Sage of Humanity
Chapter 1939 - 1937: Ding’an
Although Lu Ye's various performances since entering this special trial scene have met their expectations, the test is not yet completely over. As the old Clan Leader said, one's true nature is revealed when they are at their weakest.
The future of a family is at stake, and opportunities like this are too rare to come by, so no amount of caution is too much.
They were anxious, and the group of women in front of Lu Ye was even more anxious.
As if seeing what was on his mind, the young girl suddenly smiled: "Benefactor need not hesitate, it is already a great blessing for my sisters and I to escape from misery. If benefactor has matters to attend to, feel free to leave, we can survive here!"
Lu Ye spoke: "Since you said so, then... let's go together."
He suddenly realized that this should be one of the tasks of his trial this time.
In front of the smooth mirror, several cultivators let out a long sigh.
The old Clan Leader kept nodding: "Good, good, good. This person has compassion, he can be entrusted!"
The woman who had been following the Clan Leader said, "Clan Leader, does this mean he has passed the test?"
The Clan Leader nodded: "Yes, but he has already started the trial, and it cannot end midway." He turned to glance at the woman: "Since you know him, make preparations in advance, and bring him when he comes for the next trial."
"Understood!" the woman replied respectfully, her eyes full of expectation. Her clan's countless years of waiting, is this day... finally here?
"Thank you, benefactor!" The girl was stunned for a moment before she realized and quickly started kowtowing again, followed by the group of women behind her.
"Alright, get up and speak." Lu Ye raised his hand.
Since they were leaving, it was natural to collect some supplies first.
At the very least, they needed food for the journey.
Fortunately, in the stronghold, there wasn't much else, but there was plenty of dried meat, all acquired by the bandits from hunting exotic beasts, and there was also rice and flour.
"Benefactor, these are the things of the head bandit. He always regarded them as treasures. I've seen him holding them several times when cultivating, but I don't know what's mysterious about them."
While Lu Ye was waiting, Yao Nuan stepped forward and handed him a cloth bag.
Yao Nuan was the girl who first spoke to Lu Ye.
Lu Ye curiously took the bag, opened it, and found about ten pounds of earthy yellow, stone-like items inside.
"Hmm?" Lu Ye's eyes lit up, and he picked up a piece to investigate, looking extremely surprised.
He discovered that there was actually a weak reserve of spirit force inside. He had previously wondered, since this world had the concept of cultivation and nature's spiritual energy, albeit thin, it must exist, so could there be items like Spirit Stones?
Now it seems there are indeed Spirit Stones in this world, and what Yao Nuan brought were undoubtedly exactly that.
However, compared to the Spirit Stones he knew, these had little spiritual force stored within and were impure, likely due to the low level of this domain. Even if Spirit Stones could grow naturally in certain places, their quality would still be low.
No wonder the head bandit's spirit force was impure. Cultivating with such things, it's a wonder it could ever be pure.
But this was not a problem for him. With the power of the Talent Tree, any impurities could be refined.
"Well done." Lu Ye complimented, "Keep an eye out. If you see more of these, collect and give them to me."
Yao Nuan was visibly pleased with the praise: "Don't worry, benefactor, I will pay attention."
Collecting various supplies and preparing to set out took most of the day. As evening approached, Lu Ye decided to depart the next morning. As for where to go, Yao Nuan suggested Ding'an City, about two hundred miles away, which would undoubtedly be a good place to go.
At two hundred miles, Lu Ye could easily reach it alone, but bringing so many women along, it would take much more time.
Luckily, there were many horses in the stronghold, available for carrying people and goods.
Throughout the night, Lu Ye cultivated with those inferior Spirit Stones. Although they were low-grade, they were still Spirit Stones, and their cultivation effect was much better than eating meat.
At dawn, the group of rescued women were all ready, each mounting a horse, and under Lu Ye's leadership, they left the stronghold, heading toward Ding'an City.
As the horse team advanced, Lu Ye led at the front, eating as he went. He had completely refined the Spirit Stones Yao Nuan gave him, and now, to further his cultivation, he could only rely on converting blood Qi, though the Talent Tree helped maintain efficiency.
Most of the women had never ridden horses, supporting each other throughout the journey and enduring the pains of bumping along.
Lu Ye found the world's state in this domain chaotic, as along the way, bandits trying to rob them frequently appeared.
This group of more than twenty attractive women was undoubtedly the bandits' favorite target for robbery.
Unfortunately, the bandits always met their ends, turning into Lu Ye's Asura Seals, which kept his mood quite cheerful on this journey.
It seemed he didn't need to go looking for trouble. As long as he traveled with these women, there were always living Asura Seals to be delivered to him.
What struck him as odd was the steadily increasing strength of the bandits he encountered. When he first killed the bandit leader of Great Wind Mountain, his cultivation was barely at the 4th or 5th orifice, and besides a few leaders, the rest were ordinary people without any cultivation.
Yet along this journey, the bandits he encountered showed signs of having cultivated. Several times, the bandits' cultivation surpassed that of the bandit leader.
This made Lu Ye suspect that the enemies' strength seemed to increase in tandem with his own cultivation growth.
He had no idea what was happening with this situation.
"Benefactor, have some water." During the break, Yao Nuan handed a water pouch to Lu Ye.
Lu Ye took it, took a sip, and thanked her.
Yao Nuan didn't leave, just looked at Lu Ye curiously.
"Anything?" Lu Ye asked, his mouth full of food, making his words unclear.
"Benefactor, are you cultivating like this?" Yao Nuan asked.
The main thing was that Lu Ye ate too much. Ever since they departed from the mountain stronghold, Lu Ye hadn't stopped eating. The packages of food on Lu Ye's black horse were almost gone.
Moreover, along the way, he occasionally hunted, killing several exotic beasts.
What amazed Yao Nuan was that Lu Ye's stomach showed no signs of being bloated.
"That's right." Lu Ye nodded.
Yao Nuan's eyes lit up: "So can I cultivate like this too?"
She used to see the chief cultivating with mysterious airs, but if eating was enough to cultivate, maybe she could do it too.
"You?" Lu Ye glanced at her in surprise, but remembering her experiences, he understood her longing for cultivation, "Want to give it a try?"
"If it's possible..." Yao Nuan's eyes were filled with anticipation.
"Give me your hand."
Yao Nuan quickly extended her hand. After a few days together, she knew Lu Ye's character quite well. Among so many women, some were beautiful, and Lu Ye could have done whatever he wanted. With his strength and as their life-saving benefactor, probably no one would resist, they might even willingly comply.
Yet, until now, Lu Ye had done nothing inappropriate and had taken good care of them along the journey, showing his noble character.
Lu Ye took Yao Nuan's small hand and subtly activated his spirit force.
Although his cultivation level wasn't high now, the foundation from Moon Jade was there. By holding a person's hand, he could roughly assess their cultivation aptitude and its quality.
Threads of spirit force like silk worms flowed through Yao Nuan's body with barely any obstruction.
Lu Ye nodded: "Not bad aptitude!"
Yao Nuan's eyes lit up: "So... I can cultivate?"
"You can," Lu Ye nodded.
Yao Nuan bit her lip, full of anticipation: "Benefactor, can you tell me... how I can cultivate like you?"
Lu Ye smiled slightly: "My method of cultivation isn't suitable for you."
Yao Nuan's expression darkened.
"But you can still give it a try." As Lu Ye spoke, he raised his hand towards Yao Nuan's abdomen.
For newcomers to cultivation, the hardest part without guidance is identifying the orifice, meaning finding the specific location of the spiritual orifice. Lu Ye had gone through this stage, so he naturally knew this difficulty. He had precisely located the spiritual orifice under Thang Yifeng's guidance.
What he was doing now was what the sect master had done for him years ago.
"Remember this spot. This is the Root Spiritual Orifice, the source of a cultivator's spirit force; it's crucial."
Lu Ye's voice sounded, and Yao Nuan's slightly flushed face immediately turned solemn, carefully sensing the position of the Root Spiritual Orifice and listening to Lu Ye's explanation of the cultivation technique.
In this domain of thin spiritual energy and impure, mixed Spirit Stones, the most traditional method of turning blood Qi into spirit force should be the common cultivation technique for most cultivators.
Yao Nuan's aptitude was indeed good. As Lu Ye explained, she surprisingly gained some insights quickly, sitting there quietly converting her blood Qi.
Lu Ye didn't disturb her. Looking up, he saw quite a few eager eyes watching him.
"Want to give it a try too?" Lu Ye asked.
A group of women immediately responded with joyous voices and lined up in front of Lu Ye.
Most of these women were not suited for cultivation. The few who were, didn't have particularly good aptitude, except Yao Nuan who was an exception.
However, Lu Ye didn't state this clearly. They had suffered humiliation and had little hope in life, so with something to look forward to now, there was no need to shatter their dreams.
Moreover, cultivation values perseverance. Even for Yao Nuan, there wouldn't be any substantial changes in the short term.
The convoy continued forward, and after two more days, they finally arrived at Ding'an City.
Outside the city gate, Lu Ye bid farewell to Yao Nuan and others.
Having escorted them here, Lu Ye had completed his task. He left them the gold and silver items he had taken from the mountain stronghold, so these women wouldn't have problems with their livelihood once they entered the city.
Lu Ye didn't plan to enter the city. With a rare opportunity at hand, it was crucial to hurry to act justly and eliminate evil. Moreover, he needed to figure out his main mission for this training journey.
Only by understanding this could he accurately determine when this training journey would end.