Sage of Humanity

When Choo Qing led people to find him earlier, he thought they could join forces with the members of Fenghua Courtyard to take down the Surreptitious Palace in one fell swoop, but to his surprise, Choo Qing brought fewer than thirty people!

Given that there were nearly a hundred people from Fenghua Courtyard involved this time, even if some were unlucky enough to be captured by the Xianyuan Guard and thrown into the dungeons, the loss of personnel should not be massive.

But with only a bit more than thirty people left from the original hundred, what could they do? At most, they could merely add a touch of gloss.

Qi Ming had already sent a message to Choo Qing, instructing her to lead people to join him and deal with the Surreptitious Palace first. Once they took care of the Surreptitious Palace, the remaining independent Haotian Alliance cultivators were bound to be an easy target, scattered and powerless.

However, Choo Qing insisted on seeking trouble with Lu Yiye. If she had successfully dealt with him, it would have been fine, but not only did she fail to handle him, Fenghua Courtyard's forces suffered heavy losses, with so many people killed that fewer than thirty remained.

Although the dead weren't from Illuminating Sun Mountain, this undoubtedly had a significant impact on Qi Ming's original plan, naturally causing Qi Ming to feel discontent.

If not for his good private relationship with Choo Qing from before, he would definitely have cursed her for being a big-chested airhead.

Choo Qing of course heard the implication in Qi Ming's words and felt aggrieved, but she had no way to retort.

When she arrived here, she had already explained the situation to Qi Ming. Fenghua Courtyard's great loss at the hands of Lu Ye could be attributed entirely to that red-robed woman. If she hadn't insisted Fenghua Courtyard's people look for the so-called "Mochi Ball," they wouldn't be in such an embarrassing plight.

But regardless of the reasons, with such an outcome, she had to bear some responsibility.

"We have to resolve those Spiritual Bodies first, they are troublesome opponents," Choo Qing proposed.

Fenghua Courtyard had suffered enough at the hands of these Spiritual Bodies. The Xianyuan Guards didn't have many effective means to kill the enemy; they mostly used the Spirit-Binding Lock, but this magic and spells had an exceptionally strong effect in capturing and binding the enemy. In such large-scale battles, once bound by a Spirit-Binding Lock, the victim would soon be overwhelmed by the onslaught of weapon control and magic and spells flashes.

"I know," Qi Ming responded impatiently, and upon his command, dozens of people shifted their target towards Lu Ye's side, as the flashes of magic and spells and weapon control swept towards them.

Giant Armor boldly stepped forward, using his physical body to block the numerous attacks, and at the same time, Lu Ye was also operating his two controlled weapons, intercepting the enemy's attacks as much as possible.

His weapons were fast, so even though there were only two of them, their effect in intercepting was quite impressive. Assisted by Giant Armor, the threat posed by the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge to the minion spirits was significantly reduced.

As this side drew the attention of many Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators, the pressure on the Haotian Alliance cultivators nearby decreased greatly. Following the shouts and commands, the intensity of their counterattack suddenly increased, and the situation, previously at a disadvantage, began to show signs of stabilizing.

This greatly boosted the morale of the Haotian Alliance side.

The wailing of the minion spirits grew increasingly distracting. The minion spirits continuously strove to restrain the enemy. The Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators bound by them were lucky if they could free themselves quickly; the less fortunate were swiftly slain.

As one Ten Thousand Demoms Ridge cultivator after another perished, the situation truly began to stabilize!

Realizing the significant role Lu Ye was playing on their side, under Jik Yan's direction, a squad of more than a dozen cultivators moved towards Lu Ye and Giant Armor to share the burden, allowing the minion spirits to launch attacks without any concerns—especially near Pipa Girl, who was closely guarded by three cultivators.

Because both Jik Yan and Qi Ming had realized the massive role Pipa Girl played on the battlefield, with the other Xianyuan Guards having simplistic attack methods—even Liu Sanbao could only use his controlled weapon to kill—but the broad range of Pipa Girl's wailing and the tinkling of her instrument had a huge impact, swaying the battle's outcome like a mighty killing weapon.

This led to her becoming a prime target for the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge.

While everyone was fighting fiercely, an almost invisible figure moved stealthily towards Lu Ye's side without a sound.

The figure did not move quickly, and if one looked carefully, one could faintly make out the outline of his body. But right now, in the thick of battle, who had the excess attention to scout around, let alone expect that an enemy would so daringly infiltrate the back of their lines?

Only a ghost cultivator with the skill to appear and disappear unpredictably could achieve this.

This ghost cultivator had concealed all his aura, even the Spiritual Artifact in his hand did not display its edge. He had his eyes fixed on Amber perched on Lu Ye's shoulder, slowly closing in.

With information provided by Choo Qing, Qi Ming's side had already figured out that the root of Lu Ye's ability to command the Xianyuan Guard lay in this beast pet. Therefore, killing this beast pet would mean that the controlled Xianyuan Guard would no longer pose a threat.

This ghost cultivator had been lurking nearby, originally targeting Jik Yan, but he never found an opportune moment. Now, under Qi Ming's orders, his target had shifted to Amber.

Ten zhang, five zhang, three zhang—completely unguarded, the ghost cultivator suddenly struck.

However, just when the ghost cultivator was about to strike Amber, his vision blurred, all the noise vanished, and somehow, he found himself in a chaotic rock forest.

Lu Ye quickly turned around to look, Yiyi also hastily retreated a few steps from in front of him, lifted her hand to summon the hidden Nine Worlds map from the ground into her hand, and looked down. To her astonishment, there was an additional figure in the map's rocky forest terrain.

She quickly channeled her spirit force to stabilize the Nine Worlds map and nodded at Lu Ye. Lu Ye put Amber down from his shoulder, and Yiyi flung the Nine Worlds map over her head towards Lu Ye.

In just ten breaths, she shook the map again, and Lu Ye appeared alongside a corpse.

This was a Level 9 ghost cultivator. It had to be said, the ghost cultivator's ability to hide and go unnoticed was truly remarkable; Lu Ye hadn't been aware of it previously. Had he not set up the Nine Worlds map behind him in advance, he might really have been caught off guard.

He solemnly reminded himself to be extra cautious when dealing with ghost cultivators in the future; otherwise, one might sneak up on him without notice—particularly amid such chaos.

Of course, this was also because of the chaotic state of the current scene.

Just as the ghost cultivator perished, Qi Ming vaguely sensed something amiss, checking his own battlefield marking and confirming that the highly anticipated ghost cultivator he had pinned his hopes on was indeed dead, his expression immediately darkened.

That was his subordinate Level 9 ghost cultivator, exceedingly skilled in concealment, yet now, inexplicably, he was dead without a clear cause!

Looking back at the battlefield, the Haotian Alliance cultivators, who had been completely suppressed, not only had the means to hold their ground against their opponents, but they even had spare strength to counterattack.

Ever since Lu Yiye appeared with a group of Spiritual Bodies, more than thirty cultivators from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge had been killed. Although they still outnumbered the Haotian Alliance, they could no longer form the overwhelming suppression they had initially, and the influence of those wailing Spiritual Bodies meant that, despite their greater numbers, they held no significant advantage.

If the fight continued this way, no one would come out ahead.

Qi Ming was slightly conflicted for a moment, but seeing the situation turning increasingly unfavorable, he had no choice but to order a retreat.

When the people of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge wanted to leave, naturally, the Haotian Alliance would not easily agree, chasing and fighting in retaliation for a while, both sides sustaining injuries, until Jik Yan called a cease-fire.

Thus, the great battle came to an end – almost every member of the Haotian Alliance was wounded. The losses on Lu Ye's side were not small either; Liu Sanbao and Pipa Girl were unscathed, but of the dozens of squad leader-level Xianyuan Guards, only three remained. The others had their Spiritual Bodies shattered during the recent skirmish.

There was no other way; amidst such chaos, even though he and Giant Armor tried their best to protect their minion spirits, oversights were inevitable, especially since Ten Thousand Demons Ridge had launched a fierce attack against them.

If it hadn't been for Giant Armor taking the lead, all the minion spirits might have perished.

Jik Yan, accompanied by several cultivators from the Surreptitious Palace, hastened towards them and cupped his fists from a distance, "Many thanks, Fellow Daoist, for breaking the siege."

"As fellow members of the Haotian Alliance, it was my duty," Lu Ye responded with a salute.

By now Jik Yan had also recognized Lu Ye. After all, he had tried to recruit Lu Ye in the valley before, but unfortunately, he was rejected at that time.

"I haven't asked for your honorable name yet?"

"Righteous Blood Sect, Lu Ye!"

"Righteous Blood Sect?" Jik Yan's eyebrows raised, "The Righteous Blood Sect from Bingzhou?"

The cultivators who came with him also seemed surprised, evidently having heard of the Righteous Blood Sect's reputation.

"Indeed!"

Jik Yan looked Lu Ye up and down, still uncertain, "About half a year ago, on the outer circle of Golden Light Peak, a Righteous Blood Sect cultivator named Lu Yiye battled against the many big sects of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge. Was that..."

"That was me."

At this, Jik Yan exclaimed, "So it's Fellow Daoist Yiye! I've long heard about your esteemed name. Senior Brother Gu even told us that Fellow Daoist Yiye's actions greatly boosted the morale of our Haotian Alliance. It's a pity he wasn't present that day to witness your esteemed prowess with his own eyes. To think we would meet here... Senior Brother Gu..."

At this point, Jik Yan seemed to remember something, he stopped mid-sentence and smiled slightly, "Seeing Fellow Daoist today, indeed does justice to your reputation."

"You flatter me."

Jik Yan gestured with his hand, "This place isn't suitable for conversation, please come this way, Fellow Daoist."

Soon after, in a dilapidated courtyard, Jik Yan led Lu Ye to settle down. There were quite a few injured cultivators receiving treatment here, as large-scale operations involving over a hundred people typically had healing cultivators accompany them. This was true not only for the Surreptitious Palace but also for the other two parties involved.@@novelbin@@

However, since there were inherently few healing cultivators to begin with, even fewer had come, resulting in the handful present being extremely busy. Those with minor injuries tended to their wounds on their own, and only those with severe injuries were brought here for treatment.

"Fellow Daoist Yiye, how did Giant Armor come to be by your side, and where is Sima Yang?" Jik Yan glanced at Giant Armor, who followed in and was covered in blood, his heart forming some speculations, yet not daring to confirm them.

"Sima Yang is dead. I encountered Giant Armor on my way and we decided to travel together."

"Sima Yang is dead?"

Lu Ye thought he detected a hint of surprise, even pleasure in Jik Yan's tone, but wondered if it was just his imagination.

"It's a pity. Although Sima Yang was an independent cultivator, he did have some skills. My Surreptitious Palace once tried to recruit him but couldn't succeed. I didn't expect he would die here."

While saying this, he called out, "Junior Sister Lin, Junior Sister Lin!"

A female cultivator with a square scarf on her head and blood-stained clothes ran in, "Senior Brother Jik."

Jik Yan pointed to Giant Armor beside him, "Please take good care of Brother Giant Armor's wounds. His contribution to our victory in this battle was significant."

"Yes," the female cultivator complied, gesturing to Giant Armor, "Follow me."

Giant Armor turned and followed her out. Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire