Free Web NovelChapter 2090: Chapter 2088: Entering the Battlefield
The Star Abyss ambience has an enormous impact on the strength of Star Abyss outsiders, a piece of information emphasized in the jade slip.
Especially for those Star Abyss outsiders who haven’t forged a Dao foundation, if they are outside the coverage of the Star Abyss ambience, the strength they can exhibit will quickly become indistinguishable from that of ordinary cultivators.
Lu Ye vividly remembers the formidable Star Abyss outsiders that appeared over All Phenomena Ocean, particularly that ox demon; it was bad enough that he and Jiu Yan couldn’t match them together, but the opponent could even resist the power of affiliated treasures, which was simply exaggerated.
However, as the Constellation Palace projection sealed the Star Abyss Gate, the powerful strength of the ox demon and the three Star Abyss outsiders rapidly weakened... Lu Ye didn’t understand what was happening at the time, but now he understands.
The three Star Abyss visitors hadn’t forged a Dao foundation.
Once the Star Abyss Gate was sealed by the Constellation Palace projection, they quickly weakened.
Relatively speaking, those Star Abyss outsiders who have forged a Dao foundation and entered the Dao Realm are not as absolutely dependent on the Star Abyss ambience. Even if they leave the coverage of the Star Abyss ambience, they can remain strong for some time, not immediately weakening.
This was the fundamental reason the stellar space suffered great losses in its initial century; at that time, many Star Abyss outsiders who had entered the Dao Realm roamed freely, causing damage to various parts of the stellar space, and the cultivators of this place had to gradually wear them down using sheer numbers.
The reason Star Abyss outsiders’ strength is so dependent on the Star Abyss ambience is entirely due to a mysterious power called Dao force.
This mysterious power, to the Star Abyss, is like Spiritual Energy within a domain, omnipresent. As long as the cultivation of Star Abyss cultivators reaches the Sun Blaze level, they can refine this power during cultivation and wield boundless power against enemies.
The ox demon appeared so formidable at the time because he utilized Dao force, so even though Jiu Yan’s cultivation was a notch above his, she still wasn’t a match.
But as the Constellation Palace exerted its power to seal the Star Abyss Gate, the ox demon lost connection with the Star Abyss, and this temporarily stored Dao force within the body became like a rootless tree, immediately reverting to its true form.
Lu Ye felt fortunate; thankfully, the ox demon hadn’t entered the Dao Realm. Otherwise, even with the Constellation Palace exerting its power, the battle that day wouldn’t have ended so easily.
To stellar space cultivators, entering the Dao Realm is another completely different existence. The same principle applies to Star Abyss outsiders.
All this information flashed through Lu Ye’s mind, and he transmitted audibly to Jiu Yan, "Senior Sister, since this is our first time here, let’s not go too deep!"
Due to the Star Abyss outsiders’ dependency on the Star Abyss ambience, the further you go to the battlefield’s perimeter, the weaker the enemies because the stronger Star Abyss outsiders are unwilling to stay at the outskirts where the Star Abyss ambience is thinner and they feel uncomfortable.
Although this matter isn’t absolute—no one can guarantee a strong Star Abyss outsider won’t suddenly appear at the edge and take a stroll—it still provides stellar space cultivators with opportunities.
Cultivators like Jiu Yan, as long as they stay where there is Star Abyss ambience, have the opportunity to forge their Dao foundation. Many cultivators in this stellar space over the past centuries have entered the Dao Realm through this method, gaining the capital to fight their enemies.
Lu Ye naturally hopes Jiu Yan can forge her Dao foundation in the safest way possible.
As for himself, although he is curious about what Dao force is, his cultivation is insufficient to have such hope.
The jade slips given by the fort master clearly state that unless a stellar space cultivator forges a Dao foundation and enters the Dao Realm, they cannot touch Dao force. This differs from Star Abyss outsiders, who can do so once their cultivation reaches the Sun Blaze level.
The reason is likely due to the fact that Star Abyss outsiders are born and grow within the Star Abyss; their physical nature differs from stellar space cultivators, allowing them to accommodate Dao force better.
Lu Ye’s words were clear to Jiu Yan; she indeed is eager to forge her Dao foundation, but she’s never been reckless. She immediately nodded, "Okay!"
As they continued forward, they didn’t see the silhouette of other cultivators, apparently due to the vastness of the battlefield, causing the cultivators of the home galaxy to scatter.
Because both were cautious, their progress wasn’t fast, but the further they moved into the battlefield, the thicker the surrounding Star Abyss ambience became.
Even though this ambience was invisible and intangible, it was still palpable; the most direct effect being that Lu Ye’s Mental Consciousness coverage had greatly reduced compared to the beginning.
Ahead, a black mass suddenly appeared, and Lu Ye and Jiu Yan detected it almost at the same time.
Looking up, Jiu Yan immediately recognized it, "Star Abyss Insect Swarm!"
Lu Ye immediately pulled her, heading to a nearby piece of floating land. Shortly after reaching it, he scanned with his Mental Consciousness, found a secluded place to hide, set up a formation to conceal their bodies, and restrained their energy.
The Star Abyss Insect Swarm isn’t directly related to the Insect Race; they are not spiritually intelligent beings and are more akin to star beasts.
Star Abyss Insect Swarms vary in form and strength and can be found everywhere on the Star Abyss battlefield. It seems there are many such insect swarms on the Star Abyss side.
The swarm appearing here probably isn’t strong, but caution is warranted. Without thoroughly understanding the situation, Lu Ye didn’t dare act rashly; if there were any that had entered the Dao Realm within the swarm, they and Jiu Yan wouldn’t be able to fight back.
That brief investigation just now seemed to have caught the swarm’s attention. Not long after Lu Ye and Jiu Yan hid, the swarm followed traces nearby the floating land.
Upon closer inspection, Lu Ye then realized the individual insects in the swarm resembled fist-sized mosquitoes, but they were entirely blood-red, appearing extremely bizarre.
At the swarm’s center, there was a particularly large individual, almost the size of an infant. This was clearly the swarm’s king.
They wandered around the area but failed to make any discovery.
This is the inferiority of the swarm. No matter how strong they are, since they lack spiritual intelligence, as long as you hide well, there’s basically no problem.
Lu Ye carefully probed the area, then exchanged a glance with Jiu Yan.
In the next moment, the two of them jumped out from their hiding spot, each mobilizing their Mana, rushing to attack from both sides.
Moments later, this swarm was almost completely annihilated, leaving only one Insect King still fighting desperately.
The ambience of this Insect King was roughly at the Sun Blaze Early Stage. Such an existence, theoretically, could be easily slain by either Lu Ye or Jiu Yan.
But in reality, this Insect King withstood three fierce attacks from both of them without a scratch!
There was no doubt it possessed Dao force, and it was that peculiar Dao force that blocked the attacks from Lu Ye and Jiu Yan.
However, for an Insect King at the Sun Blaze Early Stage, the amount of Dao force in its body was not much. After three times, it seemed to reach its limit, with its Dao force exhausted. As Lu Ye’s Boulder Mountain Saber fell, the once indestructible Insect King split in two as if it were made of paper.
Lu Ye sheathed his saber, raising his eyebrows, he said, "It’s pretty much as recorded in the jade slip."
Jiu Yan nodded in agreement, "Indeed."
This was why the two of them had acted in sync, primarily to personally verify the accuracy of the information recorded in the jade slip.
From the looks of it now, after hundreds of years of conflict, this stellar space has developed a deep understanding of the Star Abyss outsiders.
"Let’s continue." Jiu Yan said, taking the lead to delve deeper into the battlefield.
The construction of the Dao foundation, the thicker the Star Abyss ambience, the more it benefits her. However, relatively, the level of danger also increases, so she must choose a suitable location.
They continued on their way, encountering some skirmishes. Apart from a few insignificant ones, most were enemies at the Sun Blaze Early Stage.
Against such enemies, before their Dao force was exhausted, Lu Ye and Jiu Yan had no effective way to deal with them. But once their Dao force was exhausted, they could be easily slain.
Several days later, after a fierce battle ended.
Lu Ye looked down at the wound on his abdomen. It was not serious, so he then looked up at Jiu Yan beside him, "Are you okay?"
Jiu Yan slowly shook her head, simply staring at the fallen enemy in the nearby pool of blood, pondering briefly, "Let’s choose this spot."
The enemy this time was at the Sun Blaze Mid-Stage, extremely fast. Otherwise, Lu Ye wouldn’t have been injured; fortunately, it was only a superficial wound.
Unlike the previous Sun Blaze Early Stage opponents, this one battled with the two of them for a full incense stick’s time before its Dao force was depleted.
Estimating based on this situation, combined with the records in the jade slip, the combined power of both should they encounter a Sun Blaze Late Stage foe, it’s likely they wouldn’t be a match. Sun Blaze Late Stage is on the level of the ox demon.
Thus, this location marks essentially the deepest they can delve at present.
Nearby was a small desolate planet, and the two of them climbed up to it, found a hidden place, where Jiu Yan sat cross-legged and entered a cultivation state.
Lu Ye didn’t rest, and began setting various Formations around the area.
He was busy for a full two days before taking a break.
Not far from Jiu Yan, Lu Ye also sat down comfortably.
With the Formations on alert, there was not much need to worry. Should anything breach the Formation’s range, he could detect it immediately.
While Jiu Yan was cultivating, Lu Ye found himself somewhat idle, and couldn’t help but examine the Talent Tree. Ever since the Talent Tree transformed into a fire seed, it had yet to complete its metamorphosis, taking a considerable amount of time.
However, upon inspection this time, Lu Ye found that the fire seed seemed to have changed significantly, with the small sapling within the blazing flames becoming much clearer.
This was undoubtedly good news, and Lu Ye felt that the metamorphosis of the Talent Tree might not be far off.
With anticipation growing within, he calmed his mind and focus, practicing deep breathing in the ancient way, absorbing Spiritual Energy from his surroundings, and meditating for cultivation.
Even though the jade slip’s information had yet to be proven wrong, he couldn’t help but want to try, to see if through this method of cultivation, he could obtain that so-called Dao force!
His current cultivation aptitude was not bad; one could even say it was excellent. But since he’d always relied on the Talent Tree for cultivation, he’s rarely used this method.
With his body filtering and exhaling, the sparse Spiritual Energy from his surroundings flowed into him, transformed by the Magic Source, into Mana.
