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Translator: Truth
Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys
Lu Ye looked green as he lay on his bed and recalled what happened after he activated the Teleportation Ward.
This wasn’t his first experience with teleportation. Every time he traveled from the headquarters to the Outpost or vice versa, he teleported using the Divine Opportunity Column. The trip was always swift and harmless. One second he was here, and the next he was already at his destination.
That was why Lu Ye never thought that teleportation could be a horrific experience… until now.
When he activated the Sub Ward, he immediately felt like the ground had vanished from beneath his feet, and that he was falling through an infinite Abyss. The teleportation process was way longer than when he teleported using the Divine Opportunity Column as well. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he felt an indescribable energy pulling and pushing him like he was a dough. It did not stop until he was finally back in the real world…
He believed himself to be a fairly brave man. At the peak of the Goldentip, he had fought forty-three matches in a row as a Fifth-Order cultivator without fear from the start to finish. He could not help but shiver when he recalled the teleportation though. Throughout the whole process he had felt like a dead leaf that was completely at the mercy of the howling wind. He wasn’t even able to summon his Spiritual Power during the teleportation process. He had felt incredibly insecure to say the least.
Even worse, he was injured during the teleportation process. While he was stuck in the unspeakable abyss, sharp, invisible energy had cut him from every direction and turned him into the bloody, tattered wreck Hua Ci and Yi Yi had seen after he was spat back into reality. The good news was that his physique was tough enough that the wounds were superficial at best. He quickly recovered after Hua Ci treated him. The bad news was that the trauma was going to take some time to remove, especially since he was going to do it all over again.
A day later, a refreshed Lu Ye returned to the courtyard and a new set of clothes. At the side, both Yi Yi and Hua Ci were watching him with worry.
“Are you really going to try it again?”
“Of course! It didn’t go quite as I expected the first time because there were some… minor issues. I’m sure it’ll be fine after I make some adjustments,” Lu Ye declared confidently before giving himself an encouraging slap to the face. [As long as the ward is accurate and stable enough, I’m sure that horrible experience won’t repeat itself! Yeah!]
And so he replaced the damaged Teleportation Ward in the courtyard under Yi Yi and Hua Ci’s worried gazes. He then returned to the place he had laid down the Sub Ward.
The location he had chosen to lay down his Sub Ward was deep enough that the Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators couldn’t make it this far, and the creatures living in the forest wouldn’t be interested in the ward flags. Still, he could not help but let out a sigh of relief when he noticed that the ward flags he left behind were still present.
Two hours later, Yi Yi and Hua Ci suddenly heard a strange noise coming from nearby. The duo exchanged a glance with each other before walking toward the source without a word. A short while later, they were greeted by the sight of a tattered and bloodied Lu Ye yet again.
“Help!” the young man exhaled while stretching a hand toward the two girls. He was forcing himself to look up, but his face was white as a sheet, and he was so dizzy he could not even climb to his feet without aid.
Another day passed, and the trio were standing at the courtyard once more. This time, Yi YI and Hua Ci merely stared at Lu Ye with a blank expression.
Lu Ye declared solemnly, “Third time’s the charm. I’ve already located the problem, and it can be fixed with just a minor adjustment!”
Two hours later, Hua Ci carried a bloodied Lu Ye back into the wooden building…
The fourth day, at the same location.
“I know you’re not going to believe what I say, but that’s fine. Seeing is believing!”
Amber shot Lu Ye a pitying look from the window sill on the third floor before looking away. It then grabbed a Spirit Stone from the Storage Bag hanging around its neck before tossing it into its mouth.
The fifth day, Lu Ye tried to say something against Yi Yi and Hua Ci’s inquiring look but could not think of anything. In the end, he left without saying a word.
After Lu Ye was gone, Hua Ci asked Yi Yi with an amused look, “Where do you think he’ll appear this time?”
Yi Yi placed a finger on her lip and thought seriously. A while later, she pointed in a certain direction and said, “There!”
Hua Ci smiled. “I bet he’ll appear from… there.”
The girls waited patiently while listening attentively for the familiar noise. Not long later, Hua Ci smiled and said, “It’s your win.”
Yi Yi had managed to guess the exact direction where Lu Ye would appear.
“Let’s go,” Hua Ci added before taking off toward Lu Ye.
It was quite scary the first time, but the two girls quickly adapted to their new lifestyle of Lu Ye turning himself into a bloody wreck, and the two of them carrying him back to the wooden house for treatment. If they didn’t know what he was planning, they would’ve thought that he had a hidden masochistic side in him.
This time though, they didn’t go far before they saw Lu Ye shambling his way toward them like a drunkard. His face was just as white as last time, but he didn’t look injured, and even his clothes looked perfectly unblemished.
Yi Yi hurried over to catch him. He shot her a grin and declared, “I did it!”
The effects still weren’t exactly as he had imagined, but he was finally done with the adjustments.
Unfortunately, the Sub Ward still could not teleport him back to the Central Ward precisely. Logically speaking, he should have appeared directly over of the Central Ward, but in reality he had appeared at least thirty meters away from it.
His setup was fine. It was just that the ward wasn’t stable enough. That was why there was some slight deviation during the teleportation process. The further apart the two wards, the greater the deviation.
The solution to this problem was actually quite simple. He simply needed to improve his cultivation level or improve the stability of the wards. Unfortunately, neither solution was available to him right now.
Also, Lu Ye had a feeling that the maximum range of his Teleportation Wards was fifty kilometers. Any further than that, and they literally wouldn’t work.
He was just a Heaven Eight cultivator. When he grew stronger, his Teleportation Wards would naturally improve in stability and range.
Lu Ye spent the day meditating and returning to peak condition after finishing the adjustments. He then finally revealed his plans to Yi Yi and Hua Ci.
As expected, both girls wanted to come along with Lu Ye. Hua Ci was a Heaven Seven cultivator now, and her method of killing was practically impossible to defend against. Barring the forbidden areas, there was nowhere in the Core Circle where she couldn’t venture alone.
Yi Yi and Amber had been improving by leaps and bounds as well. Despite their cultivation level, Lu Ye was certain that they would not slow him down. That said…
“Trust me, it’s better if I go alone. Also, I’m one hundred percent sure you do not want to go through what I did, not to mention that my Teleportation Ward’s carrying capacity is quite limited right now. It can teleport one person without too many issues, but more than that… I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t work or worse, failed mid-teleportation.”
That mollified the two girls immediately. They weren’t afraid to get hurt, but they weren’t as tough as Lu Ye. They didn’t want to appear covered in blood and tattered clothes.
“You must be careful,” Hua Ci warned.
“I know. Just stay here and wait for me.”
There was nothing to prepare, so Lu Ye took off immediately.
First, he went to his Sub Ward and retrieved the ward flags. Then, he summoned his Spirit Boat and took to the sky.
It had been two whole months since Lu Yi Ye was trapped in the Myriad Poison Forest. At the beginning, the Thousand Demon Ridge thought that it was only a matter of time before they got word of his demise. In reality, the guy was still alive as well to this day.
By now, they were certain that Lu Yi Ye had found a safe zone in the Myriad Poison Forest. There was no way he could’ve survived for this long otherwise. They had lost their patience a long time ago, but they were reluctant to call it a day and withdraw either. That was why the entire Myriad Poison Forest was still surrounded to this day. They were even patrolling and searching the skies to prevent Lu Ye from escaping via his flying Spirit Artifact.
Lu Ye flew up in a straight line. It wasn’t until he was tens of meters above ground that he finally escaped the poisonous fog.
When he passed through the boundary and emerged into the sunlight, he almost felt as if he had been reborn!
He sucked in a deep breath and basked under the sun for a bit. Then, he slowly turned toward the man regarding him with shock and suspicion about thirty meters away.
The man was obviously one of the cultivators responsible for patrolling the sky and searching for Lu Ye. For two months, his efforts were completely futile and almost pointless. It was why he failed to react immediately when Lu Ye suddenly appeared before him. It wasn’t until he met Lu Ye’s eyes that he finally exclaimed in pleasant surprise, “Lu Yi Ye!”
It wasn’t until Lu Ye flew toward him that the patrol recalled his prowess and achievements and turned deathly white. Lu Ye’s appearance was so unexpected and exciting that he had forgotten about them until now. He also realized that he was absolutely no match for the Vanquisher of Sects despite being at the Heaven-Grade Eighth-Order Realm.
Realizing that his life was in grave danger, he immediately shot a flying weapon at Lu Ye and took out a Spirit Talisman Paper from his Storage Bag at the same time. Golden light surrounded him the moment he slapped it on his person.
Spirit Talisman Papers were more common among low level cultivators because their repertoire of techniques was quite limited. Spirit Talisman Papers could make up for this weakness and even have a major effect under the right circumstances.
Most of the cultivators Lu Ye encountered while traveling from the Green Cloud Mountain to the Crimson Blood Sect’s Outpost used Spirit Talisman Papers.
However, this did not mean that cultivators forewent Spirit Talisman Papers completely after they reached a high cultivation level. Yes, they used offensive Spirit Talisman Papers far less frequently after gaining access to the far more economical option that was flying weapons at the Seventh Order, but defensive or supportive Spirit Talisman Papers remained incredibly useful. Plus, they could afford to purchase higher quality Spirit Talisman Papers.
For example, the Heaven Eight cultivator before Lu Ye had used a Middle-Grade Golden Body Talisman Paper. Not even a Heaven Nine cultivator would be able to break through its protection in short order.
Of course, nothing was absolute in this world. Not only were there Core Circle cultivators who employed offensive Spirit Talisman Papers as part of their repertoire, and they were usually trump cards that could turn the tables or put the final nail in the coffin in an instant. This was why one had to be careful regardless of conventional wisdom.
The Heaven Eight cultivator had activated his Golden Body Talisman Paper at the same time he fired his flying weapon at Lu Ye. While his reaction speed could be better, his chosen countermeasures could only be described as the experience of a true veteran. He knew exactly what to do when going up against an enemy who was stronger than him.
Unfortunately, there were some people in the world who defied experience and logic. There was a flash of light and fiery red energy, and fear filled his heart in an instant. It was because Lu Ye had shattered the Middle Grade Talisman Paper and cut through his neck in one strike!
