Chapter 1848: Sending Troops to the Three Realms Island

Inside Zixuan Island, Red Elephant was suddenly attacked. Before he could marvel at the opponent's strength, he recognized the face before him and exclaimed in a ghostly expression: "Lu Ye?"

The Hou Fei from moments ago had transformed, surprisingly, into Lu Ye, the Third Island Master of Three Realms Island, who had just caused a commotion at the banquet and killed Junior Brother Hu with a Blood Explosion Art!

Red Elephant almost thought he was seeing things. As soon as his words fell, Lu Ye's figure vanished. Red Elephant roared, his demonic energy surging around him, and instinctively flung his head to the side. With that forceful swing, his nose suddenly elongated, transforming into a bronze-colored elephant trunk that slammed into the void.

Lu Ye's figure appeared precisely in that direction, and his long saber slashed down, spilling blood. Red Elephant cried out in pain, stumbling backward.

Lu Ye, however, looked dissatisfied. Although the Blood Treasure Clone could unleash his true self's full power for a short time, the long saber he wielded was unsuitable. It was a magic artifact-grade saber, almost identical in appearance to the Panshan Saber, yet it was ultimately a strange weapon, making it difficult to wield with precision. Furthermore, its quality was far inferior to the current Panshan Saber; in terms of sharpness alone, this saber was nowhere near as good. If his true self had been here with the Panshan Saber, the first sneak attack would have at least severely wounded or even killed Red Elephant. But with these two strikes, he had only managed to inflict two wounds on his opponent.

His figure flickered, darting away and vanishing from his spot once more.

For the first time, Red Elephant personally experienced the strangeness of the Shadow Shift Art. He had no time to react; just as he realized Lu Ye's figure had vanished, a sharp aura assailed him from the side. He instinctively activated his demonic energy for protection and raised his arm to block. Suddenly, his arm felt light. When Red Elephant came to his senses, he was horrified to discover his arm had been severed. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a blurred glimpse of the enemy's figure. He turned his head but saw no trace of the enemy. Turning back, the elusive, wind-like foe was now standing not far directly in front of him. His eyes wide with terror, Red Elephant felt an unprecedented crisis engulf his body and mind, chilling him to the bone. As his gaze met Lu Ye, the saber's momentum had already begun. Dimly, Red Elephant seemed to hear an angry beast's roar, and in a daze, he even saw a gaping, fanged maw lunging to bite down on him.

The saber light faded, and Red Elephant stood motionless in mid-air, his face filled with horror. Although he had long known that this human Moon-Gazer from Three Realms Island was very strong, he had never imagined they could be this powerful! As a mid-stage Moon-Gazer himself, already halfway to the late stage, he had never met an opponent at this level, yet under the opponent's furious assault, he couldn't even block three strikes.

The fanged saber intent of the opponent's last strike, if he wasn't mistaken, must have originated from a powerful demonic cultivator!

Blood splattered, and Red Elephant's body fell downwards, his life force rapidly dissipating.

Just then, several powerful auras soared towards them. Lu Ye turned his head and saw Lionheart and a group of demonic Moon-Gazers in the distance. The commotion from the fight had clearly alarmed them, and they rushed over to investigate. From afar, they witnessed Red Elephant's tragic death, which enraged the demonic Moon-Gazers. They had barely recovered from the grief of Junior Brother Hu's death, and now Red Elephant had also been killed.

Upon seeing Lu Ye's face again, they all wore bewildered expressions. Just recently, Lu Ye had clearly used the Blood Explosion Art right before their eyes, dying without leaving a trace. How had he suddenly come back to life and attacked Red Elephant here?

Unable to process it, with Junior Brother Hu and now Red Elephant dead, the demonic Moon-Gazers' hatred for Lu Ye flared to an immense degree. Lionheart roared, "Die!"

The sound seemed to activate a secret art; the originally invisible sound waves transformed into visible impacts, sweeping in all directions. Many demonic Moon-Gazers closer to him stumbled, their speed significantly reduced. The Blood Treasure Clone was also distorted and dispersed by the impact, almost reverting to its original form, but fortunately, it held on.

Ignoring Lionheart completely, the Blood Treasure Clone turned and fixed its gaze on the demonic cultivators observing from a distance. The recent fight had attracted not only Lionheart and the other Moon-Gazer cultivators but also other nearby Constellation-level demonic cultivators. These demonic cultivators were originally in the process of gathering but had come to investigate when they sensed the anomaly, forming a large crowd.

Blood light burst forth from the Blood Treasure Clone's body, and it activated the Blood Escape Art, transforming into a red streak of light that, in the blink of an eye, surged into the formation of demonic cultivators. Saber light flashed. It began a massacre!

How could the Constellation-level demonic cultivators withstand Lu Ye's slaughter? Wherever he went, a bloody storm ensued. Lionheart's eyes turned red with rage as he roared, "Disperse! Run!" He had never imagined Lu Ye would be so despicable, avoiding direct confrontation with them, the Moon-Gazers, and instead targeting the Constellation cultivators. The Constellation-level demonic cultivators didn't even need Lionheart's command; sensing danger, they immediately scattered and fled in all directions. The lucky ones escaped, while the unfortunate ones fell dead on the spot. The Blood Treasure Clone charged onward, carving a death line stretching dozens of miles across Zixuan Island.

Lionheart and the group of Moon-Gazer demonic cultivators finally arrived and collectively cornered the Blood Treasure Clone, their eyes blazing with fury. The Blood Treasure Clone knew it could no longer escape, and the high-intensity, no-holds-barred fighting over the past moments had weakened its ability to perform. It considered repeating its old trick, finding a demonic Moon-Gazer to detonate with the Blood Explosion Art. But Lionheart and the others had learned their lesson; how could they give the Blood Treasure Clone such an opportunity? Whenever a Moon-Gazer demonic cultivator saw Lu Ye charge, they quickly dodged, merely engaging in a struggle. After about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, the Blood Treasure Clone's strength further dwindled. Finally, it ran out of power, and Lionheart seized an opportunity, killing it with a single punch.

After the great battle, the demonic cultivators felt no joy from defeating a powerful enemy; instead, their expressions were solemn. Not only had Red Elephant died, but in that brief period, as many as two hundred Constellation-level cultivators had fallen at Lu Ye's hands. This was an unprecedented loss for Zixuan Island. Given Zixuan's reputation, few dared to cause trouble even for its wandering Constellation cultivators, let alone suffer such a massive loss of cultivators all at once.

"A clone?" Hu Guang noticed something amiss, exclaiming in surprise. Earlier, Lu Ye had used the Blood Explosion Art, perishing with Junior Brother Hu, and they had believed Lu Ye was dead. Yet, in the blink of an eye, another Lu Ye had appeared on the island, killing Red Elephant while they were unprepared. The circumstances of Lu Ye's death earlier were also unusual; no corpse remained, only a pool of spilled blood. This was clearly not what happened when a normal flesh-and-blood body died; it was undoubtedly a clone.

In other words, with the power of just two clones, Lu Ye had contended with two Zixuan Island Moon-Gazers and two hundred Constellation cultivators, turning the entire Zixuan upside down. For Zixuan cultivators, who were accustomed to their superior status, this was an absolute humiliation!

"How did he get in?" asked a demonic Moon-Gazer. Even if it was a clone, Zixuan Island wasn't a place one could simply enter. Demonic cultivators from the island guarded and controlled every area; no one could sneak in undetected. Yet, the current reality was that the opponent had indeed slipped in without their knowledge, which was incredible. What made them even more anxious was the question: was there truly only one clone that had infiltrated?

Looking across the starry sky, there were many types of clone techniques, and many cultivators practiced them. Some clone techniques could indeed be indistinguishable from the real thing, but no clone could be easily cultivated; it required extensive refinement and a significant investment of energy over a long period. Lu Ye of Three Realms Island had already lost two clones. Logically, he shouldn't have more, as a mid-stage Moon-Gazer wouldn't typically have so much energy to refine clones. Those who did so were usually cultivators with no hope of further advancement, who used clone techniques to enhance their combat power. But there was always an exception... especially when this enemy had already demonstrated extraordinary strength.

"Form groups of two and conduct a thorough search of the island. Report any anomalies immediately!" Lionheart deliberated for a moment before issuing the command. Although he was eager to dispatch troops to Three Realms Island, internal troubles unaddressed would inevitably cause widespread panic. Therefore, the expedition to Three Realms Island would have to be delayed slightly; resolving the island's hidden dangers was paramount.

Lionheart was startled, realizing this was likely Lu Ye's true objective: to make Zixuan Island feel threatened, thereby averting the impending disaster for Three Realms Island. However, this realization only solidified Lionheart's resolve to dispatch troops to Three Realms Island, because if the enemy was afraid, what they feared was precisely what Zixuan Island needed to do!

The surviving demonic Moon-Gazers immediately dispersed, forming pairs and sweeping their powerful divine senses across every corner of the island. Even Lionheart joined the search. After a thorough search, nothing was found, which undoubtedly indicated that only one clone had truly infiltrated.

The Zixuan demonic cultivators reassembled. A little over half a day after the earlier turmoil, the spirit island's grand formation opened, and warships sailed out from Zixuan. Most were Tiger Shark warships, small vessels that only required a few people to operate and were very popular on the Myriad Elephant Sea. However, Zixuan's forces were strong and well-equipped, with tens of thousands of years of accumulation. Naturally, they had more than just Tiger Shark warships; several large warships also deployed, and even a massive central flagship. A single central flagship could accommodate a thousand demonic cultivators. Such a colossal vessel, below the top-tier spirit islands on the Myriad Elephant Sea, no other spirit island's grand formation could withstand its bombardment.

It could be said that as long as the Zixuan demonic cultivators brought this flagship to Three Realms Island, the victor would be decided. With Three Realms Island's meager accumulation of less than ten years, its defensive grand formation absolutely could not withstand the flagship's assault. To settle the matter in one battle, Zixuan mobilized a total of four thousand cultivators this time. The leader was undoubtedly Hu Guang, accompanied by Junior Sister Bao Youyou, and the Moon-Gazer Yuan Che. The Zixuan fleet, brimming with killing intent, advanced menacingly.