Sage of Humanity

A moment later, in a grand hall at the Mount Qingyu residence, Lu Ye and Su Zining took their seats, one as the guest and the other as the host.

It was evident that even Su Zining, a governor, was quite restrained in the presence of Lu Ye, not to mention everyone else.

Mount Qingyu was currently an 8th grade sect, and the strongest person in the entire sect was only at the True Lake Realm. Although there were a few at the Spirit Stream Realm in the core circle, limited by aptitude and talent, they could at most cultivate up to the 8th Heaven level.

It could be said that so far, Mount Qingyu had not produced anyone at the Spirit Stream Realm who had reached the 9th Heaven level!

So, the sudden visit of Lu Ye, the top ranker of the Spirit Stream Ranking, naturally made Su Zining feel pressure like a mountain.

He was still unclear about the purpose of Lu Ye's sudden visit.

After some small talk, Lu Ye casually asked, "How has Brother Tang Wu been recently?"

Back when his identity was exposed, and he was chased by cultivators from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge, Tang Wu had also stepped forward to help him resolve the crisis. If it were not for Tang Wu's timely appearance to stop Han Zheyue, who had come chasing him, he would have been in considerable trouble then.

"Brother Tang Wu has already been promoted to Cloud River, Brother Yiye is thoughtful," replied Su Zining.

Hearing of Tang Wu's promotion to Cloud River, Lu Ye was not surprised. Tang Wu had already been at a Level 9 cultivation two years ago, and by now, it was time for a promotion.

However, Lu Ye guessed that Tang Wu had been promoted with a 7th Heaven or 8th Heaven cultivation.

He then asked about Xie Jin, Qiao Qiao'er, Song Xie, Tao Tiangang, and Mhu Ling, who had treated his injuries back then, the people with whom he had fought side by side.

Su Zining replied, "Senior Brother Xie, Sister Qiao, and Sister Mhu have all entered the inner circle, while Senior Brother Song and Brother Tao have already passed away."

Lu Ye fell silent.

In just two years, things had completely changed. The growth and cultivation of a cultivator always inevitably involved slaughter and various crises.

Utterly curious, Su Zining asked, "Brother Yiye, how do you know so many brothers and sisters from our sect?"

Lu Ye smiled and said, "Didn't they tell you that I participated in the battle at Hundred Peaks Mountain two years ago? At that time, I fought shoulder to shoulder with those brothers and sisters of yours."

Su Zining couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, as he really hadn't known about it and had never heard anyone mention it before. Hearing it from Lu Ye now, he finally understood the connection between them.

He suddenly felt the top ranker of the Spirit Stream Ranking sitting before him to be a lot more approachable.

"Do you need me to send a message and call back Senior Brother Xie and Sister Qiao?"

"No need," Lu Ye waved his hand. "It's a long journey to the inner circle, and them coming back and forth would only waste their cultivation time. I am here for a matter and will leave once it's resolved."

"Brother Yiye, what matter do you need to address? If my Mount Qingyu can be of help, feel free to ask," Su Zining offered.

"I will indeed need your Mount Qingyu to take action," Lu Ye looked at Su Zining, "I need to enter Dragon Spring!"

Su Zining was puzzled, "Brother Yiye, you are already at a 9th Heaven level cultivation, going into Dragon Spring shouldn't be of much use to you."

Lu Ye shook his head, "I have my reasons."

As he spoke, he unfastened a storage sack from his waist and pushed it towards Su Zining, "Please trouble you to return to the headquarters of Mount Qingyu and report this matter. I know it's not yet time for Dragon Spring to open, but I believe your sect should have a way to let me in. Consider these things as my compensation."

Su Zining hurriedly said, "No need for compensation, Brother Yiye. I will report it as it is."

Lu Ye smiled and slapped the storage sack into his hand, "This compensation is for Mount Qingyu. Let the elders of your sect decide on it."

After thinking it over, Su Zining nodded and said, "Then Brother Yiye, please wait a moment. I'll return to our sect!"

"Much obliged!"

When Su Zining left, Lu Ye waited in the hall.

In just half a Shichen, Su Zining returned, and an elderly man also arrived with him.

Lu Ye stood up.

Su Zining introduced, "Brother Yiye, this is Elder Ye Yang of Mount Qingyu."

Lu Ye bowed, "I have met Elder Ye."

Being an Elder of Mount Qingyu, he was definitely a powerhouse at the True Lake Realm, but because he had entered the Spirit Stream battlefield, the old man's displayed strength was only at the 8th Heaven level.

Elder Ye Yang scrutinized Lu Ye and stroked his beard, "I have long heard of the great name of Lu Yiye of the Righteous Blood Sect. Seeing you today, you truly are a dragon among men. Times change, and each generation brings forth new talents; it's hard not to accept one's old age."

"Elder Ye flatters me too much, I am sorry for causing Elder Ye to make a special trip," Lu Ye exchanged pleasantries.

He knew the elder was so courteous partly because of recognizing his potential, and secondly because of the items in the storage sack he had given out, worth a total of three hundred thousand merits—something Lu Ye had deliberately kept aside.

If not for that, what would make such a high-ranking elder condescend to visit the Spirit Stream battlefield?

Entering the Spirit Stream Battlefield as an elder of the True Lake Realm like Elder Ye would indeed cost quite a few merits.

"You flatter me, young friend, please sit." Elder Ye gestured with his hand.

Once again seated, Su Zining accompanied him at the side.

"I heard from Zining that you wish to enter Dragon Spring?" Ye Yang began.

"I wonder if it's possible?"

Ye Yang said, "For others, it's difficult, but if you wish to enter, it's quite easy."

"Oh? Why is that?" Lu Ye asked, puzzled.

Ye Yang smiled and explained, "To enter Dragon Spring, not only my Qingyu Sect but also Tailuo Sect and Qin Family must agree to open it, as Dragon Spring is related to the disciples' body refining; hence, even if Qingyu Sect agrees, without the consent of the other two, we cannot open Dragon Spring. Others might come, and those two might not agree, but given your reputation, just a word from you to those families would hardly leave them daring to disagree."

Lu Ye, known as 'Lu Ye the Sect Destroyer', entering Dragon Spring—would Tailuo Sect and Qin Family dare utter a word against it? Although the Spirit Stream battlefield has its own rules, and the outer circle deals with its own matters, there have been more than one instances where rules have been bent targeting Lu Ye from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge.

Hence, if Lu Ye were to bend a rule now, likely no one from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge would dare say anything.

If Tailuo Sect and Qin Family dared to disagree, Lu Ye could just raise his hand and annihilate their stations.

"I see!" Lu Ye nodded, "It looks like I need to make another trip to Tailuo Sect and Qin Family!"

"Correct," Ye Yang nodded, "As long as you can persuade Tailuo Sect and Qin Family, we at Qingyu Sect have no objections."

This is the benefit of offering substantial incentives. Ye Yang didn't even ask why Lu Ye wanted to enter Dragon Spring. As a seasoned cultivator like him, he naturally knew everyone had their secrets, and it wasn't wise to rashly probe into others' secrets.

Lu Ye promptly stood up, "Then I will make the trip."

Ye Yang said with a smile, "This old man will await the good news atop Dragon Spring Peak at Hundred Peaks Mountain."

Tailuo Sect and Qin Family's stations were not far from the site of Qingyu Sect, just a few tens of miles away.

The situation between outer circle sect stations is often like this since the cultivators in the outer circle aren't very powerful; if the distance were too great, clashes would hardly occur.

In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, following the guidance of the ten-part map, Lu Ye arrived at the Tailuo Sect's station.

To Tailuo Sect, Lu Ye held no good impressions—previously, Han Zheyue had chased after him to kill him.

At Golden Light Peak, it was this woman who repeatedly exposed his secrets, causing Lu Ye to struggle against more than forty Level 6 opponents.

Enveloped by the light curtain of the protective array, Lu Ye traveled through air and landed before the curtain, his Boulder Mountain Saber thunderously unsheathed as he raised his hand and brought the saber down.

For this strike, he didn't even use the Single Flash Saber Technique; he merely enhanced it with Double-Sharpness spirit runes.

Yet with one strike, the array's light curtain shattered loudly!

The protective arrays at outer circle sect stations are generally weaker compared to those in the inner and core circles, not because Tailuo Sect lacks the merit to acquire a good array base, but because the concentration of nature's spiritual energy is not as dense as in the inner and core circles.

After all, the effectiveness of a protective array is greatly dependent on the density of nature's spiritual energy.

Given Lu Ye's current formidable strength, the protective array of an outer circle sect station could generally be broken with one strike.

The noise of the array shattering was loud, and in an instant, numerous Tailuo Sect cultivators surged out from their cultivation sites, a chaotic scene as no one knew what had happened.

Only when someone saw a figure hovering in the sky on a Spiritual Artifact did terror arise.

A Level 7 cultivator stepped forward and, bolstering his courage, asked, "May I ask which Fellow Daoist graces us with their presence, and why have you broken our Tailuo Sect's protective array?"

It must absolutely be someone from Haotian Alliance; otherwise, there's no reason to break one's own array, and judging by the spirit light emanating from the visitor, he must be a cultivator who had cultivated a Heaven-Rank technique.

So this Level 7 cultivator was truly puzzled. This should be a cultivator who normally cultivates in the core circle, so why come to the outer circle to display power?

"Righteous Blood Sect, Lu Yiye!" Lu Ye spoke mildly.

Previously, when he reported himself as Lu Ye at Qingyu Sect, others didn't react. But now, mentioning Lu Yiye, Tailuo Sect's group of cultivators immediately paled, retreating en masse as though Lu Ye was some devastating natural disaster.

"Summon your elders to speak; I'll be at Dragon Spring Peak on Hundred Peaks Mountain waiting for them!" Lu Ye left these words behind and turned to leave. He indeed had the strength to slaughter all the cultivators here, but it is the weaker ones who strike at the even weaker, and moreover, with his current 9th Heaven cultivation, actually killing these people would cost him untold amounts of merit.

Thus, from the very beginning, he had no intention of killing anyone.

After he left, the station of Tailuo Sect instantly descended into chaos; someone immediately returned to their sect headquarters to report the incident. For a time, the Tailuo Sect headquarters was also on high alert, unsure why Lu Ye the Sect Destroyer suddenly appeared at their station, demanding their elders to come forward and speak.

Meanwhile, Lu Ye had already reached the Qin Family station, and just as before, he broke the protective array of Qin Family's station with one strike, left a message, and turned to leave.

Moments later, atop Dragon Spring Peak on Hundred Peaks Mountain, Lu Ye landed.

He had visited this place once before, two years ago, to undergo the Dragon Spring Body Tempering where he acquired a piece of Scale Armor.

Now returning, his state of mind was entirely different.

Above Dragon Spring Peak was a grand hall, built jointly by Qingyu Sect and Tailuo Sect. The entrance to Dragon Spring was concealed beneath the hall.