Lin Ye's cultivation surged straight into the Ninth Layer of the Heavenly Phenomenon Realm.
"Judging by the current amplification of this Nether Xuan Meridian, it should be about three hundred percent!"
That meant triple efficiency. Lin Ye had failed to restrain it just now. Combined with the Xuan Meridian's own stored qi, the breakthrough had happened instantly.
However, this acceleration would gradually decline after each breakthrough. Once his cultivation reached the Star River Realm, maintaining even a two-hundred-percent increase would already be excellent.
At this moment, inside Lin Ye's qi sea, a spiritual bridge was taking shape. Specks of stellar power flowed into his Star-Calling Bridge.
Night had already fallen. When the Star-Calling Bridge was active at night, cultivation speed naturally increased. Even during the day, stars still existed—only they were difficult to perceive.
But just as Lin Ye guided the Star-Calling Bridge and attempted to trace the power of the heavens, he suddenly sensed a tremendous surge of force erupting within the Shura Blood Sea itself.
It was as if the Star-Calling Bridge had awakened something.
"What is happening?"
Lin Ye had never encountered anything like this in his past life.
Normally, the Star-Calling Bridge was used to draw down power from the sun, moon, and stars. It was a conduit, a link, a means of connection.
Yet now, the stars in the sky did not respond at all. Instead, the blood sea world connected to his consciousness reacted violently.
When Lin Ye's divine sense reached the summit of the Blood Peak, he froze in utter shock.
He looked upward.
A colossal star seemed almost within reach, slowly emerging from the clouds above.
A Blood-Sea Star.
That star was saturated with violent blood-fiend aura.
When Lin Ye activated the Star-Calling Bridge again, he clearly saw it:
The bridge's force extended from his qi sea, pierced into the Shura Blood Sea, then rose upward from the blood sea itself—reaching straight into the crimson star in the heavens.
And then, the bridge began to draw power from that blood star.
"I actually have a star of my own!"
Lin Ye was utterly stunned.
Strictly speaking, it was not truly "his." Rather, this blood star already existed within the blood sea world. His former strength had been too weak to detect it.
Only now, after his cultivation rose, had the iceberg revealed its surface.
How profound and mysterious was the sacred realm manual he possessed?
Lin Ye could not help but feel awe.
Even though he was already at the Ninth Layer of the Heavenly Phenomenon Realm, the Star-Calling Bridge still could not absorb star power for long periods. But just discovering that he possessed such a star was already a massive advantage.
From now on, he could cultivate by drawing upon that blood star anytime, anywhere.
The sheer convenience was almost absurd.
He withdrew from the Star-Calling Bridge cultivation state, intending to examine the gains from today's storage rings.
But from outside the courtyard came a frantic voice.
"Lin Ye Senior Brother… Lin Ye Senior Brother… the Senior Sister is coughing blood!"
Senior Sister.
Chu Mengxi.
Although the young woman had appeared only briefly, Lin Ye's impression of her was deep. Her stubbornness, her absolute willingness to shield Lin Ye—even while suffering severe internal injuries—yet never retreating.
Of course, Lin Ye was no longer the helpless Lin Ye who needed her protection.
Still, she remained a tie from the former body's memories.
And Lin Ye also judged that Chu Mengxi was a promising talent. With proper cultivation, she could become a capable aide.
Liu Qingyu did not know whether Lin Ye was resting. She feared her sudden arrival might disturb him, especially since it was already late at night.
But the condition of Chu Mengxi was terrifying.
She had vomited a frightening amount of blood. Liu Qingyu could not find any elders, nor even reach the medical staff of the inner courtyard.
So she could only run to Lin Ye.
Just as Liu Qingyu was panicking, Lin Ye opened the door and stepped out.
"Lead the way."
Liu Qingyu stared at Lin Ye.
Back in the Dragon-Void Cavern, he had already looked like this—cold, indifferent, like an otherworldly master.
But only today did she understand that he truly was one.
She had no idea how he cultivated, yet he had even defeated the Sect Master.
Liu Qingyu had not witnessed much, but she knew only two people had displayed Star River Realm power—Lin Ye and the Sect Master.
Lin Ye stood unharmed now, so the defeated one could only be the Sect Master.
The higher-ups had not publicly announced Pei Tianzhuo's death. If the disciples learned Lin Ye had killed Pei Tianzhuo and then immediately became Sect Master, the entire sect would explode in chaos.
Such matters had to be handled gradually: first claim the Sect Master was in seclusion, then later announce that he was stepping down.
Only then could stability be maintained.
The battle could even be described as a fair sparring match—an exhibition of Lin Ye's strength.
In this world, most truths known by the masses were merely the truths the ruling class wished them to know.
Being deceived for an entire lifetime was normal.
But then Liu Qingyu's thoughts drifted—
Senior Brother Lin Ye seemed a little more handsome than before…
Her imagination began to wander.
"Are you stupid?" Lin Ye tapped her forehead.
"Ow!" Liu Qingyu snapped back to reality, her cheeks slightly red. She quickly remembered this was not the time to daydream.
She hurriedly led Lin Ye to Chu Mengxi's courtyard.
Earlier, Lin Ye had ordered her to watch over Chu Mengxi. When the battle began, Liu Qingyu had carried Chu Mengxi back to Listening-Mystery Peak.
Fortunately, it was not far from Lin Ye's own courtyard.
Upon entering, they saw Chu Mengxi's residence was spotless.
A stone table, a few stone stools, and some plants in the corner.
Nothing more.
Inside the room, everything was neatly arranged as well.
It was hard to imagine that the sect's Senior Sister lived so plainly and elegantly.
Clearly, she was someone of extremely frugal habits.
But now Chu Mengxi's condition was dire.
Her face was pale, her breath faint. Beside the bed were large stains of blood.
At first the blood had been bright red, but later it had turned black.
"Poisoned."
Lin Ye's expression tightened instantly.
The poisoning was deep.
Most alchemists might not understand medicine, but Lin Ye was different. His medical knowledge was equally profound.
"How could this happen… it looks so serious." Liu Qingyu inhaled sharply, panic written across her face.
The condition seemed worse than when she had left.
"Fill a bath barrel with hot water," Lin Ye ordered.
Liu Qingyu froze for a moment, then nodded quickly.
"Okay!"
She rushed to fetch water, and even used qi to heat it.
Lin Ye sent a strand of qi into Chu Mengxi's body.
In fact, Chu Mengxi had not always been poisoned. She had even broken into the Earth-Transformation Realm.
But somehow she had been afflicted later, causing her meridians to spiral into chaos.
It was too late to refine pills on the spot. Lin Ye could only use medicinal bathing to purge the toxin.
He protected her heart meridian with qi, preventing the poison from further damaging her.
"The poisoner is truly vicious."
"This toxin is called Hundred-Bitter Heart-Drill."
"When it flares up, it causes pain like a drill piercing the heart, while the entire body feels as though soaked in bitter water, as if it is rotting away bit by bit."
"It triggers once every seven days, for a total of seven flares."
"An ordinary person can endure at most one flare before choosing suicide."
"This girl endured five."
Lin Ye sighed.
After the fifth flare, survival was almost impossible.
It was not merely that help arrived in time. She had survived long enough through sheer willpower for Lin Ye to even have a chance to save her.
"Senior Brother Lin Ye, the water is ready," Liu Qingyu said.
She held an enormous bath barrel filled with hot water, struggling as she set it down in the room.
"You couldn't have placed it in the room first and then heated it?" Lin Ye glanced at her sweaty face.
"Oh… right." Liu Qingyu slapped her forehead.
Lin Ye pulled out several extremely precious medicinal herbs from his storage ring and tossed them into the barrel.
Then he took out a third-grade pill—an Earth-Spirit Pill—and dropped it into the bath as a base.
"This is… way too luxurious…" Liu Qingyu stared.
Even if she could not name the herbs, she knew each one was expensive.
"Strip her naked and place her into the bath."
"Oh… okay… ah!!?" Liu Qingyu did not react for a second.