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The young man nodded. “Since you seem to be in a hurry, I shan’t waste our time any longer. Let’s have both a last-man-standing and a battle royale. If we still can’t decide a victor that way, then you and I will fight one final battle. To put it simply, it will be a best-of-three to decide who gets the Arcane Glade. What do you think?”
Xia Qianqian harrumphed loudly while glaring at the young man. “I think you’re itching to get your ass kicked.”
The young man simply smiled and continued, “Shall we start the battle immediately then? With this valley as the battlefield?”
“Acceptable!”
This valley was neither too big nor too small. It was perfect for Fifth-Order Cloud River Realm cultivators to duke it out with each other as no one could gain too much of a terrain advantage over the other person.
After the negotiation was over, both the young man and Xia Qianqian led their respective group to a Spirit Peak on opposite sides of the valley. Lu Ye’s group consisted of a body-tempering cultivator, one ghost cultivator, two combat cultivators and one spell cultivator. At first glance, their group was incredibly suited for the battle royale. Unfortunately, their opponent’s group was equally comprehensive. They also had body-tempering, combat and spell cultivators. There might be a ghost cultivator among them, but it was impossible to say until he actually saw them in action.
Besides the body-tempering cultivator and Lu Ye, everyone else in the group belonged to the same sect. They hadn’t spoken with each other on the way because they were in a hurry, but now that they had a bit of time, they did not hesitate to get familiar with one another.
Xia Qianqian’s sect mates took turns to report their names and cultivation level. As expected, they were all Fourth and Fifth-Order cultivators. Lu Ye reckoned they had entered the Cloud River Battlefield at more or less the same time because their cultivation level was extremely close. The body-tempering cultivator did the same after them, and Lu Ye last.
Lu Ye gave them his fake name, “Ye Six, Third-Order.”
They already knew that his cultivation level was low judging from the aura he exuded when they were traveling together, but everyone except Xia Qianqian were still surprised to hear that he was just a Third-Order cultivator. Her sect mates even looked at her with clear doubt in their eyes.
Xia Qianqian chided them, “Do not think Ye Six is weak just because his cultivation level is low. I dare say that none of you are a match for him in a one-versus-one fight.”
Everyone believed her as there was no reason for Xia Qianqian to lie about such a thing. The group glanced at Lu Ye to get a better look at him, but unfortunately his fox mask hid his face. They didn’t know what he looked like or what kind of expression he was even wearing right now.
The other combat cultivator suggested, “Is it okay if we ask you to be our last man, Fellow Cultivator Ye?”
Lu Ye nodded as the arrangement would only benefit him. Assuming his temporary allies were strong enough, he wouldn’t even need to lift a finger in this last-man-standing.
The combat cultivator continued, “As for me, I would like to fight the first battle. The rest will depend on how the situation goes. What do you think, senior sister?”
Xia Qianqian nodded in approval. “We shall do as you say.”
Although she and the young man had answered their juniors’ call for help, they were Ninth-Order cultivators who could ascend to the Real Lake Realm at any moment. They would rather not interfere with their juniors’ businesses as much as possible.
They might be able to protect them now, but they couldn’t be their guardians forever.
After obtaining Xia Qianqian’s approval, the combat cultivator leaped out and landed at the center of the valley. The opposing group’s first combatant did the same thing.
Without further ado, the duo clashed against each other.
A battle between Cloud River Realm cultivators was far more complicated than one between Spirit Creek Realm cultivators. At the very least, you rarely saw a Spirit Creek Realm cultivator suddenly flying into the sky in mid-action. They literally couldn’t. Only Cloud River Realm cultivators could fly without aid.
The combat cultivator’s opponent was obviously a Fifth-Order cultivator. In fact, they were evenly matched. The duo kept dashing across the valley and clashing into each other again and again. Wherever they went, giant trees fell, and even grass was uprooted like there was a hurricane.
A full incense stick later, the combat cultivator finally spotted an opening and launched his opponent into the air. His opponent could be seen spitting out a shower of blood in mid-air.
The combat cultivator did not hesitate to press his advantage. The battle quickly grew more and more one-sided after that.
Because the duo were evenly matched, one blunder was all it took for the battle to slant heavily in one’s favor. It was why there was the saying, “One misstep is likely to cause all following steps to be missteps as well.” They were all veterans. There was no way the combat cultivator was going to give his opponent the opportunity to make a comeback after claiming the advantage.
A short time later, a frustrated and angry roar resounded throughout the valley, “I surrender!”
It was his opponent giving up the fight. He had to. It was that or die to the combat cultivator.
Xia Qianqian’s junior brother and sister immediately broke into cheers. Even Xia Qianqian was smiling thinking that her junior brother had done well for his fight.
Meanwhile, the combat cultivator immediately stopped chasing after his opponent once he surrendered. He swallowed a Spirit Pill as quickly as he could, but his opponent wasn’t going to give him time to recover. The second combatant immediately rushed down the opposite hill to meet him.
The fight might have ended fairly quickly, but the combat cultivator had still used up a ton of energy, so much so that his initial plan was to weaken his enemy as much as possible before surrendering the fight.
However, he was pleasantly surprised to find out that his opponent was just a Fourth-Order cultivator. Not only that, it was the Fourth-Order spell cultivator he had fought when they discovered the Arcane Glade at the beginning. Realizing he had a shot of defeating two opponents in a row, he perked up and ran toward the spell cultivator.
The Fourth-Order spell cultivator wasn’t fully prepared when he stepped out into the open. When he saw that the combat cultivator was charging toward him at high speed, he hurriedly retreated while casting his spells.
Compared to the first fight, the second fight was way louder and more impactful because of the spells. The combat cultivator did his best to close the distance while dodging the spells directed his way and blocking those he could not.
When the distance between them had shortened to just three hundred meters, three flying weapons abruptly flashed into existence and homed in on the spell cultivator from three different directions. At the same time, the combat cultivator abruptly sped up and closed the distance between them even faster.
Faced with such an unfavorable situation, the spell cultivator had no choice but to conjure a Spiritual Power Shield around himself and gather his Spiritual Power. As he raised his hands, a spell unlike anything he had cast before took form in an instant and flew straight toward the combat cultivator.
The combat cultivator wasn’t expecting his opponent to possess such a trump card. The spell struck him squarely in the chest and knocked him back almost as quickly as he was charging. It was such a terrible blow that the two cultivators standing next to Lu Ye cried out in alarm.
However, the combat cultivator ultimately succeeded in his objective. His flying weapons pierced through the spell cultivator with ease and incapacitated him as well. The second battle… had ended in a draw.
Two figures immediately flew down the Spirit Peaks. They were Xia Qianqian and the young man. After inspecting their juniors’ condition and confirming that they were unable to continue the battle any further, they carried them back to the Spirit Peaks.
So far, Xia Qianqian’s side had managed to defeat two opponents at the cost of one. At first glance it looked like they held the upper hand, but the combat cultivator was completely incapacitated. There was no way he would be able to participate in the battle royale. Depending on who the enemy group sent next, they could easily overturn this advantage.
On the opposing Spirit Peak, the young man was wearing a dark expression on his face. He was clearly displeased with his juniors’ performance. The first fight could have gone either way, but the second fight should’ve gone in the spell cultivator’s favor even if he was one minor realm weaker. His opponent was greatly weakened from the previous fight after all. Instead, the combat cultivator had managed to eke out a draw.
The young man thought for a moment before saying, “Jiang Liuzi, you go!”
He wasn’t going to send his helpers into battle so soon. He had no doubt they would crush Xia Qianqian’s group if they did. Unfortunately, that was no longer possible.
Jiang Liuzi and Jiang Chengzi were a pair of brothers. Not only were they incredibly powerful, they had been strong enough to be the champions of the Scroll of Supremacy. The only reason they hadn’t was because the top spot had been occupied by an absolute monster for over a decade. Even the second spot had been occupied by Yang Xing of the Raving Bladesmen for almost as long.
As a result, they could only go as far as the third and fourth spot.
They were hardly the only ones who had suffered in the hands of the Two Tumors—and later, Three—of the Scroll of Supremacy. Despite being qualified to become the champion, they just weren’t lucky enough to be born before or after they were gone.
It was all Li Baxian’s fault. If it wasn’t for him, both Feng Yuechan and Yan Xing would’ve left the Spirit Creek Battlefield a long time ago.
They did hear that Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan had finally ascended to the Cloud River Realm half a year ago. Many Thousand Demon Ridge Cloud River Realm cultivators had been searching for them to repay the “favor”.
In fact, there was practically no one in the current Cloud River Battlefield who hadn’t heard of the duo. After all, most of them had grown up looking up at them in despair.
That said, this was the Cloud River Battlefield. They might be invincible in the past, but now their cultivation level was even lower than theirs. There was no way these Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators were going to give up such an excellent opportunity to get revenge.
To put it simply, Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan were facing exactly the same situation as Lu Ye before he ascended to Heaven Nine and dominated all opposition. Wherever they went, chaos was sure to follow.
It was pure luck that the young man managed to recruit the Jiang brothers to help him. It was why he was absolutely confident that they would win the Arcane Glade. The battle was already won, his enemies just didn’t know it yet.
As soon as he said this, a young man who looked to be eighteen at best replied dully, “Sure!”
He jumped over a cliff and slowly floated into the valley.
Meanwhile, the ghost cultivator and the spell cultivator on Xia Qianqian’s side let out a sigh of relief after inspecting their fellow sect mate’s injuries and confirming that it wasn’t life-threatening.
When they saw Jiang Liuzi entering the valley, the ghost cultivator said with a frown, “They’re sending their helper already? I’ll go test his mettle.”
“Careful!” Xia Qianqian warned sternly.
Their opponent had lost two matches in a row, and they were sending in one of their helpers already. Clearly, they were aiming to secure the third match. With that in mind, she could not imagine that the third opponent would be weak. 𝐟re𝘄o𝚟el.c𝐨𝚖
Ghost cultivators possessed a unique advantage over strong opponents, however. It did not matter what cultivation level their enemy was. Given the right opportunity, they ate cultivators who were one or even multiple minor realms above them for breakfast.
The ghost cultivator quickly concealed himself and vanished to Heavens-know-where.
In the valley, Jiang Liuzi simply stood where he was as still as a statue. The mountain wind reeked faintly of killing intent.
Suddenly, the silence was disturbed by a flash of sword, a dull groan and cry of shock. Then, the ghost cultivator appeared out of nowhere with a bone deep wound in his chest.
His shock was palpable even from the Spirit Peak.
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