Chapter 1383: Transaction

Song Zhui burst into laughter. "Seeing is believing, Brother Lu, you truly are interesting."

As someone from Yuanhong Hall, he was well-versed in various ancient texts. Although he didn't practice array formations himself, he had a basic understanding of them. The names Lu Ye casually mentioned were all incredibly powerful and legendary formations, far beyond what someone at the Cloud River Realm could possibly set up. It was impossible for these types of formations to exist in the spirit land before them. However, whether there were other formations was unknown. The opponent's stance, clearly inviting them into a trap, showed obvious confidence.

"Is it very interesting?" Lu Ye's gaze lowered. "Then let me show you something even more interesting!"

As he spoke, an array flag suddenly appeared in his hand, which he lightly waved. A tremendous roar echoed, followed by flames shooting skyward. In a certain part of the spirit land, amidst violent spiritual energy fluctuations, a hidden figure abruptly revealed itself, enveloped by the flames, screaming miserably, and quickly retreating.

It was clearly a ghost cultivator attempting to sneak into the spirit land. This ghost cultivator, only at the sixth-layer realm, had no idea where he got the audacity to act this way. Now, enveloped by the explosive array, his body was ablaze. After finally managing to withdraw from the array's range, he collapsed directly onto the ground, clearly on his last breath.

This sudden turn of events startled the group of cultivators from Ten Thousand Devil Ridge, who all looked down at the fallen ghost cultivator. Before they could fully react, Lu Ye continued waving the array flag in his hand.

Boom, boom, boom...

Violent sounds continuously erupted from various parts of the spirit land. Flames rose one after another, each boom accompanied by a gasp or a scream. Within each explosive array, there was a ghost cultivator's figure. In a short time, more than ten explosive arrays were activated, exposing the whereabouts of over ten hidden ghost cultivators, who were either killed or injured.

The group from Ten Thousand Devil Ridge watched in stunned silence. While they knew there would be ghost cultivators lurking in the shadows, they never expected there to be so many! And these were just the ones exposed; what about those still hidden? These ghost cultivators... they truly were more trouble than they were worth! What horrified them even more was how many arrays Lu Yiye had actually set up in the spirit land. Those ghost cultivators were clearly scattered throughout different locations in the spirit land, yet they still couldn't escape being harmed by the formations. Now, it seemed the spirit land truly was filled with arrays at every step.

In the sky, Song Zhui frowned, observing the exposed ghost cultivators. Although he knew that with Ying Wuji's skill, he wouldn't be exposed so easily, he was still somewhat worried. After a quick glance, he saw that Ying Wuji was not among the dozen or so ghost cultivators, which brought him a measure of relief.

Somewhere in the spirit land, Ying Wuji lurked in the shadows, silently approaching Lu Ye's position, completely unfazed by the exposure of his dozen companions. As an excellent ghost cultivator, he naturally had some knowledge of array formations, especially array breaking techniques. This was because ghost cultivators often needed to infiltrate arrays to assassinate targets. A saying circulated in the cultivation world of the Nine Provinces: A ghost cultivator who doesn't understand array formations is not a qualified ghost cultivator!

At the Spirit Stream Realm and Cloud River Realm, the requirements for ghost cultivators regarding array formations weren't high, but as their cultivation grew, their need for array-breaking techniques increased. This led to a peculiar phenomenon in the Nine Provinces' cultivation world: some individuals appeared to be array masters, but were in fact ghost cultivators skilled in stealth and assassination.

In terms of array formation mastery, Ying Wuji was inferior to Lu Ye, but unlike those foolish ghost cultivators, he could somewhat discern traces of arrays. Therefore, he hadn't triggered any formations on his journey, nor had he even stepped into an array's covered area.

"Was that entertaining?" Lu Ye put down the array flag in his hand.

Song Zhui took a deep breath and praised, "I've long heard of Brother Lu's profound mastery in array formations, and what I've seen today is indeed extraordinary. I am impressed!" Casually forcing out the hidden ghost cultivators' traces, such a deterrent would surely make the other lurking ghost cultivators hesitant to act rashly again. Therefore, if they were to succeed, it would depend on Ying Wuji!

Although the current situation was unexpected, it was what Song Zhui wanted to see. He didn't need to do much; he just needed to attract Lu Ye's attention here and create an opportunity for Ying Wuji to strike. Once Ying Wuji made his move, Lu Yiye would undoubtedly die, and the objective of this trip would be achieved.

With this thought, he slowly shook his head. "However, Brother Lu, forgive me for saying this, but it's meaningless. Today, hundreds of my fellow cultivators from Ten Thousand Devil Ridge are here. Brother Lu must understand why. Under such overwhelming power, do you truly believe you still have a chance to survive?"

"So, it looks like I'm certainly dead?"

Song Zhui said, "Brother Lu, are you still clinging to some unrealistic fantasies? Naturally, even ants cling to life, let alone us cultivators, so it's reasonable for you not to accept your fate. But are you willing to implicate others because of your own affairs?"

Lu Ye slightly narrowed his eyes.

Song Zhui continued, "No matter how many powerful formations Brother Lu has laid down in this spirit land, since so many cultivators from Ten Thousand Devil Ridge have come today, we will not return empty-handed! But if we proceed forcefully, I fear both our sides will suffer losses. The most likely outcome is that our side pays a certain price, while your side is completely annihilated!" He raised an eyebrow. "Brother Lu, how about we make a deal?"

A smile suddenly curved Lu Ye's lips; he had been expressionless until now. "What a coincidence, I also want to make a deal with you."

Song Zhui was surprised. "Oh? What kind of deal does Brother Lu want to make? Do tell."

"You go first."

Song Zhui didn't waste words and stated directly, "As I just said, if conflict arises, both our sides will pay a price. How about Brother Lu surrenders without a fight?"

"Are you dreaming?"

Song Zhui said, "As long as Brother Lu is willing to surrender, I can ensure your three companions behind you leave this place safely. If Brother Lu doesn't trust me, I can swear an Oath of Heavenly Secrets!"

"I see!" Lu Ye understood his meaning. "A very sincere proposal."

Sacrificing himself to ensure the safety of Li Baxian and the others—if Lu Ye truly had no other cards to play, this would indeed be a proposal worth considering. Of course, Li Baxian and the others would certainly not agree.

"Then, what is Brother Lu's intention?"

"I..." Just as Lu Ye began to speak, he suddenly turned his head to look sideways, his eyes instantly empowered by insight spiritual runes. Immediately after, he swiftly raised the array flag in his hand and slammed it down. He had made such a move before, which resulted in exploding out over a dozen ghost cultivators. Now, he suddenly made the same move again, clearly having discovered a ghost cultivator's trace. This time, however, the hidden ghost cultivator was only ten zhang (approximately 33 meters) away from his position! This was an extremely dangerous distance, and the only ghost cultivator who could infiltrate to such an extent under the previous deterrence was Ying Wuji!

The moment Lu Ye looked in his direction, Ying Wuji felt a surge of surprise. Instinctively, he felt he hadn't exposed himself, but Lu Ye's gaze was fixed directly on his location, clearly indicating he had been detected. How was that possible? Two months ago, even that True Lake Realm cultivator hadn't detected his approach, so how could this Lu Yiye detect him? He hadn't triggered any array traces. Could it be that this guy's spiritual perception was stronger than that deceased True Lake Realm cultivator?

In the fleeting moment of observation and confrontation, Ying Wuji reacted, transforming into a black shadow and lunging toward Lu Ye with incredible speed. Although he had wished to sneak up to Lu Ye for a killing blow, since he was exposed, he could only resort to a direct assault. At a distance of ten zhang, with his ninth-layer realm cultivation, he unleashed a fierce strike; the opponent absolutely couldn't dodge it!

Lu Ye indeed didn't dodge; he simply waved the array flag in his hand. In the next instant, a light barrier covering several zhang in radius appeared out of nowhere, completely enveloping the charging Ying Wuji. Ying Wuji's heart sank. The moment he saw the light barrier, he realized something was wrong, because it felt like a... containment array!

The next moment, he, infused with fierce energy, slammed directly into the light barrier. As expected, it was indeed a containment array. Even with the full force of a ninth-layer ghost cultivator's attack, he couldn't break through that light barrier. A horrifying sensation overwhelmed him. Inside the containment array, violent and chaotic spiritual energy fluctuations surged, and in Ying Wuji's vision, bright flames suddenly erupted.

Boom, boom, boom, boom...

The explosive arrays unleashed their power, and it wasn't just one array; judging by the commotion, it was at least the superposition of three or four explosive arrays. Moreover, being within a containment array further amplified the power of the explosive arrays. Outside the spirit land, many cultivators from Ten Thousand Devil Ridge watched with twitching eyes. This scene... it looked painful just to witness.

The light barrier of the containment array broke after only a single breath of time. It wasn't that the containment array set up by Lu Ye wasn't sturdy enough; a powerful ghost cultivator like Ying Wuji couldn't break it with a full-force attack, which already made it a qualified formation. It was simply that the superimposed explosions of several explosive arrays had exceeded the containment array's light barrier's maximum endurance.

Almost the instant the containment array's light barrier shattered, a black shadow darted out from within, not rushing toward Lu Ye, but in the opposite direction. Its speed was far greater than before. The black shadow was even covered by a thick layer of bloody light, a sign of some unknown secret art being used. The black shadow vanished in a flash, dashing out of Returning Heaven Valley in the blink of an eye, leaving no trace. From beginning to end, no one had seen his true face. Only Lu Ye, at the moment the figure was exposed, vaguely saw something. However, the other party wore a black cat mask, so Lu Ye didn't see his face, only inferring from the spiritual energy fluctuations he unleashed that it was a ninth-layer ghost cultivator.

In the sky, Song Zhui watched this scene speechless. Ying Wuji... had failed! Not only did he fail, but he was also severely wounded! This was truly a monumental joke.

***

He gasped for fresh air, his chest heaving. Confusion, bewilderment, and various other emotions flooded his mind. Where was this?

Then, Shi Yu subconsciously observed his surroundings, only to become even more bewildered. A single dormitory room? Even if he had been successfully rescued, he should be in a hospital room now. And his body... how could there be no injuries at all?

Filled with doubt, Shi Yu's gaze quickly swept across the room, finally resting on a mirror by the bed. The mirror reflected his current appearance: around seventeen or eighteen years old, with a handsome face. But the problem was, this wasn't him! His former self was a handsome young man in his twenties with an extraordinary demeanor, who had been working for some time. Now, this appearance looked like that of a high school student, no matter how he looked at it.

This change left Shi Yu in a daze for a long time. Don't tell him the surgery was a success... His body and face had both changed; this wasn't a matter of surgery anymore, but rather immortal arts. He had completely transformed into another person! Could it be... he had transmigrated?

Besides the mirror by the bed, which was clearly poorly placed according to feng shui, Shi Yu also found three books nearby. Shi Yu picked them up, and the titles immediately left him speechless.

"Essential Beast-Rearing Manual for Novice Breeders""Post-Natal Care for Pet Beasts""Guide to Appreciating Beast-Eared Girls of Different Races"

Shi Yu: ???

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

"Ahem."

Shi Yu's gaze hardened, and he reached out, but his arm quickly stiffened. Just as he was about to open the third book to see what it was, a sharp pain shot through his brain, and a flood of memories surged forth.

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

Beast Tamer?