Chapter 1424: Replacing Dead Puppets and Battlefield Maps

The battle ended, leaving no trace of blood.

Lu Ye raised his hand and retrieved a piece of the body cultivator's remains. Upon closer inspection, it wasn't a body at all, but rather a piece of wood. Moreover, the instant the enemy died, Lu Ye distinctly felt a mysterious force surge from a certain direction, as if the body cultivator had swapped places with something at that precise moment.

A substitute puppet! Lu Ye immediately understood what it was.

At the Spirit Creek Realm, each advancement to a new layer brings with it an additional minor Heavenly Circulation system within the body. Lu Ye was now at the third layer of the Spirit Creek Realm, having opened twenty-seven apertures. With nine apertures forming one circulation, he possessed three minor Heavenly Circulation systems within his body. Spiritual power flowed through them like a continuous stream. What surprised Lu Ye was that after reaching the third layer of the Spirit Creek Realm, he distinctly felt a resonance among these three spiritual power circulation systems, a sensation he hadn't experienced at the first or second layers. This resonance made the flow of spiritual power within him even faster.

He had now cultivated the Golden Cicada Unfettered Art, obtained from Steward Yang, to its perfected state. If the twenty-seven opened apertures within his body were connected in a specific sequence, the resulting pattern resembled a cicada. The name Golden Cicada Unfettered Art likely originated from this. Each cycle of spiritual power flow was like the breathing of this cicada. The three spiritual power circulation systems appeared independent, yet could actually influence one another.

Logically, an increase of one cultivation layer should have boosted Lu Ye's strength by over 30%. However, he felt his strength had increased by more than that, by about half. He realized this was the benefit of cultivating an entire set of techniques to perfection. If he had possessed his current cultivation level when fighting Zhang Wu, Lu Ye certainly wouldn't have paid such a heavy price; he might even have defeated him without sustaining any injury.

In terms of offensive power, he possessed the Sharp Spirit Pattern; even a fourth-layer cultivator like Zhang Wu couldn't withstand it when Lu Ye was at the second layer of the Spirit Creek Realm. In terms of defensive power, he had the Guard Spirit Pattern, which Zhang Wu couldn't break through. Both his offense and defense surpassed his current realm. What he lacked was simply experience and skill in combat. Experience, however, could only be slowly accumulated through direct practical combat.

As for skill, throughout his journey, he had spent at least two hours daily practicing with his blade. While the time was still short, and he couldn't claim to have superb blade techniques, at the very least, his grip on the blade was steadier than initially, and his strikes were quicker. After all, he had killed a few people, gradually becoming familiar with the sensation of his long blade piercing through an enemy's protective spiritual power and striking their physical body. By imprinting this sensation in his mind and developing it into an instinct, he could naturally evolve superior techniques.

Further cultivation was no longer possible. He had only a few spiritual pills left, and no suitable cultivation techniques. His injuries had fully healed. Lu Ye pondered for a moment before standing up.

A moment later, he gathered Yiyi and Dahu, and they exited the tunnel where they had hidden for several days. According to information relayed by Yiyi, Xuanmen and the Nine Star Sect had been fiercely battling within Rift Valley for the past few days. Small-scale skirmishes broke out periodically, resulting in casualties on both sides.

Lu Ye silently commended Xuanmen. This was precisely the situation he had hoped for, and the very reason he had been able to hide for so long. He had previously believed that Xuanmen and the Nine Star Sect could not coexist peacefully. He surmised that once the Nine Star Sect made any significant move, Xuanmen would inevitably respond. Now, it appeared he had underestimated the deep-seated animosity between the sects, stemming from their opposing factions.

The entire incident began when Lu Ye killed four disciples, led by the young master of the Nine Star Sect, which then triggered a large-scale search for Lu Ye's whereabouts. However, while he, the central figure, was quietly recuperating, the matter had already escalated into a chaotic battle between Spirit Creek Realm cultivators from the two major sects. He had originally planned to stir up more trouble, but it now seemed entirely unnecessary.

The situation was favorable to him, but it was unrealistic for Lu Ye to simply walk away. He didn't know how many people these two sects had deployed in Rift Valley. Now embroiled in the conflict, to escape, he had to leverage power—specifically, the power of Xuanmen.

With a plan in mind, he had Yiyi lead the way to scout the situation, while he and Dahu stealthily moved thirty zhang behind her. Observing the situation, the smaller group clearly held the advantage, primarily because their three members had higher average cultivation levels: one at Spirit Creek fourth layer and two at the third layer. In contrast, the group of four included two Spirit Creek third-layer cultivators and two second-layer ones. One of the third-layer cultivators had a bleeding arm, clearly injured. Conflicts among lower-level cultivators primarily involve close-quarters combat, with very few activating the power of spells. This is because their cultivation is not high, spell power is limited, casting spells takes time and is easily disrupted, and even if successful, accuracy remains an issue. In such a fighting style, the side with higher cultivation and stronger weapons naturally gains the advantage.

Among the quartet, the leader was a burly man who held a large blade, blocking the others. As he retreated, he loudly shouted, "You go!" clearly intending to stay behind and cover their retreat. The other three showed sorrow, but instead of abandoning him to escape, they fought alongside the burly man, battling and retreating. However, this was merely a desperate measure. Once the burly man fell, all four of them would surely perish. The fourth-layer cultivator on the opposing side clearly understood this. Thus, even when he had the chance to kill the burly man, he refrained. Instead, he continuously inflicted wounds on him, making him appear increasingly desperate.

Hidden among a pile of scattered rocks not far behind these four, Lu Ye and Dahu observed the situation through the crevices. He had originally been troubled by how to distinguish between Xuanmen and Nine Star Sect cultivators, since he couldn't simply go up and ask for their identities. However, upon witnessing the conflict between the two sides, he realized he had overthought things. Xuanmen and Nine Star Sect cultivators were easy to distinguish because the backs of their hands glowed with different colors.

Lu Ye was quite surprised, wondering why this was happening. When he had previously engaged in combat, his battlefield imprint had shown no activity. He was unaware, however, that this was entirely Wang Yang's doing. Xuanmen and the Nine Star Sect had been fighting over this territory for many years. However, because Xuanmen had more and stronger Spirit Creek Realm cultivators, they had always held the advantage. This had led to the Nine Star Sect's Spirit Creek Realm cultivators maintaining a very low profile in this area, making it difficult for Xuanmen members to hunt down opponents previously.

This time, with the Nine Star Sect's young master killed, nearly all the sect's Spirit Creek Realm cultivators had been dispatched, presenting an opportunity for Xuanmen. An opportunity to extensively hunt down Nine Star Sect disciples. Therefore, Wang Yang didn't care about the cause of the incident; he only saw a golden opportunity to severely damage the Nine Star Sect. To this end, he didn't hesitate to pay a price, using his own outpost's Heavenly Machine Pillar to declare war on the Nine Star Sect.

The Nine Star Sect had the right to refuse such a declaration of war. However, as they were pursuing the murderer of their young master this time, they couldn't possibly refuse. Dong Shuye could only grit his teeth and accept it, all the while inwardly cursing Wang Yang and his ancestors.

During such a declared war, once cultivators from both sides engaged in battle, the backs of their hands would glow with different colors, clearly indicating their allegiance. It's important to note that both sides had many rogue cultivators, many of whom were unfamiliar to the regular cultivators of the two sects. The presence of the battlefield imprint helped prevent friendly fire and quickly identified enemies and trustworthy allies.