Sage of Humanity-Chapter 1820 - 1818: The Domain Outside Is the Nine Provinces (Happy National Day)
In the Core World, under Lu Ye's watchful gaze, he saw Su Yuqing and Chen Xuanhai gradually regain their senses, as the terrifying fluctuations of soul power gradually subsided.
Chen Xuanhai glanced in the direction where Lu Ye stood, his expression slightly complicated, and said, "Junior Sister, it's up to you."
Su Yuqing nodded.
Only then did Chen Xuanhai take flight, soaring out of the domain.
Lu Ye glanced in the direction of his departure, then stepped toward Su Yuqing, stopping before her and asking, "What's going on?"
Chen Xuanhai had looked at him with a somewhat peculiar expression earlier.
Su Yuqing pondered for a moment, then extended a hand to Lu Ye, softly saying, "Come."
Lu Ye placed his hand in her palm, and in the next instant, pure mana enveloped him, propelling the two of them toward the nearest spirit mountaintop.
A moment later, on that spirit mountaintop, Su Yuqing brought out two chairs, and they sat facing each other.
Lu Ye felt she might have something very important to discuss with him; otherwise, she wouldn't have made such a serious gesture. But since Su Yuqing hadn't brought it up yet, he didn't want to rush her, so he quietly waited.
After a while, Su Yuqing finally spoke, "How much do you know about the Dao Tree lineage?"
Lu Ye shook his head, "Not at all."
He had only heard this term from Veteran Fang, but back then Veteran Fang hadn't said much. So he asked in return, "Do you know?"
When he had mentioned the Dao Tree lineage previously, Su Yuqing had clearly reacted differently, evidently having heard of it.
"I've heard a bit. In fact, Xiyuan Pavilion has records about the Dao Tree lineage." Su Yuqing nodded.
Lu Ye was surprised, "Why didn't I see them?" When he first entered Mount Fangcun, he had stayed in Xiyuan Pavilion for several months, imprinting a large amount of information about stellar space and bringing it back to the Nine Provinces, filling the Nine Provinces' knowledge gap about stellar space.
Su Yuqing said, "Some secrets in Xiyuan Pavilion are not open to outsiders."
Lu Ye understood; that explained why he hadn't seen any such records.
"Tell me about it." Lu Ye sat up straight, actually quite interested in his inheritance. Moreover, he had asked Number Nine about this matter back in the day, but unfortunately, Number Nine couldn't provide any answers, only telling him that Lu Ye was not the first to receive this inheritance. Before him, several Nine Provinces cultivators had also obtained it, but none managed to grow.
Su Yuqing's voice came forth, "What I know are things recorded by my clan's ancestors, never witnessed with my own eyes, so just take a listen. Some things require your own judgment."
Lu Ye nodded solemnly.
"The Dao Tree is a path of inheritance and a very powerful one at that, with only one successor in each generation. Its specific form is likely as you described before—a tree within the body visible through inner sight. The last successor of the Dao Tree lineage appeared millennia ago, during a time when there was an exceptionally famous top-class domain belonging to the human race. Compared to the current Yellow Dragon World, it was even more formidable, and could be said to be the undisputed overlord domain of the human race. Unfortunately... such a top-class domain was ultimately destroyed because of the Dao Tree lineage."
"Why?" Lu Ye frowned.
He didn't fully grasp how powerful the Yellow Dragon World was, but after mixing in the All Phenomena Ocean for years, he had heard of the Yellow Dragon World's reputation numerous times. Nowadays, in the All Phenomena Ocean, the Yellow Dragon World solely occupied a top-class Spirit Island.
The overlord domain of the human race from a millennium ago was actually even stronger than the Yellow Dragon World, but such a domain was destroyed because of the Dao Tree lineage. This puzzled Lu Ye; he didn't understand what kind of causal relationship existed.
Su Yuqing said, "The Dao Tree successor of that generation was a cultivator from that top-class domain. He rose from obscurity to fame in stellar space, growing at an incredibly rapid pace. However, he committed acts that enraged the heavens and people, angering many forces. Not only did his reputation become notorious, but even his birth domain was implicated."
At this point, she sighed and gave Lu Ye a meaningful glance, "The Dao Tree lineage, in the vast world, nothing is there that it cannot refine. Your cultivation speed is so fast, it should be related to your inheritance. You must also know how much assistance this inheritance has provided you in your growth."
Lu Ye solemnly nodded.
Without the Talent Tree, he would never have achieved his current accomplishments.
"As you grew, did you ever use the power of the Dao Tree to refine living beings?" When she posed this question, Su Yuqing's expression was extremely serious.
Lu Ye decisively shook his head, "Never have."
"Can you confirm?"
"I can confirm!" Lu Ye nodded.
Actually, right after the first metamorphosis of the Talent Tree, Lu Ye had already discovered this matter. Since he could harness the power of the Talent Tree to refine the Spirit Stone, he could completely refine the spirit force within the cultivators for his own use, and even refine their blood Qi altogether.
Doing so would mean that every cultivator would become a cultivation resource he could refine.
But Lu Ye had never done so because he felt that it was no different from consuming people, which was psychologically hard to accept, so to date, no matter how many enemies he has slain, even though some of them were not from the human race, he has never refined their spirit force.
"That's good!" Su Yuqing took a deep breath, completely alleviating her concerns. She was really worried that Lu Ye might have done something similar.
"Is there any hidden danger in doing this?" Lu Ye saw her change in expression and vaguely guessed.
Su Yuqing nodded: "There is hidden danger, and quite significant. The Dao Tree lineage can refine all, but there is one thing that cannot be refined, or rather, cannot be completely refined!"
"What is it?" Lu Ye was incredibly curious. In his cultivation journey so far, he hadn't encountered anything that couldn't be refined; anything that could assist in his growth seemed to be refinable?
"Seven emotions and six desires!" Su Yuqing's red lips gently parted, "Or rather, the emotions of living beings with flesh and blood. Ten thousand years ago, the successor of the Dao Tree lineage didn't have exceptional aptitude, quite poor, in fact. But he soon discovered a method to rapidly enhance his aptitude: killing enemies and then refining them. This refinement not only improved his strength, but also his aptitude seemed to enhance as if the Dao Tree could strip away others' aptitudes to strengthen itself. Using this method, his strength grew stronger and his aptitude more outstanding, yet the more beings he refined, the more sinister his temperament became. Every enemy he killed was filled with various negative emotions before they died, and the Dao Tree couldn't completely purify these emotions, accumulating them within him."
"Later, in pursuit of greater strength and aptitude, he secretly harmed cultivators from many powerful factions, including successors from top-class domains. These people were all exceptionally talented, greatly aiding his growth. He ventured further and further down this dark path, leading to more and more slaughter, ultimately losing himself, and he brought calamity to his home domain as a result."
"After the incident was exposed, countless powerful factions allied to besiege that domain. Numerous Sun Blaze masters participated, making the domain a living hell for its inhabitants. If it weren't for the domain's warriors preparing beforehand and crafting a mysterious treasure to teleport the domain away, the whole domain might have been shattered by the battle!"
"Hmm?" Lu Ye originally listened as if it were an old story from ten thousand years ago, the predecessors' experiences cautioning him. But hearing this, he suddenly felt a strong sense of familiarity.
A certain domain's warriors prepared in advance, crafting a mysterious treasure to teleport the entire domain away at a critical moment…
He quickly asked: "What was the name of the Dao Tree successor from ten thousand years ago? Which domain did he come from?"
Su Yuqing thought for a moment and said, "That person was named Chao Nian, and the domain he came from was called Nine Provinces!" With these words, she reached out to grasp Lu Ye's hand, looking at him earnestly: "Lu Ye, you must heed Chao Nian's lesson. With the Dao Tree, you possess a faster growth rate than anyone else. Never succumb to the temptation to refine living beings casually; it will only harm you, never benefit you."
Lu Ye certainly won't do such things; if he were inclined to, he would've done it much earlier. Moreover, cultivation for him is simple; as long as the Talent Tree has ample fuel reserves, all he needs to do is dive into All Phenomena Ocean, so why refine living beings?
Since he hasn't embarked on this dark path earlier, he won't tread it in the future.
"I understand." Lu Ye nodded and looked at Su Yuqing, "Yuqing, there's something I need to tell you."
"Speak." Su Yuqing looked at him seriously.
Lu Ye gave a thumbs up: "The domain I come from outside is indeed Nine Provinces!"
Su Yuqing blinked her big eyes: "Isn't it Nine Heavens?"
She remembered Lu Ye previously claimed to be Lu Yiye of the Nine Heavens…
"Nine Heavens is just the public moniker. A senior once advised us to never mention the name Nine Provinces when traveling outside, hence the cultivators from our home domain always claim to be from Nine Heavens."
This matter was bound to be unhideable from the Dwarf Race. Once Mount Fangcun merges, the truth about Nine Provinces will eventually be known.
Facing Su Yuqing, Lu Ye had no intention of hiding it.
Su Yuqing was momentarily stunned before reacting, "Your Nine Provinces and Chao Nian's Nine Provinces…"
Lu Ye nodded: "Presumably, it is the same Nine Provinces!"
When he first met Number Nine, Number Nine used a means to let him see the scene of the previous Nine Provinces being besieged. At that time, he didn't know what sort of heinous act the previous Nine Provinces committed to provoke such formidable enemies to attack. Unfortunately, Number Nine couldn't explain to him either, as before the previous Nine Provinces were besieged, Number Nine had not yet developed spiritual intelligence.
The reason it could let Lu Ye witness that scene was primarily because the earth-shattering battle left too deep a mark on the origin of Nine Provinces. As the Heaven's Augury Compass Artifact Spirit combined with Nine Provinces' origin, it could naturally recall from Nine Provinces' origin.
Now he understands that the disaster for the previous Nine Provinces originated from Chao Nian, who went down a dark path and offended too many powerful factions, leading them to unite against the previous Nine Provinces.
