Chapter 1152: Hardening Oneself to Face It

One day, a month after Lu Ye had settled into Bright Moon Cave, the communication stone he kept close to him suddenly vibrated incessantly. He quickly took it out to check.

It was a message from Lu Chang, who was out gathering information.

Lu Ye immediately got up, entered a stone chamber, and stood on the teleportation array. With a surge of thought and spiritual energy, the array hummed, and its patterns lit up.

The void then twisted, and his figure vanished.

When he reappeared, he was on another teleportation array several thousand miles away.

He quickly oriented himself, shot into the sky, and sped towards a specific direction.

After waiting for half a month, Lan Qiyue finally made a move. As always, she emerged from a blood pool, causing chaos in a grotto-heaven. She slaughtered so many Bloodkins there that blood flowed like rivers and bodies littered the ground.

However, before she could retreat, Saint Mohai, who had received the news, arrived in pursuit. The two Saints immediately unleashed a fierce battle!

This was the information Lu Chang had sent.

Lu Ye knew then that Lan Qiyue was in trouble this time.

This was precisely what he had been worried about. Lan Qiyue had been too active. Although she cleverly used blood pools and underground blood rivers to conceal her movements, one who walks by the river often will eventually get wet. This was especially true since Saint Mohai had been constantly tracking her.

Once or twice, she might escape before Saint Mohai arrived, but with repeated attempts, there would inevitably be oversights. This was a matter of probability, not luck.

Lu Ye's original plan was to find Lan Qiyue as quickly as possible once she reappeared and then take her out of the area.

Doing so would avoid a direct confrontation with Saint Mohai. The Blood Refining Realm was vast; they could simply hide somewhere. When the opportunity arose and the Kyushu cultivators' army invaded the Blood Refining Realm, they could then freely stir up trouble.

However, plans often fail to keep up with changes, and this particular change was one Lu Ye least wanted to see.

But he couldn't stand by idly. As things stood, he could only bite the bullet and act.

Do your best and leave the rest to fate.

With the Windwalk ability active and his flying wings deployed, he sped towards the battlefield like a streak of lightning across the sky.

Thanks to the teleportation arrays he had set up previously, the travel distance was significantly shortened. After flying for less than the time it takes to brew half a cup of tea, intense spiritual energy fluctuations could be felt ahead.

Looking up, he saw a colossal blood river spanning the sky, its waters surging and waves churning. Lan Qiyue and Saint Mohai were nowhere to be seen; only the violent aftershocks of their intense battle emanated from within the blood river.

Lu Ye's heart sank. In the worst-case scenario, the absolute worst had happened.

Lan Qiyue was trapped.

Just as he had previously used the fusion of blood rivers to trap the female Saint Blood, Saint Mohai was now undoubtedly employing the same method to trap Lan Qiyue. Their two blood rivers had already merged, making it impossible to distinguish one from the other.

Surrounding the battlefield were numerous Bloodkin figures, many of whom exuded the aura of the Divine Sea Realm. Even more Bloodkins were rushing towards this direction.

Ordinary Bloodkins could not easily interfere in a battle between Saint Bloods. The immense pressure from their bloodline alone was enough to make them weak-kneed.

They gathered there, partly to watch the battle, partly to cheer, and also to prevent Lan Qiyue from escaping.

However, given the current situation, it seemed Lan Qiyue was destined not to escape.

Despite the great distance, the Bloodkins could still vaguely sense the bloodline suppression emanating from the battle, and each one looked on with longing.

In the Blood Refining Realm, Bloodkins who achieved Saint Blood status were all favored by heaven and earth, individuals with astonishing fortune.

Although the method to become a Saint Blood was to delve deep into the blood river and fuse with Saint Blood, very few Bloodkins actually dared to do so.

Take Zhang Julai, the first soul slave Lu Ye subdued here, for example. He had the courage and audacity to delve into the blood river, but the result was death.

The risks for adult Bloodkins entering the blood river were extremely high, yet it was the only way for their power to surge and for them to achieve Saint Blood status.

In contrast, newborn Bloodkins newly hatched from blood fetuses could swim freely in the blood river and rapidly absorb its power to grow.

The marvel of the blood river was evident.

To this day, the Bloodkins still haven't figured out why this is the case, but their ancestors have always lived this way.

The vast network of underground blood rivers felt to the Bloodkins like a gentle yet strict mother. Before Bloodkins fully matured, this mother was benevolent, allowing her children to draw nourishment from her to grow strong. However, once the children reached adulthood, she would immediately drive them out, not allowing them to return at will. If they dared to return rashly, they would even face the extremely high risk of being beaten to death by this mother.

Many Bloodkins here were watching the battle from afar, all staying outside the range of the bloodline suppression, not daring to approach easily.

In fact, if it were a battle between a Saint Blood and a human expert, ordinary Bloodkins could still contribute. For example, they could activate Blood River Arts to merge with the Saint Blood's blood river, augmenting its mass and power.

However, this was a battle between two Saint Bloods, making it difficult for ordinary Bloodkins to intervene. While they could still step forward and use Blood River Arts, it would offer no help to the situation.

So, they comfortably remained spectators, and no one believed Saint Mohai would lose.

Now that Saint Qiyue was finally captured, these ordinary Bloodkins breathed a sigh of relief. Otherwise, if a Saint continued to stir up trouble every now and then, they wouldn't be able to bear it.

"Hmm," suddenly, a Divine Sea Realm Bloodkin felt something and looked back. In the distance behind him, a streak of light, like a fleeting glimpse, was rapidly approaching. It was moving so fast that continuous thunderous roars echoed, creating a formidable presence.

More Bloodkins became aware of the human approaching the battlefield.

All of them showed surprised expressions.

"Divine Sea Fifth Layer? Whose blood slave is this?" a Bloodkin Celestial Master asked with an envious look.

Throughout the Blood Refining Realm, Divine Sea Realm humans were rare. They were usually blood slaves painstakingly cultivated by Bloodkins over time. Humans who weren't blood slaves had no opportunity or space to advance; firstly, they lacked cultivation resources, and secondly, Bloodkins would not permit the emergence of overly powerful human experts.

Therefore, almost all Bloodkins, upon sensing the newcomer's cultivation level, assumed it was a blood slave cultivated by one of their own clan members.

As for discerning his human identity, that was simple: his escape light was not blood-colored.

However, soon, many Divine Sea Realm Bloodkins grew puzzled because no one claimed this suddenly appearing human of the Divine Sea Realm. Moreover, the situation quickly became unusual. This human was charging fiercely, showing no intention of slowing down or restraining his power, but rather heading directly towards the spectating Bloodkins.

"He's not a blood slave!" a Bloodkin immediately roared.

A blood slave would never dare to act like this!

Even a Divine Sea Realm blood slave would inherently feel humble when facing ordinary Bloodkins. With so many Bloodkins gathered there, no blood slave would dare to cause trouble.

In an instant, the Bloodkins recalled some rumors from the Southern Territory.

It was said that a human sanctuary had emerged in the Southern Territory, brimming with experts. It had withstood multiple sieges from the Saint Clan's armies, and even Saint-level powerhouses had fallen in battles there, which felt utterly unbelievable.

Nothing so outrageous had happened in the Northern Territory due to the vast distance. But what if a human expert from the Southern Territory came over here?

Although unlikely, it was a fact that the human Divine Sea Realm expert before them showed no proper respect for the Saint Clan. If he had any respect, he would have slowed down and revealed his identity long ago, instead of charging head-on like this.

This made the Bloodkins furious, feeling their authority had been challenged.

"How dare you!" a Divine Sea Realm Bloodkin roared, raising his hand and unleashing a Blood Art.

His cultivation had reached the Divine Sea Ninth Layer, meaning he was among the strongest Bloodkins in the entire Blood Refining Realm, second only to Saint Bloods. He believed dealing with a human of the Divine Sea Fifth Layer would pose no problem.

However, the situation unfolded beyond his expectations. Facing his powerful Blood Art, the opponent showed no intention of dodging, meeting it head-on.

Immediately after, a scene that astonished all Bloodkins unfolded: the human also raised his hand and unleashed a Blood Art, countering the incoming attack.

With a deafening roar, the two Blood Arts collided, and to their disbelief, it was the Divine Sea Realm Bloodkin's Blood Art that was shattered.

If it had been just over two months ago, Lu Ye might not have been able to achieve this level. Even though he had gained the Bloodkin bloodline inheritance by refining Saint Blood and could freely cast some Blood Arts, these arts were, after all, the Bloodkins' signature ability. How could his amateurish grasp compare to a powerful Divine Sea Ninth Layer Bloodkin who had immersed himself in Blood Arts for so long?

However, after refining that large drop of Saint Blood from the female Saint Blood, the benefits Lu Ye received were not merely an increase in his own saintly essence; his understanding of Blood Arts also greatly improved.

This meant that the same Blood Art, when cast by him now compared to before, possessed vastly different power.

It was already outrageous enough for a human to be able to cast Blood Arts, but even more absurd was that despite his lower cultivation, the Blood Arts he unleashed were actually stronger.

As if that weren't enough, what truly terrified all Bloodkins was the invisible suppression that violently descended with Lu Ye's casting of the Blood Art.

It was a natural bloodline suppression, something no Bloodkin could ignore.

In an instant, the Bloodkins who had been hovering in mid-air dropped like dumplings, particularly the less powerful Cloud River Realm and True Lake Realm Bloodkins.

The Divine Sea Realm Bloodkins managed to hold on, but they couldn't help but feel alarm and spiritual dread.

They were truly unlucky. The reason they had stayed there was that the spot was far enough from the battlefield that they could sense the bloodline suppression from the two Saints without being significantly affected.

Now, however, some things they wanted to avoid were inescapable.