Sage of Humanity

Lu Ye realized that he might have misunderstood something. He thought that at the start of the battles in the Divine Sea, everyone was running around like him, looking for targets.

But now thinking about it, it is possible that some people are doing so, but definitely not many. More people would probably stay hidden, ready to act, rather than openly exposing themselves.

In this level of conflict, whoever exposes themselves first will be at a certain disadvantage, as it is easy to become a target.

So, those who dare to expose themselves must be the top geniuses from top domains, precisely those first hundred or so who rushed into the Taichu Realm's gate!

The Divine Sea Realm entrants from ordinary large domains would absolutely not have the courage to be so ostentatious.

This is probably why, even after being in the Taichu Realm for several days, he has only encountered three battles.

Apart from encountering a Blood Race when he first arrived, the second battle involved a fat magic cultivator, and his doppelganger encountered another person. Other than these, there have been no other discoveries.

The opponent encountered by his doppelganger was a physique cultivator, whose race was unknown. Covered in flourishing hair, it seemed like a refined gorilla. In terms of strength and heritage, he was almost on par with the fat magic cultivator. Even though the doppelganger controlled a sword gourd with unmatched Sword Qi, it was a fierce battle.

The doppelganger can certainly employ all the methods of the main body, but Lu Ye himself is a combat cultivator who uses a saber. His understanding of the Sword Dao was all gained by reflecting on the Origin of the Soaring Dragon World.

Previously, when his cultivation was not high, his understanding of the Sword Dao surpassed his comprehension of saber skills. But as his cultivation level increased, these disparities were gradually evened out.

This is also why, even after obtaining the Origin of the Soaring Dragon World and having the ability to reflect on the lifetime cultivation of many experts from Soaring Dragon, Lu Ye still insisted on following his own path.

Only what belongs to oneself can continually develop; if you pick up the leftovers from others, you may become strong for a time, but ultimately your achievements will be limited.

Now it seems that his initial persistence was correct, and he did not let temporary gains and losses cloud his judgment.

So, at this stage, even if the main body and the doppelganger have the same heritage, in a true comparison of their strengths, the main body is definitely stronger. The doppelganger is slightly inferior.

If the main body encountered that unknown-race physique cultivator, it would certainly be a tough fight, but it should not be difficult to win. It's nothing more than his familiar close combat; with the Boulder Mountain Saber combined with the Soul Severing Saber, he has a significant advantage against enemies that prefer close combat.

But the doppelganger was not as adept.

The physique cultivator's lush hair served as the most natural armor. Sword Qi slashed on him, often with reduced power. The opponent braved the attack of unparalleled Sword Qi and rushed to the doppelganger's side. Thinking they could seize the advantage and determine the outcome with one strike, to their surprise, the doppelganger cast a Blood Sea Technique...

The physique cultivator was instantly dumbfounded.

The result, of course, needs no elaboration. The physique cultivator trapped in the Blood Sea couldn't advance or retreat, and during the fierce battle, he cursed the doppelganger for his deceit and trickery, and called him shameless...

Compared to the fat magic cultivator's acceptance of defeat, this showed a bit of not knowing how to lose. He probably also knew that even if he begged for mercy, the doppelganger would not really spare him.

Cultivators entering the Taichu Realm might realize their inadequacies and quit peacefully, but that definitely won't happen during a battle. Even if both parties verbally agree that the winner will spare the loser, will the other really exit willingly? Should they turn and flee, it might cause more trouble.

So, either there are no conflicts, or once a conflict arises, it ends with total eradication, which is the most reliable approach.

Lu Ye's main body no longer worried about finding anything. The Taichu Realm is vast, and even if he searched, it would be challenging to gain anything. Thus, he let the doppelganger wander around.

As for the main body... he discovered a Spirit Jade vein!

It wasn't that he had such an excellent eye that he immediately found this Spirit Jade vein, but rather, there were traces of previous mining, so if one passed by nearby, it would be hard not to notice.

As for who mined it, it's obvious with minimal thought. It was certainly the work of cultivators who entered the Taichu Realm a hundred years ago or even earlier.

Because the traces left here have age, they certainly aren't recent.

Spirit Jade, as a resource, is exclusive to cultivators above the Constellation Realm. Cultivators below the Constellation Realm cannot absorb and refine it because it is a condensation of stellar space energy, generally only found in stellar space or on some dead or desolate stars. Of course, top domains also have it.

Domains with traces of living beings, like the Nine Provinces or the Unparalleled Continent, will not produce Spirit Jade, because the energy absorbed from stellar space by these domains is entirely digested for their own growth, naturally preventing its accumulation and condensation.

Dead and desolate stars differ; they have no life force, consume nothing, and require no growth. After years of accumulation, Spirit Jade is naturally born.

Across the stellar space, apart from within the Reincarnation Tree's Taichu Realm, there are hardly any other means for Divine Sea Realm cultivators to obtain Spirit Jade directly.

They're all here planning for their imminent advancement to the Constellation Realm. Although it's not useful now, it will be soon, so collecting some early on ensures readiness.

Lu Ye had heard Jian Guhong and others talk about their experiences of collecting spirit jade in the stellar space, claiming it was easy—just a matter of picking them up.

But after a round of attempts, he found that reality differed quite a bit from the descriptions of Jian Guhong and others.

The spirit jade here was tightly interlocked because it formed a mine vein, so he had to separate them from their edges. Any slight mistake would cause the surface to be damaged, and the energy contained within would quickly dissipate.

Lu Ye had never encountered spirit jade before, but upon handling it, he realized it wasn't the crystalline structure he imagined. It might be hard, but that was just a surface hardening. Inside, it was filled with pure, liquid-like energy, so it couldn't be damaged in the collection process. Once damaged, the spirit jade was worthless.

The spirit jade felt to Lu Ye like a berry with a hardened surface and a viscous interior like juice.

Jian Guhong and others found it simple only because spirit jade in the stellar space was in individual pieces, easy to pick up.

But the spirit jade in this mine vein was stuck together, and Lu Ye had to find a way to separate them to collect them.

Initially unaware, Lu Ye worked hard but reaped little; most of the spirit jade was ruined.

His control over his spirit force was intricate, theoretically making the task easy, but he soon realized it was time-consuming.

Because using spirit force to cut the spirit jade was slow, a moment of inattention would damage the surface.

So he had been busy for three whole days and had only collected less than three hundred pieces of spirit jade.

This harvest was surely much more compared to Jian Guhong and others' exploration in stellar space, but standing in front of a spirit jade vein, the result was disappointing.

This matter couldn't be rushed, so he could only patiently proceed slowly. His doppelganger roaming outside didn't greatly affect his battle of the Divine Sea.

Currently, he had already secured three birds, a good record for the initial stage. If his doppelganger got lucky, there might still be gains, so it was okay to waste some time here.

Of course, Lu Ye couldn't stay here forever. According to Yang Qing, the area of activity in the Taichu Realm would shrink periodically. Eventually, this place might become off-limits, and he'd have no choice but to leave.

While he could still stay here, he aimed to collect as much spirit jade as possible, reflecting the humble and unembellished thoughts of a Divine Sea Realm from a small place.

...

Duu Lang, like a frightened rabbit, continuously scanned the surroundings while flying, keeping only thirty feet above the ground.

For someone in the Divine Sea Realm, this was unusual because if there were ambushes on the ground, it would be easy to be attacked.

But Duu Lang had no choice; flying higher would attract more attention, so he chose a relatively safer flying altitude.

He had to hope that everyone was still scattered early on and that nobody was hiding right along his flight path, though it was a slim chance.

The urgency stemmed from the little time he had left.

He had to rush to a place and couldn't stay long due to the rules of the battle of the Divine Sea.

That location contained a spirit jade vein with abundant resources, and due to certain reasons, his domain urgently needed a hefty amount of spirit jade.

Relying on elders to search leisurely in stellar space wouldn't work, time was tight, and there weren't many elders above the Constellation Realm left in his domain, limiting what they could achieve, leaving hope on him.

The awareness of the spirit jade vein came from elders who had once mined there and left a detailed path map.

Luck wasn't on his side initially, as he couldn't find any familiar landmarks to match the map, rendering it useless.

Yet luck wasn't entirely absent, for after days of searching, he found a landmark matching the map, clarifying his direction.

If all went well, he estimated nearly a month of optimal time, plenty given his preparation.

After much toil, he arrived at the spirit jade vein's location, at the foot of an unremarkable hill. Such hills were common throughout the Taichu Realm, and without preconceived notions, no one would suspect a spirit jade vein was hidden here.

The discovery made by his domain's elders was a sheer coincidence, with no noteworthy details in the background story to speak of.