Translator: Asuka
Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys
One body tempering cultivator, one spell cultivator, and one ghost cultivator. These three had concealed themselves and launched a sneak attack to kill Elder Tang only to be killed by Elder Tang instead. Pang Zhen quickly organized his thoughts in a short time.
Judging from the aftermath of the fight nearby, the three people who were killed had been cultivators in the Divine Ocean Realm. As for what level they stood in the Divine Ocean Realm, that remained unknown.
[Fighting three against one and still successfully killing all three in such a short period of time… It would seem that the conjecture that I’ve held for all these years is true. The cultivation of this old man in front of me is not as simple as it seems on the surface. He used to be one of the three most outstanding people in Jiu Zhou after all!]
“Were they targeting you?” Pang Zhen broke the silence.
Elder Tang slowly shook his head in response. “They were targeting the boy.”
He originally thought that those three were after him. Only during their confrontation did he realize that their target was actually Lu Ye! The main target of that female ghost cultivator, who was the most hidden among the three, had been Lu Ye. She also very nearly succeeded in killing him. The Sect Master had received the wound on his abdomen in order to protect Lu Ye from the attack. In the end, that spell cultivator even claimed that they had failed their mission once Elder Tang sent Lu Ye away. That one sentence undoubtedly said it all.
“That can’t be.” Pang Zhen furrowed his eyebrows. “Where is the boy?”
He did not see the young man named Lu Ye anywhere.
“I sent him into the Spirit Creek Battlefield.”
Only then did Pang Zhen notice the crystal pillar in the middle of the ruins. He exclaimed in surprise, “A Divine Opportunity Column? This is… the ruins of White Dragon Courtyard which was destroyed 100 years ago?”
Entry into the Spirit Creek Battlefield required the use of a Divine Opportunity Column. However, the Divine Opportunity Column was a gift from the Heavens that was usually erected in various Sects of all shapes and sizes. Not surprisingly, there were also many Divine Opportunity Columns scattered across the wilderness. If one were to look back in time, they would see that these forsaken Divine Opportunity Columns each represented the annihilation of a Sect.
The Divine Opportunity Column was made from an extremely durable material. It was also protected by the Heavens. Hence, it was very difficult to destroy and would be preserved for many years, even long after the Sect it originally belonged to had been wiped out. If anybody wanted to re-establish a Sect in this location, they would only need to respectfully request the Heavens to obtain the ownership of the Divine Opportunity Column for their own use. It was just that no Sect had been established in this place during the 100 years that had passed since the destruction of the White Dragon Courtyard. Therefore, this place had been deserted all this while.
Pang Zhen was a native of Bing Zhou. Not to mention, he was also the Deputy Sect Master of the Righteous Sect and the Deputy Coalition Leader of Grand Sky Coalition. He only needed to ponder a little to know which Sect had left this Divine Opportunity Column behind.
“This is going to be troublesome.” He furrowed his eyebrows together. The Divine Opportunity Column could certainly send somebody into the Spirit Creek Battlefield. It was just that there was only one result if a cultivator entered the Spirit Creek Battlefield without going through the Divine Opportunity Column of their respective Sects: They would be sent to a random spot on the battlefield.
The Spirit Creek Battlefield was extremely vast. It was practically as large as a continent. Now that that boy named Lu Ye had been sent into the battlefield, nobody could determine his current whereabouts. Even if Pang Zhen dispatched several hundred cultivators in the Spirit Creek Realm into the battlefield to search for Lu Ye, they could not be sure they could locate his whereabouts.
What’s more, that boy was only a One Spiritual Point cultivator… Entering the Spirit Creek Battlefield with such weak cultivation was basically a death sentence. The minimum requirement for the major Sects to send their disciples into the Spirit Creek Battlefield was for their disciples to be in the First Order Spirit Creek Realm.
“Elder Tang…” Pang Zhen called out.
Elder Tang turned around to glare at Pang Zhen for a moment before lowering his gaze. “Crimson Blood Sect has tolerated oppression for 30 years, and yet those people still refuse to give up. This is taking it too far!”
Pang Zhen sighed in his heart. He was also feeling very annoyed inside. The incident today might seem as though it was a simple incident where Elder Tang had been ambushed on the way home, but it actually involved a whole lot more behind the scenes. Not to mention, three Divine Ocean Realm Masters had died! These three Divine Ocean Realm Masters could not have popped out of nowhere, so who was the mastermind behind them? In the worst case, the Cultivation World of Jiu Zhou would be greatly shaken by this incident. .
He could clearly feel the rage suppressed in Elder Tang’s heart. It felt like a volcano that was about to erupt. He had never seen Elder Tang in such a state before.
“I never said that I was going to accept that boy into my Sect. Rather, I was thinking about sending him to another Sect to cultivate.” Elder Tang gave a cold laugh. “But, some people are too impatient to even wait for a little while.” He turned to look at Pang Zhen, an endless rage burning in his eyes. “I want to know who is behind this!”
Pang Zhen understood and nodded affirmatively. “I will definitely give you a satisfactory explanation regarding this matter.”
The duration from the time Elder Tang left the Flying Dragon Boat to the time he was ambushed had been very short. How did the attackers know his whereabouts? And, how were they able to plan out the location of the ambush so accurately? It was obvious that there were some dirty dealings going on behind the scenes that nobody knew about.
“Lu Ye, that boy…” Pang Zhen hesitated for a moment before he continued, “Do you need me to gather some people to enter the Spirit Creek Battlefield?”
Elder Tang shook his head sadly. “No.”
In that situation just now, it was impossible for Elder Tang to fight with Lu Ye around. Therefore, Lu Ye would have died if he had chosen to keep Lu Ye by his side. In his desperation, he could only choose to send Lu Ye into the Spirit Creek Battlefield.
Be that as it may, what were the chances of a cultivator who had barely started cultivating surviving in that place? Not to mention that Lu Ye had not entered the battlefield through his Sect’s own Divine Opportunity Column. Heaven only knew where he would appear inside the battlefield. He would have been turned into mincemeat by now if he had appeared in the territory belonging to any of the Sects under the Thousand Demon Ridge.
Even if he was fortunate enough to survive, he would still have a hard time doing anything in a place as dangerous as the Spirit Creek Battlefield.
At this moment, Elder Tang could only hope that Lu Ye was lucky enough to appear in a no man’s land. That was the only way Lu Ye could stand a chance to survive. It went without saying that searching for Lu Ye was a must, but it would not be done through another person’s hands. Besides, this matter could not be publicized or those people with malicious intentions would surely make things difficult for Lu Ye once they learned that a disciple from Crimson Blood Sect had entered the Spirit Creek Battlefield. If that happened, there would be no other ending but death for Lu Ye. It was precisely with this consideration in mind that Elder Tang had warned Lu Ye at the last second so as not to reveal his identity!
…
Lu Ye sat straddling a tree branch in a large tree so wide it would need several people just to hug its tree trunk. There was an expression of lingering fear on his face. Several dozen sturdy wolves were gathered around the tree beneath him, snarling and baring their fangs at Lu Ye.
He neither knew why he had appeared in such a place nor where the Sect Master had gone. He had simply done as the Sect Master instructed, placing his hand on top of the crystal pillar. Then, the world had gone blurry. By the time his surroundings came into focus again, he had appeared in this jungle. There had been a wolf not too far away. When they encountered each other, the wolf had tried to lunge at him for the kill. In response, he quickly drew a longsword and slayed that wolf with everything he had only for more wolves to gather around.
With no other choice, he could only flee for his life and ultimately ended up climbing this tree. Straddling the tree branch, he looked around. All that entered his vision were those large trees that required several people just to circle its trunk. The large canopies of these trees blotted out the sky, and only a little bit of sunlight shone through the gaps in the leaves.
[Where is this place? Where is the Sect Master? What about those three people who attacked the Sect Master? Why did I appear in this place?] His brain was filled with countless questions. Looking down, he studied the wolf pack surrounding him. It looked like they were not planning to leave any time soon. Thus, he couldn’t help feeling extremely helpless. In any case, the most important thing right now was to figure out where he was and determine his situation. At the very least, he had to learn the name of this place. For that reason, he tried hard to recall the conversation he had with the Sect Master previously and soon came across a keyword.
“Spirit Creek Battlefield?”
[The Sect Master asked me whether I heard of the Spirit Creek Battlefield before.] The Sect Master would not have asked any irrelevant questions at such a critical moment. Following that, the Sect Master had taken out an engraved block, respectfully invited the Heavens to witness something, taken him in as an official disciple, and stamped something on the back of his hand.
When that thought flashed across his mind, he hurriedly inspected the back of his hand. Unfortunately, he found nothing. Pondering for a bit, he poured his Spiritual Power into the back of his hand. A mysterious screen appeared in the next moment. A blue Spiritual Pattern suddenly emerged from the back of his hand. The Spiritual Patterns squirmed and changed, quickly transforming into several rows of words. ‘Name: Lu Ye. Identity: Disciple of Crimson Blood Sect. Cultivation: Three Spiritual Points. Location: Spirit Creek Battlefield. Contribution: None.’