<<Previous Chapter Index Next Chapter>>
Translator: Truth
Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys
“Sorry, Ye Six,” Kitty Shen said suddenly.
“Excuse me?”
“We lost the Arcane Glade because I wasn’t careful enough. We wouldn’t be here if I could’ve seen through her sooner.”
An Arcane Glade was one of the most sought after resources in the Cloud River Battlefield due to how beneficial it was to one’s cultivation. It was why Kitty Shen was so happy when she ran into Lu Ye by accident and successfully convinced him to accept her. She had been dreaming about her wonderful future when Ruan Qingzhu had given a harsh reality check and nearly killed her. Naturally, she was overflowing with regret and self-blame right now.
“It’s only natural that a kitty is no match for a fox, so don’t beat yourself over it. Losing an Arcane Glade is still better than losing your life, no?”
“So, what now? Are we just going to give up?” Kitty Shen was clearly reluctant to let things slide.
“Just focus on recuperating for now,” Lu Ye shot her a glance.
“Okay.”
An above average Tertius-level Arcane Glade honestly did not matter too much to Lu Ye. In fact, Arcane Glades in general were good to have, but not critical to him because of his abnormal cultivation methods.
If Ruan Qingzhu and her gang had defeated him and Kitty Shen and taken the Arcane Glade fair and square, then he wouldn’t be worked up about it. After all, the strong usually came out on top in a contest for treasures and opportunities. If his enemies proved to be his betters, then so be it. As long as he was alive, he could always grow stronger and pay back his enemies in the future.
To betray his trust, wound his companion, and steal his possession while he was gone, though? That was a different story. It was written in stone that he was going to make Ruan Qingzhu regret her decision from the moment he learned of her betrayal. Even if that wasn’t the case, Lu Ye was the first person to discover the Arcane Glade. The wards he had set up, the ward flags and the ward keystones were all there as well. The grand ward alone cost over ten to twenty thousand Contribution Points. Of course he wasn’t going to give it all up to his robbers.
It was night and Kitty Shen was recuperating in the cave when Lu Ye stepped out into the open and took to the sky on his Spirit Boat.
Kitty Shen was a Fifth Order Cloud River Realm cultivator. Despite being seriously injured in a one versus-two fight and being ganged up on by a third enemy later, she still managed to escape in the end. This meant that their enemies weren’t too powerful. He suspected that they were Fourth or Fifth Order at most. Ruan Qingzhu, for example, was only a Fourth Order cultivator.
Lu Ye was only in the Second Order right now, but most of the enemies he fought were, in terms of cultivation, stronger than him since he embarked on this journey. Rarely anyone at the same cultivation level as him was a match for him. That was why he wasn’t afraid to fight multiple Fourth to Fifth Order cultivators alone.
Plus, he hadn’t fought a true battle since he entered the Cloud River Battlefield. He really wanted to know how he measured up to his so-called seniors.
An hour and a half later, Lu Ye arrived near the periphery of the Arcane Glade and looked. At first glance, the area looked completely empty and lifeless. Most people could pass through the area and never notice that there was an Arcane Glade not far away from them.
This was because Lu Ye had set up not just a grand defensive ward made up of sixteen ward keystones in total, but also a concealment ward with Glyph: Invisibility as the core.
The Arcane Glade was pretty small, and he was perfectly capable of setting up a concealment ward that could conceal it all. Weak presence was a valuable trait when one was trying to conceal their valuables. The fact was that they would still be in possession of the Arcane Glade if they hadn’t been betrayed by one of their own.
Lu Ye observed the area for a bit before descending about 1.5 kilometers away from the Arcane Glade. Then, he concealed himself using Invisibility and slowly made his way over.
An incense stick later, Lu Ye was right outside the Arcane Glade. The place was pretty quiet since it was already nighttime. The only sounds that entered the ear were the chirps of insects and the occasional frog croaks.
Lu Ye applied Insight to his eyes before looking at the seemingly empty space in front of him. The hidden Arcane Glade and the grand defensive ward surrounding it immediately appeared into view.
It didn’t look like the ward was altered in any way. It was impossible to say if one of Ruan Qingzhu’s companions was a ward cultivator, but even if they were, he did not think that their ward creation skill was better than his. If it were, they would’ve made some changes to the ward to improve its security.
Lu Ye was the creator of this defensive ward. Naturally, he knew exactly where the nodes were and how it functioned.
Lu Ye tossed out a couple of ward flags and channeled his Spiritual Power into them. Then, he opened a corner of the grand ward like he was opening a tent flap and walked inside.
As he withdrew the ward flags and concealed himself once more, a figure suddenly dashed out of one of the houses and glanced left and right warily. He was holding the Control Gem. Clearly, he was the watchman for the night. Lu Ye had caused almost no disturbances when he slipped through the ward, but the watchman still noticed it and responded immediately.
His unusual activity alarmed the others and caused them to step out of their houses as well. Among them was Ruan Qingzhu.
“What’s going on, Junior Brother Sun?” A big, burly man asked the cultivator holding the Control Gem.
The guy was still looking left and right when he answered with a frown, “I felt something weird from the defensive ward just now.”
“Can you elaborate?” the burly man asked again as his face turned serious.
Junior Brother Sun shook his head. “I’m not sure, but the ward definitely fluctuated just now.” He turned toward a lanky cultivator and asked, “Can you please check the ward, Junior Brother Cheng?”
His companion responded, “Of course!”
Junior Brother Cheng accepted the Control Gem from Junior Brother Sun and poured his Spiritual Power into it. He then began inspecting the ward closely while adjusting its power with the Control Gem. Judging from his actions, he was most likely a ward cultivator.
While Junior Brother Cheng was inspecting the ward, Junior Brother Sun asked, “Do you think it might be that Kitty Shen?”
The burly guy answered, “I don’t think so. She was hurt enough to be dead. Even if she managed to survive the ordeal, there is no chance she had recovered enough to come back for revenge. I’m more worried about the ward cultivator, to be honest. Junior Brother Cheng mentioned that his ward skills are quite impressive, did he not?”
Junior Brother Sun laughed. “Sure, but Junior Sister Ruan also said that he is just a First Order Cloud River Realm cultivator; a newbie to the Cloud River Battlefield. I don’t think we need to worry about him.”
After signing the Sacred Pact, Lu Ye had revealed his cultivation level to both Ruan Qingzhu and Kitty Shen. Both women were visibly astonished when they learned that Lu Ye was just a First Order cultivator, though now he realized that Ruan Qingzhu’s astonishment was less pure.
Kitty Shen was astonished because she had fought him briefly during the Amulet contest. His performance was so that she would not have believed him if not for the fact that they had signed a Sacred Pact.
A while later, Junior Brother Cheng ended his inspection and returned the Control Gem to Junior Brother Sun. “The ward is fine, mostly. Perhaps the creator made a mistake during the setup, but I sensed that the Spiritual Power in some areas is not flowing as smoothly as it should. I’ll give it a thorough inspection tomorrow.”
Junior Brother Sun relaxed after hearing this. They all returned to their houses after that.
Junior Brother Sun was sitting crosslegged in his house and cultivating in silence. He was also holding the Control Gem tightly in his hand. This way, he would be able to sense any abnormality within the grand ward. It was his duty as the night watch to notice such things.
Time passed slowly when suddenly, he felt as if someone had dunked his whole body into a pool of ice. Alarm bells were ringing inside his head as well.
His reaction was swift all things considered. He had immediately opened his eyes to see what was going on. Unfortunately for him, a mysterious power was already enveloping him and temporarily throwing him into disarray. By the time he caught himself, he found himself standing in the middle of a stone forest.
As he looked left and right in alarm, he saw a young man standing about three hundred meters away from him. He looked to be seventeen or eighteen at most. His head was bowed slightly, and his right hand was holding a saber.
Junior Brother Sun immediately yelled, “Who are you!”
That was what he said, but the question he actually wanted to ask was, “Where the hell am I?” A moment ago, he was still in his accommodation. The next, he found himself standing in a stone forest. It just didn’t make sense to him.
The Stone Forest was a terrain in the Nine Realms Scroll, of course. Lu Ye had snuck into Junior Brother Sun’s house while the four cultivators had exited their dwelling to check on the grand ward. The reason he chose him was because he was the holder of the Control Gem.
Lu Ye needed to get his hands on the Control Gem because it was the only way he might secure his escape. Even if he was the creator of the grand ward, he could not pass through it without spending some time on it.
As for the reason he didn’t just kill this Junior Brother Sun after he returned to his dwelling and resumed his cultivation, it was because he couldn’t be sure he could kill the guy in one blow. Even if he succeeded, there was no guarantee he could stop Junior Brother Sun from screaming or causing some sort of disturbance that would alert his companions. He would be at a disadvantage if his three remaining companions tried to gang up on him. They were all stronger than him in terms of cultivation after all.
That was why he decided to use the Nine Realms Scroll instead. As expected, Junior Brother Sun failed to respond to it until it was too late. He doubted the guy even knew that a ward scroll had trapped him in its terrain.
In Junior Brother Sun’s room, Yi Yi was keeping the Nine Realms Scroll active and suppressing the fluctuations of Spiritual Power as much as possible. The entire reason they were using the ward scroll was to ambush an enemy without being noticed after all. Unfortunately, this meant that she could barely keep the Nine Realms Scroll going, much less activate its power to aid Lu Ye.
Lu Ye would have to defeat Junior Brother Sun entirely by himself.
In the Nine Realms Scroll, Junior Brother Sun was beginning to feel an onset of panic when he received no response from Lu Ye. At the same time, he realized that a treasure that could teleport a person instantaneously must be incredibly powerful. It had to be a Spirit Treasure like a ward scroll at least.
He grew certain that he was trapped in a ward scroll the second the term passed through his head. At the same time, he could barely believe that it was true. Most Cloud River Realm cultivators could only afford Middle Grade Spirit Artifacts. The mysterious young man before him must possess an unimaginable background to own a Spirit Treasure at his level.
Lu Ye wasn’t going to give Junior Brother Sun time to recover from his shock. He was already running toward the guy and channeling his Spiritual Power. This exposed his cultivation level and riled Junior Brother Sun into an disbelieving, angry outburst. “Second Order!?”
[Is he stupid or crazy? How dare a Second Order Cloud River Realm cultivator challenge me! I may be an average cultivator, but I’m still two minor realms above you, bastard!]
Anger replacing his panic immediately, Junior Brother Sun launched a few flying weapons at Lu Ye. As it turned out, he was a combat cultivator as well.
The anger vanished practically the next second, however. It was because the young man abruptly unleashed nine flying weapons at once and sent them toward him at insane speeds. Just a few exchanges later, Junior Brother Sun discovered in horror that he was no match for the young man, be it in terms of the quantity or the power of his weapons.
The telekinetic clash turned completely one-sided in no time at all. The spinning blades broke through his own and flew toward him like a deadly storm.
