Several days later, Lu Ye pinched the audio talisman, investigating Hai Tang's reply.

Since returning from the Martial Arts Meet, he had been waiting for Su Yuqing to fulfill the agreement, but she hadn't reached out to him, nor had Hai Tang sent any message.

Helpless, he had to inquire proactively.

Without Su Yuqing's audio talisman marking, he sent a message to Hai Tang.

The result gave him a rather speechless answer...

Su Yuqing is not in the main domain now!

As it has been through the ages, after the Martial Arts Meet, the three divisions of Sun Blaze begin to work on dividing the background of Mount Fangcun, which is a justified thing to do.

Although Mount Fangcun is divided into three parts, due to some mysterious connections, not only can they interact with each other, but also control the flow of each other's backgrounds.

The Eastern Region hardly won first place, so naturally, they must go to reap their rewards, which is determined by the results of the Martial Arts Meet. In the next fifty years, the East will receive forty percent of the background, the South thirty percent, and the West will have a pitiful twenty percent...

Fifty years cannot determine the future development of a domain, but it is ultimately a good start. If the East can win second or first place in the next Martial Arts Meet, the days ahead are bound to get better and better.

Lu Ye suddenly realized why the recent days felt like subtle changes in the home world's ambiance, which seemed to be due to the increase of background within the domain.

Upon asking how long such division would take, Hai Tang's reply was that it would basically be within a month!

Having no choice, he could only continue to wait.

Lu Ye did not think Su Yuqing was deliberately doing this since, according to their previous agreement, he needed her to help transport himself and Nian Yuexian to the place where Nian Yuexian fell in the main domain, to prevent them from getting lost after leaving Mount Fangcun.

By his calculations, it had been almost eight months since Nian Yuexian fell at Mount Fangcun. In such a long time, who knows how far the main Mount Fangcun had drifted. Even if they managed to leave this domain now, they would surely be clueless about the outside stellar space.

Since they needed someone to help with transportation, the person must handle urgent matters first, and dividing Mount Fangcun's background is an unshiftable responsibility for the Sun Blaze of the main domain.

Just about to end the communication with Hai Tang, Lu Ye suddenly thought of something else: "Senior Sister Hai Tang, does your Dwarf Race's talisman refinement involve spirit runes?"

In the Black Abyss, he had seen too many of the Dwarf Race use spirit talismans. The most memorable was undoubtedly the Golden Body Talisman, which was used in almost every combat, providing excellent defense.

The spirit talisman refinement in the Nine Provinces requires the use of spirit runes. Although Lu Ye had never refined one himself, he had some understanding of this common knowledge.

The basic principle is to construct spirit runes within the talisman, then seal it using a special technique. When needed, it can be activated to release the sealing, and thus the power of the spirit runes is activated, transformed into the talisman's power.

It seems the Dwarf Race's spirit talismans should be similar.

"Exactly!" Hai Tang's reply came, seemingly misunderstanding Lu Ye's intention, "Junior Brother, are you interested in learning the art of talisman refinement? I can teach you."

Lu Ye was taken aback: "Isn't that inappropriate? This is, after all, your Dwarf Race's technique. If your master finds out..."

"Before leaving, my master told me that Junior Brother is the biggest contributor to this Martial Arts Meet, so any request can be fulfilled. Moreover, officially speaking, we are still Dao companions, so you're considered half a member of the Dwarf Race. Learning these isn't a problem, though since Junior Brother doesn't have the Dwarf Race's bloodline, the power of the talismans you refine might be somewhat weaker."

Listening to the first half of her words, Lu Ye genuinely became interested in the Talisman Refinement Path. After all, he needed to wait for Su Yuqing's return. He couldn't just wait idly, so learning more things wouldn't hurt—but after hearing the second half, he dispelled the thought.

The Dwarf Race's talismans are more powerful than those refined by other races primarily due to their bloodline reasons. They have unique techniques that others cannot imitate.

In this case, even if he wished to learn the Talisman Refinement Path, it didn't necessarily have to be with the Dwarf Race.

"Senior Sister, could you organize the spirit runes used in your talisman refinement for me? I'd like to observe them."

He was more interested in the spirit runes used by the Dwarf Race than the spirit talismans themselves. If he could deduce and comprehend from them, it would be significantly rewarding.

"No problem!" Hai Tang agreed readily.

A moment later, Hai Tang arrived at the valley, handing over a thick tome to Lu Ye: "This contains all the spirit runes used in our Dwarf Race's talisman refinement. Junior Brother, observe at your leisure."

Lu Ye took it, feeling its weight, and could see that this thick tome was not made of simple paper, nor any beast hide, but rather a peculiar kind of jade cut into very thin pages.

And it was evidently something from many years ago.

"This must be quite precious, right?" Lu Ye asked.

Hai Tang smiled slightly: "It is a heritage item of my Immortal Spirit Peak."

Lu Ye understood: "I will take good care of it."

Hai Tang did not linger. The Martial Arts Meet had greatly benefited her, and if it weren't for Lu Ye seeking her, she would still be in closed cultivation.

After Hai Tang left, Lu Ye opened the thick tome before him and calmly investigated.

The reason he was interested in the spirit runes of the Dwarf Race was naturally because he had personally verified the power of the Golden Body Talisman.

With the Talent Tree's second metamorphosis, he had deduced the Divine Sharp Edge Spirit Runes based on Sharpness, which could basically meet his current combat needs.

But what about when his cultivation deepens in the future? He couldn't guarantee that these would suffice, so he needed to gather the strengths of the hundred schools, improving his information reserves on the Path of Spirit Runes. If one day, the Divine Sharp Edge couldn't satisfy his combat needs, he could always deduce and improve it.

Moreover, though he currently had Divine Sharp Edge for offense, he still lacked in defense.

The power of the Defense Spirit Runes was already inadequate for use. Lu Ye had always wanted an opportunity to deduce a new defensive spirit rune so that his situation in fierce and dangerous combats could become safer.

Having both offense and defense allows one to advance or retreat.

Within the Nine Provinces, in the Sacred Land of the spirit runes masters, he gained considerably, and it was precisely this event combined with previous accumulations that led to the birth of the Divine Sharp Edge.

Since then, Lu Ye realized that for a spirit runes master, an adequately vast reserve of information is fundamental to continually advancing one's knowledge.

Now that an opportunity has arisen, he certainly wouldn't miss it.

Perhaps in the future, he would have the chance to acquire the spirit rune reserves of other races, but for now, the Dwarf Race's collection here was enough for him to digest for a long time.

Lu Ye immersed himself in those ancient tomes, absorbing the mysteries within, completely forgetting the passage of time.

The heritage items of the Immortal Spirit Peak are ancient, not only containing various aspects of spirit runes but also numerous methods of crafting these runes using spirit runes as a foundation.

It could be said that during his observation of these items, Lu Ye learned not only about spirit runes but also how the Dwarf Race crafted Spirit Talismans.

Of course, this understanding was superficial and far from the actual crafting process.

Just like an Alchemist acquiring an elixir pill formula, it doesn't mean they can immediately craft the corresponding elixir pill. It requires thousands of attempts, continuously honing one's skills, and any slight mistake could lead to the ruin of a batch of elixir pills.

Talisman refinement and Alchemy are similar, with no room for error, and talisman refinement is perhaps even more stringent.

During this period, Nian Yuexian visited Lu Ye once; after learning about Su Yuqing's situation from him, she also knew urging him was useless and could only wait patiently.

Fortunately for her, she had the spirit jade Lu Ye had given her earlier, so it didn't delay her cultivation.

A month went by in the blink of an eye!

On this day, as Lu Ye was contemplating the mysteries of an unseen spirit rune from the heavy tomes, the audio talisman suddenly stirred.

Upon investigation, he confirmed it was a message from Hai Tang.

Su Yuqing has returned!

Judging by the timing, it was more or less in line with Hai Tang's prediction.

Lu Ye was overjoyed and quickly asked her to pass the message that he wished to meet Su Yuqing to discuss their departure.

Hai Tang readily agreed.

In just a moment, a powerful presence suddenly descended into the valley, and Lu Ye quickly stepped out to see Su Yuqing, dressed in white like snow, with a cold expression.

He couldn't help but wonder if it was an illusion, but Lu Ye found that Su Yuqing's recent interactions felt entirely different from before. When he first met this woman, she seemed dignified yet composed; now, all that remained was cold indifference.

Lu Ye reckoned it was probably related to the previous incident…

He stepped forward and cupped his fists, saying: "Greetings, previous... Peak Master!"

Su Yuqing didn't even look at him, merely said coldly: "Hai Tang said you are eager to leave?"

"It's not that urgent."

Previously, he was eager to depart, but now, having obtained the heritage tomes of the Immortal Spirit Peak, he was engrossed in pondering them and could continue his stay for a while longer. Leaving now would forgo further contemplation.

Su Yuqing seemed not to have heard, her words icy: "Since you're in such a rush to leave, I shall send you off as previously agreed!"

It was time to chase him off!

Lu Ye understood that in the presence of a Sun Blaze, he had no room for negotiation and promptly nodded: "Please wait a moment, Peak Master, I'll summon Senior Sister."

He turned and went to Nian Yuexian's retreat, called her out, and upon learning that they would be leaving immediately, Nian Yuexian sighed in relief.

Although staying here had been fine, ultimately, they couldn't remain in the Dwarf Race domain indefinitely.

Su Yuqing waved her delicate hand, and an item was thrown out, expanding against the wind, transforming into a two-story spirit ark nearly ten meters high in an instant.

Its design wasn't much different from the spirit arks Lu Ye had seen in the Nine Provinces, but he clearly understood it was not the same and surely of higher quality.

It seemed that Su Yuqing intended to use this to carry them through stellar space.

Su Yuqing's figure flickered, landing on the spirit ark's second floor, and then she disappeared into the cabin.

Seeing this, Lu Ye quickly beckoned Nian Yuexian to board the ark, only staying on the first floor's deck.

The spirit ark trembled slightly, then turned into a streak of light heading towards the domain's edge.

Lu Ye took out the audio talisman, sent a message to Hai Tang to say goodbye, and moments later, he received a reply from Hai Tang. He looked down to see a familiar figure waving at him from the peak of the Immortal Spirit Peak.

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Sorry for the late update, I've had a lot going on lately and went to bed very late last night.

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