Translator: Truth
Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys
They had predicted that Chu Qing would seek out Sunlit Mountain. Not only were they the mouse in their cat-and-mouse chase, they couldn’t even retaliate against them. The only way they could survive was to meet up with their allies.
There was some bad news though. According to Yi Yi, Hidden Light Sanctuary was currently being pushed back by Sunlit Mountain.
Lu Ye was a bit puzzled by this. The House of Wintry Blossoms had not been able to provide their allies any support because he had been keeping them busy and even slaughtering them this whole time. Logically speaking, Hidden Light Sanctuary only needed to deal with Sunlit Mountain, and last time he checked their strength was more or less the same as one another. So why was Sunlit Mountain able to push them back?
Back in the valley, Ji Yan of Hidden Light Sanctuary had attempted to recruit his aid. He had turned him down because he didn’t like working with strangers, much less obeying their orders. He had believed that his journey would be more rewarding if he traveled alone, and that was proven true not long after he entered the Lost City of Xianyuan. He would not have gained nearly as many rewards if he had worked with Hidden Light Sanctuary.
However, Hidden Light Sanctuary was in danger right now. If Sunlit Mountain, a Thousand Demon Ridge sect was able to defeat them, then all Grand Sky Coalition cultivators in the city would be in grave danger.
That was why it didn’t take him long to decide that it was time to pay Hidden Light Sanctuary a visit.
Now was the time to work together with his allies.
An incense stick later, Lu Ye and Ju Jia had entered the combat zone where the two forces were engaging one another. The battlefield spanned at least a dozen streets, and every building could potentially be hiding an enemy or more. Just passing through the area might be enough to trigger the enemy to attack them.
On a long street, several Grand Sky Coalition cultivators were mounting an organized retreat as they weathered the enemy’s attacks. The street they were treading was red with blood, and their companions’ bodies littered its entire length.
They were outnumbered and outgunned by the enemy group pursuing them. They had already sent out the request for help, but their side was being pushed back to begin with. Almost everyone was facing the same situation as them, so how could anyone possibly come to their rescue?
They were unwilling to resign themselves to death though. Right now, they were just waiting for the opportunity to drag their enemies to the grave with them. Unfortunately, the Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators were fighting very conservatively probably because they suffered the same trick before. They only attacked with spells and flying weapons, and they did not get close to their opponents unless absolutely necessary. Clearly, they were intending to force them to use up all of their Spiritual Power before killing them.
Knowing what their enemies were planning, the Grand Sky Coalition cultivators were unwilling to drag out the battle any longer. They exchanged a glance with each other before the leader commanded them to charge toward the enemy.
Blood spilled as colorful lights sailed across the air. Two cultivators were dead before they ever got close to the enemy. Another two fell a breath later, leaving behind only an Eighth-Order combat cultivator. He managed to reach one enemy cultivator, charge his Spiritual Artifact with power before bringing it down on their head.
.
Unfortunately, a spell struck him in the chest and sent him flying before the attack could land. By the time he hit the ground, he was already on his last breath.
“Foolish cur!” The leader of the Thousand Demon Ridge group hmphed coldly before stepping forward to take the combat cultivator’s life. He had just taken a step when he paused with a frown.
“What’s that noise?” He demanded.
He could hear a rumbling noise approaching from the side. The next thing he knew, a towering figure blew a hole out of a nearby house and rushed out into the open.
The leader exclaimed in shock, “Ju Jia!?”
He clearly recognized the body tempering cultivator.
Contrary to his appearance, Ju Jia did not actually know what was going on when he burst through the house. He was just moving toward the nearest explosion of Spiritual Power when he suddenly found himself being attacked by a group of enemies.
He bowed his head and assumed a crouching position. Then, he launched himself forward like a cannonball.
Multiple ripples appeared on his body as the attacks landed. However, they were unable to stop him before they were forced to scatter and lose their formation. An unfortunate cultivator was even sent flying while his bones snapped like twigs.
The Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators tried to return to formation, but not before a wail and the twang of a pipa hit them. As if on cue, the Xianyuan City Watch appeared on the rooftops and hit them with their Spirit Shackling Ropes.
Flying weapons sliced through bodies and reaped their lives. It wasn’t long before the group of eight were reduced to just one.
Seeing that the fight was over, Lu Ye recalled his flying weapons and jumped down from the roof. While accompanied by some Ghost Spirits, he walked up to the bloodied Grand Sky Coalition combat cultivator and inspected his wounds.
A moment later, he sighed inside his head. There was no saving the man.
Suddenly, the Eighth-Order combat cultivator’s complexion improved as if he was experiencing terminal lucidity. He was surprised to see the Ghost Spirits, but his attention was quickly drawn toward Lu Ye and Ju Jia. Hope reigniting from the ashes of his despair, he seized Lu Ye’s arm and croaked, “Save them!”
“I will.”
Lu Ye nodded slowly.
The arm let go, and the combat cultivator’s life force quickly faded into nothing.
Yi Yi was sweeping the battlefield. Ju Jia was lifting an incapacitated Thousand Demon Ridge cultivator and holding him in front of Lu Ye.
𝒗.𝒎
Lu Ye didn’t understand what Ju Jia intended until he said, “Take the kill!”
“It’s fine, you can kill him yourself.”
Lu Ye thought Ju Jia was trying to pay back the favor he received with Contribution Points, not knowing that Ju Jia was trained to be the first to charge into any combat situation, cripple the enemies, and leave the last hit to Sima Yang.
Ju Jia scratched his head after Lu Ye. He had killed some House of Wintry Blossoms cultivators earlier, but he did not remember at all because anger had completely overtaken his head at the time. Now that he was in control of himself, he found killing to be an extremely foreign concept to him.
That said, he was a Ninth-Order cultivator. He might not have taken a life until recently, but that was only because Sima Yang forbade him from killing, not because he was unwilling to kill.
So, Ju Jia threw the Thousand Demon Ridge cultivator on the ground after a moment of thought. Then, he raised his foot and stomped the terrified cultivator’s head into pieces like a watermelon. It was quite the bloody scene to say the least.
Lu Ye shot Ju Jia a glance but did not comment on the rather brutal method of killing. He waved and said, “Let’s go.”
He and Ju Jia continued to follow the shockwaves and successfully rescued two groups of Grand Sky Coalition cultivators along the way. They had all been split apart by the enemy until they were rescued.
Lu Ye and Ju Jia followed the directions they were given and finally arrived at the main battlefield an incense stick later.
All buildings within the main battlefield had been destroyed. Countless bodies were strewn across the rubble.
The group led by Hidden Light Sanctuary had dwindled to just a hundred or so, but the one led by Sunlight Mountain was over a hundred and fifty strong. Right now, they were trading flying weapon attacks and spells with each other.
The Thousand Demon Ridge group drastically outnumbered Grand Sky Coalition’s, so they were able to force them back with ease. Their advantage kept snowballing as more and more Grand Sky Coalition cultivators died screaming and writhing.
At this rate, they were going to be routed very soon.
Not a single person tried to escape though. They all knew that escaping would only worsen their circumstances. If they stuck together, then they still had the power to put up some resistance. If they scattered, they might survive for now, but they would certainly be hunted down to the last later.
Unfortunately, even though their unity was at an all-time high, there was no denying that they were just delaying their deaths.
Thousand Demon Ridge’s assault was fierce and unrelenting. They had mounted several charges already, but they were still unable to breach Grand Sky Coalition’s defense line.
They were wondering if it was time to switch gears and fight conservatively. After all, victory was firmly in their grasp. As long as they held steady and kept pushing, it was only a matter of time before they exhausted their enemy and killed them all. The numbers advantage was irreversible at this point.
In fact, they were doing just that until the House of Wintry Blossoms met up with them and brought them a certain piece of news. Then, they resumed their aggression and attempted to grind down Grand Sky Coalition’s defense line in the shortest amount of time possible; to win before a certain variable could potentially shake things up.
Unfortunately, they weren’t fast enough. Both sides were locking horns with one another when suddenly, a sound attack in the form of a wail spread across the battlefield. Countless Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators suddenly paused their actions for a short moment.
The brief respite was enough for the Grand Sky Coalition cultivators to take advantage of and launch a counterattack.
That wasn’t all. A bunch of Ghost Spirits appeared out of nowhere and tossed their Spirit Shackling Ropes. Caught completely off guard, at least eight Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators were caught and subsequently killed.
Suddenly, some Grand Sky Coalition cultivators heard something and turned toward the source of the noise. They immediately broke into looks of pleasant surprise.
It was because they saw a towering figure.
“It’s Ju Jia!”
“That fucking Sima Yang finally came to our rescue! I guess he wasn’t hopelessly stupid after all!”
Exclamations of surprise broke out everywhere. It would seem that Ju Jia’s arrival was surprisingly well-received. Then again, the body tempering cultivator was extremely famous in the area, so much so that even their enemies kept tabs on him. The point was, everyone’s morale was lifted when they learned that the powerful body tempering cultivator would be joining them.
If nothing else, Ju Jia’s presence would make it so much more difficult for Thousand Demon Ridge to break through their defense line.
There were two things that puzzled them though. Not only was the body tempering cultivator standing together with a bunch of apparitions, these apparitions seemed to be on their side since they were only attacking Thousand Demon Ridge’s cultivators.
Also, the man casting Fire Dragons next to Ju Jia did not look like Sima Yang…
Meanwhile, Ji Yan let out a sigh of relief when he saw Ju Jia as well. He had tried multiple times to recruit Sima Yang and Ju Jia to their cause, but not only did he fail, the goddamned spell cultivator had tried to charge him an arm and a leg for their services. However, Gu Canyang was currently languishing in the dungeons right now, and he was just acting as his replacement. Since he did not have the authority to make executive decisions, there was no way he could promise Sima Yang the rewards he desired.
Now, it looked like Sima Yang wasn’t completely short-sighted. At the very least, he knew that it would be bad for everyone if they lost.
He was puzzled by the apparitions surrounding Ju Jia, but now wasn’t the time to ask questions. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. If they were attacking Thousand Demon Ridge, then they were their allies. It was that simple.
On the other side, a young man was staring at the Ghost Spirits and Lu Ye with a stern expression on his face. He was none other than the Legate of Sunlit Mountain, Qi Ming.
“Is that Lu Yi Ye of the Crimson Blood Sect?” Qi Ming asked with a frown.
“That’s him,” Chu Qing replied through gritted teeth beside him.
“He’s the one who single handedly destroyed your group?” Qi Ming said in a tone that conveyed clear dissatisfaction.