saint of humanity

Hongtu doesn't actually have many options.

Given the lessons learned from Zong Shenliang and Xuanwuzong, how could he not be on tenterhooks? He has probably been on guard these past few days.

At this critical juncture, three half-saints from the Origin Realm suddenly arrived. Even if he fought to the death, he probably wouldn't be able to protect his Dao Integration City.

In that case, the only option is to be pragmatic and adaptable.

Whether it's handing over their own Hedao City or bringing those three half-saints into the city as deputy city lords, it's better than the city falling and people dying.

Moreover, he is likely to attempt to advance to the level of a half-saint. If he can obtain the protection of the three from the Origin Realm in exchange for a Dao Integration City, it would definitely be a worthwhile deal for Hongtu.

Because once he advances to the level of a half-saint, even if he loses his Hundred Battles City, he will still possess the combat power of the ten city lords.

Hongtu can easily calculate this simple matter.

This situation made Lu Ye frown.

Xue Jiu was even more annoyed: "If we had known this would happen, we should have gone to break through the Hundred Battles a few days ago!"

With the arrival of three half-saints from the Origin Realm, Hongtu was no match for them. If the three of them attacked, Hongtu would not have much power to resist either. They would most likely be able to break through Baizhan's defenses. After all, unlike when they stormed into Shibu City, there was now an additional half-saint, Si Sheng, who was also blessed by the Universe-level Dao Integration Pearl.

Upon hearing this, Lu Ye shook his head and said, "There are no things in this world that you can know beforehand."

Previously, they planned to ambush the three half-saints to solve the problem at its root, but they did not expect that Blood Abyss would send a message before his death, which made the three of them take precautions.

It's no use being upset now.

Xue Jiu suggested, "With the three of them in charge right now, Bai Zhan can't be attacked for the time being. Why don't we go and fight Qian Liu?"

Lu Ye looked up at him: "Hongtu and Gu Mingyue are currently relying on each other for survival. Do you think Hongtu will stand idly by if we go to fight Qianliu? He only needs to explain the stakes to those three, and he can most likely get them to join the fight!"

Lu Ye's side can uphold the principle that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," and the three from the Origin Realm certainly understand this as well. Therefore, they will definitely protect Qianliu City and will not sit idly by.

Xue Jiu thought about it and realized it made sense, but he couldn't help but feel overwhelmed: "This won't work, that won't work, what should I do?"

"Instead of getting impatient here, you should focus on refining the Blood Abyss's bloodline," Lu Ye said irritably.

Xue Jiu couldn't help but scoff: "Why should I be in such a hurry? You're the one who should be in a hurry. Once those guys have completely established themselves here, they definitely won't let you go. Anyway, I've already obtained the Blood Abyss's bloodline, so I don't need them. It doesn't matter whether I kill them or not."

After saying that, he turned and left.

Lu Ye remained silent.

He knew perfectly well what Xue Jiu was anxious about. Indeed, as he said, he had already obtained the bloodline of Xue Yuan and had no need for those few half-saints, but he still wanted to kill those guys as soon as possible.

In this way, news of his betrayal could be kept from getting out.

Otherwise, when many half-saints from the Origin Realm descend upon the Star Abyss, Xue Jiu will definitely be targeted by those half-saints of the Blood Clan, who will be eager to eliminate him.

However, if he could quickly eliminate the remaining three, then Xue Jiu could still remain hidden in the shadows and try to seize the bloodlines of other vampire half-saints.

This guy has huge ambitions.

Knowing this, Lu Ye didn't have any good solutions.

Since the opportunity has been missed, and both the Hundred Battles and Thousand Streams are no longer viable, we can only think of other ways.

In this cultivation world, among all the fundamental principles, strength is ultimately paramount. If he possesses strength surpassing that of a half-saint, why would he have so much to fear?
Comparatively speaking, his growth rate is unmatched by anyone else, and his potential for further growth is promising. Therefore, given enough time, improving his strength will not be a problem for him, which is his greatest advantage.

The death of Xueyuan will surely put the three half-saints of the Origin Realm on their guard, so even if they take over Hundred Battles City, they probably won't dare to make any rash moves in the short term.

After all, among the people who came this time, Xue Yuan was the strongest. Now that he is dead, who wouldn't feel a sense of loss?

But it's hard to say what will happen in the long run, because the Origin Realm is in the process of merging and returning. Perhaps it won't be long before more Origin Realm Half-Saints come from there, and these are all potential enemies.

Therefore, for Lu Ye, the only way to break the deadlock is to find a way to eliminate the current enemy before a new batch of semi-saints arrives.

This requires him to significantly improve his strength in a short period of time, because he cannot rely on Xue Jiu and Si Shengya, as their strength will not change much in a short period of time.

Even though his strength is growing at an extremely fast pace, he is currently facing a huge problem.

That is, after cultivating the secret techniques of the small world to the ninth level, it becomes increasingly difficult to inscribe Dao traces within one's own inner world.

Unlike before, when he could easily inscribe Dao traces, now that this secret technique is nearing its limit, his cultivation efficiency is incomparable to what it used to be.

He had sensed this before, but recently the situation has become increasingly obvious.

Otherwise, he would have already cultivated the secret technique to the ninth level of perfection. After all, when he cultivated this secret technique before, as long as his Dao power was sufficient, he could quickly achieve perfection.

This shouldn't be a problem with his cultivation. As for the reason, Lu Ye hasn't figured it out yet.

While pondering, Lu Ye slowly stood up, sent a message to Si Sheng, and then went to a tree hole in the Primordial Wutong tree.

There is a large spatial array here, which was personally set up by the first Phoenix Lord of the Phoenix Clan. It can directly connect to the Holy Dragon City.

It is precisely through this spatial array that members of the Dragon City and Phoenix Nest can freely travel between their respective clans.

A short while later, Lu Ye appeared in Holy Dragon City and headed straight in one direction.

A moment later, in a palace, Lu Ye sat opposite an old dragon, who was now the Great Elder of the Dragon Clan, named Zhu Yun.

Lu Ye had interacted with him a few times before, but they weren't very close.

With the Dragon Lord currently in seclusion, this Grand Elder is managing everything in Holy Dragon City. Before Lu Ye arrived, he had already contacted him through the Dragon Register.

"You want to enter the Tower of Time?" Zhu Yun raised an eyebrow slightly.

Lu Ye nodded: "I know that the Tower of Time is hidden in the river of time and only appears on its own every certain period of time. But when the Dragon Lord was chatting with me before, he mentioned that the Dragon Clan has a way to actively summon the Tower of Time, but the price to be paid is not small, so they will not use it easily."

His cultivation efficiency was too low at the moment, but time was of the essence. After much thought, Lu Ye decided that the only way to improve his strength in a short period of time was to enter the Tower of Time for secluded cultivation.

After all, the flow of time inside the Tower of Time is different from that outside, and the higher the tower, the greater the difference.

Zhu Yun nodded upon hearing this and said, "The Dragon Clan does indeed have the means to actively summon the Tower of Time. Well then... wait a moment, and I will send someone to prepare it."

Lu Ye was surprised that the Grand Elder was so easy to talk to. In name, he had entered the Dragon Register and was now a member of the Dragon Clan, but in the end, he was still of human origin. He had expected that there would be some twists and turns on his way here.

Zhu Yun seemed to see through his thoughts and smiled slightly, saying, "Before the Dragon Lord went into seclusion, he specifically instructed that everything in Dragon City was at your disposal. So, before the Dragon Lord came out, you were the acting Dragon Lord of Dragon City. The price to be paid for summoning the Tower of Time is indeed not small, but since you want to use it, then there is naturally no problem."

Lu Ye gratefully clasped his hands in thanks: "Thank you very much, Elder."

Although it was said that preparations were needed, it didn't actually take much time.

Just half a day later, Zhu Yun led Lu Ye to a certain place.

This is none other than Dragon Pool, one of the forbidden areas of Dragon City.

When Lu Ye arrived, he found that at least a hundred dragons had already gathered there.

Although the number of dragons is slightly larger than that of the phoenix clan, they are still relatively weak compared to other races. The dragons gathered here are estimated to be about half of the entire dragon race.

Upon seeing Lu Ye and Zhu Yun arrive, the dragons all clasped their hands in greeting.

Zhu Yun raised his hand, said nothing more, and simply said, "I'm sure you all know why I've asked you to come here. Let's not delay, let's begin now!"

As he said this, he suddenly took out an object from his bosom. The object was golden and glittering, and at first glance it was inconspicuous, but soon a mysterious aura began to flow from it.

Lu Ye looked up and his eyes sharpened.

He recognized it at a glance; the golden object was a dragon scale, and the aura flowing from it felt vaguely familiar, reminding him of the dragon and phoenix ancestors he had seen across endless time and space.

These dragon scales... were left behind by that ancestor.

In a daze, Zhu Yun had already raised his hand and struck out the dragon scale, throwing it above the dragon pool. Without any force dragging it, the dragon scale remained suspended.

Even with Lu Ye's current sharp eyesight, he couldn't see anything amiss.

"Offer true blood!" Zhu Yun shouted, flicking his finger and sending a drop of dragon blood flying out, landing on the dragon scale.

If the soil is loose, the dragon scales will absorb that drop of true blood completely.

As Zhu Yun moved, drops of true blood gathered from all directions and fell into the dragon scales.

The golden light on the dragon scales became increasingly dazzling, and after absorbing hundreds of drops of dragon blood, it was so bright that people couldn't open their eyes.

The dragon scales trembled, and something mysterious seemed to be stirred within the dragon pool. Suddenly, an inexplicable aura surged from the dragon pool and flowed into the dragon scales.

Golden light suddenly spread out.

A rich and mysterious power of time surged in all directions.

A rushing sound rang out, and a long river, seemingly without beginning or end, appeared amidst the golden light.

"Lu Ye!" Zhu Yun shouted, his breath weak. The loss of a drop of true blood might not seem like much, but presiding over such a ceremony was extremely taxing on him. "Take the ancestral dragon scales and go inside immediately!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Ye did not hesitate any longer. He used his leaping technique and plunged into the long river. At the same time, he reached out and grabbed the dragon scale in his palm. He heard Zhu Yun's voice in his ear: "When you wish to return, rely on the guidance of the ancestral dragon scale!"

Wow…

Lu Ye felt as if he had fallen into a long, gushing river, and under the endless flow of time power all around him, he could not stabilize his body for a moment.

At this point, how could he not know that the dragons' method was not to summon the Tower of Time, but to summon the River of Time?

He has now reached this point in the long river of time; to enter the tower, he must first find the Tower of Time hidden here. (End of Chapter)