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Translator: TheBrokenPen
Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys
Back when Lu Ye was chosen to be the bearer of his first unique Gold Amulet, he had tried almost everything—like throwing it away and using his Teleportation Ward to travel as far as possible from it—nothing worked. The unique Gold Amulet remained physically inseparable like a tumor that obstinately refused to break away.
It was more of a curse than a boon. Unless its bearer was killed, the Gold Amulet would forever follow him or her literally everywhere.
Hence, being chosen to be the bearer of unique Gold Amulets was tantamount to being given a death sentence, especially for low-tier Cultivators.
Lu Ye had no intention of getting himself latched to another unique Gold Amulet and enduring its torments for another time. But by some ironic stroke of Luck this particular Amulet had just dropped on his lap and there was nothing else he could do save to make the most of it.
But not all was doom and gloom. If Lu Ye could repeat his earlier feat, then this encore could not only earn him an extra Gold Amulet but also enough Carnage Points to launch him back to the top spot on the Roster.
And that could be achieved with the help of his Teleportation Wards—so long as he had enough of them.
There was only one glaring issue; Lu Ye had witnessed one Spiritual Power eruption from the Amulet but he did not know how many Spiritual Power eruptions he would still have to go through. There was no way of telling how many eruptions had occurred before.
Six hours breezed by swiftly.
The Gold Amulet now cradled in Lu Ye’s arms emitted the next pulse of Spiritual Power surge. The tremendous wave of energy swept across the terrain as a column of light tunneled up into the clouds overhead. There it was. Time to go.
Without any hesitation, he activated the Teleportation Ward.
But before they vanished from the cave, Lu Ye did not neglect to fire a Spiritual Power blast at the explosive ward not far away.
Flames filled the entire length and breadth of the cave while a deafening thunderclap reverberated through the cavern. Lu Ye and his companions were gone, along with any traces of them being there before.
Before too long, the place was swarming with Cultivators investigating the energy pulse. But the mess and debris were all they could find.
Meanwhile, Lu Ye and the others were just reappearing in the Teleportation Ward more than two hundred miles away. The first thing Yi Yi did was reconnoiter the area for any enemies.
A message came from her soon enough. The coast was clear. They were safe.
The trio waited there patiently.
Another six hours elapsed. It was time for the next signal by the unique Gold Amulet—the next eruption of Spiritual Power and the column of light.
Just like before, they triggered the explosive wards before using the Teleportation Ward, setting off another huge explosion.
Lu Ye and his companions arrived at their destination and the first thing Yi Yi did was to scout around the area for any potential threats. In the meantime, Lu Ye tested his Teleportation Ward and made sure that it could still link with other nearby Wards.
To his dismay, there was only one still working.
The unique Gold Amulet had already triggered twice. Plus the time when it was still in the possession of its former bearer, that would mean that the Amulet had released its eruption thrice. Yet the soft emerald-like luminescence remained as radiant as ever, indicating that its duration had not yet ended.
There would be another blast of light and Spiritual Power. The last one.
The situation was by no means comforting. Without more than one option of exfiltration meant insecurity and greater risk. Anything could happen; the last functioning Transportation Ward might be discovered by someone else, triggering the explosive wards that would destroy it.
If that were to really happen, then Lu Ye and his companions would be trapped.
Realizing their fix, Lu Ye knew that he needed to venture out to construct more Transportation Wards.
He spoke to Li Baxian about his plan, then he made himself invisible and slipped out of the cavern. He randomly chose a bearing and headed that way.
There was little Li Baxian and the others could do to help. They could not render themselves invisible so it would be best for him to go out alone while the others waited for him.
Two hundred miles was not too far for Lu Ye to cover alone, but to remain undetected he would have to be extremely cautious and that slowed him down a lot. That, plus searching for a suitable spot to build his new Transportation Ward took him more than two hours before he could begin the actual work of constructing the Ward.
There was no time for another, so he turned around and headed back. He needed to regroup with the others.
Back at the cave, Lu Ye waited patiently as the time finally came—the last eruption of that unique Gold Amulet.
The pillar of light rose up in the blink of an eye, followed swiftly by a rolling tsunami of Spiritual Power while Lu Ye and his companions made their swift exit, vanishing from the Transportation Ward.
A split-second later, they reappeared at the new Transportation Ward Lu Ye constructed not long ago.
After ensuring that all was safe around them, Lu Ye quickly extracted the unique Gold Amulet. The faint azure glow was gone. He finally breathed a sigh of relief before stowing it away in his Storage Sphere.
At the same time, Lu Ye’s name on the Carnage Roster soared up two positions, reclaiming his spot at the top of the list.
His tally of Carnage Points had skyrocketed by an astonishing seven hundred and fifty points, surpassing the seven-thousandth mark with a two-hundred-point lead over second-ranking Tan Sheng.
Somewhere else, Tan Sheng, dressed in a flowing green robe, lifted his head to observe the changes on the Carnage Roster, his brows furrowing in consternation.
He couldn’t help but marvel at Lu Ye’s incredible luck. Such a significant increase in bounty points must have been due to the possession of that unique Gold Amulet.
And this wasn’t the first time either; the last time Lu Ye had gained such a substantial spurt of Carnage Points in one go, it catapulted him to the top of the Carnage Roster too.
In just a half-month, Lu Ye had acquired two unique Gold Amulets, displaying an extraordinary fortune that anyone would salivate with extreme jealousy.
Tan Sheng had heard the stories about Lu Ye—about how he was a member of the Crimson Blood Sect of Bingzhou Province and how he carried a huge price on his head from the numerous bounties offered by various sects and orders of the Thousand Demon Ridge coalition. Many had been scouring the Carnage Colosseum grounds for him lately but to no avail; he had managed to avoid detection the whole time.
The two-hundred-Carnage Point difference wasn’t an impossible task for Tan Sheng, but he knew that catching up to Lu Ye wouldn’t be easy. Lu Ye’s cultivation rank might be low, yet it had contributed to his remarkable efficiency in gathering Carnage Points that far outstripped Tan Sheng’s to the extent of perplexity.
Having been overtaken, Tan Sheng knew that he had to find other ways of amassing more Carnage Points. The rewards for becoming the champion of the Carnage Roster and those of the first runner-up differed significantly—the difference being a Primus-level Wisp of Sanctification. On the cusp of achieving the True Lake Realm, Ninth-Order Tan Sheng might have little need for the Wisp of Sanctification at the onset of his imminent departure from the Cloud River Battlefield. But he wanted it nonetheless—for the good of the juniors in his order if not for his own sake.
As Tan Sheng contemplated his plans, he received a message. He checked his Battlefield Imprint. It was sent to him by one of the juniors in his order.
The message was brief. Someone had gone to great lengths to contact him through his juniors. All they wanted was to meet him somewhere in the Colosseum.
But Tan Sheng was more inclined to go on gathering as many Carnage Points as possible to overtake Lu Ye. Time was of the essence and he wasn’t interested in spending any of his valuable minutes meeting some strangers—especially strangers who were clearly weaklings since they had to go through layers of channels just to reach him.
He was about to flatly refuse the request to meet when the next missive he received made his eyes twinkle with intrigue.
He replied swiftly, [Are you sure about this? That’s what they said?]
His junior’s response came soon enough, [Yes, that’s what they said, but we don’t know whether it’s true or not.]”
[If they truly possess that item, then what they say could very well be possible. Get me their location!]
An approximate location of the strangers came soon enough. Tan Sheng referred to his map. The meeting spot was quite a distance away from his current position. Even with his level of cultivation, it would take considerable effort and time to reach it. Nonetheless, there was no hesitation from him, [Tell them to wait there; I’m on my way.]
Concluding the communication, Tan Sheng took to the sky, turning into a streak of light that zoomed in the direction of the agreed meeting point.
In the meantime, perched atop the summit of a mountain were a pair of well-hidden figures. If Lu Ye were here, he would recognize the brothers Jiang Liuzi and Jiang Chengzi.
Yet both of them presently appeared disheveled and battered, sporting injuries from their recent battles.
Both proficient Fifth-Orders in their own right, the brothers, like Lu Ye, were capable of defeating opponents beyond their ranks.
For some time now, they had been led by an allied Cultivator named Lu Shu, diligently searching the Colosseum for various opportunities and Endowments as they sought to track down Lu Ye.
Luck favored them at first, granting them ample chances and gifts. They hunted down Cultivators from the Grand Sky Coalition, earning themselves a handsome amount of spoils in the process. Still, Lu Ye’s whereabouts remained elusive, casting their quest for his head further into despair.
If only those were the only difficulties they faced.
But bad things come in threes. Just a day before, they came face-to-face with a powerful Grand Sky Coalition Cultivator, and, if the fact that his powers far surpassed them was not bad enough, the adversary even held a deep grudge against their sect.
Needless to say, a fierce battle ensued.
Their leader, Eighth-Order Lu Shu possessed considerable strength, but he was still no match for the adversary, who was a Ninth-Order.
Lu Shu should have been able to hold his ground under most circumstances; in fact, he could have escaped safely himself, if he really wanted to.
But with the blood feud between the adversary’s sect and their order, the enemy Cultivator was determined to spill blood. That plus Lu Shu’s resolve to keep the brothers safe forced him to stay and hold the enemy back while the brothers fled.
By the time the brothers had reached a safe distance, it was too late. Lu Shu’s Battlefield Imprint was gone. He was killed in combat.
This left on the shoulders of the brothers the weight of guilt for causing the loss of their senior brother.
Revenge was out of the question. The enemy Ninth-Order’s strength made it impossible for them to avenge Lu Shu and all they could do was remain in hiding until the Colosseum reached its conclusion.
Unfortunately for them, the enemy Ninth-Order was not willing to stop there. He hunted around for their trail, tracking their movements and leaving the brothers in constant fear.
With no other choices, they had to seek others for help. But anyone with enough power to resist the enemy Ninth-Order was busy vying for the top spots on the Carnage Roster. None of them were in a generous mood for charity let alone altruistic enough to help keep the brothers safe.
That prompted Jiang Liuzi to do everything he could to reach out to Tan Sheng. He was confident that the latter was strong enough to ensure their survival, plus, they knew how to make him say yes.
Which was another stroke of Luck. Not more than a day before, a white speck of light illuminated the spot where the Jiang brothers were hiding. It was an Endowment event that had suddenly appeared right in front of them. It was from this pearly-white speck of light that they stumbled upon a very extraordinary artifact.
With this artifact in their possession, they were certain that Tan Sheng would undoubtedly agree to their request.
The Jiang brothers expended every favor and dime just so that they could get into contact with Tan Sheng and were waiting for his response.
Their hard work paid off; a message arrived soon enough. Jiang Liuzi quickly read the message.
His brother Jiang Chengzi asked, “What’s the news?”
Jiang Liuzi nodded with solemnity, “It’s a yes. But Tan Sheng is far away. The journey will take a half-day by my reckoning.”
“That’s good news, I guess. There is still hope for us.”
Few could fathom the joy and relief the brothers felt when they discovered what Luck had just dropped on their lap in their hour of dire need. The very object of their salvation.
Whether it was the rewards of winning the Carnage Roster or the bounty on Lu Ye’s head—the choice was easy enough for any Thousand Demon Ridge Cultivator.
Anyone would choose the latter without a moment’s thought.
For Tan Sheng, hunting down Lu Ye presented a two-fold benefit: he could not only secure the top spot on the Carnage Roster, but also the rich rewards for killing the famous Lu Yi Ye. To that end, the brothers knew that there was little reason for him to decline to come.
Tracking down Lu Yi Ye had been the single-most difficult challenge for all Thousand Demon Ridge Cultivators who had entered the Colosseum with the express purpose of hunting him down. How could they even think of killing him when they could not even locate him?
Yet, this quandary could be solved by the mysterious artifact that the Heavens had just bestowed on the Jiang brothers. The uncanny ability to accurately pinpoint Lu Ye’s current whereabouts was what impelled Tan Sheng to rush this way at once.
