Sage of Humanity

After a short while, in the visitors hall of the Green Emperor City's encampment, Lu Ye met with a young man in flowing robes, whose demeanor was refined and courteous. This youth seemed one or two years younger than him, and under the current envelopment of the origin magnetic field, where a cultivator's inner spirit force was restricted, it was impossible to discern another's level of cultivation through their emitted spirit light.

Yet, since this person resided within the Core Circle, it was safe to assume that he had at least converted to cultivating a Heaven Rank technique, and was at the very least a cultivator of the 7th Heaven.

Approaching Lu Ye, the youth bowed deeply, "Xiao Changhe pays his respects to his fifth uncle in the sect!"

This form of address... and this name...

"What relation is Xiao Xinghe to you?"

With a genteel smile, Xiao Changhe replied, "My father indeed."

Lu Ye understood immediately.

Before he joined the Righteous Blood Sect, the only members had been the sect master and his Second Senior Sister. As for the eldest senior sister Weh Ying who had shown herself on the Spirit Stream battlefield... she was actually the same person as Shui Yuan, though for some reason their personalities were profoundly different, even their appearances were not the same.

These facts had slowly come to Lu Ye after he joined the Righteous Blood Sect.

Aside from his eldest and second senior sisters, who were actually one and the same, there were two more senior brothers above Lu Ye. One was his fourth senior brother Li Baxian, and the other his third senior brother!

Lu Ye had never met this third senior brother and only knew him by the name Xiao Xinghe.

So, when the youth before him introduced himself as Xiao Changhe and called him his fifth uncle in the sect, Lu Ye naturally associated him with the third senior brother whom he had never met.

Although their ages were similar, the distinction of seniority existed between them: Xiao Changhe calling him fifth uncle was quite appropriate given their positions in the sect.

So his third senior brother had joined the Green Emperor City's sect! It was not until today that Lu Ye learned of this, having previously known only that his senior brother had joined another sect, though its name had been unknown to him.

Upon closer inspection of Xiao Changhe before him, Lu Ye noted that his third senior brother was indeed accomplished, as evidenced by his son's considerable size and the clear signs of exceptional talent.

"Is third senior brother looking for me?" Lu Ye inquired.

Previously, Shui Yuan had sent a message asking him to come here, saying someone wanted to meet him. Now it appeared likely that this someone was his own third senior brother.

Xiao Changhe nodded, "Yes, originally my father hoped to invite Uncle to our sect headquarters in Green Emperor City. However, with the roar of the origin magnetic storm and a chaotic force field, it's currently impossible to use Heaven's Augury Pillar for transportation, so uncle might not be able to reach the Green Emperor City's sect headquarters."

Transportation using Heaven's Augury Pillar required the activation of Spiritual Energy. Now, with Spiritual Energy in the Spirit Stream battlefield being suppressed, the pillar naturally lost its capability for transport.

As he spoke, Xiao Changhe handed over a small booklet, "Upon detecting the impending roar of the origin magnetic storm, my father instructed me to return to our headquarters for a brief visit to bring this object, meant to be passed on to uncle."

Lu Ye accepted it and looked down. The booklet was palm-sized, not very thick—perhaps only about a dozen pages—and appeared to be bound in animal hide.

Casually flipping it open, he saw densely packed script. After scanning just a few lines, Lu Ye raised his eyebrows.

This turned out to be third senior brother's saber skills cultivation insights!

Indeed, he faintly recalled something. The first time he had returned from the Spirit Stream battlefield to the Righteous Blood Sect headquarters, his fourth senior brother had accompanied him. At that time, while teaching him some combat tactics, the fourth senior brother had grumbled about why Lu Ye didn't choose to learn swordsmanship from him but instead insisted on practicing saber like third senior brother!

Lu Ye still remembered the look of grievance on his fourth senior brother's face when he said that.

Since ancient times, those who practiced the saber looked down on those who trained in the sword, and vice versa. Each disdained the other, even among fellow sect brothers. Li Baxian had hoped that Lu Ye would pursue swordsmanship like himself.

"These are the summaries my father has made about his saber skills throughout the years. He hopes they will be of some assistance to Uncle. Since he cannot provide guidance in person, this booklet is all he can offer," Xiao Changhe explained.

"This item will be of great use. Please convey my thanks to third senior brother."

Such a summary of insights into saber skills was indeed a treasure for Lu Ye, as he had been practicing saber techniques for a while now. However, he often felt that many of his ideas were hard to realize. Sometimes he would have ideas but couldn't find an appropriate entry point, nor did he have anyone to discuss and explore cultivation with.

He felt like a blind man trying to cross a river, relying solely on his own groping for progress.

The gift from his third senior brother was perfectly timed. Having someone to guide him was entirely different from fumbling on his own. This compilation of saber skills insights could save Lu Ye a significant amount of time that otherwise would have been spent groping in the dark.

"My father says we are family, and there's no need for thanks," Xiao Changhe responded with a smile, then paused before adding, "Uncle, my father had been tempering himself and cultivating in the Cloud River battlefield for three years, without returning to the Nine Provinces. He had only advanced to True Lake and left Cloud River battlefield a few days ago, so he is completely unaware of anything outside the Cloud River battlefield."

Lu Ye's expression shifted slightly, understanding the implication of Xiao Changhe's words, and he nodded, "I understand. Tell third senior brother not to worry about it. When the opportunity arises, I will visit him. Also, let him know that Lu Ye has great luck and a strong fate. The people of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge can't kill me!"

"My father is very much looking forward to meeting Uncle."

Despite Xiao Changhe's attempts to persuade him to stay longer, Lu Ye did not linger in the Green Emperor City's encampment.

Currently, the cultivators of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge were undoubtedly searching for him everywhere, and his presence in the Green Emperor City's encampment would only bring disaster if the news leaked out.

Especially now, with the origin magnetic roar and the unavailable transport by Heaven's Augury Pillar, if a large number of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators should attack the Green Emperor City encampment, their hopes of retreating back to the Nine Provinces would be in vain.

Mounting Amber, Lu Ye left the Green Emperor City encampment, heading towards the direction of the Ten Thousand Poisons Forest.

He now missed that small wooden hut in the Ten Thousand Poisons Forest immensely and couldn't wait to return to it, then delve deep into the gift the Third Senior Brother had given him.

Although he had only glanced at the first page just now, he was already greatly moved. If he could fully comprehend the saber skills and cultivation insights from Third Senior Brother, Lu Ye felt his strength could climb another rung.

Above the clouds, a hawk soared with flapping wings, its eagle eyes reflecting the image of a young man riding a White Tiger. Using the cover of the clouds and an incredibly high altitude, it was nearly imperceptible—even if Lu Ye looked up, it would be very difficult for him to spot the hawk.

Particularly now, with the origin magnetic field howling, his spirit force was imprisoned within his body, preventing Lu Ye from stirring spirit force to enhance his eyes and fully employ his Ocular Power.

With his spirit force restrained and in the midst of the chaotic origin magnetic field, Lu Ye's sense of warning considerably diminished, which allowed certain plans of the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge side to proceed incredibly smoothly.

This was the last golden opportunity to eliminate Lu Yiye. If they failed this time, there likely wouldn't be such a good chance again. Therefore, the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge forces were currently led by the Lu Ye Extermination Alliance, with a large number of sects and cultivators joining forces.

Amber's speed was extremely fast, galloping along the way. To Lu Ye's surprise, he hadn't seen a single person from the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge on this journey.

This puzzled him and also made him feel somewhat uneasy.

Abnormal occurrences must have an undercurrent; no matter how he traveled, it was impossible not to encounter a single Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivator unless they had all retreated to their base.

On further thought, that seemed quite possible.

In an environment where the origin magnetic field was in turmoil, cultivators who relied on spirit force as their source of power naturally lacked a sense of security and would prefer the warmth of the group.

Although his spirit force was bound, Lu Ye's strong mind also felt some impact. However, if there were enemies nearby spying on him, he would be able to detect them.

As Lu Ye passed a canyon, he suddenly received a signal from his battlefield marking. He quickly checked and found that someone was challenging him.

His mind connected to the Spirit Stream Ranking to check the five people ranked behind him. Among them were the female archery cultivator and Spectral Shadow; the last one was a physique cultivator.

Yooi Lianzhou and Szi Guang had ascended to the Cloud River battlefield, so these people's rankings had naturally improved.

Eliminating the female archery cultivator and Spectral Shadow, who relied too heavily on the terrain to utilize their full strength because of the challenge, it meant that Lu Ye had the initiative to choose the terrain.

If Lu Ye chose the kind of combat field he always did, with a range of only a few dozen yards, both the female archery cultivator and Spectral Shadow would be beaten to tears!

Therefore, the only option was the physique cultivator named Zhu Pang!

Challenging him at this time... Lu Ye turned his head to look around and also looked up into the sky, his brows furrowing.

Coincidence?

Lu Ye did not believe this was any coincidence. If he were to be drawn into the combat field by Heaven's Augury now, the canyon he was currently in would be too suitable for an ambush. Continue your adventure at My Virtual Library Empire

If the people of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge blocked the way out, then he would be trapped!

His senses did not detect the feeling of being watched, which indicated either no one was observing him or the observer was too far away, beyond the reach of his perception.

Recalling the eerie situation of not encountering a single person from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge on his way, Lu Ye made a judgment.

He decisively accepted the challenge, but Lu Ye did not choose the terrain, thus granting himself preparation time of four hours.

As if sensing Lu Ye's intentions, Amber beneath him increased his speed another level and darted out, quickly leaving the canyon behind.

He continued to advance.

In the shadows, messages were exchanged secretly.

"Lu Yiye has accepted the challenge; have Brother Zhu Pang ready at all times!"

"Zhu Pang is ready. The challenge hasn't started yet; it seems Lu Yiye wants to delay the time."

"Too bad. If we could have blocked him at that location, his death would be certain!"

"Don't be anxious; there's still a chance. As long as Brother Zhu Pang can hold out for one incense stick's time, we can encircle him. By then, Lu Yiye won't be able to escape even if he had wings."

"Ask Zhu Pang if he can withstand one incense stick's time."

"He says he'll do his best, but we need to move quickly too."

"Don't just do your best, you must hold out for one incense stick's time. We're too far away from him now, and without enough time, it will be hard to form an encirclement. He's a physique cultivator; doesn't he have even this bit of confidence?"

"Zhu Pang says, why don't you try?"

"He's our Ten Thousand Demons Ridge's last hope, how can he speak such irresponsible words! If I were qualified to challenge Lu Yiye, I'd certainly go. But now I'm not qualified, am I?"

"Stop the nonsense. Calculate his speed and direction to predict where he will be after four hours and prepare in advance!"