Sage of Humanity

"Wait!"

The voice came from behind, causing both Lu Ye and Giant Armor to freeze in their tracks.

"Is there anything else?" Lu Ye turned around, his fingers idly rubbing the handle of his saber.

"You helped me retrieve Mochi Ball; there's nothing much to thank you for, but you can have this."

As soon as the red-robed woman finished speaking, an object suddenly flew towards Lu Ye.

He reached out to catch it and discovered it was a palm-sized Token. The Token was ancient-looking and seemed to have been around for years, which was normal considering Xianyuan City itself was from an era long past.

The material of the Token was unclear; one side bore the character for "immortal" and the other side the character for "imperial decree," each side also featured a pattern of a ferocious beast.

"This Token..."

Lu Ye wanted to ask about its use, but suddenly, the courtyard swiftly receded from view. By the time he regained his senses, he and Giant Armor were standing before a distant gate.

This made his expression turn stern. He had been completely unaware of what had just happened, which made him feel the unfathomable strength of the red-robed woman even more.

There was no need to ask about the Token's function now; a dismissal had already been issued, and going back would probably yield no answers.

However, guessing at the Token's function, Lu Ye had some speculations in his mind, whether they were accurate remained to be verified.

Raising his hand, he touched the battlefield marking and sent a message: "Brother Jik, it's done here."

Jik Yan quickly responded, "I'll have someone lead you over, do you need help?"

"No need, this is a personal feud."

Standing still for a moment, the ghost cultivator who had previously led them to the white cat stealthily appeared nearby.

Lu Ye and Giant Armor marched towards him, and the ghost cultivator stepped forward to lead the way.

After walking for a short while, a squad of Xianyuan Guard approached from ahead. The leading ghost cultivator immediately concealed himself, and Giant Armor prepared for combat.

Since the number of minion spirits under Lu Ye's command was at full capacity, this squad of Xianyuan Guard could not be transformed, only killed.

He patted Giant Armor on the shoulder to calm him, and Lu Ye took out the Token from his storage sack, flashing it towards the few Xianyuan Guard charging at them.

The Xianyuan Guard, full of hostility, immediately halted, and the squad leader even saluted Lu Ye: "Sir!"

Lu Ye raised an eyebrow; the situation was almost as he had predicted.

He had guessed that this Token might have some influence over the spiritual bodies inside the city, otherwise, the red-robed woman wouldn't have given him such an item.

Seeing its significant effect now, he wondered what the Token represented that would make a Xianyuan squad leader address him as "Sir."

If they addressed him as Sir, could he possibly command or mobilize these Xianyuan Guard? Lu Ye suddenly had an intriguing thought.

"On a mission, follow me!"

"Sir, do you have a directive from the Great Commander? We have patrol duties and cannot abandon our posts without the Great Commander's directive."

What nonsense directive, Lu Ye hadn't even seen what the Great Commander looked like, let alone have his directive.

This showed that the Token was somewhat useful but not as much as he had imagined, at most it was just to avoid hostility from Xianyuan Guard.

In other words, holding this Token, he could now walk through the city uninhibited.

To others, this might be a splendid item, but to Lu Ye, it was not so substantial.

"In that case, continue your patrol." Lu Ye waved his hand indifferently.

"Yes!" The squad leader complied and led the few Xianyuan Guard away.@@novelbin@@

The concealed ghost cultivator reappeared, a look of surprise on his face. It had been astonishing enough that Lu Ye's beast pet could manipulate spiritual bodies, but who knew he also had a Token that made the Xianyuan Guard call him Sir.

The ghost cultivator had never seen such an extraordinary thing, and moreover, no intelligence on Xianyuan City had ever mentioned this Token.

This was an important piece of intelligence. Xianyuan City would not vanish after this one time; it would appear again, and if other cultivators could acquire this Token, they would no longer have to worry about being troubled by Xianyuan Guard.

Merely selling this piece of intelligence to Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union could be worth several hundred to a thousand Spirit Stones.

However, he quickly thought of another matter and hurriedly sent a message to Jik Yan.

After learning of the Token's existence, Jik Yan was greatly intrigued and instructed him to first assist Lu Ye in dealing with the current affair, and they could discuss other matters later.

The ghost cultivator naturally made it so.

Under his leadership, Lu Ye and Giant Armor continued towards a destination.

Whenever they encountered Xianyuan Guard along the way, Lu Ye used the Token to handle the situation.

After four hours, they finally arrived at an open area where nearly twenty people gathered, each bearing injuries.

These people were the surviving Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators who had entered Xianyuan City.

Choo Qing and Ruo Yan's figures were unmistakably among them.

They actually hadn't chosen to hide.

"They were hiding before, now for some reason they've come out again, Fellow Daoist Yiye, be careful of deceit," the ghost cultivator warned.

Under normal circumstances, this group of wastrels would naturally hide if they could, never daring to show themselves easily, but though Xianyuan City was not small, it had its limits; they could hide temporarily but not forever. If the Haotian Alliance truly sought to hunt them down, they would not be able to remain hidden, and it was probably this realization that led them to move from their hiding place to this open area.

This kind of place was not suitable for an ambush, nor was it easy to be ambushed in.

"Let's go, it seems they are waiting for us."

Lu Ye called out to Giant Armor, his hand on the hilt of his sword, and step by step, they advanced forward. Giant Armor closely followed at his side. As they drew nearer, many spiritual bodies floated out from within Amber. Giant Armor's eyes also slowly turned crimson, intently staring at the woman named Ruo Yan. The ghost cultivator had the intention to step forward to help, but remembering Jik Yan's earlier instructions, he did not follow.

As the two of them and numerous spiritual bodies approached, the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge side gradually began to stir. Within the crowd, Choo Qing opened her eyes and slowly stood up, quietly looking ahead.

Standing thirty zhang away from the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge people, Lu Ye and Choo Qing made eye contact.

"It is indeed the two of you who came!" Choo Qing spoke.

Lu Ye remained silent.

"Did you find the cat?" Choo Qing asked again.

When Lu Ye had returned the white cat to the red-robed woman, the bindings on him and Giant Armor had been released, and at the same moment, the invisible bindings inside Choo Qing and the others were also released.

It was also in that instant that Choo Qing faintly sensed something amiss.

Because some things were too coincidental.

Of the twenty surviving Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators, seventy percent were from their Fenghua Courtyard, with only a few being independent cultivators. Initially, when they had fled here, Choo Qing hadn't thought too much about it and thought that it was just that their own cultivators had better luck, especially her and Ruo Yan; in the previous battles, they rarely had attacks directed at them.

But what if it wasn't merely due to luck?

Perhaps someone wanted them to live temporarily to personally seek revenge?

If that was the case, then everything made sense.

Within the entire Haotian Alliance camp, the only one who would do so was Lu Ye, and he also had the means to do so.

Now that the bindings on the red-robed woman were released, there was nothing more to prevent a mutual slaughter.

So she made a decisive decision, leading the others from their hiding place to here, because only in this way could they possibly take Lu Ye or Giant Armor down with them before dying. If they continued to hide, they would only be cornered by the Haotian Alliance members, and at that time, their deaths would be utterly meaningless.

Choo Qing looked like she wanted to say more, but Lu Ye had no more patience to listen.

"Begin!"

At the command, numerous minion spirits simultaneously launched attacks, the wailing and pipa sounds leading off, followed by the Spirit-Binding Locks being thrown, a few special spiritual bodies displaying their Divine Skills, among them the Butcher, who had gained no merits in the previous battles, immediately charging forward with the bone-stripping saber alongside Giant Armor.

The ready and waiting Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators naturally wouldn't sit still and wait for death, immediately counterattacking.

Just with the minion spirits under Lu Ye's command, they were not something these Ten Thousand Demons Ridge people could deal with, not to mention that now there was also Giant Armor helping.

Being a robust physique cultivator at the front, Giant Armor could attract far too many attacks. He had refined the defensive spirit artifact given to him by Lu Ye, placing it before him, transforming it into a shield-like protection. Taking large strides, nothing in front could withstand his charge.

The booming sounds were incessant, accompanied by screams and shouts.

When Giant Armor crashed into the crowd and the Butcher raised his bone-stripping saber, defeat had already become the inevitable end for these Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators.

A long saber suddenly attacked from the side towards Giant Armor, aiming straight for his temple. Giant Armor ducked his head sharply, turned around, and threw a punch in that direction. His furious attack smashed a Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivator to dust, and then Giant Armor saw the owner of the saber; disregarding everything, he stepped forward to attack the owner of the saber.

As the battle raged on chaotically, Choo Qing wasn't targeted by any attack, but she dared not make any rash move, simply because Lu Ye's gaze was fixed on her.

Lu Ye raised his hand, slowly drawing the Boulder Mountain Saber, its tip pointing diagonally to the ground.

"If you can withstand my three strikes, I will spare your life!"

The word 'die' dropped, and in that instant, Lu Ye had transformed into a blur. Choo Qing's sense of danger soared to its peak in that moment, nearly instinctively raising her twin swords.

A blaze of red spirit force flowed before her, the descending strike chopping down on the twin swords.

Sparks flew, and the crisp clang resonated. Choo Qing felt an overwhelming force coming from above; even using all her strength, she barely managed to resist this extremely swift and fierce strike, her body continuously forced downward under that pressure. The long saber slowly pressed down, its sharp blade cutting through the cloth at her shoulder, revealing the treasure armor underneath.

She clenched her teeth, her arms fiercely exerted force, her spirit force wildly surged, just as she was about to muster her full strength to withstand this strike, a flash of light suddenly passed over the Boulder Mountain Saber.

Hefty Weight Spirit Runes.

A buzz sounded, and even the air seemed to twist.

It was as if a massive mountain had descended from the sky, pressing down on Choo Qing's shoulders. Her already lowered body could no longer hold up, and she crashed to her knees on the ground. Pain marred Choo Qing's face as she faintly felt her leg bones splinter.