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Translator: Truth
Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys
Over seven hundred Core Circle cultivators were gathered at this side of the Myriad Poison Forest to capture Lu Ye. Both the sky and the earth were sealed with wards and Spirit Artifacts. Even if the Grand Sky Coalition had their numbers, they would’ve had a hard time breaking through such a defensive line.
However, the Vermillion Bird easily tore a hole in it like it was made of paper.
The Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators who attempted to catch Lu Ye with the Spirit Webs were the first to die. Their clothes and even the hair on their body started burning before the Vermillion Bird even got close. It was like their protective Spiritual Power did not exist.
By the time they finally realized the danger they were facing and tried to escape, it was already too late.
The Vermillion Bird flapped its wings a little as it elegantly glided through the impudent fools who dared to bar its path. Orange flames immediately enveloped their bodies.
Blood curdling screams filled the air as the cultivators fell from the sky like raindrops. They were dead before they even hit the ground.
More Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators were caught by the orange flames and killed as it continued forward. Even the strongest Spirit Creek Realm cultivator was but an ant before this technique.
They had maintained a tight formation in order to handle the Grand Sky Coalition’s charge better, but it turned out to be their biggest mistake instead.
The Vermillion Bird flew over the spot with the most cultivators, its murderously hot energy killing everyone who wasn’t fast enough to get out of the way and scorching the ground into black ashes. Finally, it entered the Myriad Poison Forest.
That wasn’t the end of the technique, however. The Vermillion Bird easily burned a hole in the poisonous fog that permanently shrouded the forest. Wherever it traveled, the poisonous fog vanished like it was never there.
From a bird’s eye view, one could see that a gap at least fifty meters wide had appeared in the Thousand Demon Ridge’s defensive line. There wasn’t a single person covering that gap unless one counted the charred corpses on the ground. The cultivators on both sides of the gap were staring at the orange figure with abject fear and trepidation.
They had lived not because they were strong, but because they were lucky. They were lucky that the massive figure hadn’t chosen to fly over them.
Not a single cultivator who was caught in the Vermillion Bird’s range had lived. They had all turned into charred corpses.
It had only been a dozen or so breaths since the assault began, and already they had lost over two hundred cultivators! They had even lost a few Scroll of Supremacy cultivators including the thirty-third ranker, Wu Beihan.
On the surface, he was the commander and the strongest cultivator of their group. That was why he had ordered his people to attack instead of running or hiding when the Vermillion Bird first appeared.
He had underestimated the Fire Phoenix’s power, however. By the time the orange figure was in front of him, there was already no way to run.
At least he had died before feeling much pain.
After entering the Myriad Poison Forest, the Vermillion Bird traveled another kilometer or two before letting out one last cry. Then, it abruptly scattered into sparks of light.
At the same time, a figure fell out of the Vermillion Bird and hit the ground with a thud.
“That’s Lu Yi Ye!” A Thousand Demon Ridge cultivator let out a shivering cry.
Lu Ye was the one who somehow manifested the Vermillion Bird of the Four Sacred Beasts into existence. Since the mythical creature was now gone, it was only natural that Lu Ye would reappear. However, he didn’t look like he was doing too well.
“He’s on his last legs!” Someone exclaimed in pleasant surprise.
Lu Ye had killed over two hundred people with a technique no one had ever seen before. As if to prove this, countless red dots were flying out of the dead bodies and homing in on Lu Ye’s location.
It was a powerful technique alright, but was it something a Spirit Creek Realm cultivator could execute without consequences? Of course not.
At this level, there was no one who didn’t know that there was no such thing as a powerful technique without a cost.
They might not know how Lu Yi Ye was even able to execute such a technique, but the important thing was that he looked to be on his last legs. He might even have crippled himself to cast that technique.
In any case, he was at his absolute weakest right now. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have allowed himself to show weakness and would’ve caught his own fall.
The abject terror that paralyzed them a while ago was suddenly replaced by equally huge delight. They all recognized this as an opportunity to kill Lu Ye!
Lu Yi Ye of the Crimson Blood Sect was a walking vault. Anyone who killed him would be rewarded with an endless amount of wealth.
That was why the survivors quickly got ready to give chase.
However, they didn’t manage to move a muscle before the air suddenly became filled with the ringing of swords.
Someone shouted, “The Grand Sky Coalition is attacking!”
The Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators whose attention had been drawn toward Lu Ye looked back. They saw the sword maniacs of the Northern Profound Sword Clan forming a sword field and flying toward them like a dragon. Following right behind them were three to four hundred Grand Sky Coalition cultivators.
The Vermillion Bird’s manifestation was awe-inspiring, but the Grand Sky Coalition group wasn’t the one who was being attacked. That was why they had recovered faster than the Thousand Demon Ridge.
Yu Lianzhou and the others had immediately realized that this was a golden opportunity. They had attacked the second the Vermillion Bird crashed into the forest.
Just like that, a major battle had broken out without warning.
Over three thousand Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators were gathered around the Myriad Poison Forest, and at least seven hundred people were gathered on this side. Even if they had lost over two hundred to Lu Ye, they still outnumbered the Grand Sky Coalition group.
However, sword cultivators were notorious for their killing prowess, not to mention that the sword maniacs had come together to create a massive sword field consisting of over a thousand swords. Like a meat grinder, the storm of swords crashed into the crowd and sent blood, flesh and bones flying all over the place. Blood curdling screams filled the air immediately.
Not only that, the three hundred plus Grand Sky Coalition cultivators behind them had immediately followed up with their own attacks. As a result, they immediately fell into a disadvantage.
If the wards and traps they had prepared were still present, then perhaps they still could’ve used them to turn this around. However, the Vermillion Bird had destroyed everything when it broke through the defensive line, meaning that superior numbers was the only advantage they had right now.
One advantage wasn’t enough to repel the Grand Sky Coalition group, especially since they were battered, shocked, and caught off guard. For a time, it actually looked like they might lose until the nearest groups heard of their plight and rushed to their rescue.
The Grand Sky Coalition group did not hesitate to escape the second the enemy reinforcements showed up. The Thousand Demon Ridge furiously gave chase for a time…
Meanwhile, Lu Ye was running deeper into the Myriad Poison Forest with all his might. He was covered in blood and extremely weakened right now.
His consciousness was blurry, and fatigue threatened to overwhelm him at any moment. Not only that, he was nearly out of Spiritual Power. If he hadn’t drunk that bottle of Mystic Fruit cider right before casting the Fire Phoenix, he would’ve been a lifeless husk already.
Countless cracks had appeared all across his body. Even his muscles and internal organs were damaged to an extent.
He was really, really glad he had saved up five Spirit Storage worth of Spiritual Power beforehand. Otherwise, he would have failed mid-cast.
The Glyph simply required too much Spiritual Power and mental strength to execute. He wasn’t supposed to cast it at his level.
Although he ultimately managed to create the Glyph in the end, he was unable to control the Fire Phoenix at all. Otherwise, he would’ve slaughtered all seven hundred Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators instead of crashing into the forest.
Also, the Fire Phoenix had dissipated not long after he crashed into the forest. It wasn’t because its power was spent, but because he literally could not maintain it any longer. He was sure he would die if he tried.
Lu Ye reckoned he had to reach the Cloud River Realm at least if he wished to construct this Glyph with ease and control it perfectly, and even that was a big if.
The Mystic Fruit cider was still in effect and replenishing his depleted Spiritual Power, but the aftereffects of the Fire Phoenix were quickly showing themselves.
He dared not linger at the same spot because he was sure there were other Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators in the forest. Countless people had seen him crashing unceremoniously. Someone had to be coming after him. If he encountered even one of them before he met up with Yi Yi or Ju Jia…
He didn’t think he would survive. He was nowhere near his peak form right now.
The good news was that he had messaged Yi Yi about his arrival, and the trio were currently making their way toward him right now. Plus, Myriad Poison Forest was permanently shrouded in a poisonous fog and not too dissimilar to the Misty Mountains. It would not be easy for them to track him down in this environment. He should be okay as long as he kept his guard up.
He was just thinking this when, he felt a Heavenly power descending on him. The next moment, a half-translucent, gigantic list appeared high above his head.
There were a hundred names on the list. It was none other than the famous Scroll of Supremacy.
Lu Ye’s movements stiffened for a second. [… Fuck.]
Lu Ye was of course aware of the Scroll of Supremacy. According to his fourth senior brother, all cultivators who entered the Spirit Creek Battlefield for the first time would sense the Heavens temporarily. If their performance was outstanding, it might even “announce” it in an innovative way as a form of acknowledgement and praise.
In reality though, only a handful of people had ever received the Heavens’ acknowledgement and praise. To be specific, only one in ten thousand people would receive this “reward”, and it happened only once every few years.
Lu Ye was just planning to conceal himself when this gigantic, half-translucent list appeared above his head like the most obnoxious banner in the entire world. Excluding the blind, anyone within fifty kilometers should be able to see it.
[No, it couldn’t be…]
[Surely not…]
[This is just…]
Meanwhile, countless people saw five names on the Scroll of Supremacy dimming all of a sudden before vanishing into nothing. This meant that these five people had either ascended to the Cloud River Realm or died.
At the same time, a gold emblazoned name appeared on the thirty-third spot.
Lu Yi Ye, Bing Zhou, Crimson Blood Sect, Heaven-Grade Seventh-Order Realm!
Everyone below the thirty-third spot had gone up a placement. Besides that, new names, origin and cultivation level had been added to the bottom of the list.
The Scroll of Supremacy was suspended high up in the sky. As Lu Ye feared, every cultivator within fifty kilometers of him could see the list. More importantly, they were all staring at the new thirty-third placement and especially the last five words at the end of the line.
Heaven-Grade Seventh-Order Realm!
To say the words stabbed their eyeballs would be an understatement.
A long time ago, the Scroll of Supremacy was completely made up of Heaven Nine cultivators. Then, Li Baxian appeared and occupied a top ten spot as a Heaven Eight cultivator. However, Li Baxian was originally a Heaven Nine cultivator, and he had entered the list as one. It was after he lost a Spiritual Point that his cultivation level was refreshed to the Heaven Grade Eighth Order Realm.
Despite this, he remained an incredibly powerful cultivator as he was originally a Heaven Ninth cultivator, not to mention that he was extraordinarily talented and capable of controlling a hundred swords telekinetically. It was to the point where even the Grand Master of the Northern Profound Sword Clan had wanted to recruit him as his personal disciple a long time ago.
This was the first time in history that anyone had ascended to the Scroll of Supremacy as a Heaven Seven cultivator!
