Translator: Asuka
Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys
An hour later, Lu Ye stood up and headed in the direction of Green Cloud City. Yi Yi floated in mid-air behind him, sending him off enthusiastically.
For Yi Yi and the tiger, Lu Ye was an unwelcome guest who had barged into their territory. He had killed so many beasts recently that it was affecting the stability of this area. That was the reason why they had gone to pick a fight with him previously.
If he continued to stay in this place, it might not take long before all the food in this area was wiped out. They would have needed to find another place to live if that happened, but there were many other Spirit Beasts in this mountain range. Recklessly barging into another territory would mean that they would have to face unknown dangers. Therefore, she immediately cooperated obediently upon learning that sending him away was a good thing. Otherwise, she would never have been this docile.
Needless to say, he had given them a warning before he left. He threatened to return again if he failed to locate Green Cloud City smoothly or they gave him false information. In this regard, she patted her flat chest and guaranteed that everything she told him was the absolute truth. ｂｎ𝚘ｖ𝚕．𝚘𝚛𝚐
As Lu Ye traveled toward his destination, he thought back on all the information that Yi Yi had revealed to him. It wasn’t just information on Green Cloud City. He later also asked her about many things regarding the Spirit Creek Battlefield. It wasn’t easy for him to encounter somebody he could communicate with yet was easy to manipulate. It was only natural to make the best use out of it.
Meanwhile, Yi Yi also told him everything she knew without reservation!
Although the jade slip he received from the Sect Master had contained some information on the Spirit Creek Battlefield, the situation at the time had been too dire. The Sect Master also had no idea where he would arrive upon entering the battlefield, so the information he left inside the jade slip had not been detailed. On the contrary, the information he obtained from Yi Yi was much more suitable for his current situation.
According to Yi Yi, the Spirit Creek Battlefield was an extremely vast area in the shape of a circle. There was only one state, which could be further subdivided into three major areas. The outermost circle was known as the Outer Circle, the middle circle was known as the Inner Circle, and the innermost was known as the Core Circle.
The abundance of the Spiritual Qi in the world increased the deeper one went into the Spirit Creek Battlefield. There were certain special areas as well as mysterious resources that could be found too, such as rare mineral veins and rare Spirit Fruits. These were the cultivation resources that cultivators fought desperately to obtain.
All the major Sects in Jiu Zhou had their own bases in the Spirit Creek Battlefield. The higher the Tier of a Sect, the closer their bases were to the center of the battlefield. For example, the bases belonging to the First Tier, Second Tier, and Third Tier Sects were located in the Core Circle. Meanwhile, the bases of the Fourth Tier to Sixth Tier Sects were generally scattered around the Inner Circle. Lastly, the Sects in the Seventh Tier and up occupied the area that made up the outermost circle. Needless to say, the Sects on this Tier made up for most of the total forces. That was why the Outer Circle also happened to be the most extensive area.
The good news was that Lu Ye was currently located within the Outer Circle. Be it in terms of Spiritual Qi density or resource output, this place could not compare with the other two places. Hence, it was unlikely that he encountered any particularly powerful Spirit Creek Realm Master in this place.
The bad news was that he did not know the exact location of the Crimson Blood Sect’s base. The Crimson Blood Sect was a Ninth Tier Sect. So, they were definitely somewhere in the Outer Circle.
If he was lucky, the Crimson Blood Sect’s base was located not too far away from him.
If he was unlucky, the Crimson Blood Sect’s base might be located directly opposite his current location. They might be separated across the entire length of this circular-shaped land. If that were the case, he was bound to pass through the entire Spirit Creek Battlefield if he were to move forward according to the Battlefield Imprint. He would be required to enter the Inner Circle and the Core Circle.
He just barely had enough strength to protect himself in the Outer Circle as a First-Order Spirit Creek Realm Master. As such, he would surely face a disastrous ending if he had to enter the Inner Circle and the Core Circle. There would surely be as many powerful Spirit Creek Realm Masters in those areas as there were clouds in the sky. Hence, the best solution was to take a curved path and travel along the Outer Circle so as to avoid encountering enemies that were too powerful.
The two factions in Jiu Zhou, the Grand Sky Coalition and the Thousand Demon Ridge, were in constant conflict with each other. Many Sects had risen and fallen in this war. It could be said that all the cultivators in Jiu Zhou grew up amidst the flames of war and devastation.
Basically, the disciples of every Sect, regardless of the faction they came from, would be thrown into the Spirit Creek Battlefield to hone and train themselves once they reached the Spirit Creek Realm.
Even so, the gap in power between a First-Order Spirit Creek Realm Master and a Ninth-Order Spirit Creek Realm was simply too great. Even those disciples of the First Tier Sects did not have much of an advantage when their cultivation was still low. Therefore, the Inner Circle and the Core Circle were not suitable for cultivators with low cultivation to hone their skills.
Consequently, a tradition was derived from this situation. All Sects would send their disciples with low cultivation to the Outer Circle. These disciples would hone their skills in the Outer Circle so as to allow the talents to emerge though competition.
It went without saying that the disciples were sent to the Outer Circle via the Divine Opportunity Column. The Divine Opportunity Column had all sorts of functions after all, one of which was the ability to transport a person to a fixed location.
After paying a certain price, the large and medium Sects in the Core Circle and the Inner Circle would borrow the power of the Divine Opportunity Column to send their disciples with low cultivation to the bases of the allied small Sects so that those disciples could gain some experience in the Outer Circle.
In return, these large and medium Sects would ensure the safety of these small Sects on certain occasions such as when the bases of these small Sects were raided. That was why the relationship between the various Sects in Jiu Zhou were fairly close-knitted. Oftentimes, a large Sect would offer protection to 10 or more small Sects while a small Sect might also be allied with several large Sects.
After digesting all of this information, Lu Ye finally had a clearer understanding of his current situation. He had to admit that his luck was pretty good. The place he arrived in after the Sect Master sent him into the Spirit Creek Battlefield was located in the Outer Circle, which gave him a surviving chance in this entire ordeal.
As for Green Cloud City… It turned out to be more than one city. The entire Green Cloud Mountain was very big, and there were several cities located at the foot of the mountain. All of these cities were known as Green Cloud City.
The city was a gathering of cultivators from all over Jiu Zhou, including cultivators from both the Grand Sky Coalition and the Thousand Demon Ridge
The city was without a leader. It was a place where cultivators gathered on their own. It was also a place for them to trade and rest. Therefore, it was generally much safer within the city. That reason being that a rash move within the confines of the city could easily cause a huge war between the two factions.
There had been several precedents whereby the grievances of one or two people ultimately led to a chaotic battle between several thousands of people. The deaths and casualties were countless. Ever since those incidents, anybody who dared to cause trouble within the city would immediately be besieged to death by the nearby cultivators. That was basically an unwritten rule that almost all of the cultivators within the city abide by.
Naturally, if a person had the ability to quietly get rid of somebody else without anybody noticing, then there was nothing for that person to fear. It was just that the cultivators in the Outer Circle had low cultivation. Who could pull off such a feat?
.
That was undoubtedly good news for Lu Ye. He was only a First-Order Spirit Creek Realm Master who just barely qualified to enter the Spirit Creek Battlefield. It wasn’t far from the truth to say that he was among the group with the lowest cultivation in this entire battlefield. It would not benefit him in any way to pick a fight with anybody.
Following the directions given by Yi Yi, he first crossed a small river and then passed through a rocky forest. After that, he continued onward until he reached the foot of the mountain. An area covering several kilometers stretched out before him. Various buildings of all shapes and sizes dotted the area that appeared in his field of vision. He had arrived at Green Cloud City!