Chapter 120: The Support at Qingyu Mountain

The soldier's eye twitched violently, and he cursed inwardly, realizing he had forgotten this guy could use magic. Yet, he didn't dodge; instead, he fully activated his protective spiritual power and brought his hammer down against the spell.

*Boom*... The soldier was sent flying, his chest a bloody mess, with a smell of scorching flesh. Lu Ye, mounted on Amber, had already leaped over him. Not only that, but he also leaned down and swung his long blade, which shimmered with spiritual light as the sharpness-enhancing spiritual patterns activated.

The sound of a sharp weapon cutting through flesh echoed, and blood spurted. Before Lu Ye could even check his results, Amber carried him away.

"Chase them!" someone yelled from behind, and arrows sliced through the air, disappearing into the night.

Feeling the urgency in their reactions, Lu Ye immediately understood that his choice was correct.

If he had truly charged towards the weakly defended area just now, it might have resolved the immediate danger, but he would have still been relentlessly pursued and encircled. Thinking this way, that weakly defended spot seemed like a deliberate vulnerability left by the enemy.

He retracted the small bell artifact. The moment the trapped fifth-stage cultivator gained freedom, he cast a spell in the direction Lu Ye had fled, but Lu Ye was already nowhere to be seen.

The cultivators riding spirit beasts continued their pursuit. After a certain distance, as if receiving a command, they all stopped in place, gazing resentfully in the direction Lu Ye had gone, their eyes filled with unwillingness.

Looking at the Shadow Moon Disk now, there were over twenty blue light dots rushing towards Lu Ye's white dot. On a nearby mountaintop, another group of blue light dots was engaged in a fierce battle with black light dots.

The commotion Lu Ye had detected earlier was coming from that direction.

In the main hall, Han Zheyue glared furiously at Tang Wu; if looks could kill, Tang Wu would have died a hundred times over.

The two dozen or so blue light dots approaching the white dot were clearly mobilized by Tang Wu. Otherwise, why would the Tai Luo Sect abandon its pursuit? Continuing to chase would mean entering Qingyu Mountain territory.

The nearby battle was also initiated by Tang Wu's order. Qingyu Mountain didn't intend to capture that mountaintop; they merely wanted to create a commotion to signal the outsider.

It now seemed that this outsider was very clever. Although there had been no direct communication between him and Tang Wu, under Tang Wu's covert arrangements, the outsider had actively moved closer to Qingyu Mountain.

However, the weakly defended area she had designed failed to lure the enemy.

In this round of indirect confrontation, Han Zheyue was utterly defeated. Her side lost over a dozen cultivators and several mountaintops, and the outsider was even rescued by Qingyu Mountain.

"That fierce?" exclaimed the thin Qin Wanli, who was standing nearby.

He had been watching the spectacle all afternoon and evening, personally witnessing how the white light dot moved agilely through the Hundred Peaks Mountain. To be honest, he was truly impressed. Putting himself in the same position, he knew he could never have achieved such a feat at the fourth-stage cultivation. Without considerable skill, that person would have died the first time they were surrounded.

If that were all, it would be one thing, but the key was that a black dot on the Shadow Moon Disk, representing a fifth-stage cultivator, had suddenly vanished.

In other words, a fifth-stage cultivator had died at the outsider's hands!

This was somewhat terrifying. Merely escaping the pursuit of a fifth-stage cultivator could be attributed to the strength of his mount, but killing someone of a higher stage—that carried a different implication entirely.

"This guy... wasn't he perhaps from some major power?" Qin Wanli muttered to himself.

"Still watching the show?" Han Zheyue suddenly turned and glared at him, her eyes blazing.

Qin Wanli coughed lightly and quickly straightened his posture. "Wherever Senior Sister Han says to strike, we'll strike!"

Although the Qin clan had gained status and established its own stronghold on the battlefield, its rise was still relatively recent, and it relied heavily on the Tai Luo Sect. Therefore, they dared not offend them, especially with this woman currently suppressing her anger, making Qin Wanli even more careful in his dealings.

Seeing his attitude, Han Zheyue's anger subsided slightly. Without avoiding Tang Wu, she began discussing the attack plan right in front of him.

Tang Wu, of course, was also deploying his countermeasures. He occasionally glanced at the Shadow Moon Disk, and seeing that the white light dot had connected with his arranged personnel, his heart settled.

At this moment, Lu Ye looked at the two dozen cultivators in front of him, silently holding a jade slip in his hand.

These individuals showed no hostility. They seemed to have known he was there all along, revealing their identities before even approaching and displaying their sect affiliation with the Haotian Alliance. Since they were so proactive, Lu Ye naturally showed the blue light of his battlefield mark on the back of his hand to avoid any unpleasant misunderstandings.

The jade slip in his hand had been given to him by the leading fifth-stage cultivator, Xie Jin, who said that examining it would reveal the full story and his current situation.

Although the other party was a fifth-stage cultivator, their words were quite polite.

The pursuers behind them had not yet caught up. Lu Ye gently patted Amber's back, signaling the beast to remain vigilant, then he took the jade slip and pressed it to his forehead for examination.

A moment later, he lowered the jade slip, his expression strange.

The Dragon Spring Assembly? A contest for entry into Dragon Spring, jointly organized by three major powers?

Lu Ye was somewhat speechless. These past days, he had been traveling through uninhabited areas, trying to avoid territories occupied by sects. Even when he needed supplies, he would seek out marketplaces frequented by rogue cultivators to buy daily necessities.

The last time he entered a rogue cultivator market was ten days ago.

Without interacting with others, he had no idea this was where the Dragon Spring Assembly was held. He had chosen to pass through Hundred Peaks Mountain because it was the junction of three nearby powers, belonging to none of them. He had assumed it would be safer and more convenient to pass through here.

Who knew it would lead to such a commotion?

His previous choice, the Ritian Gorge, was also a borderland between the Xuan Sect and the Nine Star Sect. That choice had led to a major battle between the two powers, resulting in the Nine Star Sect's stronghold being captured.

He realized he had made a mistake. He shouldn't choose borderlands between powers, as such places were usually chaotic. If he truly wanted to avoid trouble, he should stick to areas controlled by the Haotian Alliance.

He silently noted this lesson.

According to the information in the jade slip, the location where he entered Hundred Peaks Mountain was deep within Tai Luo Sect's territory, which was why he had been constantly pursued and intercepted by their cultivators.

This matched his previous experiences. The cultivators he initially encountered rarely included fifth-stage practitioners, but as he continued forward, the number of fifth-stage cultivators increased.

Because the rear was safer than the front, the personnel stationed there required lower cultivation and fewer numbers. In contrast, the peaks bordering Qingyu Mountain territory required more cultivators of higher cultivation levels to guard them.

The reason they came to meet him was because of the Shadow Moon Disk. The three sects each had ninth-stage cultivators stationed there, monitoring the movements of all cultivators within Hundred Peaks Mountain. Thus, no matter how Lu Ye tried to escape or hide, he couldn't evade the perception of those ninth-stage cultivators.

He had wondered why it felt like a pair of eyes was constantly fixed on him, and why he would always be surrounded regardless of how he tried to escape. It turned out to be due to the Shadow Moon Disk.

Since the situation matched his experiences, Lu Ye could reasonably conclude that the other party wasn't lying.

Furthermore, regardless, these two dozen people had come to meet him, freeing him from his pursued fate, which he considered a kindness owed to them.

"Junior Brother, this place is not suitable for lingering. Please come with us," Xie Jin gestured.

Lu Ye nodded. "Alright."

The group then clustered around Lu Ye and moved forward at a very fast pace.

Along the way, Xie Jin chatted casually with Lu Ye. When asked for his name, Lu Ye naturally gave the moniker 'Yi Ye.' Fortunately, Xie Jin was tactful enough not to inquire about Lu Ye's background or origins.

In the Spirit Stream Battlefield, many people conceal their sect affiliations, especially cultivators from major powers who venture into the outer regions for training.

One shouldn't assume that cultivators from major powers receive preferential treatment; in fact, they are more often targeted by opposing factions.

Tang Wu had messaged Xie Jin, informing him that Lu Ye was very likely a disciple of a major sect, so Xie Jin wouldn't be so tactless.

As they proceeded, the two dozen people gradually dispersed until only Xie Jin and Lu Ye remained. Those individuals had been gathered from nearby mountaintops, and with their mission complete, they naturally returned to their posts.

Moreover, Han Zheyue had been acting like a madwoman, joining forces with Qin Wanli to attack Qingyu Mountain's peaks. This led to a sudden increase in pressure on Qingyu Mountain's side, causing them to lose the peaks they had gained during the day. It was quite frustrating, though fortunately, there weren't many casualties.

After crossing two mountaintops, they arrived at a valley that was brightly lit. Tents stood everywhere, with cultivators constantly moving in and out of them.

Lu Ye looked around from Amber's back, noticing that many cultivators here were wounded. Screams occasionally emanated from many of the tents, and the smell of blood permeated the air.

He immediately understood that this place was likely a kind of field hospital, where cultivators injured in battles at the front lines would return for treatment.

When Lu Ye arrived, many cultivators turned their attention to him. Some cheered loudly, "Well done, Fellow Daoist!"

Some cheered and whistled at him, while fiery female cultivators even winked flirtatiously.

The enthusiasm from a large group of injured individuals left Lu Ye a bit bewildered.

Xie Jin smiled and said, "Junior Brother, your previous feat has spread, and everyone here admires you greatly."

Only then did Lu Ye understand what was happening.

He followed Xie Jin forward until they reached a tent, where Xie Jin said, "Junior Brother Yi Ye, you can stay here for now. Someone will come to attend to your injuries shortly."

"Thank you," Lu Ye replied.

It was a kindness he couldn't refuse. His own injuries weren't too severe, and after two previous near-death experiences, Lu Ye's tolerance for pain was now extremely high.

However, Amber was quite badly injured, mainly because the Tai Luo Sect cultivators had thrown too many spiritual talismans at it, and later specifically used arrows to shoot it. Although Lu Ye had blocked many attacks for Amber, some still slipped through.

"Then I won't disturb Junior Brother's rest," Xie Jin said, about to leave. Suddenly, as if remembering something, he turned back and added, "Oh, I almost forgot."

As he spoke, he took out a storage bag.