<
>
After a brief conversation, Li Baxian found out about Lu Ye’s plans.
Since Lu Ye was well-versed in the Way of Wards, it was only natural that he was going to Hundred Wards Tower to get some training. It could be said that in Jiu Zhou, all the Ward Cultivators in the Cloud River Realm would want to head to Hundred Wards Tower, especially those from Thousand Demon Ridge.
The first part of the tower was in the Heavenly Derivative Sect in Wu Zhou, and it was their treasure. Therefore, those from Thousand Demon Ridge were unable to go there. However, the one on the Cloud River Battlefield belonged to no one.
Upon learning about Lu Ye’s plans, Li Baxian did not say anything else apart from telling him to be cautious.
After the conversation ended, Lu Ye continued his journey.
Half a day later, Lu Ye received a message on his Battlefield Imprint while flying on his Spirit Boat. He quickly took a look and realised it was from Li Baxian again, which was unusual because the man would not bother him frequently under most circumstances.
‘Junior Brother, I asked someone to gather some information about Hundred Wards Tower, and the situation over there is complicated. Read on.’
Then, Lu Ye received some lengthy messages. As he went through these messages, he felt warm in his heart, for Li Baxian truly cared about him.
In fact, he was aware of the information Li Baxian had sent to him. It had been a long time since he arrived at the Cloud River Battlefield. Although he had never been to Hundred Wards Tower, he had been keeping tabs on the information about the place because he would surely head to the tower one day. As such, he would better be prepared in advance.
Just like what Li Baxian had said, the situation in Hundred Wards Tower was complicated. If Lu Ye went over there without knowing anything, he would likely suffer a setback.
When he was in the Divine Trade Association a while back, he bought a document containing information about Hundred Wards Tower, which was more detailed than the information Li Baxian had gathered in a hurry. The document even contained the experiences and insights of those Ward Cultivators who had entered the tower before.
Lu Ye had spent a lot of Spirit Stones to purchase the document. Certainly, that did not bother him as he was wealthy. In the first place, those Spirit Stones were his rewards for defeating his enemies.
He did not tell the other party anything about it. When Li Baxian was done sending him all the information he had gathered, he reminded him by saying, ‘Given your capabilities, you’ll surely get massive benefits from Hundred Wards Tower. However, you mustn’t be too aggressive. Since you’re still weak, you might suffer some setbacks inside, but that’s okay. You can always explore it again when you become stronger.’
‘I got it. Don’t worry about me, Senior Brother,’ Lu Ye replied.
After their conversation ended, he continued heading to his destination.
While sitting beside Lu Ye in the Spirit Boat, Yi Yi realised something. She turned to look at him with a smile and asked, “Was it your Fourth Senior Brother?” Although Lu Ye had exchanged Brands with many cultivators, he would rarely talk to anyone for a long time.
Lu Ye nodded. “Yes, he had gathered some information about Hundred Wards Tower for me.”
Upon hearing that, Yi Yi remarked, “He must be worried about you.”
Certainly, Lu Ye was aware of that. Back then, when he left Ameliorate Valley on his own to lure away the cultivators from Thousand Demon Ridge, Li Baxian and the others must have wrongly believed that they had caused Lu Ye to fall into danger.
That was not the truth. Lu Ye had been targeted, so it would be pointless for him to return to Jiu Zhou and stay safe temporarily.
Unless he hid in his Sect in Jiu Zhou and never returned to the Cloud River Battlefield, he would inevitably face his enemies again.
It was also a decision he had made. He could stay in his Sect and cultivate by consuming Spirit Pills. Although his cultivation speed wouldn’t be fast, it wouldn’t be too slow either. In other words, the speed would be average.
However, he was furious at the fact that those from Thousand Demon Ridge had repeatedly harassed him when he was just cultivating in his Arcane Glade without offending anyone. Therefore, he had no choice but to counterattack.
By saving the Arcane Glade, he could let Li Baxian, Ju Jia, and the others have a safe place to cultivate. This was not the main reason, though. He had intended to keep his Arcane Glade safe anyway. ℟Ά𝐍Ǒ𝖇ƐS̈
The truth was that a horse had to live in the wilderness to grow stronger.
It was because he decided to leave Ameliorate Valley that he went on to poison and kill over 2,000 cultivators from Thousand Demon Ridge and acquired so many rewards, which resulted in the transformation of the seed of his Mystic Fruit.
Then, he accidentally entered the Lost City of Xianyuan and obtained a lot of Soul Cleansing Water, which gave him the confidence to head to Hundred Wards Tower.
He could have stayed safe in Jiu Zhou, but he would not have come across so many opportunities and acquired so many benefits.
Although it was dangerous and taxing to fight the cultivators from Thousand Demon Ridge, the benefits he could get were more than enough to make up for it.
“So, Lu Ye, you have to become stronger quickly so that the people who care about you will stop worrying.”
Lu Ye replied with a smile, “Sure.”
Now, he was already able to kill an Eighth-Order Master. If his cultivation could increase slightly, he could even destroy a Ninth-Order Master. By then, even though the Cloud River Battlefield was vast, hardly anyone would pose a serious threat to him.
Several days passed in the blink of an eye. When a colossal city came into sight, Lu Ye knew he had arrived at his destination.
It was Hundred Wards City. On the Cloud River Battlefield, hardly any city had its own name. Most of the cities were named after the City of Heavens and given serial numbers to distinguish them. There were also some rare cities that had their own names.
Apparently, the name Hundred Wards City came from Hundred Wards Tower. There was only a distance of 30 kilometres between these two places, which was nothing to Cloud River Realm Masters. Many Ward Cultivators lived in the city all year round and headed to the tower to get some training from time to time.
In the beginning, there was not a city in this place. However, since the tower was there, many cultivators would come over and gather in this place from different parts of the battlefield.
Although the Way of Wards was not a large faction in the martial world, it was still larger than niche ones like the Way of Beast Taming and the Way of Golems.
Anyway, every Sect had some Ward Cultivators who were responsible for building and maintaining wards.
Many independent cultivators who did not belong to any Sects had also learned the Way of Wards.
As such, there were a lot of Ward Cultivators in Jiu Zhou.
Many Ward Cultivators gathered together near Hundred Wards Tower, which helped this place gain popularity. Regardless of the place, as long as there was enough popularity, it would form into something sizable. That was how Hundred Wards City was born.
When this place became important enough, even the Divine Trade Association decided to set up a subsidiary there.
It could be said that the entire city was built to serve the Ward Cultivators. Around 80 per cent of the things in the city had something to do with the Way of Wards. There was a reason why the city was established 30 kilometres away from the tower rather than within the city.
A lot of Ward Cultivators would stay outside the tower and have friendly competition with fellow cultivators. Or, when someone tried to pass through the challenges in the tower, they could gain some inspiration and benefits through the building’s resonance.
Therefore, the area around the tower should not be noisy. That was why the city was not built with the tower as the centre. The Ward Cultivators would not agree to such an idea.
Since Lu Ye’s target was not Hundred Wards City, he did not have to go there. However, if he wanted to head to Hundred Wards Tower, he had to follow some rules.
As for who had set the rules, no one knew the answer because those rules had been passed down through generations. Certainly, if one was powerful enough, he could ignore those rules, but things would become troublesome.
Therefore, the moment Hundred Wards City came into sight, Lu Ye looked past the city and glanced at the broken tower that was 30 kilometres away.
He had been to the Heavenly Derivative Sect where he saw the first part of the tower. As he looked at the second part now, he realised it could be perfectly matched with the first part. If anyone could take this broken tower out of the Cloud River Battlefield and place it in Heavenly Derivative Sect, around 60 to 70 per cent of the tower’s glory would be restored.
Unfortunately, no one had been able to pull off such a feat since time immemorial.
The second part of the tower was the middle one with no top or bottom, which made it look ridiculous. The building looked ancient and unadorned.
Lu Ye flew across the air in his Spirit Boat and landed on the ground ten kilometres outside the city. Apart from several crooked trees, there was nothing else in sight.
The branches of the trees intertwined with each other and formed an arch. If one stood in front of the arch and looked ahead, he would clearly see Hundred Wards Tower.
The arch formed from the intertwined branches looked like a door to the tower, and it was indeed the case.
If one passed through the arch and walked in a straight line, he could safely arrive at the tower. Nevertheless, if he slightly deviated, he would come across some trouble.
That was because with the tower as the centre, nowhere was safe within a radius of 30 kilometres.
Cultivators over the generations had left behind wards in many places. Some unremarkable places might contain hidden danger.
Since time immemorial, countless Ward Cultivators over the generations had been honing their skills in this place, and almost everyone had gained some benefits. They would also compete with fellow Ward Cultivators by building and breaking each other’s wards. That was how many wards had been left behind.
Some people might also deliberately leave behind wards in certain locations that served as tests for the future Ward Cultivators.
As time passed, innumerable wards had been hidden within a radius of 30 kilometres around the tower. Perhaps one would trigger a ward for every few steps he took.
That was the reason Lu Ye was willing to follow the rules.
Certainly, he could fly towards the tower from any direction, but he could not be sure he would not come across any Aerial Lock Ward. Once that happened, he would fall to the ground. If he wanted to move forward, he would have to break the Wards one by one.
Such an incident wasn’t unprecedented. Once, there was an arrogant Ward Cultivator who was not willing to take the normal route. He fell into danger outside the tower, and his corpse was nowhere to be found.
Lu Ye considered himself the best Ward Cultivator in the Cloud River Realm. However, he couldn’t be conceited just because he was an expert in the Way of Wards.
Some wards had been around for such a long time that they had absorbed a lot of Spiritual Power. Horrifying power might break out from an ordinary ward once it was triggered.
<
>
