Chapter 180: Happiness Comes Too Quickly?

The Five-realm cultivator wasn’t the only one affected; the unfamiliar faces suffered too, especially the Seven-realm cultivator, whose condition was particularly severe. When tiny mushrooms suddenly sprouted from his seven orifices, he wiped them away, looked down at his blood-soaked hand, and quickly reacted, shouting furiously, “You vile wretch, how dare you poison me!”

As he spoke, he sprang up and charged towards Hua Ci.

Lu Ye pushed off the eagle’s back, pivoted, and rushed to stand in front of Hua Ci and Ruan Lingyu. His long saber flashed from its sheath, sweeping horizontally.

A fiery red spiritual light cut through the air, sparking as it struck. The immense force pushed the Seven-realm cultivator back, and Lu Ye himself took two steps back but quickly stabilized. He stomped his foot on the bamboo house floor and charged forward with fierce determination.

The two figures moved, one advancing, one retreating, their spiritual artifacts clashing repeatedly with metallic sounds.

Since he began cultivating, Lu Ye had never fought a Seven-realm cultivator before. This engagement immediately put him under pressure. However, he was considerably stronger now than during the Battle of Golden Light Peak. Although still in the Five-realm, his combat skills had significantly improved under his Fourth Senior Brother’s rigorous training.

The Mountain-Shattering Saber seemed to have a life of its own in his hands, cutting out streaks of saber light. After only a few breaths of combat, Lu Ye found an opening, striking the Seven-realm cultivator’s chest and abdomen. His protective spiritual power was broken, leaving a foot-long wound in his chest and abdomen, with flesh exposed and bleeding profusely.

The Seven-realm cultivator stumbled back, his face filled with astonishment, clearly not expecting to be wounded by a Five-realm cultivator.

Before he could think further, Lu Ye pressed his attack.

After a few more breaths of struggle, another wound appeared on the Seven-realm cultivator’s body.

The astonishment in his eyes had turned to horror, as he discovered that this Five-realm cultivator, who had appeared out of nowhere, struck with speed and force even greater than his own. What terrified him even more was the immense lethality of the opponent’s saber; any hit would undoubtedly result in injury.

Double vision blurred his sight, and his ears began to ring. He didn’t know what poison he had ingested, but his spiritual energy was rapidly draining. Simultaneously, colorful mushrooms sprouted from his seven orifices, and it was these mushrooms that were swiftly devouring his spiritual energy.

He had to end the fight quickly, then capture that vile wretch to detoxify himself!

With this thought, he made a decisive move. He reached into his storage bag, pulled out a spiritual artifact, and yelled, “Go!”

The artifact immediately transformed into a streak of light, darting towards Lu Ye with lightning speed.

A Seven-realm cultivator could already practice the art of controlling spiritual artifacts.

The moment the streak of light appeared, all the hairs on Lu Ye’s body stood on end. An intense sense of danger enveloped him. His gaze quickly locked onto the streak of light, and time seemed to slow down in that instant. He saw the angle and direction of its attack, and the spiritual artifact itself, enveloped within the light.

He couldn’t block it! It was too late to swing his saber; the streak of light was too fast.

As Lu Ye channeled his spiritual energy, a Shield spiritual rune appeared on his chest, continuously absorbing spiritual power.

With a loud bang, spiritual energy scattered. Lu Ye grunted, a sweet taste of blood in his throat, and the metallic tang filled his mouth. His feet were rooted to the ground, but his entire body was pushed back by a powerful force, his feet ploughing two deep furrows in the ground.

“Yi Ye!” Ruan Lingyu, standing beside Hua Ci, cried out, her face pale.

At the same time, Hua Ci gritted her teeth, changing her hand seals once more.

Puff, puff, puff…

Muffled sounds echoed as the small mushrooms growing from the Seven-realm cultivator’s seven orifices burst open, scattering spores across his face. The man immediately screamed in agony; his entire face seemed to have been doused with strong acid, hissing and instantly becoming a bloody mess.

Lu Ye raised his saber, deflecting the spiritual light that relentlessly assailed his chest. He charged forward, and under the Seven-realm cultivator’s horrified gaze, he thrust his saber straight ahead.

The Mountain-Shattering Saber, enhanced with a Sharpness spiritual rune, pierced through the man’s heart and out his back.

Lu Ye pulled out his saber, and blood gushed forth.

“Ah!” Another scream rang out. Lu Ye turned his head and saw the Six-realm cultivator held in Xiao Hui’s mouth. He didn’t know how he had provoked Xiao Hui, or if Xiao Hui had simply attacked proactively.

The huge bird’s beak clamped shut, tearing the man in half, blood and organs spilling out.

Meanwhile, Kong Niu had also dealt with his opponent. In terms of raw strength, Kong Niu might not have been a match for his opponent, as he had only recently advanced to the Five-realm. However, all these intruders had unknowingly been poisoned by Hua Ci. When Hua Ci detonated the hidden toxins, their strength had all diminished.

In a life-or-death battle, having small mushrooms suddenly sprout from one’s eyes and nose would terrify anyone, especially when those mushrooms were rapidly growing by absorbing one’s spiritual energy.

The hurried battle concluded. Lu Ye shook the blood from his long saber, returned it to its sheath, and rubbed his aching chest. Although the Shield spiritual rune had protected him from the spiritual artifact’s lethal force, the impact’s sheer power couldn’t be alleviated.

“Who were they?” Lu Ye frowned.

He had just arrived and hadn’t even fully registered what was happening when Hua Ci suddenly attacked, followed by Ruan Lingyu’s shout, and then the battle erupted.

“A few stray dogs who ran out from the inner circle,” Hua Ci explained calmly, looking at Lu Ye with concern. “Are you alright?”

Lu Ye shook his head.

“Come inside,” Hua Ci said, moving into the bamboo house.

Lu Ye followed.

Ruan Lingyu stayed outside with Kong Niu and the others to clean up the battlefield.

Inside, Hua Ci poured him a cup of water. Lu Ye noticed a hint of relief in her tired expression, indicating that she hadn’t been well recently.

Lu Ye picked up the water and took a sip. “Were you targeted?”

Although Hua Ci hadn’t said much, Lu Ye vaguely guessed what had happened—something he had worried about back in Ying Mountain.

Hua Ci had a considerable reputation in the nearby market town; many injured cultivators sought her out for treatment. While this allowed her to earn some cultivation resources, he had always feared that one day she might be targeted by powerful cultivators from the Ten-Thousand Demon Ridge, against whom the Leisure Society members would be powerless.

However, this was the outermost region of the battlefield, and Hua Ci herself was a Five-realm cultivator. The Leisure Society, with its dozen members, had some self-defense capabilities.

But life couldn’t always be smooth sailing.

Hua Ci had indeed been targeted. Initially, it was because the Seven-realm cultivator was injured and sought her out for healing, having heard of her reputation. Since he was from the Ten-Thousand Demon Ridge faction, Hua Ci was naturally unwilling, but she couldn’t refuse given his superior strength, so she treated him.

After the Seven-realm cultivator’s injuries healed, he refused to leave and made even more outrageous demands: he wanted Hua Ci to earn spiritual stones for his cultivation. In his eyes, a rogue cultivator who was a healer was a cash cow. As long as he controlled Hua Ci, he wouldn’t have to risk fighting in the inner circle.

He had returned to the outer circle precisely because he had been injured in a conflict in the inner circle.

This situation had been ongoing for more than twenty days. All the spiritual stones Hua Ci earned in the market town during this time had been handed over to him, in exchange for the safety of Ruan Lingyu and the others.

“Where are the others?” Lu Ye asked.

Last time he visited, there were over a dozen members of the Leisure Society; this time, only three remained.

“They were killed,” Hua Ci sighed. The Seven-realm cultivator wanted to control Hua Ci, and Kong Niu and the others naturally resisted, leading to a conflict that resulted in only a few members of the Leisure Society remaining alive.

If Hua Ci hadn’t threatened her own life, the entire Leisure Society might have been wiped out, leaving only her. The scar on her neck was proof of this.

Until today, when Lu Ye suddenly arrived, Hua Ci acted almost without hesitation. She knew that no matter why Lu Ye was there, once he understood her predicament, he would certainly intervene. Since that was the case, it was better to strike first!

Fortunately, Lu Ye was more powerful than she had imagined, and he successfully dealt with the Seven-realm cultivator.

Noticing Lu Ye’s gaze, Hua Ci raised her hand to cover the scar, revealing her usual gentle smile. “No matter what, I must thank you.”

Lu Ye waved his hand. “Without me, they probably wouldn’t have lived much longer anyway.”

He didn’t know what Hua Ci had done to those few individuals, but he had witnessed their terrible state earlier and knew that even without his intervention, Hua Ci would have been able to kill them eventually, though certainly at some risk to herself.

While Hua Ci was indeed a healer, healers could also kill. As far as Lu Ye knew, some healers specialized in using poison, earning them the moniker “Poison Doctors.” Such individuals often killed invisibly, and their victims usually met extremely gruesome ends.

“Enough about me. What about you, the famous Lu Yiye? Why aren’t you enjoying yourself at the Bloodline Sect? Did you lose something here?” She had clearly heard the news of the Battle of Golden Light Peak.

A vein throbbed on Lu Ye’s forehead. “My name is Lu Ye!”

“Oh?” Hua Ci looked surprised. “I remember someone telling me his surname was Lu, and his courtesy name was Yiye. Was he lying to me?”

She gazed at Lu Ye wistfully, slowly shaking her head. “Indeed, men’s words can’t be trusted.” She then sighed. “But never mind, since you saved me, as the old saying goes, ‘There is no way to repay a life-saving kindness but to offer oneself in marriage…’”

Her voice trailed off. Lu Ye raised an eyebrow, looking at Hua Ci, and saw her head bowed in shy embarrassment. As she spoke, her delicate hand, which had been covering her neck, slowly slid down, gently resting on her collar.

Lu Ye suddenly felt his mouth go dry, his eyes wide with a blank stare. Had happiness come too quickly? Could something like a hero saving a beauty and the beauty throwing herself into his arms really happen to him?

Hua Ci meticulously smoothed out the wrinkles on her collar…

Lu Ye’s gaze lifted, meeting a pair of teasing, playful eyes.

Lu Ye closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and thought, *To have expectations of this woman in front of me, I’m truly a piece of sh*t!*