Sage of Humanity

The battle with Dong Shuye had left him feeling powerless, as a low-level cultivator, it was very difficult to survive when crushed by a high-level one.

But if he had had a defensive spirit artifact at that time, he might not have ended up so miserable, the defense spirit runes were good, but they consumed too much spirit force.

Without a doubt, the tiny bell spirit artifact was a decent defensive spirit artifact, so Lu Ye wanted to claim it for himself. However, after acquiring the tiny bell, he had tried to stimulate its power but unfortunately, this thing was very resistant to the infusion of external spirit force. When Lu Ye tried to channel his spirit force into it, he was clearly repelled by some force.

It felt like trying to open a storage sack that didn't belong to him.

So, Lu Ye guessed that this object might also have a restriction lock.

He didn't dare to continue trying blindly because previously on Qingyun Mountain, he had tried to open a storage sack, only to trigger its restriction, and the storage sack was completely destroyed.

The destruction of a low-level cultivator's storage sack wasn't a pity, but if this tiny bell spirit artifact was damaged, it would be a great loss.

The senior cultivator looked at Lu Ye with a peculiar expression, took the tiny bell spirit artifact, examined it briefly, and then handed it back.

Lu Ye looked at him, puzzled.

The senior cultivator took a sip from the teapot and then slowly said, "You're an independent cultivator, aren't you?"

How could he tell?

Following his line of thinking, he replied, "Yes."

The senior cultivator nodded, "It's not easy being an independent cultivator, well then, seeing as you're quite forthright, I'll teach you something good." He pointed at the tiny bell spirit artifact in Lu Ye's hands, "Spiritual artifacts are different from storage sacks. Every restriction within a spiritual artifact is extremely important, as it relates to the quality of the artifact.

Generally, there won't be any self-destructive restrictions inside a spiritual artifact since that would reduce the artifact's power, especially when the quality of the spiritual artifact is not high. Although your artifact hasn't reached the mid-grade, it is the top among low-grade artifacts. The restrictions in it are mostly protective. With that said, do you understand now?"

Lu Ye thought carefully about his words, slowly coming to a realization, "Sir, are you saying that this spirit artifact doesn't have a restriction lock?"

The senior cultivator chuckled, "The so-called restriction lock is just a term. Restrictions themselves are an invisible lock, but some restrictions, if not unlocked with skillful methods, can lead to unpredictable outcomes such as shattering or self-combustion. However, most restrictions don't have this characteristic.

Just like the spirit artifact in your hand, you just need to slowly infuse your spirit force into those restrictions and nourish them, eventually, they will respond to you as naturally as your limbs. You can't use it right now because the artifact still retains traces of its previous owner."

Lu Ye was astounded, now understanding his mistake.

After obtaining the tiny bell spiritual artifact, he had only briefly attempted to use it and then gave up, mainly for fear of repeating past mistakes, but now it seemed he had given up too soon.

This spirit artifact originally belonged to the Young Sect Master of the Nine Stars Sect, and having been nurtured by his spirit force, the various restrictions within retained his traces, which naturally Lu Ye could not stimulate.

But if he erased those traces and then nourished it with his own spirit force, he could make this artifact his own.

If the restrictions inside a spirit artifact were to be likened to a lock, then a cultivator's spirit force would be the key. The Young Sect Master of the Nine Stars Sect was dead, and the key lost. Lu Ye would have to fit a new key to the artifact with his own spirit force.

It suddenly all made sense…

"Thank you, sir," Lu Ye said, rising to his feet in gratitude.

The senior cultivator just waved his hand and picked up his tea, sipping it slowly again.

Stepping out of the Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union, Lu Ye held the Young Master's storage sack, rifling through it to find more than thirty Spirit-Nurturing Pills, over twenty Spirit Stones, as well as several bottles of pills that Lu Ye couldn't recognize, and a mishmash of other items, such as women's clothing…

The clothes were all incredibly thin and scanty. Lu Ye could only sigh and think to himself that this Young Master really knew how to have fun.

The loot wasn't much, but he didn't feel shortchanged either.

Now he had over three hundred and fifty Spirit-Nurturing Pills on him, but sadly, only the six largest pieces of the origin magnetic ore remained. Lu Ye couldn't help but feel a bit melancholic; he had initially thought that the amount of ore he had would be enough for him to cultivate to Spirit Stream Level 9. Now, it seemed he had been too optimistic.

After passing through several chaotic streets, he arrived at a corner of the marketplace.

Immediately, a scream reached his ears. Lu Ye looked over to see a rudimentary tent set up with a few beds inside. On one of them, the burly Kong Niu was holding down a struggling male cultivator, while Hua Ci, with a headscarf wrapped around her head, hit the male cultivator's abdomen with dazzling speed.

With each strike, the man would let out a scream, and occasionally, a stream of blood would shoot out from a wound on his abdomen, a blood that wasn't the normal bright red, but rather a bit blackish.

It seemed this guy had been poisoned…

This was Hua Ci's regular treatment spot in Liusu Place. Many severely injured Haotian Alliance cultivators would come here to seek her aid. Today, business appeared to be good, as there were several disabled people lying on the beds waiting for treatment, each one looking patently miserable, making one wonder what they had each been through.

With each scream from the male cultivator being treated, he would cry out, "Momma…"n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Hua Ci's medical skills were undoubtedly exquisite, but it was undeniable that her treatment methods were somewhat rough. Lu Ye reaffirmed to himself that she was the kind of woman who would utter the most tender words while delivering the most ruthlessly efficient treatment.

And as he listened to the male cultivator's wails, Lu Ye couldn't help but recall Hua Ci's previous jokes about healing cultivators—apparently, she wasn't just spouting nonsense; some people really did call out to her as 'Mom'.

"I told you not to move around, stop moving!" Kong Niu exerted pressure to keep the man from breaking free.

The male cultivator cried with tears and snot running down his face, shouting, "Just kill me, end it already!" His screams were so horrifying that anyone uninformed might fear some inhuman torture was occurring here.

A good while later, Hua Ci finally stopped her treatment and immediately noticed Lu Ye standing off to the side, watching the excitement. She called out unceremoniously, "Hey you there, come over and help."

Lu Ye pointed at himself with his finger.

"Yes, you!" Hua Ci said, wiping off the blood from her hands with a piece of cotton cloth.

Lu Ye approached reluctantly, and Hua Ci held up a bowl of green medicinal solution, gesturing to the side, "Feed it to him."

Taking the medicinal solution, Lu Ye was suddenly flooded with many unpleasant memories. The corners of his mouth curled into a smile as he stepped toward the cultivator being treated.

At that moment, Kong Niu was still restraining the male cultivator, who, upon seeing Lu Ye step by step, somehow felt an especially bad premonition and struggled even more fiercely, "Let me go, let me go now!"

Lu Ye stepped forward, standing in front of the man with an innocuous smile, "Brother, it's time to take your medicine…"

"I don't want to!" The male cultivator's sense of crisis grew even more intense, his head shaking left and right.

Lu Ye gave Kong Niu a look, and Kong Niu immediately grabbed the man's mouth while Lu Ye lifted the bowl and began pouring it in.

"I… gulp gulp… need to gulp gulp…"