Chapter 1511: Interception

Wind Rises in Kyushu

As Lu Ye was about to make his move, he couldn't help but frown upon hearing the conversation between the two Blood Tribe members. The Blood Tribe actually had reinforcements en route, set to arrive in three days.

He certainly wouldn't be able to wipe out all the Blood Tribe Star Constellations here. If he acted, many would likely slip through his grasp and then regroup with the reinforcements, creating another problem.

After a brief contemplation, Lu Ye didn't rush to act but instead quietly slipped away.

The Blood Sea was vast. To conquer the Azure Jade Realm, the Blood Tribe had deployed a large number of personnel. Even with Li Shang possessing his soul, Lu Ye couldn't move too quickly, so it took him a full half-hour to emerge from the Blood Sea.

He planned to deal with the Blood Tribe reinforcements first before confronting the Blood Tribe members who had invaded the Azure Jade Realm.

Although he intended to do so, Lu Ye wasn't quite sure from which direction the Blood Tribe was coming.

Arriving in the near-space of the Azure Jade Realm, he looked back and found that the entire Azure Jade Realm differed from most other realms he had encountered. It wasn't a spherical star, but rather resembled a massive floating continent.

He didn't know what the original scenery of the Azure Jade Realm was like, but from his current vantage point, the realm appeared desolate. Only the current gathering places of the Spore Race and the Wood Spirit Race were enveloped by the boundless Blood Sea, showing nothing but crimson.

After a moment's thought, Lu Ye raised his hand and condensed a doppelganger.

He rarely exposed his doppelganger in front of outsiders, but this time, to intercept the Blood Tribe's reinforcements, he couldn't afford to be too concerned. Moreover, Li Shang herself was a Soul Clan member; even if she saw some of his secrets, she wouldn't be able to, nor would she have the opportunity to, widely publicize them.

Li Shang's soul was currently possessing Lu Ye, merging with him. However, this didn't hinder her observation of the surroundings. Under her astonished gaze, another Lu Ye appeared out of thin air.

But after just one glance, Li Shang averted her gaze, because this newly appeared Lu Ye was completely naked.

A doppelganger? Li Shang found herself somewhat confused. This seemed a little different from the doppelgangers she knew, as, in her perception, this doppelganger appeared to be no different from the main body.

The doppelganger had already dressed and carried a sword-gourd. A valiant and upright sword cultivator then appeared.

The main body and the doppelganger immediately split up, flying in completely different directions. This way, no matter which direction the Blood Tribe reinforcements came from, Lu Ye would have a high chance of discovering them in advance.

At a location about half a day's journey from the Azure Jade Realm, the main body and the doppelganger roamed and searched.

Two days later, the main body finally made a discovery. Looking up, a vast expanse of crimson was hurrying towards them in the distance. Its imposing presence clearly indicated it was the Blood Tribe's reinforcements.

Judging by its scale, the Blood Tribe's reinforcements should be considerable, but they were clearly far fewer than the contingent currently besieging the Azure Jade Realm.

Lu Ye didn't have the opportunity to completely wipe out the Blood Tribe members at the Azure Jade Realm, but there was a slight possibility with these reinforcements.

He immediately activated his Blood River Art, slightly controlling its power to maintain the Blood Sea at a similar scale. At the same time, he activated his Saint Concealment Art, suppressing his saintly aura. This was essential; otherwise, if his saintly aura manifested, the Blood Tribe would surely notice.

Li Shang, whose soul was possessing Lu Ye, immediately understood his intention: he was clearly planning to impersonate a Blood Tribe member.

It had to be said that the blood path secret art activated by Li Taibai was almost indistinguishable from those performed by the Blood Tribe. However, the blood path secret arts cultivated by humans were fundamentally different from the Blood Tribe's own secret arts. Such an impersonation might not have major outward flaws, but the Blood Tribe would surely detect it upon close contact.

She silently prepared for a major battle. Although she knew that anyone favored by the Reincarnation Tree must be powerful, she was unsure of Lu Ye's exact strength. Since following Lu Ye, she had never personally witnessed him in action. She only felt that this journey was extremely perilous.

Lu Ye activated his own Blood Sea and moved towards the vast expanse of crimson.

The crimson expanse showed no intention of blocking or even stopping. Lu Ye's Blood Sea smoothly merged into it. The next moment, a voice came from not far away: "How are things in the Azure Jade Realm?"

This clearly indicated they had mistaken him for one of their own clan members sent from the Azure Jade Realm to meet them.

Lu Ye casually replied, "It's a bit tense. The Spore Race and Wood Spirit Race are resisting to the death. Their spore cloud defense is tight and hard to break through!"

That voice coldly snorted, "The Spore Race and Wood Spirits are stubborn and unyielding. Once we break through their spore cloud, let's see what they'll use to resist!"

Lu Ye also said sinisterly, "We'll turn their world upside down with slaughter!"

That voice, however, said, "These two races have some unique abilities, so it's not good to kill them all off. We should keep some to raise later."

The owner of the voice was likely the leading Blood Tribe member of this reinforcement group, possessing late-stage Star Constellation cultivation. He exchanged words with Lu Ye, back and forth.

But Li Shang was utterly bewildered at this moment. She couldn't understand why the Blood Tribe hadn't seen through Li Taibai's methods. Not only had they smoothly accepted him, but they truly treated him as one of their own.

Although many races in the starry sky cultivated blood path secret arts, the blood path secret arts cultivated by other races were fundamentally different from the Blood Tribe's own secret arts. Logically, as soon as Li Taibai's blood art merged with the Blood Tribe's crimson aura, the Blood Tribe should have immediately detected it. Yet, the Blood Tribe remained completely oblivious, truly treating him as one of their kind.

While she was racking her brain for an explanation, Lu Ye had already taken advantage of his conversation with the Blood Tribe member to quietly expand his own Blood Sea, merging it into the surrounding crimson expanse.

To eliminate these Blood Tribe reinforcements in one fell swoop, he needed to gain control over this crimson expanse. Simply put, he needed to spread his Blood Sea and engulf all Blood Tribe reinforcements within it. Once successful, no Blood Tribe member would be able to escape.

He hadn't done this in the Azure Jade Realm because the Blood Sea there was too vast, and it would be difficult for him to accomplish it alone. But the situation here was different. Although the Blood Tribe reinforcements were numerous, the accumulated crimson mass wasn't too large. Given a little time, he could spread out his own Blood Sea.

As the Blood Sea expanded, Lu Ye also investigated the strength of these Blood Tribe reinforcements. There were quite a few Star Constellations, as well as Blood Tribe members in the Divine Sea and True Lake realms. He had previously wondered how those Divine Sea and True Lake Blood Tribe members could invade the Azure Jade Realm, as those below the Star Constellation realm simply couldn't traverse the starry sky physically. Now he knew that Star Constellation Blood Tribe members had brought them over in this manner.

This wasn't a solo fight; it was a war between races. The Blood Tribe's unique blood arts meant that, in such a war, even Divine Sea and True Lake realms could play a significant role. Otherwise, relying solely on Star Constellation realm Blood Tribe members might not be enough to achieve their goals.

"Contain your power!" the leading Blood Tribe member suddenly growled, his tone somewhat displeased.

Even with Lu Ye carefully spreading his Blood Sea, it was impossible to completely hide it from other Blood Tribe Star Constellations. However, because they all considered him one of their own, other Blood Tribe members didn't reject the expansion of his Blood Sea. But as the leader of the reinforcements, that Blood Tribe Star Constellation naturally couldn't allow Lu Ye to spread his Blood Sea too widely and usurp authority.

"Alright!" Lu Ye verbally agreed, but the speed of his Blood Sea's expansion suddenly accelerated significantly.

"What are you doing?" the leading Blood Tribe member roared, vaguely feeling something was amiss and suddenly growing alert. "Who are you?"

He hadn't paid much attention earlier, mainly because Lu Ye was obscured by his own Blood Sea, preventing the leader from seeing his face. Furthermore, Lu Ye's activated blood art was very authentic, so he naturally assumed him to be a clansman. Only now did he suddenly realize that Lu Ye's voice sounded unfamiliar. Their own Star Constellations were limited in number, especially since Lu Ye was a late-stage Star Constellation. The leading Blood Tribe member seemed to have never heard this voice before.

Lu Ye ignored him and continued to expand his own Blood Sea. But this time, it wasn't as easy. Many Blood Tribe Star Constellations became alert, no longer easily allowing his Blood Sea to merge.

Lu Ye sighed inwardly. This leading Blood Tribe member was still somewhat vigilant. If he had just a moment longer, he could have fully expanded his Blood Sea, at which point every single Blood Tribe member here wouldn't have been able to escape. At this moment, his Blood Sea hadn't fully expanded, only reaching about seventy percent. With the vigilant repulsion from the Blood Tribe Star Constellations, it was no longer possible to act as he had just done.

Lu Ye no longer hesitated. His figure flickered, and in an instant, he appeared before the leading Blood Tribe member. The Mountain Breaker Blade was unsheathed, and blade light flashed and fell.

The leading Blood Tribe member froze for a moment. Previously, Lu Ye was obscured by his own Blood Sea, preventing the leader from seeing his face. But now that he was directly in front of him, how could he not see?

"A human?" The leading Blood Tribe member was utterly astonished. He never imagined that the clansman he had mistaken him for was actually a human! Upon a closer look, the human's face seemed very familiar.

Overjoyed, he exclaimed, "Lu Yiye!"

Lu Ye was startled by these words. He was certain he had never met this leading Blood Tribe member before. Furthermore, ever since he left Kyushu, he had always acted under the name of Peerless Li Taibai, never revealing his true name or origin to anyone. This guy actually blurted out his name, which truly astonished Lu Ye.

Little did he know that after he completely slaughtered the Blood Tribe cultivators participating in the battle in the Primordial Realm of the Reincarnation Tree years ago, he had already been targeted by the Blood Tribe. In previous Divine Sea conflicts, the Blood Tribe always secured many winning spots, and those were the most talented individuals of their younger generation. The personnel gathered from over a dozen large realms were all killed, with many sacred seeds among them. How could the Blood Tribe simply let it go? Furthermore, a large number of the Insect Race's young Divine Sea cultivators were also killed by Lu Ye, with seemingly only one escaping his grasp.

After the Divine Sea conflict, the Blood Tribe and the Insect Race jointly issued a bounty on Lu Yiye of Nine Heavens. Anyone who encountered him in the starry sky and killed him could go to the realms of the two races to claim an astronomical reward, an amount so immense that even Moon Radiance cultivators couldn't ignore it. Of course, given the notorious reputations of these two races, it was uncertain how many outsiders would be interested in such a bounty. However, within the Insect Race and Blood Tribe themselves, anyone with even a modicum of strength was paying close attention to Lu Yiye of Nine Heavens.