Sage of Humanity

As Lu Ye entered the Core Circle, the Core Circle erupted into complete chaos.

This place was never calm to begin with, and Lu Ye's arrival undoubtedly aggravated the confrontation between the two major camps. The cultivators from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge were hot on his trail, blocking and chasing him. Many cultivators from the Haotian Alliance could not resist joining the fray, striking at those isolated Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators, which inadvertently relieved some of the pressure on Lu Ye.

The Three Saints Sanctuary was shrouded in gloom, a sense of sorrow hanging in the air.

There was no other reason than Lu Yiye from the Righteous Blood Sect was on his way! According to intelligence passed from all sides, Lu Yiye should arrive at the Three Saints Sanctuary's station within two hours.

Two days ago, the Three Saints Sanctuary was actually looking forward to Lu Ye's arrival, because their situation here had not been great. Over the years, they hadn't had a Spirit Stream Realm expert to show for, which led to their disciples being oppressed outside.

If Lu Ye could come to the station of the Three Saints Sanctuary, perhaps it could change their situation.

But when the news came that Li Baxian had repaired his spiritual orifice, advanced to the Cloud River Realm, and left the Spirit Stream battlefield, the Three Saints Sanctuary was dumbfounded.

With Li Baxian absent from the Spirit Stream battlefield and Feng Yuechan also gone, Lu Ye's arrival at the Three Saints Sanctuary's station would bring no benefits, only disaster.

Originally, the Three Saints Sanctuary only needed to face the pressure from neighbouring forces, but now there was more to worry about.

"Senior Brother, what does our sect headquarters say?"

Deputy Governor Shi Lei of the Three Saints Sanctuary asked.

Opposite him, a young man clad in black tight-fitting clothes said, "There are no explicit instructions yet."

This young man was none other than Governor Situ Han of the Three Saints Sanctuary.

"Then what are we going to do?" Shi Lei frowned.

"We invited him, so can we refuse him entry?"

No explicit instructions from the sect meant there were instructions! Situ Han was well aware of this.

Shi Lei hesitated to speak, finally sighing. The sect's station was already in a tight spot, and taking in Lu Yiye would only make matters worse. They may not even be able to hold the station itself, but as Situ Han said, since they invited him, they couldn't turn him away. They would have to swallow the bitter pill.

Both men had unsaid words in their hearts, believing that the Sect Master had undoubtedly made a grave mistake this time.

They had originally thought that inviting Lu Yiye to the station could help them curry favor with the two strong individuals from the Loyal Heart Sect, thus alleviating the station's pressure. But who would have imagined that Lu Yiye would spend a fortune on orifice repair pills for Li Baxian, resulting in both Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan advancing to the Cloud River Realm and leaving the Spirit Stream battlefield.

"Send out the order, prepare for battle," Situ Han stood up. Things had come to this point, and there were no other choices. It was nothing more than the possibility of losing the station and the destruction of generations of accumulation. Compared to these losses, the reputation of the sect still had to be preserved. Truly turning away Lu Ye would mean the Three Saints Sanctuary could no longer hold its ground within the Haotian Alliance.

"Understood!"

Moments later, many cultivators from the Three Saints Sanctuary were on high alert, their numbers fewer than two hundred, with only a handful of 9th Heaven level cultivators among them.

After waiting for about one hour, Shi Lei suddenly uttered a low shout, "They're here!"

In the distant sky, a fleeing light approached at great speed toward them. Squinting to see beyond the fleeing light, vaguely more could be seen chasing after it.

In just a dozen breaths, the fleeing light arrived right outside the big array's light screen. The many cultivators of the Three Saints Sanctuary looked up to see a spirit ark shaped like a flying artifact with three figures standing on it. At the front was a youth who looked to be only seventeen or eighteen years old. In the middle was a pale-faced woman, and at the back stood a burly man with his body towering over them, topped with a snow-white big cat crouching on his head.

Situ Han stepped forward, "Is this Junior Brother Lu from the Righteous Blood Sect, Lu Yiye?"

Aboard the spirit ark, Lu Ye replied, "Indeed, it is!"

Situ Han waved his hand to signal they may pass and said aloud, "Come in quickly."

Following Shi Lei's manipulation, a gap opened in the big array, allowing Lu Ye to control his artifact to enter. He gently alighted, extinguishing his fleeing light, followed by Giant Armor who also hopped down, but only Phong Yue remained motionless, slumping on the spirit ark.

Lu Ye turned to look at her, and Phong Yue managed a weak smile, "My legs are jelly..."

The harrowing experiences of the past two days were unforgettable. Phong Yue was only an ordinary Level 8 cultivator; she had never faced such thrilling scenes before.

Along the way, there had been no less than eight hundred, if not a thousand, Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators chasing them. They would shake off one group only for another to emerge, a relentless stream of enemies who seemed to harbor deep-seated grudges against them. Many a time, Phong Yue thought they were as good as dead...

Having barely managed to hold on till now, her entire body felt limp.

Lu Ye exchanged glances with Giant Armor, who then deftly lifted Phong Yue by the belt of her dress, holding her in one arm like a small chick.

"Ouch..." Phong Yue uttered a strange sound, her initially pale face flushing red.

Being held up like this was so undignified...

Lu Ye stowed away the spirit ark and turned toward the two men who came to meet them, cupping his fists in greeting: "How may I address the two Senior Brothers?"

Situ Han and Shi Lei introduced themselves.

Lu Ye returned the gestures of greeting.

"After the long journey, Junior Brother Lu, you go rest first. Leave the rest to us," Situ Han gestured with his hand.

It was only until yesterday that Lu Ye finally understood the meaning behind his fourth senior brother's words, "It's uncertain whether they'll still dare to take you in when the time comes." The reason the Sect Master of Three Saints Sanctuary wanted him at the Spirit Stream battlefield's garrison was not because he was considered powerful but because he was closely connected with Li Baxian.

If he encountered trouble at the Three Saints Sanctuary's garrison, Li Baxian would certainly not ignore it, and once Li Baxian intervened, Feng Yuechan would not stand idly by either.

In other words, by winning him over, they would indirectly win over both Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan.

This was the ultimate purpose of the condition that the Sect Master of the Three Saints Sanctuary had proposed to the sect master.

However, the Sect Master of the Three Saints Sanctuary hadn't expected that Lu Ye would procure an orifice repair pill for Li Baxian, allowing Li Baxian to advance to the Cloud River Realm.

With that, the condition previously proposed now seemed somewhat foolish. Without Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan, Lu Ye's entry into the Three Saints Sanctuary's garrison would only bring endless trouble and disaster. They wouldn't dare to accept him.

But now it seems that the Three Saints Sanctuary is indeed very responsible.

Looking at the nearby Three Saints Sanctuary cultivators, who were emanating murderous intent and waiting solemnly.

Lu Ye waved his hand: "I appreciate the kind intentions of my senior brothers, but I will just rest for a moment using your esteemed place. I will leave soon after."

The situation was somewhat different from what he had initially expected. Naturally, he wouldn't stay to bring disaster upon the Three Saints Sanctuary. With his current situation, going to any Haotian Alliance garrison would bring endless trouble. The Three Saints Sanctuary, being just a 2nd grade sect with not many strong members in its garrison, would be easily broken if he really stayed; it wouldn't take one or two days.

Neither Situ Han nor Shi Lei had expected Lu Ye to make such a decision.

Situ Han said, "Does Junior Brother Lu realize the predicament he is currently in? Without the protection of a garrison, given Junior Brother's cultivation, I'm afraid the odds are not in your favor."

"If I were to stay, even with the protection of the garrison, how long could it protect me? Senior Brother, rest assured, my strength may not be great, but it won't be so easy for the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge to kill me. However, there is indeed one thing I'd like to ask for your help with."

"Please speak, Junior Brother."

Lu Ye turned and pointed to Phong Yue, who was held up by Giant Armor: "This is a disciple of my Righteous Blood Sect. Could you allow her to cultivate here at the Three Saints Sanctuary? Her cultivation level may not be high, but she is a healing cultivator. Senior brother need not take special care of her--just treat her as one of your own disciples and provide her with a meal, that's all."

Phong Yue, who was already blushing, hung her head even lower, feeling as if she were a child being sent away by a poor family...

"That is naturally no problem," Situ Han readily agreed. It didn't matter whether Phong Yue was a healing cultivator or not.

Given that Lu Ye had voluntarily chosen not to stay at the Three Saints Sanctuary's garrison, the Three Saints Sanctuary was already feeling quite embarrassed.

"Please establish an Alliance Pact with me, Senior Brother. I need to borrow your sect's Heaven's Augury Pillar."

Moments later, inside the Heaven's Augury Hall, Lu Ye's consciousness connected with the Heaven's Augury Pillar, entering the Heaven's Augury treasure vault.

Previously, when he was at the Righteous Blood Sect, he only had a little over two thousand merit points left. After killing some people in the past two days, his merit increased a bit, and he also seized quite a few spoils of war.

Setting aside the supplies for cultivation, he exchanged all other items for merit points inside the Heaven's Augury treasure vault, pushing his own merit points past four thousand.

However, as he continued to act, the four thousand merit points also rapidly diminished, eventually leaving only five points.

It had been a long, long time since he had been so poor, and Lu Ye felt again that these merit points really couldn't withstand being spent.

Upon exiting the Heaven's Augury Hall, Situ Han was waiting outside.

Lu Ye said, "Senior Brother Situ, can you arrange some food?" Discover hidden stories at My Virtual Library Empire

During these past two days of fleeing, let alone eat or sleep, he hadn't even had the chance to stop for a moment. Both he and Giant Armor were greatly exhausted. As for spirit force, they could just about maintain it—Lu Ye could consume elixir pills to replenish himself, and Giant Armor had something like a demonic pill, but the physical exhaustion was difficult to recover from.

"Just a moment," Situ Han replied and hurriedly made arrangements.

Shortly after, a lot of food was laid before Lu Ye and Giant Armor. The two immediately gorged themselves as if they were starving ghosts reborn.

As he ate, Lu Ye checked the ten-part map.

He couldn't stay at the Three Saints Sanctuary for long, as that would not only bring trouble to the Three Saints Sanctuary, but he would also lose the initiative.

If he lingered here too long, the people from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge could keep amassing forces, and if they ended up surrounding the Three Saints Sanctuary's garrison, he would be trapped with no way out.

The situation was still manageable at the moment, as not too many people from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge had arrived. They were gathering several miles away from the garrison. However, as the news spread further, more and more people would converge.

He had to leave before the forces from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge reached a critical mass.

But constantly fleeing wasn't a solution. There's a limit to human endurance, and no one could be certain of any unexpected contingencies on the road ahead.

Therefore, it would be best to strike back at Ten Thousand Demons Ridge to a certain degree while fleeing, to let them know the cost of pursuing him.

Lu Ye already had some plans in mind, but to execute these plans, he needed to take advantage of some terrain.

He was inspecting the ten-part map now in search of a terrain that could be utilized.