If the Insect Matriarch truly exists beyond the Divine Sea Realm, there must be something on it that can be excavated. This is one of the reasons why Lu Ye insists on refining the vitality accumulated in the Blood River. He hopes to discover something through this method. The Insect Matriarch's vitality is immense and pure. Although during the battle, some of the vitality was used to hatch the Insect Race bodyguards, and some was used for healing, overall, the vitality consumed by the Insect Matriarch should be less than half. In other words, more than half of the vitality was absorbed by Lu Ye with the help of the Talent Tree and integrated into the Blood River. However, this part of the power does not entirely belong to him yet; he still needs to carefully refine it to become his own. This situation is like a farmer who has seized a large amount of grain from the landlord's house. Now, this grain is piled up in his house, and he has to eat it to make it truly his own. With the immense volume of the Blood River, the power of the Talent Tree has been greatly enhanced. The entire Blood River is filled with the roots of the Talent Tree, and the efficiency of devouring and refining is incomparable to his usual cultivation practice. As time passes, the volume of the Blood River gradually shrinks. The vast secret realm of the Insect Race is now silent and still. All the Nine Provinces cultivators have withdrawn, leaving only Lu Ye and his protector Nian Yuexian behind. The news of the human army's great victory in the secret realm of the Insect Race has already spread, and the entire Nine Provinces is filled with an atmosphere of joy, especially among those common people who have long suffered from the scourge of insects. The prolonged shroud of darkness has finally met the dawn of hope, igniting their excitement. They no longer need to be trapped in the cities protected by cultivators and will be able to restore their previous peaceful and leisurely lives. With intentional and unintentional propaganda, the name of Lu Yiye from the Righteous Blood Sect, the greatest hero in quelling the insect disaster, resounds throughout the Nine Provinces, truly becoming famous worldwide. The crafting of the As-Close-As-Siblings Array Disc has enhanced the overall strength of the Nine Provinces expeditionary army by at least twenty to thirty percent. It can be said that the existence of this array disc significantly reduced the casualties among the cultivators, benefiting almost every True Lake Realm cultivator in the expedition. When everyone knew nothing about the secret realm of the Insect Race, he had already accomplished the feat of entering it alone, bringing back the first-hand comprehensive intelligence. Later, he contributed the method of refining insect blood, providing the cultivator army with the prerequisites for a counterattack. In the final battle, when more than two hundred Level 9 realm cultivators were helpless and the battle was in a stalemate, he single-handedly broke into the core of the insect hive, creating an environment suitable for a decisive battle with his own power, coordinating and assisting the Level 9 realm cultivators in successfully slaying the Insect Matriarch, resolving the danger of the Nine Provinces. This is different from his previous minor skirmishes. In the past, whether in the Spirit Stream Realm or the Cloud River Realm, his actions, no matter how outstanding, were still seen as child's play by truly accomplished cultivators. But this time is different. The counterattack against the secret realm of the Insect Race was essentially facilitated by him, and the final victory was significantly related to him, even having a decisive role. After this battle, no one would consider him merely a young rising star in his early twenties anymore. In terms of reputation and prestige, this young man in his early twenties has surpassed ninety-nine percent of the Divine Sea of the Nine Provinces. The saying 'heroes emerge in times of chaos' applies precisely to someone like him. Ten Thousand Demons Ridge is naturally aware of the source of this propaganda. The saying 'a tree that stands out above the forest' reflects Lu Yiye's enormous role in this great battle, drawing much attention and inevitably some jealousy, potentially leading to secretive actions against him. Of course, at present, the two major factions are still in a partnership phase, making such incidents unlikely in the short term. But how long can this relationship last? One year, two years, or perhaps three? Ultimately, the two major factions will break apart, and then they will once again face ongoing confrontation. By then, even the heroes will be targeted, and with all their power. Under such propaganda, at least in the short term, Lu Ye's safety can be ensured. Truthfully, the entire Nine Provinces human race owes him a debt of gratitude. Before the situation changes, anyone daring to harm him would be committing a grave offense against the world, incurring collective retribution from the Nine Provinces human race. While Lu Ye is refining the vitality within the Blood River, the Nine Provinces homeland is also not idle. Although the secret realm of the Insect Race has been conquered, the insect races inside have been completely eradicated, and even the Insect Matriarch was slain on the spot, there are still many scattered insect races within the Nine Provinces that need to be dealt with. Perhaps to the cultivators, these scattered insect races do not pose much of a threat, but to ordinary people who have never cultivated, any random insect race can destroy their painstakingly cultivated fertile fields, ruining the crops they have toiled for a year to plant. Therefore, these insect races must be exterminated completely; not a single one can be left behind. Nine Provinces cultivators have recently been engaged in such tasks. Within each provincial state, a large number of cultivators are searching and exploring everywhere for any missed insect races, and once discovered, they immediately take action to eliminate them. This task won't take too long, but the issues faced by the cultivators afterward are the most troublesome. The rest and recuperation of the common people! Previously, during the rampant insect calamity, all the common people were gathered into each city, guarded and protected by cultivators to ensure their safety. Under such measures, within the Nine Provinces, the number of deaths and injuries among the common people caused by insect race attacks remained low, preserving the most fundamental vital energy of the cultivation world. However, common people need food to survive. In over three years, gathered within cities, they subsisted on stored grain from previous years. Despite their utmost frugality, the surplus grain has long been exhausted. Cultivators can consume the flesh and blood of the insect race, but the common people cannot. The energy contained in the flesh and blood of the insect race is not something a mortal body can bear. Many cities have encountered situations where people are starving to death. Now it's possible to plant new crops, but that takes time. How long can the starving commoners last before the new crops are fully mature? Information is being compiled in the central hubs of each provincial state, and the many Level 9 cultivators are feeling quite overwhelmed at the moment. According to current data, if there isn't enough food supply within six months, it is feared that more than half of the commoners could starve to death. By then, it would be a true human tragedy, and the foundation of the cultivation world would inevitably be shaken. Is six months enough time for a new batch of crops to grow and mature? Under normal circumstances, it would be enough, but currently, the entire Nine Provinces is in a state ravaged by the Insect Race. Large areas of land are barren, not only the land but even the once lush mountains now have no vegetation at all, turning into barren hills. From a bird's-eye view, there is very little greenery visible across the entire Nine Provinces. Commoners need time to resume farming, so six months is quite pressing. In the homeland of Nine Provinces, cultivators are tirelessly busy, while in the Great Secret Realm of the Insect Matriarch, Lu Ye's side remains as serene as ever. Two months have passed swiftly since the Level 9 cultivators returned to the Nine Provinces. Until one day, the crimson in the core of the insect hive completely disappeared, and Lu Ye, sitting cross-legged, was surrounded by ripples of spirit force, brimming with vitality. When he initially used the Blood River as support, he significantly enhanced the power of the Talent Tree and took just a few days to absorb the vitality of the Insect Matriarch. However, it took a full two months to refine that immense vitality for his own use. It can be imagined how immense and terrifying that vitality was. The harvest was tremendous! Just as he initially anticipated, after refining this immense vitality, his physique underwent a leap in enhancement. When his cultivation was still low, he once acquired a few dragon scales, using the blood Qi energy within them to grant his physique a foundation not inferior to cultivators of the same level. But he was never a conventional physique cultivator, and his cultivation direction was different from physique cultivators. So, as his cultivation gradually increased, this advantage became less apparent. His physique was stronger than typical combat cultivators, but he was starting to trail behind true physique cultivators. After refining the immense vitality of the Insect Matriarch, not only was this advantage reestablished, it was greatly expanded. Lu Ye didn't know the extent of his current physique's strength, but it was certainly substantial. Being a combat cultivator with a physique surpassing a physique cultivator, he could now fight freely against strong enemies without worrying too much about getting injured. The enhancement of his physique was one aspect; the surging vitality within was another gain. This led to a significant increase in the amount of Essence Blood Lu Ye could condense. Originally, using secret techniques from the Blood Technique, he could only condense three drops of Essence Blood, directly related to his physical and cultivation foundation. The stronger the physique and higher the cultivation, the more Essence Blood one could condense. Essence Blood has infinite wonders, and it can be said that every secret technique of the Blood Race can be enhanced by incorporating Essence Blood to increase its power. Previously, when Lu Ye performed the Blood River Technique, he exploded all three of his Essence Blood drops, greatly enhancing the power and coverage of the Blood River Technique, laying the foundation for ultimate victory. But now, he had nearly a hundred drops of Essence Blood in his body, a staggering change from the mere three drops before. The enhancement of his physique and the accumulation of vitality were internal changes, often imperceptible to ordinary people. The noticeable change was the elevation of his Cultivation Realm! As the Talent Tree refined the accumulated vitality in the Blood River, it also elevated his cultivation to a certain degree at the same time. It was only natural, as the Talent Tree could burn and refine all external energy for its own use. While increasing its own vitality and enhancing his physique, the reserve of his own spirit force also grew. Thus, he broke through to the Divine Sea Level 5 realm. It was quite an unexpected delight. However, considering the time, even with regular cultivation, his cultivation should have advanced to the Level 5 realm long ago. It was only delayed recently because he was busy with the counterattack on the Insect Race Great Secret Realm. A cultivation of Level 5 is already quite formidable, constituting the backbone of the Nine Provinces cultivation world. Most Divine Sea cultivators never reach this height in their lifetime.