Sage of Humanity

Nearly nine months had passed, and Lu Yiye of the Righteous Blood Sect was once again thrust into the limelight—this time, the situation was far more serious than the last battle at Golden Light Peak.

The battle over Golden Light Peak had been triggered by an imminent evaluation of sects' grades. Ten Thousand Demons Ridge intended to completely disqualify the Righteous Blood Sect. Therefore, many strong cultivators from the inner and core circles disregarded the rules and their own reputations, forcefully stepping forth to eliminate Lu Ye from the outer circle.

However, under the successive protection of various sects in the Haotian Alliance, Lu Ye had repeatedly escaped catastrophe. Eventually, both sides confronted each other at Golden Light Peak, where Lu Ye proposed—and many Spirit Stream Ranking powerhouses witnessed—the signing of the Heaven's Augury Pact, leading to a battle on the stage.

In that battle, Lu Ye, at Level 5 cultivation, fought forty-three bouts without a single defeat, severely bruising the face of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge.

No matter how it was put, Lu Ye was still a Level 5 cultivator at the time. Even if he could kill an enemy beyond his own level and demonstrated his immense potential, it was merely his individual strength.

The strength of an individual ultimately has its limits. Although Ten Thousand Demons Ridge was somewhat wary of him, true powerhouses would not care about him unless Lu Ye could safely grow to a level where he posed a threat to them.

This world never lacks geniuses, and countless geniuses die young.

But this time was different; the incident he triggered now had nothing to do with personal strength or weakness. The capability he demonstrated was enough to pose a huge threat to any force.

Initially, news came from Fenghua Courtyard that Lu Yiye, by some means, had stealthily infiltrated their encampment, which was enveloped by a protective array. Shortly thereafter, he seized the Great Array Jade Cluster from the hands of the Deputy Governor at Fenghua Courtyard, breached the major array, leading to the loss of the encampment and severe losses.

When the news spread, it caused an uproar throughout the Nine Provinces and the Spirit Stream battlefield.

All cultivators who heard this news, regardless of their cultivation strength or status, were astounded.

A junior cultivator of the Spirit Stream Realm managed to infiltrate a sect's protective array?

Indeed, some had accomplished this, but all were strong cultivators skilled in the Array Path, possessing profound mastery in arrays.

A mere Spirit Stream Realm cultivator, what merit and capability did he have?

Initially, many believed that Fenghua Courtyard had exaggerated, or that the Governor who lost the encampment was shirking responsibility.

However, a second piece of news soon emerged—this time it was from Illuminating Sun Mountain, not far from Fenghua Courtyard.

Illuminating Sun Mountain's encampment was also breached!

This occurred less than a day after Fenghua Courtyard's encampment was breached.

According to surviving cultivators from Illuminating Sun Mountain, Lu Yiye had a miraculous method that allowed him to forcibly break a hole in a perfectly functioning protective array and invade it.

The reason Illuminating Sun Mountain's encampment was breached was because Lu Yiye employed this method, then led in ten physique cultivators to assault the formation, resulting in the death of their own Governor and the theft of the array jade cluster.

One said Lu Yiye could infiltrate an array without a sound, another said he could forcibly create a hole in an array. Although the accounts differed, this indicated one thing: Lu Yiye, a cultivator at Spirit Stream Level 8, truly had profound accomplishments in the Array Path, or more specifically, in array destruction.

Two encampments of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge were breached, all tracing back to Lu Ye. As for fellow cultivators from Surreptitious Palace and Soaring Cloud Palace, hardly anyone mentioned them.

This news initially spread within a limited scope, but in just half a day, it was known by everyone in the Nine Provinces and the entire Spirit Stream battlefield.

Because if this were true, it was truly terrifying.

All major sects' encampments on the Spirit Stream battlefield had their protective arrays, which provided cultivators with a sense of security. It was much like how mortals lock their doors at night.

But now? There was someone who could silently unlock this door or forcibly create a hole in it, then barge into your home, kill your people, steal your provisions…

This, of course, could incite panic.

If the battle at Golden Light Peak had only shown Ten Thousand Demons Ridge the immense potential in Lu Ye's growth, the consecutive breaches of Fenghua Courtyard and Soaring Cloud Palace cemented a deep wariness in them toward him.

This wariness, even Divine Sea Realm cultivators could not ignore.

Across the Nine Provinces, which respected force in the Spirit Stream battlefield doesn't have an encampment? Those encampments are filled with Spirit Stream Realm cultivators, and Lu Ye, who can easily infiltrate or create a hole in their protective arrays, is simply the nemesis of protective arrays.

If even protective arrays can no longer provide security, it's likely that all cultivators of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge will live in fear.

Once a protective array is breached, it's only a matter of time before the encampment falls.

As this matter continued to ferment, another incident was also brought to light.

A few months ago, during the Insect Plague, the encampments of Sky Fiend Hall and the Phong Clan, neighboring the Righteous Blood Sect, had also been breached, with the Phong Clan suffering disastrous casualties, nearly annihilating all cultivators of the Spirit Stream Realm.

Although these two encampments were breached mainly due to the Insect Plague, anyone could see that Lu Yiye had a hand in it.

Over the years, both Sky Fiend Hall and the Phong Clan had been fine, but coincidentally after Lu Ye arrived at the Righteous Blood Sect's encampment, both encampments lost their defenses? This was completely unreasonable.

First, the outer circle's Sky Fiend Hall and Phong Clan fell, followed by the inner circle's Fenghua Courtyard and Illuminating Sun Mountain; in just a few months, Lu Yiye had brought down four Ten Thousand Demons Ridge powers' bases.

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Since ancient times, no cultivator had ever accomplished such a feat on the Spirit Stream battlefield.

At the Silver Light Island base, Governor Luo Fu and Deputy Governor Qih Shi sat opposite each other, their expressions complex.

More than two months earlier, when Lu Ye had left Silver Light Island, Qih Shi had mentioned that some Ten Thousand Demons Ridge powers might face misfortune.

His prediction had come true; just over two months later, indeed, some Ten Thousand Demons Ridge powers had experienced misfortune, and two at once.@@novelbin@@

The Ten Thousand Demons Ridge wasn't yet aware that the Sky Supporting Sect's base had also been breached by Lu Ye, although at that time, Lu Ye had borrowed the power of the quasi-flood dragon to forcibly break through the Sky Supporting Sect's protective array, a different method from this time.

If the Sky Supporting Sect is counted, the number of bases on the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge side that had been captured due to Lu Ye would now be five.

It is certain that more than two months ago, Lu Ye had not possessed such capabilities; otherwise, he would have used them that very day.

"Fellow Daoist Lu is now only at Level 8 realm," Qih Shi suddenly remarked.

Luo Fu glanced at him, "What are you trying to say, Junior Brother?"

Qih Shi said, "By the rules, Fellow Daoist Lu can move freely in the inner circle before reaching the 7th Heaven level, and even after reaching the 7th Heaven, he need not completely leave the inner circle. Given Fellow Daoist Lu's cultivation speed, it would probably take him at least a year or two to reach the 7th Heaven, right?"

Luo Fu slowly realized, "Those Ten Thousand Demons Ridge forces' governors in the inner circle, they won't be able to sleep peacefully anymore."

"Indeed," Qih Shi nodded, "but as the saying goes, 'the tree that stands out in the forest gets blown down by the wind,' so Fellow Daoist Lu must still be very careful."

"I'll contact him later," Luo Fu changed the subject, "Brother Chen Hai of the Fahua Sect sent a message a while ago, saying that in a few days we should join forces again to strike at the Cloud Mist Cult, so Junior Brother, you should start preparing early."

Qih Shi promptly nodded, "I understand."

The Cloud Mist Cult's base was also neighboring Silver Light Island, and last time when Lu Ye was there, Luo Fu had wanted to attack the Cloud Mist Cult's base, proposing to use the quasi-flood dragon again. However, after Lu Ye tried, the quasi-flood dragon had become wise and couldn't be lured out, so that plan fell through.

Unable to use the power of the quasi-flood dragon, Luo Fu however did not give up on the plan to attack the Cloud Mist Cult, so he joined hands with a nearby Alliance Sect to pressure the Cloud Mist Cult.

In the past, the Cloud Mist Cult could have cooperated with the Sky Supporting Sect, but now that the Sky Supporting Sect was as weak as a grasshopper after the autumn, barely able to jump, they had no energy to worry about the Cloud Mist Cult.

This led to the Cloud Mist Cult facing oppression from two Haotian Alliance organizations, causing great distress for their disciples.

One could say that after Lu Ye used the quasi-flood dragon to breach the Sky Supporting Sect's base, the nearby Haotian Alliance forces had one less threat to deal with and could free up more power to fight other enemies.

Not to mention Silver Light Island, but similarly, the Surreptitious Palace and Soaring Cloud Palace now had it easier; originally they had to combine efforts to confront Fenghua Courtyard and Illuminating Sun Mountain in a battle of wits and bravery. Now that Fenghua Courtyard and Illuminating Sun Mountain no longer had the capital to oppose them, the Surreptitious Palace and Soaring Cloud Palace could do much more.

The two could occasionally visit the Fenghua Courtyard and Illuminating Sun Mountain bases, or even join forces to strike at other Ten Thousand Demons Ridge powers.

The capture of bases brought not only the plundering of resources and enhancements but also various subsequent benefits.

In a nutshell, the situation in this region, previously characterized by a stalemate between two major camps, had become fluid.

The larks chirped sharply and sunlight streamed down as Lu Ye opened his eyes and slowly got up.

He hadn't slept this comfortably in a long time; waking up, he felt as if the fatigue of the past days had been swept away, leaving him refreshed and invigorated.

Yiyi, who was meditating next to him, saw him wake and brought over some water for washing his face and mouthwash.

Lu Ye freshened up a bit, picked up the amber that had been pressing on him, and tossed it aside. Then he dressed and got out of bed.

He went downstairs where breakfast had already been prepared, looking lavish and still hot, evidently the folks from the Surreptitious Palace had put in some effort.

Lu Ye didn't stand on ceremony and sat down to eat.

Yiyi sat opposite him, resting her chin in her hands, watching him eat.

Lu Ye chewed his food while checking his battlefield marking.

Waking up, his battlefield marking had accumulated a lot of information.

The capture of the two Ten Thousand Demons Ridge forces' bases had again spread his name across the Spirit Stream battlefield. This was expected, as whether he had infiltrated Fenghua Courtyard or broken through Illuminating Sun Mountain's array, many from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge had witnessed it and those who did not die naturally spread the news.

Most of the messages that arrived were from governors or deputy governors of major sects met in the Chess Sea, expressing concern for his safety and urging him to be cautious in the future, as the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge faction now recognized his unique array-breaking skills, and thus were quite wary of him.

Others were eagerly inviting him to visit their bases, clearly with ulterior motives.