Sage of Humanity

Outside the Ten Thousand Poisons Forest, the cultivators of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge stood with solemn expressions, ready for battle.

Messages kept coming from all directions, keeping everyone on the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge side fully aware of Lu Ye's movements.

"Senior Brother Woo, that Lu Yiye is already about 30 miles away and will be here soon," Qin Zheng of the Thousand Wings Sect approached a man.

The one referred to as Senior Brother Woo was none other than Woo Beihan, who ranked thirty-third on the Spirit Stream Ranking and was born into a 1st grade sect, significantly stronger than Qin Zheng.

The pursuit of Lu Ye at Fog-shrouded Mountain was led by Qin Zheng, resulting in heavy losses and bringing shame to both him and his sect, the Thousand Wings Sect.

Now, with quite a few strong cultivators mobilized on Ten Thousand Demons Ridge's side and more than ten from the Spirit Stream Ranking alone here, it was naturally not Qin Zheng's place to direct operations anymore.

"How many people are with him?" Woo Beihan looked towards the direction Lu Ye was coming from. A distance of 30 miles was very close for cultivators of the Core Circle, and Lu Ye could probably arrive in less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn.

"About three to four hundred," he replied.

"Only three to four hundred..." Woo Beihan scoffed, "Nothing to worry about."

With about three to four thousand people gathered on Ten Thousand Demons Ridge's side, although they spread out to surround Ten Thousand Poisons Forest, there were still over seven hundred people in this direction.

With only three to four hundred from the Haotian Alliance, they were undoubtedly heading down a path of destruction.

Qin Zheng wanted to remind Woo Beihan not to underestimate the enemy, but thinking of the nearly double numerical superiority of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge, it seemed impossible for them to lose this battle, so he held his tongue to avoid being mocked for cowardice again.

Due to the previous fiasco at Fog-shrouded Mountain, many had openly and secretly blamed him, accusing his poor decisions of leading to heavy losses and great humiliation for Ten Thousand Demons Ridge.

Yet in truth, thrust into a crisis situation like that, how could he have made a better decision? Throughout the chase at Fog-shrouded Mountain, it was almost as if Lu Ye had been leading them by the nose.

Woo Beihan was undoubtedly a cautious person. Even with a numerical advantage, he voiced his lack of concern, but still ordered a careful inspection of the surroundings.

This area was set with many formations, and some even purchased binding spiritual artifacts specifically designed for capturing from Heaven's Augury treasure vault.

These were net-like spiritual artifacts requiring several people to activate, usually used to capture large, troublesome demon beasts.

Each spirit net was expensive, but to deal with Lu Ye, Ten Thousand Demons Ridge had bought more than a dozen. If Lu Yiye did not show up, so be it; if he dared to appear, escape would be impossible!

Woo Beihan then looked towards a particular spot in the crowd, where a non-descript, short cultivator stood. This man had an ordinary appearance, the type no one would notice in a crowd, and the spirit light emanating from his body was merely of the 8th Heaven level.

However, few among the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators gathered here knew that this man was the Spectral Shadow, the ninth ranked cultivator on the Spirit Stream Ranking.

It was no secret that Lu Ye, with his 7th Heaven cultivation, could kill cultivators of the 9th Heaven level. Therefore, if they really wanted to deal with Lu Ye, the Spectral Shadow's assassination skills were undoubtedly a promising blade to look forward to, and his presence filled Woo Beihan with confidence about this operation.

With all preparations in place, several hundred cultivators held their breath in concentration, waiting only for the appearance of the Haotian Alliance members.

As time passed, at a certain moment, someone whispered, "They're here!"

In the distance, a mass of flowing lights rushed towards them. It was the Haotian Alliance cultivators escorting Lu Ye, led by more than ten sword cultivators from the Beixuan Sword Sect.

The Ten Thousand Demons Ridge side was immediately abuzz.

The few hundred members of the Haotian Alliance rushing over so brazenly undoubtedly felt like a slight, and it also puzzled them. What exactly was the Haotian Alliance up to? These were all cultivators of the Core Circle; it didn't make sense for them to act so foolishly.

In the distant Haotian Alliance camp, looking towards the direction of Ten Thousand Poisons Forest, Yooi Lianzhou declared solemnly, "Fellow Daoist Lu, there's still 20 miles to go!"

"Understood."

Lu Ye, who had been sitting behind Yooi Lianzhou, slowly stood up and spoke out loud, "Fellow Daoists, I'm deeply grateful for your protection along the way. I'll take it from here. Please respond as the situation dictates."

A 9th Heaven cultivator laughed loudly, "Brother Yiye, I don't know what method you plan to use, but Ten Thousand Demons Ridge is powerful now. Going it alone might be difficult for you to accomplish anything. Since we are here, we won't mind going along with you. But let me say beforehand, if it really becomes unfeasible, we still need to run. As long as we have a place to return to, we won't lack for firewood, Brother Yiye."

"Indeed, indeed!"

"Ten miles!" Yooi Lianzhou called out firmly. From this position, they could already feel the fluctuations of spirit force emanating from the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators.

Lu Ye launched his own spirit ark, leaping down from Yooi Lianzhou's flying sword, and as he drank a bottle of prepared Breath Fruit wine with one hand, the spirit ark slightly shook and surged to the forefront.

In the next instant, under the watchful eyes of thousands from both sides, Lu Ye's figure was suddenly enveloped by a vivid red spirit force.

The thick spirit force flowed, surged, converged, and formed the shape of an egg, tightly wrapping Lu Ye inside.

The violent fluctuations of spirit force spread in all directions, and on the surface of that egg, various intricate patterns rapidly evolved, dazzling to behold.

Members of the Haotian Alliance had sensed that Lu Ye had been holding back a powerful method on the way, and naturally, they widened their eyes trying to discern it clearly, but were utterly baffled.

Equally puzzled were the cultivators of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge. Lu Ye had suddenly charged forward, using his own spirit force to condense into the shape of an egg, and hid inside it. It seemed like he intended to forcibly break through their formation.

But even if he protected himself so meticulously, what would it avail? With over 700 Core Circle cultivators launching a concentrated attack, even a True Lake Realm cultivator would have to tread cautiously.

The spirit force surged like a tide, making the spirit runes on the spirit force egg enveloping Lu Ye increasingly clear, flickering with a dazzling luster.

The spirit force stored within the spirit energy storing spirit runes built in front of his chest was depleted in just under three breaths' time, followed by the spirit force in the second set of spirit energy storing spirit runes, then those in other spirit energy storing runes, and finally, the spirit force flowing in Lu Ye's spiritual orifice.

Never had Lu Ye experienced such severe depletion of his internal spirit force.

Onlookers only saw the various changes on the surface of the spirit force egg, but in reality, more changes were happening inside. Fragments of spirit runes borne by one or two hundred leaves of the Talent Tree were constructed and pieced together by Lu Ye using a massive amount of spirit force in an incredibly short time.

Not only spirit force was consumed but also mental power.

The Haotian Alliance cultivators closely following Lu Ye were the first to perceive something amiss because a remarkably dangerous aura emanated from the spirit force egg enveloping Lu Ye, causing their skin to prickle painfully.

The Haotian Alliance cultivators, who had initially planned to charge into battle alongside Lu Ye and penetrate into the Ten Thousand Poisons Forest, halted under Yooi Lianzhou's lead, their eyelids twitching as they watched the rapidly approaching spirit force egg heading toward the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge's camp.

They dared not follow any further. Although they could not discern what technique Lu Ye had used, it was clearly a method of extreme power and danger.

Once executed, it was very likely to injure them as well.

Recalling what Lu Ye had said earlier, the cultivators of the Haotian Alliance finally understood the confidence behind his actions.

At this moment, they were only about 30 miles away from the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators.

Even these 30 miles were quickly closing.

The Ten Thousand Demons Ridge finally realized the dire situation as the surface of the approaching spirit force egg turned a scorching red, as if it was about to explode, emitting a heart-palpitating aura that, despite the distance, made their hair stand on end.

Woo Beihan's gaze was fixed intently on that spirit force egg, and the alarm churning inside him told him to flee quickly, but his cultivator's pride prevented him from moving.

Hundreds of people facing one, if they fled like this, what would their dignity amount to?

He failed to notice that within the crowd, the Spectral Shadow had already stealthily concealed his form at the first opportunity, having run off to who knows where.

Spectral Shadow, a powerful spirit cultivator, was extremely sensitive to crises. The terrifying sense of impending disaster made it impossible for him to remain there any longer!

About 30 miles, one mile...

Woo Beihan's shout rang out, "Attack!"

The moment his words fell, numerous formations were activated, and a barrage of magic and spells and weapon control techniques rained down on the approaching spirit force egg. Not only that, but several cultivators' weapon control sent up a net of spiritual artifacts, each aiming to envelop the spirit force egg.

Crackling...

The red-hot surface of the spirit force egg cracked open with multiple fissures and, in a thunderous shatter, suddenly, a clear and loud cry echoed through the heavens and the earth.

Orange-red flames spread in all directions, sweeping across, and a massive fire bird emerged out of nowhere.

The fire bird alone was over 30 yards long, with its tail feathers trailing long behind it, and a wingspan nearly 60 yards wide. Its posture was elegant, its expression vividly lifelike, and the patterns on its feathers clear, as if it were an actual living being.

As its wings flapped, the space around it distorted from the heat, with many attacking spells impacting against it like stones tossed into the sea. The numerous spiritual artifacts instantly lost their essence, their restrictions destroyed, melting and crashing to the ground; the several spirit nets aimed at it were unable to block its gracefully advancing form.

That day, a divine bird appeared, and the world was shaken!

All the cultivators who witnessed this scene stared, trembled, and gazed at the massive fire bird.

"One of the Four Auspicious Sacred Beasts, the Vermillion Bird!"

Yooi Lianzhou murmured, and even though he was an exceptionally skilled sword cultivator, at that moment, his Sword Heart trembled, and his scalp numbed.

The Four Auspicious Sacred Beasts—he had only read about them in the sect's archives and had never seen one with his own eyes.

And today, at this place, he had seen it.

A moment of relief followed; had they not acted quickly enough to stop following Lu Ye, they would have likely suffered heavy losses the instant the Vermillion Bird appeared.

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Not just him, every cultivator from the Haotian Alliance felt their hearts palpitate.

They had all guessed that Lu Ye was about to employ a method of immense power, but now they realized that this method was excessively powerful.

Furthermore, what kind of method was this that it could even summon one of the Four Auspicious Sacred Beasts?

Of course, everyone knew this was not a real Four Auspicious Sacred Beast; a real one could probably shatter the entire Spirit Stream battlefield with a flap of its wings.

This was merely a manifestation formed by Lu Ye through his own spirit force. The key issue was, could a Spirit Stream Realm cultivator really initiate such a technique?