Sage of Humanity

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The injured cultivators from the Surreptitious Palace fled, and from afar, the loud shouting of that young girl could still be heard, clearly agitated.

"That girl seems to be the descendant of an elder from the Surreptitious Palace, and it looks like she has been spoiled." One person from Fenghua Courtyard shook their head with a wry smile.

They found this behavior of spewing fierce words when unable to win a fight to be quite childish. If fierce words were effective, what would be the point of cultivation? After so many years of confrontation between the two major factions, with both sides incompatible as fire and water, anyone with real ability to kill would not bother with empty talk.

Thus, no matter how fiercely the girl ranted, they did not take her seriously.

However, merely a day later, they received a message that their governor had ordered them to quickly return to their base, as a large number of cultivators from the Surreptitious Palace were about to attack.

The members were somewhat dumbfounded, now recalling the girl's threats before her departure. They had thought she was just spitting out fierce words after being beaten, but to their surprise, she actually managed to convince Gu Canyang to lead an attack on the Surreptitious Palace.

Everyone felt that they had underestimated the girl's status in the Surreptitious Palace, and they did not dare to conceal anything, hastily reporting the incident.

In response, the governor of Fenghua Courtyard, Moon Charm, did not say much, simply replying with a brief acknowledgment.

One by one, the cultivators of Fenghua Courtyard who received the message hurried back to their base, the atmosphere not showing obvious tension. With the protective array there, they still felt secure. It wasn't as if the Surreptitious Palace hadn't attacked before, but each time they had come fiercely and left disheveled.

Soon, another piece of news spread.

This time, those who came to invade their base were not only from the Surreptitious Palace but also the Soaring Cloud Palace had taken action. An additional group was currently on the way to join them, suggesting the two had coordinated in advance.

In the Heaven's Augury Hall, the governor of Fenghua Courtyard, Moon Charm, looked at the report that had just been delivered from outside, her expression calm. Two forces from the Haotian Alliance attacking simultaneously was within her expectations.

Like her fellow disciples, she wasn't worried that their protective array would be breached. What needed to be considered was whether this joint action was merely a gesture or if there were other motives. If it was the former, then there was no need to worry too much. But if it was the latter, they would need to be more cautious in their response. At the very least, they had to be mentally prepared for a prolonged resistance against the enemy.

After a moment of contemplation, she sent out several messages, and soon, other nearby forces from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge became aware of the attack by the Surreptitious Palace and the Soaring Cloud Palace on Fenghua Courtyard.

Moon Charm's action was not a call for reinforcements since asking for help at this time would not be very meaningful. Currently, with the bases of both the Surreptitious Palace and the Soaring Cloud Palace left vulnerable, these forces from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge would surely act once informed. This would then put pressure on the Surreptitious Palace and the Soaring Cloud Palace, hopefully prompting an early withdrawal.

The tactic of relieving Zhao by besieging Wei was a common occurrence on the Spirit Stream battlefield, where nearby allied forces would aid each other during such times.

Moon Charm patiently waited half a day until evening, when two large ships resembling Flying Spirit Artifacts appeared side by side in the cultivators' field of view from Fenghua Courtyard.

The prow of one ship bore the insignia of the Surreptitious Palace, while the other was marked with the emblem of the Soaring Cloud Palace.

The two ships stopped about three miles away from the Fenghua Courtyard's base, and from within them, figures began to stream out in succession.

Within the grounds of Fenghua Courtyard, Moon Charm floating in mid-air activated her Ocular Power to observe, her expression becoming slightly grave.

She noticed that the deployed forces from both Haotian Alliance families seemed quite numerous, with at least four hundred from each faction.

It is important to note that the manpower in an inner circle sect's base generally ranges around five to six hundred. To dispatch four hundred at once meant only a hundred were left to defend the base.

Moon Charm immediately understood that this battle would not end easily.

Could it be just as those disciples reported, that the descendant of the Surreptitious Palace elder was the one who instigated Gu Canyang to act in this manner? Was Gu Canyang that foolish?

She had a feeling that something was not quite right, but now that things had come to this point, pondering these thoughts was meaningless. With the Haotian Alliance cultivators at their doorstep, Fenghua Courtyard had no choice but to engage in battle.

Assembled together, the cultivators from the Surreptitious Palace and the Soaring Cloud Palace numbered nearly eight hundred strong, which was the maximum force each could muster.

In comparison, Fenghua Courtyard had a little over four hundred people.

Fenghua Courtyard had nearly five hundred cultivators originally, but with Choo Qing's team suffering heavy losses in Xianyuan City and nearly a hundred perishing, nearly twenty percent of their manpower was gone. This loss kept Moon Charm restless at night.

Under the leadership of Gu Canyang and Zhou Pei, nearly eight hundred cultivators marched mightily towards the base of Fenghua Courtyard.

Without any prelude or verbal confrontation, the moment the eight hundred cultivators reached the outskirts of the big array, the attack commenced.

Magic and spells, as well as weapon control flow lights, began to flit about, battering against the big array's light barrier, like stones thrown into a still lake, causing ripples to spread across its surface.

The big array hummed as Moon Charm stood before the plaza of Heaven's Augury Hall, holding the Great Array Jade Cluster and adjusting the defensive capacities of the big array.

At the same time, at each array base's location, Fenghua Courtyard cultivators continuously replenished Spirit Stones, allowing the big array to draw from the stones' power to sustain itself.

Although the big array itself stored a substantial amount of spirit force during normal times, no one knew how long the Surreptitious Palace and the Soaring Cloud Palace's assault would last. Using Spirit Stones to replenish the big array's consumption was undoubtedly a way to maintain its protection for an extended duration.

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No matter which power it was, they would all choose to do the same thing when their base was under attack.

The natural spiritual energy within Fenghua Courtyard's base was very rich, likely enhanced by Heaven's Augury Pillar, hence the big array was extremely sturdy. Nearly eight hundred members from the two major forces of the Haotian Alliance took turns attacking continuously for one hour, yet the array stood unyielding; other than layers of ripples washing over it, not even the luster of the array's light screen changed much.

And clearly, this was still not the limit of the big array.

Through the light screen of the array, Moon Charm watched Gu Canyang and Zhou Pei with an expressionless face, somewhat puzzled about what exactly the two were trying to do.

Having clashed many times, they were familiar with each other's tactics; Moon Charm did not believe that these two, joining forces, would engage in futile actions. However, she hadn't spotted anything suspicious, which made her feel somewhat uneasy.

The unknown was the greatest enemy.

Fortunately, she had sent out a message earlier, and several powers from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge had started to gather to attack the bases of Surreptitious Palace and Soaring Cloud Palace. By now, they should already be on their way.

As long as Gu Canyang and Zhou Pei received the message, they would definitely not dare to linger here long; they would have to retreat.

Just as she was thinking this, a faint anomaly suddenly transmitted from the jade cluster. As the person controlling the big array, through the jade cluster in her hand, she could sense changes in every part of the array. The anomaly she just felt was as if the big array had been breached at a certain position.

Moon Charm's expression changed instantly, and she turned her head to look in that direction, yet what she saw was that part of the array's light screen was as stable as before.

An illusion? Moon Charm was not sure, being always cautious. She immediately dispatched a team to inspect the potentially abnormal area.

Meanwhile, in a certain part of the array, Lu Ye had already stealthily infiltrated the place without a sound.

The anomaly that Moon Charm sensed was precisely the disturbance caused by his infiltration. Under normal circumstances, he would not be capable of such a feat.

But it was currently nighttime, and the attention of Fenghua Courtyard's cultivators was all drawn by the actions of Surreptitious Palace and Soaring Cloud Palace. Who would notice him?

After infiltrating Fenghua Courtyard's base, he immediately activated the power of the trace-erasing bangle on his hand, concealing his presence and hiding his tracks.

If it weren't for this life-saving item bestowed by Madam Yun, Lu Ye would never dare to act in such a way. Even though he was now capable of breaking into someone else's protective array, his tracks would be quickly exposed without it.

With the trace-erasing bangle, things were different, after all, it was a gift from Madam Yun. Its concealment abilities were much stronger than those of ghost cultivators.@@novelbin@@

In the plan he and Gu Canyang agreed on, Surreptitious Palace and Soaring Cloud Palace were responsible for the frontal assault on the big array, distracting the focus and attention of Fenghua Courtyard's cultivators. He would then seize the opportunity to sneak in, conceal his form, and find a chance to kill Moon Charm and seize her jade cluster. Once the jade cluster was in hand, the protective array would become totally useless.

The plan was straightforward, but sometimes simplicity led to victory. The more complex a plan, the more flaws it contained, and the more likely it was to reveal mistakes.

So far, everything was progressing smoothly. His method of infiltrating the array and the trace-erasing bangle were a perfect match. To perfectly hide himself, he even refrained from bringing Amber and Yiyi on this trip.

He stood still and waited quietly for a moment, and sure enough, a team of cultivators from Fenghua Courtyard hurried over.

During a prior exchange with Wey Li, Lu Ye had learned something – the moment he infiltrated the array, Wey Li would be able to sense some anomalies on his side. But that was all; he couldn't define what the anomalies were specifically unless he saw them with his own eyes.

Therefore, Lu Ye knew that after he entered the Fenghua Courtyard base, there would definitely be investigators coming.

The investigating team consisted of six cultivators. After looking around and finding nothing, they quickly left to inspect nearby areas.

Lu Ye did not move because in his perception, there seemed to be something not quite right several dozen feet away. There appeared to be some signs of life flowing there. Enjoy new tales from My Virtual Library Empire

In the past, he would not have been able to detect such things, but his perceptive abilities had greatly improved after cleansing his psyche in the Soul Cleansing Pool.

Within a dozen feet radius, he could perceive any movement, and the closer to him, the more distinct the perceptions.

It must be a ghost cultivator!

The governor of Fenghua Courtyard was indeed a cautious person. On the surface, only one team was sent to investigate, but in reality, there were two groups. If Lu Ye had acted rashly earlier, his tracks would have already been exposed.

The ghost cultivator drifted around the area for a while, discovering nothing, and then left. From beginning to end, Lu Ye had not seen a glimpse of the person.

After the ghost cultivator had departed, Lu Ye waited in place for the time it takes an incense stick to burn before he began to move.

The trace-erasing bangle's ability to conceal his form was very powerful. The only downside was that it didn't allow him to activate his spirit force or move; as soon as he did, his figure would immediately be revealed.

Lu Ye was not sure if there were others hiding nearby, but if his tracks were truly exposed, then he would just have to exit the way he had come.

Since he could enter, naturally, he could also leave.