Sage of Humanity
Chapter 1045 - 1043: The Secret of the Divine Sea

The sound of slapping kept echoing, and Lu Ye awakened from his slumber, immediately sensing something was off, for he was lying face down on a bed, with someone frantically tapping his back.

Just as he was about to react, a voice came to his ear: "Fellow Daoist has battled for a long time, flesh torn, temporarily do not move recklessly."

Lu Ye turned his head and saw a young man in white giving him a warm smile. From the fluctuations of spirit force on his body, he clearly possessed True Lake Realm abilities, and his spirit force was of the wood element. With each slap, a gentle force imprinted itself into his body, mending the torn flesh.

Lu Ye felt soreness all over, especially his right arm, which felt powerless at the moment.

He immediately understood the young man's words were correct; his previous battle had lasted too long, and maintaining the strongest force had caused damage to his flesh.

The young man was obviously healing him.

"Healing cultivator?" Lu Ye asked.

"Fellow Daoist is perceptive; I am indeed a healing cultivator." The young man replied with a smile, his hands not stopping.

"Much appreciated." Lu Ye then contentedly enjoyed it.

Though if a female cultivator were doing this, he would be more comfortable, since the young man was healing him, it was inappropriate to say much.

Lu Ye wasn't one to talk much, but the young healing cultivator was lively, chatting while healing Lu Ye: "Granny said, in this battle, Fellow Daoist achieved great success, slaying countless enemies, truly admirable, and quite enviable." The granny he spoke of was probably Granny Jiew.

Both in Nine Provinces and here, healing cultivators generally did not partake in killing; their skills were all about healing, so while they had some means of self-protection, their combat power was generally not impressive.

Of course, some poison doctors were exceptions; their combat power might not be very strong, but their methods of killing were more hidden and subtle, making them hard to defend against.

"Each field has its expertise, healing cultivators have their own duties; I am a combat cultivator, assigned to kill enemies. What we do is our duty, not better or worse."

The young man immediately took a liking to Lu Ye.

Chatting casually while healing Lu Ye.

Only after one hour did the young man finish, saying: "I see Fellow Daoist's physique is strong; such injuries will not affect much. A few days of rest will suffice for complete recovery."

Lu Ye got up from the bed, stretched his muscles, feeling the soreness had reduced greatly, his body feeling comfortable: "Junior brother's skills are good."

The young man smiled: "Should senior brother have any instructions in the future, just call for me; I am at the city's medical pavilion. For now, let senior brother rest, I should take my leave."

Lu Ye escorted him to the door, then turned and walked back.

Glancing at Dao Thirteen, seeing his aura as before, knowing the previous battle had little impact on him; physique cultivators have strong recovery abilities, a small injury can be completely healed in a few days.

"How long did I sleep?" Lu Ye asked.

Dao Thirteen thought for a moment, leisurely raised a middle finger to him.

Only a day?

Lu Ye was slightly surprised, sleeping so deeply, mainly due to fatigue from the battle, along with this being senior brother's territory, there was no need for any precautions.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, he closed his eyes and focused, examining himself.

The physical injuries were nothing much; he had good recovery ability, and with the healing cultivator's treatment, could easily recover.

But Lu Ye quickly noticed something unusual.

His Divine Pool... seemed to have expanded slightly.

This was indeed an unexpected joy.

The problem with the Divine Pool had troubled him for a long time; it was something birthed by chance when he was at True Lake Level 1.

In the history of Nine Provinces, no True Lake Realm cultivator had ever birthed mental consciousness or nurtured a soul body, so there was no precedent to follow.

However, for Lu Ye, until now, he hadn't encountered any issues; the birth of mental consciousness gave him stronger perception and allowed him to activate and construct divine runes, bringing many benefits.

But his Divine Pool, compared to a real Divine Sea, was still different; it could only be considered an incomplete version of a Divine Sea.

Lu Ye once naively thought that as his cultivation realm advanced, the Divine Pool would slowly expand, eventually evolving into a real Divine Sea.

Yet over time, the growth of the Divine Pool was extremely limited, basically only after consuming Soul Cleansing Water, did the Divine Pool have some imperceptible changes.

This caused his mental consciousness to never be very strong, even the newly ascended Divine Sea blood race Heavenly Venerate's mental consciousness was stronger than his.

This was a problem that had constantly troubled Lu Ye.

However, because he was still in the True Lake Realm, he didn't waste too much energy on it.

Unexpectedly, today brought an unexpected joy, as the Divine Pool inexplicably expanded a bit, not much but noticeably.

His Mental Consciousness was also stronger than before.

Is it because he was already at True Lake Level 9? Lu Ye wasn't very sure.

When a cultivator's cultivation reaches his level, they generally need to prepare for advancement to the Divine Sea, but this is a significant hurdle for any cultivator. Crossing it means vast horizons; failing to do so means being forever stuck in the True Lake Realm.

Warlord Geng had been trapped in the True Lake Level 9 for many years. It wasn't that his aptitude was lacking, but advancing to the Divine Sea depends not only on cultivation aptitude but also significantly on luck.

Of course, the supply of resources is indispensable. If one can obtain treasures that nourish the psyche, like Soul Cleansing Water, advancing to the Divine Sea would be much simpler and easier.

What Lu Ye didn't understand was why the Divine Pool expanded so noticeably this time.

After some exploration, he still couldn't grasp the reason.

Nevertheless, it indeed seemed time for him to begin preparing for advancement to the Divine Sea. Such matters shouldn't be done in isolation; he needed to consult with someone.

In cultivation, some things require one's persistence, but other matters indeed need communication with others.

Initially, he intended to seek his senior brother for advice, but with the recent battles just settling down, and the various affairs entangling the Righteous Blood Sacred Land, Lu Ye couldn't find any trace of his senior brother and had to wait a little.

The issue of the Divine Pool couldn't be studied for the moment, so Lu Ye could only reflect on what he gained from the recent battle.

In this battle, he maintained his utmost exertion from start to finish because many of the enemies he faced were stronger than himself, including many Blood Race Divine Sea level enemies. How many times he swung his saber under such life-and-death encounters on the battlefield—those experiences and insights garnered far surpassed what his daily saber skills practice could achieve.

It can be said that the harvest from such a battle far exceeds the painstaking closed-door cultivation of ordinary days.

What Lu Ye needed to do now was imprint the various gains from that battle deep within his soul, savoring the spirit lights that burst in his mind between those life-and-death moments, and discerning what methods to apply when facing similar situations next time for better resolution.

That's how cultivators grow step by step; the more life-and-death crises they experience, the stronger their methods become.

Perhaps two cultivators have comparable cultivation and strength, but a life-and-death struggle could be decided at a glance, just because one has encountered similar scenes more often and knows how to effectively combat the opponent.

In this way, several days quickly passed.

Until this day, when Lu Ye was amidst comprehension, he heard the sound of flying through the air. He quickly released his Mental Consciousness to explore and indeed found it was his senior brother returning.

Earlier, he had been busy outside and was nowhere to be seen.

Lu Ye hurriedly got up and went to the senior brother's quarters to state his purpose.

Feng Wujiang nodded slightly: "Junior Brother, now that you're at True Lake Level 9, indeed, you should start preparing for advancement to the Divine Sea. If there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask."

Feng Wujiang was very willing to guide Lu Ye in cultivation.

Lu Ye said, "Senior Brother, look, I'm currently at True Lake Level 9, and I've already nurtured a soul body and developed Mental Consciousness, but I feel like I'm not truly at the Divine Sea Realm. What kind of situation is this?"

Feng Wujiang said: "This situation is indeed unheard of, but Junior Brother, do you know why cultivators develop Mental Consciousness only after reaching True Lake Level 9?" _{free\we,bnovel.c o(m)}

Lu Ye naturally shook his head.

Feng Wujiang explained: "Mental Consciousness is a manifestation of psyche power. In fact, everyone has their psyche power, but the strength varies. Before the Divine Sea Realm, the psyche power you utilize is usually called mental power, which Junior Brother should have experienced."

Lu Ye nodded.

"When you summon power, when you wield Spiritual Artifacts, you are not only consuming your spirit force but also your mental power. Before reaching the Divine Sea Realm, continuously exercising mental power is also a form of tempering for the psyche. Therefore, as a cultivator's realm improves, mental power grows, and the psyche strengthens. But these are intangible and imperceptible changes. Over time, at True Lake Level 9, there is the opportunity for a qualitative change—mental power transitions to Mental Consciousness, leading to the birth of the Divine Sea and nurturing of a soul body."

Lu Ye was greatly enlightened. Although he had vaguely sensed these things before, no one had ever explained them in detail to him. Hearing the senior brother's words now, he felt a sudden clarity.

"Before the Divine Sea Realm, your mental power is sufficient to control the power within your body, so you don't need something like Mental Consciousness. But that's the limit in the True Lake Realm. The level above requires power beyond the capacity of mere mental power, so at this stage, cultivators try to find ways to convert mental power to Mental Consciousness. Only Mental Consciousness can wield higher levels of physical power. Ultimately, it's a transformation driven by the cultivator's own pursuit of change."

Lu Ye understood Feng Wujiang's meaning: as mental power starts to fall short of controlling physical power, the cultivator's subconscious seeks breakthroughs and changes, resulting in the birth of Mental Consciousness and the Divine Sea.

"The reason you could develop Mental Consciousness in the True Lake Realm is entirely because your mental power was exceptionally strong and encountered certain external stimuli, leading to the coincidental birth of Mental Consciousness. That was your subconscious's protection, but you're not genuinely at the Divine Sea Realm, because your physical power hasn't met the standard yet. Having only Mental Consciousness is not enough."

Lu Ye's eyes lit up: "So, I should now accumulate physical power."

Feng Wujiang nodded: "Only when your physical power reaches the standard will you have the opportunity to break through to the Divine Sea."

It's merely an opportunity.