Spending 1,000 pieces of spirit jade per month was naturally nothing to Lu Ye, as he currently had eighty million spirit jades and plenty of spirit crystals. A thousand pieces of spirit jade were merely a drop in the ocean!

But this was ultimately just the consumption from cultivation using spirit jade. In reality, his cultivation relied more on the devouring and refining by the Talent Tree, and the spirit jade he spent was used on purchasing fire-type treasures. Such expenditure was terrifying.

Take the progression from mid-stage to late-stage as an example. If cultivating step by step using spirit jade, Lu Ye estimated he would only spend around a hundred or two hundred thousand spirit jades at most.

But the actual expenditure was a full ten million spirit jades, nearly a hundredfold difference.

However, right now, Lu Ye decided to let his cultivation settle, to artificially control the progress of his cultivation, so the consumption of fuel for the Talent Tree wouldn't be too significant unless he suddenly made up his mind and ventured deeper into the All Phenomena Ocean.

Such a thing was essentially impossible.

After determining the current normal consumption for his cultivation, Lu Ye then made a grand gesture, and a pile of various fire-type treasures, like a small mountain, immediately amassed around him.

Activating the power of the Talent Tree, countless invisible roots shot out, ravenously devouring the energy within those fire-type treasures, and Lu Ye could clearly sense the fuel reserve of the Talent Tree slowly increasing.

The Talent Tree autonomously consumed the energies from the various fire-type treasures, so Lu Ye didn't need to expend much effort, just needed to replenish them when the fire-type treasures were nearly exhausted.

After a bit of pondering, Lu Ye didn't proceed to derive Concealment Spirit Runes, but instead took out the two items he had previously brought out from the Constellation Palace.

One was the Small Constellation Palace, the other was a short sword.

The short sword was a form of inheritance that Lu Ye had already understood, what remained was to slowly comprehend and cultivate it. However, Lu Ye wasn't quite clear on what the Small Constellation Palace was for, as there wasn't time to study it then.

Now, holding this Small Constellation Palace in his hands for closer inspection, he couldn't see anything special about it. It appeared like a vastly scaled-down Constellation Palace. Even pouring spirit force into it yielded no reaction.

Lu Ye tried putting in a few pieces of spirit jade, but still, there was no reaction.

Placing spirit crystals inside also had no effect.

Lu Ye tried numerous peculiar items, but the Small Constellation Palace was like a piece of wood.

This thing... what exactly was its purpose? Lu Ye was baffled. Reasonably speaking, as it was bestowed by the Constellation Palace, it shouldn't be useless, yet no method he tried could unleash its power.

Helpless, he could only put aside his research, perhaps he would stumble upon its use in an unexpected moment in the future.

Stowing away the Small Constellation Palace, Lu Ye picked up the short sword, focusing on it with a grave expression.

Slightly channeling his Mental Consciousness into it, in the next instant, Lu Ye saw a flash of blade light, followed by a slight ache in his head.

He closed his eyes, carefully contemplating the intricacies of that slash, with various thoughts churning in his mind, seemingly gaining some insight.

Different from the Tyrannical Saber Technique inheritance, which allowed one to immerse fully, with verbal and physical guidance inside.

However, to obtain the inheritance of this short sword, Lu Ye had to endure the pain of his Mental Consciousness being wounded, feeling for the true essence of the blade through his own suffering.

Which method of inheritance was superior was hard to say, but comparatively, the former was undoubtedly safer.

Yet, Lu Ye preferred the latter, because only through personal experience could he clearly discern the mysteries concealed within the inheritance.

The feeling of having his Mental Consciousness cut was a bit unpleasant.

Fortunately, he had previously purchased numerous psyche-nurturing treasures from various Spirit Islands, all exorbitantly priced, now serving their purpose well.

Back in the Nine Provinces, he still had Soul Cleansing Water to use, but now it wasn't much left, unable to support prolonged cultivation.

Every time he channeled his Mental Consciousness for observation, Lu Ye experienced the sensation of having it cut, but each time yielded new insights and realizations.

Gradually, Lu Ye sensed the profundity of this inheritance; after all, as a reward from the Constellation Palace, its level far surpassing that of the Tyrannical Saber Technique from the Soaring Dragon World.

But saber skills aren't just about a higher level being better; it depends on who wields them. High-level saber skills without combat techniques are useless in battle against an enemy.

Day by day, Lu Ye was absorbed in this unique form of cultivation, unable to extricate himself.

His Mental Consciousness was severed repeatedly, but it was kept within an acceptable range and with the aid of various treasures for recovery, no indelible damage was left.

Lu Ye discovered that through this cycle, the intensity of his Mental Consciousness was unexpectedly improving, an unexpected delight.

Additionally, he discovered something interesting: the seaweed he brought from the Constellation Palace surprisingly had a significant nurturing effect on his Mental Consciousness.

This discovery was entirely unintentional.

While observing the inheritance in the short sword, with his Mental Consciousness repeatedly cut, Lu Ye couldn't maintain this kind of cultivation indefinitely, so during his spare time, he occasionally studied the Small Constellation Palace, derived Concealment Spirit Runes with the Talent Tree, and did other things.

For example, roasting some star beast meat to eat...

He used to think that seaweed wasn't just some mundane substance; it might have some medicinal value, but he never tried it. This time, he just tried casually and found that the recovery speed of his damaged Mental Consciousness accelerated.

This was clearly the work of the seaweed!

Lu Ye immediately realized that the value of seaweed was much greater than he imagined!

Because among the items used for cultivators to heal, treasures that can heal and nourish the psyche are far more precious than those for healing the physical body. Lu Ye deeply experienced this; although he had previously bought few psyche-nourishing treasures, he spent quite a lot of spirit jade.

Unfortunately, this seaweed and the star beasts he brought back cannot be revealed to the world for the time being.

Lu Ye couldn't help but miss Second Senior Sister and Hua Ci; if they were here, perhaps they could find a way to refine these hard-to-sell things into elixir pills, thus avoiding any concerns about being discovered.

Moreover, Second Senior Sister also has the pill gourd kind of treasure. If she can really research an elixir pill formula with seaweed as the main material, she can casually refine a large amount of high-quality treasure pills.

Time passed in a flash; half a month had gone by.

On this day, Lu Ye was comprehending the inheritance in the short sword. In this half month, he had gained greatly, almost discerning the true essence of the inheritance, which is also the benefit of this kind of inheritance method—its efficiency is high enough.

Unlike the Tyrannical Saber Technique, this kind of inheritance method cannot have such high efficiency. If Lu Ye wanted to achieve the same degree of comprehension, he would have to spend ten times more time.

Suddenly, an anomaly emerged from within his body.

Lu Ye was stunned for a moment and quickly immersed his mind to observe. Upon looking, he was greatly astonished.

Because the Talent Tree was gone, transformed into a cluster of fire seed, and upon observation, the light from the fire seed was not bright, resembling a weak candle flame gently flickering.

This is... is the Talent Tree undergoing metamorphosis?

He had experienced such events before, so Lu Ye knew at a glance what the situation was.

Obviously, the Talent Tree had entered the process of metamorphosis.

He was momentarily stunned; this was indeed an unexpected event.

Since obtaining the Talent Tree, many years had passed, and the Talent Tree had undergone metamorphosis twice before. Lu Ye naturally could sense a certain pattern.

The metamorphosis of the Talent Tree has only one requirement: devour enough fuel reserves. When the fuel reserves of the Talent Tree reach a certain level, it will enter the process of metamorphosis.

When he first got the Talent Tree, it only had the ability to burn intrusive foreign objects, which allowed Lu Ye to stand out among low-level cultivators because his spirit force was pure enough to battle beyond his level.

The first metamorphosis gave the Talent Tree the ability to devour external objects and even split its roots, enabling Lu Ye to condense his own doppelganger with the help of Blood Shadow and Single-Stalk Twin Lotus.

The second metamorphosis allowed the Talent Tree to inscribe new spirit runes on its leaves, even deriving spirit patterns. Lu Ye's Divine Sharp Edge, Sacred Guard, and new As-Close-As-Siblings were born from this.

Lu Ye had also wondered what new abilities the Talent Tree would evolve after another metamorphosis, but he didn't consciously pursue it, always leaving it to fate because he felt the Talent Tree was powerful enough at present.

The Talent Tree is indeed his greatest reliance, but he hasn't treated it as his only source of power; cultivators should focus on strengthening themselves.

Little did he expect, today, the Talent Tree was about to undergo a third metamorphosis.

However, upon careful thought, it wasn't surprising. This time, the Talent Tree had devoured too many fire-type treasures, nearly a billion spirit jade worth converted into fuel reserves, satisfying the metamorphosis requirement of the Talent Tree.

Previously, when he was under the All Phenomena Ocean, the Talent Tree also devoured nearly a billion spirit jade worth of fire-type treasures, but not all at once, rather in many parts, so it didn't satisfy the metamorphosis.

Since things had already come to this, Lu Ye was somewhat curious about what changes would occur after the Talent Tree's metamorphosis this time.

However, judging by the appearance of the fire seed, this metamorphosis might take some time, and during this period, the Talent Tree's power cannot be utilized.

Putting away the remaining fire-type treasures, Lu Ye sighed; he would have to buy more.

After the Talent Tree's metamorphosis, the previously devoured fuel will surely be expended completely.

Luckily, he had already agreed with Ahn Zhe and established a cooperative relationship. When Ahn Zhe returns, he should be able to bring a large batch of Dragon Breath Crystals.

But before that, he still has to go to the All Phenomena Merchants Guild to buy some as a backup.

This time, the Talent Tree devoured nearly a billion spirit jade worth of fire-type treasures to metamorphose; next time, it will certainly require even more.

Lu Ye felt that the eight million spirit jade he had seemed insufficient to keep him financially secure; there would eventually be a day when it's used up.

It's time to find an opportunity to initiate trade with the Merfolk Race; that would be a unique path to wealth for him. As long as he maintains the transaction with the Merfolk Race, spirit jade will be as much as he wishes.