Translator: Truth Editor : Dhael Ligerkeys Name: Lu Yi Ye Identity: Crimson Blood Sect Disciple Cultivation: Three Hundred and Thirty Five Spiritual Points Location: Spirit Creek Battlefield Contribution Points: Nine Thousand, Three Hundred and Fifty Two Points It had been a long time since Lu Ye checked his own profile through the Battlefield Imprint. He was doing it now because he was seriously injured, and there was nothing to do besides resting, cultivating and reading his books. Lu Ye frowned deeply when he saw the name listed under his profile. At the same time, a helpless feeling welled inside his heart. He didn’t know when it began, but the Heavens had designated him as Lu Yi Ye a while ago. At first, it was just the Scroll of Supremacy. Now, even the name in his Battlefield Imprint had been changed to Lu Yi Ye before he knew it, even though his real name was Lu Ye! Anyway, it had been over two months since he ascended to Heaven Eight, but he had only unlocked a total of three hundred and thirty five Spiritual Points. His speed was so-so, especially since the Yuan Metal Storm froze all Spiritual Qi and Spiritual Power and prevented him from even activating Gluttonous Feast. As a result, his cultivation efficiency had decreased considerably. Still, he was only twenty five Spiritual Points away from reaching the Heaven-Grade Ninth-Order Realm. It wouldn’t be long before he got there. His total Contribution Points were… not exactly impressive considering his record, but that was because he hadn’t sold his loot yet. If he did, the number would multiply a couple times for sure. The Spirit Creek Battlefield was a place that favored the strong. The weak might find it very difficult to earn Contribution Points, but for someone like Lu Ye, it was only a matter of speed and efficiency. This was especially true since there wasn’t a single person in the entire Thousand Demon Ridge who didn’t want to kill him. He could go on a quick shopping trip right now, and hundreds and hundreds of cultivators would rush him from every direction and try to kill him. Of course, it always ended with him massacring them by the dozens, so the Contribution Points rolled in ka-ching ka-ching so to speak… His body was recovering quickly thanks to Hua Ci’s ministrations, but his right arm was as swollen as ever. It didn’t look like it would improve any time soon. Every time he recalled his battle with Lan Zi Yi, he was incomparably glad that he had picked up some special techniques from his third senior brother’s booklet of insights. Not only did the booklet help him perfect Flash, he had learned Combo from it as well. The fight would’ve been nigh unwinnable without them. Both Flash and Combo were blade techniques. Individually, they didn’t strain his body too much. But used in tandem, well, he was lucky he didn’t lose his right arm. It had been seven days since that fateful battle, and his right arm was still recovering at a snail’s pace. This was after Hua Ci tended to him every day too. Without her treatment, he was almost certain that he was going to lose the arm. That said, Flash plus Combo was an incredibly powerful combination. Lan Zi Yi’s Spirit Dress was so powerful that even a full-powered Flash couldn’t break it. In fact, it took a Combo of three to finally overwhelm its defense. Of course, the side effects were just as terrible, though the main reason for this was because Lu Ye wasn’t tough enough to execute the combination move three times in a row, and because that was the first time he had executed it. If he had practiced the move a sufficient amount of times before this battle, the side effects would still be great, but not so terrible that his right arm would be useless for days or even weeks. For the next few days, Lu Ye spent two hours meditating and breathing together with the Inviolable to improve his Blade Communion every day. Besides eating Spirit Pills to cultivate, he also read Lady Yun’s books or studied his third senior brother’s booklet of insights. Time passed quickly. Lu Ye and Amber were waiting for something, while Hua Ci had run off to Heavens-know-where to cultivate as usual. While most cultivators’ cultivation had slowed dramatically after the World Spiritual Qi of the Spirit Creek Battlefield was frozen, Lu Ye and Hua Ci weren’t affected by this. This was because Lu Ye cultivated by consuming Spirit Pills, and Hua Ci by consuming the poisonous fog of the Myriad Poison Forest. A month had passed, and it was time to receive the Heavens’ reward a second time. After what he experienced the first time, Lu Ye looked forward to it to say the least. It wasn’t long before the Heavens enveloped him and Amber in its mysterious power. By the time he came to, he found himself in the Pool of Heavens surrounded by the Spirit Mist once more. Their time was limited, so Lu Ye hurriedly constructed a Gathering Spirit Ward in the Pool of Heavens and tiny Gathering Spirits funnels in his own Spiritual Points. Yi Yi and Amber had also found a suitable corner in the Pool of Heavens before devouring the Spirit Mist around them with all their might. They could clearly feel it changing and improving their body and soul. This was especially true for Lu Ye because he was still injured. The first time he had entered the Pool of Heavens, he already noticed that the Spirit Mist could treat hidden injuries. It was even more obvious this time. Every injury that hadn’t recovered yet began recovering at an accelerated rate, and his swollen right arm started shrinking until it returned to its usual size. The cool sensation felt pleasant to say the least. If he had to nitpick something he disliked about the reward, it would be its duration. Even he, the champion, was only allowed to stay at the Pool of Heavens for an hour! It just wasn’t enough time. He might be able to improve himself more if the duration was longer. Then again, the Spirit Mist did become less and less useful over time. For most cultivators, it stopped working altogether after their third or fourth entry. He was still Heaven Eight, so he had more chances to enter the Pool of Heavens. On a related note, he recalled the time he tried to bring the Spirit Mist out of the Pool of Heavens and seemingly triggered their ire. Since then, he had been wondering if the omnipotent presence was actually sentient. This concerned Lu Ye greatly. He wanted to confirm this somehow, but couldn’t think of a way to do so without offending them. And why would he want to test the Heavens? It was because he had a feeling that he might be able to figure out the truth of this Cultivation World if they really were sentient existences that he could communicate with! Why was the Cultivation World split into two factions? Why did the Heavens make the rule where killing cultivators from the opposing faction would reward you with Contribution Points? What was the deal with the Vault of Providence, and what was the connection between the Divine Trade Association and the Heavens? So many questions, so few answers. He had no doubt that his questions were shared by countless other cultivators. An hour came and went. When the Heavens finally sent Lu Ye back to the wooden building, his injuries were gone, and his right arm had completely returned to normal. Since this was the second time he received the Heavens’ reward, his vitality and mind were stronger than ever before. In fact, he was sure he could execute Flash a fourth time while under the effects of Combo now. The improvement was visible to say the least. That said, he did not think he would ever execute them again until he reached the Cloud River Realm level. He could be wrong, but he was pretty sure that Lan Zi Yi was the only one who could force him to execute this powerful but severely debilitating combination move. The Cultivation World of Jiu Zhou was overflowing with talent, but he could not imagine it producing another monster like Lan Zi Yi. Two days later, the Yuan Metal Storm finally faded, and the World Spiritual Qi of the Spirit Creek Battlefield returned to normal. Lu Ye and countless other cultivators breathed out a deep sigh of relief. As a cultivator, there were few things worse than being unable to use your Spiritual Power. Nearly every cultivator was plagued by the impending sense of danger because their perception was way weaker without Spiritual Power. It was like turning blind and deaf all of a sudden. Death could be heading toward them in a straight line, and they might not detect it until it was too late. The first thing Lu Ye did after the Yuan Metal Storm had passed was to set up the defensive ward that kept the poisonous fog from entering the wooden building. Since the Yuan Metal Storm began, he had worried that the Tree of Glyphs might run out of fuel. It had been a month since he was forced to live without the ward, and his fuel had been depleting for just as long. Amber was forced to stay by Hua Ci’s side day and night, and even Yi Yi had been trapped inside Amber’s body this whole time except the few times they entered the Scroll of Supremacy’s battlefield. Thankfully, it was finally over. Lu Ye did not set up a Teleportation Ward because he had a feeling he wouldn’t need it anymore. Specifically, he wasn’t planning to leave the Myriad Poison Forest until he had reached Heaven Nine. The Thousand Demon Ridge could invade the Grand Sky Coalition this instant, and he still wasn’t going to budge until he was Heaven Nine! That would never happen of course, not to mention that the Three Sages Schools’ Outpost had been conquered for weeks. The Thousand Demon Ridge had no way to force him to appear anymore. Now that the World Spiritual Qi in the environment and the Spiritual Power in his body were no longer shackled, his cultivation efficiency went up dramatically. Despite this, he continued to unlock his Spiritual Points at a steady pace because he spent most of his time honing his blade techniques. He had studied his third senior brother’s booklet well enough that he could read it backward. All that was left to do was practice and deepen his understanding. This was something that couldn’t be rushed. On another note, many more familiar names on the Scroll of Supremacy had vanished and become replaced by total strangers. In a sense, the rank list was the perfect example of the saying, “the rear waves of the river flow on those before,” meaning that the new replaced the old all the time. Lan Zi Yi was currently in second place, although she hadn’t issued Lu Ye a challenge again. She was ridiculously strong, and in the past she was definitely qualified to fight for Lu Ye for first place. However, she lost that qualification the moment Lu Ye showed that he had a way of breaching her Spirit Dress. For as long as Lu Ye was still in the Scroll of Supremacy, she could never be number one! Lu Ye’s life during this time was extremely idyllic. From time to time, he would converse with his second senior sister via messaging. Most of the time, he just did what he normally did when he wasn’t busy fighting for his life: cultivating, studying, and training. Another month passed in the blink of an eye. When Lu Ye, Amber and Yi Yi entered the Pool of Heavens again, they discovered that the Spirit Mist’s effects on them had diminished considerably. During his first and second entrance, Lu Ye could feel his vitality and mind growing at least ten percent stronger than before. This time, his gains weren’t even half of what he got during the previous times. He imagined that the next time would only be worse. It would seem that the rumor that the Heavens’ reward would lose its efficacy after the third or fourth reward was true. Lu Ye was brimming with delight when he returned to the wooden building. He checked his body and confirmed that he had unlocked a total of three hundred and fifty nine Spiritual Points! This meant that he was one point away from ascending to the Heaven-Grade Ninth-Order Realm! At the very beginning of his cultivation journey, the Sect Master told him that unlocking Spiritual Points was an increasingly difficult process. It was why countless Spirit Creek Realm cultivators never managed to unlock all three hundred and sixty Spiritual Points in their body. It all depended on their talent. That said, one did not need to reach Heaven Nine to become a Cloud River Realm cultivator. They only needed to unlock a total of two hundred and forty Spiritual Points and switch to a Heaven-Grade cultivation technique to do so. However, Lu Ye had never felt the gradual difficulty his Sect Master had spoken off. He felt that each Spiritual Point was as difficult to unlock as the previous. The reason he didn’t encounter an increasingly steep curve was because his Spiritual Power was pure. For most cultivators, they could not avoid accumulating pill poison if they consumed even a single Spirit Pill. Moreover, the pill poison would definitely accumulate faster than it could be cleared out of one’s system. Although there were methods to eliminate the pill poison in one’s body, pill poison was, in a sense, quite similar to hidden injuries. On the surface, it looked like a cultivator had healed to full health. In reality, there were hidden injuries that could only be cured by time or an exceptionally skilled medicine cultivator.