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In Tan Sheng’s hands rested the enigmatic Tracking Disc, his chilly gaze upon the compass’s trembling needle like ice.
He would not have deigned to share any of his spoils with others if he had the choice. But the current circumstances allowed him no free room to choose as he liked. With their numbers confined to a mere trio, cornering the elusive Lu Yi Ye was as hard as catching a mirage with bare hands. The day had seen them tirelessly tread the same path, to and fro, a dozen times over, yet with no signs of Lu Yi Ye in sight. If this were to go on and the Colosseum closed, Lu Yi Ye would surely be able to fade away and escape.
[Half is better than nothing], he sighed with tremendous regret, deciding, at last, to just embrace the bitter consolation of what little gain remained.
The resolve crystallized within him, unwavering and definitive.
He raised his hand and bit down upon his fingertip. In elegant strokes, he inscribed the name “Lu Yi Ye” upon its surface, not once, but twice, as if invoking some arcane ritual of old.
The scarlet fluid seeped into the heart of the disc, its presence ephemeral as it vanished without a trace. And then, as if struck by some unseen force, the Tracking Disc splintered into a myriad of iridescent shards, bursting forth in a glorious crescendo of rainbow hues, soaring into the heavens and fading from sight in the blink of an eye.
Tracking Discs possessed two divergent faculties. One was the accurate tracking of one’s location through the compass’s needle as was used by Jiang Liuzi earlier, so long as both existed within the same plane of existence.
The other—or more hidden—feature of the Tracking Disc, which Tan Sheng now wielded, was what caused the Disc to shatter and would therefore render it useless in the future. Yet this ability would completely divulge Lu Ye’s position with no way at all to hide himself.
The first ability required only the quarry’s name to be written in blood. But the second method demanded three repetitions of the name, prompting Tan Sheng to write Lu Yi Ye’s name twice more.
Meanwhile, seated calmly within the circle of his Teleportation Ward more than eight hundred miles away from Tan Sheng and his companions, Lu Ye felt an inexplicable shiver running down his spine. Before he could fathom what just happened, a streak of blood-red light descended from the heavens, enveloping him in its macabre glow.
In an instant, the crimson radiance soared towards the sky, manifesting as a pillar of eerie arterial red.
This bore a striking resemblance to the majestic eruption of light by the unique types of Gold Amulet. But the unique Gold Amulet emitted a golden column of light, while what he was engulfed in was a red streak of light lancing up into the sky, plus a relatively smaller burst of Spiritual Power.
Lu Ye did not know what on earth just happened.
But he knew this, a disturbance of such a grand scale would undoubtedly draw the attention of all nearby Cultivators. Not wanting to be discovered, he immediately activated his Teleportation Ward and vanished from the spot. freёwebnovel.com
His caution was not misplaced. Moments after his departure, a group of Cultivators arrived and entered the cavern. Yet, before they could investigate anything, one of them inadvertently triggered the explosive wards that Lu Ye had left behind. The entire cave groaned and trembled before being swallowed in a blaze of flames. The Cultivators later emerged from the cave, their faces smudged with soot and dirt.
More Cultivators converged upon the scene, with one individual towering menacingly above the rest in mid-air, exuding the formidable aura of an elite Ninth-Order.
He silently surveyed the situation below before transmitting a message.
The information swiftly reached Tan Sheng, eight hundred miles away, prompting him to take flight immediately. In the blink of an eye, he transformed into a stream of light and vanished from view.
Leaving behind Jiang Liuzi and his brother, their expressions filled with resignation.
Jiang Liuzi had been reluctant to relinquish his control of the Tracking Disc, insisting on using it himself, precisely to prevent such a predicament. Alas, in the end, his deepest concern had materialized nevertheless.
With the Tracking Disc no longer in their possession, Tan Sheng could naturally care less about the fates of the Jiang brothers. A Ninth-Order like him could travel much faster and with greater mobility and convenience without two Fifth-Orders slowing him down. While Tan Sheng appeared to be unlikely to renege on the deal to give them two-tenths of his share of the rewards, that could only be fulfilled if the two brothers remained alive by the time the dust settled.
Thankfully, a considerable amount of time had elapsed since then, and the Ninth-Order enemy—the Grand Sky Coalition elite who had slain Lu Shu—probably wouldn’t trouble them anymore. The notion of this provided them with a modicum of security.
At another Teleportation Ward, Lu Ye calmed himself. He examined himself and still, he found no abnormalities.
But what was the blood-red light that had shrouded him just now?
The powerful burst of energy had exposed his location in the most unequivocal manner. He could conceal himself using every faculty and every method known to him, and still, any nearby Cultivator would detect his whereabouts and come to investigate.
Lu Ye lifted a hand and tapped on his Battlefield Imprint. He communicated with Li Baxian, recounting what had just transpired.
The latter swiftly replied, “That’s the hidden feature of the Tracking Disc, brother.”
Only through Li Baxian’s explanation did Lu Ye come to understand what had befallen him.
It seemed that after a whole day and night of chasing the mere mirage of him, Lu Ye’s pursuers had grown impatient. Left with no choice, they activated the second function of the Tracking Disc. As a result, they couldn’t trace his movements through the Tracking Disc anymore, but he too could no longer remain hidden.
According to Li Baxian’s explanation, the same blood-red pillar of light would occur every two hours to broadcast his location.
The information left Lu Ye’s heart sinking to the depths of despair.
He had been able to sense the enemy approaching each time prior to this, enabling him to escape in advance. The intangible connection between him and the Tracking Disc was what allowed him to perceive their proximity to some extent.
That was what led Tan Sheng and his companions into several rounds of back-and-forth pursuits to no avail.
Lu Ye had believed that so long as his Teleportation Wards were not destroyed, he would be able to stay alive and Tan Sheng would never catch up to him. He had clearly misjudged the situation.
Being unable to catch up to him was what drove Tan Sheng to make use of the Tracking Disc’s hidden feature.
By truly depriving him of any chance to remain hidden.
The Spiritual Power eruption of the unique Gold Amulets occurred every six hours, which was already too high a frequency for his comfort. Yet this blood-red column of radiance would broadcast his position every two hours…
This was tantamount to a death sentence.
“I’m calling for help, Lu Ye. Hold on! You must stay alive until the Colosseum closes!”
“I understand.”
After ending the communication, Lu Ye immediately left his hiding place and moved outside.
With his position exposed every two hours, there was no point to continue staying in the cave. He did not have many Teleportation Wards left and each vertical light display would inevitably lead to the destruction of one of them. To ensure his survival, he needed more Teleportation Wards and to preserve as many of them as possible.
Lu Ye didn’t doubt Li Baxian would reach out for help. They have had numerous contacts and their circles of friends were wider beyond his comprehension. With many powerful Cultivators of the Grand Sky Coalition here inside the Colosseum, there was no reason to believe that Li Baxian’s call for aid would go unanswered.
However, he knew that he couldn’t count on help to arrive. He needed to prepare for the worst and respond as proactively as possible.
Just as Lu Ye was preparing for what was his biggest escape for dear life up until now, news about him spread rapidly within the Thousand Demon Ridge circles within the Colosseum. Countless Thousand Demon Ridge Cultivators flocked in the direction of Lu Ye’s last known location, especially those with moderate cultivation ranks.
Cultivators of this sort roamed the Carnage Colosseum for Endowment events. The Carnage Roster was just beyond their reach due to their inadequate power and strength.
But all of them were attracted by the rumors about Lu Ye’s whereabouts flying about everywhere. The promise of huge rewards for Lu Ye’s head was more than anything winning the Carnage Roster could offer.
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More so, since the rumors further circulated that Lu Ye was merely a Cultivator at the Third-Order of the Cloud River Realm now being marked with the curse of a Tracking Disc that would reveal his position every two hours. Anyone who stumbled upon him could have a real chance at slaying him.
That made many Thousand Demon Ridge Cultivators hurry this way the moment they got wind of the rumors.
Amidst the turmoil, a number of unfortunate Grand Sky Coalition Cultivators found themselves beset by troubles. The spread of Thousand Demon Ridge and Grand Sky Coalition Cultivators should have been even at first, but when a significant number of them who were members of the Thousand Demon Ridge began to converge in a single direction, opposing Cultivators would find themselves being outnumbered all of a sudden.
That caused many Grand Sky Coalition Cultivators, especially those who were unaware of recent developments, to withdraw from the area.
Two hours passed, then four, and six…
A lot of information about Lu Yi Ye spread far and wide every couple of hours. Every time a blood-red pillar of light speared up into the clouds, his position would be exposed, and that immediately attracted hordes of Thousand Demon Ridge Cultivators eager enough to try their luck.
Yet, no one had truly managed to find him. Leveraging what remained of his inventory of Teleportation Wards. Each time his position was broadcasted, he would swiftly relocate two hundred miles away.
Several months had passed since Lu Ye last faced such a massive manhunt in the Spirit Creek Battlefield.
Only this time, the perils that beset him far surpassed anything he had experienced before.
Cultivators in the Spirit Creek Battlefield could barely compare with the Cloud River Realm Cultivators here. By the time Lu Ye reached Heaven-Eight back when he was still in the Spirit Creek Battlefield, there were few dangers that could threaten his safety. He was even a scourge that all of the Thousand Demon Ridge coalition feared when he rose into Heaven-Nine.
But this time, there really was a real risk of dying. Most primarily because of the restriction of the Colosseum that no Cultivator inside could leave the Colosseum before its closure.
Or he would have sped to the nearest Divine Trade Association and sought refuge and protection there.
As time passed, Lu Ye’s number of Teleportation Wards dwindled.
Only two remained. Had it not been for his diligent efforts to reconstruct more Wards whenever he could after each escape, he would have long run out of Wards.
At the same time, he could feel the presence of Thousand Demon Ridge Cultivators in the area growing rapidly.
He could stay in this accursed place no longer. Even with two Teleportation Wards still working, to linger in this place would be courting death.
If anything were to happen to the Wards, he would be dead the moment his position was revealed again.
Lu Ye did not know whether he should stay or leave. But he quickly came to a decision: he needed to leave—fast!
Only by leaving this area could he find a glimmer of hope. Stay any longer and Death would come for him.
Lu Ye gazed up at the crimson sky overhead, feeling the crushing weight of helplessness. It had been almost twenty days since the start of the Carnage Colosseum. When would it finally close?
Once again, his body was enveloped in that blood-red radiance before the glow burst into a claret-red pillar of light that shot up into the high heavens.
Another eruption.
Lu Ye activated his Teleportation Ward and transported himself instantly nearly two hundred miles away.
Next, he exited the cave and took off, gliding at a steady pace at no more than thirty meters above ground so as not to attract any unwanted attention.
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