Sage of Humanity

Two hundred yards in the air, Lu Ye was enveloped in flames, overwhelmed by the brilliance of the Golden Body Token.

With the surges of these flames, the enigmatic and complex Yin-Yang Dual Origins swiftly extended and fitted together.

The spirit force stored within the two Spirit Energy Gathering Spirit Runes was exhausted, and the spirit force inside Lu Ye's body rapidly drained as well. It was only when nearly half of his own spirit force was consumed that the intricate spirit runes were finally constructed.

The cultivators from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge stared in awe at the spectacle above them.

What came into their view was an oval-shaped egg, resembling a beast's egg, except that its surface was covered with numerous fine and intricate lines that flickered, completely enveloping Lu Ye within.

The flickering light seemed like a peculiar form of breathing.

As those Level 9 powerhouses continued to strike, this egg floated and bobbed in the air.

What exactly is this?

Everyone felt bewildered, yet each could sense the wild and dangerous aura emanating from the spirit force egg.

Some sensed trouble and had already begun to flee far away, and even those Level 9 practitioners felt a sense of alarm, as their skin prickled painfully.

During this time, inside the spirit force egg, Lu Ye continued to channel his spirit force, pouring all his remaining power into the formed spirit runes, until the river of his spirit force completely dried up.

The light from the spirit force egg grew increasingly dazzling, the fiery red hue like a big sun hanging in the sky.

"Something's wrong, run!"

One of the Level 9 individuals shouted, no longer daring to stay in place.

Seeing this, many Level 9 practitioners scattered and fled.

No matter what Lu Yiye was doing, the scene before their eyes had surpassed their imaginations; it was crucial to leave this place of trouble.

Without external forces striking it, the spirit force egg rapidly plummeted down from the height of two hundred yards.

As it fell, the surface of the egg suddenly displayed densely packed, spider-web-like cracks, as if something was about to break out of the egg.

A horrifying aura accompanied the cracking of the spirit force egg, spreading in all directions, making even the void distort.

Crack...

The dense noise continued until a certain moment...

"Screech..."

A clear and resounding cry pierced the heavens, deafening. Along with the sound, the spirit force egg completely shattered.

Fire surged and billowed, and from within that blaze, the first thing to emerge was two massive wings, followed quickly by a beautifully sleek figure.

Spectral Shadow, having fled dozens of miles away, could not help but shiver at this familiar sound and turned in panic to look back. The scene that met his eyes sent shivers down his spine.

There was a creature with a wingspan of over one hundred yards and a body length exceeding two hundred yards. Its beautiful figure, trailing a long tail feather and wrapped in roaring flames, brought with it an air of death.

The Fire Phoenix Spirit Runes reappeared in the world!

He had seen this figure before on the Spirit Stream battlefield; it too was Lu Yiye's doing. At that time, Lu Yiye had charged through the defensive line of the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators, broke into the Ten Thousand Poisons Forest, and with this single move, annihilated nearly two hundred cultivators from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge.

At that time, Spectral Shadow had also fled early to avoid disaster.

Ever since that time, the beautiful figure had been the source of his nightmares.

Today, the scene he witnessed was strikingly similar!

The difference was that the Fire Phoenix he saw this time was somewhat larger and more realistic in appearance than before; even the feathers on the Fire Phoenix were clearly discernible.

This was undoubtedly related to the advancement in Lu Yiye's cultivation. The last time he used this move, his cultivation was only at the 7th Heaven, but now he was at the Cloud River Level 3, a significant difference in cultivation.

Spectral Shadow felt immensely fortunate that he had fled early; otherwise, he would undoubtedly be engulfed in this crisis, facing slim chances of survival.

The huge shadow of the Fire Phoenix descended from the sky, its overwhelming might felt by many of the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators as if a great mountain were bearing down on them, the scorching heat waves driving them to despair.

A distance of two hundred yards closed in the blink of an eye.

Just as the beautiful figure was about to crash into the ground, it suddenly veered, gliding over a spot just over ten yards above the ground.

The massive wings gently flapped, distorting space wherever they passed and sweeping up flames, melting even the solid ground.

Screams suddenly arose, only to be abruptly cut off.

Even though many cultivators from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge had started to flee before they even caught a glimpse of the Fire Phoenix, it was already too late. Where the colossal figure passed, figures were swept up and devoured by flames, and the flower of life swiftly withered.

Such power was something that only those at Level 9 could barely withstand, but even then, they were merely resisting…

It seemed like a moment, and yet it seemed like millions of years, when the uncontrollable Fire Phoenix crashed into a small mountain, leaving behind scorched earth and withered corpses.

The chaotic scene gradually calmed down. The fleeing Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators, with lingering fear, stopped, grateful to have narrowly escaped death. However, those unlucky enough to be in the path of the Fire Phoenix were not so fortunate.

Among the scorched earth, one figure stood erect; it was a Level 9 cultivator. However, he now stood motionlessly. His entire body was charred, his hair and clothes completely burnt off. Although still alive, he was gravely injured and in urgent need of a healing cultivator, or he wouldn't survive much longer.

This person was particularly unlucky, located directly in the path of the Fire Phoenix's flight.

A series of flashing lights soared into the sky, and the surviving Level 9 cultivators quickly rushed toward where the Fire Phoenix had fallen, arriving swiftly. Looking over, they saw Lu Ye lying pale in the midst of the scorched earth, staring blankly at the sky, seemingly without the strength to even move.

But with previous experiences in mind, no one dared get too close to Lu Ye, wondering what kind of tricks he might still pull.

Someone gnashed their teeth, terrified.

They had thought that Lu Yiye was going to self-destruct, but who could have known he still had such astonishing methods? By now, countless were dead from the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge side.

Even though they knew Lu Ye's strategy, they couldn't stop him. Protected by the Golden Body Token, Lu Ye wasn't worried about their attacks.

Unless they had fled in advance, but that would have given Lu Ye a chance to escape.

Lu Ye was deaf to the curses directed at him. Currently, he only felt stars swirling before his eyes and a weakness flooding his body, an utterly drained sensation overwhelming him.

Not only that, but the skin on his body was cracked all over, dyeing him blood-red.

It was like this the last time he activated the Fire Phoenix Spirit Runes, and it was still the same this time…

His power was still insufficient; the side effects of activating the Fire Phoenix Spirit Runes were too severe. With his current strength, while it was not difficult to activate them with enough time and spirit force, controlling them was nearly impossible, or else he wouldn't have ended up crashing here. He would have been able to harness the Fire Phoenix to hunt down those at Level 9 cultivators, killing as many as he could.

Streaks of red light, like fireflies, drifted from a certain direction, falling into the battlefield marking on the back of his hand.

These were the merit points contributed by the deceased Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators.

At the same time, on the high-hanging Kills Ranking in the sky, the name Lu Yiye that was originally about to fall below the top ten, briefly flashed and then soared to the top.

Originally, his kill points were at seven thousand one hundred ten, but now they had shot up to fifteen thousand six hundred twenty, doubling his score.

Such a massive increase in kill points made him undoubtedly deserving of the top spot, considering that the previous leader had less than nine thousand points.

This substantial increase in kill points undoubtedly meant that Lu Ye had, with his recent Fire Phoenix attack, slain at least forty to fifty cultivators from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge.

In comparison to the total number of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators who had gathered nearby, this number was small, less than ten percent. Mainly, since those who saw the dire situation fled in all directions, the Fire Phoenix could only eliminate enemies in one direction, leaving the others untouched.

Click…

A faint, brittle sound resonated deep within everyone's hearts. As the sound emerged, the blood-red light curtain enveloping the earth shattered like glass, and dazzling sunlight flooded in, causing Lu Ye to squint.

The hunting ground was closed!

And coincidentally, it closed just after he had retaken the top spot on the Kills Ranking.

Lu Ye couldn't believe this was unrelated to his luck. Things were not so coincidental; this must have involved the machinations of Heaven's Augury.

However, for his current situation, the closure of the hunting ground seemed to have little significance, as numerous Level 9 cultivators surrounded him, and he was utterly spent, with no hope of escaping the area.

The closure of the hunting ground caused a stir, especially for the cultivator who had been number one. He was so frustrated he was almost spitting blood.

If the hunting ground had closed just ten breaths earlier, he would have been the leader of the Kills Ranking and would have received a Class A Spring Spirit and nine gold-hued spirit fortune sticks as a reward. But those mere ten breaths cost him that Class A Spring Spirit reward.

How could he not be furious, feeling that the heavens were blind, awarding the top spot on the Kills Ranking to a man doomed to die, and what was the point of that?

Streams of golden light fell from the sky, landing on the bodies of the present Level 9 cultivators, including Lu Ye. The light landed on the back of his hand, forming a marking.

This was Heaven's Augury distributing rewards.

At the same time, a realization dawned upon Lu Ye. With that gold-hued marking, he could redeem his rightful rewards from the Heaven's Augury treasure vault.

So this was how Heaven's Augury issued rewards; he had thought it would be directly bestowed with various benefits, but it turned out that he would need to make a trip to the Heaven's Augury treasure vault himself.

This seemed more logical, as always, there were some who might not find it convenient to receive Heaven's Augury's blessings at this time. When they had time and it was convenient, they could then collect their rewards.

But this also made the many Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators feel helpless; once the Golden Body Token disappeared, Lu Yiye would undoubtedly die, and the top reward of the Kills Ranking would vanish with him, which was a pity.

As for sparing his life temporarily until he claimed his rewards and then killing him, that was out of the question. After Lu Ye's recent antics, which Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivator would dare spare his life now? They were all waiting for the Golden Body Token to disappear before making their move.