Free Web NovelChapter 2091: Chapter 2089: Deepening
After half a day, Lu Ye halted his cultivation, because he found that cultivating in a place like this caused quite a lot of impurities in the Mana he gained that he couldn’t refine away, which would foul his own body.
This was clearly related to the Star Abyss ambience; Lu Ye suspected those impurities were precisely the Star Abyss ambience.
Since there was such a problem, naturally he couldn’t continue cultivating, otherwise his Mana would only grow more and more turbid, his strength weaker and weaker.
He could only polish the Soul Suppressing Secret Technique.
Time slipped by, and two months passed just like that.
Their hiding place was quite good; during these two months they hadn’t been disturbed at all. There were, however, several times when sounds of fighting came from nearby, but Lu Ye didn’t pay them any mind.
On this day, Jiu Yan, who had been in a constant cultivation state, slowly opened her eyes.
Lu Ye felt something and quickly turned his head to look.
Jiu Yan’s gaze came over, and she slowly shook her head.
Lu Ye knew at once that her cultivation over these two months hadn’t made much progress. He consoled her, "Take it slowly, no rush. According to the records in the jade slip, forging a Dao foundation is no simple matter. Some people spent more than ten years before they succeeded, and even the shortest record took more than half a year. Senior Sister, it’s only been two months for you."
"That’s true in theory, but..." Jiu Yan felt somewhat lost.
These two months of cultivation had not been without harvest. Following the records of the Smelting Furnace Method, she had tried to forge a Dao foundation and had indeed seen some clues, but her progress was extremely slow. At this pace, to achieve the level of body transformation furnace and meld all her foundations, who knew how many years it would take.
She and Lu Ye were now stranded here. Though the Thunderbolt Battle Fortress had taken them in, the two of them ultimately were not cultivators of this Yiyuan stellar space and had no one to rely on.
She wanted to become stronger as quickly as possible; only then could she have a certain degree of self-preservation in an environment like this.
Her expression grew firm. "Junior Brother, I want to go deeper."
Lu Ye pondered a moment when he heard this, then got up and said, "Then let’s go."
But Jiu Yan stopped him, looking seriously into his eyes. "I’ll go alone. You go back to the Thunderbolt Battle Fortress."
If Lu Ye’s cultivation were the same as hers, both of them qualified to forge a Dao foundation, then they could naturally watch over each other. But Lu Ye was only at Sun Blaze Early Stage right now, still far from her level. How could she bear to let Lu Ye take risks with her?
Lu Ye blinked. "Senior Sister, you’re underestimating me. In terms of cultivation, I’m indeed not as good as you, but when it comes to methods of facing an enemy... I’ve got two affiliated treasures in my hands."
Jiu Yan wanted to say something more, but he no longer wished to listen. He took the lead, flying forward, and called back to Jiu Yan, "Let’s go."
This was the first time Jiu Yan realized Lu Ye had such a domineering side. She was dazed for a moment. Seeing Lu Ye getting farther and farther away, she hurried to catch up. "Junior Brother, you don’t need to take this risk."
Lu Ye tilted his head to look at her and smiled. "Then shall we part ways here? I’ll go this way, which way will Senior Sister go?"
"I’m being serious with you!" Jiu Yan was a little annoyed.
"Shh... there’s movement." Lu Ye suddenly raised a finger to his lips.
Jiu Yan jumped in fright and hastily probed the surroundings, but found nothing at all. When she turned her head again, Lu Ye had already run far off, leaving her both exasperated and amused.
Limited by their strength, Lu Ye and Jiu Yan moved with extreme caution over the period that followed, so their speed of advance was not fast.
Whenever they sensed signs of battle, the two of them would immediately find a place to hide.
This made Lu Ye feel a bit rueful. Since he’d started cultivating, he really hadn’t experienced this kind of days on edge, afraid that a powerful enemy he couldn’t contend with would suddenly rush out from nearby.
Fortunately, their luck was quite good. For a full half month, they didn’t encounter a single battle. Even when they ran into enemies they could have fought, they avoided them, afraid that the battle fallout would draw in stronger foes.
After half a month, the Star Abyss ambience in their current location was undoubtedly more than twice as dense as before.
There were already Sun Blaze Late Stage Star Abyss outsiders appearing here. Both Jiu Yan and Lu Ye understood that this was their true limit; any farther ahead would be seeking death, and they might run into someone who had forged a Dao foundation at any moment.
Enemies of that level were not ones the two of them, at their current stage, could resist at all.
Lu Ye found a floating land formed from a Stellar Fragment. On it was a huge pit, which led deep inside and had passages running in all directions.
It was a natural Concealment spot.
Jiu Yan was clearly very satisfied with this place as well. As before, she picked a spot to cultivate, while Lu Ye laid down a Formation to obscure and hide them, then sat not far from her, ensuring that if anything went wrong they could support each other in time.
Lu Ye didn’t know how Jiu Yan’s progress was going. As for himself, he was polishing the Soul Suppressing Secret Technique while pondering one matter.
About Ma Bin.
Ma Bin had forged a Dao foundation. Lu Ye didn’t know exactly how Ma Bin had accomplished this, because from the information he currently possessed, without coming into contact with the Star Abyss ambience, it was simply impossible.
But Ma Bin had indeed done it, and that was why he was so powerful.
However... Ma Bin didn’t seem to possess the kind of overwhelming might he was supposed to have. Take this frontline battlefield for example: a cultivator who has forged a Dao foundation facing stellar space cultivators who don’t even have Dao force is simply a one-sided slaughter; the latter are like ants before the former, utterly incapable of resistance.
Applied to Ma Bin, it didn’t quite fit. Strong he was, but it felt like he was only a notch stronger than people like Charng Feng and Jiu Yan.
Otherwise, when he had faced the combined assault of Charng Feng and the other three back then, he wouldn’t have ended up injured.
Lu Ye pondered for a long time and felt this still came down to a problem with Dao force. Ma Bin had indeed forged his own Dao foundation, but he might not have much Dao force, so his strength was in fact inferior even to that ox demon from back then. That ox demon might not have had a Dao foundation, but he did have Dao force!
Thinking along those lines, Lu Ye faintly felt that this thing called Dao foundation was more like a container, a container that held Dao force!
Ma Bin had this container, but the container was empty inside, so he couldn’t bring out the power he ought to have.
But after this container was damaged, why did it have to be within a Spirit Jade Vein before there was a chance to repair it? Logically speaking, once a Dao foundation is damaged, the only thing that can repair it is Dao force.
Is there Dao force within a Spirit Jade Vein?
Lu Ye had gone in and out of Spirit Jade Veins more than once. Now, thinking back carefully, he suddenly remembered something.
Vein Source!
Every Spirit Jade Vein has its own Vein Source, and not just one. The larger the Spirit Jade Vein, the more Vein Sources there are. Spirit jade and spirit crystals are all nurtured near the Vein Sources. He had investigated the Vein Sources before, within which seemed to be hidden an extremely mysterious power, a power he could not comprehend.
Perhaps... that was Dao force?
So that’s how it is. There is Dao force in a normal stellar space as well, it’s just that ordinary cultivators have no chance to come into contact with it. Even someone like Lu Ye, who can come into contact with it, cannot comprehend it because his level is not high enough.
Also, in the stellar space, places that contain Dao force should not be limited to the Vein Sources.
Supreme treasures and affiliated treasures should all have Dao force!
Previously, when Lu Ye had roused the sword gourd’s might to attack that ox demon, although it was blocked, Lu Ye still remembered something that ox demon had said.
The other party had been very annoyed at the time and had said something like, "You dare damage my Dao force"...
So, the power an affiliated treasure unleashes is also imbued with Dao force; this is why the might of affiliated treasures is so tremendous that ordinary Sun Blaze cannot withstand it.
If affiliated treasures are like this, then true supreme treasures must be even more so, since affiliated treasures are merely derivatives of supreme treasures.
A supreme treasure... is the condensation of the Dao! A realization rose in Lu Ye’s heart.
Suddenly, a violent tremor came, breaking Lu Ye’s train of thought. He hurriedly probed his surroundings, and once he understood what was happening, his expression instantly collapsed.
There were powerhouses clashing nearby. Judging from the aura spreading out, both sides were at the Sun Blaze Late Stage, about the same as that ox demon from before, perhaps even stronger.
An ordinary confrontation between Sun Blaze Late Stage cultivators couldn’t produce such enormous Yu Bo, so Lu Ye immediately concluded that both of them possessed Dao force.
They weren’t stellar space cultivators; they were two Star Abyss outsiders locked in a blood battle!
This was very common. According to what the cultivators of this stellar space had observed over the years, the relationship between Star Abyss outsiders was far from peaceful. Their mutual conflicts and slaughter were even more frequent and bloodier than their battles with stellar space cultivators.
Strictly speaking, of all the Star Abyss outsiders who had died within this frontline battlefield, at most thirty percent were killed by stellar space cultivators. The remaining seventy percent were all from their own internecine slaughter.
The ambience of the Star Abyss was evil; the beings born from the Star Abyss seemed innately bloodthirsty and brutal. They were synonymous with destruction.
Over on Jiu Yan’s side, she also opened her eyes. In the darkness, the two exchanged a glance and each withdrew their own aura, so as not to be noticed by the two Star Abyss outsiders who were fighting.
Over these past few months, similar situations had occurred several times, but each time the fallout had not affected the two of them.
But it seemed their luck over these months had finally run dry this time. The ferocious aftershocks of the battle drew closer and closer, and soon spread to the floating land where they were hiding.
"Go!" Lu Ye knew they could no longer hide. Once this piece of floating land shattered, the two of them would be exposed all the same; better to leave quickly while they still had the chance.
As soon as he spoke, he and Jiu Yan flew out together.
But it was already too late. The battle between the two Star Abyss outsiders engulfed the floating land. Under that savage power, the floating land shattered, and even though Lu Ye and Jiu Yan desperately roused their Mana, they still struggled to maintain their footing, tossed about chaotically in the violent Yu Bo.
Jiu Yan seized Lu Ye’s hand at just the right moment so he wouldn’t be separated from her, and she frantically surged her own power, finally managing with great difficulty to steady herself.
When she looked up again, despair instantly surfaced in Jiu Yan’s eyes.
At some unknown point, a figure had appeared ahead of them. It was an Insect Race being. This fellow had a human body but a hideous mandible-like mouthpart. His whole body was covered in bloodstains, and the thick carapace on his surface was broken in many places. In his hand, he was holding a limp body, a mass of mangled flesh and blood.
Clearly, the life-and-death struggle just now had concluded. This Insect Race had won, and the corpse in his hand was his trophy.
The Insect Race’s face bore two pairs of eyes. Beneath his normal eyelids was another pair of narrow, slitted eyes that stared gloomily at Jiu Yan and Lu Ye. Then he lifted the corpse in his hand, brought it to his mouth, and tore off great mouthfuls, biting until his mouth was full of blood.
