<
As the scarlet empyrean overhead maintained its persistent vigil over the Carnage Colosseum domain, deep inside a subterranean cavern more than thirty meters below ground level, Lu Ye was busy planting Ward Flags everywhere in preparation for casting a magical ward.
He did not know how many Thousand Demon Ridge Cultivators had seen his name at the top of the Roster of Camage. Needless to say, the number must be too great.
The huge ruckus that he had befallen upon the Thousand Demon Ridge outposts of the central region of the Spirit Creek Battlefield was the cause of this and each and every one of them now wanted to quench their thirst for vengeance with his blood.
Thousand Demon Ridge sects and orders might not stand any chance in resisting Lu Ye in the Spirit Creek Battlefield, but that would not be the case here in the Cloud River Battlefield. Enemies stronger and deadlier than him were two a penny and none of them ever wanted the chance to bury him for good slip by again.
Therefore, Lu Ye knew that Thousand Demon Ridge Cultivators in the Cloud River Battlefield must have been informed of his coming by their respective sects and orders the moment he entered this new dimension.
But he could still lay low back then. So long as he maintained a low profile, few people would notice him. But once his identity was discovered, he would be in a perilous predicament.
Like now. And to make things worse, being trapped in the Carnage Colosseum resembled in every way a vole being tossed into a cage full of cats.
Hence, Lu Ye needed to make some insurance.
He had a plethora of Glyphs to rely on to keep himself safe, allowing him to hide and even mask his Spiritual Power signature. But accidents and unexpected mishaps might appear in his most pressing time of need to trip him; someone might recognize or discover his identity and when that happened, he would need a failsafe to fall back on if he could not secure a victory.
This would be where a Teleportation Ward fit right in.
The Teleportation Wards that he had used before were usually fixed-point Teleportation Wards that would be useful enough for escaping from normal threats. But here in the Carnage Colosseum, Lu Ye needed a safer and more secure way.
Multi-point Teleportation Wards.
Multi-point Teleportation Wards would be where all Teleportation Wards could be used to travel to any other sibling in the system. To that end, he expected that he would need only seven to eight of such Teleportation Wards scattered all around the Colosseum grounds. That would give him the mobility to escape everywhere anytime without fear of being trapped or cornered.
Without the superiority he once commanded in the Spirit Creek Battlefield, Lu Ye knew that he needed to renounce his old penchant for getting into trouble.
Unlike fixed-point Teleportation Wards, this rendition of conveyance wards was understandably more complex. But fortunately for Lu Ye, the increase in his capabilities had also made the difficulty of conjuring these wards easier.
Lu Ye completed his first multi-point Teleportation Ward in an hour. But that was not all; he constructed more wards around it—some to conceal the Teleportation Ward’s presence and a few to detonate the place to prevent anyone from finding out what he had done here.
That was another form of insurance—one to prevent others from discovering his insurance.
Only after making sure that everything was finally complete, Lu Ye left the place.
He would need to be on the lookout for another hidden spot like this for his next Teleportation Ward.
Just like before, he sped forward, refusing to fly so as to not attract any unwanted attention. At the same time, he remained vigilant, his senses alert for any unusual signs. At the first sign of trouble, he would cast Glyph: Concealment on himself and stay down.
The careful measures seemed to have paid off; all the way, Lu Ye encountered nothing.
Along the way, Lu Ye never stopped picking up signatures of Spiritual Powers clashing. That must be ongoing skirmishes happening around him. Every once in a while, a powerful champion would zip by over his head. Only an Eighth- or a Ninth-Order would dare to fly without fear of getting attacked…
Naturally, Lu Ye knew better than to reveal himself to them.
He ran for more than a hundred miles before he paused to make sure that he was completely alone. Next, he conjured a Glyph: Space, using it to sense the link between him and the Teleportation Ward he built earlier.
Without any actual way to find out how far he could stretch the connection, he needed to stop and test to make sure.
He could feel that the link was still very strong; that would mean that he could go further.
Lu Ye pressed on for almost another one hundred miles. That was when he felt the link getting weak; the limit must be nearing.
That allowed him to come to a hypothesis: his present rank of cultivation would allow the link of his Teleportation Wards to stretch as far as two hundred miles. That was a vast improvement compared to before.
Which was a real boon to his plan. The farther his Teleportation Wards could be from each other, the safer it would be for him as well.He called Yi Yi and sent her to look for a suitable spot underground while he reconnoitered his surroundings too.
Sure enough, they found another cave. Lu Ye would have preferred a better spot, but this was the next best thing he could find in the vicinity. He could only hope that any Cultivator who passed by would not develop the curiosity to step inside for a look.
Lu Ye went inside and traveled almost fifty meters underground before he went to work while Yi Yi watched the entrance of the cave to make sure that there wasn’t anyone else.
If someone were to trap him inside before the Teleportation Ward was complete, then Lu Ye would be doomed.
Another hour of toiling saw the successful construction of another Teleportation Ward, along with the other wards for concealment and self-destruction.
He had been careful enough in the position of his wards that any Cultivator who ventured inside might not trigger the explosive wards so long as he or she did not travel too deep inside.
Lu Ye emerged from the cave. He looked up. The Roster of Carnage was still hanging conspicuously in mid-air, its entire length and breadth surging in the winds up above. He scanned the list of names; his name had dropped far out of the fiftieth place.
Which was within his expectation. More than four hours had passed since the Carnage Colosseum first started and numerous skirmishes had broken out everywhere. That would mean people were killed and that would translate into Carnage Points.
It did not take long for others to rake in more than a hundred Carnage Points and that was how Lu Ye’s name kept sliding down the Roster.
At this rate, it won’t be too long before his name would be fully off the Roster for good.
Lu Ye could not care less about his position on the Roster. He wanted to survive and that was all that mattered.
He continued his journey. All thanks to Glyph: Concealment he could travel on without worrying too much about his safety. Even if he were to stumble into another stranger, he could still easily slip past him as long as they were not in close contact.
In almost half a day, Lu Ye had completed up to four Transportational Wards that were linked to each other. Knowing this restored some sense of assurance.
Still, he needed more.
Lu Ye was stealthily speeding ahead when something caught his attention. He looked up and gazed into the distance. In the horizon, a breathtaking display of color emerged in the form of an iridescent glow at the edge of the skies. Gradually, the luminous hues spread and transformed into a magnificent plume of clouds, painting the sky with ethereal and awe-inspiring beauty.
[That’s the Token of Providence!]
The spectacle known as the Token of Providence was a daily phenomenon that only a scarce handful of Cultivators have ever witnessed, given the sheer length and breadth of the Battlefield. No one could possibly guess when and where the next Token of Providence would take place.
Lu Ye himself had only seen it once since entering the Battlefield.
But the conditions seemed to vary within the radius of hundreds of thousands of kilometers of the Carnage Colosseum expanse. Every day, the same aerial spectacle of iridescence would appear in different spots around the Colosseum and every pair of eyes in the vicinity would notice it without fail, giving them a two- or three-tenths of a chance to enjoy some of Heaven’s bestowments.
In addition, almost every Token of Providence spectacle yielded iridescent plumes that would confer one or even several Golden Amulets in one go, making it an attractive phenomenon that all champions and elites in the Colosseum hankered for.
Lu Ye peered at the roiling cluster of kaleidoscopic glimmers rolling towards him, a strange dread creeping over his shoulders. He could still remember the last time he witnessed a Token of Providence incident…
[Speak of the Devil and he shall appear, huh?!]
And he was right. The cloud of prismatic sparkles barely formed and it began barreling straight at Lu Ye like a giant glacier thundering toward him from above. Despite being still very far away, Lu Ye was certain: it really was coming this way.
There was nothing else to think about. Lu Ye turned around and bolted.
If only he were outside instead of being stuck here inside this Carnage Colosseum; he would have a slight interest to participate in the race for an Amulet or two. He would be more than happy to leave the Blue, Purple, or even Gold ones to other stronger Cultivators and just settle with a White or even a Green one.
Alas, the fact remained that he was still inside the Carnage Colosseum.
Stuck with his proverbial neck out, every champion coming his way—especially those whose Battlefield Imprint glowed red—would immediately see him. No Cloud River Realm Third-Order like him could ever hope to survive such odds.
Even if he had nine lives.
As he sprinted away, Lu Ye stole a glance over his shoulder. That Token of Providence cloud was still coming his way!
A throb pulsed at the corner of his eyes. [Is this how fickle luck can be?! Instead of giving me anything good, it’s giving me trouble!]
All of a sudden, Lu Ye screeched to a halt and hid. Before him, he could sense a presence approaching—one powerful and enormous. It had to be someone coming after the iridescent clouds!
From the Spiritual Power signature, they seemed to be an Eighth-Order and Lu Ye was not surprised. Only a champion of such strength would dare to come with such fanfare.
But the champion stopped. At barely three hundred meters away from Lu Ye, he just stood there, quietly looking at the approaching spectacle.
That left Lu Ye in a difficult quandary. Unable to move, he remained where he was with Glyph: Concealment activated.
The biggest problem was that Lu Ye did not know which faction the newcomer belonged to. All would have been well if he were a fellow member of the Grand Sky Coalition, but if he were to expose himself to someone from the Thousand Demon Ridge, then he would be dead meat.
The appearance of the Token of Providence event at this inopportune moment had no doubt attracted the eyes of many in the Carnage Colosseum—some were still charging this way and others were intercepting them. All of a sudden, any peace around these parts erupted into pandemonium.
Lu Ye could only pray and hope that the iridescent clouds came no closer to him.
But with every second, the cloud just refused to veer off; it kept coming his way, shepherding a mob of Cultivators in its wake—some in the air while the rest traveled on foot—while more fights broke out every now and then.
Out of nowhere, Lu Ye felt his senses tingle. Something alive had just stepped through the edges of his spiritual perception.
Lu Ye quietly activated Glyph: Insight on both his eyes. A blinding deluge of lights surged into his vision as the Glyph powered up.
[There, hidden not far away! A Ghost Cultivator!]
But Lu Ye noted the absence of any sensation coming from his Battlefield Imprint! He could be an ally!
Although Lu Ye wasn’t sure if Battlefield Imprints would provide any warning if one or both parties were invisible.
Because if Battlefield Imprints could be depended on to react when an invisible enemy was nearby, then Ghost Cultivators would have lost their single-most important advantage.
Ghost Cultivators relied on the elements of stealth and surprise to launch attacks. If Battlefield Imprints could give any warning even when they were hidden from sight, then anyone in the vicinity would know that a Ghost Cultivator had to be on the prowl somewhere nearby.
Yet the unseen Ghost Cultivator seemed to have realized that he or she was being watched, swiveling around to look in Lu Ye’s direction.
Unlike Lu Ye, the Ghost Cultivator did not have Glyph: Insight, and hence he or she could see nothing at all.
<