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Translator: Truth
Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys
In the Nine Realms Scroll, Junior Brother Sun brought out his Spirit Artifact in a flurry when he saw Lu Ye’s nine flying weapons toward him. It was a long stick. While he was able to send all nine weapons flying via a series of flicks and swipes, his weapon could not stop vibrating, and his hands were shaking a little from the impacts. His expression changed from anger to shock. He knew then that Lu Ye was no ordinary opponent!
At first, he thought that Lu Ye would be easy to defeat seeing as he was only a Second Order Cloud River Realm cultivator. Now, he realized that the young man was far stronger than his cultivation level suggested.
The Cloud River Realm was the cultivation realm that showcased the largest strength disparity between cultivators because of the difference in foundation. The minimum requirement to ascend to the Cloud River Realm was two hundred and forty Spiritual Points, but the maximum a cultivator could attain before ascending was three hundred and sixty Spiritual Points. Both cultivators could be in the same minor realm, but the power gap between them was like night and day.
Junior Brother Sun and his allies were all disciples of Tier-Five sects. Naturally, not a single one of them had ascended to the Cloud River Realm with three hundred and sixty Spiritual Points. The burly man was the best among five as he had ascended to the Cloud River Realm with three hundred and twelve Spiritual Points. On the other hand, Junior Brother Sun had ascended with a measly two hundred and ninety Spiritual Points.
There were countless Junior Brother Suns on the Cloud River Battlefield. In fact, cultivators who had unlocked all three hundred and sixty Spiritual Points before ascending like Lu Ye were few and far between, not to mention that Lu Ye had bathed in the Pool of Divine Purification four times, and received the Gift of Providence.
[I’m no match for him!]
The thought had flashed across Junior Brother Sun’s mind as soon as they clashed.
The flying weapons were so powerful that Junior Brother Sun was pushed back repeatedly. He hadn’t even caught himself when Lu Ye reached him and brought down his flame-wreathed saber in one mighty swing. Junior Brother Sun was able to block the attack, but there was so much force behind the swing that he was almost driven to his knees, and his Spiritual Artifact threatened to break free from his grip.
Lu Ye gave him no time to breathe. He attacked again and again like a relentless storm. The Inviolable was even more comfortable to use after it had become a Middle Grade Spirit Artifact.
Junior Brother Sun clenched his teeth and defended against the assault as best he could. Sparks flew everywhere, and metallic clangs resounded throughout the stone forest as he was driven lower and lower.
Suddenly, Lu Ye changed his attack from a swing to a thrust. Junior Brother Sun saw the switch but was unable to respond to it. His arms had turned completely numb after all the punishment they had endured.
The saber pierced in and out of Junior Brother Sun’s shoulder blade. A painful scream immediately escaped his lips.
Lu Ye pulled out his saber and launched a mighty kick into Junior Brother Sun’s stomach. The man was sent flying like a rag doll before he crashed heavily on the floor.
This would be a great opportunity to end the man’s life, but Lu Ye did no such thing. Instead, he simply stayed where he was and frowned.
[Is it just me, or is the guy kinda weak?]
He had entered this battle thinking that it would be a hard fight in favor of his opponent. At best, he thought that they would be evenly matched. In reality, this Junior Brother Sun was far inferior to him be it in terms of strength or reaction speed.
He knew then that his opponent must have unlocked less than three hundred Spiritual Points when ascending to the Cloud River Realm. It was the only explanation why he was weak despite being two minor realms above him.
“Wait!” Junior Brother Sun cried out in fear and panic as he climbed back to his feet. He put some distance between himself and Lu Ye before asking, “Are you Kitty Shen’s helper or something? If you are, please let me live! My allies and I can leave right away, and we promise we won’t ever come back! We can even swear a Sacred Pact if you don’t trust our words!”
Instead of answering, Lu Ye raised his hand and displayed his Battlefield Imprint.
Junior Brother Sun turned deathly pale. Lu Ye knew that he was a Thousand Demon Ridge cultivator.
Lu Ye would have hesitated if Junior Brother Sun had turned out to be a Grand Sky Coalition cultivator. After all, he had received a lot of help and kindness from his fellow coalition members during his time in the Spirit Creek Battlefield. He was glad he didn’t have to make that choice.
Lu Ye empowered himself with Windwalk before dashing toward Junior Brother Sun, moving so fast that he literally left a trail of afterimages behind him. He reached the combat cultivator in an instant and sent him flying again in a single strike. Junior Brother Sun screamed as blood sprayed out of his wound.
This time, Lu Ye did not wait for him to land. He caught up to the combat cultivator, brought down his saber, and ended his screams once and for all.
Two soft thuds entered Lu Ye’s ears. One of them came from Junior Brother Sun’s head, and the other his headless corpse. His bright red blood stained the ground red like dye.
“Yi Yi!” Lu Ye called out while sheathing his saber. The next moment, he felt himself pushed out of the pocket space and returned to Junior Brother Sun’s room. The guy’s head and corpse had appeared on the floor as well.
Lu Ye bent down and picked up the Control Gem and the Storage Bag. With this, the only enemies left were the burly man, the ward cultivator called Junior Brother Cheng, and Ruan Qingzhu.
The question was, how should he assassinate them? It wasn’t like he could slip into their dwellings. In fact, it worked the first time only because Junior Brother Sun wasn’t in his room when he slipped in. He could try to lure one of them out and kill them as quickly as possible, but he would still have to deal with a one-versus-two battle immediately after. If he failed, then it would be a one-versus-three.
Junior Brother Cheng was probably the easiest to kill of the three. Most ward cultivators spent the majority of their time on studying wards and not enough on their combat skills. On the other hand, the one who would give him the most difficulty was probably the burly man. It was obvious from his rich vitality that he was a body-tempering cultivator.
Yi Yi and Amber could probably keep one of them busy for a time. He only needed to kill the other two in the shortest time possible!
This would be easier if the protection wards within the Arcane Glade were still functional, but alas, it would seem that Junior Brother Cheng had removed some of them. Otherwise, he could’ve taken all of them alone.
The plan was rough, but it was better than nothing. Lu Ye quietly snuck out of Junior Brother Sun’s dwelling and activated Invisibility. He left Amber in the room just in case.
So far, everything was going smoothly. No one even realized that Junior Brother Sun was dead. Like a ghost, he soundlessly crept his way to the burly man’s house.
The burly man was the most difficult opponent of the remaining three, so it made sense to take him out first. Should he succeed, he should easily wipe the floor with the rest. Otherwise, it would be a much harder fight than it should be.
Lu Ye was just about to use the Control Gem to cause a stir and draw out the enemy when the top of the grand ward shook unnaturally. When he looked up, he was surprised to see none other than Kitty Shen herself floating outside the ward.
[What is she doing here? She should be resting right now! She looks a bit worried for some reason.]
Kitty Shen was the one who attacked the grand ward just now. Sensing an opportunity, Lu Ye immediately turned off the grand ward using the Control Gem.
Outside the ward, Kitty Shen watched as the grand ward surrounding the entire Arcane Glade suddenly dissipated after her one attack. The concealment effect had been turned off as well.
She was resting in the cave when she woke up and found that Ye Six was nowhere to be seen. Her first thought was that the young man had abandoned her. However, that made no sense as Ye Six had not only saved her life, but also guarded her for three whole days until she awoke.
When she recalled her conversation with Ye Six earlier, she had a bad feeling and hurriedly exited the cave. She then flew all the way to the Arcane Glade despite her injuries.
She did not know if her prediction was true, but if it was, then Ye Six would need her help. He was stronger than expected, but he was also just a First Order Cloud River Realm cultivator. Whatever he was planning, there was a good chance he might fail and be captured by the enemy instead.
That was why she had attacked the grand ward. She wanted to check if Ye Six was here. Even ignoring the fact that he had saved her life, they were allies who signed a Sacred Pact.
What happened next caught her completely off guard, however. She did not expect the grand ward to disappear in one attack at all.
She scanned around quickly. She did not see any signs of battle or Ye Six. She knew then she had screwed up and tried to leave immediately.
Unfortunately, the unusual activity had alarmed the three remaining cultivators in the Arcane Glade. They immediately burst out of their doors. The next moment, the burly man detonated his vitality and punched out.
There was a flash of light as an arm flew into the air. Blood gushed out of the wound immediately.
Lu Ye exited his invisibility and stared at the burly man with his eyes lowered, and his saber pointed toward the ground. Clutching his stump, the burly man staggered a few steps away from Lu Ye in shock and disbelief.
He wasn’t expecting an ambush at his doorstep at all. If his perception wasn’t as strong as it was, the blow would’ve taken his head instead of his arm.
“Ye Six!”
Both Kitty Shen and Ruan Qingzhu exclaimed in unison when they saw Lu Ye.
Junior Brother Cheng was caught off guard when he heard the exclamation. However, he recovered quickly and acted to pounce Lu Ye. Unfortunately for him, Kitty Shen reacted first and blocked his path.
Assuming that Kitty Shen hadn’t lied to him about her strength, she should’ve been stronger than Junior Brother Cheng. Anyone who managed to enter the Scroll of Supremacy was a force to be reckoned with. However, it had only been days since she nearly died from her injuries, and it showed. Despite her best efforts, she was actually being pushed back by Junior Brother Cheng, a ward cultivator.
While Kitty Shen was buying time for Lu Ye, the combat cultivator was attacking the burly man relentlessly. His aim was to kill the guy as soon as possible.
Had the burly man been perfectly unharmed, this would’ve been a much harder fight. Not only was the burly man a Fifth Order cultivator, he was way stronger than Junior Brother Sun.
He had lost an arm to Lu Ye’s ambush, however, and he could barely keep his Circulation System going, much less handle the unending storm that was Lu Ye. The only thing he could do was to dodge his attacks.
On the other side, Amber had rushed out of Junior Brother Sun’s room and manifested its true body. It pounced toward Ruan Qingzhu and attacked her ferociously. Yi Yi hadn’t shown herself yet because she was waiting for a good opportunity to deal her a fatal blow.
Just a moment later, a bloodcurdling scream pierced the air, followed by a great shower of blood. Despite the burly man’s greatest efforts, he was unable to withstand Lu Ye’s relentless attacks. Lu Ye had cut right through his Spiritual Power and vitality and landed at least a dozen slashes across his body.
Both Junior Brother Cheng and Ruan Qingzhu were stunned. In fact, Ruan Qingzhu was so distracted that she was unable to break free from Amber’s harassment despite the power disparity.
How was it possible for a mere ward cultivator—a First Order cultivator no less—to be so powerful? And where was Junior Brother Sun? Why hadn’t he shown up to help them?
Shock and doubt churned within Ruan Qingzhu until she felt like throwing up. She felt like she had one foot in the grave, and there was nothing she could do to stop her downward momentum.
