. For example, his chest always hurt when he was practicing Flash.