Chapter 2871: Constraints Loosen

The Winds of the Nine Provinces Rise

The number of ultimate treasures in the Star Abyss is quite significant. After all, throughout history, so many star systems have shattered and merged into the Star Abyss, and almost every original star realm had its own ultimate treasure. The reason few appear in the world is twofold: first, their whereabouts are secret, and second, they are difficult to subdue. Not to mention intelligent ultimate treasures like the Ghost Sedan, which are virtually impossible to subdue, even those without sentience cannot be easily refined by just anyone.

The ultimate treasure the Ghost Sedan left for Lu Ye was one that had been completely corrupted by the Star Abyss's aura, its sentience long extinguished. It was located within an extremely perilous wonder, and its whereabouts had remained undiscovered for countless years. The Ghost Sedan had stumbled upon it by chance once, but being ultimate treasures themselves, they naturally had no interest in other ultimate treasures. Today, they simply decided to leave it for Lu Ye as compensation. Lu Ye had already gained something while helping them, so receiving another ultimate treasure now was truly an unexpected surprise.

A short while later, Lu Ye manifested a Talent Tree clone, and the Primordial Phoenix Tree transported the clone to the exterior of the wonder. Since the ultimate treasure's sentience was extinguished, he only needed to find it and bring it back. The Talent Tree clone's strength was not much inferior to his true self, so the clone could handle this expedition. His true self remained in the Phoenix Nest to continue cultivating, while simultaneously splitting his mind to control the clone's actions.

Unexpectedly, just as Elder Tree departed, the Dragon Lord and Phoenix Lord arrived together.

"What happened?" Lu Ye asked, looking at them. For these two to come together, it was clear something significant had occurred. Otherwise, the Dragon Lord could have simply contacted him via the Dragon Scroll. Lu Ye wondered if there had been some unexpected development in the Origin World.

"Don't be nervous," the Dragon Lord said quickly, noticing his concern. "The Phoenix Lord and I might need to go into seclusion for a while."

"Seclusion?" Lu Ye was astonished. These two had long reached the peak of their strength; even if there was room for further improvement, it would be incredibly difficult to achieve. Why would they choose to go into seclusion now?

"It's like this..." the Dragon Lord mused, "Recently, both the Phoenix Lord and I have felt our limitations loosening, and this sensation has become increasingly apparent over time."

Lu Ye was startled by this, quickly looking at the Phoenix Lord, who nodded gently. "Initially, I thought it was an illusion," she continued, "but now it seems it's not. The Dragon Lord and I appear to have the possibility of making further breakthroughs." These two were already at the peak of Dao Integration; any further step would mean becoming a Saint. Whether they would become True Saints or Half-Saints would depend on their own accumulated reserves.

"Because of the Origin World?" Lu Ye immediately had an insight. For so many years, the Dragon Lord and Phoenix Lord's limitations had remained unchanged, so it made no sense for them to loosen recently. The most significant recent event was none other than Fuguan becoming a True Saint, and the Origin World showing signs of merging into the Star Abyss. Perhaps the Origin World's integration had caused some unknown changes in the Star Abyss.

"We thought so too," the Dragon Lord said. "As you mentioned before, the Origin World should be the core of the entire Star Abyss. Its merging back would inevitably trigger some changes, and it must be these changes that are allowing our limitations to loosen." The increasing prominence of these signs was undoubtedly due to the changing progress of the Origin World's integration.

"Can you suppress it?" Lu Ye asked, his voice serious. The Origin World had not yet fully merged back. Becoming a Saint was not a good choice, because once one became a Saint, whether True or Half-Saint, it would trigger restrictive forces, causing them to fall into the Origin World.

"We can't suppress it!" the Dragon Lord shook his head. This was precisely why they had specifically come to find Lu Ye. Once their limitations began to loosen, it was as if an invisible force was pushing them to take that final step.

"I understand!" Lu Ye nodded. "You two can go into seclusion without worry. I will guard Dragon City and Phoenix Nest. But before that... I need to help you resolve the corrosive power within your bodies!"

The Phoenix Lord said, "Indeed, that was our intention!" If they truly took that step during this seclusion, they would inevitably fall into the Origin World. They certainly didn't want their sentience to be completely corrupted and become puppets of the Abyss. One reason they came to Lu Ye was to inform him of this news, and the other was to ask for his help. This way, even if they took that step, they could maintain clarity of mind and body.

Lu Ye said no more. With the power of the Talent Tree activated, invisible roots spread out, burrowing into the bodies of the Dragon Lord and Phoenix Lord. The two strongest individuals at that time felt their bodies and minds tremble, their faces showing expressions of disbelief. Although they had learned of Lu Ye's methods from the Primordial Phoenix Tree, experiencing it firsthand made them feel even more miraculous.

Less than half a day later, the Dragon Lord and Phoenix Lord departed to prepare for their seclusion. Lu Ye continued to cultivate while sitting cross-legged.

Meanwhile, countless miles away from the Phoenix Nest, inside a wonder, the Talent Tree clone followed the clues left by the Ghost Sedan, searching until it finally found the ultimate treasure located there. It was a sword-type ultimate treasure, no more than three feet long. At first glance, it appeared ordinary, even dull and lusterless. If the Ghost Sedan hadn't left such precise coordinates, Lu Ye might not have found it even if he entered the wonder, because this ultimate treasure's sentience had long been extinguished, and it didn't even emit an ultimate treasure aura.

This type of ultimate treasure wasn't of much use to Lu Ye, but he could devour its mysterious essence to nourish other ultimate treasure fruits. Since it had no sentience, there was naturally no need to subdue it. Lu Ye reached out and grabbed the sword. It was cold to the touch. He looked down to examine it, and then his vision suddenly went black.

A few moments later, in the Phoenix Nest, Lu Ye's true self suddenly opened his eyes, his brow deeply furrowed. At that very moment, he had lost contact with his clone. In other words, his clone had been killed!

After a brief deliberation, Lu Ye softly called out, "Elder Tree!"

The Primordial Phoenix Tree immediately appeared. "What is it?"

Lu Ye slowly stood up and said, "Could I trouble you to send me somewhere again, Elder Tree?"

"Where to?" the Primordial Phoenix Tree asked.

"To where my clone went."

The Primordial Phoenix Tree looked puzzled. "Has something unexpected happened there?"

Lu Ye replied, "Something happened. I'll go take care of it."

Upon hearing this, the Primordial Phoenix Tree exhorted, "Go quickly and return soon!"

Branches intertwined, and a portal appeared. Lu Ye stepped into it. When he reappeared, he was at the location where his clone had been sent earlier. After briefly discerning the direction, he darted forward.

"Jinyao, please protect my divine soul at all times!" Lu Ye transmitted.

On the Talent Tree, Jinyao was startled. She immediately revealed herself, entered his Sea of Souls, and held the Soul Suppressing Bell.

Traveling swiftly and following the route his clone had taken, Lu Ye successfully arrived deep within the wonder. He concealed all his auras and observed from afar. The ultimate treasure longsword remained in its original spot, just as the clone had seen it: dull, lusterless, and devoid of any aura. Though his physical eyes found nothing, Lu Ye's perception clearly detected the Talent Tree roots that had previously split off, still remaining near the ultimate treasure. The Sword Gourd was also there. But the clone was nowhere to be seen.

Lu Ye subtly spread out his senses, carefully examining the surroundings. A moment later, his pupils contracted. He vaguely detected a faint, familiar aura. It was the aura of a True Saint! In other words, a True Saint had been here not long ago. As for who it was... it should be Saint Si! When Lu Ye left the Origin World, he had seen all eight True Saints and could roughly distinguish their auras.

Recalling what happened just before his clone was killed, Lu Ye felt a headache brewing. When the clone had picked up the ultimate treasure longsword, it had suddenly suffered a massive soul impact. In that instant, he had once again seen the vast and magnificent shadow – the source of disaster and the beginning of destruction. Since the clone was without Jinyao's protection, it immediately lost consciousness after that instantaneous impact. Lu Ye was unaware of what happened next. But now, it seemed that while the clone was unconscious, Saint Si must have suddenly appeared and killed it.

This ultimate treasure longsword had been completely corrupted, its sentience extinguished, making it capable of becoming a puppet of the Abyss at any moment. When Lu Ye's clone arrived here, the Abyss must have detected it. A wisp of its consciousness descended, catching the clone off guard and killing it. As expected, with Fuguan's advancement to True Saint, the Abyss's consciousness had begun to awaken. If it had been before, such an incident likely wouldn't have occurred. Even before Fuguan became a True Saint, Lu Ye had already been targeted by the Abyss, which was why he found it difficult to rely on external help. At that time, it was still acting purely on instinct. Now that its consciousness was beginning to recover, he would definitely be targeted!

Lu Ye wondered if he would be ambushed again, just like his clone, if he were to retrieve the ultimate treasure longsword now. However, even if he didn't take the ultimate treasure longsword, he still needed to retrieve the Talent Tree roots.

In a flash of thought, Lu Ye made his decision. He darted towards that direction. Before he even reached it, the Talent Tree's power was already activated, its invisible roots spreading out and burrowing into the ultimate treasure longsword, furiously devouring its essence. At the same time, he reached out and swept back both the Talent Tree roots and the Sword Gourd.

Cautiously, he waited, but the expected ambush did not occur. Even after he had completely devoured all the mysterious essence within the ultimate treasure longsword, the Abyss's consciousness did not descend again. This surprised Lu Ye somewhat. However, upon reflection, only three months had passed since Fuguan became a True Saint. The Abyss's consciousness should not have fully recovered. Its actions now, though not entirely instinctive, were likely only marginally more sophisticated than before. Furthermore, it probably wasn't an easy feat for True Saints to directly assault from the Origin World; they likely had to pay some price or faced significant restrictions. Therefore, after the clone was killed, the Abyss and those True Saints should not make any further moves in the short term. Thinking this way, the current situation made sense.

This time, when devouring the ultimate treasure longsword, Lu Ye did not allow it to form an ultimate treasure fruit. Instead, he transferred all its nourishment to the Soul Suppressing Bell. The Abyss's consciousness was too vast and magnificent, and Lu Ye had repeatedly suffered losses. It was difficult for him to contend against it with his own strength in the short term. Since that was the case, he could only rely on external power. The Soul Suppressing Bell was currently the only ultimate treasure he could rely on. Moreover, with Jinyao using her own divine soul to replace the ultimate treasure's sentience, Lu Ye didn't need to exert any effort; she could maximize its power. Once the Soul Suppressing Bell's power could completely withstand the Abyss's consciousness, then incidents like today would no longer occur.