Translator: Jon
Editor: Silavin
In the martial world of Jiu Zhou, there were a total of 108 kinds of Ward Flags, and they corresponded to the Heavenly Dippers and Earthly Demons. Every ward required different Ward Flags, and different combinations would bring about unexpected results.
Therefore, skilful Ward Cultivators had their unique ways of using Ward Flags based on their experiences.
The same kind of ward, if built by different Ward Cultivators, would produce different results. That wasn’t merely determined by how adept they were at the Way of Wards. It had something to do with the combinations of Ward Flags they chose as well.
There was a lot to explore in this field.
Lu Ye had obtained 32 Ward Flags when he took on the challenges in the tower in the Heavenly Derivative Sect previously, and he got another 32 Ward Flags this time. As such, he had a total of 64 now.
Although he didn’t have a complete collection, 64 Ward Flags were more than enough to deal with most situations. Moreover, Lu Ye normally wouldn’t use these special Ward Flags. He would either make the flags or buy them from the Vault of Providence. Even if he lost them afterwards, he wouldn’t feel bad.
After examining all 32 Ward Flags, he kept them carefully and built a Spirit Gathering Funnel. Then, he cultivated while comprehending the newly acquired knowledge in his mind.
Since he had passed 33 tests, he had reached the end of the tower. When the time was up, he would be sent out of the tower.
For some reason, he had a feeling that he had forgotten something.
Usually, he wouldn’t forget about anything. However, since his mind was filled with knowledge and information, he didn’t have any energy left to ponder on other things. There was once when he had even forgotten to release Amber in advance.
Since he felt it wasn’t an important matter, he decided to stop thinking about it.
Six hours went by in the blink of an eye. When the Spiritual Qi around him dissipated, he felt an immense force trying to push him out of the tower.
It was time to leave.
He examined himself and realised that he was generally fine apart from the huge pressure he felt on his soul.
It could be said that he had gained massive benefits by taking on the challenges in the tower this time. The benefits were even much greater than what he had acquired in the Heavenly Derivative Sect.
At the very least, he didn’t feel his soul getting so swollen in the Heavenly Derivative Sect back then. It showed that the rewards he had obtained this time were much better than in the past.
Moreover, his soul was already much stronger than before when he entered the tower this time.
Although the rewards had helped improve his mastery of the Way of Wards tremendously, it hadn’t reached the limit yet. When he managed to digest everything in his mind one day, he would see his mastery improving significantly again.
Besides that, he had also ascended from the Fifth Order to the Sixth Order. Although it was only an ascension of a Minor Realm, his power had undoubtedly increased by a lot.
As the repulsive force surged, the space around Lu Ye became contorted.
He instinctively kept Amber inside the Spirit Beast Bag and activated his Spiritual Power to protect himself. At the same time, he held the hilt of his Inviolable Saber.
He had no idea why he was vigilant, but he had a feeling that he was doing the right thing.
Then, his vision blurred for a moment before he appeared at the entrance of Hundred Wards Tower.
What came into his sight astounded him, for there were a lot of people with no end in sight.
[Are there always so many people outside the tower?] He recalled that when he arrived at this place, there were indeed quite a number of people, but it wasn’t this staggering.
The moment he appeared, all of them shifted their attention to him in shock.
That was because the tower had been resonating for days, so no Ward Cultivator chose to enter the building. Even those inside the tower had all left.
Therefore, when Lu Ye appeared, all of them were astonished. No one knew when he had entered the building and why he left at this point.
While they were in shock, Lu Ye swept a glance over them and sensitively detected some piercing gazes.
He looked in that direction and saw several familiar faces.
At that moment, he realised what he had forgotten about and why he had been vigilant.
When he was moving along the safe passageway back then, two cultivators from Thousand Demon Ridge attacked him. He managed to kill one of them and injure the other. The person was cast out of the safe passageway, and it wasn’t certain if he was dead or alive.
Although he was badly injured, it supposedly wouldn’t kill a cultivator like him in a short time.
Since the person had recognised Lu Ye and suffered such a setback, he would definitely call for help as long as he wasn’t dead yet.
In that case, Lu Ye’s whereabouts would be exposed.
If he were in a different place, he could’ve easily run away. However, Hundred Wards Tower only had one exit. Therefore, his enemies would notice him as soon as he left the building.
The pressure on his soul made him temporarily forget about it, but he still had his instincts. Therefore, even though he had forgotten about it, he kept Amber inside the Spirit Beast Bag and got ready to protect himself before he was chased out of the tower.
While he was deep in thought, he saw cold Saber Lights coming into sight.
Xia Liang and Tan Sheng had been staying outside the entrance. Therefore, they discovered Lu Ye the moment he appeared. Without hesitation, Xia Liang unsheathed his saber and moved across several metres before wielding his weapon. His intimidating aura showed that he was a Ninth-Order Master.
At the same time, Tan Sheng also lifted his spear, which seemed to have come alive as it charged towards Lu Ye like a Dragon. His attack was majestic.
As these Ninth-Order Combat Cultivators joined forces and flared up just metres away from their enemy, the average person would never be able to survive.
[We got him!]
Xia Liang and Tan Sheng were ecstatic deep within. They had been waiting there for days, and it was all worth it as they managed to besiege Lu Ye.
While they were in their thoughts, Lu Ye unsheathed his saber at the same time and abruptly moved away. Besides that, a Protection Glyph seemed to have materialised around his figure.
A crack was heard all of a sudden. The spear came into contact with the newly formed Protection Glyph. Cracks spread across the Glyph, and it soon broke apart.
It showed how powerful Tan Sheng’s attack was.
However, thanks to the Protection Glyph, Lu Ye managed to dodge the attack as the spear penetrated his clothes and skirted past his ribs. He could feel a sharp pain in the affected area.
If not for the Glyph blocking the attack at the most critical moment, the spear would’ve been jabbed into his chest. He would’ve been horribly injured even if he survived.
After returning from death’s door, Lu Ye suddenly became clear-headed. At that moment, the pressure on his soul seemed to have eased off significantly.
At the same time, he managed to fend off Xia Liang’s attack with his saber.
The Saber Light came apart, and the sparks scattered everywhere. Xia Liang trembled slightly and frowned.
When he felt the other party’s attack, he realised something was off. Lu Ye was more powerful than he had imagined.
They had previously exchanged moves in Fox Immortal Valley. At that time, Lu Ye wanted Xia Liang to teach him how to wield a saber better. Although Lu Ye was stronger than most Fourth-Order Cloud River Realm Masters, he wasn’t ridiculously powerful.
However, Xia Liang was astounded by Lu Ye’s power at this moment. That was because the other party managed to fend off his attack even though he was well-prepared and had joined forces with Tan Sheng.
In other words, Lu Ye was powerful enough to deal with him head-on.
Since it was a life-and-death battle, Xia Liang didn’t have time to ponder. After his first attempt failed, he quickly used another move as his saber brushed past Lu Ye’s weapon and reached for his neck.
Given the proximity, the attack could be considered lethal.
Lu Ye lifted the Inviolable Saber to ward off Xia Liang’s attack. However, the next moment, he felt like he had been struck by lightning, and he was sent flying away.
What happened was that even though Tan Sheng didn’t manage to kill Lu Ye, he wielded his spear the moment it skirted past the latter’s ribs.
Like a whip, his spear forcefully struck Lu Ye’s ribs.
Lu Ye instantly felt a sharp pain in his ribs and the vitality in his stomach undulating. He also heard the sounds of bones breaking.
Fortunately, he managed to leap to the side with the help of the attack.
Hundred Wards Tower was behind him, so he couldn’t step backwards, and Tan Sheng and Xia Liang were in front of him. If he wanted to survive, he had to move sideways.
Although Tan Sheng’s attack had injured him, it was also an opportunity he could make use of.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Xia Liang bellowed and charged forward as his saber buzzed. He soon caught up with Lu Ye and extended his weapon towards the latter’s back.
It had been a long time since he started cultivating, and he was from the Raving Bladesmen. As such, he was more skilful than Lu Ye when it came to wielding a saber. The only thing he wasn’t comparable to Lu Ye was his lack of experiences in life-and-death battles.
It wasn’t that he didn’t have such experiences. All the cultivators in the same Realm as his must’ve gone through several life-and-death experiences.
However, Lu Ye had access to the Rift of Illusions where he could get some training. Since acquiring the seed of the Mystic Fruit, he had been killed countless times in the Rift.
On the other hand, Xia Liang didn’t have such convenience.
Therefore, Lu Ye was able to deal with perilous situations much better than most people.
His Mind’s Eye Technique played a crucial role at this moment as a lethal attack was about to strike him from behind. Any other cultivator would’ve turned around and fended off the attack. However, Lu Ye didn’t even take a look. Right before Xia Liang’s saber came into contact with him, he activated a Protection Glyph.
Once again, the Glyph couldn’t withstand Xia Liang’s attack. It broke apart the moment the saber hit it.
The tip of the blade penetrated Lu Ye’s flesh and almost jabbed into his organ. However, the power of Xia Liang’s attack had also been used up.
Suddenly, a heatwave spread across the place. Two lifelike Fire Dragons emerged from the crowd and zigzagged towards Lu Ye. Chu Yun and Zhou Pei had made a move at the same time.
Since they were Spell Cultivators, they were naturally not as agile as Xia Liang and Tan Sheng. It wasn’t until Lu Ye exchanged moves with the two of them that Chu Yun and Zhou Pei cast the first spell. Anyway, their attack came at the right time as Lu Ye was injured by Xia Liang and his Protection Glyph came apart.
The Fire Dragons consecutively struck Lu Ye’s back, after which he was engulfed in flames. Upon impact, he sprayed out a mouthful of blood, which directly evaporated amidst the flames.
The next moment, Lu Ye’s flaming figure crashed into a layer of ripples and disappeared while everyone was watching.
The situation was the same as when he cast a Sixth-Order Master away from the safe passageway a while back.