Sage of Humanity

In order to track down Lu Ye, the Level 8 cultivator kept his flight low, hovering around forty meters above the ground.

This was a clever altitude, ensuring that he could observe the situation on the ground while also having enough time to react and manoeuvre in case of an attack.

From this alone, it was clear that this person was someone with abundant experience.

As he flew past a certain area, a faint ripple of spirit force suddenly emerged from below. Had he not been extremely focused, he would have probably missed this anomaly.

He immediately looked towards the source and saw a figure flitting through the forest like a startled bird. Despite the darkness of night, the figure was distinctly visible to him.

"Lu Yiye!" The cultivator was overjoyed, not expecting to truly find Lu Ye's trace. Feeling his own fortune, he quickly pursued, appearing in front of Lu Ye in the blink of an eye, then dropped from the sky, half airborne, with a cleaver in hand. With spirit force surging, he swooped down on Lu Ye like a eagle preying, slashing towards him.

With a clang, Lu Ye, who was in mid-flight, was pressed down by a great force, causing him to stoop. The collision of spirit force on their Spiritual Artifacts erupted with a boom.

In the wake of the shockwave, the two abruptly split apart.

Lu Ye stood firm on the ground, sliding back over ten yards with two deep trails ploughed into the earth behind him. In contrast, the other's figure flipped in the air, landing lightly on the ground.

At first glance, it seemed that Lu Ye was at a disadvantage, but the strength he unleashed in an instant caused his opponent to raise an eyebrow.

The fluctuations of Lu Ye's spirit force were indeed of the Level 5 realm, but the power he displayed was clearly not limited to such simplicity. However, the man didn't care too much. Lu Ye's reputation was well-known, and he was capable of defeating those beyond his own level. Such a performance was not surprising.

Yet, in the end, he had been cornered here!

While he was thinking this, a figure emerged like a spectral apparition from the ground behind him...

At times, Lu Ye reflected that Yiyi had actually chosen the wrong sect. Had she picked a sect of Spectral Bewitchment, she would have undoubtedly excelled beyond all other practitioners.

Unfortunately, when he joined the Righteous Blood Sect, there were only two members top to bottom: Shui Yuan and the sect master.

Yiyi had initially followed Shui Yuan in the path of healing, only to discover that she lacked talent in that area, eventually turning to follow the sect master in magic and spells.

She showed immense talent on the path of magic, mastering even the most profound spells with ease. Moreover, as a Spiritual Body, there were few constraints when casting spells, allowing her to use magic of all element signs equally well.

All but lightning type techniques...

Perhaps due to being a Spiritual Body, Yiyi was quite afraid of lightning type techniques, let alone cultivating them herself.

Regardless, since Yiyi had embarked on the path of a magic cultivator and possessed exceptional talent, it was now impractical to switch sects. She could only consider blending in the ways of Spectral Bewitchment when her power further increased in the future.

Although she had never delved into the ways of Spectral Bewitchment, as a Spiritual Body, she naturally had advantages that were beyond reach for ordinary practitioners.

At this moment, she materialized silently behind the enemy, completely undetected.

It wasn't until Yiyi unfolded the Nine Arrays Diagram and waves of spirit force surged out that the Level 8 combat cultivator was startled. However, before he could ascertain the danger behind him, his field of view abruptly blurred, and he found himself unexpectedly standing amidst a forest of disordered boulders.

"Find somewhere to hide," Lu Ye instructed, rushing into the Nine Arrays Diagram as well.

Time passed, and after the length of time it would take to finish a cup of tea, Yiyi shook the diagram and revealed Lu Ye's figure, now bearing several minor wounds—mere superficial injuries.

At his feet lay the corpse of the Level 8 combat cultivator, his injuries far more severe, his clothing almost entirely dyed red with blood. Even in death, his eyes were wide open, a look of unwillingness etched on his face.

He truly had reasons to die unsatisfied.

In combat, he began on an equal footing with Lu Ye. But since they were within the realm of the Nine Arrays Diagram, Yiyi naturally could interfere subtly. With her covert assistance, how could the Level 8 combat cultivator stand a chance? He was ultimately chopped to death by Lu Ye, blow by blow.

"Let's go!" bellowed Lu Ye, choosing a direction at random to make his escape.

Dawn was breaking, and after a night of hunting, he too was not without considerable exhaustion and needed a rest.

A short while later, hidden within an array formation, Lu Ye sat with his legs crossed, consuming elixir pills to recover his strength.

Ever since returning from Fox Fairy Valley, Lu Ye felt that he was capable of facing a Level 8 cultivator in battle, but had never gotten the chance to confirm this until he recently encountered a lone Level 8.

After their exchange, his suspicions were confirmed.

Under normal conditions, he truly had the ability to fight against a Level 8 cultivator. Even without Yiyi's assistance, Lu Ye was confident he could defeat his opponent.

This undeniably meant that he now possessed the ability to overcome enemies three levels higher!

Before, he could at most overcome opponents two levels higher. Such progression was largely thanks to the opportunity he found in Fox Fairy Valley, the reward from Heaven's Augury's baptism that greatly enhanced his foundations, along with the likes of Li Baxian.

And this was just his normal state.

If he could activate his Beast Transformation Secret Technique, his strength would see considerable improvement, possibly allowing him to confront a Level 9 head-on?

Lu Ye could not be certain of these things, although he had killed a Level 9 cultivator in a one-on-one battle before, that fight against Huo Liaoyuan was one where he relied on the Talent Tree's insulation against flames—it could be said that he had worn out Huo Liaoyuan through sheer attrition...

That was a special circumstance and could not be taken as a benchmark.

However, the activation of the Beast Transformation Secret Technique required a long time of charging up and resonance, and so far, Lu Ye had only activated it once.

Regardless, he could now be considered a member of the strong within the Cloud River Realm, no longer the weakling who had just entered the Cloud River battlefield, whom anyone could bully.

That was also the confidence that underpinned his willingness to leave the spirit ground.

Anyone who dared underestimate him because of his cultivation would surely pay a heavy price.

The cultivators of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge never expected Lu Ye's retribution to come so swiftly.

From the standpoint of the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators, he had left the spirit ground and lurked in the Great Wilderness Mountain—now he must be hiding like a dog that had lost its home, and their task was to continuously search and find his whereabouts before killing him.

Yet, in just one night, four or five teams vanished without a trace.

He made short work of killing those from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge who had grouped in threes and fives—it was a configuration that greatly facilitated Lu Ye's hunting operations.

Back when he was in the Spirit Stream Realm, he had been hunted down many times like this, but he was no longer the person he was back in the Spirit Stream Realm.

During the time he was hunted in the Spirit Stream Realm, he had not mastered the Breath-concealing Spirit Runes yet and found it difficult to hide his tracks under the enemy's large-scale searches; he could only keep moving and change his location.

Now was different, with the addition of the Breath-concealing Spirit Runes, he could employ the tactics of a spectral cultivator even with a combat cultivator's identity.

The cultivators from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge thought he was the prey, but in his view, they were his prey.

The disappearance of four or five teams in one night went largely unnoticed. These Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators typically acted with their own sect companions or friends, and rarely communicated with others, so even if they disappeared, most people remained unaware.

Such was the case one night, as it was the second, and still so on the third...

The side of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge finally sensed that something was amiss.

Song Zhui, in particular, who had roused the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators at the mouth of Great Reversal Valley, had exchanged battlefield markings with many people then. Each night, a batch of these exchanged markings vanished—clearly, this was not the work of demon beasts, but rather the poisonous hand of someone.

Apart from the large number of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators, there was only Lu Ye left in the Great Wilderness Mountain!

Could that guy be so formidable? Song Zhui didn't quite understand, and then he remembered what Ying Wuji had said to him at the end, warning him to be careful with Lu Yiye, who was very strong.

Song Zhui suddenly realized that he seemed to have always underestimated Lu Ye, or to put it more accurately, he didn't know the extent of Lu Ye's foundation. If these missing cultivators from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge were indeed Lu Yiye's doing, then his strength was definitely stronger than he had anticipated.

What made him even more infuriated was that over the past few days, he had not been able to find any trace of Lu Ye, who seemed to have completely evaporated since passing through the teleportation array to leave Great Reversal Valley.

But Song Zhui knew that Lu Ye was still in the Great Wilderness Mountain!

If those missing cultivators from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge really were his doing, then he would surely continue acting this way.

The fourth night fell...

Song Zhui was prepared this time, deliberately contacting those cultivators from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge ahead of time, inquiring about their locations, and then quietly waiting.

When a marking suddenly disappeared from the battlefield markings, Song Zhui immediately soared into the air, heading straight in a certain direction with several others closely following him.

However, by the time he and his junior brothers and sisters arrived, it was already too late. Lying on the ground were several corpses, with blood scattered all over.

Upon closer inspection, he found the lethal wounds on the dead bodies were all from sword cuts, and the traces left at the scene indicated that the battle had not lasted long.

A four-person team, all of them Level 6-7 cultivators, was quite capable—could Lu Yiye, a sole Level 5, have killed so many in such a short span of time?

Or did he have help?

But Lu Yiye had left Great Reversal Valley alone, so what kind of help could he have had by his side?

There were too many things Song Zhui couldn't figure out, but the one thing he knew was that Lu Ye's strength was indeed greater than he had thought.

Just as Song Zhui was deep in thought, a streak of light flashed past not far from them, seemingly detecting their presence. This light changed direction and descended near them, revealing the figure of a person.

That person nodded slightly at Song Zhui, "Brother Song!"

"Brother Zizai."

The newcomer was named Ning Zizai, also a Level 9 cultivator, from a 2nd grade sect in Youzhou. They had previously met at Great Reversal Valley and had dealt with each other before, so naturally, they were not too unfamiliar with each other.