On each stone platform, there's a layer of restriction. Without breaking the restriction, one cannot take the items on the platform.

The method to break the restriction is quite simple as well. It involves consuming a corresponding amount of battle merit. In the Hall of Battle Merits, there's no need to engage in any strategic or physical contests. Battle merit is the best pass.

However, just to investigate the nature and function of the treasures on the stone platform, you don't need to spend battle merits.

Lu Ye raised his hand and pressed it against the restriction on the stone platform, concentrating his thoughts, and soon, he understood.

Soul Severing Saber!

This item is clearly a Soul Device, which can be stored in the Divine Sea, and when encountering a psyche battle, it can be summoned to kill enemies!

Prior to the Divine Sea Realm, cultivators had various combat methods, but ultimately, they were just tests of physical foundation, with all attacks and magic spells driven by spirit force.

But reaching the Divine Sea Realm involves psyche battles.

When strong cultivators in the Divine Sea Realm engage in combat, there are often visible and invisible layers. The visible aspect is the contest of techniques, while the invisible is the clash of Mental Consciousness, which particularly impacts battles between those in the Divine Sea Realm.

It can be said that the side with stronger Mental Consciousness often holds the advantage in battles. Of course, unless the power gap is too vast, defeating an opponent's psyche is not an easy task.

Previously, Lu Ye didn't need to understand these things. His realm hadn't reached that level, so understanding them would have been useless.

But now he can be considered a member of the Divine Sea Realm, and it's about time he learned about these things.

The appearance of the Soul Severing Saber is a pleasant surprise. It seems the Hall of Battle Merits also noticed his elevation in realm, which is why such items appeared.

In terms of psyche, he has the Soul Suppressing Pagoda to protect his Divine Sea from breaking. But ultimately, it is just passive defense, and psyche attack methods are lacking.

In fact, he also has attack methods. Whether it's Bewitchment Psyche or Soul Taming Psyche, they can barely be considered attack methods.

But realistically, when confronting enemies in the Divine Sea Realm, he cannot simply bewitch or tame people; this is unrealistic, and if it fails to harm the enemy, it will only bring ridicule upon himself.

Simply using Mental Consciousness to launch an impact is possible, just as the Xianxia Mountain traitor Ning Hu did. At that time, all members of A-3 squad were shaken in spirit by the impact and fell into the lake.

But that was due to the massive gap in cultivation, which produced such an effect.

If the cultivation levels were similar, such straightforward, direct psyche impacts can be easily blocked by the enemy.

Only when one's psyche power is turned into genuinely effective attacks does it count as psyche attacks. On that day, if Ning Hu had mastered true psyche attacks, A-3 squad would have lost their combat power in an instant.

Psyche power is like a weapon without an edge, and mastering psyche attack methods is akin to sharpening this weapon, unleashing incomparable lethality.

Therefore, every strong cultivator in the Divine Sea Realm learns some Psyche Secret Techniques, either for attack or defense, as this is the trend. When others have it and you don't, you're naturally at a disadvantage in contests.

Apart from that, one can also leverage Soul Devices, like the Soul Severing Saber in front of him, saving the time and effort to cultivate Psyche Secret Techniques.

However, Soul Devices are extremely rare and not easily crafted. While there is a considerable number of cultivators in the Divine Sea Realm across the Nine Provinces, how many possess a Soul Device? Perhaps less than one-tenth.

This highlights the preciousness of the Soul Device.

If this were merely a saber, even if it were a spirit treasure, Lu Ye wouldn't be swayed. But it being a Soul Device makes all the difference.

Without rushing to redeem the Soul Severing Saber, Lu Ye glanced over at several other stone platforms.

Without exception, they were all Soul Devices, equipped for both attack and defense, dazzling him.

It must be said that the newly appeared items on these stone platforms are all superb, leaving Lu Ye wanting them all, but he also knows that it's quality, not quantity, that matters with Soul Devices. As for defense, the Soul Suppressing Pagoda is sufficient for now. What he currently lacks is a means of attack.

Wandering around, he came back to the Soul Severing Saber.

The reason for choosing it is not just because of its saber shape, but primarily because this item is not an ordinary Soul Device in the usual sense.

Conventional Soul Devices can only be housed in the Divine Sea, existing between reality and illusion. However, the Soul Severing Saber before him is not; it can merge into tangible objects.

For example... the Boulder Mountain Saber!

It doesn't have a fixed form and can transform back and forth between different styles of long blades. Therefore, merging it into the Boulder Mountain Saber poses no issue, effectively empowering the Boulder Mountain Saber with the ability to harm psyches.

Once wielding such a Boulder Mountain Saber to slash an enemy, it would similarly cause psyche impact on the enemy, making it rather hard to defend against.

Imagine, during a confrontation, when flesh wounds turn into psyche injuries, how terrifying that is. In the heat of battle, a moment's misstep could mean life or death.

Lu Ye then examined the price of the Soul Severing Saber and the next instant, his face turned black.

Five hundred thousand battle merits!

That's nonsensical!

The Soul Suppressing Pagoda costs only one hundred eighty-eight thousand eight hundred eighty-eight battle merits, so how could the Soul Severing Saber require five hundred thousand battle merits? Both items are Soul Devices, and even if there's a difference in quality, the disparity should not be this large.

So far, the most expensive item in the Hall of Battle Merits is the Golden Body Token, priced at a hefty three hundred thousand battle merits each.

But that's for life-saving purposes, and its high price has a valid reason.

What makes the Soul Severing Saber so special?

Upon checking the prices of other Soul Devices, they were similar to the Soul Suppressing Pagoda, some even less expensive.

Yet, the one I have my eye on is outrageously priced high.

Lu Ye severely suspected that the Hall of Battle Merits set prices based on appearances; he had just received a significant amount of battle merit from Heaven's Augury, accumulating to a million, and suddenly, a five-hundred-thousand item popped up, coincidentally the one he wanted.

Left hand gives, right hand takes — Heaven's Augury surely knows how to count its profits!

Lu Ye was somewhat indignant but found no place to argue, so he could only grit his teeth and exchange for the Soul Severing Saber.

He didn't look at other Soul Devices anymore; firstly, he didn't need them, and secondly, if he exchanged further, his battle merits would be depleted. Arriving at the stone platform for the gold-hued spirit fortune sticks, he exchanged for ten of them before leaving the Hall of Battle Merits.

The silver flood dragon warmly greeted him, "Come again next time."

"Never coming again!" Lu Ye retorted angrily.

Damn swindler!

The silver flood dragon was baffled, entirely unsure of what had happened.

Leaving the Heaven's Augury Hall and returning to his residence, Lu Ye took out the Boulder Mountain Saber, laying it across his knees. He calmed his mind and ran his hand over the blade.

Where his hand passed, a jet-black liquid substance appeared out of nowhere, gradually enveloping the Boulder Mountain Saber.

Moments later, the Soul Severing Saber covered the Boulder Mountain Saber, just as he had imagined, transforming into a sheath for the Boulder Mountain Saber. From the outside, there was no discernible difference since the Soul Severing Saber's form and color were also black, perfectly matching the Boulder Mountain Saber.

Weighing it slightly, the Boulder Mountain Saber seemed significantly heavier, though this was a good thing for him.

With his cultivation reaching a higher realm, the previous weight was somewhat unsuitable, but now, even though it was on the heavier side, he could manage it.

Just as he was about to explore the powers of the Boulder Mountain Saber, the sheath suddenly changed. Lu Ye clearly sensed the sheath attached to the Boulder Mountain Saber, like flowing water over quicksand, rapidly merging into the Boulder Mountain Saber and disappearing without a trace.

This sudden change left him bewildered, momentarily lost.

But in the next instant, a heart-wrenching scene unfolded before him.

The restrictions within the Boulder Mountain Saber were shattering and collapsing at lightning speed.

The quality of a spirit and magic artifact entirely depends on the number of restrictions; the more restrictions, the higher the quality.

Having undergone several upgrades, the Boulder Mountain Saber was now a long saber of magic-artifact class, its restrictions naturally numerous. Normally, unless the blade was severely damaged or cracked, the restrictions shouldn't be destructible.

Yet, this event was unfolding right under Lu Ye's eyes.

The Soul Severing Saber clearly had the effect of dissolving restrictions!

In the Hall of Battle Merits, when Lu Ye investigated the Soul Severing Saber's introduction, he hadn't seen such details. Naturally, introductions to treasures in the Hall of Battle Merits were generally vague, without a lot of specifics. For instance, the Soul Suppressing Pagoda's introduction was summed up in one line: guards the Divine Sea.

As for how it guarded the psyche and its effectiveness, those were matters the user needed to discover through observation.

Cultivators are not children; they have their judgments, and many things don't need to be overly detailed.

But this time was different; the restrictions within the Boulder Mountain Saber were disappearing incredibly fast, and its entire quality was rapidly declining.

Lu Ye wanted to stop it, hurriedly channeling spirit force into it, but it was futile.

He watched helplessly as the long saber that had grown with him in cultivation fell from magic-artifact class to supreme-grade spirit artifact, then to top grade, mid grade, and low grade…

Ultimately becoming a blade without any restrictions.

Lu Ye's forehead veins throbbed violently.

The Soul Severing Saber was so expensive that if it could truly work as intended, that would be one thing, considering it was for facing enemies eventually.

But it had achieved nothing yet and had ruined his Boulder Mountain Saber, which was too much.

Of course, saying it was ruined isn't entirely accurate; the Boulder Mountain Saber still existed and hadn't sustained any physical damage. It could be restored to its original quality with remelting and recasting.

For now, Lu Ye could barely manage that himself, without needing to rely on outsiders.

But it would require a significant amount of time and energy, along with some special crafting materials. Constructing each restriction required different materials.

With furrowed brows, he immersed his mind in sensing; soon, Lu Ye's expression turned one of surprise and doubt.

He could clearly perceive an addition inside the Boulder Mountain Saber, likely the black liquid substance which formed the Soul Severing Saber. These materials filled every corner of the Boulder Mountain Saber, perfectly fusing with the blade, inseparable.

Moreover, after dissolving all restrictions, these peculiar substances settled down. Lu Ye attempted to control them, maneuvering them smoothly, seamlessly.

He could manipulate these unique substances, making them circulate within the blade at will, and could even extract them.

Initially, he didn't think much of it, but gradually, Lu Ye's expression turned solemn as a bold idea wildly surged in his mind.