Sage of Humanity

If the sword gourd can devour some high-quality spirit treasures, the doppelganger's strength will surely be enhanced, maybe even surpassing the Venerable One, but the cost would be significant.

The doppelganger has always existed as a facade, not a fundamental element, so some things need not be forced. Defeating enemies mainly relies on the Venerable One's various means.

But at this moment, the sword gourd at the doppelganger's waist is having an unusual reaction, gently vibrating, and even conveying a hint of joy?

Lu Ye has no idea what is going on.

What's undeniable is that the sword gourd is of very high quality, far surpassing any treasure Lu Ye has encountered thus far; otherwise, it wouldn't easily absorb those spirit and magic artifacts, and its internal restriction is complex. Lu Ye has only refined a part, unable to unleash the sword gourd's full power.

But he couldn't ascertain the precise quality; perhaps he could ask Yang Qing later.

Such a treasure has existed for at least ten thousand years and naturally possesses considerable spirituality. Usually, it remains hidden, but its current anomaly inevitably draws attention.

The doppelganger quietly senses, soon looking up towards a direction, detecting a faint resonance with something distant there.

This place is the Taichu Realm. What could the sword gourd obtained from the Sword Weapon Sect's secret realm resonate with?

A bold guess forms in his mind but remains uncertain, prompting him to set off and investigate.

Deciding on this, the doppelganger travels through air towards that direction, with the Venerable One trailing thousands of miles behind, ensuring a distance that allows instant transmission to the doppelganger's side.

After flying for half a day, the doppelganger suddenly halts, gazing forward to see the sky overflowing with treasure light, radiant and majestic. The sky is awash with inexplicable transformations, indicating a valuable treasure is about to emerge.

Through Mental Consciousness, he further detects several powerful presences faintly heading towards that direction.

This is normal; the commotion over there is so conspicuous that any cultivator in the vicinity will surely notice and be drawn to investigate.

It's certain there's a mysterious connection between the anomaly and the sword gourd. Usually, the doppelganger wanders around with the sword gourd without much significance. Gourd-like treasures are numerous—just in the Nine Provinces, Fourth Senior Brother Li Baxian has a gourd-shaped treasure at his waist, storing many flying swords and used for holding wine.

So even if cultivators spot the sword gourd at the doppelganger's waist in the Taichu Realm, they wouldn't associate too much, but if the anomaly has a mysterious connection with the sword gourd, it's not suitable for the doppelganger to bring the sword gourd there now.

In the public eye, something might be exposed?

Thinking thus, the doppelganger raises his hand to construct a Void Spirit Rune, and in the next instant, a figure appears, as the Venerable One arrives and continues flying forward.

Since the doppelganger is unsuitable for exposure, let the Venerable One step in; as for the doppelganger, he will find a place to conceal himself and first let the Venerable One investigate what's happening over there.

Indeed many are drawn by the anomaly here, and when Lu Ye arrives at the site, upon glancing up, he sees the vicinity of two spirit mountaintops with silhouettes standing all around—some in groups of three or two, some loner—all diverse in form and possessing powerful presences.

As many as over two hundred people!

The total number of cultivators participating in the Divine Sea dispute is two to three thousand; now, over half the time has passed, and those lost are approximately around one thousand. Only one to two thousand remain alive, yet over two hundred have gathered here, and Lu Ye has no idea where they've all emerged from.

When the Venerable One and the doppelganger scouted around, they didn't find many.

But upon reflection, it's unsurprising—the anomaly here is evident and majestic, any nearby cultivator seeing it will surely come to investigate.

These are just the visible figures; those lurking covertly undoubtedly exist too.

The source of the anomaly is an old vine suspended between the two spirit mountaintops, rugged and ancient, exuding a particularly vivid primitive aura, barely adorned with green leaves, and on the vine, three gourds hang!

One large, two small!

The two small ones are only fist-sized, completely light green, and clearly underdeveloped, but the large one is different, about the size of a human head, its entire body glowing with flowing treasure light, evidently at the verge of perfect maturity, and the anomaly in the sky is caused by this large gourd.

Upon seeing this gourd, Lu Ye realizes his earlier guess was correct and feels fortunate enough to be cautious, not sending the doppelganger to investigate thoroughly; otherwise, their resonance might indeed expose something.

The sword gourd he obtained from the Sword Weapon Sect's secret realm undoubtedly originates here! Otherwise, the sword gourd wouldn't have exhibited such unusual changes.

The Sword Weapon Sect was a powerful sect from the era before the Nine Provinces; presumably, a Sword Weapon Sect expert participated in the Divine Sea dispute in the Taichu Realm back then and obtained a sword gourd here.

After ten thousand years, by fate, Lu Ye brought the sword gourd back to the Taichu Realm, leading to the events now unfolding.

The sword gourd is a treasure, so the three gourds here must undoubtedly be treasures as well. However, the two small gourds haven't matured and probably won't be of use. But that big gourd is about to mature, which is why numerous cultivators are drawn by the phenomenon and have all recognized this, hence the fervent looks directed at that big gourd.

However, since the timing isn't right and there are too many people gathered, everyone is holding back; otherwise, with so many gathered, they would have started fighting by now, and there would have been no semblance of peace.

The sword gourd can swallow treasures, turning them into sword energy to kill enemies. What use does this big gourd have? Could it also swallow treasures and turn them into sword energy?

If so, it wouldn't be of much use to me.

All around, gazes focused on Lu Ye's location, instantly making him the center of attention for everyone present.

It was because, compared to others, his cultivation level was lower, naturally attracting attention, amidst the many gazes; there were doubts, astonishment, mockery, and even more eager anticipation.

When the portal opened, Lu Ye moved relatively late, so those who entered the Taichu Realm before him didn't know there was an eighth-level participant in this Divine Sea dispute, and upon seeing him, were naturally a bit stunned.

Yet, in a place like this, no one would spare you because of low cultivation. It's certain that many have already set their sights on him, but due to the valuable treasure in front, no one wanted to provoke a dispute, so each held back.

Lu Ye was candid and fearless, displaying an indifferent demeanor.

If he wished, he could disguise his cultivation as Level 9, blending in effortlessly with the crowd, but rare as it was to encounter so many cultivators together, he intended to play some tricks with his cultivation, naturally refusing to disguise.

One could only say, whoever sets their sights on him would be unfortunate. After numerous battles, he had gained a relatively clear understanding of the general strength of prodigies from various domains.

A familiar voice suddenly sounded by his ear: "Junior Brother Lu, over here!"

Lu Ye followed the voice and immediately saw a familiar alluring face, it was indeed Yang Yaorao from the Jiuxuan World.

Quite a coincidence, he hadn't expected her to be here too.

With her were two other men, both had previously participated in attacking him, though at the time, none of them knew who the target of their attack was.

One was an ordinary-looking man, whose attire revealed no specific traits, but his aura was restrained and pure; he was the physique cultivator. The other, standing tall with a proud demeanor and sharp aura, resembled a sword; he was the sword cultivator!

Among those who surrounded him at the time, this sword cultivator's attacks were the most vicious. Still, Lu Ye bore no resentment against him; sword cultivators behave that way, their attacks are strong and brutal, and if they were not, they would not be sword cultivators.

Lu Ye naturally didn't hold grudges; those three had attacked an isolated member of the Blood Race, which had nothing to do with Lu Yiye.

Yang Yaorao greeted him proactively, and Lu Ye promptly glided towards that direction, as he had many questions to ask. Previously, during their interaction in the Fairy Tree World, Lu Ye roughly understood Yang Yaorao's disposition; a fairly decent woman indeed.

Without mentioning other things, in terms of knowledge of various common senses in stellar space, she was much stronger than him, perhaps she knew some methods here?

"Senior Sister Yuk!" Lu Ye approached and greeted.

Yang Yaorao smiled and nodded: "We meet again."

Previously, after resolving the insect hive in the Fairy Tree World, they parted ways, each choosing their path, unnecessary to mention further. At the time, Yang Yaorao felt that infiltrating the Insect Race Tree World was too dangerous and didn't follow. Now, seeing Lu Ye standing here certainly explained a few things.

She was a perceptive person, clear on matters without needing to express them.

Now she introduced her two companions to Lu Ye: "This is Fellow Daoist Ding You from Xuandu World, and this is Fellow Daoist Zhao Yunliu from the top domain, Dominant Star."

She also introduced Lu Ye to the two.

Lu Ye politely saluted: "Greetings, Fellow Daoists!"

Ding You slightly nodded in return, while Zhao Yunliu remained staring at the radiant big gourd hanging on the old vine, as if he hadn't heard anything.

Yang Yaorao felt a bit awkward, naturally knowing what Zhao Yunliu was thinking, and as Zhao Yunliu knew what she was thinking. Though they were not familiar initially, after spending time together, they could sense each other's disposition.

Zhao Yunliu's attitude was undoubtedly his response.

Fortunately, Lu Ye seemed indifferent to it, whether because his temperament was broad-minded or his cultivation was insufficient, lacking presence. He turned and asked: "Senior Sister Yuk, what is the significance of this gourd? Why does it cause such a fuss?"

Yang Yaorao secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Anyone who could come here, regardless of their cultivation, were top prodigies from each domain. Proud individuals, she knew what Zhao Yunliu was like, and judging from their previous interactions, Lu Ye undoubtedly had determination and persistence and was daring and combative. She enthusiastically invited Lu Ye over; if any conflict arose between the two, she would be caught in the middle. Fortunately, that didn't happen, so she explained to Lu Ye.