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After a few days, Lu Ye had figured out the situation here at Fox Immortal Valley, but he still had no clue on how he was going to safely take Li Baxian away.
As long as the Fox Mutant’s Divine Soul Secret Technique remained unbroken, there was no way that Li Baxian would leave with him without any fuss, but killing the Fox Mutant was even more of an unrealistic fantasy. In these past few days, other than the one time he saw the Fox Mutant in her chamber, Lu Ye hadn’t seen her again. She had remained hidden in her own room, never showing herself.
Even if she did appear, Lu Ye wouldn’t be able to kill her with his current strength. There were many cultivators guarding her.
There was, however, a piece of good news that came from Feng Yuechan.
The wolf pack at the Arcane Glade had grown stronger again. Initially, the pack had only a little over a hundred members, but they were somehow able to gather more of their kind from somewhere else. By the time Tan Sheng and his group infiltrated the Arcane Glade, the wolf pack had already grown to over two hundred. Just a day ago, the pack brought back another batch of their kind, increasing their numbers to over three hundred.
In Lu Ye’s plan, it was necessary for him to get the assistance of the wolf pack if he were to kill the Fox Mutant, so their growth was a good thing for him.
He just had to wait for the right opportunity.
With the large number of cultivators and the support of the Wards in Fox Immortal Valley, the wolf pack was still no match for them even with over three hundred members. Perhaps if the pack could grow to five hundred strong, they could try launching a strong attack on Fox Immortal Valley, but three hundred was still too strained.
He could only continue waiting for a favorable moment.
On his second day of learning blade techniques from Xia Liang, Zhou Yuntian approached Lu Ye and conveyed an order from the Fox Mutant. The Wards in Fox Immortal Valley would mainly be handled by Lu Ye while Xie Yunhan assisted him.
Lu Ye naturally had no reason to refuse as it was the Fox Mutant’s order, so he accepted the command at once. It was finally confirmed that the partiality that Zhou Yuntian had shown him yesterday was because of his performance in the Way of Wards.
Undoubtedly, Xie Yunhan must have said many good things about him.
In reality, there wasn’t much difference between the main Wardmage and the assistant. The Wards in Fox Immortal Valley had been maintained for many years, but in the past few days, Lu Ye and Xie Yunhan had been doing maintenance on them and making various adjustments. Now, their daily tasks were minimal. They just had to walk around and inspect the Wards three times a day around the different areas of Fox Immortal Valley.
The change in roles was merely nominal and allowed Lu Ye to receive more attention and a higher position in the valley.
Most of the time, Lu Ye cultivated blade techniques with Xia Liang. He had never paid much attention before, but since he started learning from Xia Liang, he realized just how weak his foundation was.
Since embarking on the path of cultivation, practically all that he knew, he figured out on his own, especially when it came to blade techniques. He had never learned it systematically and comprehensively from anyone before. The only assistance he received was the insights that his Third Senior Brother entrusted his son to pass on to him, which was where he learned the Blood Shifting technique from.
However, that was just a Secret Technique that Combat Cultivators generally needed to cultivate and contributed little to his foundational improvement.
Xia Liang’s careful guidance undoubtedly compensated for Lu Ye’s shortcomings.
Lu Ye cherished this opportunity.
How to exert force, how to breathe, how to change up his moves… There was a lot to consider. Previously, Lu Ye had simply swung his blade based on instinct, but now, with Xia Liang’s guidance, he felt a sense of enlightenment, and the foundation of his blade technique was steadily growing each day.
Xia Liang had praised Lu Ye’s talent in blade techniques on multiple occasions, even stating that if he had enlisted into the Raving Bladesmen from the beginning, he would have undoubtedly gained their essence.
Time flew by, and several more days passed.
On this particular morning, Lu Ye and Xie Yunhan were inspecting the various Wards in Fox Immortal Valley as usual. It took them nearly an hour to check all the Ward’s and ensure their proper operation.
Just as Lu Ye was about to go back to cultivating blade techniques with Xia Liang, Xie Yunhan suddenly spoke up, “Brother, there’s another place we have to inspect today.”
Lu Ye was puzzled. “Another place?”
He was already completely familiar with the locations they inspected daily, so he was sure that they hadn’t overlooked any areas. Where could this other place be?
“It’s the restricted area of Fox Immortal Valley. It only needs to be checked once every half month, and no one is allowed to approach it on regular days,” Xie Yunhan explained.
“A restricted area?” Lu Ye’s interest was roused. He had no idea that there was another restricted area within Fox Immortal Valley.
But since it was a restricted area, it was natural for him not to know about it as a newcomer.
Following Xie Yunhan, they walked towards a specific direction until they reached the deepest part of Fox Immortal Valley, where a Grand Ward appeared to be covering something ahead.
“This is it.” Xie Yunhan pointed to the Grand Ward in front. “No one is allowed to approach this place, but the mistress has ordered me to come and inspect it every half month. From now on, this task will be entrusted to you.”
Lu Ye examined the Ward in front of him. On the surface, it was a Concealment Ward, but there should be another Grand Defensive Ward operating inside. However, with the Concealment Ward in place, it was impossible to see what was inside.
The area covered by the Ward wasn’t too large, only about 50 meters in diameter, forming a dome.
“What’s inside?” Lu Ye asked.
Xie Yunhan shook his head. “I’m not sure.”
“Not sure?” Lu Ye was surprised.
“This restricted area has existed since I arrived at Fox Immortal Valley. Usually, I only come to maintain the Ward, so I’ve never been inside before… Brother, the mistress does not allow anyone to enter the restricted area. In the future, you need only come every half month to check on its condition.
“I understand.”
Then, the two of them split up and checked the operation of the Wards, ensuring that they were intact before leaving quickly.
“Brother, care for a drink at my place?” Xie Yunhan extended an invitation to him.
“I’ll bother you later, Brother. I need to go cultivate blade techniques with Brother Xia first.”
Xie Yunhan chuckled, “I’ll wait for you, then.”
“Cultivator Lu!”
A voice suddenly came from not far away. Lu Ye turned his head and saw Zhou Yuntian smiling at him. Judging by his appearance, it seemed like he came just to wait for Lu Ye.
Xie Yunhan said, “Brother Zhou is looking for you. It must be something important, so you should head to him first.”
Lu Ye nodded, parting ways with Xie Yunhan and walking towards Zhou Yuntian.
As he approached him, Lu Ye cupped his fist and greeted, “Cultivator Zhou.”
Zhou Yuntian relayed with amity, “You’ve worked hard these past few days. The mistress is very pleased with your performance.”
Lu Ye put on a look of joy at once. “Serving the mistress is my duty.”
“En.” Zhou Yuntian gave a slight nod. “It’s right for Cultivator Lu to think that way. Everything we have is bestowed by the mistress, and protecting her is our greatest duty!”
A look of pure fanaticism surfaced on his face. It seemed as if he would not frown even if his mistress ordered him to die.
This caused a chill to rise in Lu Ye’s heart. He changed the topic, “Does Cultivator Zhou need me for something?”
“Oh.” Zhou Yuntian snapped out of his daze. “During your audience with the mistress, I remember Cultivator Lu mentioned being proficient in the Way of Glyphs, Wards, and Tattoos?”
“Strictly speaking, I am a Glyphweaver. The Way of Wards and Way of Tattoos are just areas that I have only dabbled in.”
“Just dabbled? Cultivator Lu has such high attainments in the Way of Wards. What about Tattoos?”
“I’ve only recently started cultivating the Way of Tattoos, so it can’t be compared to my knowledge in the Way of Wards.”
“Are you able to create Tattoos now?”
“I am, but only three types.”
“Which three?”
“The offensive Glyph: Sharp Edge, the defensive Glyph: Protection, as well as the auxiliary Glyph: Windwalk.”
Zhou Yuntian’s eyes lit up at that, and he asked eagerly, “What is the success rate?”
“Generally speaking, the possibility of failure is very low.” Lu Ye had practiced on the wolf pack before, and there were very few failures. Even if there were, it didn’t matter either way as the Tattooed area would recover in a few days, and he could Tattoo it again without causing much damage to the recipient.
“That’s great!” Zhou Yuntian could hardly contain his joy. “Can Cultivator Lu give me a demonstration?”
“Naturally, but who should I Tattoo, may I ask?” Lu Ye still had plenty of Tattooing materials left, which was enough for his use.
“You can do it on this Zhou.”
“In that case, please follow me, Cultivator Zhou.” After saying that, Lu Ye led the way forward.
They soon arrived at his pavilion, where Lu Ye brought out the necessary materials for Tattooing and gave Zhou Yuntian a brief introduction before asking, “Cultivator Zhou, which type of Tattoo would you like?”
After pondering for a short while, Zhou Yuntian made his choice. “Glyph: Protection.”
The Sharp Edge Tattoo was unsuitable to be done on a person, but that was different for the Wolf Mutants. After all, cultivators generally fought using Spirit Artifacts. Nobody would try and scratch their opponents with their hands or bite them with their teeth. Besides Glyph: Protection, the only other suitable Glyph to be tattooed on a cultivator would be Windwalk.
One would provide a cultivator with even stronger defensive capabilities, while the other would allow a cultivator to run faster.
All in all, Glyph: Protection would be the most suitable, so it was not strange for Zhou Yuntian to have made that choice.
“Then, where would Cultivator Zhou like for it to be tattooed?” Lu Ye then asked.
Zhou Yuntian pulled apart the robes at his chest and pointed where his heart was. “Right here!”
It was a normal choice. The heart was one’s vital spot, and to have the protection of Glyph: Protection there could just save their lives at a critical moment.
“Please lay down, Cultivator Zhou,” Lu Ye gestured to the bed.
Zhou Yuntian laid down on the bed as instructed and opened up his clothes.
Lu Ye picked up his needle and dipped the tip into the material for the Glyph: Protection Tattoo, then he began working on Zhou Yuntian’s chest.
When the needle came down, there was some visible anxiety on Zhou Yuntian’s expression, but that quickly went away.
As needle after needle came down, a triangular mark in ochre gradually appeared on his skin. Complex lines intercrossed with each other, and it gave off an impenetrable feeling just in its appearance alone.
It was not difficult to make a Glyph: Protection Tattoo for Lu Ye.
It only took about an incense stick of time before Lu Ye finished up and said, “Cultivator Zhou, it’s done.”
Zhou Yuntian sat up and looked at the imprint on his chest. As he poured his Spiritual Power into the mark, a triangular barrier immediately emerged from his chest, sticking closely to his chest, and it was clearly countless times sturdier than the protection of just his Spiritual Power alone.
Zhou Yuntian was overjoyed and couldn’t help but praise, “Cultivator Lu is truly amazing, to be able to draw Tattoos in the Cloud River Realm. This is the first time that this Zhou has seen such ability in his life.
Lu Ye responded humbly, “Cultivator Zhou is too kind. I’m not that skilled, and this is only a Temporary Tattoo. It can only be used a few times at most, but it is good as long as Cultivator Zhou is satisfied.”
“I’m satisfied, very satisfied.” Zhou Yuntian nodded with a smile on his face. The more he looked at Lu Ye, the more he felt that he had truly picked up a treasure.
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