Chapter 1519: Star Map

Lu Ye, who was about to act, frowned slightly upon overhearing the conversation between the two Blood Tribe members. He learned that the Blood Tribe actually had reinforcements on the way, scheduled to arrive in three days.

He certainly couldn't eliminate all the Blood Tribe Star Realm cultivators here. If he were to act now, it was highly likely that many would escape, and should they then rendezvous with the reinforcements, it would create another problem.

After a brief moment of thought, Lu Ye did not rush into action. Instead, he quietly slipped away.

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

He planned to deal with the Blood Tribe's reinforcements first, and then confront those who had invaded the Azure Jade Realm.

Although he had this plan in mind, Lu Ye wasn't entirely sure from which direction the Blood Tribe reinforcements were coming.

Upon reaching the nearby space of the Azure Jade Realm, he looked back. He noticed that the entire Azure Jade Realm was different from most realms he had encountered; it wasn't a spherical star, but rather resembled a colossal floating landmass.

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

After a thought, Lu Ye raised his hand to conjure a clone.

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

Li Shang, currently possessing Lu Ye and integrated with him, could still observe her surroundings. With utter astonishment, she watched as another Lu Ye materialized out of thin air. However, after just one glance, Li Shang averted her gaze, as the newly appeared Lu Ye was completely naked.

"A clone?" Li Shang couldn't quite comprehend it. It seemed different from the clones she knew, as in her perception, this clone appeared to be no different from the main body.

The clone had already put on clothes and picked up the sword gourd. A dashing and upright sword cultivator was thus born.

The main body and the clone 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 detecting them in advance.

At a distance of about half a day's journey from the Azure Jade Realm, the main body and the clone roamed, searching.

Two days later, the main body finally made a discovery. Looking up, he saw a vast expanse of crimson rushing towards him in the distance, its momentum grand and imposing — it was clearly the Blood Tribe's reinforcements.

Judging by its scale, the Blood Tribe's reinforcements seemed considerable in number; however, they were noticeably fewer than the forces currently besieging the Azure Jade Realm.

Lu Ye didn't have the chance to completely wipe out the Blood Tribe members in the Azure Jade Realm, but as for these reinforcements, there was a slight possibility.

He immediately activated his Blood River Art, slightly controlling its power to keep the Blood Sea's scale at a similar level. At the same time, he activated the Sacred Containment Art to conceal his sacred aura. This was crucial; otherwise, if his sacred aura manifested, the Blood Tribe would surely detect it.

Li Shang, 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 Dao secret art invoked by "Li Taibai" was almost indistinguishable from those performed by the Blood Tribe. However, the Blood Dao secret arts cultivated by humans were fundamentally different from the Blood Tribe's own secret arts. Such an impersonation might appear seamless from the outside, but upon close contact, the Blood Tribe would surely notice.

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

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

The crimson mass showed no intention of blocking him, nor did it even stop. Lu Ye's Blood Sea smoothly merged into it. The next moment, a voice came from nearby: "What's the situation like in the Azure Jade Realm?" This clearly indicated that they had mistaken him for one of their own kin coming from the Azure Jade Realm to greet them.

Lu Ye casually replied, "A bit anxious. The Spore and Wood Spirit tribes are resisting to the death. Their spore cloud defenses are tight, making them difficult to breach!"

The voice scoffed, "The Spore 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 slaughter them, turning heaven and earth upside down!"

The voice, however, remarked, "These two races possess some peculiar abilities. It wouldn't be good to wipe them all out; we should keep some for rearing later."

The owner of the voice was likely the Blood Tribe commander of these reinforcements, a late-stage Star Realm cultivator, conversing back and forth with Lu Ye. What they didn't know was that Li Shang was completely baffled at this moment.

She couldn't understand why the Blood Tribe hadn't seen through Li Taibai's deception. Not only had they smoothly accepted him, but they truly believed he was one of them. Although many races in the starry sky practiced Blood Dao secret arts, there were fundamental differences between the Blood Dao secret arts practiced by other races and those inherent to the Blood Tribe itself. Logically, as soon as Li Taibai's blood art merged with the Blood Tribe's crimson, they should have immediately noticed something amiss. Yet, the Blood Tribe remained oblivious, genuinely treating him as one of their own.

While she was racking her brain, Lu Ye, taking advantage of his conversation with the Blood Tribe member, quietly spread out his own Blood Sea, merging it into the surrounding crimson mass. To eliminate these Blood Tribe reinforcements in one fell swoop, he needed the ability to control this crimson expanse. Simply put, he aimed to spread his Blood Sea and envelop all Blood Tribe reinforcements within it. Once successful, none of the Blood Tribe members would be able to escape.

He hadn't done this in the Azure Jade Realm because the Blood Sea there was too vast for him to manage alone. However, the situation here was different. Although the Blood Tribe reinforcements were numerous, the crimson mass they formed wasn't excessively large. Given a little time, he could fully spread out his Blood Sea.

As his Blood Sea expanded, Lu Ye also investigated the strength of these Blood Tribe reinforcements. There were many Star Realm cultivators, 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 Realm level inherently lacked the ability to traverse the starry sky physically. Now he understood that they were brought over by Star Realm Blood Tribe members through this method. This wasn't a solo fight; it was a war between races. The Blood Tribe's blood arts were unique, and in such a war, even Divine Sea and True Lake cultivators could play a significant role. Otherwise, relying solely on Star Realm Blood Tribe members would likely make it difficult to succeed.

"Contain your power!" the Blood Tribe commander suddenly roared, his tone displeased. As Lu Ye spread his Blood Sea, no matter how cautious he was, he couldn't completely deceive other Blood Tribe Star Realm cultivators. It was merely because they considered him one of their own that the other Blood Tribe members didn't resist the expansion of his Blood Sea. However, as the commander of the reinforcements, that Blood Tribe Star Realm cultivator naturally couldn't allow Lu Ye to spread his Blood Sea too widely and usurp his authority.

"Alright!" Lu Ye responded verbally, but the speed at which his Blood Sea spread suddenly accelerated significantly.

"What are you doing?" the Blood Tribe commander roared, faintly sensing something was amiss, and suddenly grew vigilant. "Who are you?" He hadn't paid much attention before, primarily because Lu Ye was obscured by his own Blood Sea, preventing him from seeing Lu Ye's face. Furthermore, the blood art Lu Ye activated seemed very authentic, so he naturally assumed he was one of their kin. Only at this moment did he suddenly realize that Lu Ye's voice sounded unfamiliar. There were only so many Star Realm cultivators among their own kind, especially one in the late Star Realm stage. The Blood Tribe commander had apparently never heard this voice before.

Lu Ye ignored him and continued to spread his Blood Sea, but this time it wasn't as easy. Numerous Blood Tribe Star Realm cultivators became vigilant and no longer easily allowed his Blood Sea to merge.

Lu Ye sighed inwardly. This Blood Tribe commander was indeed somewhat vigilant. If only he had been given another quarter of an hour, he could have fully spread out his Blood Sea. Then, every single Blood Tribe member here wouldn't have been able to escape. At this point, his Blood Sea hadn't fully expanded, only reaching about seventy percent. With the vigilant repulsion from the Blood Tribe Star Realm cultivators, it was no longer possible to proceed as before.

Lu Ye no longer hesitated. His figure flickered, and in an instant, he appeared before the Blood Tribe commander. The Mountain-Shattering Blade was drawn, and the blade light flashed down.

The Blood Tribe commander was stunned for a moment. Previously, Lu Ye was obscured by his own Blood Sea, preventing him from seeing Lu Ye's face. But now that he was directly in front of him, how could he not see?

"A human?" The Blood Tribe commander was utterly astonished. He had never imagined that the kinsman he mistook him for was actually a human! Upon a closer look, the human's face seemed very familiar. Overjoyed, he exclaimed, "Lu Yiye!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Ye was taken aback. He was certain he had never met this Blood Tribe commander. Moreover, ever since he left Kyushu, he had always operated under the name of Peerless Li Taibai, never revealing his true name or origin to anyone. The fact that this fellow immediately blurted out his name truly astonished Lu Ye.

What he didn't know was that after the battle at the Reincarnation Tree's Grand Beginning Realm, where he completely slaughtered the Blood Tribe cultivators involved, he had already been targeted by the Blood Tribe. In previous Divine Sea Competitions, the Blood Tribe usually secured many victorious spots, and those were often the most talented individuals of the Blood Tribe's younger generation. The personnel assembled from over ten large realms had been wiped out, with not a single survivor, including several Sacred Seeds. How could the Blood Tribe let this go? Furthermore, a large number of young Divine Sea cultivators from the Insect Tribe had also been killed by Lu Ye, with seemingly only one escaping.

After the Divine Sea Competition, the Blood Tribe and the Insect Tribe jointly issued a bounty for Lu Yiye of the Nine Heavens. Anyone who encountered and killed him in the starry sky could claim a sky-high reward from the realms of both races, an amount even Moon Reapers couldn't ignore. Of course, given the notorious reputations of these two races, it was uncertain how many would be interested in such a bounty. However, within the Insect Tribe and the Blood Tribe themselves, at least those with some strength were paying attention to Lu Yiye of the Nine Heavens.