Sage of Humanity

The first wave of over seventy Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators was caught off guard by the sudden eruption of various Arrays. In an instant, more than twenty were dead or injured, while the survivors struggled to defend against the formidable power of the Arrays, suffering wounds and screaming in agony before being killed.

The protective array that enveloped Lu Ye and Giant Armor had already shattered.

Though the array was sturdy, it had its limits. After withstanding a fierce attack from the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators, it was broken. However, none of the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators had the time to launch an attack on him.

Above the boulder, Lu Ye's hands danced with the array banners, maximizing the power of the surrounding arrays.

The scene was extremely chaotic.

"Quick, use your weapons to break free from the Formation!" someone finally shouted upon realizing the dire situation.

These cultivators came with overwhelming momentum, but many were wounded or killed before even getting close to Lu Ye. The most sensible course of action was to get out as fast as possible. With the uncertainty of whether there were more Arrays around, weapon control-flying was the best option.

There couldn't possibly be Arrays covering the air.

As the man's voice died away, the numerous flustered cultivators finally reacted, summoning their Flying Spirit Artifacts.

In such dense woods, with tall trees and high canopies providing plenty of obstacles, weapon control-flying was not ideal. A false move could result in crashing into a tree, but the cultivators from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge had no better alternative at the moment.

As the Spiritual Artifacts ascended, the surviving cultivators from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge attempted to flee this perilous place.

However, before they could do so, Lu Ye vigorously waved his array banner once more and in the next instant, bright lines evolved on the ground, forming a new Array.

As the Array was activated, all the cultivators in mid-air felt as if a massive mountain bore down on them. Their bodies suddenly became incredibly heavy, and despite their desperate resistance, they couldn't fend off the invisible force pressing down from above.

"Sky Prohibition?" a cultivator cried out in terror.

The Sky Prohibition array was well-known, but it was definitely not something a Spirit Stream Realm cultivator could set up. Thus, facing such an unexpected turn of events plunged everyone into a state of panic.

Indeed, Lu Ye couldn't set up a Sky Prohibition array. A true Sky Prohibition array would completely strip away the ability to fly, but the Array activated now was centered around Hefty Weight Spirit Runes. If a cultivator could withstand that immense pressure, they could still take to the sky and escape. However, the might of a single Array was so formidable that it was not something a Spirit Stream Realm cultivator could withstand.

Cries of alarm and screams of agony rose and fell in succession, as figures tumbled awkwardly from the sky.

Before they hit the ground, powerful magic and spells swept up from below. These took the form of blazing fire lotuses. Below the fire lotuses, Yiyi's figure appeared at some point, arms raised high as surging spirit force flowed around her.

Where the flames swept through, the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators who had not adjusted their falling posture became engulfed in balls of fire.

Giant Armor charged out, snatching a cultivator falling from the sky by the leg. Then, swinging him around like a Wolf Fang Club, he hurled the man at nearby enemies.

Lu Ye leapt down from the boulder, hand on the hilt of his sword, strolling leisurely through the hellish battleground. His supplies box emitted a hissing sound as nine Dao weapon control lights darted back and forth, each leaving a trail of blood, and the Boulder Mountain Saber was drawn from its sheath from time to time.

By his side, Amber had revealed her true form, her agile body darting and weaving through the battlefield. Pale golden Demon Origin roiled around her body, and every time her massive paws struck, heads shattered and bones cracked.

It wasn't that the people of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge weren't strong. Those who dared to venture deep here in pursuit of Lu Ye were all cultivators who had switched to cultivating Heaven Rank techniques, and the weakest among them was at the level of 7th Heaven.

A group of more than seventy people together could even stand up to a Cloud River without falling short.

However, Lu Ye had made preparations in advance. Just the two explosion magic arrays alone caused significant casualties among the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators. The subsequent activation and transformations of many Arrays made it difficult for them to cope.

With all these tactics deployed, the group of more than seventy quickly became a disorganized mob, awaiting nothing but massacre.

One incense stick's time later, the battle subsided.

Around the boulder, the ravaged battlefield was strewn with mutilated corpses, and the unpleasant stench of burnt flesh mingled with the smell of blood. All seventy-some individuals had been cleanly slaughtered in this battle.

A few had the chance to escape, but those who ran a little too late found their escape routes cut off by the suddenly appearing Yiyi. Together with the swiftly arriving Amber, they relentlessly hunted them down. Read new chapters at My Virtual Library Empire

After cleaning the battlefield and collecting the spoils of war, the group quickly withdrew from the area.

Sometime later, more cultivators from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge converged on this spot. Their investigation yielded shocking results.

All five squads that first located Lu Ye's whereabouts were completely annihilated. Combining the messages transmitted by the dying Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators with the residual signs on the battlefield, it was clear that Lu Ye the Sect Destroyer achieved this inconceivably astonishing feat by leveraging the power of Arrays.

At that moment, the cultivators of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge were heavy-hearted.

Lu Yiye was formidable and elusive. So many cultivators from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge had chased and attempted to corner him without success, allowing him to escape into the vast Fog-shrouded Mountain.

They had thought that here, in this place, there would be a good opportunity to root him out once and for all. Little did they know that he would reveal an extraordinary ability to set up Arrays.

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From the residual traces of the formations in this area alone, it's clear that Lu Yiye set up no fewer than seven traps here. Many damaged array banners and array bases still remain scattered across the battlefield.

It was only at this moment that many cultivators from the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge realized a previously overlooked issue.

If Lu Yiye could break through the protective array as grand as the one surrounding their base, how could his array setup skills be lacking?

In this vast forest shrouded in mist, where it's difficult to travel through the air and track someone down, who could tell if they might suddenly step into a formation while in pursuit?

Once trapped in such a snare, certain death was inevitable.

For a time, the surroundings seemed fraught with danger, causing a strong sense of unease in everyone.

"Fellow Daoists, there's no need to panic overly,"

At a time when many from the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge were filled with apprehension, someone suddenly stood up and said with confidence, "Even if Lu Yiye has the skill to set up formations, he cannot sustain such tactics indefinitely."

As if to add credibility to his words, the man intentionally displayed his own spirit light while speaking, revealing his 9th Heaven level cultivation for all to see.

"How may we address this elder brother?" someone politely inquired.

"Thousand Wings Sect, Qin Zheng."

Upon hearing this name, many immediately checked their battlefield markings, and soon someone exclaimed, "Is this Senior Brother Qin ranked ninety-eighth on the Spirit Stream Ranking?"

Once a cultivator's cultivation reaches a certain level, they can link their battlefield markings to Heaven's Augury to access information previously out of reach, such as the Spirit Stream Ranking.

At this moment, the name Qin Zheng was listed at the third to last position on the Spirit Stream Ranking.

Even being ranked third to last meant being a figure on the Spirit Stream Ranking, an existence unattainable for ordinary cultivators of the Spirit Stream Realm.

Nobody had realized earlier that among the group pursuing Lu Ye, there was actually a formidable character from the Spirit Stream Ranking. It wasn't that the strong individuals on the ranking were indifferent to the rewards for killing Lu Ye; rather, most of them thought very highly of themselves and seldom joined others.

Qin Zheng was one of the few exceptions, and he was usually low-key. If it weren't for the need to boost morale this time, he wouldn't have revealed his affiliation.

Qin Zheng's cheeks flushed slightly when others brought up the Spirit Stream Ranking.

His rank at ninety-eighth was somewhat baffling because just a few days ago, he wasn't even on the list. Suddenly, the top three on the Spirit Stream Ranking disappeared, and he found himself on the list, quite confused about how it happened.

"What did Senior Brother Qin mean by his earlier words?" the previous speaker asked.

Qin Zheng replied, "Without hiding anything from fellow Daoists, I am somewhat of an array cultivator," holding a half of an array banner in his hand. "So, I have some understanding of the Array Path. This is an array banner used by Lu Yiye in his array setup, and these items were purchased from the Heaven's Augury treasure vault."

"How can you be so sure?"

Qin Zheng smiled, revealing another array banner in his hand: "Because I have purchased them myself. For cultivators like us at the Spirit Stream Realm, creating array banners takes a great deal of effort, so if one has enough merit, it's more convenient and effortless to buy from the Heaven's Augury treasure vault. These array banners cost about the same as a low-grade spirit artifact in the vault. I don't know how many Lu Yiye bought, but there are rumors that he previously purchased orifice repair pills for Li Baxian. I presume many of you have heard about the price of those pills. Therefore, even Lu Yiye probably doesn't have too many array banners at hand."

Someone understood Qin Zheng's implication: "Is Senior Brother Qin saying that once Lu Yiye runs out of array banners, he will no longer be able to set up formations?"

"Unless he goes to purchase more! I observed earlier that there are roughly more than ten damaged array banners around and four array bases. Just these alone would have cost him more than a thousand points of merit. And there must be some undestroyed array banners that he has retrieved."

"That scoundrel is really wealthy!"

"A thousand points of merit... How many aspiring souls of my Ten Thousand Demons Ridge has he slain! Damn it!"

"Don't forget the orifice repair pills; Lu Yiye is like a leech that crawls on the bodies of the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators, sucking their blood to strengthen himself and making our cultivators suffer."

A group of people were indignant, speaking all at once as they criticized Lu Yiye.

Seeing the topic drift, Qin Zheng spoke loudly, "Fellow Daoists, do not let yourself be frightened by Lu Yiye's array setup tactics. If we give up now, then the deaths of the Daoists who fell earlier will be in vain. If we continue the pursuit, we might suffer more casualties, but for the future of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge, it's worth it if we manage to kill Lu Yiye. We really can't let him continue to grow stronger, or else no one in the entire Spirit Stream battlefield will be able to deal with him in the future. Surely, fellow Daoists wouldn't want such a person to emerge in the Haotian Alliance, would they?"

"Senior Brother Qin's words make sense."

Another person suggested, "Although we have gathered in large numbers before, there has been no one to direct and command us uniformly, which is why we have suffered such losses. Since Senior Brother Qin is a figure on the Spirit Stream Ranking, why don't we let him oversee the whole affair and follow his command?"@@novelbin@@

This proposal garnered a lot of agreement and support from the crowd.

After pondering for a brief moment, Qin Zheng nodded, "Indeed, unified command is necessary for success. Since so many fellow Daoists hold me in high regard, I shall not decline. If anyone feels they are more suitable, they may also put themselves forward. I am not one who envies or resents capable people. I will step aside for the more qualified."

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