Translator: Truth
Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys
At the Crimson Blood Sect Outpost of the Spirit Creek Battlefield, Lu Ye was standing in front of the Sanctum of Providence and observing the group of boys and girls gathered at the public square. He was surprised by how fast his sect master had acted.
It had only been a few days since he spoke with his second senior sister and told her that they needed to recruit some talented disciples to secure the growth of their sect, and today a whopping fifty of them had been delivered to his doorsteps.
On average, these children were all between thirteen to fifteen years old. The youngest of them looked just a little over ten, and the oldest not more than fifteen.
However, at least eighty percent of these children had unlocked their Spiritual Points, and the remaining twenty were brimming with spiritual potential.
Lu Ye knew little about the art of discerning talent, but even he could see that these children were exceptionally talented.
A few questions were swirling in his mind though. For starters, where on earth had his sect master and his second senior sister procured these children?
Then, why were they all wearing varying degrees of worry on their faces? Some of the girls were even sniffling in silence. It was almost as if they were bullied or something.
It was at this moment he felt a message entering his Battle Imprint. A quick check revealed that the sender was his second senior sister, Shui Yuan.
Lu Ye’s left eye started twitching involuntarily when he reached the end of the message.
No wonder the children in front of him were so talented. The top fifty candidates of the Three Sages School’s recruitment ceremony were all here. How could they not be among the best of the best?
Unless he was sorely mistaken, these children were supposed to join the Three Sages School until they were suddenly kidnapped. And here he thought that his sect master and second senior sister had scoured the world for them.
He didn’t know that his sect master was capable of such a thing. It was so unexpected that it overturned some of his existing preconceptions regarding the old man.
Lu Ye wasn’t sure what to do, to be honest. If they were normal recruits, then all was well. But kidnapped recruits? How on earth was he going to deal with this?
One thing was certain though, he could not return them to the Three Sages School no matter what. The sect master had literally wrecked his own reputation and dignity to pull off this stunt. It would be all for nothing if he returned them.
Also, his second senior sister had asked him in her message to help the kids settle down. Obviously, they were going to feel resentful and resistant for the moment, but they would come to accept the sect eventually.
“We want to return to the Three Sages School!”
It was in the middle of such thoughts when a boy suddenly cried out in protest. He clearly looked afraid, but the fact that he dared to protest at all showed that he wasn’t lacking in courage.
“Send us back to the Three Sages School! We don’t want to be here!”
The youngster called out again, and this time he was supported by a chorus of similar cries. Startled, the timid, sobbing girls immediately broke into louder cries.
For a time, it was absolute pandemonium in front of the Sanctum of Providence.
They had no idea who had kidnapped them or where they were right now. They only knew they were moments from being accepted into the Three Sages School until they were kidnapped all of a sudden. Regardless, the kidnapper’s sect could not possibly be better than the Three Sages School’s. The Three Sages School was a Tier-Two sect after all. Sure, there was a non-zero chance that this sect was a Tier-One sect in Bing Zhou, but seriously, why would any Tier-One sect resort to kidnapping the recruits of a Tier-Two sect?
Lu Ye did not take action immediately. He allowed the children to vent their hearts out until there wasn’t a single boy or girl who wasn’t crying on top of their lungs. It was such a loud commotion that even the disciples had stopped their cultivation temporarily to check what the hell was going on. They were all surprised and curious when they saw that a group of kids was screaming in front of the Sanctum of Providence.
The leader of the group, the boy continued to cry out while staring Lu Ye directly in the eye. He seemed to be trying to apply pressure on Lu Ye with his gaze and expression and make it clear that he—and everyone else—were determined to return to the Three Sages School.
“Silence!”
Lu Ye finally spoke up. His volume wasn’t loud, but it easily overcame the children’s cries after he empowered his voice with Spiritual Power.
The cries came to an abrupt, terrified stop when fifty pairs of eyes stared at Lu Ye in fear and trepidation. They were kids who had never had any real life experiences after all. Naturally, they were easily cowed by Lu Ye’s unfriendly expression.
“From the moment you entered my Outpost, you were already a member of the Crimson Blood Sect. I understand that you were planning to join the Three Sages School, but I would advise you to just forget about it. If someone must leave our Outpost—”
“The Crimson Blood Sect?” The boy who started the protest suddenly interrupted Lu Ye. “Is… Is this the Crimson Blood Sect’s Outpost?”
Lu Ye glanced at him and said, “That is correct.”
The boy then looked Lu Ye up and down before growing increasingly fearful. “Then you are…”
“I am the Legate-in-charge of the Crimson Blood Sect’s Spirit Creek Battlefield Outpost, Lu Ye!”
“The Vanquisher of Sects?” The boy exclaimed in horror as he flinched back visibly. Whatever courage he forced himself to muster a while ago instantly vanished like it never existed in the first place.
Lu Ye remained expressionless. First Lu Yi Ye, now the Vanquisher of Sects. This wasn’t the first time his scandalous rep had preceded him, and it wouldn’t be the last. That said, he was surprised that his latest infamous title was known even to children. 𝚍ｏ𝚟𝚕.ｏｒｇ
There wasn’t a single person on the Spirit Creek Battlefield who hadn’t heard of Lu Ye’s exploits in the Inner Circle. Not only that, he was a household name in Jiu Zhou as well. Since children often clung to their elders like glue and paid attention to everything they did and said, it was only natural that they had heard of Lu Ye.
Not only that, Lu Ye was the first ever “Vanquisher of Sects” in the Spirit Creek Battlefield. As the side that vastly benefited from his exploits, the Grand Sky Coalition naturally spared no expense in spreading his name.
The public square fell silent for a couple of seconds. Then, the kids began gossiping quietly among themselves. It was said that the Vanquisher of Sects was most proficient at vanquishing sects, and that he had butchered at least ten thousand cultivators in his life. It was said that he was short-tempered and petty, and that none of his enemies had ever escaped his wrath. It was said that…
From time to time, the kids would sneak a glance at Lu Ye. They immediately looked away and feigned ignorance when he turned in their direction.
“Are you guys done?” Lu Ye said with growing impatience.
Now that he thought about it, he had never encountered a child since he began his cultivation journey. Even those who were younger than him weren’t so young that he would call them children.
That was why he was finding it difficult to interact with them.
The children immediately turned as silent as death, going so far as to suppress their breathing. Even the weeping girls had ceased their sobbing entirely.
As for the boy who started the protest in the first place, his face was as white as a sheet, and his heart was beating like he was having a heart attack. In his head, he wondered if his family would live to see tomorrow’s sun.
The Thousand Demon Ridge wasn’t the only one who feared the Vanquisher of Sects. Even the children of the Grand Sky Coalition could understand the sheer weight and bloodiness behind the infamous title.
“Continuing from where I left off. If you must leave the Crimson Blood Sect, then I shall give you the chance to do so. I will personally test your cultivation a year from now. The top ten performers will be granted the choice to leave the Crimson Blood Sect.”
“Re… Really?” Someone blurted instinctively.
Lu Ye looked at him, and the boy immediately looked down on his feet. “Ne… Never mind.”
“Are there any more questions?”
After waiting for a while and receiving no questions, Lu Ye nodded in satisfaction and declared, “Very well. Gu Yang!”
“Brother Lu.”
“Take them away and settle them down. You may begin their education after they have familiarized themselves with the Outpost.”
“Yes, Brother Lu.”
Gu Yang gestured for the children to follow him. “Come.”
Like death row prisoners who had been granted a surprise pardon, the children trailed behind Gu Yang like chicks running after the mother hen. Loud sighs of relief could be heard for a time.
Hua Ci chose this moment to walk up to him and stared at the departing kids for a moment. She then mocked him lightly, “Looks like infamy is not without its uses.”
To that, Lu Ye had no response to give. Feeling more tired than he should be, he said, “I’m going to the headquarters.”
He stepped into the Sanctum of Providence and teleported back using the Divine Opportunity Column. However, his head just appeared at the headquarters’ Sanctum of Providence when he heard and felt the effects of a great battle.
Lu Ye immediately dashed outside. Shui Yuan was standing right in front of the sanctum and looking at the sky.
When Lu Ye stopped beside her and looked up, he saw two figures clashing against one another with great speed and power. One of them was casting a sky of spells at his opponent, and the other was shooting Sword Light after Sword Light like his strength was inexhaustible. It was such an intense battle that the shockwaves could be felt all the way from here.
“Sister Shui, what is—”
“The sect master of the Three Sages School decided to pay us a visit.”
Lu Ye facepalmed. It hadn’t even been an hour since his sect master kidnapped the fifty children and delivered them to the Outpost, and the sect master was already “paying them a visit”. Clearly, the jig was up!
Then again, the Three Sages School was a Tier-Two sect, not to mention that the kidnapping had happened in the middle of their recruitment ceremony AND their territory. There was zero chance the Three Sages School wouldn’t find out about this.
“It’ll be fine, right?” Lu Ye asked worriedly.
“Oh, you have nothing to worry about. There aren’t many people who can hurt the old man, and clearly the Three Sages School’s sect master is weaker than him.”
Lu Ye could see, or rather, hear that. The Three Sages School’s sect master hadn’t stopped running his mouth since he teleported into the headquarters because he knew he was no match for the old man. As for the sect master, he neither said anything in retaliation or put on a particularly good defense because he knew he was in the wrong here.
“Don’t worry, I’ve already contacted Uncle Pang about this. He will be showing up in a moment,” Shui Yuan reassured him before asking, “Have you settled the kids down?”
“Yeah. There are no problems.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“Sister Shui, I’m just saying, but don’t you think we’ve gone a little too far this time?”
Shui Yuan smiled. “I know it looks that way, but it’s really not. The Crimson Blood Sect hasn’t recruited anyone in thirty years, meaning that all the talented individuals that appeared in our territory during that time went to someone else. The Three Sages School is one of the sects who greatly benefited from this, and their sect master is well aware. That is why he came alone. If he really wanted to take back his recruits, he wouldn’t have come alone. From the moment Sect Master left them at our Outpost, it was already too late. He only came to demand an explanation from the Sect Master, so don’t worry about it.”
It was at this moment a beam of light appeared from the horizon and instantly cut between the two combatants and separated them.
The newcomer was none other than Pang Zhen of the Righteous Sect.
“Perfect timing, Brother Pang. Tell me, do you think it’s reasonable that this old bastard kidnapped fifty of my disciples on the pretext of attending our recruitment ceremony? Do you?”
“Come on, there are hundreds of candidates who took part in your recruitment ceremony. Fifty’s not that big of a number.”
“You took away the fifty best performers! The cream of the crop! The entire point of a recruitment ceremony is to find the diamonds in the rough and filter out the rest, so why the hell would I take the dredges into the sect?”
Tang Yifeng’s protest only pissed Yu Ganju off even more. If Tang Yifeng must steal his candidates, fine, he was okay with giving up twenty or even thirty of them. But the sonuvabitch didn’t even leave a single top fifty candidate to him! Not one! That was going too far, dammit!