Translator: Truth
Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys
On a Spirit Peak at the Crouching Dragon Mountain, the sect master once again thumped his chest and raged, “This boy is gonna be the end of me, I swear!”
Pang Zhen hurriedly asked, “Calm down, Elder Tang. What happened?”
The sect master replied, “The boy demanded me to give him three days to conquer the Tower of Morning’s Outpost, or he would not be able to let this go. What kind of nonsense is that? He has no respect for his seniors at all! Sigh, it’s all my fault. The Crimson Blood Sect hasn’t accepted a disciple for so long that I’d forgotten how to teach, much less discipline them.”
The old man looked aggrieved and regretful, but there wasn’t a soul here who didn’t know what he was implying.
Pang Zhen couldn’t follow through with the act either. He was the deputy coalition leader of the Grand Sky Coalition. Who would take his word seriously if he acted that way?
The old man from the Thousand Demon Ridge looked stormy to say the least. A long, long time later, he finally uttered through gritted teeth, “He may occupy the Tower of Morning, but absolutely nothing else. If he so much as touches one of the Outposts on his way there, then we will go to war with the Grand Sky Coalition! I swear this with the Heavens as my witness!”
Pang Zhen turned serious, and the sect master nodded. “I will explain the situation to him and tell him to look at the bigger picture.
Lu Ye received another message from his sect master. As he thought, his time was finally up.
Since he emerged from the Heavenly Derivative Sect, he had created two Grand Sky Coalition armies and conquered over a hundred Thousand Demon Ridge Outposts in over a month. His allies had benefited massively from the conquest, while his enemies had suffered astronomical losses.
Both sides’ Divine Ocean Realm cultivators were in the middle of peace talks right now, and it was clear that they had arrived at some sort of agreement at least. If he ignored the warnings and persisted in his ways, then the situation would truly spiral out of control.
It was true that he could simply teleport to another location and restart his conquest again and again. In fact, he could theoretically do this until the entire Spirit Creek Battlefield was conquered. However, it would also force the Thousand Demon Ridge to go to war against the Grand Sky Coalition.
Therefore, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing to stop here. They could even demand a little more compensation from the Thousand Demon Ridge for the ceasefire.
Having made up his mind, Lu Ye asked Luo Fu to summon the Legates for a meeting. It was clear that the Legates had already received the instructions of their elders though. They understood what was going to happen and why they were stopping without needing much explanation from Lu Ye.
It was a shame, but it was inevitable. This was how the battles between the Grand Sky Coalition and the Thousand Demon Ridge usually ended. This wasn’t the first time one faction had gained a massive advantage over the other, but they rarely pushed the other side so far that they couldn’t see any hope whatsoever because they knew that an opponent with nothing to lose was the scariest opponent of them all.
This was especially true considering the great war over thirty years ago. Feng Wujiang had tried to wipe out the Thousand Demon Ridge once and for all, but he ultimately wasn’t able to achieve impossible. The Crimson Blood Sect fell from grace after that, and the Grand Sky Coalition itself had sustained huge losses.
After the meeting, the group scattered and rallied their cultivators. They were mobilizing to head back to their sects. The invasion force began retracing their steps and went home. When all was said and done, Lu Ye, Hua Ci, Ju Jia and Yi Yi were the only ones left at the ruins of the Outpost.
“Brother Li.”
Lu Ye suddenly looked in a certain direction and called out.
Hua Ci and the others were surprised by his action. They were even more surprised when someone actually stepped out a few seconds later. He had a handsome face, straight pupils and enchanting eyes. He was wearing a set of white robes that was patterned with red clouds, and it matched his glistening white hair perfectly. A calabash gourd was hanging off his waist. He was none other than Li Baxian.
“How did you know I was here?”
Li Baxian looked surprised. He thought he had hidden himself pretty well, but Lu Ye still saw through him somehow.
“You joined the invasion force as an independent cultivator about half a month ago. Then, you flew all the way from Weishui to join me. I would be remiss to miss you after all the pains you’ve gone through to protect me, Brother Li.”
As Lu Ye said, Li Baxian had secretly joined him when he was still leading the first invasion force. He just hadn’t revealed himself.
To be specific, he had shown off after the Heaven-Grade Ninth-Order ghost cultivators’ assassination attempt. Clearly, he had shown up because he was worried for Lu Ye’s safety.
As for why he hadn’t revealed himself to Lu Ye, it was because he thought it would be easier for him to act that way. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to meet his junior brother.
After Lu Ye had teleported to the Silverlight Island using the Divine Opportunity Column, Li Baxian had rushed over on his flying Spirit Artifact. He had even assassinated a not insignificant number of Core Circle cultivators on the way.
“I’m very glad, junior brother!”
Li Baxian was of course delighted to learn that Lu Ye’s perception was as sharp as it was. He finally understood why Lu Ye had dared to send the invasion force away as well. The young man knew he was watching nearby from the start.
Li Baxian was the second runner-up on the Scroll of Supremacy. There should be no one who could harm their group unless the enemy drastically outnumbered them, not to mention that the Thousand Demon Ridge wanted Lu Ye to stop as soon as possible. Right now, the last thing they wanted to do was to send assassins, fail, and give him the excuse to continue his conquest.
“So, to the Tower of Morning?” Li Baxian asked.
He had obviously received the intel as well. Lu Ye nodded.
“All right then. Let’s go.” Li Baxian raised a hand and summoned a huge Sword Spirit Artifact. After he jumped onto it, the sword grew a lot bigger in just a couple of seconds.
It shot to the sky after everyone had gotten on the Spirit Artifact sword.
If Beaky was still here, then of course they would have ridden it to the Tower of Morning’s Outpost instead. However, Beaky had never forgotten the order Feng Wujiang had given it back then. It did not mind carrying the disciples of the Crimson Blood Sect here and there, but it would not linger in the wilderness for even a second longer. That was why Beaky had flown back to the Outpost immediately after the battle was over.
Lu Ye sighed in admiration as his surroundings flew backward at high speed. He had known that sword cultivators were famed for their speed, but it was only now that he was able to experience it firsthand.
Of course, there was the fact that Li Baxian himself was an extremely powerful cultivator.
Li Baxian sipped on liquor and hummed to himself as they traveled. He seemed to be in an extremely good mood.
He might not be a disciple of the Crimson Blood Sect anymore, but it was his roots. Of course he was pleased and honored that his sect had produced a monster like Lu Ye.
Sometimes they would pass by another flier or two, but they all avoided Li Baxian like the plague. One look at the aura he left behind was all they needed to know that he was not one they wanted to trifle with.
The trip to the Tower of Morning’s Outpost should have taken three days, but thanks to Li Baxian, they arrived in less than a day.
At the Outpost, several hundred grim-faced Tower of Morning cultivators were assembled at the public square. The grand ward was active as well.
Their elders had informed them of the Thousand Demon Ridge’s strategic decision. They wanted them to abandon their Outpost to appease Lu Yi Ye.
It was a decision they couldn’t accept as a matter of course.
Every object in the Outpost was the culmination of their Spirit Creek Realm cultivators’ blood, sweat and tears. It represented generations upon generations of hard work.
That was why they didn’t evacuate immediately even though their elders had commanded them to do so repeatedly.
However, Lu Yi Ye had surprised them all by showing up in less than a day instead of the expected three days.
The news shocked and angered the Tower of Morning cultivators. It wasn’t long before they reached the edge of the grand ward and exchanged glares with Lu Yi Ye.
The invasion force was nowhere to be seen. It looked like Lu Yi Ye had only brought a couple of people with them. The Tower of Morning cultivators felt great temptation when they realized this. Was this their chance to kill Lu Yi Ye and become the heroes of the Thousand Demon Ridge?
That temptation subsided considerably when they recognized the white-haired young man standing beside Lu Ye.
Was there anyone who did not know the second runner-up of the Scroll of Supremacy, Li Baxian? His iconic white hair and the calabash gourd were all they needed to see to identify him.
Outside the ward, Lu Ye slowly swept his gaze across the crowd before locking eyes with a man in black clothing.
“Are you going to open the ward yourself, or are you going to make me breach it?”
The man in black clothing was undoubtedly the Legate or the prolegate of the Tower of Morning. How could he tell? It was because the Control Gem was hanging off his waist.
The guy did not give a response. He simply stared expressionlessly at Lu Ye.
So, Lu Ye brought out his ward flags and launched them at various nodes. He then channeled his Spiritual Power into them. In just a dozen or so breaths, a small gap had appeared in the grand ward.
This was how he had breached the grand ward of Sunlit Mountain, though at the time he had a bunch of ward cultivators to support him. With his current attainment, tearing a small gap like this was almost as easy as breathing.
Lu Ye’s group then stepped through the hole under the stunned gazes of the Tower of Morning cultivators.
The tension grew razor sharp in an instant. The sound of Spirit Artifacts being unsheathed came from nearly every direction as the Tower of Morning cultivators channeled their Spiritual Power in silence, ready to act at first notice.
Li Baxian grabbed his calabash gourd and took a deep gulp. He beamed at the people around him after letting out a satisfied burp.
His gaze was as sharp as a blade. Every time his gaze swept across a vital spot, the affected cultivator looked like they had fallen into an ice pit. Death sat on their shoulders and licked at their Divine Souls like an invisible, ravenous beast. It chilled them to their core to put it mildly.
The invisible pressure was akin to torture. It built up more and more until the weak-willed cultivators started turning red in the face and shaking like a leaf. It was clear that they were on the verge of exploding.
The man in black clothing said suddenly, “Li Baxian, the Tower of Morning will hunt you to the ends of the world!”
He had just said this when a translucent sword only one-third of a meter long suddenly touched his forehead. No one had even seen how Li Baxian moved. One second there was nothing, and the next Li Baxian was pressing a translucent sword against the Heaven-Grade Seventh-Order cultivator’s forehead just deep enough to draw blood. ．
Crimson blood trickled down his forehead before splitting at the bridge of his nose. It was like an ugly, bloody make-up.
“Did you just threaten me?” Li Baxian tilted his head curiously. “I dare you to say another word.”
The man in black clothing looked furious, but he kept silent. Everyone knew that sword cultivators were notoriously poor at taking threats. Li Baxian would kill him if he said another word.
He wasn’t afraid to die, but his death would definitely lead to physical conflict, and only the Heavens knew how many cultivators they would lose if that happened. A top-tier sword cultivator was no one to be trifled with.