Chapter 1179: Palpitation

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In the past two months or so, an immense number of Holy Seeds have fallen at the hands of this 'Holy Seed Bane.' It is said that their Holy Aura has grown to an unimaginable, unprecedented level, a power that simply shouldn't exist in this world. No Holy Seed can escape suppression by such an aura. And once their Holy Aura is suppressed, their combat strength is inevitably severely impacted. The more intense the suppression, the more restricted their abilities become. At their level of cultivation and power, even a slight reduction in strength during a life-or-death battle can be fatal.

Suppressed by such a formidable Holy Aura, their strength typically plummeted by two to three tenths. How could they possibly fight?

Thus, upon realizing they had fallen into a trap, all the Holy Seeds began to flee.

Without prior agreement, they all converged on a single escape route: the entrance to the Blood Pool at the summit of Jade Pillar Peak.

This was both the correct and instinctive choice. Human powerhouses had already surrounded Jade Pillar Peak, meaning any attempt to break out in other directions would be intercepted. Consequently, the Blood Pool entrance became their sole viable option.

In an instant, over twenty figures surged towards the Blood Pool. However, as they neared, they witnessed an utterly terrifying sight: a figure abruptly materialized beside the Blood Pool. Standing tall with a hand resting on their blade, this lone individual exuded the presence of a single warrior capable of holding back ten thousand. "It's him!" a Holy Seed cried out, their expression instantly turning to panic.

They didn't know Lu Ye's specific name, always referring to him as the 'Holy Seed Bane.' Among the two dozen Holy Seeds, several had previously been hunted by Lu Ye and thus knew his appearance. Even those who hadn't been directly pursued likely recognized his build and distinguishing features. Consequently, the moment they saw Lu Ye, they all instantly identified him.

Following a brief moment of panic, an overwhelming torrent of blood arts rained down like a fierce storm upon Lu Ye's position.

Lu Ye had already activated his Blood River Art. In an instant, a Blood River of such immense scale unfurled that all the Holy Seeds gasped in astonishment. It was no longer a mere river but a vast sea of blood. This blood sea churned, concealing Lu Ye's figure, and, under the despairing gaze of all the Holy Seeds, simultaneously sealed off the Blood Pool's entrance.

A terrifyingly powerful Holy Aura permeated the air, causing each Holy Seed's face to turn ashen.

Hearing about it was one thing; experiencing it firsthand was entirely another. They had always heard how incredibly potent this 'Holy Seed Bane's' Holy Aura was, but without experiencing it themselves, they simply couldn't comprehend the immense disparity between them.

It was a disparity that no Holy Seed dared to even contemplate.

The numerous blood arts, fierce in their execution, were greatly diminished in power amidst the pervasive Holy Aura. They fell into the blood sea, merely splashing tiny waves, unable to harm Lu Ye in the slightest.

Instead, under this sudden and immense suppression, some Holy Seeds with weaker Holy Auras lost their footing and directly plummeted into the blood sea.

Most Holy Seeds managed to forcefully stabilize themselves, but before they could catch their breath, the turbulent blood sea surged back, like a crimson beast threatening to devour them all.

The Holy Seeds scattered in disarray, dodging frantically. Yet, a few still failed to evade it and were swept into the blood sea, vanishing without a trace, leaving only a ripple.

The clang of swords resounded as sword energy, converging like dragons, swept in from a certain direction.

The powerhouses from the Nine Provinces had arrived!

Always at the forefront were sword cultivators like Jian Guhong.

The others followed closely.

The great battle began, and the scene descended into utter chaos.

However, only the ambushed Holy Seeds were in disarray. The Nine Provinces' side, by contrast, was highly organized, having clearly strategized beforehand. At this very moment, several elder powerhouses were each engaging a Holy Seed, striving to tie them down and deny them any chance of escape.

Meanwhile, sword cultivators and weapon masters like Jian Guhong led groups of varying sizes, unleashing their ultimate moves without reservation to encircle and eliminate the Holy Seeds they targeted. The strategy was simple: dedicate some forces to containment and concentrate the rest for encirclement and elimination. As soon as victory was secured in one or two battle zones, the advantage could snowball and expand.

Simple strategies are often the most effective.

The Holy Seeds, now besieged by numerous human powerhouses, were in great distress. Even though they tried to stay as far as possible from the Blood Sea unleashed by Lu Ye, they could not avoid being affected, making it difficult to fully exert their strength.

Besieged under such circumstances, they had no good outcome to expect.

Furthermore, the Holy Seeds were gathered too densely, causing their Holy Auras to interfere with each other, which only worsened their already dire situation.

In just a short while, cries and shouts of alarm from the Holy Seeds rose one after another.

While the various battle groups in the sky raged fiercely, Lu Ye's blood sea was also actively engaged. Although he had unfurled the blood sea, he couldn't easily leave the Blood Pool's side. Therefore, his current actions were limited to guarding the Blood Pool, preventing the Holy Seeds from having any chance to escape.

The Holy Seeds trapped by Lu Ye realized their grim situation. Without needing to confer, they quickly gathered and collectively charged towards the Blood Pool. They weren't focused on harming Lu Ye; their immediate goal was to break through his defenses and escape from the Blood Pool. Only by doing so could they find a glimmer of hope for survival.

Deep down, they were filled with resentment and grievance. They had gathered here under the guidance of the Heavenly Will; how could there possibly be a trap set for them here?

Surely, the Heavenly Will of this realm hadn't abandoned them; that would be completely illogical.

Each Holy Seed possessed peak strength and cultivation reaching the profound realm. Without the suppression of a Holy Aura, Lu Ye couldn't stop any of them, not even in a one-on-one battle, let alone fighting many at once. However, under the suppression of Lu Ye's powerful Holy Aura, the Holy Seeds within his Blood Sea could exert significantly limited strength, roughly equivalent to only the sixth or seventh level of the Divine Sea realm.

Therefore, even though they were numerous and attacked together, Lu Ye could still hold them back.

With the Mountain-Shattering Blade dancing, no Blood Clan member could approach within ten *zhang* of the Blood Pool. Any Holy Seed accidentally struck by the blade would suffer the agony of their soul being severed, their continuous screams filling the air.

Each charge brought only renewed despair. After several fruitless attempts, they finally realized that with this human bane guarding the Blood Pool, even if their numbers doubled, it would be impossible to break through his defenses. "Get out!" a Holy Seed roared.

Continuing to entangle with Lu Ye here was undoubtedly an extremely unwise choice, as the suppression they experienced within the blood sea was simply too immense.

Only by leaving the blood sea could they find an opportunity.

Although leaving the blood sea would inevitably mean being targeted by the human top powerhouses, the Holy Seeds preferred facing them rather than confronting Lu Ye.

Staying here was a certain death sentence; venturing out to seek opportunity might offer a glimmer of hope. If they scattered and fled, perhaps a few might even escape. The Holy Seeds were not fools; it was merely the suddenness of the event combined with the bloodline suppression that had thrown them into disarray. Under a sharp cry, they all snapped out of their daze and fled outwards. Lu Ye immediately activated the power of his blood sea to exert a binding force on all the Holy Seeds within it. However, their numbers were somewhat large; he could restrain some, but not all.

Suddenly, a scream echoed from outside, followed by the annihilation of a powerful aura.

After a long and fierce battle, a Holy Seed was finally slain.

It was Jian Guhong who achieved this kill, assisted by no less than four others. This demonstrated how formidable Holy Seeds were under normal conditions. Of course, the suppression from Lu Ye's Holy Aura was also a contributing factor; although the Holy Seeds outside tried their best to stay away from Lu Ye's blood sea, they ultimately had not completely escaped the range of suppression, which affected their ability to exert their full strength.

This was undoubtedly a very good start, as these five individuals, led by Jian Guhong, were now free to assist other battle groups.

As for the few Holy Seeds who escaped from Lu Ye's blood sea, others would naturally step in to contain them.

Everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion according to the plan. In such a battlefield, once one side suffered personnel losses, their disadvantage would only grow.

Lu Ye, however, felt something was amiss. A sudden tremor passed through his heart, and he had a vague premonition of something bad about to happen. Immersed in his own blood sea, he didn't notice that at this very moment, the thick dark clouds that had covered the Blood Refinement Realm for over two months suddenly dispersed.

Sunlight bathed the land, and the entire Blood Refinement Realm was once again immersed in its warm glow.

This seemed to portend that in the confrontation of Heavenly Wills, Little Nine had achieved a complete victory, thoroughly crushing the manifestation of this realm's heavenly might.

But the true implications remained unknown.

Lu Ye's battlefield mark stirred.

At this very moment, he was fully channeling the blood sea's power to bind the Holy Seeds within it, yet he hurriedly checked his mark. Anyone contacting him at such a time surely had something urgent to convey.

He expected it to be a cultivator from the Nine Provinces, but to his surprise, Little Nine's voice directly echoed in his mind: "Lu Ye, something's not right."

"What do you mean?"

"The Heavenly Will of the Blood Refinement Realm has its own spirit, which I hadn't detected before," Little Nine explained. "Or rather, it deliberately hid itself, preventing me from noticing."

"Speak plainly," Lu Ye replied, utterly bewildered.

"Simply put," Little Nine continued, "this realm's Heavenly Will isn't as vague and indistinct as we thought. It possesses a certain level of sentience!"

Lu Ye's heart jolted. In his understanding, it was extremely difficult for a Heavenly Will to develop sentience. He recalled how glorious the Nine Provinces once were, how profound their world foundation, yet even then, the Heavenly Will of the Nine Provinces had not developed its own sentience.

The so-called Heavenly Will is a grand and ethereal existence, an aggregation of all information in the world. It is fundamentally in a state of primal ignorance, intangible yet omnipresent. Therefore, such an existence generally has no possibility of developing sentience.

Little Nine, after all, was an exception.

How could the Heavenly Will of the Blood Refinement Realm possess sentience? If it truly did, it could have, like Little Nine, provided clear help and guidance to the Blood Clan in all aspects. The Blood Refinement Realm would never have fallen into its current state under the Nine Provinces cultivators' attacks.

But since this was Little Nine's judgment, it should be correct.