Sage of Humanity-Chapter 563 - 561

Within the spirit ground, Lu Ye rose to his feet and approached the Heaven's Augury Pillar once again, his mind connecting to the Heaven's Augury treasure vault. However, this time, he wasn't there to purchase anything.

Instead, he intended to upgrade his Boulder Mountain Saber to the next grade.

The Boulder Mountain Saber was currently a mid-grade spirit artifact with 18 restrictions, having been upgraded from low-grade to mid-grade just a few months ago.

However, Lu Ye's cultivation had progressed rapidly of late. Since entering the Cloud River battlefield, in less than five months, he had already reached the standards of the Cloud River Level 4 realm.

Now, he was fully qualified to wield a higher quality spirit artifact.

Under normal circumstances, Spirit Stream Realm cultivators would use low-grade spirit artifacts, while those in the Cloud River Realm could switch to mid-grade. And by the time they reached the Cloud River Level 5 realm, they could transition to using top-grade spirit artifacts. As for supreme-grade spirit artifacts, they were generally used by True Lake Realm cultivators, and beyond those were Magic Artifacts.

Though Lu Ye's cultivation was one level below Level 5, it was not much of an issue.

Since he had no immediate concerns and did not need to engage in battles with others, it was the perfect opportunity to spend his free time on upgrading the grade of the Boulder Mountain Saber so that it wouldn't be neglected later due to lack of the opportunity.

Within the Heaven's Augury treasure vault, Lu Ye murmured softly, "Commission, spirit artifact upgrade!"

Having done this before, he knew the process.

As his voice fell, his vision shifted, and he found himself in a small room, empty except for a stand in front of him.

So Lu Ye waited there.

His commission for a spirit artifact upgrade required the availability of an Artifact Refiner to accept the task. They would then negotiate the price and agree on certain conditions and deadlines. If no Artifact Refiner took on the commission, he would simply have to keep waiting.

To the cultivators of the Nine Provinces, this method was undoubtedly convenient; there was no need to go through the trouble of looking for an Artifact Refiner themselves. Instead, everything could be accomplished through the help of the Heaven's Augury treasure vault.

Not only spirit artifact upgrades, but one could also commission custom-made spirit artifacts and the refining of elixir pills, among other things.

So for those with a special skill, earning merit was not difficult at all. Those cultivators who specialized in Artifact Refining or Alchemy didn't even need to fight others to the death; they could simply accept various commissions in the Heaven's Augury treasure vault and earn enough merit to satisfy their cultivation needs.

The number of Artifact Refiners who took on work this way in the Heaven's Augury treasure vault was not small. Lu Ye had only waited for a moment when the space in front of him twisted, and a figure appeared.

Glancing up, he saw a young-looking person about thirty years old, with delicate white skin and a charming face, wearing a tight-fitting dress with a floral pattern that accentuated a graceful figure.

Lu Ye was surprised.

Within the Heaven's Augury treasure vault, such commissions had a natural disguise and protection granted by Heaven's Augury for both parties. It was a method that enveloped each party in a fog, preventing them from discerning each other's identity or features, to the extent that even gender was obscured.

After all, the parties involved in such transactions might belong to opposite factions. Concealing their identities and appearance could also minimize a lot of unnecessary trouble.

But ever since Lu Ye received the Heaven's Augury Bestowment, such disguises no longer affected him. It seemed he had gained some seemingly useless privileges; in his eyes, the cultivators he traded with were not shrouded by any fog at all.

What surprised Lu Ye was that the Artifact Refiner who appeared this time was the same woman as before!

The coincidence was too much to believe.

The Boulder Mountain Saber had been upgraded from low-grade to mid-grade by this very person, resulting in Lu Ye being very satisfied. Since it was her again, there would be no problem.

Without showing any outward reaction, Lu Ye placed the Boulder Mountain Saber on the stand in front of him.

The woman reached out to grab it, her brow furrowing as she said in an elderly voice, dissatisfied, "Merely a mid-grade spirit artifact..."

Last time she had said "Merely a low-grade..."

Clearly, she was not pleased with the low quality of the spirit artifact, as it meant less profit for her.

However, unlike last time, the woman cut herself off mid-sentence as if she had discovered something. She flipped the Boulder Mountain Saber over, examined it closely, and her expression shifted slightly.

On the hilt of the Boulder Mountain Saber, there originally had only been the words "Boulder Mountain." But after the woman had upgraded it last time, an additional symbol of a feather had appeared.

Knowing it did not affect its use, Lu Ye was aware some Artifact Refiners liked to leave special marks on their works to prove their masterpieces, and this feather was undoubtedly the woman's signature.

Now, she saw her own mark.

Surprised, she looked up at Lu Ye, seemingly not expecting such a coincidence—to see the spirit artifact that she had previously upgraded reappear before her.

After reflecting for a moment, she remembered the incident from several months ago.

After all, not many were willing to spend a considerable amount to upgrade a low-grade spirit artifact; most cultivators would simply replace it without wasting much merit.

Just a few months, and it needed another upgrade. How swift was this young fellow's progression in cultivation? The woman wondered to herself.

Though she could not clearly see Lu Ye's face, the Boulder Mountain Saber in his hand allowed her to deduce some things.

"Upgrade to top-grade?" she asked in that aged voice. One might assume she was a very old individual by her voice alone, yet in reality, she was an alluring woman.

"Yes."

"What requirements do you have?"

"Keep the same shape and length, add 27 restrictions, make it sufficiently sturdy, and double the weight."

"It can be done. Name your price."

Lu Ye pondered, recalling that the last time the Boulder Mountain Saber was upgraded from low-grade to mid-grade, it cost him two thousand merit points. To upgrade it from mid-grade to top grade this time would definitely require an even greater expense.

After a brief moment of contemplation, he spoke up, "Five thousand merit points."

The woman's eyebrow raised, and a hint of a smile curled at the corner of her mouth, clearly pleased with the price. Primarily, she hadn't expected someone from the Cloud River Realm to be so generous.

However, she said, "At least eight thousand merit points. Upgrading from mid-grade to top grade requires a lot of materials, all of which I need to purchase."

Lu Ye just looked at her. If he didn't have the privilege given by Heaven's Augury to see through her expressions, he would have thought her words quite reasonable. But having seen through her facial changes, how could Lu Ye not realize that even his offer of five thousand merit points was somewhat high?

This woman probably thinks she's found an easy mark in him.

On reflection, because he obtained merit points so easily, he didn't feel the pinch when spending them. But if it were any other cultivator from the Cloud River Realm, they would have to ponder deeply before spending several thousand merit points at a time.

"Never mind then; I don't have that many merit points," he said.

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As he said this, Lu Ye began to retrieve the Boulder Mountain Saber.

"It's not as if we can't negotiate," the woman quickly said.

"Four thousand merit points?"

"What did you say?" The woman's brow twitched.

"I seem to have only four thousand merit points left."

"Boy, are you making a fool of me?" the woman's face darkened, "A firm price of five thousand merit points, pick up the saber in three days if you agree, sign the Heaven's Augury Pact!"

"Okay... I suppose," Lu Ye agreed, albeit reluctantly.

He made up his mind that next time he had the Boulder Mountain Saber upgraded, he would let someone else make the offer, then observe their expressions and bargain slowly.

The woman immediately brought out the Heaven's Augury Pact, stipulating some terms. Lu Ye checked and, after making sure there were no errors, both parties signed the contract.

"In three days!" The woman left these words behind as her figure swiftly disappeared.

Lu Ye lingered in the Heaven's Augury treasure vault for a while longer, and by chance, noticed that several portions of Earth's Core Fire, which had previously been sold out, were available again. He immediately used merit points to purchase them.

It looked just like he had previously thought; everything in the Heaven's Augury treasure vault had its sources. Having bought out the Earth's Core Fire before, and now seeing several portions available again, it was clear that someone had collected more and sold it to the Heaven's Augury treasure vault.

It looked like he needed to browse the vault from time to time. He might encounter some unexpected gains.

With the Heaven's Augury Pillar within the spirit ground, such a task didn't require much effort.

Exiting the treasure vault in his mind, Lu Ye turned around, raising his eyebrows slightly.

He saw behind him a large pack of demon wolves standing quietly, pairs of wolf eyes intently fixed on him. The one with the largest figure, the alpha wolf, was just three meters in front of him.

Although Lu Ye had grown familiar with several of the demon wolves during this time, most of them ignored him completely—not just him, but everyone else too, except for Giant Armor, to whom they had not shown any affinity.

Especially the alpha wolf, this proud creature usually couldn't be bothered to spare a glance for Lu Ye and the others.

And yet here it was, waiting, accompanied by an entire pack.

By the alpha wolf's side was the demon wolf that had been given the Sharpness rune tattoo. To stand shoulder to shoulder with the alpha was an honor; previously, it didn't have such status.

Plus, it seemed to have a smug look, with fresh blood still visible around its mouth.

This was clearly the demeanor of having won a fight with its peers!

Lu Ye quickly grasped the situation.

"You all want that special ability too?"

The alpha wolf slightly lowered its head, its intentions clear.

With just a simple Sharpness spirit rune, a demon wolf's biting power could increase by at least thirty to forty percent. Such an enhancement naturally made all demon wolves eager.

This was also the reason the alpha wolf had brought the pack to wait for Lu Ye.

To this scene, Lu Ye felt surprised. He had actually planned to look for some other demon wolves he was familiar with to continue practicing tattooing spirit runes on them.

Now it had saved him much trouble. Having them come to him versus seeking them out yielded a significantly different outcome.

If he could tattoo rune tattoos on each one of the more than a hundred demon wolves in the pack, Lu Ye would be able to accumulate more experience and insights, which he found very agreeable.

After a moment's thought, he took out a demonic pill from a demon beast from his storage space and held it before the alpha wolf, "Trade this for it!"

The pack went out to hunt every few days, bringing back not only fresh flesh but sometimes even demonic pills, though these were consumed by the pack itself.

Not only Amber relished demonic pills, but all demon beasts enjoyed swallowing other demon beasts' demonic pills, which allowed them to grow more rapidly. In particular, demonic pills of a compatible element sign greatly enhanced demon beasts.

Lu Ye certainly could have tattooed the spirit runes on these demon wolves for free, but if he could turn this into an opportunity to gain some benefits, it would be even better, considering he was also spending merit points from the Heaven's Augury treasure vault to buy materials, not to mention the energy and time he would invest in tattooing the rune tattoos.