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Translator: Truth
Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys
If the Thousand Demon Ridge could recognize the threat Lu Ye posed and do everything in their power to eliminate him, then of course the Grand Sky Coalition could recognize his value as well.
To the Thousand Demon Ridge, the Vanquisher of Sects was a walking calamity and the source of all the chaos that had happened as of late, but to the Grand Sky Coalition, he was one of their rising stars and a future pillar.
Their opinions were different because their standpoints were different. Anyone the Thousand Demon Ridge wanted to kill, the Grand Sky Coalition would do their utmost to protect, and vice versa. It had been like this since the two cultivation factions were born. No one was going to give the other party what they desired without a struggle.
In fact, the Northern Profound Sword Clan weren’t the only ones who had shown up. Many Core Circle Grand Sky Coalition sects had taken action as well. They were just scattered all around the Myriad Poison Forest because they didn’t know where Lu Ye would appear.
If Lu Ye had flown toward the Myriad Poison Forest from a different direction, he might have encountered the Righteous Sect, the Green Jade Sect, or the Auspicious Cloud Palace.
The Northern Profound Sword Clan did not recruit their disciples lightly. All hopeful cultivators must meet some of the stringent requirements ever in the history of Jiu Zhou to join the sect. It was why they possessed the fewest sect members of all the Tier-One sects in Jiu Zhou.
Their Outpost in the Core Circle consisted of dozens of cultivators only. However, they still sent over a dozen sword cultivators to aid Lu Ye. While Lu Ye himself was worth the effort, Li Baxian was at least half the reason they were willing to risk this much.
“Fellow Cultivator Lu, you must not go to the Myriad Poison Forest. The Thousand Demon Ridge has prepared well for your arrival, and now they are just waiting for you to fall into their death trap.”
“My fellow disciples are trapped in there.”
“I have heard. However, I would urge you to wait until our forces are assembled. Right now, it is the Thousand Demon Ridge who holds the initiative. At least thousands of people have gathered outside Myriad Poison Forest already. We won’t be able to break through their defense line without sufficient numbers.”
“There’s no time. Myriad Poison Forest is no place for a cultivator, and my fellow disciples have already been trapped for days. At this rate, they are going to succumb to the poison before we can reach them.” Lu Ye then looked at Yu Lianzhou and asked, “What would you do if it was your disciples who were trapped in the forest?”
Yu Lianzhou thought for a moment before nodding. “I understand. Let us make haste to rescue your fellow disciples then.”
“Your compassion and selflessness are much appreciated, fellow cultivators, but you and I are both aware how dangerous this venture will be. You do not need to accompany me into the Myriad Poison Forest.”
“You plan to take on the Thousand Demon Ridge’s defense line alone, Fellow Cultivator Lu?” Yu Zhou understood Lu Ye’s meaning immediately.
“I may be able to breach their defense line and enter the Myriad Poison Forest.”
“May be?”
“I have never tried this method before, so I am unsure how well it will go. Of course, I would appreciate it if you would escort me to my destination. The Thousand Demon Ridge knows where I am right now, and I am sure they will send many people to intercept me. I need to recover my Spiritual Power to carry out my plan.”
“Even if you have a way to breach their defense line and enter the Myriad Poison Forest, what can you do alone, Fellow Cultivator Lu? The place is permanently shrouded in poisonous fog, and it only gets worse the deeper you go. If you and your companions are unable to break out, it is only a matter of time before you all perish, no?”
“I understand your concerns, but I have my ways. Please believe in me, Fellow Cultivator Yu.”
Yu Lianzhu frowned. He stared at him for a moment as if trying to determine if he was telling the truth.
Lu Ye smiled. “I promise that I treasure my life more than you treasure yours.”
It was only then Yu Lianzhou nodded. “Then we shall do as you say, Fellow Cultivator Lu. However, please do not push yourself if it cannot be done.”
“I understand.”
“Then let us depart!”
After Lu Ye stepped up onto Yu Lianzhou’s flying sword, the group of sword cultivators immediately took off toward the Myriad Poison Forest.
Previously, Lu Ye was worried that his Spiritual Power might not be up to the task. With Yu Lianzhou fetching him though, he could focus fully on recovering his strength.
He shoved a good number of Spirit Pills into his mouth and activated the Gluttonous Feast. He started regenerating Spiritual Power at an accelerated rate while his stomach rumbled incessantly. At the same time, countless Grand Sky Coalition cultivators received word of Lu Ye’s whereabouts and immediately rushed to meet up with him.
At first, the Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators continued to try and intercept Lu Ye. However, they ceased their attempts after losing several groups to the sword cultivators. They didn’t even dare to tail them from afar because sword cultivators were notorious for their flight speed. The chances they might escape if the sword maniacs decided to pursue them were incredibly low.
Their group grew bigger and bigger over time. It wasn’t long before their numbers exceeded two hundred people. However, the initiative was in the Thousand Demon Ridge’s hands, so they were still going to be vastly outnumbered by the time they got there.
Yu Lianzhou had hoped to persuade Lu Ye to wait a few more days. Days were all they needed to gather enough people to go to battle with the Thousand Demon Ridge. However, he did not succeed.
The problem was that Ju Jia, Yi Yi and Amber did not have days to spare. Even if they did, the best the Grand Sky Coalition could do was to create a stand-off.
Generally speaking, the cultivators of Spirit Creek Battlefield did not engage in battles involving thousands of combatants unless the circumstances were truly exceptional. It was because the casualties would be unthinkable no matter who emerged victorious in the end. It was why the Thousand Demon Ridge was ultimately able to halt Lu Ye’s advance in the Inner Circle by amassing an equally large force of their own.
In the past, neither Grand Sky Coalition nor Thousand Demon Ridge would carry out an operation at this scale. After all, no one wanted to push the other cultivation faction so far that they would resort to drastic measures. That was until Lu Ye had caused a storm in the Inner Circle. These days, they were almost expecting large gatherings like this to happen every once in a while.
Meanwhile, Lu Ye had recovered to full strength. He was currently ruminating about the viability of his plan and wondering how he could increase its success rate.
Glyph: Fire Phoenix was such a complex Glyph that it took over a hundred leaves to host it all. Lu Ye wasn’t worried he might fail the construction because the Tree of Glyphs never failed to construct a Glyph. No, he was worried that his Spiritual Power wouldn’t last until the end of the process. He did not want to imagine what would happen if he ran out of Spiritual Power midway.
The Mystic Fruit cider was a solution, but he wasn’t sure if he could regenerate Spiritual Power faster than he injected it into the Glyph.
The best way to deal with this was to increase his Spiritual Power reserves, but that wasn’t something that could be done in short notice. The obvious way was to unlock more Spiritual Points, but not even he could unlock that many Spiritual Points in such a short time.
It was at this moment the answer hit him like a lightning bolt. Glyph: Storage!
Storage was a Glyph specifically used to store Spiritual Power. In Jiu Zhou, it was called Spirit Bank. Every flying weapon carried an enhancement with Spirit Bank as the core, or it would be impossible to control the second physical contact was broken.
There were two critical requirements that must be met before a cultivator could telekinetically control their Spirit Artifact. One, the cultivator must reach the Seventh-Order so that they could control the Spiritual Power outside their body. Two, they must charge the Spirit Artifact with their Spiritual Power. This would allow the cultivator to telekinetically control their Spirit Artifact.
By applying Storage to himself, he would be able to artificially expand his Spiritual Power reserves. And he knew it would work. If he could apply Gathering Spirits and Bloodrage to himself, then why not Storage?
The second he reached a decision, Lu Ye immediately constructed a Storage at the center of his chest. Once it was complete, he proceeded to charge it with his Spiritual Power.
Of course, Storage itself required some Spiritual Power to maintain, so it was more draining than it seemed. Moreover, the wash of Spiritual Power could easily disrupt the integrity of the Glyph itself. If he did not maintain his focus, it would easily crumble from the injection of Spiritual Power and waste his efforts. It was definitely a challenge that sorely tested his Spiritual Power and mental fortitude.
The good news was that his Divine Soul was powerful enough to handle the task. His control of his Spiritual Power was also perfect.
As time passed, Lu Ye gradually became more comfortable with the task. The Glyph showed no signs of crumbling either. After confirming that his plan was a go, Lu Ye began consuming Spirit Pills and a bottle of Mystic Fruit cider to replenish his Spiritual Power.
More time passed when suddenly, Yu Lianzhou glanced back at Lu Ye. For a while now, he had a feeling that something didn’t feel quite right about Lu Ye. He even sensed a hint of danger from the young man. Of course, he didn’t mean in the sense that Lu Ye was planning to ambush him. He was referring to the young man’s unstable Spiritual Power. It felt like a balloon that might explode any moment.
He wasn’t the only one who sensed this. His fellow cultivators were shooting Lu Ye wary glances as well.
The Storage Lu Ye had constructed on his chest had reached its limit. He literally could not pour more Spiritual Power into it even if he tried. A quick calculation later, he concluded that one Storage could store roughly thirty percent of his total Spiritual Power.
He still had plenty of mental energy to spare, so Lu Ye decided to create a second Storage on his back. He had a much easier time since this was his second time doing this.
Every time Lu Ye created a Storage on his person, he was digging a “pool” where Spiritual Power could be stored. The second pool was connected to his body and the first pool as well. In total, the two pools carried about sixty percent of his total Spiritual Power.
Lu Ye continued creating more Storages until he finally felt that he had enough Spiritual Power to carry out the task ahead of him. In total, he had created five Storages on his body.
In front of the flying sword, Yu Lianzhou’s eyes were twitching uncontrollably. The sense of danger behind his back had grown to unbelievable proportions in just a short time. If the young man felt like a bursting balloon a while ago, now he felt like a live volcano that was moments away from eruption.
He had no idea what Lu Ye was doing, but he could feel with his own body that it was beyond dangerous!
“Please speed up, Fellow Cultivator Yu!” Lu Ye suddenly said.
The group wasn’t moving quickly because they were waiting for reinforcements to meet up with them. After all, they needed the numbers. Sure, it was nothing compared to the thousands and thousands of enemies already gathered at the edge of Myriad Poison Forest, but every trickle of reinforcement made the odds just a little more even.
In fact, he did not truly believe in Lu Ye’s claim that he could breach the Thousand Demon Ridge’s defense line and enter the Myriad Poison Forest. There was only so much a single person could do no matter how much of a genius they were, not to mention that quantity was a quality in its own right.
While Lu Ye was busy doing his thing, he was discussing strategies with the Grand Sky Coalition cultivators who had joined their group. So far, the plan was to make a charge, do their best to tear a hole in the Thousand Demon Ridge’s defense line, and rush into the Myriad Poison Forest before it was closed. If it looked like they weren’t going to succeed, then they would withdraw and wait for a better opportunity.
They could understand Lu Ye’s urgent desire to rescue his fellow disciples. It was why they were willing to risk their own lives to help him. Now though, Yu Lianzhou was actually starting to believe that Lu Ye’s claim wasn’t just false bravado.
If this method Lu Ye claimed could tear a hole in the Thousand Demon Ridge’s defense line was already this terrifying during the preparation stage, just how magnificent would it be when it was actually executed?
