Sage of Humanity

Time passed, and as our island merged with other smaller islands, battles frequently erupted.

Lu Ye and his companions continued to follow their previous battle plan, always sending Gao Tai and Lann Yudie out first to lure the enemy deep before surrounding and annihilating them. Though the tactic had grown old, it remained highly effective.

It wasn't that no one saw through their simple trick, but even if they did, what could they do? Unless the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators refrained from pursuit, as long as they dared to chase, it would be a one-way trip.

Occasionally, they would also encounter cultivators from their own side.

The merging and attachment of these islands in the Chess Sea seemed to follow a principle of proximity, with the closest islands gravitating towards each other, also influenced by those strange bone fragments attracting each other.

After three days, more than twenty Haotian Alliance cultivators had gathered on our island. By this point, it had become very rare to encounter any solitary cultivators.

Whether from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge or the Haotian Alliance, the weaker parties had already been wiped out. Like the sand sieved from the waves, those who survived were cultivators who had banded together into small groups.

A small group of more than twenty people was not a modest number, and this also made battles much simpler. Even when facing more Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators, the Haotian Alliance side did not show any signs of fear.

With Hua Ci anchoring the rear, the cultivators on our side fought unflinchingly, unconcerned about injuries. Hua Ci would tend to their wounds after the battle, and with the Spirit Energy Gathering Spirit Runes established by Lu Ye, there was no need to worry about spirit force exhaustion.

As a result, our cultivators fought like tigers swooping down the mountains, leaving their Ten Thousand Demons Ridge counterparts doubting their life choices, wondering if they had been injected with chicken blood.

The area of the small island gradually expanded, and Hua Ci stopped going out to plant mushrooms since it had exceeded her limit of control.

She was now a high priority for protection, always accompanied by two cultivators, and even Lu Ye, when going into battle, would have Gao Tai closely following him, ready to sacrifice himself at any moment.

Although the two from the Righteous Blood Sect had the lowest cultivation, in such an environment, their help to the Haotian Alliance side was too significant for anyone to dare let anything happen to them.
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A verdant glow flickered, and a ticklish sensation spread; Hua Ci was healing Lu Ye.

This time, they encountered a tough opponent. When another small island merged, they discovered that the gathered Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators amounted to more than thirty people.

That number was frightening, arguably unbeatable within the Chess Sea at this stage; anyone encountering them would find themselves outmatched.

Those Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators must have formed such a scale after merging through several islands, killing all in their path and strutting boldly.

The result was that as soon as they assaulted our island, they fell into misfortune. More than ten of the thirty were killed within moments, and the survivors fled in disarray, leaving a few more bodies behind as they retreated to their island.

Lu Ye and the others naturally pursued them, but the enemy had actually set up traps on that side, causing some casualties on our team.

The situation immediately stalemated, with neither side daring to set foot on the other's island easily. As a result, each side fielded several eloquent speakers who hurled insults across the divide, arguing loudly and incessantly.

But such bickering was no solution. Our side had the advantage in numbers, and with a healing cultivator at our rear, after some deliberation, we decided on an assault.

Battles in the Chess Sea can't be prolonged too much, because no one can be sure when another island might merge. If it's allies, it's a cause for celebration; but if it's the enemy, the predicament only worsens as each battle requires some recovery time.

After two forceful attacks, although no one on our side died, several were injured, and we were compelled to cease hostilities.

"We can't delay any longer. With those bone fragments at work, the next encounter will likely be with Ten Thousand Demons Ridge. It will only become more disadvantageous for us," stated a governor from an 8th grade sect.

This was not him being alarmist but a statement of fact. Over the past three days, although Lu Ye and his people had also gathered more than twenty allies, they had encountered Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators more frequently, with the chances of encountering them in each island merger being around seventy percent.

This undoubtedly was the influence of the bone fragments, affecting the movement direction of the islands.

"There's an array cultivator on the other side. Although the formations he sets up are still rough, their power is not to be underestimated. We have to find a way to kill that array cultivator."

"That guy is heavily guarded by the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge people. Killing him is going to be tough!"

Several individuals discussed while recuperating, but they couldn't come up with an effective plan. They were tied up in knots. Of course, if they disregarded the losses and charged, they could win with their current numerical advantage, but at the cost of an unknown number of lives. No one wanted to take such a risk unless absolutely necessary.

Lu Ye glanced at a thin cultivator next to him, who was repairing a palm-sized spider. The spider looked incredibly lifelike, almost indistinguishable from a real one, but in fact, it was not a living creature but a mechanical contraption.

The slender cultivator was the governor from Thousand Contraptions Pavilion, named Loo Yushan.

The Thousand Contraptions Pavilion was a unique sect throughout the Nine Provinces, as it inherited the path of the cover armorer.

Apart from the six main cultivator classes, there were also some minor streams with long or newly-emerging legacies. Without exception, these streams were niche and didn't conform to the mainstream cultivation trends, so they generally didn't scale up.

The sect master previously had a double-horse carriage, where the horses pulling the cart seemed alive, a creation of the cover armorer, but it was destroyed by an ambush while escorting Lu Ye back to the Righteous Blood Sect.

The sect master had mentioned to Lu Ye that he might have the chance to encounter a cover armorer in the future.

And here was Loo Yushan, an actual cover armorer, skilled in creating various mechanical contrivances. Lu Ye's impression of cover armorers had been limited by that double-horse carriage; he had thought that their creations were, for the most part, just for assistance.

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However, it wasn't until he fought alongside Loo Yushan that he realized his understanding of cover armorers was somewhat biased. Their creations could indeed kill enemies, and their power was immense.

Loo Yushan possessed a Spiritual Artifact, which, if replaced with the Thunder Dragon Cannon, had a very straightforward mode of attack. It drew in spirit force from Spirit Stones, compressed and gathered it, then released it in a burst!

Lu Ye had witnessed firsthand a Level 7 combat cultivator being struck by a Thunder Dragon Cannon, only to have half of his chest vanish. Such a brutal attack, even his Defense Spirit Runes couldn't withstand.

But as ferocious as it was, there was a significant drawback to using it. The build-up time was too long, making it easy to dodge. So, in a big battle, Loo Yushan wouldn't act unless necessary, but once he did, it was earth-shattering. Also, the Thunder Dragon Cannon consumed a lot, a single shot would use up four Spirit Stones.

The mechanized creations of cover armorers were extremely intricate. They largely relied on external forces, so high-level cultivators rarely saw cover armorers in action. However, that didn't mean cover armorers had no future. A talented cover armorer could still cultivate to profound realms, such as the Pavilion Master of Thousand Contraptions Pavilion, who was in the Divine Sea Realm.

It's just that the sect's grade was only 8th grade because there were too few disciples in his sect.

At this moment, Loo Yushan was repairing a mechanical spider, a kind of mechanized creation. It had no killing power and was only used for scouting enemy positions. The situation on the island opposite was detected by such mechanical spiders.

When his healing was complete, Lu Ye casually picked up a mechanical spider to examine it. Loo Yushan glanced at him and smiled slightly, "Is Junior Brother Yiye interested in this thing?"

"I've never seen it before."

"Cover armorers are a small faction with few members. It's normal for Junior Brother not to have seen them."

"Does Senior Brother have many of these creations?"

"About a dozen or so," Loo Yushan said heartily. "If Junior Brother wants, take them to play with."

Lu Ye then took one and walked toward Hua Ci.

Hua Ci looked at the spider in his hand with a wary face, her whole body's hair standing on end, though she tried to keep her composure, "What for?"

"Take a look at this."

Lu Ye tossed the spider to her, but Hua Ci didn't catch it, and it landed directly on her chest.

Looking down at it, Hua Ci stood motionless, her face turning deathly white at a visible speed, her body beginning to tremble slightly.

"Are you scared?"

Lu Ye picked up the spider again, looking at her in surprise.

"Not scared," Hua Ci's voice had changed.

Lu Ye nodded, "Senior Brother Loo has a dozen or so of these things. I'm thinking, if you can plant the mushrooms inside them, and then let Senior Brother Loo send them to the other side when the opportunity is right..." He clenched his fist in front of Hua Ci and then released it: "Boom!"

Since the enemy dared not come over, why not send the mushrooms to them? The effect would be the same. If this method worked, future battles wouldn't be limited to luring the enemy deeper; they could also take the initiative to attack. Of course, this required Loo Yushan to have enough mechanized creations.

"Will it work?"

The Governors who were discussing how to kill those Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators also cast their gazes over, and Loo Yushan stopped his work.

Hua Ci took a deep breath, reached out and took the spider from Lu Ye's hand, and said calmly, "I'll try!"

Her fingertips touched Lu Ye's hand, and Lu Ye felt her skin was very cold...

A moment later, Hua Ci said, "It's possible, but I don't know if Senior Brother Loo can still control this thing."

No sooner had she spoken than Loo Yushan's spirit force surged, and with a flicker of his mind, the spider in Hua Ci's hand suddenly came to life, its fuzzy legs scraping across her palm.

With a smack, the spider hit Lu Ye's face. He was covered in a face full of spore powder, turning him grey, and even the intricate spider was shattered to pieces.

Everyone around stared at the scene in astonishment.

Hua Ci laughed with feigned confidence, "Slipped..."

Lu Ye wiped his face, looking at her expressionlessly.

Only Loo Yushan, extending a trembling hand, lamented, "My eight-legged friend!"

The plan was feasible!

They immediately set to work. There was a younger sister on Loo Yushan's side, and both had many small mechanized creations. Hua Ci planted mushrooms in each, and by the time she was done, she was nearly spent.

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