CH 203

In front of the Sanctum of Providence, Lu Ye thought for a moment before replying, “I’ll speak to the Sect Master about this. I’ll inform you once I have something concrete.”

He did not give Chen Yu an immediate response.

“No problem. Thank you for your trouble.”

After Chen Yu had left, Lu Ye was going to tally his rewards when suddenly, he received a message from his Battlefield Imprint. It was Shui Yuan. “Lunch is ready. Come back soon!”

The delicious food his senior sister cooked flashing across his mind, he decided that the tallying could wait and stood up. He then walked back to the Divine Opportunity Column and teleported back to the sect.

His senior sister had most likely prepared the food ahead of time. She was just waiting for Lu Ye and Hua Ci to come home.

First things first, Lu Ye went to visit the Sect Master. Although Hua Ci had informed him that both her and Lu Ye had emerged from the Battle Royale of the Legates safe and sound, the Sect Master still took a moment to inspect Lu Ye and confirm that he was indeed unharmed. Finally, he nodded and said, “Go. Your senior sister has prepared a lot of delicious food for you two.”

He did not ask Lu Ye how he did in the Battle Royale of the Legates. He was an old man, and all he wanted was for his few remaining disciples to return home unharmed. Nothing else mattered.

“Yes!”

With that done, Lu Ye quickly joined his fellow disciples at the dining table. It wasn’t long before the place was filled with the sounds of eating, cheer and gusto.

Outside the door, Amber stared at the Wolf Golem Hua Ci had brought back up and down before dropping it to the ground. It grunted in satisfaction after it planted a couple of footprints on the mechanical creation.

Meanwhile, Tang Yi Feng was meditating in his bedroom when suddenly, he opened his eyes and checked his Battlefield Imprint. It was Pang Zhen sending him a message that didn’t seem to make any sense. “The Crimson Blood Sect has recruited a pair of great disciples, Elder Tang!”

The message did not explain why Pang Zhen thought this, but since it came right after the Battle Royale of the Legates, did that mean that Lu Ye and Hua Ci had performed well during the battle royale?

He was just about to shoot back a reply when he received another message. This time, it came from the old fox presiding over The Devoted Ones. “When is the Crimson Blood Sect dissolving? This is my reservation for your two disciples, Lu Ye and Hua Ci for when it happens.”

“Fuck off!” Tang Yi Feng shot back without hesitation.

This was just the beginning. For the next hour or so, he would continuously receive messages from nearly every Sect Master in Jiu Zhou, and a lot of them came from major sects too. There were so many that even he was unable to look through and reply to all of them. The torrent of messages eventually slowed down to a stream, but he was still receiving new messages after half a day had passed.

From what he could tell, most of the messages could be broken down into three categories: congratulations, thank yous on behalf of their disciples, and requests to form an alliance with the Crimson Blood Sect. To say that he was both baffled and bewildered would be an understatement. The only thing he knew for certain was that his disciples had achieved something big during the battle royale; something so incredible that it affected not just a sect or two, but the entire Grand Sky Coalition, though he still had no idea what it was.

Tang Yi Feng shot a message to Pang Zhen’s Battlefield Imprint. “What’s going on?”

Pang Zhen replied quickly, “Why are you asking me? Haven’t you heard it from your disciples already? Or are they still away from the sect for some reason?”

“No, they’ve already come home.”

“Then ask them yourself.”

“The kids are enjoying lunch right now. I don’t want to disturb them. Just tell me already.”

And so Pang Zhen told him everything that had happened during the Battle Royale of the Legates.

Tang Yi Feng was speechless for a long, long time after Pang Zhen was done. Then, he burst out laughing.

He never imagined that Lu Ye and Hua Ci, two Sixth-Order cultivators would be able to achieve so much in the Chess Sea. He had only intended for them to accrue some experience and broaden their horizons, but instead they saved the future of Grand Sky Coalition for decades to come. It was a once-in-a-century achievement that only his first disciple’s battle from forty years ago could compare.

Unfortunately, his first disciple ultimately fell from grace and even dragged the sect down with him. Just a day ago, they were still treated as the sinner who had single handedly lost the Grand Sky Coalition its golden age.

Decades after that fateful day, the disciples of Crimson Blood Sect had saved the Grand Sky Coalition from a bleak future. Hopefully, this was enough to wash off at least some of their past sins.

It was the best news Tang Yi Feng had heard since forever.

“By the way, I’ve given the order to suppress all information regarding their involvement in the battle royale. We’ll keep Thousand Demon Ridge’s eyes away from the Crimson Blood Sect for as long as possible,” Pang Zhen sent another message.

“Thank you,” Tang Yi Feng replied.

“You’re welcome. It’s only right for me to protect the young just like you protected us back then.”

After that, Tang Yi Feng focused on responding to all the messages he received until now. Only then did he leave his bedroom and visit the canteen.

At the canteen, the Crimson Blood Sect disciples were still gorging themselves on Shui Yuan’s food when suddenly, the Sect Master appeared at the entrance. They hurriedly stopped what they were doing and rose to their feet.

Tang Yi Feng waved them down and said smilingly, “At ease.”

Then, he looked at Shui Yuan and said, “I feel like cooking today. Can you prepare some food ingredients for me? Thank you.” He then went straight to the kitchen.

For a few seconds, the gang simply exchanged incredulous looks with each other. Then, Lu Ye asked Shui Yuan, “The Sect Master can cook?”

Shui Yuan giggled. “Of course he can. He’s the one who taught me how to cook.” She then followed the sect master into the kitchen. 

One thing puzzled her, however. The old man looked unusually happy today. Did he finally make things right with Lady Yun and spend a jolly night with her last night? Or was it something else?

When lunch was finally over, everyone’s belly was bulging to a certain degree. Yi Yi even poked at Ruan Lingyu’s round tummy until the girl yelled for her to stop. No one expected their Sect Master, a Divine Ocean Realm Master of all people to possess such excellent cooking skills.

After a most satisfying meal, Lu Ye bid everyone goodbye before heading straight into his room. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

He and Hua Ci had barely had any time to properly rest after they entered the Chess Sea. As a result, they were worn down to the bone even though they were cultivators.

He didn’t know how long he slept, but his nose felt ticklish all of a sudden. He blearily opened his eyes and found Yi Yi poking his nose with his own hair.

He slowly sat up with a dazed expression on his face.

Yi Yi brought him a bowl of fresh water and wet a towel. “Wake up, sleepyhead. You’ve been asleep for almost a whole day and night.”

Lu Ye didn’t respond to her, so she slapped the towel right across his face and scrubbed away at full force.

“I’m awake! I’m awake!” Lu Ye said as the cold water finally pulled him out of his sleep haze. He grabbed the towel and climbed off his bed.

“How was the sect while Hua Ci and I were gone?” Lu Ye asked while freshening himself.

Yi Yi hummed a small tune while standing next to him with her hands placed behind her back. “Pretty good. It’s less lively without you and sister Hua Ci, but that’s it.”

The girl was enjoying the time of her life right now. It was to the point where she thought of her first meeting with Lu Ye as a meeting of destiny.

If she and Amber hadn’t encountered Lu Ye, there was a high chance they would’ve been captured by cultivators who were stronger than them eventually. She dared not to think what would’ve happened then.

While her adventure with Lu Ye was hardly peaceful, she was now a Crimson Blood Sect disciple with loving elders like the Sect Master and Shui Yuan, and playmates like Lingyu. If this wasn’t the best time of her life, she didn’t know what was.

After Lu Ye had put away the towel, he suddenly turned toward Yi Yi and watched her carefully.

“What’s wrong?” Yi Yi asked in puzzlement.

Instead of answering, Lu Ye gave her cheeks a pinch.

“What are you doing?” Yi Yi asked again in an unclear voice. 

“You’re starting to feel more and more like a real person,” Lu Ye commented in astonishment, “Also… is it just me, or are you getting fat?”

Yi Yi pulled away in panic. “What? I’m not fat! Stop making fun of me!” exclaimed the girl before touching her own face uncertainly.

“No, I’m serious. You’re not just fatter, you’re bigger as well,” Lu Ye said seriously. “I had no idea that ghosts could grow up. How very interesting.”

Yi Yi turned tomato red when she caught his meaning. “Where are you looking at!?”

“Is it because of Amber?” Lu Ye ignored her and mused to himself. Not only was Amber much stronger compared to the last time he saw it, it had asked him for the dragon scale immediately after they were reunited. Lu Ye had no reason to turn it down of course. Just like the previous time, the tiger had collapsed immediately after inhaling a whiff of Blood Qi from the dragon scale. It kind of reminded him of a junkie, to be honest.

“I’m telling sister Hua Ci about this, you pervert!” Yi Yi stomped her foot and ran out of the room.

Lu Ye stepped out of his room feeling fully refreshed. However, he ran into Ruan Lingyu almost immediately. For some reason, the young girl was giving him the evil eye and even standing in his path. She then put her hands on her waist, stomped her foot and let out a loud humph. It was probably a protest against him bullying her best friend.

“Have you finished your cultivation quota for the day?” Lu Ye looked down on her.

Ruan Lingyu immediately deflated. “N-no. I haven’t started yet.”

“Then what are you doing here? Get cultivating already!”

“Y-yes.” The girl hurriedly ran toward the Sanctum of Providence with an aggrieved look on her face.

“Senior sister,” Lu Ye greeted when Shui Yuan walked up to him.

His senior sister passed him a familiar-looking wooden box and said, “I’m still processing the flesh of the Mystic Fruit, but the seed is ready to be used, so take it. I don’t know about its effects yet—you’ll have to inject your Spiritual Power into it and find out for yourself.”

He wondered why his senior sister didn’t just investigate the seed’s effects herself when she explained, “Some seeds only recognize one master, and it’s usually on a first-come-first-serve basis. That’s why you need to do this yourself.”

The flesh of a Mystic Fruit possessed incredible recovery effects, but it would be a waste to consume it as it was. That was why Li Baxian had advised him to give it to Shui Yuan.

Shui Yuan was a medicine cultivator and a pill cultivator. She was the best candidate in the sect to process the Mystic Fruit’s flesh.

On a side note, it was quite the interesting coincidence that two of the six disciples of the Crimson Blood Sect were medicine cultivators. Every other sect had the least percentage of medicine cultivators.

Lu Ye accepted the box with a thanks and opened it right away. He discovered that it was holding what seemed like a blue gem. In fact, he absolutely could’ve confused it with a sapphire if he hadn’t known that this was the seed of the Mystic Fruit. 

Just in case, he looked at Shui Yuan for confirmation. His senior sister nodded affirmatively and said, “You are looking at the seed of the Mystic Fruit.”

Lu Ye hid a sigh. He should’ve known that common sense—even the common sense of a Cultivation World—did not apply to the Mystic Fruits.

“Would you like to give it a go now?” Shui Yuan asked. She wanted to know about the effects of the seed just as much as him.

He nodded and held the blue-colored seed in his palm. As soon as he channeled his Spiritual Power, he was hit by a somewhat familiar feeling. It felt like he was entering the Vault of Providence…