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Translator: Truth
Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys
Some people were also inviting him to their Outpost, though it wasn’t because they wanted to make his acquaintance and curry favor with him or something. The Thousand Demon Ridge’s determination to kill him had only increased after he ascended to the top of the Scroll of Supremacy. Forget benefiting his allies, any Outpost he visited would be ganged up on and destroyed by the Thousand Demon Ridge as quickly as possible.
Naturally, Lu Ye had turned down all such invitations.
He did not need lodgings anyway. His current haunt in the Myriad Poison Forest already met that need perfectly. As long as he did not reveal the fact that he was hiding here himself, the Thousand Demon Ridge would never find him. He, on the other hand, could catch them unawares any time he wanted.
The one flaw of Myriad Poison Forest was its less-than-stellar World Spiritual Qi, but as long as he had Spirit Pills, his cultivation wouldn’t fall behind no matter what.
After he finished messaging everyone, he focused on eating the porridge in front of him.
Hua Ci came everyday to treat his wounds. It took him only three days to make a major recovery. He spent most of this time cultivating and reading.
Lu Ye thought he would have a hard time adapting to an idle lifestyle after all months of almost non-stop strife and excitement, but to his surprise, he managed to adapt to it with relative ease. In fact, he found himself liking it a lot.
It was then Lu Ye realized that he wasn’t, fundamentally, a troublemaker. If possible, he would’ve preferred a quieter and more peaceful lifestyle.
It was just that life chooses you sometimes, and the only thing you can do is to ride it out until the end.
In the courtyard, Lu Ye was gripping the Inviolable and circulating his Spiritual Power like crazy. He was pouring it into his saber.
Although he had been unstoppable during his climb, his battle with Shi Guang had made him realize a flaw in his fighting style. He lacked a technique that could decisively end a fight; a finishing move so to speak.
Fire Phoenix technically counted as one, but he could barely use it at his current strength. In fact, the reason he succeeded at all was because he had made a tremendous amount of preparation beforehand, not to mention the side effects that plagued him for days even with Hua Ci treating him the whole time.
That was why he needed a finishing move that did not require him to go beyond his limits.
Shi Guang’s final attack had given him much inspiration. It also reminded him of his duel against a Heaven Nine sword cultivator of the Devoted Ones. His opponent had executed only a single attack back then, but it was an attack that contained all of his energy and focus. It was different yet wonderfully similar to Shi Guang’s final attack in the sense that they both discharged a tremendous amount of Spiritual Power in an instant.
In fact, it wasn’t that difficult to execute such a technique. He had grasped the essence of it even before he fought against Shi Guang. Otherwise, he would have died to his Flames of War.
Therefore, all he needed to do right now was to familiarize himself with the technique and perfect it. He wanted to reach the level where he could execute it in battle at any time.
By now, the flames surrounding his saber were practically an inferno. When he swung the Inviolable, the very space in front around him seemed to be severed in half. A crack had appeared on the ground as well.
He hadn’t empowered his Saber with Sharp Edges, but the attack was a lot more powerful than his usual attacks.
Lu Ye was frowning in dissatisfaction, however. The attack consumed a tremendous amount of Spirit Power and stamina. Not only that, his right arm actually felt sore after he executed just one attack. Assuming he had to execute the move consecutively in combat, his right arm would become useless in three swings at most.
Against a powerful opponent, if he was unable to end the fight even after making such a risky move, the battle would probably end in his defeat and death.
Although he was dissatisfied, he had just begun to craft his finishing move. There was still plenty of room for improvement.
It was crude, but it was still a skill and a form of blade technique.
Since it was a blade technique, it should have a proper name.
[What should I name this technique?]
Lu Ye thought for a moment until he recalled the flash of light that appeared and disappeared as he brought down his saber. He made up his mind then.
He would call it “Flash”.
As with most things, the only way to master a blade technique was to practice it with perseverance and diligence. There was no such thing as a shortcut.
In the courtyard, Lu Ye would practice until he was low on Spiritual Power. He would then restore his energy with Spirit Pills and wait until the soreness gripping his right arm was gone before resuming his practice.
Although this delayed his cultivation progress, cultivation level had never been Lu Ye’s greatest focus. The fact that he made it to the top of the Scroll of Supremacy as a Heaven Eight cultivator was a testament to his philosophy. It was worth slowing down a bit if he could master Flash to the point where he could execute it any time he wanted to,
Lu Ye’s mastery of Flash grew little by little as the days passed. He was able to make many improvements to the technique, but he was still unable to solve the cost problem. This was bad as it was unlikely that an imperfect blade technique could be useful against a strong opponent.
Lu Ye had never thought himself invincible just because he had become the champion of the Scroll of Supremacy. Perhaps there was no one in the Spirit Creek Battlefield who could challenge him anymore, but it was only a matter of time before he entered the Cloud River Battlefield. When that happens, it would be like he was starting from the bottom all over again, not to mention that the Cloud River Battlefield was a lot more complex than the Spirit Creek Battlefield.
The Grand Sky Coalition rankers of the top ten ranks of the Scroll of Supremacy were successful in defending their ranks despite the Thousand Demon Ridge’s best efforts. Besides Shi Guang’s fall to second place and the female archer’s fall to fourth place, everyone else’s rank remained more or less the same.
As a result, Lu Ye received no challenge requests during this time. The only ones who could challenge him—Shi Guang and the female archer—knew they were no match for him and did not bother wasting their own time.
Half a month later, Lu Ye had unlocked a total of three hundred and twenty Spiritual Points. It had been forty days since he ascended to Heaven Eight. Busy climbing the Scroll of Supremacy before and practicing his blade technique afterward, his cultivation progress had slowed down considerably. As a result, he had only unlocked twenty additional Spiritual Points.
He was still forty Spiritual Points away from reaching Heaven Nine.
Lu Ye was practicing his blade technique in the courtyard as usual when suddenly, he stopped in his tracks and looked up. At the same time, the Heavens’ mysterious power descended from the sky.
It had been thirty days since he returned to the Scroll of Supremacy. It was finally time to receive the Heavens’ reward.
The reason he had stayed at the wooden building this whole time was partially because he was waiting for this day. He had asked many people about this process, so he was well aware of what was about to happen.
There was one question they weren’t able to answer him though: Would Amber and Yi Yi be able to enter the space with him?
He thought they should. Amber was his Tamed Beast, and Yi Yi was its Ghost Spirit—this was something that was acknowledged by the Heavens themselves, or they could not have entered the battlefields of the Scroll of Supremacy. Not only that, they had participated in each and every battle. Therefore, they should not be excluded from the reward.
He was just thinking this when Yi Yi and Amber ran out of the wooden building at the same time.
“Lu Ye Lu Ye, I think Amber and I are feeling something,” Yi Yi asked worriedly. She was feeling a bit rattled because this was the first time she sensed the Heavens.
“It’s okay. Just don’t resist,” Lu Ye instructed.
Hua Ci heard the commotion and came out as well. When she met Lu Ye’s eyes, she realized what was happening and asked for confirmation, “Is it time?”
Lu Ye nodded. That was all he managed to do before he, Amber and Yi Yi turned transparent and vanished.
Three figures abruptly appeared in a foggy place. It was the Pool of Heavens, the place where the rankers of the Scroll of Supremacy received their reward!
The mist in the pool was no World Spiritual Qi, but another form of energy that was incredibly beneficial to a cultivator.
The mist could temper the cultivator’s physique, strengthen their Divine Soul, and even cleanse their body of Pill Poison, effectively improving the purity of their Spiritual Power. It should not need to be explained why the reward was so coveted.
Any ranker who managed to stay on the Scroll of Supremacy for a month would be pulled into this reward area. They would then receive the reward of the Heavens and grow more powerful.
That was why Shi Guang had mentioned that he had received the Heavens’ reward several times already. He had been on the Scroll of Supremacy for months.
The amount of time they were allowed to stay in this reward area was directly connected to the ranker’s standing. The better their rank, the longer they would be able to stay here.
Lu Ye had asked Yu Lianzhou how long he was able to stay in the Pool of Heavens. Despite his rank, he only had about an incense stick before he was sent back.
Since he had never become the champion before, he couldn’t tell Lu Ye exactly how much time the champion was allocated.
To unravel this, Lu Ye asked his second senior sister to ask Feng Yuechan about it. According to the former champion, she had never lingered at the Pool of Heavens for more than an hour.
This was why the elites of the Spirit Creek Battlefield were so fond of the Scroll of Supremacy. Besides the fame and glory that naturally came with being the one hundred strongest rankers in the Spirit Creek Battlefield, the Heavens would reward them handsomely for their efforts.
The Spirit Mist here could temper one’s physique, strengthen the Divine Soul, and improve the purity of their Spiritual Power. It was a reward that directly improved their strength and prospects. Even a few seconds in the Pool of Heavens could visibly strengthen a cultivator.
The rule that stipulated that the higher ranker could spend more time in the Pool of Heavens also caused the strong to grow even stronger.
Perhaps this was a form of silent encouragement from the Heavens. They promised that the most outstanding cultivators would receive the greatest rewards.
Why would a Heaven Nine cultivator choose to remain in the Spirit Creek Battlefield after reaching the pinnacle?
In the past, Lu Ye thought that they wanted to spend some time solidifying their foundation before ascending to the Cloud River Realm. While it wasn’t an inaccurate assumption, it wasn’t comprehensive enough.
The real reason was because they all dreamed of entering the Scroll of Supremacy and staying there long enough to receive the Heavens’ reward. Technically speaking, there were conventional means to strengthen one’s physique, improve one’s Divine Soul, and purify one’s Spiritual Power. However, the Heavens’ reward could do all that in just a fraction of the time. With that in mind, of course they were in no hurry to ascend to the Cloud River Realm.
But of course, the reward wasn’t an infinite power booster. Generally speaking, the third and fourth entrance to the Pool of Heavens was where the effects of the reward would diminish to the point where it was almost unnoticeable. When that happened, the rankers would stop wasting their time and ascend to the Cloud River Realm.
In the past, it was said that the Three Tumors—Feng Yuechan, Li Baxian and Yan Xing—were scorned by the Heavens because they occupied the Scroll of Supremacy for too long. That was why the Heavens had stopped pulling them into the Pool of Heavens after the first few months.
In fact, The Heavens stopped pulling them into the reward area not because they scorned them, but because the Spirit Mist was completely useless to them at that point. Naturally, there was no reason to waste the energy and time.
The first thing Lu Ye did after appearing in the Pool of Heavens was to check if Amber and Yi Yi were with him. He relaxed when he noticed that they were indeed present.
