Chapter 2169 - 2167: The Dao Artifact Contest

A moment later, several insect race members were killed, and Lu Ye collected the Dao Bone before swiftly leaving.

But shortly after, he returned and hid nearby.

If he were within the Star Abyss and provoked the Insect Race, he certainly wouldn't have done this, just like before; after killing those of the Insect Race, he fled immediately.

But this was ultimately not the Star Abyss.

During the previous banquet, Lu Ye specifically inquired Kang Xing about some matters concerning Dao Fusion. Naturally, he knew that on this battlefield, the number of Dao Fusions among the three major forces was limited, with 80-90% serving as governors on the battle planets. So, even if nearby insect hives or Insect Matriarchs sensed that their comrades were killed, they wouldn't necessarily dispatch a Dao Fusion.

Even if the Insect Matriarch did so, the human race and the Giant Race would surely have corresponding countermeasures.

Thus, on this vast battlefield, unless a large-scale battle erupted, smaller skirmishes were mainly dominated by the Beginner Realm cultivators.

Lu Ye hid this way, waiting for reinforcements from the Insect Race, ready to ambush them again.

However, after waiting for half a day without any movement, he couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.

It seems that due to the different environment, the Insect Matriarch's ways have slightly changed. Outside, if insect race members were killed, the Insect Matriarch would never let it rest.

With no reinforcements from the Insect Race, he could only refine the Dao Bone he had obtained earlier, which was still considered a gain.

On such a battlefield, both enemy and ally mostly operated in squads of three to five members. Once encountered, unless their strengths were close, it was a fight to the death.

Under such circumstances, many squads acted with extreme caution, mostly lurking in wait for prey to walk into their trap.

This method was not very efficient but safe.

However, often the roles of prey and predator would switch in an instant.

Compared to wandering in the Star Abyss, tirelessly seeking enemies to kill, often without any gains for days, such a battlefield for Lu Ye could be called a Blessed Land. While others had to act cautiously, he could boldly expose himself to lure enemies to kill. Under the Dao Fusion level, who could match him?

Any squad with some strength, seeing him alone, would certainly be tempted.

The efficiency of obtaining Dao force increased significantly. Previously, it took him over a month on average to enhance one Dao force, but after being on the battlefield for one month, his strength improved by two Dao, reaching the twenty-third Dao level.

Though he was still far from refining all his bones into Dao Bones, the increased efficiency would significantly shorten the time required.

After another vigorous battle, Lu Ye finally collected the Dao Bones, suddenly felt something, and turned to look in a certain direction.

In that direction, an unusual scene appeared in his vision; it seemed a white light flashed by.

That white light looked extremely familiar.

Lu Ye's heart stirred: "Star Abyss Blessing!"

The Banlan Stellar Space, although isolated from inside and outside, seemingly hadn't severed its connection with the Star Abyss because the entire inside shared the presence of Star Abyss ambience.

But what Lu Ye didn't expect was that he would encounter the Star Abyss Blessing here.

Moments before, there was indeed some noise of a battle breaking out there; he had planned to investigate. But now it seemed the battle had ended, with a survivor gaining the Star Abyss Blessing.

This immediately piqued Lu Ye's interest.

It was his first time witnessing someone else obtaining such a blessing.

His figure moved, heading straight in that direction.

The distance wasn't far; fearing the blessed individual would leave, Lu Ye even used the Blood Escape Technique.

In just a moment, he arrived at that location. To his relief, there was indeed a figure there, but what disappointed him was that the blessed individual was remarkably a Blood Race member!

Just like him, alone, with no companions around, only some scattered corpses laying around.

This was the first time he encountered a lone enemy during this month, and coupled with the earlier Star Abyss Blessing, Lu Ye immediately realized this guy should be very powerful, having killed many enemies, thus earning the opportunity for such a blessing.

Lu Ye initially wanted to ask what benefits this Star Abyss Blessing brought, but since it was the Blood Race, communication might be impossible.

When he arrived, the Blood Race member had a look of joy on his face, clearly having reaped satisfactory gains.

The Blood Race's gaze shifted, taking a look at Lu Ye with a surprised and assessing glance, slowly opening his mouth: "You've got some guts to come here at this time?"

The spectacle of the Star Abyss Blessing was obvious; anyone seeing it would know an extraordinary expert was present. For Lu Ye to come over, he was either ignorant or fearless.

As the Blood Race spoke, he observed Lu Ye and saw his calm expression, evidently not ignorant.

His gaze suddenly fell on the Boulder Mountain Saber at Lu Ye's waist: "Dao artifact?"

Lu Ye blinked, knowing the other had misunderstood, and naturally didn't bother to explain.

The Blood Race member raised a hand, revealing a claw embedded in his wrist, resembling a wolf's claw. He licked the wolf claw with his tongue, smiling sinisterly: "Coincidentally, I also have a Dao artifact!"

It was only then that Lu Ye noticed the claw on his hand and finally understood why this guy was blessed by the Star Abyss. It turns out he relied on the might of the Dao artifact to kill numerous enemies.

However, the strength of this Blood Race member must not be weak, definitely at the level of the 9th Dao; otherwise, he wouldn't possess a Dao artifact.

Although this is not uncommon inside Banlan, crafting them is not easy. Generally, cultivators, regardless of enemy or ally, have no chance to obtain them.

"Then let's see whose Dao artifact is stronger!" The Blood Race member shouted fiercely, wrapped himself in a flash of blood light, and appeared in front of Lu Ye in the next instant.

He had encountered humans possessing Dao artifacts before, but in previous encounters, he had never been defeated and had even killed one. This was because the Dao artifact he held could be considered top grade, capable of boosting his force by the 5th Dao.

Throughout the Star Abyss, aside from those few limited Dao artifacts, no other Dao artifact could be stronger than his.

So even if he initially confirmed that Lu Ye held a Dao artifact, he remained unafraid and could even say his murderous intent was stronger, as capturing a Dao artifact to bring back would yield significant benefits.

Almost at the instant the Blood Race member advanced, Lu Ye's long blade had already drawn, slicing lightly and splitting the Blood Race member into two.

Yet, there was no sensation of cutting into anything substantial; what was cleaved was merely an illusion conjured by the Blood Race member using Blood Technique.

Lu Ye's expression remained unchanged, as if he had anticipated this. In terms of mastery over Blood Technique, he was no less proficient than any Blood Race member, and none of the opponent's techniques could deceive his eyes.

At this moment behind Lu Ye, the Blood Race member appeared like Spectral Bewitchment, claw reaching straight towards Lu Ye's rear heart, evidently seeking to kill him with one surprise strike.

He disliked using the Blood Sea in combat, thinking it overkill, finding satisfaction in manipulating the enemy at will with simple tricks.

Using this method, he had killed countless enemies, and this time... it would be no exception.

But suddenly, he met a pair of cold eyes, surprised to find that Lu Ye had turned around without him noticing, looking at him indifferently as the blade flashed down.

No way to evade, the Blood Race member gritted his teeth; he never expected that his usually successful little trick wouldn't confuse the enemy this time. But so what? With his strength of the 14th Dao, the opponent couldn't possibly resist. Head-to-head, he had never lost.

Below Dao Fusion, he was always invincible!

The sound of something being cut echoed; in this instant, time seemed extremely slow, as the Blood Race member watched helplessly as Lu Ye's long blade cut off the claw from his hand, with unstoppable momentum towards his face...

Blood splattered as Lu Ye shook the long blade in his hand, looking at the Blood Race member whose half head was cut off, he couldn't help but frown: "How come it's so fragile?"

It was the first time encountering a rival with a Dao soldier, so naturally, he dared not be too careless. Before knowing the exact level of the opponent's strength, he couldn't afford to hold back, activating a force of the 20th Dao.

Unexpectedly, a casual strike not only severed the opponent's Dao artifact but also killed him.

He hurriedly took the damaged Dao artifact from the Blood Race member's hand and examined it thoroughly, attempting to activate Dao force, finally confirming the Dao artifact was indeed damaged.

He scratched his head. This Dao artifact was surprisingly fragile; despite wielding the force of the 20th Dao, he hadn't exerted too much force. The level of attack shouldn't break even good-quality protective magic treasures.

Thus, it seems the Dao artifacts themselves are relatively fragile, and once the Dao force on them is destroyed, they tend to be easily damaged.

It's a pity; it was his first time encountering a Dao artifact. He wanted to study it. Even if it wasn't useful to him, submitting it to the Hall of Battle Merits would certainly yield substantial rewards.

Although the Dao artifact was destroyed, he still collected it.

Surprisingly, he found many unrefined Dao Bones in the Blood Race member's storage ring, evidently all trophies from battles.

Moments later, Lu Ye quickly cleaned the battlefield and left the spot.

Not long after he left, a nondescript stone on the nearby floating land suddenly opened a single eye.

A stone like this placed anywhere seemed inconspicuous, devoid of any life fluctuations, even Lu Ye wouldn't pay much heed.

But if an experienced cultivator were to see it, they would know it was a stone bug, specifically nurtured by the Insect Matriarch for gathering intelligence across the battlefield.

It lacked combat ability, couldn't even move, and extremely well-concealed, scattered across the battlefield, serving as the Insect Matriarch's eyes.

Moments later, on the battle planet of the Insect Race, a command from the Insect Matriarch was issued, moving many Insect Race members purposefully within a vast area.

Suddenly, the conflicts in this area intensified and became more frequent than before.

Lu Ye only gradually sensed this situation a day later. Although he did not know why the actions of the Blood and Insect Races became so aggressive, with many previously lurking enemies emerging, it was undoubtedly a welcome development. It meant he could kill more enemies and hunt for Dao Bones.