Chapter 145: Two Major Camps' Struggle

Winds Rise Across the Nine Provinces

It was as if the sun had fallen. When the fireball struck the defensive formation, the entire encampment shook violently. Spiritual power exploded outwards; though the formation blocked the spell's full force, its intense heat permeated through, causing the temperature within the encampment to rise significantly.

“Tell your people to come back, or I’ll start a massacre!” Feng Yuechan stood on her flying spirit artifact, shouting crisply.

The garrison commander, stationed there, dared not delay. He immediately sent messages to his senior brothers and sisters, realizing Feng Yuechan was not joking.

Instantly, throughout the inner circle of the battlefield, numerous Hundred Refinement Valley cultivators, who had been heading towards the outer circle, cursed loudly and retreated.

In recent days, the Spirit Creek Battlefield had become remarkably lively, far more so than usual. Particularly in the inner circle, several sects from the Haotian Alliance had chosen to declare war on nearby Myriad Demon Ridge forces.

Most absurdly, a Haotian Alliance sect called Dading Palace declared war on Zhaotian Gate, which was a thousand miles away and separated by several other sects' territories.

When the declaration of war came, the lower-level cultivators of Zhaotian Gate were bewildered. They were a thousand miles apart, their territories not adjacent, and despite belonging to different factions, they had no prior animosity. They couldn't understand how they had provoked Dading Palace.

Only a few higher-cultivation cultivators understood what was happening, as they had received orders from their main sects in the Nine Provinces. These orders instructed them to immediately head to the outer circle of the battlefield to search for a specific person.

Naturally, they didn't want to engage in such a declaration of war, but ignoring it was not an option. Dading Palace cultivators had traveled a thousand miles to their doorstep, blockading lower-level cultivators and preventing them from leaving. Left with no choice, the Spirit Creek Realm cultivators of the eighth and ninth layers from Zhaotian Gate had to return to their encampment to stabilize morale.

Such declarations of war were few in the first two days, but they rapidly increased with time. According to statistics from the Heavenly Secret Merchant Alliance, in just five days, the conflict sparked by these declarations had engulfed hundreds of sects, both large and small. This was unprecedented.

This marked the first large-scale direct confrontation between the Haotian Alliance and Myriad Demon Ridge in the Spirit Creek Battlefield after several decades. The sheer number of sects involved drew significant attention, even from those in the core circle. This clash concerned whether the flag that once commanded the Haotian Alliance of the Nine Provinces could be preserved!

Originally, this flag was set to fall completely in two months. However, during this sensitive period, a minor figure suddenly emerged who could extend its presence. How could Myriad Demon Ridge tolerate this? After thirty years of waiting, with victory seemingly within reach, no one wanted unexpected complications. Therefore, the fifth-level cultivator had to die, and that flag had to fall!

This concerned the prestige of the Myriad Demon Ridge faction.

At this moment, in a desolate wilderness, Lu Ye flicked blood from his long saber. Several Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators lay sprawled around him, and he frowned deeply.

He had a faint feeling that something was amiss!

Days earlier, after killing Dong Shuye, he had resumed his journey towards the Blood Sect encampment, feeling light-hearted.

However, since an encounter three days ago, something strange seemed to have happened.

Three days prior, he was traveling leisurely when a group of cultivators suddenly approached him. Encountering cultivators in the wilderness was normal; Lu Ye had met many on his journey.

Normally, both parties would proactively steer clear of each other to avoid any misunderstandings.

When he encountered this group, Lu Ye intended to avoid them, but they charged straight at him, their expressions clearly delighted, as if they had stumbled upon a treasure.

Given their aggressive approach, Lu Ye had no reason to hold back. Riding Amber, he initiated a charge.

Though this group had a fifth-level cultivator among them, how could they be a match for Lu Ye? They were swiftly eradicated.

After collecting the spoils of war, he resumed his journey.

Unexpectedly, Lu Ye soon encountered another group of Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators...

In just three days, he had already eliminated six groups of cultivators, acquiring over twenty storage bags and gaining more than a hundred points of merit.

Lu Ye was a bit displeased, as this significantly delayed his journey.

What bothered him even more was a problem with his spiritual power.

His spiritual power seemed to have acquired some impurities...

The reason he could cultivate using medicinal pills without hidden dangers was entirely due to his Talent Tree. He had carefully observed it: whenever he took spirit pills for cultivation, the impurities within them would be burned away by the Talent Tree and expelled from his body. Thus, his spiritual power had always been exceptionally pure, never exhibiting the accumulation of medicinal toxins his sect master had once warned about.

Even without the Sharpness and Defense runes, his pure spiritual power alone allowed him to surpass any cultivator of the same level, as the purer the spiritual power, the greater the destructive force when a cultivator wields it.

The power unleashed by the same saber strike would differ based on the purity of the spiritual power used by the cultivator.

But now, his spiritual power had actually developed impurities!

While resting last night, he meticulously examined the Talent Tree and was startled to discover that it seemed to have lost its ability to burn medicinal toxins. This was the fundamental reason for the impurities in his spiritual power.

The Talent Tree had been instrumental in his rapid growth from a newly awakened cultivator to the fifth level in less than half a year. If it lost its ability to burn medicinal toxins, his future cultivation speed would undoubtedly be significantly reduced.

This discovery weighed heavily on Lu Ye. When he encountered Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators blocking his path again today, he naturally showed no mercy, swiftly eliminating them.

However, he also considered that this situation might not be irreversible. The Talent Tree needed to absorb fire-attributed or scorching power. This energy not only caused the leaves on the Talent Tree to ignite but also served as fuel for burning medicinal toxins.

If the previously absorbed fuel had run out, it naturally wouldn't be able to continue burning medicinal toxins.

Lu Ye wasn't sure if his hypothesis was correct. To verify it, he would need to find more energy that the Talent Tree could absorb.

The first time the Talent Tree absorbed energy, it was a tangerine-yellow flame sealed within a mineral. The second time, it absorbed the scorching heat beneath a Barrier-Breaking Fruit tree. The absorbed energy seemed to be of this general standard, but Lu Ye didn't know where to find such energy, as the first two times were pure chance.

Fortunately, his spiritual power had been sufficiently pure before, so a slight amount of impurities wouldn't significantly affect him. Now, he simply couldn't swallow spirit pills for cultivation as recklessly as he once did; he could take at most one a day, then rely on Spirit Gathering runes to enhance his strength.

He still had a good number of spirit stones. He had originally planned to ask the Heavenly Secret Merchant Alliance if he could buy something that could serve as fuel for his Talent Tree.

However, that was no longer an option. In the past few days, he had encountered several waves of Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators, each with a fifth-level cultivator leading them. He felt as though he was being targeted.

Yiyi was clearing the battlefield. Lu Ye looked up; flying eagles circled in the sky, seemingly searching for prey.

Meanwhile, three *li* away from Lu Ye, beneath a large tree, several cultivators gathered. A few bodies lay haphazardly around them. Before them was a spirit artifact resembling a miniature Shadowmoon Disc, on which Lu Ye's figure was reflected.

It was clearly an aerial, bird's-eye view.

The cultivators were quietly observing the scene displayed on the small Shadowmoon Disc.

One man swallowed, “Is that a fifth-level cultivator?”

They had just witnessed Lu Ye effortlessly cut down the group of Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators as if slicing vegetables. His movements were swift and decisive, clearly indicating extensive combat experience. His speed in eliminating enemies surpassed even that of typical sixth-level cultivators.

“We haven’t found the wrong person, have we?” another asked. “Don’t make a mistake.”

“A fifth-level cultivator, riding a snow-white tiger, traveling from Fengyun Mountain towards the Blood Sect, sixteen or seventeen years old—who else could it be?” The leading woman, with a shapely figure, spoke. She was the one channeling spiritual power to maintain the small Shadowmoon Disc. Observing her cultivation, she was clearly a seventh-level cultivator, accompanied by three sixth-level and several fifth-level cultivators.

Such a small team would normally never be seen in the outer circle of the battlefield.

They had originally set out from their encampment towards the border between the outer and inner circles, a suitable area for cultivators of their strength to gain experience. However, they received orders from their masters midway and hurried here.

They weren't entirely clear about the grievances of the previous generation, only knowing that the Blood Sect had shown kindness to their own sect. Thus, when the news began to spread uncontrollably, their elders ordered them to come and rendezvous with this white-tiger-riding youth and ensure his safety.

Their sect was not the only one taking such action. The entire Spirit Creek Battlefield was now teeming with hidden currents and surging waves. Many sects wanted to protect this youth, while even more wanted to kill him. This was a gamble between the two major factions, and the youth's life or death would determine the final outcome.

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