Sage of Humanity

Something had to be done, otherwise, death was certain.

Driven by a vehement desire to survive, Huo Liaoyuan pushed past his own limits. The remaining spirit force within him boiled up, and his mind was more focused than ever before.

"Snap!" His hands suddenly came together, fingers outstretched. Suddenly, a point of flickering light appeared at the center of his palms, rapidly expanding and blazing with light.

Intense and chaotic spirit force fluctuations surged forth.

To any onlooker, it would seem as though Huo Liaoyuan was cradling a small sun between his hands, the spirit force visibly flowing over its surface.

At this critical moment, Lu Ye was only thirty feet away from Huo Liaoyuan!

Huo Liaoyuan's actions put him on alert. He had never underestimated his adversary, but that didn't cause him to pause his charging steps.

Thirty feet could be crossed in a single breath. By that time, no matter how powerful the magic and spells unleashed by Huo Liaoyuan were, he could end it all with one strike of his saber.

Because right now, Huo Liaoyuan's body was dimmed of spirit light, clearly at the end of his rope, having poured all his remaining spirit force into that small sun before him.

Just then, Huo Liaoyuan suddenly made a pushing motion with both hands, and the small sun shot rapidly towards Lu Ye.

As it moved, the spirit force on the surface of the little sun flowed even more violently, peeling away layer by layer like a budding flower opening its petals.

With the blossoming of these fiery petals, a chilling presence instantly filled the entire Deathmatch Arena.

In the blink of an eye, the small sun transformed into a massive fire lotus.

Lu Ye had already moved to avoid it, but to his surprise, such a change occurred. By the time he realized, he was completely enveloped by the fire lotus.

The Lotus of Raging Flames bloomed silently, without the grandiose impact of the Prairie Burning Explosion Burial, nor the majestic pomp of the meteor fire shower, but the power it emitted was more terrifying than either of the two spells.

It was a heat so fearsome it could melt everything.

This was another killer move from Huo Liaoyuan, one that he had not yet fully mastered!

On a normal day, there was a fifty percent chance that casting this technique would fail, so Huo Liaoyuan never dared to use it against an enemy, lest it backfire and hurt himself instead. He would never have risked it if he weren't driven to desperation.

Fortunately for him, luck was on his side. Despite only having a fifty percent chance of success, he managed to cast it, perhaps due to the utmost concentration brought on by immense pressure.

His face pale as paper, he quietly watched the blooming fire lotus, watching as Lu Ye's figure was completely swallowed up, and he truly breathed a sigh of relief.

This time... Lu Yiye couldn't possibly survive, right?

Just as this thought popped into his mind, his pupils suddenly shrank, his eyes trembling violently.

Right in front of him, emerging from the blooming fire lotus, a figure walked out unhurriedly, looking relaxed and casual as if he were not crossing a vortex of death but his own backyard. There was not the slightest fluctuation in his calm expression.

Lu Ye didn't exactly understand what this technique Huo Liaoyuan had used was, but it clearly was powerful, judging by the adversary's expression and his own feelings. However, thanks to the protection of the Talent Tree, he was able to fend off the fire's damage.

In comparison, the fire lotus posed even less danger to Lu Ye than the previous Prairie Burning Explosion Burial had.

At least the blast from the explosion had caused him some substantial injuries, whereas the silently blooming fire lotus didn't even singe a hair on his head.

"Ha!" Huo Liaoyuan let out an involuntary exclamation of shock, taking several steps back uncontrollably, his face full of terror.

It was like a nightmare all over again!

First the Prairie Burning Explosion Burial, now the Lotus of Raging Flames—what on earth had Lu Yiye done to withstand both his killer moves unscathed?

Was he dreaming or what?

Yet his physical weakness and pain constantly reminded Huo Liaoyuan that this was no dream.

Step by step, Lu Ye slowly approached until he was three yards in front of Huo Liaoyuan. The massive fire lotus behind him gradually dissipated, and the space distorted by the high heat seemed to be smoothed over by an invisible hand.

As their eyes met, Huo Liaoyuan's dry lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he couldn't utter a single word. Instead, he roared furiously and recklessly lunged towards Lu Ye.

Devoid of spirit force within his body, as a magic cultivator, he had no means to cast any spells without it.

But he did not surrender, nor did he plead for mercy.

For this was the Deathmatch Arena, a place where only one can survive.

Lu Ye stood still, his wrist turned, and the flash of the saber passed by.

He shook the Boulder Mountain Saber lightly and sheathed it back in place.

A thud echoed from behind them; the sound of fresh blood flowing out, staining the ground of the Deathmatch Arena red.

In the spirit ground, the wolf pack and the cultivators of the Sacred Universe Spirit Ground were at a standoff, over a hundred yards apart. This distance was within the attack range of the cultivators, yet they refrained from attacking the wolves.

The reason they were confronting the wolves was that they were waiting for Huo Liaoyuan.

According to the rules of the Deathmatch Arena, the two entering must fight to the death. When one perishes, the other will also be sent back to their original location.

Before the appearance of Huo Liaoyuan, it was the power of the Deathmatch Arena within the Great Reversal Spirit Ground that lured Lu Ye into the arena; thus, his subsequent emergence would still be in the Sacred Universe Spirit Ground.

The cultivators of the Sacred Universe Spirit Ground had to ensure that the moment Huo Liaoyuan appeared, they would be able to provide support to him.

Since they didn't initiate an attack, the wolf pack naturally wouldn't trouble themselves...

On the side, Li Baxian's face was so gloomy it seemed almost dripping with water, as he continually checked the battlefield imprint to ascertain Lu Ye's life or death.

When Lu Ye was pulled into the Deathmatch Arena, Li Baxian almost went mad. He truly hadn't expected that Huo Liaoyuan actually possessed such an exotic treasure.

His own junior brother was at Level 5 in cultivation, whereas Huo Liaoyuan was at Level 9. How vast was the gap between their cultivation levels?

Though his junior brother had a profound foundation, excelling at defeating stronger enemies, there was always a limit to everything, and Li Baxian did not believe that Lu Ye would be a match for Huo Liaoyuan.

If Lu Ye could have Amber's assistance to trigger the Beast Transformation Secret Technique, Li Baxian might have some confidence in him, but Amber had fallen into a deep slumber previously and had not awoken since, leaving Lu Ye no way to coordinate with Amber.

This battle, more perilous than fortunate for his junior brother.

Li Baxian wished he could stand in for him... but even he, facing Huo Liaoyuan, did not have the certainty of victory.

The atmosphere in the entire Great Reversal Spirit Ground was extremely oppressive.

Time passed, one cup of tea, one incense stick's time...

Li Baxian's expression turned odd.

In his expectations, his junior brother, facing Huo Liaoyuan alone, would probably reach his limit within a hundred breaths' time, but now, it had already been one incense stick's time, and his junior brother was still unharmed.

Li Baxian suddenly realized that he might have underestimated his junior brother, or perhaps Amber had suddenly awoken? If that were the case, then it was hard to say which of them would live or die in this battle.

As time kept slipping away, Li Baxian grew more certain that it was Amber that had awoken at this critical moment, even positing that perhaps it was his junior brother who had roused it!

His earlier anxiety and unease swept away, Li Baxian quietly waited for Lu Ye's return, believing that his junior brother could defeat Huo Liaoyuan, just as long as he could successfully trigger the Beast Transformation Secret Technique!

On the opposite side, the cultivators of the Sacred Universe Spirit Ground appeared quite relaxed, for in their eyes, with Huo Liaoyuan exceeding Lu Yiye by four minor levels in cultivation, how could he possibly lose?

The longer the time dragged on, the more it appeared that Senior Brother Huo was toying with Lu Yiye; at this moment, Lu Yiye must be living a fate worse than death.

What they needed to do was simple: just go to provide support promptly when Huo Liaoyuan returned.

"What is Huo Liaoyuan messing around with?" Elsewhere in the crowd, Xia Liang murmured softly. Although it was regrettable not to kill Lu Ye with his own hands for revenge, Huo Liaoyuan had promised a share of the rewards, which he would surely honor. But this guy was so slow; it had been such a long time since he went in, and yet he still hadn't come out. Didn't he know that delays could lead to unexpected problems?

"Let's wait a bit longer. Maybe he will come out soon," advised Tan Sheng.

Xia Liang nodded slightly, looked up ahead for a moment, and said in a low voice, "Brother Tan, I need your help with something."

"Brother Xia, please speak," Tan Sheng responded.

Xia Liang said, "I want to kill Li Baxian!"

His initial goal was to kill Li Baxian. With Yanh Xing dead at Li Baxian's hands, he had to avenge his death. The primary reason for targeting Lu Ye in the hunting grounds was to lure Li Baxian into appearing, which, unfortunately, led to the Mad Saber Sect compensating with a huge amount of resources.

The grudge with Lu Ye was also prompted by this.

Though there were many twists and turns along the way, to this day, he still hadn't forgotten his original intention.

Compared with that, he wanted to kill Li Baxian even more.

Now that Lu Yiye was destined to die at Huo Liaoyuan's hands, Xia Liang's only target remained.

Tan Sheng naturally understood Xia Liang's obsession with Li Baxian. Hearing his words, he nodded and said, "I will coordinate with Brother Xia when the time comes."

"Thank you. If this succeeds, you may call upon me whenever you need help in the future," Xia Liang said.

Tan Sheng's eyes brightened, for although his own strength was not much less than Xia Liang's, their sects still differed somewhat in stature. Mad Saber Sect was 1st grade, while his New Moon Sect was only 3rd grade. Securing such a promise from Xia Liang was sure to be beneficial in the future.

Favors are sometimes very precious at certain times.

"Brother Xia is too polite, I... He's out!" Tan Sheng suddenly called out in a low voice.

At the same time, everyone noticed something was amiss.

Because a speck of light had suddenly burst forth in the sky, and right after that, the light revealed the phantom image of the Deathmatch Arena, with a white light shooting out from within, landing at a certain location.

The space at that location twisted suddenly, and right after that, a figure appeared out of thin air!

The cultivators of the Sacred Universe Spirit Ground, who had been ready to rush over the moment their support was needed, looked as if they had been struck by a lightning-attracting talisman, all frozen in place, their eyes trembling and filled with disbelief.

In the crowd, Tan Sheng's eyelids twitched wildly, while Xia Liang exclaimed in disbelief, "How is that possible?"

As if they had seen something utterly inconceivable.