Translator: Jon Editor : Dhael Ligerkeys Butcher was shocked. After giving it some thought, he said, “Perhaps the exchange ratio is low?” He would not want to be blamed for a lot of Soul Cleansing Water getting taken away. Despite his grim expression, the City Lord fell silent. He was the one who invoked the Heavens to grant Lu Ye the right to trade battle points for Soul Cleansing Water, so he could not change the outcome now. He could only hope that Lu Ye did not have that many battle points, which would limit the amount of Soul Cleansing Water the latter would get. Otherwise, the heritage of the Pool of Divine Purification would be affected. A moment later, Lu Ye, who was collecting Soul Cleansing Water with elation in the pool, saw that his Spirit Gathering Funnel contorted and come apart. He instinctively tried to build another one, but after the funnel took shape, it did not work at all as though a mysterious power was messing everything up. He soon came to his senses and looked at his Battle Imprint for his personal information, after which he discovered that he was only left with 836 battle points. A drop of Soul Cleansing Water was worth 1,000 battle points, so it was apparent that 836 points could not be traded for one drop of it. Over 300,000 battle points were mostly gone in a short time. He would be lying if he said he was not heartbroken. Those were battle points, not Contribution points, after all. Nonetheless, compared to what he had acquired, the price was worth paying. His bota bag was not full yet, but there were more than 300 drops of Soul Cleansing Water. This amount of treasure was enough to allow him and his friends and relatives to significantly strengthen their Souls. Since he no longer had enough battle points to trade for Soul Cleansing Water, it was time to leave. After keeping the bota bag, he activated his power to hoist himself up. He initially thought that he was at the bottom of the pool, but he managed to break through the blockade of Soul Mist in two breaths of time. When the light came into his sight, he squinted. The next moment, he felt a sharp gaze staring right at him. He turned to look and immediately saw the City Lord, whom he had met previously. Nonetheless, the City Lord sported a weird expression. He looked like he was gritting his teeth. It was as if Lu Ye had done something outrageous that caused the City Lord to be furious, and he was ready to beat him up. [Did he notice what I was doing inside the pool?] Lu Ye could not help but be anxious. After some deliberation, he realised there was not a need for him to be afraid. He had traded his battle points for Soul Cleansing Water, which was a rule permitted by the Heavens. Regardless of how powerful the City Lord was, he had to obey the Heavens. While Lu Ye was in his thoughts, he suddenly appeared surprised when he caught sight of the chubby figure behind the City Lord. “Senior?” He thought he was mistaken. The next moment, he landed in front of the chubby figure and examined him, finally confirming that the man was Butcher, who was supposed to be dead. A puzzled Lu Ye said, “Senior, why are you…” Butcher chuckled. “As long as the Pool of Divine Purification in the city isn’t destroyed, apparitions like us will never die. We’ll only fall asleep for a while.” Lu Ye did not know why Butcher had come back to life, but his words suggested that the pool had given apparitions like them some special abilities. It was no wonder that they kept saying the pool was the foundation of the city. In that case, the people he had seen before he blacked out were not illusions. “What about Liu Datong, Senior Yu Qing, and the others?” “They’re still alive. They’re cleaning up the mess outside, so I think they’ll come back soon.” Lu Ye let out a breath of relief. “That’s wonderful.” Butcher patted his shoulder and gave him a look of approval. “You’ve done a great job, brat!” He was talking about Lu Ye carrying on with the task on his own after the entire squad was eliminated. Although he had not completed the task, he had done his best. That was the reason Butcher decided to take him to the City Lord’s Mansion and let him become part of his squad, which granted him a right to recuperate in the Pool of Divine Purification. Certainly, Lu Ye did not know any of that. “By the way, here’s your knife, Senior,” Lu Ye said and whipped out Butcher’s knife from his Storage Sphere before passing it to him. Butcher took it and put it back in the sheath at his waist. Then, he cupped his fists at the City Lord and said, “I’ll leave this brat to you, Sir. I’ll go back to work now.” The City Lord ordered impatiently, “Get lost.” Butcher took Lu Ye somewhere else and whispered, “I know you have many doubts, but there are things I can’t tell you, and I don’t know many secrets to begin with. If you have any questions, you can ask the City Lord. He’ll tell you what he’s allowed to say. Anyway, you’re considered part of the Lost City of Xianyuan now.” Butcher meant it when he said Lu Ye was a member of his squad. He considered Lu Ye part of the Lost City of Xianyuan even though the latter was not born here. “Do you need any help?” Lu Ye asked. After he emerged from the Pool of Divine Purification, he felt that he was rejuvenated. Moreover, his Soul Power had become stronger. Butcher shook his head. “I don’t need your help now. All the insectoids have been eliminated, and we only need to clean up the mess. You should leave this place as soon as you can. You’re a Human, after all. If you stay here as an apparition for a long time, it’ll only do you more harm than good.” Lu Ye nodded. “I understand.” Even if Butcher did not say that, Lu Ye could feel that he had come to the city as an apparition, which was a reflection of his true self. A long time of separation between his Soul and his body would leave him with some health concerns. Butcher patted his shoulder one more time and left. It was not until Butcher was out of sight that Lu Ye turned around and saluted the person in front of him. “Greetings, Sir City Lord!” A snort was heard. “Oh, you can see me?” Lu Ye could feel that the City Lord was not pleased. “I was too happy to see that Senior Butcher is still alive. Please forgive me for my rudeness.” Upon hearing his explanation, Ji Yuan sported a milder expression, but his face twitched when he thought of the pool and Soul Cleansing Water. “You’ve gained quite a massive reward, haven’t you?” [He has acquired more than 300 drops of Soul Cleansing Water!] Since the existence of the Lost City of Xianyuan, they had never lost so many drops of Soul Cleansing Water before. Although some cultivators were able to take Soul Cleansing Water in the past, they could only get one two two drops. It was Ji Yuan who put it somewhere in the city to let the Outsiders discover it. Previously, Lu Ye had taken dozens of Soul Cleansing Water with him. All in all, they had suffered huge losses because of him. Over 300 drops of Soul Cleansing Water were enough to help them with two to three times of war against the insectoids. Nevertheless, the City Lord was not in any place to say anything. He was negligent the previous time, not expecting Lu Ye to have such a strange ability. This time, the Heavens were involved. Therefore, even though he was distraught, he could only consider himself unlucky. Fortunately, even though 300 drops of Soul Cleansing Water were a lot, the foundation of the pool had not been affected. [What does the City Lord mean by that?] Lu Ye looked at him and wondered what the insinuation was in his words. [Has he found out that I’ve collected some Soul Cleansing Water?] Considering that Butcher and the others did not bring Soul Cleansing Water with them when they went out to fight, Lu Ye suspected that the City Lord might not be able to condense Soul Cleansing Water. Subconsciously, he whipped out a jade bottle and passed it to Ji Yuan before saying solemnly, “I don’t have a lot of it.” Ji Yuan stared blankly at the jade bottle, and when he came to his senses, he was so exasperated that he started laughing. “What do you think I am?” The jade bottle was the one Lu Ye had used to collect Soul Cleansing Water. Then, he realised the condensation process was too quick, so he used a bota bag instead. Lu Ye quickly retracted the jade bottle and let out a breath, feeling glad that the City Lord didn’t want it. After all, there was quite some Soul Cleansing Water in it. He said, “It’s just a misunderstanding. I thought…” “Did you think I wanted to take half of the booty?” [No way I’d share half of it with you!] After the thought flashed across Lu Ye’s mind, he said seriously, “You’re mistaken, Sir City Lord. It’s not booty; I traded it with my battle points.” Ji Yuan weakly waved his hand. “Whatever. Since you’re capable of taking it, it’s yours now.” “Thanks, Sir!” Lu Ye became at ease in an instant. “Brat, how many battle points have you acquired this time?” Ji Yuan was curious. Lu Ye gave him a figure. Upon hearing that, Ji Yuan felt his eyelids twitching. Butcher was full of nonsense when he said that Lu Ye had only acquired several ten thousand battle points. He had over 300,000 points! Ji Yuan even felt that Butcher had lied to him, which was why the latter ran away so quickly. That said, it was pointless to harp on this issue, especially when the treasure was already in Lu Ye’s hands. It was not like he could ask him to return the Soul Cleansing Water. Moreover, Lu Ye had indeed traded his battle points for it. As the thoughts turned over in Ji Yuan’s mind, a laugh escaped him. Noticing the milder atmosphere, Lu Ye said, “Why are you smiling all of a sudden, Sir?” Ji Yuan shook his head. “Nothing. It’s just that I haven’t talked to someone like this in a long time.” Then, he said meaningfully, “Your growth in power is rapid, brat.” The last time they met, Lu Ye was only an Eighth-Order Spirit Creek Realm Master, but he was now in the Real Lake Realm. The speed of his growth in power was astonishing. Countless cultivators from Jiu Zhou had visited the Lost City of Xianyuan over the past thousands of years, and many of them were talented. Although Ji Yuan had no idea how quickly those people could grow in power, he reckoned that they were no match for Lu Ye in this regard. Lu Ye shook his head. “You’re mistaken, Sir. My condition is slightly special. I’m only a Fifth-Order Cloud River Realm Master. Since my Soul is much stronger than my body, I’ve come to this city as an apparition in the Real Lake Realm.” Upon hearing his explanation, Ji Yuan said, “I see.” It was not surprising, though. Since Lu Ye had arrived at this city as an apparition, the power he showcased was that of his soul. Having said that, his growth in power was rapid considering that he was now a Fifth-Order Cloud River Realm Master. “Sir, there are some questions I’d like to ask. I’m wondering if you could enlighten me.” “Go ahead. I’ll tell you what I’m allowed to say.” “What’s with the Lost City of Xianyuan? Isn’t it supposed to be a Hidden Realm on the Spirit Creek Battlefield? After two Mystic Fruit Seeds merged into one, I was able to come here for some reason.” “Hidden Realm…” Ji Yuan muttered under his breath. Instead of answering his question, he asked, “What do you think a Hidden Realm is?”