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Translator: Truth
Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys
The fact that Lu Ye possessed incredible strength was actually not that well known in the Thousand Demon Ridge. When people thought of his recent actions in the Inner Circle, they had imagined him as a leader leading a massive, unstoppable army to conquer Outposts left and right. They didn’t think of him as an extraordinarily powerful cultivator capable of overcoming multiple minor realms with ease not because he was actually weak, but because it was impossible for any single individual to stand out in a battle of this scale.
As a result, there were countless Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators out there who grossly underestimated Lu Ye’s true strength. It was why the Heaven Seven and Heaven Eight cultivators he just killed had dared to chase him down like moths to flames.
The next day, the news that the Vanquisher of Sects had entered the Core Circle had spread like wildfire. The Thousand Demon Ridge was both shocked and furious to hear this.
They were shocked because his cultivation speed had surpassed their expectations. He had to have switched to a Heaven Grade cultivation technique and reached the Heaven-Grade Seventh-Order Realm to dare to show his face in the Circle.
They were angry because it had only been a little over a month since the Divine Ocean Realm cultivators had negotiated a compromise. Hells, it hadn’t even been half a month since they delivered the compensation to the Grand Sky Coalition’s doorstep before the Vanquisher of Sects showed his face once more, making it clear that the bastard cared little about their agreement.
When Lu Yi Ye was still in the Outer Circle, he had already triggered the Battle of the Goldentip and drawn the attention of the entire world. It was also said that the two Thousand Demon Ridge sects bordering the Crimson Blood Sect’s Outpost were so ruined that they still weren’t able rebuild their Outpost to this day.
As if he was trying to surpass his previous achievement, the bastard immediately kicked things up a notch after he entered the Inner Circle. As many as two hundred Outposts had been breached by Lu Ye directly or indirectly. In the end, the Thousand Demon Ridge had to pay an astronomical amount of compensation and declare that they would go to war against the Grand Sky Coalition if Lu Ye persisted in his ways to finally put an end to his conquest. The losses they suffered were literally unprecedented in history.
Even now, the turmoil in the Inner Circle wasn’t completely over. Every Grand Sky Coalition sect that was fortunate enough to be visited by the invasion force that day had been oppressing the shit out of their Thousand Demon Ridge neighbors. They had to fight every inch to rebuild their Outposts.
And now, the walking calamity had entered the Core Circle. Heavens only know what he was plotting this time.
At least they didn’t need to worry that the Vanquisher of Sects would repeat what he did in the Inner Circle and create another invasion force. He literally couldn’t. The Core Circle was quite different from the Inner Circle. Not only were the Outposts extremely far away from each other, the strength of their cultivators differed drastically as well.
There were of course skillful and bold ordinary Ninth-Order cultivators in the Core Circle, but the large majority of them had switched to a Heaven-Grade cultivation technique. As a result, they were much more mobile and stronger than the cultivators of the Inner Circle, which made it easier to reinforce an allied sect.
If the Vanquisher of Sects really was plotting to recreate the feat, then he would most likely be disappointed.
Moreover, the cultivator count of the Outposts in the Core Circle was generally lower than the Inner or Outer Circle. The bigger ones had two to three hundred cultivators, and the smaller ones only one to two hundred. As if that wasn’t bad enough, unusual sects such as the Northern Profound Sword Clan—a sect that was made up of sword cultivators only—numbered only dozens. Long story short, they did not have the numbers to spare the strength necessary to recreate Lu Ye’s army.
That said, just because it was unlikely Lu Ye might repeat what he did in the Inner Circle it didn’t mean they shouldn’t prepare for it. The Vanquisher of Sects had done plenty of things people thought were impossible or unprecedented until now, and no one knew if he had more tricks up his sleeves. That was why the Thousand Demon Ridge sects of the Core Circle began to mobilize as soon as they heard that Lu Ye had arrived.
The cultivators of the Thousand Demon Ridge began leaving their Outposts and rushing to the last spot where Lu Ye was detected. No one was directing the operation, and yet they were all united in an unsaid purpose: to nip the Vanquisher of Sects in the bud before he could become a bigger threat than he already was.
While Lu Ye was making waves in the Core Circle, another shocking news had broken at almost the same time. The second runner-up of the Scroll of Supremacy, Li Baxian had flown to the Raving Bladesmen’s Outpost and challenged Yan Xing to a duel.
The grudge between the two cultivators had lasted for over a decade. Practically everyone who didn’t live under a rock had heard about their story. Normally, it was Yan Xing who lay low near the Devoted Ones’ Outpost in an attempt to ambush the sword cultivator. Unfortunately, he rarely got to enact his ambush because Li Baxian almost never left the Outpost.
That was why most people found it hard to believe that Li Baxian was the one who issued the challenge.
The outcome of the battle was even more unbelievable, however. Long story short, Li Baxian was injured, and Yan Xing was killed!
According to the Raving Bladesmen disciples who were present to witness the battle that day, their duel had been decided in a single move. It had ended so quickly that most of them did not even realize it was over until Yan Xing had collapsed on the ground.
With this act, Li Baxian returned to the top of the Scroll of Supremacy with his honor redeemed.
The news shocked both the Spirit Creek Battlefield and Jiu Zhou. Li Baxian was the first ever Heaven Eight cultivator in history to make it to the Scroll of Supremacy, and a top contender no less. Naturally, many people had high expectations for him. If his Spiritual Point hadn’t been irreparably damaged, his future would’ve been bright and limitless.
Countless Grand Sky Coalition cultivators found it a pity that a champion like him was forced to dilly-dally at the Spirit Creek Realm for over a decade.
But today, the march that was halted for over a decade had finally begun once more. Not only had Li Baxian fully recovered from his injuries, he had even slain the nemesis that had plagued him for just as long and returned to the top of the Scroll of Supremacy.
It was rumored that the Vanquisher of Sects had visited the Devoted Ones right before Li Baxian had challenged Yan Xing to a duel. Considering that the bastard had occupied over a hundred Thousand Demon Ridge Sects and plundering countless Blessings…
A child could’ve figured out that the Vanquisher of Sects was the one who had purchased the Point Restoration Pill Li Baxian needed to restore his Spiritual Point. Who else was wealthy enough to pay the hundred and fifty thousand Contribution Points necessary to buy the item?
Also, it wasn’t a hundred and fifty thousand Contribution Points anymore because the already limited stock had grown even more limited. It was now priced at a hundred and sixty thousand Contribution Points…
The proverb, “The rarer something was, the greater its value,” had never been more true…
That wasn’t all. The next day, Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan’s name officially vanished from the Scroll of Supremacy. It was a joyous occasion that was celebrated by both the Grand Sky Coalition and the Thousand Demon Ridge!
For the longest time, the top three spots of the Scroll of Supremacy had been dominated by Feng Yuechan, Yan Xing and Li Baxian. They were so infamous that they were even nicknamed the Three Tumors of the Scroll of Supremacy!
All three cultivators had lingered at the Spirit Creek Realm for over a decade and dominated the top three spots of the Scroll of Supremacy for just as long. Countless rising stars had emerged during this time, but of course they couldn’t surpass the trio who possessed both the talent and the time to hone their skills into absolute perfection.
Back when Li Baxian was intentionally hiding his skills, it was still possible to outrank him and become the second runner-up. After the Battle of the Goldentip though, even that had become a complete pipedream.
Now, Yan Xing was killed in a duel, and Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan had ascended to the Cloud River Realm. All Three Tumors were gone in a single day.
Countless Grand Sky Coalition sects thanked Lu Ye from the bottom of their heart. They all felt that he had saved the Scroll of Supremacy.
Even the Thousand Demon Ridge agreed that the Vanquisher of Sects had done at least one good deed in his life.
But of course, they felt exactly zero gratitude toward him. And why would they, when they could hardly wait to break his bones, sunder his flesh, and drink his blood?
A beam of light caused by a flying Spirit Artifact was currently cutting a line across the sky like lightning. It was followed by dozens of figures flying Spirit Artifacts of all shapes, colors and sizes. Some of them were even swearing at the beam of light ahead of them non-stop.
It had been two days since Lu Ye’s cover was blown, and the group had been forced to escape with barely any rest at all. They had no choice. The Thousand Demon Ridge sects were communicating with each other and coming at him from every direction. No matter where they escaped to, the enemy could always locate them precisely.
They managed to shake off some pursuers and kill even more, but that wasn’t nearly enough to deter the Thousand Demon Ridge’s determination to kill him. Despite their efforts, the number of pursuers only increased over time.
It was like someone had thrown a handful of salt into the pot of boiling oil that was the Core Circle. Wherever Lu Ye went, activities began to bubble in earnest.
Sometimes, enemies would appear from the front to intercept them. Lu Ye generally avoided them as much as he could, but if it was impossible then he just fought his way out.
Suffice to say, whatever misconception the Thousand Demon Ridge had regarding his strength was swiftly corrected after all the casualties they took.
There were two reasons they hadn’t been able to kill Lu Ye yet. One, his flight speed was insane. He clearly had a way to massively boost the speed of his flying Spirit Artifact for a short time.
The maximum flight speed of a flying Spirit Artifact was directly connected to the enhancements and quality of the Spirit Artifact, and the cultivation level of the pilot.
Although the Thousand Demon Ridge had dispatched a massive number of cultivators to pursue Lu Ye, few could truly catch up to him. And even those who could were unable to keep up after a while.
How could they hunt him down when they couldn’t even catch up to him? This was why Lu Ye was only pursued by dozens of people right now, not hundreds or even thousands. Even now, people in the group were falling behind one after another.
If flight speed was the only problem, then they could’ve caught him already. For the past two days, countless Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators had been lying in ambush ahead of Lu Ye. Theoretically speaking, they only needed to hold him up for a moment for the pursuers to catch up to them.
In reality, the interceptors weren’t able to do much. The second reason they weren’t able to kill Lu Ye yet was because his skill in the Way of Telekinesis was just too good. The young man was only a Heaven Seven cultivator, and yet somehow he was able to control nine flying weapons at the same time!
Sure, it wasn’t even close to Li Baxian’s ridiculous one hundred flying weapons, but being able to control nine was still an incredible achievement. Even worse, the weapons were ridiculously powerful.
Once, a Heaven Nine body-tempering cultivator had attempted to intercept Lu Ye only to find himself with one foot in the grave after the nine flying weapons struck him at once. He only survived because he was a strong cultivator, but even then he was grievously wounded and unable to contribute to the pursuit any longer.
As if this wasn’t bad enough, Lu Ye’s telekinetic range far exceeded that of a standard Spirit Creek Realm cultivator. Even a Heaven Nine cultivator was no match for him.
The power and range of a flying weapon was directly related to their mental strength, the purity of their Spiritual Power, and their Spiritual Power control.
That was why the Thousand Demon Ridge could not understand what was going on here. How was Lu Yi Ye, a cultivator who had just ascended to the Heaven-Grade Seventh-Order a few days ago, able to kill someone that was over two hundred and thirty meters away from him with his flying weapons? Just how pure was his Spiritual Power? What level of fine control must he possess to achieve such a feat?
To make a comparison, a Heaven Nine cultivator’s maximum telekinetic range was only two hundred meters or so. Any further than that, and they would not be able to control their weapon.
The thirty-meter difference meant that the initiative was always in Lu Ye’s hand. Anyone who wished to face him in battle must be able to endure at least one round of attacks before they could do anything.
In the sky, flying weapons were the main mode of attack. This invisible advantage allowed Lu Ye to perform better than he would have on the ground.
Right now, Lu Ye was infinitely glad that he had picked his fourth senior brother’s brain regarding the Way of Telekinesis before, and that he heeded the advice to purchase a Weapon Holder from the Vault of Providence. Otherwise, he and his companions would’ve succumbed to the onslaught already.
At this point I just hope that this ends fast without much bullshit fights.
The dynamics never change: Yi Ye does something outrageous, the other side snowballs a massive chase, Yi Ye does something even more outrageous, at which point the other side either flees or parleys, vowing vengeance, rinse, repeat.