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According to Lu Ye’s speculation, Tan Sheng and Xia Liang were hiding somewhere near the Ameliorate Valley since they wanted to watch the situation from the shadows. Their location was probably within five to fifteen kilometers of the Ameliorate Valley. Seeing as they also wanted to avoid the cultivators from the Sacred Universe Arcane Glade, their hiding spot would not be located in the direction of the Ameliorate Valley’s entrance either.
The Ameliorate Valley was surrounded by mountains on three sides. In particular, the back was a wall of jagged cliffs that towered high into the sky. These cliffs were not suitable for hiding. Therefore, Xia Liang and Tan Sheng’s only viable options were the two sides of the mountain valley. This situation made Lu Ye’s search much easier, but he could not move quickly with his presence concealed. Hence, it was no easy task for him to find those two even though he had a vague guess of their whereabouts.
Fortunately, he had always been a lucky man. It only took him less than four hours before he detected the aura of a living creature in the vicinity. This place was located only seven kilometers away from the Ameliorate Valley, which was within the range he previously estimated.
He silently crept forward. Under the moonlight, he soon discovered two figures sitting cross-legged under a tree. He took a closer look at these figures. Who else could they be but Xia Liang and Tan Sheng? Nevertheless, he did not approach any further. Both of them were in the Ninth Order Cloud River Realm, and Xia Liang’s perception was particularly sharp. He would probably be discovered if he ventured too close to them.
After confirming their whereabouts, Lu Ye left as silently as he came.
Xia Liang, who was meditating at the time, suddenly opened his eyes and looked around. A slight frown creased his forehead. Just a moment ago, he had the strange feeling that somebody was spying on him. It was just that a careful search of his surroundings revealed no sign of others nearby, so he could only assume that he was mistaken and ignored the feeling.
At the mouth of the Ameliorate Valley, a bonfire blazed brightly. The Sacred Universe Arcane Glade cultivators gathered together in small groups, but the atmosphere was very gloomy and depressing. In fact, many of the female cultivators were weeping in secret. The incident that took place during the day had been a nightmare for all of them.
Under Huo Liaoyuan’s leadership, they arrived at the Ameliorate Valley with an overwhelming force and an equally aggressive attitude only to lose more than sixty people within a cup of tea’s time. Even now, the lingering fear from the incident sent chills down their body and left them trembling from the cold. Only the blazing bonfire in front of them could give them the slightest hint of warmth.
On the other hand, some of them were furious. They clenched their teeth in rage and clamored for the death of Lu Ye in order to avenge their fallen companions.
It was the deepest and darkest time of the night, right before dawn broke out in the morning. All of a sudden, several short screams pierced the night sky and startled everybody awake.
“What’s happening!?” Huo Liaoyuan came forward in an instant. Looking around, he couldn’t help feeling shocked. There were two figures sprawled among the pool of fresh blood on the ground. One of them was alive, but he did not look like he would survive for much longer.
“Lu Yi Ye…” That person clutched at his throat, blood gushing out from the gaps between his fingers. Raising his hand, he reached out toward Huo Liaoyuan with a pleading look in his eyes. “Senior Brother Huo, save… Ugh…”
Huo Liaoyuan abruptly raised his head and immediately caught sight of a fiery-red stream of light rapidly fleeing into the distant night sky. The sight of the dwindling stream of light instantly sent him into a fit of rage. Soaring into the sky, he chased after the fiery-red stream of light and quickly closed the distance between them.
An uncontrollable rage and murderous intent clouded his mind. That was why he ultimately failed to realize that Lu Ye was heading in a direction that was not the Ameliorate Valley.
Lu Ye had infiltrated the enemy camp and committed murder. It stood to reason that escaping back to the Ameliorate Valley was the safest option for him. Regardless of their individual strength, the Sacred Universe Arcane Glade cultivators could not harm him once he entered the Ameliorate Valley. Be that as it may, he did not flee in the direction of the Ameliorate Valley but in another direction instead. That direction was none other than the location where Tan Sheng and Xia Liang were currently hiding.
Sensing movement coming from behind him, Lu Ye looked back with a frown. [A Ninth Order Master is certainly deserving of the name. Their travel speed is ridiculously fast!]
His cultivation had improved by two Minor Realms recently. In addition, his flying speed was much faster than when he was in the Carnage Colosseum. There was no denying that he was much faster than the average Fifth Order Master, but his speed was far from the level of a Ninth Order Master. Fortunately, he also had the Windwalk Glyph. The blessing of the Windwalk Glyph allowed the Spiritual Power in the Spiritual Power River of his body to flow more rapidly, resulting in a sharp increase in his speed.
Even so, the distance between them gradually grew closer.
The Windwalk Glyph alone was not enough for him to escape the pursuit of a Ninth Order Master, but the situation would change if he combined the effects of Windwalk with Soar. The additional effects of Soar would boost his speed further, so much so that he might even match Huo Liaoyuan in terms of speed!
Having said that, it was not his intention to escape the pursuit of Huo Liaoyuan. That was why he did not activate Soar to boost his speed.
Tan Sheng and Xia Liang were meditating as usual when the sound of something speeding through the air approached from a distance. Startled, they looked up into the sky at the same time. What entered their vision was two streams of light speeding through the sky in their direction. Moreover, both streams of light resembled burning flames.
“That’s…” Tan Sheng was confused by the situation, but he couldn’t shake the vague feeling that the figure heading toward him seemed familiar.
The streams of light approached them in the blink of an eye.
“Lu Yi Ye!” Xia Liang exclaimed in astonishment. [Why isn’t Lu Yi Ye hiding in the Arcane Glade? Why did he come here? Not to mention, why does it seem like he is being pursued by somebody?]
Xia Liang instinctively reached out to obstruct Lu Ye’s movement. At that moment, Lu Ye passed over their heads and cast a Fire Phoenix Technique in their direction without any warning. At the same time, he also shouted, “I’m counting on you!”
After saying that, he quickly passed them without another backward glance!
Neither Xia Liang nor Tan Sheng understood the meaning behind Lu Ye’s words. Nevertheless, they could not allow such a godsend opportunity to slip through their fingers. They easily defended against the Fire Phoenix Technique and soared into the sky together, but something unexpected occurred before they could give chase.
Huo Liaoyuan, who had been pursuing close behind, hastily cast several violent Spell Techniques in their direction. During this time, he had been chasing Lu Ye in a fit of rage. His head was filled only with thoughts of slaughtering Lu Ye to vent his hatred. Therefore, the sudden appearance of these two Ninth Order Masters was like a splash of cold water that abruptly brought him back to his senses. Coupled with Lu Ye’s previous statement, he felt the rage in his heart dissipating in an instant. The only thing left in his heart was a sense of overwhelming panic.
He secretly exclaimed, [Shit! I’ve probably fallen into Lu Ye’s trap! That bastard somehow found two powerful helpers to set up an ambush, and then he led me here…]
With nobody to help him at the moment, the situation was looking very bad for him. It was thanks to these concerns that he did not dare to hold back his strength and attacked with all his might.
Xia Liang and Tan Sheng, who were preparing to chase after Lu Ye, were stunned by the sudden attack and instinctively counterattacked in defense. For a time, the three figures fought an intense battle in the sky.
A short while later, Xia Liang vaguely realized what was happening…
“Stop!” Xia Liang yelled angrily as he slashed out with his blade. Then, he withdrew his blade and stepped backwards to express his sincerity.
Likewise, Tan Sheng immediately came to Xia Liang’s side.
Ten meters away, Huo Liaoyuan was absolutely shocked even though he seemed calm on the surface. That was because the two Ninth Order Masters he was fighting were extremely powerful. Their combined strength was not something he could compete against.
In that short confrontation, he was starting to believe that he would not survive the battle. Who could have expected the opponents to withdraw so suddenly? Not to mention, that Combat Cultivator wielding the blade…
“From the Raving Bladesmen?” He frantically recalled the Raving Bladesmen cultivators who reached the Ninth Order in this generation. Then, he blurted out a name that came to mind. “Are you Xia Liang?”
Xia Liang remained silent with a frosty expression. Nobody would be in a good mood after being tricked after all. What’s more, he and Tan Sheng were originally supposed to remain hidden in the shadows. It was all thanks to Lu Ye’s schemes that their existence had been exposed.
Xia Liang’s silence was equivalent to a tacit agreement.
Huo Liaoyuan breathed a sigh of relief. [Thank goodness! Xia Liang is from the Raving Bladesmen, and the Raving Bladesmen belong to the Thousand Demon Ridge. I’m glad he is not an enemy.]
“This person is…” He glanced at Tan Sheng.
Tan Sheng helplessly clasped his fist. “Tan Sheng of New Moon Sect!”
Huo Liaoyuan returned the greeting. “Huo Liaoyuan of Cult Blackfyre!” Then, he probed further. “Why are you here?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he abruptly seemed to realize something. His friendly expression changed slightly, and his eyes narrowed.
Why were two Ninth Order Masters hiding here for no apparent reason? Especially when a huge battle took place nearby today.
In addition, there were rumors claiming that these two were the ones who headed the operation against Lu Ye in the Carnage Colosseum. In the end, Lu Ye had entered the Spirit Creek Battlefield, destroyed New Moon Sect’s base, and extorted countless benefits from the Raving Bladesmen.
In other words, these two harbored deep grievances against Lu Ye!
Tan Sheng turned and glanced at Xia Liang. To his surprise, the other party responded in a calm manner. “We just happened to be passing by. Who were you chasing earlier, Cultivator Huo?”
He couldn’t help feeling amazed. [I could never speak such a blatant lie without the slightest change in expression.]
“Just happened to be passing by…” Huo Liaoyuan clenched his fists tightly. The muscles on his face twitched violently, clearly suppressing the rage in his heart with great effort.
Having vaguely realized the truth, how could he not know why the cultivators under his command had suffered such grievous casualties? There was no doubt he had underestimated his enemy, but the root cause was that these two had concealed important information from him! If he had known about the Aerial Lock Ward in Lu Ye’s Arcane Glade, he would never have allowed those cultivators to rush forward so recklessly!
In any case, he had always been curious about the identity of the person who leaked the information to him. It was not until this moment that he finally understood the entire situation.
Being a Fourth Tier Sect, the Cult Blackfyre simply could not afford to offend the Raving Bladesmen. Besides, now was not the right time to risk trouble with these two either… It was not as if he could win against them in a fight anyway. What was the point of kicking up a fuss?
“I was chasing Lu Yi Ye!” By the time Huo Liaoyuan finally spat out these words, his expression was calm and collected once more.
“Oh? Lu Yi Ye?” Xia Liang raised his eyebrows in astonishment, acting as though he was learning this fact for the first time. “Lu Yi Ye from the Crimson Blood Sect?”
“What a coincidence! Brother Tan and I are also searching for his whereabouts! I can’t believe he was right under our noses! Honestly, I can’t believe we searched high and low only to find him by chance!”
“Hahaha…” Huo Liaoyuan faked a laugh.
Tan Sheng joined the conversation. “Cultivator Huo, we were tricked by Lu Yi Ye earlier. I can’t believe we allowed him to escape unscathed. Please forgive us, Cultivator Huo.”
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