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Translator: Jon
Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys
In this unfamiliar environment, Lu Ye was vigilant while gripping the hilt of his saber. However, he soon became at ease, for there wasn’t any danger around him.
Unlike what he came across when he entered the Rift of Illusions in the past, there was no fog, nor were there any monsters that appeared out of nowhere to attack him. He was now in a house.
The door and window were tightly closed. The house was unadorned with only a table and several chairs.
A teapot and a few tea cups were placed on the table.
Lu Ye stepped forward and examined the table before realizing there was a thick layer of dust on it, which showed the house had been vacant for a long time.
It seemed to be a place where guests were received as there was a staircase that led to the second floor.
He took a look at the staircase but didn’t immediately go up. Instead, he fell into his thoughts.
He wondered where this place was.
When he entered the Rift of Illusions to get some training in the past, the environment was simple. He would arrive at an empty space that was shrouded in fog, and enemies would appear to attack him from time to time.
However, when he visited the Rift of Illusions again after the two Mystic Fruit Seeds became one, he arrived at this strange place.
What puzzled him even more was his current state.
In fact, he had already detected it the moment he entered the place. Something strange had happened to him, but he didn’t have time to look into it. Now that he was certain he wasn’t in danger, he started examining himself.
Following the examination, he arched his brow, for things were more complicated than he thought.
He came to the realization that his power had increased significantly for some mysterious reason.
He was only a Fifth-Order Cloud River Realm Master, but the power within him now far surpassed that. He felt that he was even stronger than the Ninth-Order Masters he had dealt with before.
In other words, his power was most likely equivalent to that of a Real Lake Realm Master.
As for which Order it was, he had no idea. He hadn’t come into contact with a lot of Real Lake Realm Masters in the first place, so there wasn’t a standard he could compare himself to. As such, he couldn’t determine how powerful he currently was.
When he passed through the door earlier, he suddenly felt that he had transformed into a much stronger cultivator. Now, it seemed that it wasn’t an illusion; he had indeed become more powerful.
Nonetheless, he had no idea why that was. Could this environment increase his power out of nowhere? But that didn’t seem reasonable.
He was even more perplexed by the fact that the Spiritual Power wasn’t the only power flowing in his body. There was another strange yet familiar power within him.
[Is that Soul Power?]
The moment Lu Ye realized the nature of the power, he furrowed his brows.
[What’s going on? I’m only a Fifth-Order Cloud River Realm Master. Even if I’m a Real Lake Realm Master now, I’m not supposed to sense my Soul Power.]
Soul Power was born with every cultivator. As a cultivator’s power increased, his Soul Power would improve as well. However, before he ascended to the Divine Ocean Realm, he merely owned Soul Power, which would passively help the cultivator fend off attacks on his soul, but he was unable to proactively feel it.
It was like a treasure hidden within a cultivator’s body. When he wasn’t powerful enough, he was unable to open it up.
Only when a cultivator ascended to the Divine Ocean Realm and developed Divine Ego could he sense the presence of his Soul Power and use it.
Take Lu Ye as an example. He was able to sense potential danger in advance due to the strength of his Soul Power, but the perception, strictly speaking, was only a passive power. It wasn’t comparable to Divine Ego, which could be activated.
The fights between Divine Ocean Realm Masters often involved the use of Divine Egos. Although the fights might seem calm on the surface, they were actually perilous.
Now, Lu Ye could clearly feel the flowing of Soul Power within him. It was because of the presence of Soul Power that his power had increased tremendously.
To begin with, his Soul Power had already surpassed that of the cultivators in the same Realm, reaching the level of Real Lake Realm.
[Is this the reason for the increase in power?]
Lu Ye slowly came to the realization that he was probably just an apparition now, a being that was just like Yi Yi.
[Has my soul left my body or something?]
However, it was different from the experience of a cultivator’s soul leaving his body. Generally speaking, such a cultivator could only use Soul Power but not his Spiritual Power.
On the other hand, Lu Ye was now in the state of his Spiritual Power and Soul Power co-existing, which was odd.
Suddenly, he recalled experiencing the feeling of breaking free from restraints when he passed through that door.
Now, it seemed that the restraints he had gotten rid of came from his body.
His soul was much stronger than his body, so after his soul left his body, he felt as if he was freed from restraints, which allowed him to become stronger.
This Rift of Illusions was unlike anything he had experienced before.
In the past, the Rift of Illusions was merely a reflection of Lu Ye’s state in real life, including the things he brought, his Storage Bag, and the things inside the Storage Sphere. They were all accurately reflected in the Rift.
Nonetheless, the Rift of Illusions he was inside now wasn’t just a reflection; it had also pulled his soul into this space.
Suddenly, Lu Ye was gripped by a sense of anxiety.
In the Rift of Illusions, his biggest advantage was that he wasn’t afraid of death. Even if he was killed, he wouldn’t suffer any losses. When his Soul Power was weak in the past, his mind would ache terribly after he was killed. However, ever since he acquired Soul Cleansing Water, which had helped strengthen his soul, he had been unafraid of death in the Rift. It merely felt like a needle pricking his brain, which was tolerable.
Nonetheless, his soul had left his body now. As such, he had no idea what would happen once he was killed.
Would he go to Hell? Or would his soul be severely damaged?
It seemed that he had to be more careful with his actions and ensure that he wouldn’t lose his life here, for he had no idea what the consequences would be.
As for how to leave this place, he hadn’t the foggiest idea. Therefore, he could only play it by ear.
He examined himself again. Fortunately for him, his Inviolable Saber and weapon holder were at his waist, and he could use the Storage Sphere on the back of his hand and his Storage Bag at will.
Just like what he had expected, the Rift he had entered this time was still a reflection of his state. The only difference was that his soul had left his body. As such, he could still use the things he possessed whenever he wanted.
Being in such a state was his only advantage as his power had increased massively.
He wasn’t in a hurry to push the door open and leave, for he was clueless about the environment he was in. At the very least, this house was safe.
When he entered the Rift of Illusions back then, he just had to stand there, and countless monsters would emerge from the fog, which allowed him to hone his Blade Technique and combat skills. Even though it was boring, it was simple and clear.
Nevertheless, the situation this time was more complicated. Therefore, he had to collect as much information as possible. He had to know where he was and the danger he might come across.
He walked toward the staircase and stepped on it, causing the wooden structure to creak, which sounded piercing in the silence.
Some doubts formed in his mind at that instant.
Was he even inside the Rift of Illusions? He had always felt that the Rift was nothing more than an illusion and that everything he saw here was fake. As such, he wouldn’t suffer any losses even if he lost his life here.
However, everything around him felt so real in the Rift he had entered this time. There wasn’t even a hint of fakeness.
Since the staircase wasn’t very long, he soon reached the second floor.
He carefully stuck out his head to look, but he was soon rooted to the spot.
That was because he was met with countless grayish-green eyes, which were all compound eyes. Lu Ye could even see the look of shock on his face in the reflection of those eyes.
More than ten insectoids were hiding on the second floor of the house he thought was safe.
Furthermore, they were insectoids that looked like mantises, which he was familiar with.
He had killed countless of these mantises and other forms of insectoids when he entered the Rift of Illusions back then.
[Why are there insectoids here as well?]
Before he could ponder, the mantises had fluttered their wings and flew towards him, the one in front already lifting its front legs.
As a Blade Light flickered, the insectoid was cut in half. Its green blood stained the floor and a pungent smell permeated the place.
Lu Ye stood in front of the staircase with his Inviolable Saber already in his hand.
After killing the first insectoid, he became slightly at ease, for these mantises were not so powerful as they were still in the Cloud River Realm. Given his power in the Real Lake Realm, it wasn’t hard for him to destroy them.
Moreover, following his past experiences in the Rift of Illusions, he was fully aware of the insectoids’ weaknesses.
He remained standing in front of the staircase while wielding his saber. All the insectoids that came his way were slaughtered, and they were soon eliminated.
Dots of light wafted from the carcasses of these insectoids. Unlike the red dots after cultivators of Thousand Demon Ridge were killed, these dots of light were golden.
Lu Ye didn’t know that he could get Contribution Points by killing insectoids.
While he was surprised, he was increasingly certain that it wasn’t an illusory setting.
That was because he had killed countless insectoids in the Rift of Illusions back then, but he had never obtained Contribution Points before. The fact that he even got those points showed that the insectoids were real.
However, he still didn’t understand why he would get Contribution Points by killing insectoids.
Curious about the number of points he had acquired, he tapped on his Battlefield Imprint, where it was shown that he had roughly 140,000 Contribution Points. He didn’t record the exact number of his Contribution Points before killing the insectoids, so he had no idea how many points he had obtained.
Just as he was ready to record the current Contribution Points so that he could make a comparison at a later time, he noticed a difference that was puzzling to him.
The Battlefield Imprint had all the information about him. Presently, it was shown that he had 576 battle points.
Something was wrong with the number because he remembered that he only had 56 battle points, and there hadn’t been an increase in a long time.
After all, since he was only a Cloud River Realm Master, there was rarely any chance for him to acquire battle points. The only time he obtained some battle points was when he was in the Myriad Beast Domain.
