Sage of Humanity

Lu Ye suppressed his aura and rushed to the adjacent mine tunnel. He saw that the Fellow Daoist was brimming with spirit force, chasing a shimmering light orb in a small area, jumping up and down.

The light orb seemed to have no signs of life, yet its speed was unbelievably fast. Despite the man's quick movements, he couldn't catch it.

The light orb repeatedly attempted to break through in the direction of the Spirit Jade Vein but was intercepted each time.

After observing for a moment, Lu Ye understood that an array had been set up here. However, the person who set it up wasn't too skilled, leaving some errors, and the flawed position was in the direction of the Spirit Jade Vein.

This was also why the light orb tried to break through in this direction; it evidently sensed that this was the gateway to escape.

After observing a while longer, Lu Ye realized that relying on this Fellow Daoist's methods, capturing this light orb would be difficult. Continuing like this, if not careful, the light orb might break free from the array's coverage, and then it would surely escape.

With a thought, his form dashed forward, and before he arrived, several array banners were already thrown out.

They landed instantly at the flawed parts of the array, with spirit force surging around and spreading in all directions.

Brother Duu wasn't too surprised to see him arrive. After all, they were not far apart, and any commotion here would easily be sensed by Lu Ye.

Seeing Lu Ye's actions, he immediately understood his intentions and promptly activated his spirit force to link with his own array setup.

Without any verbal communication, they weren't even familiar with each other, yet there was a certain level of tacit understanding formed.

Lu Ye gained control over Brother Duu's not-so-perfect array and complemented it with his own array banners placed earlier, along with his setup adjustments. The array quickly became more complete and gained a certain binding effect.

When he activated the power of the array, an invisible and intangible binding force descended from the sky, and the rapidly moving light orb noticeably slowed down.

Brother Duu was overjoyed, hurriedly advanced, and opened a bag he was holding, quickly enveloping the light orb and sealing the bag with delight.

Lu Ye simultaneously dissipated the big array's power, withdrew from its control center, and raised his hand to reclaim his array banners.

Brother Duu laughed heartily, "Thank you, Brother Lu. Without your help, it might have really escaped this time."

Feeling grateful, he thought, indeed, being kind to others is being kind to oneself. Last time he shared some jade-eating ants with Lu Ye, and in just a few days, Lu Ye returned the favor tenfold with his assistance. This gain far exceeded the spirit jade they could collect with the ants.

Lu Ye nodded slightly without asking further questions, turning and returning to his tunnel to continue being a miner.

With each passing day, within the Spirit Jade Vein, the two worked independently, striving to mine spirit jade.

The doppelganger continued to wander outside, but even with the Taichu Realm having shrunk once, finding something amidst the search was not easy. Moreover, because the doppelganger and the main body couldn't be too far apart, they had to stay within the teleportation range to ensure the main body's timely support. This undoubtedly greatly limited the range the doppelganger could operate.

So, there was basically no gain.

Another ten days passed, and the heavens again resonated with a humming sound. At the same time, Lu Ye felt a substantial increase in the repulsion force coming from a certain direction.

Moreover, this repulsion force was growing increasingly stronger over time.

So he knew that he couldn't stay here much longer. The changes in the Taichu Realm were urging the cultivators within this range to converge inward. When the repulsion force reached a certain level, they would have no choice but to leave.

Lu Ye decided to leave here the day before the Taichu Realm shrank for the third time.

A few days later, Brother Duu came over from his mine with a few jugs of wine.

He came to express his gratitude. Previously, Lu Ye had lent him a helping hand, but he hadn't shown much appreciation. At the time, they were both immersed in the joy of mining spirit jade and couldn't afford to waste too much time.

Now, with time running out and enough gains obtained, he was completely relaxed.

With such a display of generosity, Lu Ye naturally couldn't refuse, so he joined him for some drinks and casual conversation.

It was only then that they exchanged names.

In their leisure talk, Lu Ye learned that Brother Duu hailed from a domain called Red Sky Continent. Unlike the rejuvenated Nine Provinces, the Red Sky Continent had started to decline a thousand years ago.

The most obvious change was the depletion of the world's essence. Originally, although not a top-tier domain, Red Sky Continent was a rather good large domain, with many Constellation Realm cultivators emerging at regular intervals. However, since a thousand years ago, the number of Constellation Realm cultivators the Red Sky Continent could produce dwindled, and in the last century, there were hardly any.

This was a result of the world essence depletion and gradual level decline.

According to Yang Qing, when a domain's essence is sufficiently strong, Heaven and Earth's Will will instinctively respond to the cultivators' desire for ascension, thus creating spirit light from the heavens, enabling Divine Sea Realm cultivators to connect with stellar space and advance to Constellation.

Of course, in the Nine Provinces, Number Nine consciously does this proactively.

But if the world's level declines, then Heaven and Earth's Will will instinctively protect itself, making it difficult to satisfy the cultivators' desires.

Because every ounce of power that can allow a cultivator to ascend to the Constellation Realm consumes a significant amount of the world's essence.

It is foreseeable that if this situation continues, in a few years, the Red Sky Continent might fall to the level of the previous Nine Provinces and become increasingly frail.

Therefore, the Red Sky Continent urgently needs a considerable amount of spirit jade, as the experts of the Red Sky Continent hope to slow down the aging of their home world by dispersing the energy from spirit jade.

This is just a concept, and no one knows if it will work, but it must be tried.

Currently, there are not many cultivators above the Constellation Realm in the Red Sky Continent, even if they search for spirit jade in the stellar space, their findings are limited.

So Duu Lang wants to contribute his part! Luckily, he has an ancestral map of the home world, and after entering the Taichu Realm, he has been searching for this Spirit Jade Vein, and the results… are naturally not bad.

Especially the other day when Lu Ye helped him capture that cluster of spirit light, he was not sure if the dispersal of the spirit jade's energy could slow down the aging of the home world, but according to the elders, the spirit light definitely can, although it is extremely rare and hard to find.

So in a sense, Lu Ye's actions back then helped him a lot.

"So Brother Duu is not going to participate in the upcoming Divine Sea Contest?" Lu Ye realized.

Duu Lang's main purpose for coming here was to mine spirit jade; now that he has reaped some harvest, the rest is irrelevant.

Duu Lang smiled: "I would like to participate, but the risk is too great, to be honest, I have some confidence in my own strength, but compared to those top domain guys, there is still a gap, the Divine Sea Contest is too perilous, if I accidentally fall, then this month's efforts would be in vain, it's not that I, Duu Lang, am afraid of death."

Lu Ye nodded in understanding.

He suddenly understood why the other party didn't strike when they first met because his goal wasn't the Divine Sea Contest, so whether to kill or not didn't affect him.

After all, this Spirit Jade Vein is so large, whether one person mines it or two, even if more people come, it won't affect his gains.

Of course, this may also have something to do with his character; from the few encounters, Duu Lang seems decent and not someone who bullies the weak, even willing to share his jade-eating ants.

"My situation is special, Brother Lu, you don't have to take me as the standard; if you think you have a chance, you should fight, though your cultivation… is indeed a weakness, if revealed, it could easily make you a target."

Everyone knows that soft targets are the ones to pick on, and with Level 8 cultivation standing out in this place, I'm afraid every living thing wants to try and squeeze it.

Duu Lang did not persuade Lu Ye further, as in cultivation, it is taboo to speak deeply with an acquaintance; they are both in the Divine Sea Realm, so they are clear about what they want to do, and Lu Ye dared to come here with Level 8 cultivation, he must have some backing, taking care of his own people should be sufficient, there's no need to worry about others.

The time for the third contraction of the Taichu Realm is approaching, the most noticeable effect is the increasing repulsive force, so strong that cultivators have to stimulate their spirit force to resist, or else they will be pushed away.

Lu Ye stood up: "Brother Duu, I should be on my way."

Duu Lang nodded, cupping his fists: "Then I wish you a smooth journey and success in your endeavors."

"Thanks for the good wishes!" Lu Ye turned his head to look aside: "These jade-eating ants…"

Duu Lang waved his hand: "Since they were given to you, there's no reason to take them back. They're not hard to raise, just feed them Spirit Stones."

There are still many jade-eating ants over on the Red Sky Continent; if he needs more, he can get some upon return, but Lu Ye doesn't have that convenience.

Lu Ye thanked him, moved to the side, collected the jade-eating ants, along with the Spirit Jade they mined, and then dashed out.

There's no need to deliberately determine a direction; just follow the repulsive force, as the doppelganger has already set off earlier.

In the pitch-black mine tunnel, only Duu Lang was left to drown his sorrows with wine.

Once every hundred years, a grand opportunity of the Divine Sea Realm, what a fortune to participate in, yet unable to persist to the end due to certain special reasons, for someone like him, it must be a significant regret.

Missing this event means no next time in this lifetime.

Though he spoke casually with Lu Ye, only he knows his inner bitterness.

On one side is his own opportunity, on the other, a possibility concerning the future of the home world; even though he had already made up his mind, at this critical moment, he couldn't help but waver.

.

.

I've encountered a minor health issue, requiring hospitalization and surgical treatment. In the coming period, I'll try my best to continue updating. Wishing all brothers and sisters good health, free of illness and calamity.