Sage of Humanity

Lu Ye was gently awakened by the sect master. As he opened his eyes, he saw the sect master standing beside him and quickly got up.

"Sect Master." Lu Ye rubbed his eyes, patted his face, and immediately felt much more awake.

"It's time to disembark," the sect master said with a smile.

Over the past days, more than ten sects of the Haotian Alliance had evacuated from Evil Moon Valley together. They had now reached the territory of the Haotian Alliance, and naturally, it was time for each to return to their own homes. Several sects had already left earlier.

Lu Ye packed up his bedding, stuffed it into his storage sack, and tidied up his appearance before following the sect master out of the cabin.

Soon, they reached the deck, where a stern-looking, tall middle-aged man was waiting.

Lu Ye did not recognize this man, but after a brief glance, he felt that the middle-aged man emanated an aura of soldiers and iron horses.

The sect master approached and spoke a few words with the man.

Suddenly, the man turned his head to look at Lu Ye, who was standing beside the sect master, and said, "Being able to join the Righteous Blood Sect is your good fortune. You must cultivate diligently and not bring disgrace to the name of our sect."

Lu Ye quickly replied, "Yes!"

The sect master bowed with a fist, "Then, I shall take my leave first."

"Please," the middle-aged man gestured with his hand.

With a flip of his palm, the sect master produced an object from nowhere and casually tossed it; spirit light suddenly appeared, and a double-horse carriage appeared on the deck.

The two horses pulling the carriage were completely white and looked extraordinarily spirited, snorting softly and restlessly pawing the ground with their hooves.

Before Lu Ye could see clearly, he found himself involuntarily floating into the carriage, wrapped in spirit force by the sect master.

"Open the array!" the middle-aged man shouted. As he gave his order, the protective array of the Flying Dragon Ship opened a gap, letting a fierce wind howl in, causing everyone's clothes on the deck to flutter loudly.

The sect master and the middle-aged man bowed to each other. As the two horses neighed and raised their heads, spirit light formed around their hooves. They dashed out through the gap in the protective array and sped away into the distance at a very high speed.

Watching the double-horse carriage disappear from view, the middle-aged man turned around and strode toward the cabin, leaving behind a command: "Bring me that bastard Pang Dahai!"

"Yes," a few cultivators from the Haotian Alliance responded, their faces revealing a schadenfreude smile. Although they didn't know what Junior Brother Pang had done again to anger the Deputy Alliance Leader, it was clear that Junior Brother Pang was going to lose a fair amount of weight.

On the double-horse carriage, Lu Ye looked around excitedly, touching this and that, his eyes full of wonder.

Having been in the Nine Provinces for over a year, it was only in the last few days that he realized that what he knew of the Nine Provinces was not the true face of this world; there were too many things beyond his imagination.

Like the previous Flying Dragon Ship or this double-horse carriage, this huge disparity in understanding made him acutely aware of one thing.

This was a world of cultivation. Only by joining the Righteous Blood Sect did he obtain the means to integrate into this world of cultivation. As his cultivation strength continued to grow, the wonders of this world would gradually reveal themselves.

Otherwise, if he had spent his life mining in the ore veins, how could he have witnessed these colorful and diverse experiences?

"These two horses... are they not living creatures?" Lu Ye stood on the carriage pole, reached out and touched the behind of the front horse, and discovered it didn't feel like flesh and blood but rather like touching a piece of metal, cold to the touch.

On closer inspection, he realized that these two horses indeed lacked the breath of living creatures, yet they appeared so vivid and lifelike that they gave the illusion of being alive.

The carriage behind was open-air, topped with a large umbrella that spun with the wind. Strands of spirit light hung down like threads, blocking the fierce gales from above.

The sect master sat in the carriage, and upon hearing the words, he smiled and said, "This is the creation of the cover armorers, used for transportation."

"Cover armorer?" Lu Ye asked curiously.

"A form of extrinsic cultivation, skilled in artifact crafting. You'll come across it if opportunity arises," he explained.

Lu Ye did not ask further but eagerly looked around for a while before obediently taking his seat in the carriage.

The carriage was spacious enough to comfortably seat three to five people.

Of course, he wasn't foolish enough to sit beside the sect master. Understanding the basic respect of honoring his teacher, he chose a seat facing the sect master, directly opposite him.

"How was your cultivation progressing before?" the sect master asked.

"It went rather smoothly," Lu Ye replied. Through his recent cultivation, he had confirmed something: his drug-enhanced cultivation seemed to present no significant risks.

In the past few days, he had taken more than ten Spirit-Nurturing Pills and opened his 3rd orifice. Setting aside how efficient others might be in their cultivation, it was unlikely anyone could consume elixir pills continuously like he did.

The pill poison accumulation mentioned by the sect master, which could lead to murky and obstructed spirit force, hadn't occurred either.

It might still be too early to tell, as he had only taken more than ten Spirit-Nurturing Pills. This was something that would necessitate further observation to confirm.

He was considering whether to discuss his progress in orifice-opening with the sect master, hesitating, when he heard the sect master ask, "Among the six cultivations, which path would you like to pursue?"

The so-called six cultivations unquestionably referred to the information previously shared by Pang Dahai.

Lu Ye hadn't really thought about this. Being new to the world of cultivation, he was naive and uninformed about everything. How could he have decided on his future path?

He thus sought advice, "What do you think, Master?"

Veteran Thang stroked his beard and said, "Your physique isn't particularly robust, nor do you possess any distinct innate talents, so physique cultivation wouldn't suit you. Your dominant elements are fire with an auxiliary of metal, which makes neither ghost cultivation nor healing cultivation suitable for you. That leaves combat cultivation, magic cultivation, and extrinsic cultivation. Speaking of extrinsic cultivation, every cultivator understands some extrinsic techniques to varying extents, so it can be seen as a supplemental path rather than a specialization."

Lu Ye nodded in understanding, "So, the paths suitable for me are just combat cultivation and magic cultivation?"

"That's correct," he replied.

"Which path do you follow, Master?" Lu Ye asked curiously.

Veteran Thang chuckled, "I am a magic cultivator. You don't have to imitate me. Determining your own path is a gradual process that requires true insight into your heart. I ask these now just to give you an idea, not to rush your decision. Once we return to Mount Ao..."

Lu Ye was attentively listening to the sect master's teachings when suddenly everything started spinning. Then, a roaring sound erupted, deafening to the ears.

As his vision whirled, he caught a glimpse of a blaze in the sky through the corner of his eyes. Looking intently, he saw a double-horse carriage ablaze, which had somehow been attacked and was now shattered into pieces. The two horses that pulled the carriage were also torn apart, scattering as they fell.

Lu Ye shook his head, feeling that the burning double-horse carriage looked identical to the one they had just been riding in.

He suddenly realized that it was the very carriage he and the sect master had been traveling in, merely struck by a mysterious attack!

Only at this moment did he discover that the sect master had already transported him away from the carriage, floating mid-air, with spirit light shining intensely around the sect master, enveloping him. The sect master formed hand seals, looked around coldly, his expression extremely grave.