Sage of Humanity

"Brother Song, is this Lu Yiye's handiwork?" Ning Zizai looked at the several corpses on the ground.

Song Zhui replied, "I've just arrived too, but it seems like it."

"Do you mind if I take a look?"

What's there to mind about a few corpses? Song Zhui said, "Brother Zizai, please feel free."

Ning Zizai squatted down and inspected the bodies carefully, even feeling them from head to toe, which only made Song Zhui and the others behind him frown tightly, suspecting that this man might have some peculiar preferences.

After quite a while, Ning Zizai finally stood up, his face revealing a contemplative expression.

"Brother Zizai, did you find anything?" Song Zhui asked.

Ning Zizai replied, "Nothing significant. Judging solely by the wounds, they're no different from the people who have died in the past few days. We can be sure it's the work of the same person."

"Has Brother Zizai been checking those dead bodies these past few days?"

"Not intentionally. Just happened to come across them and took a look." He turned to Song Zhui, "Can you confirm that this is Lu Yiye's doing?"

Song Zhui thought to himself, who should I ask if you're asking me? But he didn't want to speak so bluntly in front of his juniors, so he said, "Lu Yiye uses a blade, and these people also died from blade wounds. It's basically certain it was him."

"I remember that Lu Yiye is a combat cultivator!" Ning Zizai said, puzzled, "But... based on my observations, among each batch of the deceased, there's always one who died from a stealth attack from behind! This is somewhat reminiscent of a ghost cultivator's methods. So I suspect, does Lu Yiye have any helpers by his side? Otherwise, how could he possibly kill so many people by himself?"

And that helper must be a powerful ghost cultivator.

This struck a chord with Song Zhui's own suspicions, and for a moment both felt certain that Lu Ye must have an accomplice.

In fact, Lu Ye did have helpers by his side, but not as they imagined. His only helpers were Amber and Yiyi.

After some idle chat, Song Zhui and Ning Zizai went their separate ways, agreeing to share any discoveries with each other. Whether they would actually do so only they knew.

As cultivators of the True Lake Realm like them, if they truly discovered Lu Ye, they would undoubtedly strike immediately to kill, not bother with sharing information with others.

After the fifth night passed, the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge side lost two more teams.

At the same time, Lu Ye also noticed a problem.

There were fewer and fewer targets for him to strike at.

He had previously killed a lone Level 8 cultivator. So, if there were other lone Level 8 cultivators, with the help of the Nine Arrays Diagram in Yiyi's hand and her covert assistance, Lu Ye could still easily execute them, but if those Level 8 cultivators had companions, then Lu Ye could only choose to avoid confrontation.

Under the premise of not being certain that he could retreat safely, he wouldn't act rashly. He would only launch a stealth attack from the shadows if he was sure he could kill all visible enemies.

Now, the various teams scattered deep within the Great Wilderness Mountain had many with strong cultivators at Level 8 and even Level 9 sitting in command, and Lu Ye naturally couldn't afford to provoke such teams.

This led to the problem that the targets he could choose from were dwindling after several nights of hunting.

Moreover, as the number of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators who died increased, the survivors became more vigilant and banded closer together.

During the first few nights, the teams that Lu Ye encountered didn't have many members; the smallest had only two, and the largest had only three or four. He barely encountered teams of five, let alone individuals who thought they could act alone.

But last night, many of the teams he encountered had already joined forces, expanding to seven to more than ten members.

Even without Level 8 or Level 9 cultivators in such teams, Lu Ye didn't dare to provoke them. With his current strength, he could deal with teams of fewer than five without any cultivators above Level 8, but exceeding this range was too risky.

So throughout the night, only two teams totaling seven people from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge died at his hands, which was a huge disparity compared to the numbers from the first day.

After several days of hunting, Lu Ye's frustration was vented. Although he wanted to annihilate Song Zhui and the others completely, he knew it was unrealistic.

It was time to leave the Great Wilderness Mountain...

His current cultivation was insufficient; he couldn't keep hiding from the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators in these parts forever. Cultivation was still about improving one's own power.

Although the position of the Great Reversal Spirit Ground was exposed, there were the Heaven's Augury Pillar and many Formations that he had left in the spirit ground. If they encountered any irresistible danger, his fourth senior brother and the others would be able to escape back to the Nine Provinces with the help of the Heaven's Augury Pillar, so their safety was well secured.

Moreover, with the warning he had left before leaving the Great Reversal Valley, which Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivator would dare to force an attack on the Great Reversal Spirit Ground before he was confirmed dead?

They feared that if they attacked today, Lu Ye might return to the Spirit Stream battlefield tomorrow and break into their sect's stronghold.

He had done such a thing once before, which was why he could possess such a powerful deterrence.

As dawn approached, Lu Ye raised his hand to touch the battlefield marking and transmitted a message to Li Baxian, "Senior Brother, I'm preparing to leave the Great Wilderness Mountain."

He had also transmitted messages to Li Baxian over the past few days, but they hadn't discussed much, just a simple reassurance of his safety.

In the Great Reversal Spirit Ground, after checking the message about Lu Ye, Li Baxian took a long breath.

Even though Lu Ye hadn't said much to him over the past few days, he knew that since Lu Ye chose to stay in Great Wilderness Mountain and not leave, he must have been retaliating against the cultivators of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge. Now, hearing that he planned to leave Great Wilderness Mountain, Li Baxian finally felt at ease, as this undoubtedly meant that his junior brother would no longer engage in a battle of wits and bravery with those people from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge.

Although leaving the Great Wilderness Mountain meant that Lu Ye would certainly still be under the watch of the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge camp, the situation couldn't be worse than it was now.

For Li Baxian, Lu Ye's decision to leave the Great Wilderness Mountain was undoubtedly a good thing.

"Be careful, and think of Yiyi when in doubt!"

Seeing his senior brother's message, Lu Ye couldn't help but smile wryly.

The message from his senior brother clearly meant for him not to act impulsively, as if he were to die, then Yiyi would certainly vanish into thin air as well.

After ending the communication with Li Baxian, Lu Ye sent a message to Giant Armor, urging him to cultivate well in the spirit ground, not to run around recklessly, and to consult with their fourth senior brother or message him before making any decisions.

Giant Armor's reply was simple and clear, just one word: "Okay!"

Dawn was breaking, but this had little effect on Lu Ye, who could cast Concealment and Breath-concealing Spirit Runes on himself at any time. As long as he was careful enough, he wouldn't have to worry about being discovered by anyone.

As he began his journey forward, Lu Ye's heart was filled with helplessness.

Once again, he was going to be all alone.

Ever since he began his cultivation, he had mostly been in this state of solitude, with the only exception being the period when he traveled with Giant Armor, though that didn't last long either.

Having obtained the Class A Spring Spirit and settled deep in Great Wilderness Mountain, with his fourth senior brother and Feng Yuechan for company, he had thought such days would continue until he advanced to the True Lake Realm.

Yet, inevitably, many things were unsatisfactory. It had only been a few months, and he was once again setting out alone.

Reflecting on his brief time in the spirit ground, although everyone was focusing on their cultivation and didn't interact much, the feeling was different. There were people around, and no matter what happened, there was always someone to discuss the matter with and to rely on, and those were some of the closest people to him in this world.

Fortunately, although he was always alone, he was never lonely.

Because Amber and Yiyi were always by his side.

Now, Lu Ye was immensely grateful that he had met Amber and Yiyi, and even more so that he had taken them with him from Qingyun Mountain. This way, he had two companions who were always by his side, growing and facing all kinds of hardships together.

Lu Ye's sudden disappearance made powerful cultivators like Song Zhui and Ning Zizai sense that something was amiss.

A few days ago, people from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge would vanish every night, but in the recent two to three days, no one had fallen victim to any foul play again.

All signs indicated that Lu Ye seemed to have left!

How could those Level 9 cultivators who had been searching fruitlessly for Lu Ye be content? But what could they do if they weren't? They had never managed to find where Lu Ye was, powerful as they were, they had no means to exercise their strength.

During that time, Lu Ye had already reached the outskirts of Great Wilderness Mountain.

The journey over the past few days had not been easy, mainly because the farther he traveled towards the outskirts, the more Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators he encountered.

Since the news about Lu Ye and Great Reversal Valley Spirit Ground spread, too many cultivators had rushed over. However, some of them lacked the strength to venture deep into the mountains, and they were the ones in the greatest numbers...

This led to the outer areas of Great Wilderness Mountain teeming with Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators, all below Level 6.

Lu Ye avoided creating any extra troubles. Having made up his mind to leave Great Wilderness Mountain, he naturally wouldn't expose his tracks again. Once he was out of Great Wilderness Mountain, the sky would be high enough for birds to soar, and the seas wide enough for fish to leap. In the vast Cloud River battlefield, with a mask to wear and Amber to hide, no one would be able to track him down.

When his cultivation reached Level 8 or Level 9, with his foundation, he would be able to act with impunity. Then, anyone who dared to trouble him would have to face his wrath!

As he marched forward, Yiyi suddenly appeared from nearby.

During these days, the role Yiyi played in letting Lu Ye travel safely was significant, with her pathfinding abilities at the forefront. Any stir of wind or shift of grass was immediately sensed by her, allowing Lu Ye to avoid many unnecessary troubles.

"Lu Ye, Lu Ye, there is a cave over there."

Over the past several days, Yiyi had been responsible for scouting ahead and also for finding places to rest. Her return to inform Lu Ye about the cave undoubtedly meant that it was a suitable spot to rest.

"Well done," Lu Ye praised her, "let's take a look."

A look of pride spread across Yiyi's face, her expression smug as her light form danced ahead to lead the way.

A few miles further, they indeed found a cave. Its location was very concealed, with wild grass as tall as a person growing at the entrance. If one didn't scrutinize carefully, it would truly go unnoticed.