Sage of Humanity

Space twisted, the view changed, and there he was again in the same combat field, with the figure of Bai Lan gradually becoming visible.

This time she didn't hide, instead, she summoned her Flying Spirit Artifact.

It was a Spirit Artifact that looked like a feather, breathtakingly beautiful, and upon it, Bai Lan soared into the sky.

The combat field, spanning a dozen miles in diameter, was neither too large nor too small. If everyone were on the ground, it would take some effort to find each other, but flying up into the air made it easier.

"Lu Yiye..." Bai Lan really wanted to shout out the name of that brute to demonstrate her courage that she was by no means afraid of him, but when the words reached her lips, her voice involuntarily weakened a great deal, as if those three syllables alone could remind her of some deep-seated psychological shadows.

As her words fell, a streak of Liu Guang soared into the sky from somewhere below.

Bai Lan was startled and quickly spurred the power of her earrings, enveloping herself with strong protection, giving her a sense of security.

Lu Ye did not attack her; instead, he hovered thirty zhang away from her, hand on the hilt of his saber, calmly watching her.

When this woman named Bai Lan accepted his challenge this time, he knew his plan must have been effective, and she must have prepared twenty shares of Earth's Core Fire; otherwise, she wouldn't have accepted the challenge.

Very smooth!

He had originally planned that if things didn't go well with Bai Lan, he would push her out of the Spirit Stream Ranking, then look for someone else.

With so many cultivators from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge on the Spirit Stream Ranking, there were bound to be one or two who knew the times and were heroes.

Now it seems there's no need for too much trouble.

"Don't come any closer! I warn you, if you dare take one more step, I will... say those three words!"

In the sky, Bai Lan sternly and cutely shouted, using the harshest tone to say the most timid words.

As for what those three words were, everyone knew very well.

Below, Yiyi, who had originally been preparing to search for Bai Lan's whereabouts, quietly appeared. When she heard her say those words, she couldn't help but bring a hand to her forehead.

What kind of psychological torment had this woman endured over these days, to say such words upon seeing Lu Ye?

In mid-air, Lu Ye's gaze shifted briefly to the storage sack in Bai Lan's hand, understanding her intent. He stretched out his hand to her.

"The items are ready, I can give them to you!" Bai Lan stared at Lu Ye warily, like a rabbit on guard against a hungry wolf, "But you have to swear by Heaven's Augury that from now on the Spirit Stream Ranking, you will never harass me without reason again!"

"Alright."

"You swear!"

Lu Ye stared expressionlessly at her.

"Swear, come on!" Bai Lan urged.

Lu Ye withdrew his hand and placed it on the hilt at his waist, slowly drawing out the Boulder Mountain Saber. The sound of the saber leaving its sheath was sharply grating.

Bai Lan's complexion turned a shade paler as she cautiously backed away: "What are you doing?"

"I won't make any Heaven's Augury vow. If I've given you a promise, I will keep it. You can choose to believe it or not, it's up to you!" With saber in hand and spirit force surging, the blade ignited with flames as Lu Ye adopted an offensive stance, the tip of the saber pointing towards Bai Lan. As his words finished, he became a streak of light, charging towards Bai Lan.

In an instant, even with a top-grade spirit artifact for defense, Bai Lan couldn't help but feel a sense of being on pins and needles. Almost at the moment Lu Ye made a move, she threw the storage sack in her hand forward, screaming, "Take them all, just take them all!"

This was too much bullying, boo-hoo-hoo...

Lu Ye's rapid forward motion halted, and he caught the storage sack in his hand. He opened it to check the contents, confirming with satisfaction that there were indeed twenty shares of Earth's Core Fire.

Pleased, he looked up: "Shall I escort you for a bit?"

This woman named Bai Lan hadn't left yet.

Bai Lan looked sadly and pathetically up, "You've already swindled so much from me, can't you just lose for once?" She definitely didn't want to drop out of the top hundred.

She was currently ranked ninety-seventh. Although only three places from the hundredth, being in the last three ranks on the Spirit Stream Ranking was the most troublesome. Anyone with the strength to challenge the Ranking would choose to challenge these three. It was the rule of the Spirit Stream Ranking, just as Lu Ye had started his challenge from these same three.

If you don't have the strength to quickly go up, you will eventually fall off the list.

Rank ninety-seven no longer had to worry about these problems...

Lu Ye suddenly understood her thoughts.

To have your mouth bound by what you eat, and your hand bound by what you take. The value of four thousand merit points was enough to satisfy her request!

Lu Ye felt he was a very reasonable person, of course, also because what she said made sense.

"I concede!"

As his words ended, Lu Ye's figure faded, returning to the wooden hut in Ten Thousand Poisons Forest.

Yiyi and Amber also appeared by his side.

With twenty portions of Earth's Core Fire in hand, he wondered if it would be enough to fully ignite those dozen plus leaves.

Lu Ye took out a portion of Earth's Core Fire and was about to devour it when his battlefield marking suddenly became active—it was a challenge.

At the same time, within the Lu Ye Extermination Alliance, a message was rapidly spreading: all cultivators who were eligible to challenge the Spirit Stream Ranking were to challenge Lu Yiye in batches without interruption, so that he would have no chance to enter the rankings again. Moreover, with such relentless challenges, even if that scoundrel was strong, he would eventually be replaced.

This initiative was led by Szi Guang of the Daoxuan Sect, and received the strong support of cultivators from various sects of the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge. Many cultivators actively participated.

That Lu Yiye was too despicable. During the previous ranking challenge, he killed all the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators ranked above him, and to this date, no one knew how he did it.

In Spirit Stream Ranking challenges, if one admits defeat, they can naturally save their life, except in cases where the difference in strength between both parties is too great, creating an opportunity for an instant kill.

This time, Szi Guang's initiative to take turns challenging Lu Ye aimed firstly to tie him down so he wouldn't have the opportunity to enter the rankings again and, if possible, to pull him from the Spirit Stream Ranking. The second reason was to figure out how exactly he silenced the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators so they couldn't even concede defeat.

Knowing that Lu Ye was powerful and could indeed instantly kill average 9th Heaven opponents, Szi Guang specifically instructed that all challengers should use all available protective measures before entering the combat field, and in the early stages, it was best for physique cultivators to challenge him. There was no real expectation of beating Lu Yiye; the main goal was to wear down his spirit force. When the opportunity was right, cultivators of other factions could consider stepping in to defeat him!

In the wooden hut, Lu Ye had been looking forward to using the Talent Tree to devour the twenty portions of Earth's Core Fire he had obtained, to see if the newly emerged special spirit rune was indeed the one he suspected. Unexpectedly, at this critical moment, he was challenged.

Very annoying!

He connected to the Spirit Stream Ranking through his calm battlefield marking, accepted the challenge, chose the terrain for the combat field, Heaven's Augury descended, and his figure vanished.

On a combat field of just tens of zhang in size, Lu Ye appeared.

This was terrain particularly suited for combat cultivators.

At the instant the white light dispersed from his field of vision, Lu Ye saw, on the opposite side of the combat field, a physique cultivator holding a big spirit force shield and wearing thick treasure armor, with his spirit force and blood Qi mixed together, forming a barrier around him.

This fellow had employed all his protective measures before even coming in.

Lu Ye didn't know which sect he hailed from. As he was surveying the field, an immense pressure assailed him from the front. Looking up, he saw Lu Yiye's afterimage dragging behind him as he rushed toward him rapidly, and in front of him, there was the glimmer of 9th Dao weapon control leading the way!

The physique cultivator dared not be careless, knowing that many powerhouses from the Spirit Stream Ranking had been killed by this same opponent, and he was far from their equal. Thus, without hesitation, he bellowed and thrust the big shield into the ground, half-squatting. In a flash, a sense of immense solidity enveloped him, giving off an unmovable, mountain-like aura.

Just as he had just adopted a defensive stance, the nine glimmers of light had already struck in front of him. Ding ding dang... Crack...

The physique cultivator's heart went cold as he looked at his big shield, now turning into shards before his eyes, while the breath of death rushed toward his face.

Although he still had the protection of his treasure armor, it was rumored that Lu Yiye specialized in decapitation; the armor could protect the body, but not the neck. Discover hidden tales at My Virtual Library Empire

"I..." Just as he was about to speak, Amber, crouched on Lu Ye's shoulder, let out a roar.

The powerful impact made the physique cultivator dizzy, causing the words he was about to say to be swallowed back down.

So that's how it is!

That was indeed why Lu Yiye prevented those strong from the Spirit Stream Ranking from conceding defeat!

Feeling a lightness in his body and seeing his vision turn upside down, as his consciousness blurred, he saw Lu Yiye holding a flaming saber, standing next to a headless corpse...

Indeed, that scoundrel truly specialized in beheading!

Next to the physique cultivator's corpse, Lu Ye wiped the fresh blood off the Boulder Mountain Saber before sheathing it.

After collecting the spoils of war, he left the combat field.

The moment his figure reappeared in the wooden hut, his battlefield marking stirred again. Lu Ye checked and furrowed his brows, realizing something—the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge seemed to be launching organized, concerted challenges against him! Otherwise, it made no sense that the next challenge would come as soon as one ended.

As before, he accepted and chose the same terrain again...

After just dozens of breaths, Lu Ye reappeared, and sure enough, a new challenge had arrived, relentless and unending.

Lu Ye decided not to rush to devour the Earth's Core Fire anymore. If Ten Thousand Demons Ridge wanted to play this game, then he would be forced to accompany them to the end.

Time passed, and one fight after another began and ended swiftly.

Such rapid combat was something Lu Ye had rarely experienced: the same combat field, different opponents, one fight after another, endless killing.

In half a day, more than twenty physique cultivators had died by Lu Ye's hand, and as time passed, this number was still increasing.

Continuous fighting was still a significant drain on Lu Ye, especially now that all his challengers were physique cultivators with strong bodies, who had all triggered their protective measures before entering the combat field. To kill them, he had to break through their defenses.

Even Lu Ye couldn't hold back if he wanted to break through those physique cultivators' defenses.

The Boulder Mountain Saber he wielded even started to develop some notches. Lu Ye had chosen this Spiritual Artifact because of its sturdiness, and inside it, more than half of its spirit runes were designed to reinforce the blade. Even so, the Boulder Mountain Saber was now showing signs of being overburdened.

Fortunately, Lu Ye's killing of the enemy did not rely on the sharpness of the Spiritual Artifact itself, so as long as it wasn't shattered, it could still be used.