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Translator: Truth
Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys
The news that Lu Yi Ye had broken out of their encirclement and escaped quickly spread throughout the Spirit Creek Battlefield. Stunned, countless Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators checked the Scroll of Supremacy only to discover that Zhu Pang, the sixth-placed ranker who was supposed to delay the combat cultivator for an incense stick, had already vanished from the rank list!
Lu Yi Ye had vanished and reappeared at the Spirit Creek Battlefield in less than thirty breaths. This meant that Zhu Pang had been killed in that amount of time!
Just how useless was the body-tempering cultivator that he couldn’t survive Lu Yi Ye for more than thirty breaths?
Despite their successful escape, Lu Ye and Amber kept running into interceptors as they continued moving in the direction of the Myriad Poison Forest. It couldn’t be helped. While most Spirit Beasts could not keep up with Amber on foot, the same could not be said for the birds flying above their heads. Since the enemy knew exactly where he was all the time, all they needed to do was to move their people in front of him.
Lu Ye did his best to circumvent these obstacles. If he couldn’t, then he would fight his way through.
An hour later, they encountered yet another group of Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators. They numbered only thirty or so people, but it was clear from their calm looks and easy breathing that they had been waiting for him for a while. Not only that, their appearance marked them all as body-tempering cultivators or combat cultivators.
The Yuan Metal Storm had shackled everyone’s Spiritual Power, so the frail spell cultivators and ghost cultivators did not dare to show their faces at all. It was the same for medicine cultivators as a matter of course.
The group of cultivators immediately spread out into formation when they saw Lu Ye. The body-tempering cultivators took the front while the combat cultivators grabbed their Spirit Artifacts behind them.
Some of them were even shouting, “Come here and die, Lu Yi Ye!”
Lu Ye did not bother responding to them, of course. Amber automatically swerved to one side in an attempt to avoid the group. While he wasn’t afraid of them—he was confident he could make them pay the price of their taunt even—he was alone, and he would rather not fight unless absolutely necessary. He only had so much stamina and mental energy after all.
However, alarm bells suddenly rang in Lu Ye’s head after Amber had traveled about a hundred meters. At the same time, Amber tripped as a massive pit abruptly appeared beneath them. It was both deep and filled to the brim with sharp weapons.
The pit trap would not have killed either of them, but it certainly would’ve put them in quite the conundrum. If they failed to make it out before the Thousand Demon Ridge group swarmed them, then they would be lucky to make it out of the pit at all.
At that moment, Lu Ye figured out what his enemies were thinking. They had purposely taunted him so he would avoid them. Once he made his decision, it did not matter if he went left or right because both sides were filled with spiked pits like this one.
The good news was that Amber had reacted quickly. It leaped with all its might the second it noticed that the ground beneath it was crumbling.
The bad news was that there were ambushers lying in wait directly ahead of them. Due to the Yuan Metal Storm, Lu Ye never noticed them until they emerged from their hiding spots and brought out a row of spiked fences. It should not need to be said, but the spikes were pointed directly at Amber.
Not only that, another six people emerged from further behind the fence while holding what looked like a massive net. They were waiting to throw the web over Amber and Lu Ye.
It was clear that the Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators in this area were well-prepared for them. Amber was currently in the air and incapable of changing directions at all. If it slammed into the fence spikes, it was going to get hurt at best or skewered at worst no matter how tough it was.
Amber understood the grave danger it was facing and let out a furious roar. However, there was nothing it could do to fix this.
The tiger was sapient and quite familiar with the cunning nature of humanity. However, it was ultimately a Spirit Beast. It could not possibly outwit a human.
The Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators’ eyes shone with delight when Amber upward momentum died and began falling toward the spikes.
It was at this moment Lu Ye abruptly jumped off Amber’s back and grabbed one of its large ears. He then forcefully twisted his body to generate momentum before throwing Amber with everything he got.
Lu Ye was able to change Amber’s trajectory, but he himself was still sailing straight toward the spiked fence. There was no time to lose. Right before the spikes would drive into his body, he grabbed one of them with his hand and pushed himself over the dangerous obstacle. He skidded about ten meters before he was able to stabilize himself.
“Roar!” Amber let out an angry roar as it hit the ground with a mighty thud. At the same time, a massive net was thrown over his head.
To be honest, the Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators were hoping to catch Lu Ye with the net. However, Lu Ye had surprised them with his maneuver, and they weren’t able to get to his landing spot immediately. So, they compromised and threw the net over Amber instead.
Lu Ye was surrounded practically the second he caught himself. The thirty or so cultivators who taunted him before were racing toward him as well!
Amber roared furiously as it struggled to break free from the net with all its might. If the net was just an ordinary net, then it could’ve torn its way out of it from the beginning. However, it was clear that it was a Spirit Artifact of sorts. Although the net was unable to unleash its true power because the cultivators could not inject it with Spiritual Power, it was still tough enough to keep Amber pinned!
“We need more hands ASAP! This damn tiger can break out at any moment!” Someone roared in anger and panic.
The Thousand Demon Ridge had underestimated Amber’s strength. Before this, they were certain that six Core Circle body-tempering and combat cultivators would more than enough manpower to keep Amber pinned. In reality, not only was Amber tossing them around like puppets, it nearly managed to get close to one of the netters and attack them.
A few people immediately broke away from the group of thirty and rushed to their comrades’ aid. They immediately grabbed hold of a corner of the Spirit Net and pin down Amber.
Amber was trapped, but Lu Ye was busy fighting his own assailants. He was well aware that they were going to die here if he could not break free from his attackers and rescue Amber in time. While the number of enemies they were currently facing was still manageable, countless more were rushing to their location from every direction. The longer they were delayed here, the worse their situation would become.
He unsheathed the Inviolable and charged toward a body-tempering cultivator like lightning. His opponent was also holding a blade-type Spirit Artifact, although his was a cleaver and not a saber. The blade of the weapon was simultaneously wider and shorter than Lu Ye’s.
The body-tempering cultivator decided to clash blades with Lu Ye when he swung the Inviolable at him. It was a foolish decision. His eyes widened when he felt his cleaver being torn right out of his grip!
Without Spiritual Power, the only power a cultivator could rely on was their physique. This body-tempering cultivator was just a Heaven Eight cultivator, and normally he would never dare to fight Lu Ye at close-range. At this point, there wasn’t a soul in the Spirit Creek Battlefield who wasn’t aware that Lu Yi Ye was capable of mowing down an entire group of Heaven Eight cultivators like slaughtering a coop of chickens.
There was no one stronger than a body-tempering cultivator while Yuan Metal Storm was active. That was why he thought that he would be able to delay Lu Yi Ye for at least a little.
The reality was nothing like what he dreamed, however. Not only did Lu Yi Ye turn out to be stronger than him, there was enough force behind the attack that his cleaver had been ripped right out of his grip. His weapon hand was a bloody mess right now.
His hand would quickly become the least of his concerns. Lu Ye slashed the body-tempering cultivator throat in one smooth motion before moving onto his next opponent. He never looked back as the body-tempering cultivator clutched his throat, staggered back a few steps, and collapsed on the ground.
Although Lu Ye managed to kill a body-tempering cultivator in just two strikes, a few Spirit Artifacts had struck his body as well. Pain blossomed from various places as he shook a little from the impact.
His body was tough, but not so tough that he could ignore the sharp implements like they didn’t exist, not to mention that since his attackers were all cultivators from the Core Circle.
He paid no heed to his injuries though. This time, he turned his saber on a spear-wielding combat cultivator.
Panic filled the combat cultivator’s expression as Lu Ye swung his weapon at him. He tried to jump to the back, but he was struck in the chest before he could even convert his thought into action.
As if he had been struck by a mountain, the guy sailed through the air like a flying weapon for at least a couple of seconds before he hit the ground with a mighty thud. His sternum was completely shattered, and blood poured out of his ripped flesh like a fountain. It was impossible to tell if he was alive or not.
Lu Ye knew that the worst thing he could possibly do when being attacked from multiple directions was to stay in one place. If the enemy managed to surround him, then they would be able to lead him by the nose as they pleased.
That was why he never stopped attacking and moving in a certain direction. Assuming he could cut down his enemies fast enough, no one would ever be able to attack his back. As for the attacks coming from the front and the sides, he could block or ignore them depending on the situation.
In fact, he chose to ignore the attacks whaling down on his body most of the time. His objective was to repel his enemies in the shortest time possible, and the only way to do so was to suffer an injury in exchange for their lives!
It took Lu Ye only two hits to kill a body-tempering cultivator, and a combat cultivator one. By the time Lu Ye broke out of the encirclement, he had left behind at least seven bodies on his trail!
And he had done this in less than ten breaths!
The Inviolable was dripping with blood. Lu Ye himself was marred from head to toe.
Lu Ye wasn’t even close to being done though. He turned back toward his enemies, flicked off the blood on his Inviolable, and charged forward once more.
A powerful physique gave him speed and strength beyond what a Spirit Creek Realm cultivator should possess. The fact that everyone’s Spiritual Power was currently shackled by the Yuan Metal Storm only enhanced his advantage further!
Although the Thousand Demon Ridge group still outnumbered Lu Ye drastically, they could not help but be chilled by his blood-drenched body, furrowed brow, and ruthless expression!
The man had killed seven of their people in one charge. At this rate, it would take him less than a tea time to kill all of them!
“Hang on! Reinforcements will be here very soon!” The body-tempering cultivator closest to Lu Ye shouted in encouragement even though he was feeling quite panicked.
Another cultivator immediately echoed in agreement, “That’s right! We may never get another chance like this if we do not kill him today, so do not be afraid! All we need to do is to delay him, and victory will be ours!”
Lu Ye was already charging when he was speaking.
“Kill!” The body-tempering cultivator who shouted the encouragement earlier charged fearlessly toward Lu Ye.
Unfortunately, bravery did not translate to martial strength. Lu Ye had beheaded him in one strike.
The second charge ended just as quickly as the first. Lu Ye accrued more wounds and blood from both himself and his enemies. Just like last time, he left almost ten bodies in his wake.
This time though, Lu Ye did not stop in his tracks. Instead, he charged straight toward Amber.
While he was certain he could kill every man and woman in the area, it was highly questionable if he would remain combat capable afterward. His injuries might not be serious, but even a paper cut could be fatal if there were a thousand of them, not to mention he took at least several hits for every cultivator he killed.
I wonder how sky brats managed to survive in this battlefield, if demons have such a run of the place, even after losing hundreds of people on this chase…