Sage of Humanity

In front of the main hall of Righteous Peak, under the blood-colored flame flag, Lu Ye's hand was on the hilt of his saber, his expression solemn as he looked ahead.

Opposite him, Li Baxian casually held a sword in his hand and smiled, "Half a year has passed and your cultivation has reached Level 5. Your strength has improved too quickly. Sometimes, advancing too quickly isn't a good thing, because others have more time to refine their combat skills, but you don't. This is especially true for combat cultivators; combat skills are very important.

At Golden Light Peak, you fought your enemies with more bravery than skill. That is your biggest weakness."

In half a year, he had grown from a junior cultivator who had just opened his orifices to a cultivator with Level 5 cultivation, and had even mastered a defense spirit rune that could be activated at will. This news had already spread and was no secret.

Lu Ye had originally thought that the sect master would inquire about this, and he had prepared to tell the truth if asked.

But in fact, since he had awoken, the sect master never asked about it. He just cautioned Lu Ye a few days ago when they were all recuperating in bed from their injuries. Now that many people knew he had encountered some fortune in the Spirit Stream battlefield, possibly some might target him for it, thus he should be more vigilant.

Of course, the likelihood of such a thing happening was not high, because, according to the sect master, there were many fortunes in the Spirit Stream battlefield. Lu Ye's rapid growth to Level 5 cultivation seemed fast, but there had been even faster individuals in history. One mortal had once encountered a fortune in the Spirit Stream battlefield and reached Level 9 in just one year.

The Spirit Stream battlefield was filled with wondrous places, containing all sorts of marvels rarely seen by ordinary people, yet easily obtained by those with destiny.

Almost every few years, there would be someone who encountered such a fortune, and the cultivation world had grown accustomed to it. Most were simply envious of others' luck.

For those who truly aspire to greatness, instead of envying others' good luck, it's better to work hard and strive for self-improvement.

"The old man is a magic cultivator, Second Senior Sister is a healing cultivator, and their strength is so great they haven't taught anyone in many years. They can't teach you much, but as your fourth senior brother, I will instruct you well." Li Baxian's smile was hearty. To him, teaching Lu Ye seemed a pleasant task, "With your Level 5 cultivation, I will suppress my cultivation to Level 5.

I won't take advantage of you, so come at me with all you've got!"

As he spoke, he took another swig from his wine gourd.

But in the moment that he raised his wine gourd, Lu Ye charged at him, drawing his saber mid-approach and slashing horizontally.

"Good, you know to launch a surprise attack," Li Baxian remained motionless, tilting his body slightly backward, allowing the edge of the Boulder Mountain Saber to miss his neck by a hair's breadth without injuring him at all. He even had the leisure to critique Lu Ye's slash, "Maintain this kind of relentless momentum when facing an enemy.

However, exerting too much force is not good; it makes it easy for someone to exploit your weaknesses."

Lu Ye's saber was slanting downward again when he was once more avoided by Li Baxian, who still did not move his feet, and continued, "You lack adaptability, and your change of moves is sluggish..."

On the square, Lu Ye kept slashing while Li Baxian dodged and incessantly commented, which frustrated Lu Ye and made his slashes even more ferocious.

Helplessly, he realized the gap between himself and this fourth senior brother was too vast. Even though his senior had suppressed his cultivation to Level 5, Lu Ye couldn't even touch a corner of his robe.

Every strike he made was deftly avoided by his senior, who, to this moment, had not even made a single sword move. His longsword was merely carried in hand, and in the intervals of speaking, he still had time to take a few sips of wine.

It was then that Lu Ye realized the true horror of his fourth senior brother. Had there been someone like him at Golden Light Peak, he would have been thoroughly beaten to the ground.

After another drink, Li Baxian's aura suddenly shifted. He raised his longsword, effortlessly neutralizing Lu Ye's attacks, and said leisurely, "Take care, Junior Brother, I'm about to strike with my sword!"

In the next instant, the sound of clashing filled the air, and Lu Ye's expression became suddenly grave. His senior's sword strikes were not powerful, nor were they swift, but each was timed so perfectly that it disrupted every slash, making it hard for Lu Ye to complete any move. In moments, he felt like a puppet on strings, forced to shift to a defensive stance against his senior's onslaught.

Li Baxian advanced step by step while Lu Ye retreated. As their blades crossed, Li Baxian said, "In a duel between combat cultivators, you must control your rhythm, making your opponent follow your lead. Once you can do that, you can lead them by the nose, just like this!"

As his words ended, he flicked his sword, causing Lu Ye to violently lean backward, wide open to an attack, with a glint of sword light thrusting directly at him. Lu Ye saw the thrust coming and was terrified, and at the thought, a Defense Spirit Rune formed on his chest.

But in the next moment, he froze. Looking down, he saw his senior brother's sword had already pierced his chest, three inches in, just an inch away from his heart.

His Defense Spirit Rune couldn't even block this strike!

And... was his fourth senior brother playing for real?@@novelbin@@

Lu Ye looked up to see Li Baxian with eyes half-closed: "Junior Brother, you're dead!"

He abruptly withdrew his sword, bringing out a spray of blood, and Lu Ye staggered backward.

Yiyi, who had been watching the fight excitedly from not far away, let out a startled cry and stood up to run towards Lu Ye.

A hand rested on her shoulder; turning her head, she saw Shui Yuan shaking her head at her, "In the future, on the battlefield and throughout the Nine Provinces, his enemies will not spare him any mercy. Suffering now will save him pain later."

Despite being worried, Yiyi understood that the Second Senior Sister would never harm Lu Ye, so she held back and continued to watch. She also realized why her senior had prepared a large basin of medicinal syrup before the fight...

"Again!" Lu Ye took a deep breath. Though his chest had almost been pierced, his senior brother had controlled his strike and avoided vital parts. Gripping his longsword, he launched himself at Li Baxian once more.

Moments later, blood sprayed, and Li Baxian's indifferent voice rang out, "Junior Brother, you're dead again!"

After a moment, "Junior Brother, you've died three times!"

Two hours later, Lu Ye lay on the ground, his complexion pale, his body covered in wounds. Though none were serious, he had lost a lot of blood and no longer had the strength to continue fighting.

In just those two hours, he had been "killed" over a hundred times by Fourth Senior Brother, and this was under the premise that Fourth Senior Brother had held back.

The sun was high, so bright that Lu Ye could hardly keep his eyes open.

A shadow fell over his eyelids, and Li Baxian squatted in front of him, asking with a smile, "How do you feel?"

Lu Ye didn't know how to answer. How could 'terrible' even begin to describe it?

He couldn't help asking, "Fourth Senior Brother, has our Righteous Blood Sect always trained disciples this way?" If that were the case, it was quite destructive for the disciples...

"How could that be?" Li Baxian chuckled, "It's just you right now, so we can only give you extra care and attention. Don't worry, the medicinal cuisine you have eaten is designed to replenish your blood Qi energy. You'll recover after one night's rest."

Only then did Lu Ye realize why there had been such a large table full of good dishes earlier.

"Then, Fourth Senior Brother, have you ever taught anyone before?"

"No."

"So you don't know how to teach people!"

Because he didn't know how to teach, he could only let Lu Ye remember the deadly crises time and again through the pain of his own injuries, and such bodily memories were undoubtedly the most deeply etched.

Li Baxian patted his shoulder and said earnestly, "Let's show a bit of understanding for each other. Also, this was Second Senior Sister's idea, it has nothing to do with me..."

Before he could finish, he was grabbed by the scruff of his neck by Second Senior Sister, who whisked him aside.

Then Shui Yuan helped Lu Ye up and walked him towards a nearby house, where a prepared medicinal syrup awaited him.

After a treatment by Second Senior Sister, Lu Ye was once again spirited, his flesh wounds healing quickly. The medicinal syrup prepared by Second Senior Sister was exceptionally effective, and with her accomplished healing skills, by evening, Lu Ye was soaking wet but got up.

His injuries hadn't fully healed yet, but they should be mostly better after another night.

Moreover, all the new and old scars on Lu Ye's body had disappeared, a testament to Second Senior Sister's miraculous methods.

After eating another table full of medicinal cuisine in the evening, Lu Ye entered the Spirit Stream battlefield using the Heaven's Augury Pillar.

He planned to cultivate on the battlefield during the night, as it was the most efficient place to do so.

No sooner had he appeared in the Heaven's Augury Hall than he sensed the presence of other people outside. Turning to look, he saw two heads peeking around curiously in his direction, one who he had encountered yesterday and another he didn't recognize. By their spirit light, the latter was clearly a Level 7 cultivator.

After thinking for a moment, Lu Ye stepped outside.

The Level 7 cultivator approached him enthusiastically, clasping his hands in greeting, "Is this Fellow Daoist Ye from the Righteous Blood Sect? My name is Chen Yu."

Lu Ye nodded, tossing a contract to Chen Yu, "If there's no problem, go ahead and sign it."

"Hmm?" Chen Yu looked puzzled, taking the contract and carefully scanning it.

When he returned in the day, Lu Ye had discussed with Second Senior Sister and Fourth Senior Brother at the dining table about how to handle the situation of independent cultivators residing in their territory. He also learned some basic information about the area from Second Senior Sister.

Although Second Senior Sister couldn't freely enter and leave the Spirit Stream battlefield, she trusted a few independent cultivators in the area. She had previously asked them to track down Lu Ye, but since they weren't very skilled, they hadn't managed to find out anything useful before news of Lu Ye spread. By the time they got the news, it was already too late.

Through those few independent cultivators, Second Senior Sister had some understanding of the situation within the territory.

Chen Yu was one of them, and the strongest among the independent cultivators here. After all, this was the outermost area, so a Level 7 cultivator was already considered to be quite powerful. Moreover, he had always been in charge of the marketplace here, which was why he wanted to discuss matters with Lu Ye.

The marketplace in the territory was different from those Lu Ye had previously passed by. There weren't any branches of the Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union here, because after all, this place was considered Righteous Blood Sect territory.

Independent cultivators could come here, but the Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union was not allowed to settle in; that would be seen as a provocation to the Righteous Blood Sect.

Even without branches of the Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union, the marketplace here still attracted a good crowd because the nature's spiritual energy within the territory was richer by ten percent compared to the wilderness, which was a huge draw for those independent cultivators.