Number Nine is the celestial mechanism of the Nine Provinces, omnipresent, as long as Lu Ye is within the Nine Provinces, he can contact it anytime and anywhere.

But at this moment, Number Nine has no response!

The loss of contact with the celestial mechanism is quite absurd.

Lu Ye does not know what has happened on Number Nine's side. Right now, the Nine Provinces is in the process of devouring the Blood Refinement World's essence to enhance itself. Perhaps something went wrong during this process?

This inevitably makes Lu Ye slightly worried. If something indeed happened due to devouring the Blood Refinement World's essence, the impact on the Nine Provinces would undoubtedly be huge.

There's nothing he can do to help with such matters, nor does he know how to help, so he can only wait for Number Nine to contact him.

As for who is currently fighting within the Nine Provinces, causing such a huge commotion, he can only go and see for himself.

As he rises into the air, the sect master's figure from Righteous Peak also rushes out simultaneously. Upon seeing each other, both knowingly nod and continue flying forward.

Not long after they took off, Lu Ye's battlefield marking suddenly emitted a commotion. At the same time, the sect master was investigating his battlefield marking, obviously being messaged by someone.

Before Lu Ye could figure it out, Number Nine's voice rang in his ears with a hint of panic: "Lu Ye, Lu Ye, there's trouble!"

Since contacting Number Nine, the feeling it always gave him was confident and composed. Never once had it been so panicked like it encountered something extremely daunting.

"What happened?" Lu Ye asked.

"A very powerful figure has arrived in the Nine Provinces. He seems to have taken a liking to it and wants to claim this domain as his own!"

Lu Ye's face turned serious: "How strong?"

"He's likely a Sun Blaze Realm cultivator."

Lu Ye's body stumbled, nearly falling from the sky.

"A Sun Blaze Realm? Are you sure you're not mistaken?"

"It's impossible to be mistaken. I sensed him the moment he arrived in the Nine Provinces," Number Nine vowed confidently.

Lu Ye immediately understood; this could be troublesome. The Nine Provinces' cultivators have just been promoted to Constellation and stepped into stellar space. Above Constellation is Moon Jade, then comes Sun Blaze, a gap of two entire realms!

It's known that the higher the cultivation realm, the more difficult it becomes, and the larger the gap grows.

The gap between Constellation and Sun Blaze is greater than that between Cloud River and Divine Sea! A Divine Sea Realm cultivator can easily eliminate countless Cloud River Realm cultivators. If a Sun Blaze Realm expert is willing, the newborn Constellation Realm cultivators of the Nine Provinces might not have one left alive.

How could such a thing happen?

Though Lu Ye knew the stellar space was full of dangers and mighty figures, the Nine Provinces had just connected with stellar space. How could they have already provoked such a strong figure?

Isn't this luck a bit too bad?

He slowly realized: "Was the previous battle between him and the Constellation Realm cultivators?"

Number Nine said: "Rather than a battle, it was more of a one-sided crush. Except for a negligible few who ran far away, most of the previously departed Constellation Realm cultivators returned, but even with dozens joining forces, they were shattered by that person with just one palm!"

If the opponent were a Moon Jade Realm cultivator, with a gap of one realm, perhaps they could still rely on numbers to maneuver, but the gap of two realms is worlds apart.

"Did anyone die?"

"No, there were no deaths. Since seeing the Nine Provinces, this person wouldn't incur needless slaughter. He merely showed a bit of his strength so those Constellation Realm cultivators would recognize the reality." Number Nine paused, then continued: "This person is injured. Previously, he hid on a meteorite to heal, drifting with it. Then he was awakened by someone named Zhao Shoumu, and as a result, discovered the Nine Provinces."

Zhao Shoumu... Lu Ye had some impression. When he ascended to Divine Sea in the Blood Refinement World, dozens of seniors took turns training him, Zhao Shoumu being one of them.

"How is Senior Zhao?"

"He's dead! After being subjected to the Soul Searching Technique by that person, he died."

Lu Ye's mood sank heavily.

These seniors of the Nine Provinces were fortunate to live in this era, finally awaiting the world's elevation, seizing the opportunity to ascend to Constellation and enter stellar space. Yet now, some haven't gone far from the Nine Provinces but have been killed.

The Soul Searching Technique, Lu Ye had heard of it, but within the Nine Provinces, no one seemed to know this evil skill, possibly due to insufficient cultivation realm. However, Lu Ye understood that the soul-searched persons surely endure tremendous horror and torment before dying.

"Why would a Sun Blaze Realm expert take interest in the Nine Provinces?" Lu Ye was extremely puzzled. Logically, such a strong person shouldn't have his sights set on the Nine Provinces. There's nothing here to tempt him unless he's inherently vicious, delighted in slaughter.

However, from the intelligence available, it seems this isn't the case, because if he wished, those Constellation Realm entities returning from stellar space would all have to die.

"It seems that the potential of the Blood Refinement World being devoured by the Nine Provinces caught his attention, making him realize that the Nine Provinces is a domain capable of rapid growth, thus prompting his interest."

"How so?" Lu Ye was somewhat confused.

"I have mentioned to you before, some domains when developed to a certain extent, will birth spirit jade veins. Although he is in the Sun Blaze Realm, he also needs spirit jade. Instead of slowly searching the vast stellar space, which is laborious, why not occupy a domain and wait for it to develop to a point where spirit jade veins can be easily harvested."

"How long will that take?" Lu Ye couldn't fathom what such a powerful figure was thinking.

"He, being in the Sun Blaze Realm, can afford to wait. Moreover, a rapidly developing domain like the Nine Provinces naturally holds great allure for someone like him. He could entirely use the Nine Provinces as a foundation to establish a world of his own, developing his own influence. However it may be, he hasn't taken his eyes off the Nine Provinces and won't leave easily."

That's why Number Nine warned of impending disaster.

The Nine Provinces is indeed unfortunate.

If it were just a few years later, the meteorite where Yueh Xin hid might have drifted away from the Nine Provinces and nobody would have found it, thus not alerting him.

Ironically, at this time, the world's level of the Nine Provinces improved, and someone ascended to the Constellation Realm. At such a time, the meteorite where he hid was destined to be discovered by someone in the Constellation Realm from the Nine Provinces, if not Zhao Shoumu, then someone else.

"Where is that person now?"

"He left. After showcasing his absolute strength, he suddenly departed, but he will definitely return. I don't really know what he went to do."

Lu Ye was suddenly enlightened: "Did you hide yourself before?"

No wonder he couldn't contact Number Nine; it must have sensed something amiss and hid its presence. Then it proactively contacted Lu Ye after that powerful figure left.

"His fixation on the Nine Provinces is driven by desire. If he discovers my true form, he would surely try to refine it, and that would cause turbulence at the very foundation of the Nine Provinces, so no matter what, I cannot be detected by him."

Should Yueh Xin discover the presence of the Heaven's Augury Compass, it would certainly mean disaster for the Nine Provinces, because Number Nine is the fusion of the Artifact Spirit of the Heaven's Augury Compass and the Heaven and Earth's Will of the Nine Provinces. If refined by Yueh Xin, the Nine Provinces would suffer great losses in potential, losing the possibility for further growth, possibly even dropping from its current world level.

Thankfully, Number Nine never showed itself to anyone. If the truth about Heaven's Augury were known to the Nine Provinces cultivators, Yueh Xin would undoubtedly glean some insight under a Soul Search.

Currently, aside from Lu Ye, only the City Lord of Xianyuan City knows the true nature of Number Nine, so this secret won't be leaked for now, and Number Nine is temporarily safe.

Lu Ye suddenly remembered something: "When he intruded into the Nine Provinces, why didn't you bring down Heavenly Punishment on him?"

Back when he invaded the Blood Refinement World, the Heavenly Punishment descended immediately, and if not for his quick thinking of entering the Blood Sea to refine its energy, he would have turned to ash under its power.

Number Nine's voice sounded a bit troubled: "You think I didn't want to? It's just impossible. The potency of Heavenly Punishment is directly linked to the world's level. If an outsider of the Constellation Realm were to intrude into the Nine Provinces now, there would be no chance under Heavenly Punishment. But he is in the Sun Blaze Realm, and the Nine Provinces' Heavenly Punishment is nothing to him, easily deflected. If Heavenly Punishment were really called down, he might even trace it back to find my origin."

Every world has its limits of containment; currently, the Nine Provinces' limit is the Constellation Realm, so under Heavenly Punishment, the Constellation Realm cannot withstand it. Even outsiders of the Moon Jade Realm face some suppression and threat due to the world's might, but the Sun Blaze Realm far exceeds the suppression and threat limits of the Nine Provinces.

In the cultivator community, whenever individual power surpasses certain limits, it cannot be said to be almighty, but in specific environments, it is beyond restraint.

There is something more to worry about: the exposure of the Nine Provinces due to Yueh Xin. The previous era's Nine Provinces cultivators were strong enough to make numerous enemies while traversing stellar space, ultimately being besieged and forced to teleport to avoid disaster.

If the existence of the Nine Provinces gets exposed, it might attract more enemies.

Though the events of that time were thousands of years ago, enmity is not diminished by the passage of time.

For now, this issue isn't significant; since Yueh Xin has an interest in the Nine Provinces, he won't be publicizing it but will surely act in secret.

He probably fears that the information leaking could bring strong adversaries to compete with him.

The potential scenarios of the Nine Provinces engaging with stellar space had been considered by Number Nine and Lu Ye, but they can't lock themselves away over concerns. Cultivators need opportunities to enter the upper realm, and the Nine Provinces needs to grow, which means breaking barriers.

What was unexpected was how quickly trouble arrived and how strong the visitor would be.

"That person left, and you have no idea what he's doing?"

"I don't know."

"What should be done now?"

When the gap between their powers is this vast, any plan seems futile. Even if Lu Ye were to ascend to the Constellation Realm, he likely couldn't withstand a single blow from such a figure.

The current situation of the Nine Provinces seems utterly helpless.