Sage of Humanity

"My lord!" Zhang Julai turned his head to look at Lu Ye, his expression inquiring.

Lu Ye pondered for a moment, then said, "From now on, the Bright Moon Cave will be under your command!"

According to his initial plan, he was to massacre all the Blood Race here.

But he hadn't expected to find some kidnapped human women here, and those women were all pregnant!

It would not be difficult to kill all the Blood Race here, but what would happen afterward? How to settle those women?

Keeping them here was inappropriate; if they were sent to nearby villages, they might be fine for a short time, but once they gave birth to Blood Race babies, the situation would become even worse.

There must be a space where they can live safely; Bright Moon Cave is the only choice, so its current state can only be maintained for now.

Only after they give birth to the Blood Race babies can they be relocated separately.

Zhang Julai was overjoyed upon hearing this, turned around, bent down, severed Sun Miaozhu's head, and carried it by hand, striding out the door.

A group of Blood Race members rushed over from various places, and when they saw the glaring, wide-eyed head in his hand, they were all shocked.

One of the Blood Race shouted, "Zhang Julai, you killed the cave residence master? How dare you!"

Zhang Julai snorted coldly, throwing Sun Miaozhu's head out, "From now on, I will be the master of the Bright Moon Cave. Who agrees? Who opposes?"

The blood-stained head rolled on the ground a few times, stopping in front of the Blood Race member who had shouted. He stepped forward, his expression fierce, "You think you are worthy of being the master? You don't have the qualifications."

In Bright Moon Cave, Sun Miaozhu's strength was undoubtedly the strongest, followed by this Blood Race member who shouted, and after him, it was Zhang Julai and another Blood Race of similar cultivation.

With Sun Miaozhu dead, no matter how Zhang Julai killed her, by Blood Race rules, only the strongest had the right to succeed the master position. The strongest Blood Race was naturally dissatisfied.

"Then let me show you whether I have the qualifications." In the past, Zhang Julai naturally wouldn't vie for the master position, as he was self-aware, but now that Lu Ye had spoken, how could he not comply?

Besides, with Lu Ye and Dao Thirteen standing behind him, who in the Bright Moon Cave did he need to fear?

"Dao Thirteen!" Zhang Julai shouted sharply.

Lu Ye immediately signaled to Dao Thirteen with a glance.

Dao Thirteen then strode out from behind Zhang Julai, heading straight for the Blood Race member who had spoken, spirit force surging around him.

The Blood Race couldn't help but laugh, "A mere Spirit Stream Realm Blood Slave dares to get arrogant!"

As he said this, he advanced and reached out to grab Dao Thirteen's head. His sharp nails pressed against Dao Thirteen's forehead, but as blood Qi spirit force surged, the Blood Race's expression suddenly changed, as the expected scene of crushing the Blood Slave's head did not occur. Instead, he felt as if he was grasping an indestructible golden stone.

What's happening?

Just as confusion appeared on his face, a fist suddenly enlarged in his field of vision.

With a loud bang, a visible shock wave burst out, blood splattering.

With one punch, Dao Thirteen exploded the head of this Blood Race member, who had the cultivation of Cloud River Level 8.

From the severed neck, blood gushed out vigorously.

This shocking scene made all present Blood Race members' faces change drastically, and they looked at Dao Thirteen in fear, finally understanding how Zhang Julai managed to kill the cave master and had the confidence to inherit the master position.

They had thought he merely subdued a robust Blood Slave, not knowing that this Blood Slave possessed such terrifying brute force.

The headless corpse wobbled, then collapsed to the ground with a thud.

This sound was like a massive hammer crashing into the heart of every Blood Race member, awakening them suddenly, and the way they looked at Zhang Julai changed.

Some were fearful, but more were envious.

"Who else thinks I am not qualified to inherit the master position?" Zhang Julai swept his cold gaze over them.

The Blood Race members looked at each other, then all knelt on one knee, placing a hand on their chest, and shouted in unison, "Greetings, Master!"

Zhang Julai's back stood much straighter, a sense of self-satisfaction emerging spontaneously.

He never thought he would have a day to inherit the master position, but of course, he hadn't forgotten that all this was brought by Lu Ye.

Though it was Dao Thirteen who acted, he was following Lu Ye's orders.

Internal struggles among the Blood Race are frequent and severe, but such conflicts generally wouldn't occur within groups gathered in one cave residence, as they understand the importance of unity.

However, exceptions do occasionally occur, and power struggles within the same cave residence sometimes happen.

This is also why many Blood Race members could quickly accept Zhang Julai; with such a powerful Blood Slave, he naturally had the qualifications to be the master.

If anyone else from the Blood Race took that position, they would struggle to win over the masses.

"Everyone retreat, and go do what you need to do. I'll call on you if there's anything," Zhang Julai waved his hand.

The Blood Race members dared not oppose and returned to where they came from.

After they retreated, Zhang Julai stepped forward, retrieved the Blood Crystal from the Blood Race member Dao Thirteen had killed, and respectfully handed it over to Lu Ye with both hands.

Lu Ye nodded slightly, "Find me a clean place."

Zhang Julai immediately led the way.

Shortly after, they arrived at a relatively spacious cave. Lu Ye casually arranged some simple restrictions and sat down cross-legged.

He took out some clean water, washed two Blood Crystals, chose the one from Sun Miaozhu, and threw it into his mouth, crushing it.

His cultivation had now recovered to the 7th Heaven level, and the benefits of consuming a Blood Crystal were far greater than hunting in the mountains and consuming the flesh of those beasts and demon beasts, allowing him to clearly feel the unraveling of the confinement force within himself.

With this Blood Crystal, restoring his cultivation to the Cloud River Realm should be no problem.

Crunch crunch...

While chewing, Lu Ye gestured to Dao Thirteen, who was standing beside him.

Dao Thirteen then sat down next to him.

Lu Ye handed the other Blood Crystal to him, "Try it!"

Having been sent to this world by the Nine Provinces Heaven's Augury, his greatest and only ally was undoubtedly Dao Thirteen. He needed to restore his strength quickly, and Dao Thirteen needed it just as much.

However, Lu Ye was unsure if Dao Thirteen could absorb the energy from the Blood Crystal.

This thing could rapidly dissolve the confinement force, but it contained many impurities. At this moment, a large amount of gray mist rose from the Talent Tree, clearly indicating that the Talent Tree was burning away those impurities.

Dao Thirteen did not have a Talent Tree, and it was uncertain if consuming the Blood Crystal would cause any issues.

But since he was a body of the Divine Sea Realm, even if something went wrong, it shouldn't cause too much harm, at least he wouldn't die. So, Lu Ye decided to let him try it.

Dao Thirteen took the Blood Crystal and frowned deeply. It was clear that he was very reluctant to eat this thing.

But since it was Lu Ye's order, he did not resist and threw the Blood Crystal into his mouth, starting to chew.

Crunch crunch...

Master and servant, both with puffed cheeks, their chewing sounds echoing.

Soon, Dao Thirteen started to show some unusual reactions. A layer of blood light appeared on his skin, flickering on and off. Even his eyes were filled with bloodshot lines, making him appear extremely agitated, with no outlet to vent his anger— only visible gusts of air exhaling from his nostrils like an enraged beast.

Lu Ye clearly felt that the spirit light on Dao Thirteen's body had become more obscure.

However, the fluctuations in Dao Thirteen's spirit force had obviously increased.

Lu Ye understood that swallowing the Blood Crystal was beneficial to Dao Thirteen, but it wasn't as effective as it was for him, because without the Talent Tree, Dao Thirteen couldn't refine all the Blood Crystal he consumed like Lu Ye could.

With his robust body of the Divine Sea Realm, he could only refine a small part of the power within.

Moreover, since the Blood Crystal contained the power of the Blood Race, it had a certain impact on Dao Thirteen's spirit force, similar to how cultivators consuming too many elixir pills too quickly would lead to the accumulation of pill poison.

The obscuring of the spirit light on his body was the most telling evidence.

In the end, Lu Ye concluded that Dao Thirteen could use the Blood Crystals to restore his cultivation, but the frequency must be controlled, or it would do him no good.

Lu Ye had already refined all the energy from the Blood Crystal, as expected, his cultivation was restored to the Cloud River Realm.

But from the external manifestation of spirit force fluctuations, it was only at the Cloud River Level 1 degree.

He still needed more Blood Crystals!

After organizing numerous thoughts about the Blood Race in his mind, Lu Ye made up his mind.

After a while, he summoned Zhang Julai and gave him a series of instructions, to which Zhang Julai continuously nodded.

A moment later, in a cave within the Bright Moon Cave, Zhang Julai sat on a stone chair, with Lu Ye and Dao Thirteen standing as protectors on his left and right, and below were a dozen or so Blood Race members.

This was the first gathering of the Blood Races for discussion after Zhang Julai became the cave residence master, and the Blood Races naturally came promptly upon hearing of it. Everyone was present except for the one stationed at the entrance of Bright Moon Cave.

This was largely due to Dao Thirteen's earlier public demonstration of might. A simple Zhang Julai wouldn't warrant such fear, but the Blood Races had witnessed Dao Thirteen's fierce power firsthand, and none thought they could withstand a punch from him.

"I've gathered everyone to announce two matters," Zhang Julai spoke, following Lu Ye's prior instructions.

The gathered Blood Races listened quietly.

"First, from today onwards, in our Bright Moon Cave, no Sacred Race member is to wantonly hunt or bully Blood Food. If anyone violates this, do not blame me for being ruthless!"

His words caused an uproar in the room.

Zhang Julai taking the position of cave residence master raised no objections, since he was fortunate enough to have acquired such a powerful Blood Slave. In the Blood Refinement World, power reigned supreme.

But Zhang Julai's order to refrain from hunting or bullying Blood Food was difficult for the Blood Races to accept.

In the deeply ingrained mindset of the Blood Race, Blood Food was merely livestock to be harvested at will. For so many years, this was how it had always been in the Blood Refinement World. Zhang Julai's command directly challenged their deeply rooted beliefs, making it hard to implement, as they needed cultivation, and obeying this order would make it difficult for their cultivation to improve.

Though the Blood Race could also enhance their cultivation by absorbing nature's spiritual energy or drawing power from Spirit Stones, such methods were nowhere near as fast as consuming the fresh blood of Blood Food.