Sage of Humanity

After scouting around, Lu Ye quickly changed direction and dashed toward a particular direction. There was a large river there that he might be able to use to his advantage in this critical moment.

The distance between him and his pursuers was closing rapidly, and the spirit force stored in his spirit energy-storing ring was running low, leaving his situation growing increasingly dire.

The roaring sound of the river reached his ears, and Lu Ye saw the large river on the ten-part map had arrived.

On the ten-part map, this river was marked as River Pi, stretching almost ten thousand miles from east to west, with muddy waters and raging currents, and it was also inhabited by some powerful demon beasts.

Just as Lu Ye was considering whether to dive into the river to use it to camouflage himself, the speed of the pursuers behind him suddenly slowed down.

After activating secret techniques for a long duration, even those at Level 9 realm were starting to feel the strain.

Each of them was seething with resentment, for where in the world could you find a Level 5 realm cultivator who could run this fast? They had been pushing themselves to the limit and still couldn't catch up to him.

Given the current circumstances, they too found themselves in a difficult position to back out.

To give up now was truly disheartening—they had been pursuing for so long, and maybe Lu Yiye was on the verge of running out of energy. However, if they continued the chase, who knew if they could catch up?

One by one, gazes, both real and probing, looked at the Level 9 cultivator who had spoken before. At this moment, his complexion was slightly pale, having been the first to activate the secret technique, thus he had expended the most energy. By now, his presence was somewhat erratic, clearly on the brink of collapsing.

Yet, he gritted his teeth and said, "He must not be able to hold on much longer. Fellow Daoists, you must not give up. If we miss this opportunity, there may not be another."

A group of Level 9 cultivators didn't know what to say.

But human endurance eventually has its limits. Suddenly, one of the Level 9 cultivators halted in midair and began to descend.

He couldn't bear it any longer. Continuing the chase like this would leave him completely drained, regardless of whether Lu Ye died or not. Having utilized the secret technique and suffering its backlash, if he didn't recover quickly, there might be lingering problems.

He certainly wanted to kill Lu Ye, but when faced with uncertain outcomes versus his future prospects, he chose the latter.

With one giving up, a second soon followed...

Within a mere one incense stick's time, four Level 9 cultivators had given up the chase.

Although those who remained were still persevering with clenched teeth, it was clear that they couldn't hold out much longer. Yet they relentlessly pursued, not because they were certain they could catch Lu Ye, but because they had already sent out messages for assistance during the pursuit. Right now, some reinforcement was en route from nearby.

What they needed to do now was keep Lu Ye within their sight, and once the reinforcements arrived, Lu Yiye would have nowhere to fly.

During the chase, they continued to report Lu Ye's current location to others.

Lu Ye had also noticed this, and he had a bad feeling about it, but there was nothing he could do to stop them.

As time passed, an incense stick's time later, Lu Ye suddenly turned his head to look in a certain direction, only to see several streaks of mystic light catching his eye as they rapidly approached from there.

Seeing the speed of these individuals, they were clearly all cultivators of Level 8-9 realm.

This was undoubtedly the backup called by the pursuers behind him.

He quickly changed direction, fleeing away from the approaching figures. However, he hadn't gone far before several more trails of mystic light entered his field of vision.

There were people heading over from this direction as well.

As expected, those chasing him from behind were all Level 9 cultivators with extensive connections, each calling for friends and transmitting messages. Naturally, those eager to take his life would come to interfere.

Lu Ye could sense that he might have been trapped within an encirclement, making it so that no matter which direction he fled, there would be Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators intercepting him.

In the end, he still had to rely on River Pi to escape.

The turbulent and muddy waters could very well conceal his presence and movements. Once he plunged into River Pi, the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators would find it very difficult to track him down.

However, by doing so, the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators would only need to guard the nearby sections of the river where he went underwater, making it tough for him to resurface unless he held his breath and snuck away to a great distance.

Yiyi's Nine Arrays Diagram might be useful. If he had to hold his breath for too long, he could enter the Nine Arrays Diagram to breathe, and it was unlikely that the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators could imagine he possessed such an exotic treasure.

Therefore, although Lu Ye's situation was critical, it hadn't reached a point where he was completely out of options.

Moreover, he had exhausted too much strength and could no longer continue to flee like this. He ultimately needed to conserve some energy in case of unexpected events.

Just as he made up his mind to dive into River Pi, a sudden surge of spirit force fluctuations came from a certain direction, and Lu Ye quickly looked over.

In that direction, a streak of mystic light suddenly sprang up from somewhere on the ground and directly collided with the camp of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators there, immediately engaging in a fierce battle.

This unexpected event surprised everyone. What was even more shocking was that the mysterious figure who suddenly emerged was incredibly powerful. With a longsword in hand and Sword Qi sweeping in all directions, that figure swiftly brought several Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators into a state of disarray within a very short time.

No one knew who this sudden intruder was, because the individual was wearing a white mask with a red and blue design painted on either cheek, the colors converging at the jawline, masking the true face. However, judging by the person's curvaceous silhouette, it was clearly a woman. Her broad sleeves and robe could not hide her impressive figure, and as she moved and shifted, her graceful form was fully accentuated.

The few Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators she engaged with were all terrified because the strength this woman demonstrated far exceeded that of an ordinary Cloud River Level 9. Initially, they were heading to join others in encircling Lu Ye, but they were completely caught off guard and thrown into chaos by this mysterious woman's intervention.

Lu Ye did not know who this woman was. Since he began his cultivation, he had been pursued many times and had often received help and support from cultivators of the Haotian Alliance, but most of these instances occurred on the Spirit Stream battlefield.

On the Cloud River battlefield, only once at the hunting grounds had his fourth senior brother entrusted some friends to assist him.

Therefore, he had not expected that at this critical moment, someone would emerge to lend him a hand.

But there was no denying that the woman was powerful!

After a brief hesitation, Lu Ye flapped the fiery red wings on his back, abandoning the idea of diving into the River Pi and directly rushed towards the direction of the woman.

He did not join her in the fight but passed close by her side and shouted, "Hurry up!"

No matter how strong this woman was, she was ultimately alone, and since she had come to help him, Lu Ye had no reason to abandon her.

Clearly understanding that it was not advisable to entangle with the enemies at this point, the woman saw Lu Ye had broken through the encirclement and unleashed a heaven-shattering sword flash, forcing back several Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators and quickly pursued Lu Ye.

Her strength was sufficient and her speed was swift, catching up with Lu Ye in just a few breaths' time.

Lu Ye silently rejoiced that among the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators who had been pursuing him, there was no such powerhouse, or he would never have been able to escape for so long.

However, returning to the topic, the woman was a sword cultivator, known for their prowess in slaughter and speed.

"Follow me!" the woman spoke and took the lead.

Lu Ye followed closely behind, with many Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators who had received the news converging from the side.

As they dashed along, Lu Ye did not exchange any words with the mysterious woman, but he maintained a distance of about thirty yards from her at all times.

The mysterious woman seemed to be there to assist him, but Lu Ye did not dare to trust her blindly without confirming her identity, for who knew if she was from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge? If everything prior had been an act, his situation would be dire.

However, this possibility was not significant. If the mysterious woman really meant him harm, she could have made her move already.

Lu Ye was just puzzled by her way of hiding her identity.

Even though he himself often did the same...

But he would usually wear various masks, while the woman wore a simple white mask.

Perhaps sensing Lu Ye's wariness, the mysterious woman didn't say much more. She seemed to have a cold disposition, naturally exuding an aura of 'keep your distance from me.'

Soon, the two arrived in front of a smooth rock wall, which appeared unremarkable at first glance. However, Lu Ye immediately noticed something out of place upon reaching this location.

Formation!

Someone had deliberately laid out traces of a formation here.

Just as he was about to trigger the Insight Spirit Runes to examine it, he saw the mysterious woman take out a jade cluster and, with a flick of spirit force, lightly waved it towards the rock wall. A mystic light shot out, and an entrance quickly appeared on the smooth-as-glass wall.

The mysterious woman stepped inside and only took a few steps before turning to look back at Lu Ye.

Because Lu Ye remained still without moving.

Seemingly sensing Lu Ye's hesitation, the mysterious woman spoke, "If I wanted to kill you, you would be dead already!"

Regarding her words, Lu Ye remained noncommittal.

"They are going to catch up!" said the mysterious woman. From behind her mask, her eyes gazed past Lu Ye and clearly saw the sight of streaks of light approaching rapidly. In less than twenty breaths, those Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators would catch up.

Lu Ye shook his head and said, "Fellow Daoist, I will always remember your great kindness. This is where we part ways!"

Even if he could almost ascertain that the mysterious woman bore him no ill intent, Lu Ye was unwilling to follow such a powerful individual into a cave, which was tantamount to placing his life in her hands.

You could call him ungrateful or stubborn, but being cautious is never wrong.

Visibly, the chest of the mysterious woman heaved abruptly, evidently surprised by Lu Ye's reaction, and quite angered.

But at this moment, there was clearly no time to waste on Lu Ye. Seeing that Lu Ye truly intended to leave, she quickly said, "I swear upon Heaven's Augury, I mean you no harm!"

Lu Ye felt somewhat embarrassed as the woman had come to rescue him, yet he suspected her, even after she took the initiative to make a vow by Heaven's Augury...

"My apologies," Lu Ye nodded slightly.

The mysterious woman ignored him and continued walking into the cave, as Lu Ye hurriedly followed.

Under the witness of Heaven's Augury, whatever her purpose might be, at least he could be sure she meant him no harm, and this freed Lu Ye from any worries about a hidden agenda.