Chapter 147: How Did a Fight Break Out?

Another saber strike fell. With a clang, sparks flew. Lan Yu'er, who should have been forced back by this strike, did not retreat. At some point, she had gripped a short saber in a reverse hold. It was this short saber that parried Lu Ye's attack.

Lu Ye quickly withdrew his saber and chopped again.

Lan Yu'er snorted, "Too many openings!" She unleashed a punch. Even though Lu Ye saw it, he couldn't guard against it. In a hurry, a Spirit Guarding Rune appeared in front of his abdomen.

With a boom, spiritual power erupted. The punch sent Lu Ye stumbling back seven or eight zhang. His stomach churned, and he could barely breathe.

Lan Yu'er was astonished, "What was that?" She had just felt something shatter from her punch, but in the heat of battle, she hadn't seen it clearly.

She had no time to ponder. Lu Ye, who had just steadied himself, charged towards her like a gale. Her vision was immediately filled with dazzling saber light.

Lan Yu'er twisted and dodged. Her aura became unpredictable and shifting, and her speed was even greater than before.

Clanging sounds constantly rang out. The clash of the long saber and short saber created a continuous symphony in the night.

"Roar!" Amber suddenly pounced from behind Lan Yu'er. The woman seemed to have eyes in the back of her head, easily dodging. At the same time, she kicked out, sending the massive Amber flying.

But mid-air, Amber's long tail coiled. It lashed out like a whip towards Lan Yu'er. This caught Lan Yu'er off guard. She gritted her teeth and growled, "What a fierce beast!"

She quickly retreated.

Meanwhile, Lu Ye had darted to Amber's side. He leapt onto the tiger's back, ready to make a getaway. Although the exchange hadn't lasted long, he was certain he was no match for this woman. If he didn't run now, when would he?

However, his expression quickly turned solemn. Several spiritual power fluctuations were rapidly approaching from all directions. They arrived in the blink of an eye.

"This... what happened here?" A young man stared dumbfounded at the messy battlefield.

They had originally planned to protect him secretly from nearby. But when they heard sounds of combat here, they thought people from the Myriad Devil Ridge had attacked, so they rushed to provide support. They never expected to see this scene.

"Stop fighting, stop, please stop!" someone shouted.

Another person yelled, "Junior Brother Lu, calm down, this is a misunderstanding!"

Mounted on Amber's back, Lu Ye coldly surveyed his surroundings. Six people had arrived. Three of them were at the sixth level, and the other three were at the fifth level. If he wasn't mistaken, one of the people who had just shouted was the one who previously chased Lan Yu'er.

These guys were together.

Surrounded by a squad of this caliber, if Lu Ye wanted to escape, he would only have to break through in the direction of the fifth-level cultivators. And even then, success wasn't guaranteed!

However, what concerned Lu Ye was that these people hadn't shown any hostility towards him. And one of them had even called him Junior Brother Lu!

Since entering the Spirit Creek Battlefield, apart from the few people from the Rogue Cultivators' Society and Yiyi, no one else knew his surname. When interacting with outsiders, he always referred to himself as "Yi Ye."

How did this person know his surname was Lu?

And these strange encounters over the past few days... He vaguely felt there was a connection between them.

The sixth-level cultivator who had spoken earlier walked up to Lan Yu'er and asked, puzzled, "Why did you start fighting him?"

"Didn't you agree to protect him closely? Is this how you protect him?"

Lan Yu'er also recovered, her expression somewhat awkward, "I just couldn't help myself! Primarily, he was too infuriating. This kid actually poisoned her, and she fell for it."

However, their recent exchange had shown her how formidable Lu Ye was as a fifth-level cultivator. This guy was too aggressive in combat and his moves were exceptionally ruthless. She had truly never seen a fifth-level cultivator like him.

Their own fifth-level cultivators seemed as docile as white rabbits compared to him.

No wonder that group of Myriad Devil Ridge cultivators was cut down like vegetables during the day. His powerful aggression and sharp, ruthless moves could easily overwhelm cultivators of the same level, leading them to their deaths.

"Who are you people?"

Lu Ye did not relax his vigilance. While asking, his gaze still darted towards one of the fifth-level cultivators. Breaking through in that direction offered the highest chance of success.

The young man who had spoken earlier secretly had a headache. He saw Lu Ye's wariness and distrust, which was understandable. If he were in Lu Ye's shoes, he wouldn't easily trust a group of strangers either.

Without directly answering Lu Ye's question, to prevent any further misunderstandings and to ensure the conversation went smoothly, he raised a hand and solemnly declared, "Qi Xin of Mount Zixia respectfully implores the Heavenly Mechanism! We seven have absolutely no ill will towards Junior Brother Lu Ye; we are merely here on a sect mission. May the Heavenly Mechanism bear witness!"

An unseen force descended from the void.

Qi Xin looked at Lu Ye on Amber's back and said, "Junior Brother, please calm down."

Lu Ye frowned and slowly sheathed his long saber. A Heavenly Mechanism Oath was not something to be taken lightly. If they dared to swear such an oath, it meant they genuinely had no ill will towards him.

Qi Xin's expression turned serious, "I know Junior Brother must have many questions. But this is not the place to talk. Could Junior Brother please come with us to find a secluded spot?"

Lu Ye paused for a moment, then nodded, "Alright!"

He indeed had many questions now.

"Please!" Qi Xin gestured and led the way. The others also followed.

"Wait a moment!" Lan Yu'er raised a hand.

"What is it, Senior Sister?" Qi Xin turned and asked.

Lan Yu'er looked rather awkward, "I've been poisoned. My spiritual power isn't circulating, and I can't walk!" Although she had forcibly suppressed the poison just now, it had resulted in an even more violent backlash. Now her spiritual power was like stagnant water, completely unresponsive.

Everyone was shocked, "Who did it?"

Lan Yu'er turned her head to look at Lu Ye. Lu Ye looked at the darkness of the night beside him.

The group's expressions turned strange. Some wanted to laugh but dared not, their shoulders shaking as they struggled to hold it in. But at last, they understood why their Senior Sister, who was supposed to be closely protecting someone, ended up fighting them.

Anyone in her position would find this unbearable.

Qi Xin tentatively offered, "Shall I carry you?"

"Get lost! I don't need you to carry me!" Lan Yu'er flatly refused. She glared at Lu Ye and said, "Whoever did it is responsible. Let your mount carry me!"

Lu Ye thought for a moment, then raised a hand and patted Amber's back.

Lan Yu'er walked forward and climbed onto Amber's back. Amber seemed displeased but still endured it.

"Let's go." Qi Xin continued to lead the way. The group moved forward in silence, at great speed.

An hour later, they found a cave and took shelter inside.

Lu Ye waited for the group from Mount Zixia to enter. Only then did he lead Amber inside. His slight caution was naturally not hidden from them, but everyone pretended not to notice.

The cave was dry, and the few of them sat cross-legged.

Lu Ye was the first to speak, "How do you know my name?"

Hearing this, Qi Xin chuckled, "Junior Brother, are you truly unaware of your situation?"

"In what sense?"

"It seems Junior Brother truly doesn't understand his own situation, alas." Qi Xin sighed and said, "Junior Brother's identity has been exposed. Now, not only do we know you're a Disciple of the Jadeblood Sect, but many interested parties across the entire Spirit Creek Battlefield are aware."

Lu Ye frowned.

His identity was exposed? How? And what did "many interested parties" mean?

Since entering the Spirit Creek Battlefield, he had always been careful and cautious in every aspect, because before he came in, the Sect Master had instructed him not to reveal his identity as a Jadeblood Sect disciple.

Although he didn't know why the Sect Master had given such an instruction, he knew the Sect Master would not harm him.

When interacting with outsiders, he always referred to himself as "Yi Ye." Even if Hua Ci and others knew his name, they certainly wouldn't know his background.

Only one person had recognized him: at the entrance of the Heavenly Mechanism Alliance in Yi'an City, he had encountered a mining slave he had worked with in the Evil Moon Valley mine.

That was just a coincidence. Lu Ye hadn't said much to the person at the time. He had quickly left after being recognized.

However, after he left Yi'an City, he was pursued by Dong Shuye...

He suddenly remembered that before Dong Shuye died, he had used his battlefield imprint to send out a message. At the time, he thought Dong Shuye was summoning reinforcements, but no one came to pursue him afterward, so the matter was left at that.

Dong Shuye was certainly going to die then. Even if he summoned help, it would have been too late. But what if the message he sent wasn't a call for help?

Was it Dong Shuye? When the Burning Moon Mountain disciple in Yi'an City had interacted with him, Dong Shuye might have seen them. Perhaps he used some method to find out his background from that person...

Dong Shuye said before he died that he would wait for him on the Yellow Springs Road. It seemed like the futile barking of a dying man, but what if he truly felt that way?

"Is there something wrong with my identity?"

This was what puzzled Lu Ye the most. The Sect Master had specifically warned him about this before he entered the Spirit Creek Battlefield, making Lu Ye understand that revealing his identity would definitely not benefit him.

He had once guessed that the Jadeblood Sect might have done something that angered both heavens and men, leading to Jadeblood Sect disciples having a difficult time in the Spirit Creek Battlefield.

"What exactly the problem is, I'm not entirely sure. It relates to some old secrets. I only know that the entire Spirit Creek Battlefield has been thrown into turmoil because of Junior Brother alone. Many sects on the Myriad Devil Ridge side want you dead, and quite a few sects on the Clear Sky Alliance side are trying to protect you. Our Mount Zixia is one of them. We few were dispatched by our sect to find you."

Lu Ye listened in bewilderment, "The Spirit Creek Battlefield is in turmoil because of me?"

What power did he, a fifth-level cultivator, possess to sway the entire Spirit Creek Battlefield's situation?

The root cause must not be him, but his identity as a Jadeblood Sect disciple.

If Qi Xin wasn't lying to him, then the sect he was forced to choose back then seemed to be hiding some incredible secrets.

"As for past events, we younger generations don't know the exact details. But to my knowledge, the Jadeblood Sect was still a first-rank sect decades ago," Lan Yu'er, who had been focused on dissolving the medicinal poison, suddenly spoke. She was the most powerful and knew more. "Later, for unknown reasons, its rank fell year by year, eventually becoming a ninth-rank sect, and it's already on the verge of being abolished. The Jadeblood Sect hasn't accepted any disciples for thirty years. If no new disciples join the sect, then in the sect ranking assessment two months from now, the name of the Jadeblood Sect will be completely erased."