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Seven days after Lu Ye had spoken with Yun Qingyue, only two wooden plaques were left in front of him.
This meant that out of all of the Core Circle Sects in the Thousand Demon Ridge, only two did not come forward.
And, the words carved into the two wooden plaques were New Moon Sect and Clouded Sun Clan respectively.
It was impossible for them to come
Their Outposts have already been razed and some of their disciples were either injured or dead, so why would they still run over to send offerings to Lu Ye?
Lu Ye had expected this, so he didn’t care.
He got up to stretch, feeling extremely spirited after meditating for this period of time. His work in the Spirit Creek Battlefield was done and there was no longer any need for him to stay here.
However, he could go and visit Hua Ci before he left. He wondered how she was doing, and based on the time that had passed since they last met, he reckoned that she had already advanced into the Cloud River Realm.
Summoning his Spirit Boat, he took to the skies and flew in the Myriad Poison Forest’s direction.
The wind whistled through Skysword Peak. Only two wooden plaques with different names carved onto them were left behind.
Twice Lu Ye had raked in large amounts of resources from the Thousand Demon Ridge here, leaving the Skysword Peak to become a pain in the hearts of the many Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators. Even many years in the future, the cultivators of that faction would rather go around Skysword Peak than to ever step foot near it.
The Myriad Poison Forest was located within the Core Circle and was not too far from Skysword Peak. In one day, Lu Ye leisurely arrived at the space above the forest, a look of surprise emerging on his face.
The Myriad Poison Forest was different from how he remembered it.
The most obvious change was the fact that the Myriad Poison Forest seemed to have shrunken greatly in size, and the area that used to be enveloped in a fog of poison had now become safe to traverse.
Overall, it seemed to have shrunken at least thirty to forty percent in size.
This place was a forbidden area of the Spirit Creek Battlefield, and also a place that the cultivators would not choose to step into without good reason. Not only was the place still filled with an invisible fog of deadly poison, there were also many venomous insects living inside.
Even a Heaven Nine cultivator would not be able to reach too deep into the forest.
[Could the shrinkage of the Myriad Poison Forest domain have something to do with Hua Ci?]
Lu Ye was aware that Hua Ci needed to refine the poison fog for her cultivation, but how many months had gone by and the Myriad Poison Forest looked like this already? If she were given more time, then wouldn’t this forbidden area disappear completely?
This woman… was truly terrifying!
He went straight inside the forest and made his way to its depths.
He made his way to the wooden hut from before only to see a tall fence erected with the door to the hut tightly shut.
Lu Ye went forward and knocked on the door. “Anyone home?”
No response.
He tried to sense inside, but there were no signs of vitality inside the wooden hut.
Hua Ci wasn’t here?
Lu Ye was surprised. He thought that Hua Ci would keep on cultivating here, but he didn’t expect to miss her completely, and he had no idea where she could have gone.
He opened the door and went inside before studying the surroundings. There was not a single trace of dust in the hut, which undoubtedly meant that Hua Ci still lived here. He just had no idea what she had gone off to do.
Leaving the house, Lu Ye contemplated for a moment before heading to where Hua Ci used to cultivate.
Even when he used to live here, Hua Ci did not cultivate in the hut, and that was because of the Ward that Lu Ye had set up in the area. As long as the Ward was up, it could keep the poison fog from encroaching, which made it difficult for her to cultivate.
After walking a short distance, Lu Ye heard a gentle singing voice, as well as the sound of splashing water.
This woman… seemed to be in a good mood, but he wasn’t sure what she was up to.
He withdrew his aura and hid himself to try and give her a scare.
She had been living alone here for several months without any contact with the outside world. She did not send him any messages either, so clearly she had no idea that he had arrived in the Spirit Creek Battlefield.
He was sure that she would definitely be surprised if he suddenly showed up out of the blue before her.
Following the source of that song, he made his way through a short forest, and when he looked up, Lu Ye’s expression turned stiff.
A pool had appeared there at some point in time, but it was not very large, only around a dozen meters wide, and water in an abnormal shade of emerald rippled in the pool.
Just looking at the water was enough to fill one with unease, so it was not hard to imagine just how toxic the water in the pool could be.
Lu Ye had no idea how Hua Ci had created this pool of poison, but it didn’t exist when he and Yi Ye used to stay here. Clearly, Hua Ci must have created it later.
Most importantly, Hua Ci actually turned out to be bathing at this moment.
She was practically fully immersed in the pool with only her head peeking above the surface. Two arms as delicate and fair as tender leeks lightly swung about on the water’s surface, with several dainty toes coming out mischievously above the surface from time to time as she hummed a song he had never heard of.
Just from what he could see alone, Lu Ye could guess the state that she was in right now!
This… If he were to be found out, then surely he would be beaten up like some scoundrel, right?
He never thought he would come here to see this either.
Just as he was about to silently withdraw, the humming suddenly stopped. Then, Lu Ye felt a sharp gaze staring right at where he was hiding.
He had a bad feeling about this!
A splash sounded as Hua Ci lifted a jade hand, and an emerald water arrow shot out from the pool, aimed accurately at Lu Ye’s position.
[Should I hide or not?]
Lu Ye was caught in a dilemma. If he hid, it would make him seem guilty, but if not, he would definitely be exposed.
Before he could come to a decision, the water arrow hit him right in the chest. It didn’t hurt him, but the arrow transformed into an emerald mist that enveloped Lu Ye’s body, blowing his cover.
Then, Lu Ye felt a large billow of smoke rising from the Tree of Glyphs…
“My…” In the water, Hua Ci, who only had her head showing above the water, exclaimed with a smirk. “I thought it was a little creature, but it turned out to be a beast!”
With feigned shock on her face, she spoke words that were even more poisonous than the water in the pool.
“Don’t you start!” Lu Ye grumbled. “Who but me could come to a damned place like this? You knew it was me, so no need to put up an act.”
He could tell from how mild the arrow had been alone. Hua Ci knew that Lu Ye was immune to many poisons, so the focus on the arrow was on toxicity rather than lethality.
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Of course, if it wasn’t Lu Ye who came, nothing more than death would await whoever it was that came here.
The poison in the water was several times more toxic compared to what Lu Ye had experienced here in the Myriad Poison Forest.
“Hm? How am I supposed to know?”
Hua Ci giggled and splashed on the water. “But what brought you here? Was the Cloud River Battlefield not fun for you?”
“No, it’s great fun.” Since he had already been exposed, Lu Ye simply went forward to the pool and crouched down, reaching out to scoop up some of the water with his hand.
Even more smoke appeared above the Tree of Glyphs.
Considering he might not have a large stock of fuel left, Lu Ye did not dare to mess around any more. Otherwise, it would give Hua Ci a chance to mess with him.
“Something happened, so I came back. I figured I could come and visit while I’m here.”
“So, I’m just an afterthought…” Hua Ci’s expression turned gloomy at once. If anyone who didn’t know the situation saw this, they would think that Lu Ye had played her before abandoning her.
Even while saying so, the movement of her hands did not stop. Her slender neck, fair skin, and even the fantastical part in the front could be faintly seen. Combined with her wet hair and sad expression, Lu Ye felt his heart strings being tugged at.
Lu Ye wouldn’t believe that she didn’t do it on purpose even if he were beaten to death.
“Enjoying the view?” Hua Ci blushed, speaking shyly as she kept her head down amidst Lu Ye’s gaze.
“En.”
“Want to see more?”
Lu Ye sprang up at that. “Can I?”
Hua Ci kept her head lowered and muttered in a voice as quiet as a mosquito. “I wouldn’t do this for anyone else, of course. But it’s fine… if it’s you.”
Saying so, she pressed her eyes shut and her long lashes trembled nervously. Then, she slowly stood up, allowing the emerald water to flow down her smooth neck, revealing a heavenly image.
Lu Ye’s eyes widened like brass bells.
“Hahahaha, you’re a big idiot!”
Standing in the water, Hua Ci, who was wearing a dress, laughed so wantonly that her body arched back, taunting him.
Lu Ye shut his eyes in pain. It was absolutely shameful of him to have had any expectations of this woman!
But who could have guessed that a woman soaking in a pool would turn out to be completely dressed?!
Lu Ye stood up and made to leave.
Hua Ci shouted at him from behind. “Hey! Where are you going?”
“None of your business!”
She got his hopes up about getting a view of divine beauty, only to then smash those hopes to the ground. He still had his dignity to upkeep.
After a while, a groomed Hua Ci appeared in the wooden hut. There, she saw Lu Ye lying on a hammock in the courtyard with his hands behind his head, looking up at the sky, bored.
Hua Ci walked up to Lu Ye, her body wrapped in fragrance, and she leaned down to look at him. “Are you upset?”
“What’s there to be upset about?” Lu Ye rolled his eyes. “I’m hungry. Go make some food.”
Even though Hua Ci’s food looked bad on the surface, the taste and effects were quite good. They were all very nutritious dishes.
“Very well!” Saying so, Hua Ci leaned down even further.
Before Lu Ye could react, a light peck landed on his forehead.
Before she could pull back, Lu Ye grabbed her arms.
Hua Ci was confused. “What are you doing?”
“What are you doing?”
“Aren’t you angry? I’m trying to make it up to you.” She looked as if there was absolutely nothing wrong with what she just did.
“Am I a kid? Do I need you to kiss me on the forehead?” Lu Ye was displeased. That was clearly a tactic used to coax young children.
“What do you want, then?”
Lu Ye’s gaze went down, starting at her plump red lips.
A look of panic emerged in Hua Ci’s eyes and her breathing hitched for a moment. Soon, however, she put on an uncaring expression and met Lu Ye’s gaze with a smile, her beautiful eyes as dazzling as the stars in the sky.
Time passed bit by bit, and the two remained in this position without moving.
It was only after a while that Lu Ye let go of her.
Hua Ci leapt back and taunted out of habit, “Scaredy-cat!”
“Get over here!” Lu Ye bellowed.
“In your dreams!” Hua Ci giggled and ran even further away.
The soft singing voice emerged again. Hua Ci was clearly in a better mood than before, and it wasn’t long before the courtyard was filled with the smell of food.
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