Chapter 1332: 争抢

“Lu, what do we do now?” asked Haitang, whose nature was honest and gentle, always doing as her master instructed.

“Let’s go take a look first,” Lu Ye replied. Many things couldn't be fully understood just by reading information on jade slips; they needed to be seen firsthand.

Haitang led their group forward. Moments later, they indeed saw a bustling battlefield ahead. Before confronting each other, no one knew the composition of the other two factions. Now, upon arrival, everyone’s expressions turned grave after a quick scan with their spiritual sense.

Someone gasped, “Oh no!”

The reason was simple: both opposing factions had a late-stage Constellation Realm cultivator, and at least two mid-stage ones. Based on their current positions, the Western faction was even stronger, with three mid-stage cultivators. In contrast, their own side had only Haitang as a lone mid-stage Constellation Realm cultivator, with everyone else being early-stage. The disparity in strength made their group seem incredibly weak.

Instantly, everyone felt a bitter taste in their mouths, and morale began to wane. Sensing this, Haitang immediately called out, “The outcome isn’t decided yet! Don’t lose heart! Even if our apparent strength isn’t as great as theirs, we must still show the spirit of our Eastern faction and absolutely not let them look down on us!”

This helped the others steady themselves, realizing Haitang was right.

Lu Ye was observing the battlefield, or more accurately, the spiritual orb. What he saw was a glowing sphere, roughly a hundred zhang in diameter, appearing to be a solidified form of energy. However, Lu Ye couldn't discern its true nature. At this moment, eighteen Constellation Realm cultivators from the Southern and Western factions were fiercely battling near the spiritual orb, with colorful lights constantly erupting.

But Lu Ye immediately noticed that neither side was fighting with their full power; everyone was holding back. So, while the fight looked intense, it was only superficial. Moreover, during the battle, cultivators would occasionally activate their abilities, striking the spiritual orb to change its direction and speed. The Southern faction had gained an early advantage, having moved the spiritual orb a considerable distance before the Western faction arrived, placing it closest to the Southern camp.

However, now encountering obstruction from the Western faction, it was impossible for them to move the spiritual orb further unless they eliminated some of the Western cultivators. If only two factions were involved, the Southern faction would undoubtedly make that choice. They couldn't maintain a stalemate indefinitely. In such a conflict, the faction whose camp was closest to the battlefield held an advantage, as even if they fell in battle, they could return to the fight more quickly. But everyone knew that the Eastern faction had yet to arrive. Why would they create a situation where two sides fought, allowing a third party to profit?

Thus, the situation reached an unspoken stalemate between the Southern and Western factions. By the time the Eastern faction arrived near the battlefield, the Southern and Western factions were also observing them, just as the Eastern faction was observing them. Upon inspection, they saw that the Eastern faction had one mid-stage and eight early-stage Constellation Realm cultivators. Both sides then withdrew their spiritual senses.

No sooner had Haitang finished her morale-boosting speech, and everyone had just begun to gather their spirits, than they experienced the helplessness of being underestimated once more. They weren't entirely ignored, however, as someone from the Western faction shouted, “Easterners! Why are you just standing there? Come help!”

It wasn't that the Western and Eastern factions had a particularly good relationship, but in such three-way contests, forming alliances and undermining each other was common, and each faction's stance constantly shifted with the development of the situation. Since the Southern faction currently held a positional advantage, the Western faction naturally called upon the Eastern faction to join the fray.

Haitang was clearly familiar with the procedures of past combat practices, having put in significant effort to prepare for this one. So, upon hearing the call from the Western faction members, she didn't hesitate. She immediately dashed forward, simultaneously transmitting a message to her own group: “Don’t stray too far from me; we must act as a united group.” In a battlefield like this, while there might not seem to be a direct threat to life, if anyone became isolated, they would inevitably be targeted and brutally eliminated. Therefore, given the current situation, acting as a group was the only viable option.

Led by Haitang, the nine Eastern Constellation Realm cultivators entered one side of the battlefield. Instantly, the Southern faction’s pressure increased significantly, with the most noticeable change being the spiritual orb’s altered flight path. Previously, amidst the entanglement of the Southern and Western factions, the spiritual orb, though occasionally moving east or west, generally didn’t travel long distances because the two factions were similar in strength and struggled to dictate its course. Now, with the Eastern faction joining the chaos, the situation became extremely disadvantageous for the Southern faction. Under the combined efforts of the Eastern and Western Constellation Realm cultivators, the spiritual orb continuously flew towards the center of the Black Abyss – in other words, away from the Southern camp.

This thoroughly enraged the Southern Constellation Realm cultivators, who yelled incessantly, telling the Easterners to wait and that they would pay for this later. During the conflict, cultivators also remembered to consume spiritual pills or extract spiritual jade to replenish their energy. This was a battle expected to last for half a month, so maintaining one's spiritual power reserves was essential. As it had just begun and the situation was stable, they naturally couldn't afford to squander their spiritual power. If no other changes occurred, such a prolonged struggle was destined to yield no conclusive result. No faction had the ability to eliminate another while under the scrutiny of a third party and still maintain full combat effectiveness. Historically, the Black Abyss Combat Practices always began with this kind of stalemate. But in a three-way contest, how could there be no changes?

Under the combined efforts of the Eastern and Western cultivators, the spiritual orb finally returned to the center of the Black Abyss, rendering all the Southern faction’s previous efforts useless and infuriating the nine Southern cultivators to no end. However, at this point, the Eastern and Western factions, who had initially cooperated closely as if they were a single unit, began to subtly compete. Each wanted to guide the spiritual orb towards their own camp to gain an advantage. The unspoken alliance shattered instantly.

Lu Ye could sense that the late-stage Constellation Realm cultivator from the Western faction was transmitting a message to Haitang, exchanging something. Although he couldn't hear the content, it was obvious the Western cultivator was trying to persuade Haitang to lead the Eastern faction members not to resist too strongly. Haitang didn't respond, merely shaking her head repeatedly to indicate her stance. She wasn't foolish. The Eastern faction was already the weakest; how could she let the other two factions succeed at such a moment? Prolonging the conflict was most beneficial for the weakest Eastern faction. This led to a chaotic three-way battle, even more intense than before. The nine Eastern cultivators maintained their arrow-shaped formation, aiming not for grand achievements, but simply to avoid mistakes.

Time passed. After nearly half a day, a peculiar energy fluctuation suddenly appeared in another direction. A second spiritual orb had appeared! And this orb’s location was noticeably closer to the Eastern faction’s camp.

Almost the moment the orb appeared, the nine Eastern cultivators immediately changed direction, abandoning the original battlefield, and surged directly towards the new orb’s location. Haitang herself wouldn't have made such a decisive move; this was a plan they had discussed earlier during their skirmishes with the other two factions. Doing so carried risks. If either of the other two factions pursued them, their group would be forced into a desperate fight, allowing the non-pursuing faction to gain an unearned advantage. This was highly likely to happen, as everyone believed the Eastern faction was the weakest. Therefore, whichever faction pursued them would be confident in defeating the Easterners. The likely outcome was that the Southern and Western factions would each claim a spiritual orb, leaving the Eastern faction with nothing.

But at this moment, the Eastern faction had no other choice. If they didn't retreat, one of the other two factions would inevitably withdraw, leaving the Eastern faction to face a similar situation: a one-on-one confrontation with the remaining faction. One was a possible scenario, the other an inevitable one. So, they had to take a gamble!

The moment they started retreating, Lu Ye swapped places with Haitang, taking the lead in their swift flight. This, too, had been pre-arranged, because at this critical moment, every second they gained would translate into a significant advantage for their side. The arrow-shaped formation’s speed suddenly increased. The Eastern Constellation Realm cultivators were surprised to find that Lu Ye, leading the charge, was significantly faster than Haitang. All of them knew almost nothing about Lu Ye, only that their faction had invited an external helper this time, and that person happened to be Haitang’s dao companion.

Initially, they hadn't paid much attention, as he was just an early-stage cultivator, at the same cultivation level as them. But now they realized that while the cultivation levels might be the same, the underlying strength could be vastly different. The speed of flight in the starry sky largely reflected a cultivator’s strength, because everyone controlled their speed within their manageable limits, never exceeding them. Otherwise, they would have no time to react if danger arose. Lu Ye's leading speed now surpassed Haitang's, which undoubtedly indicated that this external helper's strength was not as simple as it appeared on the surface.

As the Eastern faction rapidly disengaged from the battlefield, the entangled Southern and Western factions were both stunned. They hadn't expected the Eastern faction to react so quickly, losing the initiative and preventing either faction from easily withdrawing.

Someone from the Southern faction shouted, “Westerners! Another spiritual orb has appeared! Don’t cling to this one!”

The Western faction responded, “Coincidentally, I was thinking the same thing! You two hurry and grab the other one!”

“This orb was originally ours, the Southern faction’s! Why should we go grab another one?”

“Spiritual orbs are naturally generated by the Black Abyss; they have no owner. How can it be yours, the Southern faction’s?”

“The Eastern faction is so weak, why aren’t you dealing with them instead of bothering us? What sense does that make?”

“Weak they may be, but they are still members of our Little People clan. We must at least ensure they get something!”

The constant bickering showed that, fundamentally, both factions regarded each other as their main rivals, and no one truly paid much attention to the Eastern faction. This was the fundamental reason why the Eastern faction could withdraw without being pursued, which was a stroke of luck for them. As for the mention of a “guaranteed share,” it was indeed true. The results of every Black Abyss Combat Practice typically ended in a two, three, or four-way split, meaning no faction would end up with zero spiritual orbs; at least two would be secured. Ultimately, this was an internal struggle among the Little People clan; no faction would seek to completely annihilate another.

***

He gasped, inhaling fresh air, his chest heaving. Confusion, bewilderment, and a mix of other emotions flooded his mind.

*Where is this?*

Instinctively, Shi Yu scanned his surroundings, growing even more confused.

A single room dormitory? Even if he had been successfully rescued, he should be in a hospital room now. And his body... why was there not a single injury?

Puzzled, Shi Yu's gaze quickly swept across the room, finally settling on a mirror placed on the bedside table. The mirror reflected his current appearance: around seventeen or eighteen years old, with a handsome face. But the problem was, *this wasn't him!* The old him had been a handsome young man in his twenties, with an extraordinary demeanor, and he had been working for some time. Yet now, this face looked like that of a high school student...

This drastic change left Shi Yu in a daze for a long time. *Please don't tell me the surgery was successful...* Both his body and appearance had changed. This wasn't a matter of surgery; it was more like immortal magic. He had completely transformed into another person!

*Could it be... that he had transmigrated?*

Besides the mirror, which was clearly placed in a spot with bad feng shui according to common belief, Shi Yu also found three books next to the bed. Shi Yu picked them up, and the titles immediately silenced him.

*Beginner Beast Breeder's Essential Handbook**Postpartum Care for Pet Beasts**Guide to Appraising Heteromorphic Beast-Eared Girls*

Shi Yu: "???"

The first two book titles seemed normal, but what was with the last one?

“Cough.” Shi Yu's gaze sharpened, and he reached out his hand, but his arm quickly stiffened. Just as he was about to open the third book to see what it was, a sharp pain suddenly struck his brain, and a flood of memories surged forth.

Icefield City.Pet Beast Breeding Base.Intern Pet Beast Breeder.Beast Tamer?