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Less than a cup of tea’s time after the battle at the Ameliorate Valley, Tu Guanxiong received a message from the Universe Clan cultivators. He instantly turned pale in shock upon reading the message.
Under Huo Liaoyuan’s leadership, the cultivators of both Sects failed to conquer Lu Ye’s Arcane Glade and defeat the other party. On the contrary, they not only suffered a crushing defeat but also heavy casualties! Sixty-three cultivators had died in battle. Among them, forty-five belonged to Cult Blackfyre and eighteen belonged to the Universe Clan!
The message was short and simple, but the contents brought a suffocating scent of blood.
Tu Guanxiong could barely believe his eyes. Thus, he personally sent a message to Huo Liaoyuan to inquire about the situation. It took a while for him to obtain confirmation, and then he fell into a stunned silence.
Huo Liaoyuan had brought more than seventy cultivators from Sacred Universe Arcane Glade with him and summoned a similar number of Cult Blackfyre cultivators from the vicinity to form an impressive force of one hundred and fifty people. How did they suffer such heavy casualties when they were only facing Lu Ye? How did it matter that the other party could control an entire pack of Wolf Mutants?
After sending messages to several other Universe Clan cultivators, Tu Guanxiong finally understood the cause of their heavy losses. The reason turned out to be the existence of an Aerial Lock Ward!
The first Grand Defensive Ward had been a ruse to lower their guard and isolate the cultivators who rushed into the Arcane Glade. As a result, the front and the rear forces were cut off from each other for some time. The unexpected effects of the Aerial Lock Ward had also caught the cultivators trapped inside the Arcane Glade by surprise. Unable to fly around freely, it was naturally difficult for them to repel the horde of Wolf Mutants.
Upon learning these details, Tu Guanxiong let out a heavy sigh. He was furious over Huo Liaoyuan’s lack of caution, but he could not reprimand Huo Liaoyuan for anything. Regardless of who stood in Huo Liaoyuan’s position at the time, there was nothing anybody could have done to overturn the situation.
After pondering for some time, he sent a message to Huo Liaoyuan saying that he would summon the Universe Clan disciples scattered in the vicinity to provide reinforcements. He also warned Huo Liaoyuan not to act rashly until he accumulated enough power.
That was what Huo Liaoyuan originally planned, so he naturally agreed.
A short while later, cultivators from both Sects who were scattered across the Cloud River Battlefield received a message to gather in the direction of the Reckless Mountains. It was just that these cultivators were located at different distances from the specified meeting spot. The nearest cultivators would require seven or eight days to arrive. On the other hand, the furthest would require ten to twenty days to arrive. It was a pity but they could not be relied upon to arrive in time.
At this moment, the people in the Ameliorate Valley Arcane Glade were cleaning up the messy battlefield and collecting their spoils of war.
Li Baxian and the others were unscathed. Even the Wolf Mutants only suffered a few casualties in battle. Compared to the results of their battle, the small number of losses was practically negligible.
Nevertheless, Ju Jia seemed melancholy. Although he had initially been annoyed when the wolf pack willingly followed him, he changed his mind after spending some time with them.
The only reason the Arcane Glade could safely remain in the Ameliorate Valley was the protection and shelter provided by the wolf pack. For the Arcane Glade, the wolf pack was the strongest shield, not the Grand Defensive Ward established by Lu Ye.
Reality had proven this fact to be true. If not for the support of the wolf pack in their battle today, it would have been useless no matter how many Wards were prepared by Lu Ye in advance. They only had four people in total. How could they possibly fight against enemies who were beyond their current level? How many people would they have slain with their strength alone?
Therefore, Ju Jia couldn’t help feeling rather depressed even though only a few Wolf Mutants had died.
“Little Junior Brother, the Sacred Universe Arcane Glade cultivators have set up camp at the mouth of the mountain valley. It looks like they are waiting for reinforcements to arrive.” Inside the Arcane Glade, Li Baxian stared in the direction of the mountain valley entrance and slowly reported his observations.
The Sacred Universe Arcane Glade had suffered huge losses in the battle today. Moreover, they would not take the initiative to attack again now that they knew about the existence of the Aerial Lock Ward. Be that as it may, the other party not only did not retreat despite suffering such huge losses but also seemed to be taking strict precautions to guard the entrance.
Their actions indicated that they were worried Lu Ye and the others might escape. Hence, it was obvious that they were summoning reinforcements to their aid. They would inevitably launch a fierce offensive on the Arcane Glade once they gathered enough reinforcements.
“Should I call for help?” Li Baxian inquired.
Lu Ye shook his head. “It is easy to provide compensation, but favors are hard to return. We can take care of our own affairs. There’s no need to trouble others with such matters.”
With the connections of Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan, it would not be difficult for them to summon help. Unfortunately, Li Baxian had already requested many favors when Lu Ye was being hunted by the Thousand Demon Ridge in the Carnage Colosseum. These favors were debts that would eventually be borne by Li Baxian. If he called upon more favors now, his debts would only increase.
Upon hearing Lu Ye’s reply, Li Baxian sighed softly. “You’re right.”
Lu Ye continued, “Before the battle today, it would not have mattered if we had escaped back to Jiu Zhou. However, after the battle today… Our losses will not end with just a Divine Opportunity Column and a Wisp of Sanctification if we escape back to Jiu Zhou.”
Li Baxian was slightly taken aback by the answer, but he quickly understood what Lu Ye meant.
It would be easy for the four of them to escape to Jiu Zhou and leave these troubles behind, but that was not the case for the wolf pack. Dozens of Sacred Universe Arcane Glade cultivators had lost their lives to the wolf pack in the battle today, so the rage of these Sacred Universe Arcane Glade cultivators would inevitably fall upon the wolf pack if they left the Arcane Glade now. How many among the wolf pack would survive the massacre? They would probably be driven to extermination in the blink of an eye.
Taking these worries into consideration, Ju Jia might not be willing to abandon the wolf pack and return to Jiu Zhou with the others. How could the others bring themselves to leave if Ju Jia refused to follow them?
“Rather than the Sacred Universe Arcane Glade, I’m more concerned about something else.” Lu Ye frowned slightly.
“What is it?”
“Xia Liang and Tan Sheng!” Lu Ye spat out their names. “The Sacred Universe Arcane Glade found the location of the Arcane Glade with such accuracy and even dispatched so many people. It’s clear they have some understanding of the situation in the Arcane Glade. Xia Liang and Tan Sheng are the only people who could have revealed that information, but I did not see them today… More importantly, the Sacred Universe Arcane Glade was completely unaware of two things even though they had so much information on us. Firstly, they did not know about the Aerial Lock Ward in the Arcane Glade or they would not have been so careless. Secondly, they also did not know that we have a Divine Opportunity Column.”
If they had known about the Divine Opportunity Column in the Arcane Glade, the Sacred Universe Arcane Glade might not have been willing to come here in the first place. That was because Lu Ye could return to Jiu Zhou via the Divine Opportunity Column even if they managed to force him into a desperate situation.
“That means Xia Liang and Tan Sheng withheld some of the information.”
Lu Ye nodded. “I’m certain they concealed the existence of the Divine Opportunity Column so that they could watch by the sidelines and find an opportunity to take advantage of the situation. As for why they did not reveal the existence of the Aerial Lock Ward, they probably wanted to incite and intensify the hatred of our enemies.”
“In other words, those two are hiding somewhere nearby!”
“They truly are insidious!” While speaking, Lu Ye got to his feet. “Senior Brother, I plan to scout out their location. At the very least, we need to force our hidden enemies into the open. We can’t allow those two bastards to spy on us in secret!”
Li Baxian hurriedly tried to stop Lu Ye. “That’s too dangerous.”
“We will only be sitting ducks if we wait for them to make their move. Don’t worry, Senior Brother. I have confidence. I might not be their opponent in a fight, but it will not be easy for them to kill me either.”
“I’ll come with you!”
Lu Ye laughed. “Senior Brother, don’t you know my abilities best? If you’re with me, then I won’t be able to use those methods.”
Li Baxian was about to speak again when Feng Yuechan, who had been standing silently by the side, suddenly tugged at his clothes and said, “Junior Brother Lu is right. We will only be sitting ducks if we wait for them to make their move, so we need to figure out a method to solve this issue. Junior Brother Lu has the abilities of a Ghost Cultivator. Senior Brother, you will only create more trouble for him if you follow along.”
Li Baxian scowled but remained silent.
On the other hand, Feng Yuechan took out a small umbrella. “Junior Brother Lu, if you insist on going alone, then please refine and bring this umbrella with you. Otherwise, neither Senior Brother nor I will agree!”
Lu Ye glanced at the small umbrella. Although he did not know what power the small umbrella contained, the small umbrella most likely contained great defensive abilities since Feng Yuechan brought out the item at this time.
“Okay!” He did not refuse Feng Yuechan’s kindness. Taking the small umbrella from her, he silently perceived the item. He was surprised to discover that the small umbrella was an item equivalent to a Spell Artifact.
Needless to say, a Cloud River Realm cultivator could not bring out the full strength of the Spell Artifact. The situation was similar to how Yi Yi could not fully activate the power of the nine Ward Scrolls. Her strength was lacking simply because she had not reached that level.
Forcefully activating this item would probably consume a lot of energy, but he would have an extra layer of protection with this item in his possession. Nevertheless, he would need to refine the item in advance if he wanted to wield the power of the small umbrella.
He immediately activated his Spiritual Power to refine the small umbrella. With the cooperation of Feng Yuechan, the original owner, it was not a difficult task for him. When he finished refining the small umbrella, he learned that the small umbrella not only contained powerful defensive abilities but also concealment abilities that could isolate his aura. The only downside was that he could not move when he was activating its concealment abilities to isolate his aura. In that aspect, it was similar to the Concealment Bracelet that he obtained previously.
These effects were not very useful for him. After all, he could create Glyphs to conceal his figure and his presence in the first place. His concealment abilities were greater than most Ghost Cultivators with the Blessing of these Glyphs. Hence, he had no need to rely on external objects.
At this moment, the moon was high in the sky and the night was silent. It was the best time to carry out a secret operation. Lu Ye walked over to a corner of his room where a Teleportation Ward had been prepared several days ago.
The Sacred Universe Arcane Glade cultivators had set up camp at the mouth of the mountain valley. Since they were determined to keep a close eye on the situation in the Arcane Glade, there would surely be people constantly monitoring the movements at the Arcane Glade. It was just that the Arcane Glade was covered by the Concealment Ward, so they could not observe the situation inside either.
If Lu Ye had walked out from inside the Arcane Glade, he would inevitably cause a disturbance to the Grand Ward and reveal some traces of his movements. On the contrary, there was no need to worry about such problems if he was directly teleported to the outside.
Standing on the Teleportation Ward, Lu Ye focused on creating a connection with the other teleportation points.
Li Baxian worriedly said, “Little Junior Brother, please be careful.”
Lu Ye nodded. The space around his body distorted slightly, and his figure vanished from view.
There was a hidden cave in the mountains located approximately one hundred kilometers away from the Ameliorate Valley’s Arcane Glade. Spiritual Power suddenly fluctuated within the cave, and then his figure emerged once more. He immediately perceived his surroundings. After he confirmed that there were no living beings in the vicinity, he leisurely walked out of the cave. However, he did not summon his Spirit Artifact lest traces of his movement became too obvious. Activating his Spiritual Power, he soared into the sky and traveled in the direction of the Ameliorate Valley.
The wolf pack used to leave on a hunt every once in a while, so very few Spirit Beasts could be found within five kilometers of the Ameliorate Valley. It was thanks to the lack of Spirit Beasts that Lu Ye could move around undetected more easily. After all, encountering Spirit Beasts during his journey would only add to his troubles.
Be that as it may, he did not fly high in the sky and simply traveled at a height no more than ten meters from the ground. It was not until he arrived within twenty-five kilometers of the Ameliorate Valley that he finally landed on the ground. Concealing his figure and placing a Blessing on himself, he disappeared completely.
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