translator: ahad
Proofreading: shaheer
Humanity’s Great Sage – Chapter 1015: Innate Dao Body
“Are you willing to cultivate?”
Just as Lan Qiyue was lost in thought, Lu Ye’s voice once again sounded by her ear.
Lan Qiyue startled, hurriedly prostrated herself and kowtowed respectfully: “I am willing to follow you in cultivation, my Lord!”
Lu Ye nodded, increasingly certain that the woman before him was different from the vast majority of humans in the Blood Refining World.
There were two reasons he had decided to teach her to cultivate.
Bright Moon Cave alone housed quite a few expectant mothers. In the future, these mothers would certainly give birth to Blood Race infants. He couldn’t keep running over to deliver babies himself, a grown man.
So he needed an assistant by his side who could help in this regard.
Dao Shisan was out of the question. That simple-minded fellow was probably even more useless than himself in such matters.
Lan Qiyue was undoubtedly the best candidate. She had her own convictions, harbored a rebellious heart against the Blood Race, and moreover, had past experience with childbirth.
Entrusting this matter to her was most appropriate.
However, human surrogate mothers faced great danger during childbirth. Lan Qiyue’s cultivation at the fourth order of the Spirit Creek Realm was still somewhat low. With greater strength, she could better ensure the safety of those human mothers.
As for the other reason…
It was what Lu Ye had discovered earlier when he had channeled his spiritual power to protect Lan Qiyue during her delivery.
This woman before him had many of her body’s spiritual apertures already opened, with no spiritual aperture barriers whatsoever. When he had infused his spiritual power into her body, there had been no obstruction; the power flowed smoothly and unimpeded through her.
This was an utterly inconceivable matter.
Take Lu Ye himself, for example. Back when he was at the Spirit Creek Realm level, he had to open his spiritual apertures one by one, each time breaking through the spiritual aperture barrier, going from nothing to something, until he finally opened all three hundred and sixty apertures and completed the Grand Celestial Cycle.
This was basically the case for all human cultivators. It was precisely why many cultivators remained stuck at the Spirit Creek Realm for their entire lives. The further one progressed, the more difficult it became to break through the spiritual aperture barriers. Those who could not open two hundred and forty apertures could only languish in the Spirit Creek Realm. Only those who opened two hundred and forty apertures had any hope of advancing to the Cloud River Realm.
Even among those who could open two hundred and forty apertures, not all could open the full three hundred and sixty to complete the Grand Celestial Cycle.
In the world of the Nine Provinces, those who could accomplish such a feat were considered promising talents with hopes of reaching the Divine Sea Realm.
But the many spiritual apertures within Lan Qiyue’s body were naturally in an opened state. This was the very reason Lu Ye had been astonished at the time.
Innate spiritual apertures—Lu Ye had heard of such a thing before. People like this were generally called Innate Dao Bodies!
Such individuals, as long as they had sufficient cultivation resources, faced no bottlenecks whatsoever at the Spirit Creek Realm level. In other words, Lan Qiyue could very easily cross the Spirit Creek Realm and enter the Cloud River Realm.
As for how great her prospects would be after entering the Cloud River Realm, that would depend on her own cultivation aptitude.
But those with Innate Dao Bodies invariably possessed supreme natural talent, so it was foreseeable that Lan Qiyue’s future achievements would not be too low.
Had she been an ordinary human woman, Lu Ye would not have wanted to waste his energy and attention. But having encountered such a rare Innate Dao Body, it would be far too wasteful to simply leave her be.
Thus, Lu Ye decided to guide Lan Qiyue in cultivation.
“You and I are of similar age—you might even be two or three years younger than me. There’s no need to address me as ‘my Lord.’ From now on, call me Senior Brother.”
“Senior Brother?” Lan Qiyue looked bewildered.
The Blood Refining World had no concept of sects, so naturally there were no such titles as senior or junior brother.
“My surname is Lu, my given name is Ye.”
“Senior Brother Lu Ye.” Lan Qiyue adapted quickly enough.
Lu Ye nodded. “Extend your hand.”
Lan Qiyue stretched out a hand.
Lu Ye placed his hand on her wrist, activated a trace of spiritual power, and, following the circulation route of the Great Sun Glazed Art, guided his spiritual power through her body once.
Lan Qiyue closed her eyes, silently sensing and memorizing the flow of the spiritual power.
In the Blood Refining World, although humans could cultivate—and the Blood Race would even deliberately impart some cultivation methods to humans—those cultivation methods were, without exception, incomplete. This was because the Blood Race would not permit humans to produce cultivators of too high a level.
In every human settlement, Spirit Creek Realm cultivators were the most common and widespread. Only those humans favored by the Blood Race and taken as blood slaves would receive greater boons and have the chance to cultivate to higher realms.
After a short while, Lu Ye withdrew his hand. “Do you remember it?”
Lan Qiyue nodded thoughtfully. “I remember.”
“The cave dwelling next to mine is empty. You will live there from now on. If you have any questions about cultivation, come ask me.” As Lu Ye spoke, he took out a storage bag, rummaged through it, placed a few spirit pills, spirit stones, and several sets of spare clothing inside for her, then reminded her not to consume too many spirit pills during cultivation, lest pill toxins accumulate within her body.
“Thank you, Senior Brother Lu Ye,” Lan Qiyue said as she accepted the items.
“Additionally, those women outside all need your care. If any go into labor, you are to go and assist.”
Lan Qiyue pursed her lips and nodded. This was something she would have done even without Lu Ye’s instructions.
After a moment’s hesitation, she spoke up. “Senior Brother Lu Ye, the blood fetuses they give birth to…”
“Kill them!” A single, icy word burst from Lu Ye’s mouth.
Lan Qiyue’s gaze grew resolute, and she assented with pleasure.
…
And so, Lan Qiyue settled into the cave dwelling next to Lu Ye’s.
A day later, Zhang Julai returned in triumph and immediately went before Lu Ye to report on the battle.
The overall strength of the Hundred Leaps Cave Dwelling was somewhat greater than that of Bright Moon Cave, as it had a larger number of Blood Race members. This was precisely why it had always been the Hundred Leaps Cave Dwelling that initiated attacks on this side.
However, with Dao Shisan accompanying them as support this time, the Hundred Leaps Cave Dwelling had no power to resist whatsoever.
In that single battle, both sides suffered losses of over half their forces. Yet, the fierce conflict turned completely one-sided after Dao Shisan intervened.
Especially after witnessing Dao Shisan effortlessly kill the master of the Hundred Leaps Cave Dwelling, the remaining Blood Race members abandoned all thoughts of resistance and surrendered one after another.
Although the struggles among the Blood Race were intense, there was an unwritten rule: surrender was permitted. Such was the prevailing atmosphere, and it was nothing shameful.
Thus, Zhang Julai had set out with about a dozen Blood Race members and returned with roughly a dozen as well. There was no significant change in numbers, but their overall strength had improved considerably.
As expected, the few Spirit Creek Realm Blood Race members who had accompanied them into battle did not survive; they all fell in combat over there.
“In accordance with your orders, my Lord, the human surrogate mothers abducted by the Hundred Leaps Cave Dwelling have all been brought back. The others were sent to a safe place and dispersed. Additionally, from this battle, we obtained eleven Blood Crystals. Five were distributed as shares; here are the remaining six.”
As Zhang Julai spoke, he respectfully presented the six Blood Crystals, each of varying quality.
Distributing half of the harvested Blood Crystals was also Lu Ye’s instruction.
If you want a horse to run, you have to let it eat its fill. Lu Ye understood this principle well. Although he urgently needed Blood Crystals to restore his cultivation, he would not hog all the spoils for himself.
Moreover, here in Bright Moon Cave, Zhang Julai had already issued orders forbidding any further consumption of fresh blood, which had caused discontent among many Blood Race members. If even the spoils of war were to be completely confiscated, it would be detrimental to future governance.
Taking half the Blood Crystals to distribute was the best approach. This way, the Blood Race would have something to eat, yet never quite enough to satisfy them.
Lu Ye raised his hand and took five of the Blood Crystals.
Zhang Julai was overjoyed. “Many thanks for your generous reward, my Lord!”
He had assumed Lu Ye would take them all; he hadn’t expected a single one to be left for him. Naturally, Zhang Julai was grateful.
“Advance to the True Lake Realm as soon as possible. Your cultivation level is too low!” Lu Ye said flatly.
“Yes, I will not fail to live up to your expectations, my Lord.” Zhang Julai responded with fear and trepidation.
He could sense that Lu Ye’s ambitions were vast. For now, his Cloud River Realm cultivation could still be of some use, but as time passed, his significance would only grow lighter. If a day came when he could no longer help Lu Ye in any way, he would lose all value entirely, and his fate would surely be miserable.
Never before had Zhang Julai felt such an urgent thirst to cultivate.
“Explain the rules of our side to the newcomers. If any dare to violate them, you know what to do.”
“Yes.”
“You are dismissed.” Lu Ye waved his hand.
Zhang Julai withdrew.
…
Holding the five Blood Crystals in his hand, Lu Ye took out a relatively small one and tossed it to Dao Shisan, who stood nearby.
It wasn’t that he was reluctant to give more. Rather, Blood Crystals were the essence of a Blood Race member’s lifelong cultivation, somewhat similar to demon cores. Dao Shisan did not possess a Talent Tree and thus had no means of incinerating the impurities within Blood Crystals. Consuming too many would be harmful.
It was only because Dao Shisan had the powerful foundation of a Divine Sea Realm body cultivator that Lu Ye dared to give him such a thing at all.
But to allow Dao Shisan to quickly recover his cultivation, they had no choice but to rely on Blood Crystals. So they could only carefully manage the frequency.
Dao Shisan took it and tossed it directly into his mouth, chewing noisily.
Lu Ye also picked up a Blood Crystal and placed it into his own mouth.
His cultivation had now recovered to the Cloud River Realm. With the four Blood Crystals in hand, they might perhaps allow him to recover to the True Lake Realm.
…
The Blood Race of Bright Moon Cave rested and reorganized for two days before setting out once more under Zhang Julai’s leadership.
The Hundred Leaps Cave Dwelling was not the only cave dwelling nearby that they could attack. Generally speaking, in the Blood Refining World, there was a Blood Race cave dwelling within every hundred-mile radius.
Lu Ye needed Blood Crystals to recover his cultivation and could only acquire them by targeting these Blood Race factions.
The four Blood Crystals did not allow Lu Ye to recover his cultivation to the True Lake Realm; he remained stuck at the ninth order of the Cloud River Realm, a rather awkward position. However, once Zhang Julai returned again, restoring his True Lake Realm cultivation would be a simple matter.
While the Blood Race were absent from Bright Moon Cave, Lu Ye spent most of his time studying the array disc of the Common Breath, Shared Branches Spirit Pattern, pondering how it could be improved.
At the same time, he was also contemplating the purpose of the Nine Provinces’ Heavenly Secrets in sending him to the Blood Refining World.
Surely they weren’t expecting him to unify the entire Blood Refining World?
That task was far too immense. Based on the intelligence he had gathered so far about the Blood Refining World, this realm was a great world in no way inferior to the Nine Provinces, with a great number of Divine Sea Realm powerhouses.
If he truly had the ability to unify the Blood Refining World and slaughter all its Blood Race, he might as well go and unify the Nine Provinces itself.
Thus, the Heavenly Secrets of the Nine Provinces had certainly not sent him here to unify the Blood Refining World.
Even less likely was the notion that they wanted him to save the humans here.
Given the general trend of the Blood Refining World, saving the humans here would first require unifying the Blood Refining World and exterminating all Blood Race.
For a time, Lu Ye could not fathom what the true purpose of the Nine Provinces’ Heavenly Secrets had been in sending him here.
(End of Chapter)