Chapter 2266 - 2264: Bone Chalice of Edgeless City

The shortcut technique, Lu Ye can provide Zi Ying as a reference, but he would never tell You Die.

You Die kept pestering, but after receiving a glare from Lu Ye, she finally behaved, stomping her foot in anger, and glancing resentfully at Lu Ye: "Brother Ye is biased!"

Yayi and Kuzhi bowed their heads even deeper.

A cup of tea later, Zi Ying arrived.

To Lu Ye's surprise, she didn't come alone; she was carrying someone in her hand.

After entering the insect hive, Zi Ying threw the person onto the ground.

"Sister Zi Ying, this is..." Lu Ye looked over and realized she seemed to be of the Demon Race, but hadn't completely shape-changed because her ears were clearly those furry cat ears, and there was a long cat tail behind her.

Cat demon?

This cat demon had a very petite figure, looking as if she hadn't fully matured, and was currently unconscious, curled up on the ground into a ball.

Lu Ye watched with some amazement.

Although he couldn't ascertain the specific cultivation of the cat demon, surviving in such an environment meant she was at least an Enter the Path level.

But if she were Enter the Path, why hadn't she completely shape-changed?

Lu Ye didn't know where Zi Ying encountered this cat demon or why she captured her.

"There's a faction nearby!" Zi Ying spoke up. "I suspect the Ghost Cultivator you encountered earlier belongs to this faction."

She glanced at the cat demon on the ground: "She's also a member, but her abilities are not high, and she's stubborn. I couldn't glean too much information from her."

Lu Ye asked: "How far is it from here?"

The Star Abyss contains various factions, which he knows; some were formed by stellar space cultivators seeking warmth in the aftermath of stellar space's collapse, but more were established by Star Abyss living creatures. These factions, large and small, are scattered throughout the Star Abyss.

Judging from the Ghost Cultivator's earlier performance, this faction is definitely not weak.

If Banlan had continued to wander, there was no need to pay attention, but now Banlan had stopped. If there really is a strong faction nearby, it must not be ignored.

Aside from anything else, Lu Ye didn't want to be cautious every time he left Banlan, fearing an attack.

Also, whether it's Zi Ying or You Die, if their cultivation ascension was disturbed, it would be bad, so the faction nearby undoubtedly poses a threat.

If the Ghost Cultivator who ambushed Lu Ye truly belonged to this faction, there is an inherent hatred, as Lu Ye killed a group of their people earlier.

"Very close!" Zi Ying said in a deep voice.

Lu Ye furrowed his brows; this is troubling.

He hadn't expected Banlan to stop at such an awkward location; with his current methods, perhaps he could move Banlan again, leaving this spot.

But even if he could, it would certainly require a large expense of Dao force and effort, and setting Banlan down again would be another Dao force expenditure.

"Sister Zi Ying's intention is..." Lu Ye looked up at Zi Ying.

"First gauge their reality; if possible, talk to them. There's no deep-seated hatred, so peaceful coexistence is best. If not..." A glint of harshness flashed in her eyes.

Having finally escaped Banlan, while preparing for ascension to Dao Harmony, this matter delayed it, so her mood wasn't great.

Lu Ye looked at You Die.

You Die pursed her lips and smiled: "Let me handle it."

In terms of intelligence gathering and controlling others, You Die undoubtedly surpassed Zi Ying, which was why Zi Ying brought the cat demon over.

As the word fell, a light blue Soul Power rippled, enveloping the cat demon curled up on the ground.

Even in a coma, the cat demon involuntarily whimpered and curled tighter.

Divine Origin Illusory Sea! You Die had once used this method against Lu Ye, resulting in him binding her through Chains of Life.

But there's only one Lu Ye in this world.

The cat demon is just a common beginner cultivation, unable to resist You Die's Psyche Secret Technique.

Unknown what she encountered, her breath became rapid, skin flushed, body squirmed, occasionally low moaning, at times making suppressed high-pitched sounds.

You Die just stood by, smiling, only to receive a fierce glare from Lu Ye.

Zi Ying's eyelids lowered, as if in a meditative trance, hearing nothing, seeing nothing.

About half a day later, the cat demon abruptly shivered, then her petite body stretched out, a deep red on her face, and even in a coma, she still had a blissful, satisfied smile.

Lu Ye watched, his back hair standing up; if it weren't for Chains of Life back then, his fate might not have differed much from this cat demon's.

"Edgeless City!" Dark Butterfly suddenly spoke slowly.

"What?" Lu Ye looked at her.

"The nearby force is called Edgeless City, which was once one of the strongest forces in a certain Yiyuan stellar space. However, after being invaded by Star Abyss, the stellar space shattered, but this Edgeless City managed to survive, absorbing many cultivators from that space, continuing to this day."

"They really have great luck." Lu Ye praised.

Generally speaking, after a stellar space shatters, the fate of living creatures inside isn't good because the cultivators inside are too weak, unable to compare with Star Abyss cultivators, and usually face massacre.

This Edgeless City, however, managed to survive, and it seems to have developed quite well, having even reached the Peak Dao Fusion.

"What kind of foundation do they have?"

"The Beast Race cultivator doesn't have high cultivation, only at the 7th Dao level, so she doesn't know much. She only knows that Edgeless City has around a dozen to twenty Dao Fusion cultivators, and the City Lord, Mad Lion, is at the Peak Dao Fusion."

"Beast Race?" Lu Ye frowned slightly. Whether in stellar space or Star Abyss, he had seen and heard of many races, some quite bizarre, but he hadn't heard of the Beast Race, "Isn't it Demon Race?"

Dark Butterfly explained, "They call themselves the Beast Race. For example, this one in front of us is a member of the cat tribe of the Beast Race. The biggest difference between them and the Demon Race is that they generally retain some beast transformation features."

Still the Demon Race, just not completely shape-changing, Lu Ye thought to himself.

"Is Mad Lion also Beast Race?" Zi Ying focused on another point.

Dark Butterfly nodded, "From this cat demon's memory, Mad Lion is from the Lion Tribe, indeed also Beast Race."

Lu Ye and Zi Ying exchanged a glance, realizing something.

This Edgeless City... isn't just home to one Peak Dao Fusion!

Mad Lion is one, and the ghost cultivator they encountered before is another. There are at least a dozen Dao Fusion cultivators; their strength is indeed formidable.

Moreover, the intelligence the cat demon can grasp is evidently incomplete, perhaps Edgeless City's strength is even greater than what has been uncovered.

Though the other side has two Peak Dao Fusion, their side has the same, not intimidated. Additionally, Yayi and Kuzhi are both Dao Fusion, and Lu Ye, though at Dao Entry, has strength that isn't inferior to common Dao Fusion.

Even if not in quantity, they at least have a qualification for equal dialogue.

"Avoidance is unavoidable; I'll go negotiate with them. If we can coexist peacefully, it would be best. If not... think of another solution." Zi Ying spoke.

Lu Ye had no objections, thinking that Edgeless City wouldn't want to be enemies with five Dao Fusion cultivators on their side either.

Dark Butterfly calmly remarked, "I advise you to give up on that thought."

"Why?" Zi Ying looked at her.

Dark Butterfly chuckled, "Unless you can tolerate some of Edgeless City's practices."

"What have they done?" Zi Ying was even more puzzled.

"They've penned a large number of humans in a domain, selecting those with exceptional potential, helping them cultivate and break through, until they reach Dao Entry!"

"And then?" Lu Ye asked. Just hearing this, it didn't sound too problematic, but what Dark Butterfly wanted to say was clearly more complex.

"Then it gets interesting..." Dark Butterfly said, her expression calm, "Once reaching Dao Entry, they can become a renewable cultivation resource for the Beast Race."

"What is a renewable cultivation resource?" Lu Ye frowned.

Dark Butterfly looked at him, "Brother Ye, before entering Banlan, you once ventured through the Star Abyss; haven't you heard of bone growing?"

"Bone growing..." Lu Ye murmured, vaguely recalling hearing this term somewhere, but couldn't place it for the moment.

He explained, "Before entering Banlan, although I ventured into Star Abyss, it was briefly, so my understanding is limited."

"No wonder." Dark Butterfly nodded, "So you not knowing is understandable. The so-called bone growing is to have Dao Entry humans cultivate a special technique, changing internal aspects. At a certain point, those humans become vessels for bone growing, known as bone chalices."

"They can still cultivate, polish their Dao bones, but unlike normal Dao Entry, they can never engage in combat because their Dao bones are fragile, unable to withstand the impact of battle forces. Yet, this way, there's an advantage: once a Dao bone is taken, it's easy to polish another anew, until ready, and taken again..."

At this point, both Lu Ye and Zi Ying's expressions hardened, realizing the plight of those penned humans.

Lu Ye finally recalled where he heard of bone growing.

It was his first time leaving Banlan, entering Star Abyss, when suddenly encountering two Dao Fusion passersby, one saying to take him back for bone growing!

Thus, it seems that turning Dao Entry into bone chalices and continually harvesting Dao bones is common in Star Abyss; otherwise, those two Dao Fusion wouldn't have wanted to take him back for it.

This truly is renewable cultivation resource.

Cultivators can gain Dao force through harsh cultivation; once bone chalices polish their Dao bones successfully, they are dismantled and taken, then they repeat this cycle of suffering, unable to escape unless they die.

No wonder an Edgeless City can have so many Dao Fusion; using bone chalices to grow bones so long as there's a large number, those Beast Race in Edgeless City never lack cultivation resources.