Chapter 130: 提前结束

After a thorough examination, Lu Ye was relieved to confirm that Yiyi was not seriously injured and only needed some rest. Moreover, Amber's strength was now much greater than before, so Yiyi's recovery period wouldn't be too long this time.

It wasn't until late into the night that the four of them returned to the valley.

Lu Ye's tent had been kept ready, and Mu Ling was already waiting, naturally providing meticulous treatment.

However, halfway through her treatment, Lu Ye fell into a deep sleep.

After several days of traveling and fighting one battle after another, he was truly exhausted.

He woke up to bright daylight, a blanket still covering him. Lu Ye got up, looking around blankly. He didn't see Amber, but heard Qiao Qiaor's voice from outside the tent: "Here, have some of this good stuff. It smells delicious, you'll know once you taste it. Hey, if you're not going to eat it, don't bite me! Let go of my hand!"

Lu Ye put on his clothes and stepped out, seeing Amber's wide maw clamped onto Qiao Qiaor's arm. Qiao Qiaor's body was awkwardly twisted, trying to pull her arm free from the tiger's mouth, but she dared not use too much force, leaving them in a stalemate.

Their eyes met. Lu Ye frowned, "What are you doing?"

Only then did Amber release her arm, and went to Lu Ye's side, nudging him.

Qiao Qiaor held a bloody piece of beast meat high in her hand, saying, "I was feeding it some food, and it bit me! Yi Ye, your spirit beast is out of line!"

Amber immediately let out a growl.

Lu Ye looked at Amber, then at Qiao Qiaor, his gaze gradually turning stern: "Don't drug it!"

Qiao Qiaor had a blank expression: "What drug? What kind of drug? Who's trying to drug it?"

Lu Ye had already turned and entered the tent. Amber followed him in. Outside the tent, Qiao Qiaor looked left and right, then guiltily tucked the beast meat into her storage bag, muttering softly, "So cunning?" She wasn't referring to Lu Ye, but Amber.

She turned around, whistling, and walked away as if nothing had happened.

Sitting on his bed, Amber came over, carrying a storage bag in its mouth, and placed it beside Lu Ye. It was the payment from Qingyu Mountain.

Previously, after each day's battles and during rest periods, Xie Jin would hand over the day's payment in full. After these few days, Song Xie, Qiao Qiaor, and the others could be said to have made a fortune.

Lu Ye picked up the storage bag and examined it, finding nearly 180 Spirit Stones inside. Compared to his gains from yesterday, this was undoubtedly a generous amount, but considering Lu Ye's contributions to the overall battle, Qingyu Mountain naturally had to show its appreciation.

Including his previous savings, his Spirit Stones now totaled over 560. This wasn't just from merit rewards; it also included proceeds from handling spoils of war. The cultivators from Tailuo Sect and Qin family who were killed had their storage bags collected by Qingyu Mountain. Each storage bag was valued at five Spirit Stones, just like with the Heavenly Secret Alliance. Additionally, there were some low-grade spirit artifacts. All these spoils were equally divided among the five members of the team.

He checked his battlefield mark.

Name: Lu YeIdentity: Disciple of the Blood Sect.Cultivation: Fifty-three Orifices.Location: Spirit Creek Battlefield.Merit: Three hundred sixty-eight.

When he arrived here a few days ago, his Spirit Orifices had already opened up to fifty-two. In the past few days, he had opened one more orifice. This was mainly because he had been continuously fighting, with too much consumption, and the spirit pills he took were all used to replenish his own energy, which slowed down the speed of opening new orifices.

Compared to when he left Ying Mountain, his merit had increased significantly, going from 174 points to 368 points, an increase of almost exactly 200 points. It was easy to imagine how many Tailuo Sect cultivators had died by Lu Ye's hand during this period.

However, it wasn't surprising. On his first day infiltrating Hundred Peaks Mountain, he had killed over a dozen people along the way. Afterwards, when he acted with Xie Jin's team, they often wiped out the opposing teams entirely. Especially in yesterday's final battle, the fleeing cultivators simply couldn't escape the pursuit of their hunting party.

There was a significant consumption of spirit pills. During these days, he needed to replenish his spiritual power, and Amber was a major consumer of pills. When he entered Hundred Peaks Mountain, he had over 400 spirit pills, but now only just over 300 remained.

Compared to the consumption, the gains were undoubtedly greater. Overall, participating in this Dragon Spring Gathering was quite profitable.

After inventorying his supplies, Lu Ye took a bath and changed into clean clothes, then took Amber to find something to eat. Putting everything else aside, the food provided by Qingyu Mountain was quite good, and available all day. He just needed to go there whenever he wanted to eat.

On the way, he happened to meet Xie Jin. After some conversation, he learned that Qingyu Mountain had achieved a great victory yesterday. Tailuo Sect cultivators had retreated from various peaks, shrinking their defensive lines. Now, out of the hundred peaks, Qingyu Mountain occupied fifty, setting an unprecedented precedent.

Moreover, given this situation, the Dragon Spring Gathering would likely maintain the current status until its end. This was because both the Qin family and Tailuo Sect had suffered massive losses in previous skirmishes. They no longer had enough manpower to occupy more peaks, and maintaining the status quo was the best option.

Since the Qin family joined the Dragon Spring Gathering, Qingyu Mountain had never achieved such a significant victory. Xie Jin said that Senior Brother Tang Wu had sent a message, praising him profusely.

While stuffing tender pieces of meat into his mouth, Lu Ye asked, "So, does this mean we won't have to fight anymore?"

"Most likely," Xie Jin nodded. Yesterday's battle could be considered an early conclusion to the Dragon Spring Gathering.

Lu Ye understood. If that was the case, he would have to consider leaving.

The Dragon Spring Gathering typically lasted for a month, but this time it had only been going on for just over ten days. He couldn't just waste time idling here.

As if sensing Lu Ye's thoughts, Xie Jin glanced left and right, then leaned closer to Lu Ye and whispered, "Junior Brother Yi Ye, there's no need to rush. Senior Brother Tang Wu said that after the Dragon Spring Gathering ends, our entire team will be allowed into the Dragon Spring."

Lu Ye raised an eyebrow. Such good news?

Xie Jin chuckled, "Yesterday's victory was entirely due to your efforts, Junior Brother, turning the tide of battle. Our Qingyu Mountain always keeps its word. If such a huge contribution still doesn't secure you a spot, then there's no need to recruit rogue cultivators for support in the future!"

This was a gesture of great generosity to attract future talent.

The jade slip Xie Jin had given him earlier did state that rogue cultivators who made significant contributions to Qingyu Mountain could be allocated a spot to enter the Dragon Spring.

Lu Ye had also heard Song Xie and Qiao Qiaor mention this in their casual conversations. Generally, there weren't many such spots allocated to outsiders; usually only one or two outsiders could enter the Dragon Spring with Qingyu Mountain disciples at each gathering. However, this time there were three.

The spots to enter the Dragon Spring were actually very precious. Qingyu Mountain's spots were not only for its own disciples; many medium to large sects allied with Qingyu Mountain also had a demand for them. Some of their most talented disciples would often come to Qingyu Mountain to await the results right at the beginning of the Dragon Spring Gathering. However, due to previous agreements, they could not interfere with the Dragon Spring Gathering.

As a result, the spots allocated to rogue cultivators were extremely rare.

After all, for low-level cultivators, refining one's physique in the Dragon Spring once was better than consuming many rare treasures. Regardless of what path one chose to take in the future, having a stronger physique was always beneficial.

Xie Jin patted Lu Ye's shoulder. "Junior Brother, don't worry. This Dragon Spring Gathering is very likely to end early. After all, Senior Brother Tang Wu and the others have very precious time. It's meaningless to keep the stalemate going."

In the main hall of Central Peak, in front of the Shadow Moon Disk, Tang Wu stood with his arms crossed, proposing, "It can end now. What do you two think?"

Qin Wanli turned to glance at Han Zheyue, not daring to speak.

Han Zheyue sneered, "It's only halfway through. What's the rush?"

It wasn't that she didn't know Tang Wu was speaking the truth; currently, Tailuo Sect dared not make any rash moves, and continuing the stalemate would only waste time. But she simply didn't want Tang Wu to get his way. Whatever Tang Wu said, she was too lazy to listen.

Tang Wu said indifferently, "What's the point of wasting time here?"

Han Zheyue chuckled, "I think it's quite interesting!" Anyway, it wasn't just her time being wasted. This woman was a typical example of someone who harms others without benefiting herself.

Tang Wu turned his head and looked at her. "Do you think Tailuo Sect can rest easy by shrinking its defensive lines like this?"

Han Zheyue challenged, "Then come and fight. Can you take it?"

Tailuo Sect's contracted defense meant their defensive strength increased. In contrast, Qingyu Mountain, by occupying fifty peaks, had its manpower spread out. Fortunately, they had recruited a considerable number of rogue cultivators, otherwise, they truly wouldn't be able to defend everything. However, launching another attack would be difficult.

Han Zheyue was banking on this point, which was why she was so reckless. It could be said that currently, all parties had reached their limits, including the Qin family.

Tang Wu turned and stared at Han Zheyue for a moment, then issued a series of commands.

A short while later, the blue light spots on the Shadow Moon Disk began to move.

From a frontline peak, the Qingyu Mountain cultivators guarding it quickly withdrew. Soon, that peak became an unclaimed territory.

But at the same time, blue dots dispersed from several nearby peaks, converging at the foot of a Tailuo Sect peak, forming a considerable force. Not only that, from the valley in the heartland of Qingyu Mountain, five blue light spots advanced rapidly.

Seeing this scene, Han Zheyue's eye twitched. She understood that Tang Wu had brought out the hunting party.

Half a day later, the five blue dots that had set out from the valley converged with the frontline Qingyu Mountain cultivators, gathering at the foot of the Tailuo Sect's peak. There were no fewer than fifty densely packed light spots.

Han Zheyue's chest heaved, and her expression was grim.

Tang Wu turned to look at her, but said nothing.

Qin Wanli, however, had no idea what kind of charade these two were playing, nor did he understand why Qingyu Mountain would abandon a peak and then reassign manpower to gather at the foot of Tailuo Sect's peak.

In the silence, Han Zheyue sighed deeply, and tapped her battlefield mark. A message was sent.

Soon, opposite the unclaimed peak, several black light spots began to move, heading to occupy the unclaimed peak. However, judging by the slow movement of those black dots, they were clearly very uneasy.

Yet, even after they ascended the peak and occupied it, they encountered no attack.

"A wise choice!" Tang Wu's lips curved into a smirk.

Han Zheyue seemed to be drained, and said, "This Dragon Spring Gathering ends here. What does the Qin family think?"

What could Qin Wanli think? Of course, he cheered loudly! Only at this moment did he slowly realize what had truly happened.