Chapter 184: Lingxi Town Defense Battle

Winds Rise Across the Nine Provinces

In the cultivation room of the base, the Spirit Gathering Array and three Spirit Gathering Runes operated simultaneously. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth surged in madly, filling the entire room with a misty haze. Streaks of blood qi, like spiritual snakes, also mingled within. Both the spiritual energy and blood qi were continuously drawn into Lu Ye's body by some unseen force.

Furthermore, a thunderous hum emanated from his abdomen, a sign that the Gluttonous Feast technique was in operation.

At a certain moment, Lu Ye opened his eyes and looked down at the back of his hand. His battlefield imprint felt slightly hot, and a subtle Heavenly Secret was surging within it.

The time had come!

He concluded his cultivation, stood up, retrieved the scale armor he had placed on the Spirit Gathering Array, then pushed the door open and walked out.

Before long, he arrived before the Heavenly Secret Pillar in the Heavenly Secret Hall.

Hua Ci hadn't arrived yet. Lately, she and her second senior sister had been inseparable, and he wasn't sure what they were busy with. However, both women were medical cultivators, so he presumed her second senior sister was teaching Hua Ci some medical cultivation techniques.

While waiting, Lu Ye activated his battlefield imprint to check his own information.

Name: Lu YeIdentity: Disciple of the BiXue SectCultivation: Eighty-three AperturesLocation: Spirit Creek BattlefieldMerit: Twenty-six

It had been nearly two months since the Battle of Golden Light Peak. Since his injuries had largely healed and his talent tree's ability to burn off pill toxins had recovered, Lu Ye's cultivation had increased day by day. The day he returned from Madam Yun's, he had opened eighty-one apertures, breaking through to the Sixth-Layer Spirit Creek Realm, and by today, he had opened two more.

One should know this was also due to delays. His previous trip to Mount Ying to find Hua Ci and others had taken over ten days round trip. If he hadn't been delayed, his cultivation speed would have been even faster.

This was because the cultivation environment at the base was much better than before, and sufficiently stable.

In terms of cultivation, he had achieved his desired results. As for his merit... it was a bit of an eyesore.

If he hadn't killed a Seventh-Layer cultivator at Mount Ying, Lu Ye's current merit would only be five points, not twenty-six.

Previously, Lu Ye hadn't known the use of merit, but now he did. With the marvelous Heavenly Secret Vault, merit held immense appeal for any cultivator.

Not to mention, he also needed to spend merit to buy fuel suitable for his talent tree from the Heavenly Secret Vault. It was foreseeable that his future demand for merit would be enormous.

Accumulating merit solely by killing was too slow, unless he could kill enemies beyond his cultivation layer. The Spirit Creek Defense Battle was a good place to go. Each sect offered a basic buff as a stake, and there, as long as one was powerful enough, they would certainly acquire a huge amount of merit.

Lu Ye could actually bring Amber to this Spirit Creek Defense Battle. He had already formed a beast contract with Amber, who was considered his beast companion and part of his own strength. Therefore, he could entirely bring Amber into the Spirit Creek Defense Battle.

However, neither his second senior sister nor his fourth senior brother advised him to do so.

Because the aftermath of the Battle of Golden Light Peak had only recently subsided, the news that Lu Ye had a large white tiger by his side was known to many interested parties. If he brought Amber, he could easily be recognized, and it would be bad if it led to an encirclement by the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge.

Rather than taking such a risk, it was better not to bring her, as this way he could at least conceal his identity.

Indeed, many people had seen Lu Ye on Golden Light Peak, but among the vast number of cultivators in the entire Spirit Creek Battlefield, more people hadn't seen him or didn't recognize him.

A figure slowly materialized beside him, enveloped in a refreshing body fragrance. Hua Ci had arrived.

Lu Ye scanned her up and down and said in surprise, "New clothes, new look?"

Hua Ci hadn't worn these clothes before; they were clearly new. It was a very fitted white dress, adorned with small red flowers on its hem. The pure color accentuated Hua Ci's skin, making it appear even more flawless and delicate.

However, Lu Ye soon noticed something was off. This seemed to be more than just a pretty dress.

"A spirit artifact?" Lu Ye raised an eyebrow.

"My second senior sister gave it to me," Hua Ci replied. "She wore it when her cultivation was lower, but she doesn't need it anymore."

Could his second senior sister's figure possibly fit this dress? The dress fit Hua Ci perfectly; if it were put on his second senior sister's petite figure, she could probably go perform in a grand opera.

Lu Ye felt a bit sour. "I joined the sect first, you know," he mumbled.

Hua Ci smiled, pursing her lips. "Second senior sister said that you soldier cultivators aren't suited to wearing defensive spirit artifacts," she explained. "Excessive protection will make you lose your intrinsic sharp edge."

Lu Ye thought for a moment, then nodded. "Second senior sister makes sense," he said. Just as his fourth senior brother, Li Baxian, had taught him, if a soldier cultivator couldn't intimately experience crisis and death, how could they improve themselves? Relying on external protection would eventually lead to excessive dependence.

His head felt a sudden weight. He turned to look, and Lu Ye's face darkened. "What are you doing?" he demanded.

This woman... actually patted his head!

Hua Ci gave a gentle, elder-sister-like smile. "Nothing much," she said, "I just suddenly realized that this is quite nice!"

Lu Ye lowered his gaze. "Has no one told you that you shouldn't just randomly touch a man's head?" he retorted.

"No," Hua Ci said, looking at him as if it were obvious. "What consequences would there be for touching it?"

Lu Ye's gaze turned fierce...

"It's starting!" Hua Ci suddenly straightened her face and raised her hand to press it against the Heavenly Secret Pillar.

Lu Ye glared at her resentfully, then reluctantly placed his own hand on the pillar.

The Heavenly Secret surged, the surrounding scenery became distorted, and the faint sound of crashing waves reached their ears.

When everything around them stabilized again, the two were already in an unfamiliar land. They exchanged a look and immediately became vigilant, scanning their surroundings.

The next instant, Lu Ye saw two figures not far away. As Lu Ye saw them, they were also looking towards him.

Their gazes met, both sides looked wary, and subtly activated their spiritual power.

Lu Ye observed the spiritual light around the two opponents. He found that both were Seventh-Layer cultivators. Not only that, the battlefield imprints on the backs of their hands glowed faintly red, while Lu Ye's and Hua Ci's imprints showed a blue glow.

From the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge!

"A good start!" A young man in a tight-fitting outfit among the two opponents laughed loudly and strode forward, charging ahead. He clearly thought his luck was good, to encounter two Sixth-Layer cultivators right away.

Behind him, the other Seventh-Layer cultivator calmly warned, "Don't be careless!"

As he spoke, spiritual power surged, and a golden light shot out from his hand, attacking Lu Ye and Hua Ci. They launched an attack as soon as they met.

Hua Ci leaped aside, while Lu Ye lowered his body and charged forward rapidly.

The golden light struck the beach, blasting a crater.

Their initial distance wasn't far, and as Lu Ye and the young man charged at each other, the distance rapidly closed.

Lu Ye's arrogant attitude undoubtedly infuriated the young man. He drew his longsword and thrust it towards Lu Ye, ready to teach him a lesson. Spiritual light flickered on the longsword, like a spiritual snake flicking its tongue; this sword strike was quite formidable.

Lu Ye drew his blade, and a fiery red light flashed. With a clang, the sword-wielding young man's expression changed abruptly, for the force transmitted from this strike was incredibly immense, nearly sending his longsword flying from his grip.

Is this guy a body cultivator or a soldier cultivator? Doubt arose in the sword-wielding young man's heart. Yet his hand movements were not slow; he tightened his grip on his longsword and displayed all his skills.

Clanging sounds echoed, and sparks flew everywhere as the two figures fought intensely. However, the expressions of the two combatants were quite different.

Lu Ye's expression remained calm, while the sword-wielding young man became increasingly horrified as they fought. He had assumed he could easily defeat this Sixth-Layer cultivator, but the latter was displaying extraordinary combat power.

He was surprised to find that he was somewhat no match for him!

The opponent's attack speed and force both surpassed his own. Only moments into the engagement, he had already fallen completely into a disadvantage. With every clash, his sword seemed to wail, and the web of his hand throbbed with pain.

Is this really a Sixth-Layer cultivator?

He seriously suspected that the opponent was wearing some spirit artifact that concealed his cultivation, pretending to be weak to ambush the strong here.

But the rules of the Heavenly Secret were unquestionable. If they appeared in this place, the enemies they encountered should not be stronger than them.

After another three breaths, the sword-wielding young man felt he was about to collapse. The web of his hand, holding the sword, had already split, and blood was streaming.

He no longer dared to hesitate. He quickly took out a Golden Body Talisman, activated it with spiritual power, and slapped it onto his body. However, this action undoubtedly made his opening even wider.

Most soldier cultivators would not activate spirit talismans during combat because it greatly affected their own combat rhythm.

Lu Ye's Pan Mountain Blade swept up, accompanied by a clang. The longsword in the sword-wielding young man's hand flew out. He himself cried out in alarm and stumbled backward, falling, as the Golden Body Talisman, which had only just taken effect, completely dimmed and was directly shattered by that blade strike.

Lu Ye had already given chase and brought his blade down on the young man's flying body.

While he was filled with horror, a cunning look flashed in his eyes, as if his scheme had succeeded. He formed a hand seal with one hand, and spiritual power surged throughout his body. "Die!" he roared.

The flying longsword immediately transformed into a stream of light and shot straight down from mid-air, arriving at Lu Ye's back in an instant.

Blood splattered. The cunning glint in the sword-wielding young man's eyes turned to horror as his entire body sustained a foot-long gash from his crotch area upwards.

At the same time, Lu Ye also stumbled and fell onto the beach from the impact of the falling flying sword, his back aching. Having learned from his previous experience at Mount Ying, how could he not be wary of the opponent's spirit artifact manipulation technique? As the opponent manipulated their artifact, he had already constructed a defensive spirit rune behind his back.

After cultivators reached the Seventh Layer Realm, they could cultivate the path of artifact manipulation. On one hand, it laid the foundation for future artifact flying, and on the other, it provided cultivators with another means of killing enemies.

Under artifact manipulation, spirit artifacts in hand could unleash even greater power.

Scrambling to his feet, Lu Ye saw that the sword-wielding young man hadn't completely died yet. He flipped his Pan Mountain Blade, stabbed it into the young man's chest, and as he pulled it out, blood gushed forth.

He didn't stop for a moment and dashed towards the spell cultivator. A trail of deep footprints immediately appeared on the wet sand.

The spell cultivator was unleashing a barrage of spells on Hua Ci, causing her to be in an extremely sorry state. He had thought his companion could take care of Lu Ye, but the outcome greatly surprised him.

His Seventh-Layer companion had actually been killed by a Sixth-Layer guy!

Idiot! The spell cultivator was furious. He hadn't clearly seen what had happened just now, only feeling that his companion had been too careless. Otherwise, how could a Seventh-Layer cultivator not be a match for a Sixth-Layer one?