Chapter 186: Mushroom Killing

They sized each other up, assessing each other's cultivation levels.

Opposite them were two seventh-level cultivators. They carried swords and sabers at their waists, appearing to be martial cultivators.

Before they got close, one of the slightly thinner cultivators shouted, “Which faction do you two fellow cultivators belong to? We're from the Vast Sky Alliance!”

The distance was not yet close enough, so the battle marks on the backs of their hands remained inactive. However, if they were close enough, their respective factions would become clear. Just like when Lu Ye and Hua Ci first arrived and encountered two cultivators from the Myriad Demons Ridge, the marks on their hands glowed faintly.

This was a rule of the Spirit Creek Battlefield Defense, making it easier for cultivators to identify each other's affiliations.

Lu Ye looked at him expressionlessly, but did not respond.

The thin cultivator then added, “If it's convenient, fellow cultivators, perhaps you could show your battle marks to avoid accidental injury.”

Lu Ye silently activated his spirit power, raised his hand, and sent a plump firebird flapping its wings towards them. The sight of this somewhat bloated firebird made Hua Ci momentarily stunned. Only then did she follow up with a verdant, arrow-like spell.

It was her first time seeing Lu Ye cast a spell, especially one with such an appearance. If the situation weren't so inappropriate, she might have burst out laughing.

Only then did she understand why Lu Ye had put away his saber earlier…

The two spells, one after another, blasted towards the opponents. It wasn't that Lu Ye saw through their lie; it was simply that the newcomers had ill intentions to begin with.

In Kyushu, on the Spirit Creek Battlefield, it was common knowledge that unfamiliar cultivators rarely revealed their affiliations so easily when they met. When the opponents immediately declared themselves to be from the Vast Sky Alliance, who knew if they were telling the truth?

Even if they really were from the Vast Sky Alliance, it wouldn't matter. Later, once the two small islands merged, Lu Ye could simply apologize.

But if they were from Myriad Demons Ridge… then they deserved to be attacked.

Striking first was simply to gain the initiative.

As spirit energy exploded, the thin cultivator who had called out became furious. “How dare you! You dare to launch a sneak attack! It seems you're tired of living!”

Despite his words, he didn't remain idle. Both he and his companion moved to dodge.

Neither Lu Ye's Fire Phoenix spell nor Hua Ci's Green Arrow spell was particularly powerful, and they weren't fast. With a certain distance between them, dodging was not difficult. While one side attacked gleefully and the other dodged frantically, the two small islands rapidly drew closer.

Perhaps feeling it was too embarrassing to keep taking hits without retaliating, the two martial cultivators opposite exchanged a look, then reached into their waist storage bags, pulled out spirit talismans, activated their power, and launched them towards Lu Ye and Hua Ci.

For a moment, the sea became extremely lively. Firebirds, green arrows, golden arc slashes, and ice shards zipped back and forth in a constant exchange of attacks.

While retaliating, the thin cultivator sneered, “Two measly sixth-level spell cultivators! Just you wait, we’ll make you regret this!”

As his words fell, all four cultivators on both sides felt a jolt, as the two small islands collided.

Lu Ye and Hua Ci, with surprising tacit understanding, swayed and stumbled, appearing utterly disoriented. However, the two martial cultivators opposite quickly steadied themselves, pushed off with their feet, and swiftly rushed towards them from left and right.

As they drew closer, the marks on the backs of all four cultivators’ hands began to glow.

The marks on the two men’s hands glowed a distinct red, revealing that they were clearly not from the Vast Sky Alliance, but from Myriad Demons Ridge.

“You're dead!” The thin cultivator's voice was chilling. After dodging a few of Lu Ye's spells, he had already charged within close range. The other cultivator targeted Hua Ci, and Hua Ci immediately abandoned Lu Ye and fled in a panic.

“Haha.” This scene made the thin cultivator burst into laughter, as if he was witnessing the proverb: 'a couple in trouble is like birds of the same forest, scattering when disaster strikes.'

Dodging another spell, the thin cultivator leaped high, his long sword unsheathing from his waist, a look of victory already on his face.

He was one cultivation level higher than his opponent, and a spell cultivator had been cornered by him. It was a sure win!

Then he saw Lu Ye reach into his storage bag and pull out a long saber…

“Hmm?” A sudden unease flickered in the thin cultivator's heart.

But when Lu Ye drew his saber and its blade flashed, that unease instantly surged to its peak, transforming into horror.

With a clang, the long sword was knocked away. The thin cultivator, suspended in mid-air with no leverage, watched helplessly as Lu Ye's saber became wreathed in fiery red spirit power, as if the entire blade was ablaze. The second strike came down!

“Aargh!”

A cry of agony escaped him. A spray of blood erupted from the thin cultivator as he was sent tumbling aside, his arm flying off.

Only then did he realize: this sixth-level young man wasn't a spell cultivator at all. This guy was also a martial cultivator!

But how could a martial cultivator cast spells so quickly? He hadn't been without suspicion earlier, but the speed at which the opponent cast spells had dispelled his doubts. Such rapid spell formation was impossible without extensive practice.

What a cunning rogue! The thin cultivator cursed inwardly. With his remaining hand, he formed a hand seal. His spirit power surged wildly, and his sword, which had been knocked away, hummed and trembled, transforming into a streak of light.

However, before he could fully activate this streak of light, a flash of saber light descended in his vision, and his life force rapidly ebbed away.

From the moment he charged at Lu Ye, only about three breaths of time had passed…

After Lu Ye slew this man, he immediately ran towards the back. The other cultivator was still pursuing Hua Ci. Though Hua Ci wasn't slow, she couldn't outrun a martial cultivator. Just as she was about to be caught, the scream from behind startled the pursuer.

When he turned to look back, he saw Lu Ye charging menacingly towards him.

His companion was dead? How? Also, wasn't this young man a spell cultivator? What did he mean by carrying a saber?

In that instant, unanswerable questions exploded in his mind, one after another.

He hesitated for a moment between turning to face the enemy and continuing the chase. Before he could decide, he suddenly felt dizzy.

Under his foot, a grey mushroom had been crushed, and nearly imperceptible spores swirled around him, which he inhaled into his lungs.

Though he didn't know what had happened, he instinctively activated his spirit power and dispelled the uncomfortable sensation.

But in that momentary delay, Lu Ye had already charged close. Facing the saber strike, the cultivator had no choice but to meet it.

Clanging sounds rang out as spirit artifacts clashed, sending sparks flying.

The fleeing Hua Ci stopped running. She turned around, spirit power surging around her. As she acted, the spirit glow emanating from the seventh-level cultivator's body began to dim and fade.

Lu Ye felt his opponent's attacks growing weaker and weaker. When they first engaged, the opponent showed no difference from other seventh-level cultivators. But after two exchanges, the opponent's strength seemed to be greatly suppressed. The spirit power fluctuations from his body had actually become on par with Lu Ye's own.

He could kill a seventh-level cultivator, let alone one at the sixth-level? Wanting to observe Hua Ci's methods, he didn't deliver a killing blow, but instead continuously entangled the opponent.

A moment later, the opponent's spirit power fluctuations dropped again, falling to the fifth-level standard. Not only that, what had happened in Mount Ying reappeared: small mushrooms began to sprout from the cultivator's seven orifices, looking utterly horrifying.

The opponent clearly sensed something was wrong. After forcing Lu Ye back with one move, he stumbled to a halt, gritting his teeth and roaring, “What have you done?!”

“Is this the limit?” Lu Ye asked Hua Ci.

“More or less.”

“Then kill him.”

“Me?”

“Yes. Killing one earns fourteen merit points.”

“My hands are meant for saving lives and healing injuries, not for killing,” Hua Ci said, a little aggrieved.

“I'll fight you to the death!” The Myriad Demons Ridge cultivator roared and charged furiously towards Lu Ye. Neither of his opponents had him in their eyes. Discussing the value of his life right in front of him was a humiliation no one could tolerate.

However, as he rushed towards Lu Ye, the small mushrooms in his seven orifices rapidly grew, then burst open with a series of pops. After a succession of sounds, the man's face looked as if it had been corroded, and he collapsed to the ground. Two points of red light drifted towards Hua Ci and Lu Ye respectively. Beneath the man, the blood that flowed out was not a normal crimson, but tinged green.

Hua Ci received merit points, while Lu Ye received a boost from the Heavenly Secret Pillar.

Lu Ye looked up at Hua Ci.

The woman smiled benignly, “The mushrooms did the killing. What does that have to do with me?”

Lu Ye was speechless. He began collecting the spoils of war.

When checking his battle mark, he found that the Heavenly Secret Pillar boost he received was not just one, but two…

This meant that these two Myriad Demons Ridge cultivators had previously killed a group of people and taken their boosts, only for those boosts to now be transferred to Lu Ye.

Upon realizing this, Lu Ye's eyebrows raised. It meant that the further they progressed, the greater the benefits from killing enemies would be.

By the end, perhaps killing just a few people could yield unimaginable benefits, because as more cultivators participating in the Spirit Creek Battlefield Defense died, the Heavenly Secret Pillar boosts, acting as stakes, would converge upon a smaller number of individuals.

He examined the islands. The two small islands hadn't actually merged. Instead, they clung to each other like two magnets, firmly attached, and drifted together in a certain direction.

Hua Ci walked with cheerful steps towards the opposite small island. She intended to plant mushrooms there. She wanted to transform all incoming islands into undetectable traps. That way, anyone who dared to charge over wouldn't have a good outcome.

Lu Ye didn't follow. With the enemies dead, there was no danger over there.

He noticed that after the island's size increased, the ambient spirit energy also became denser. However, he hadn't expended much energy in the recent battle, so he only needed a brief period of recovery.

An hour later, Hua Ci returned, humming an unknown tune, apparently in high spirits.

“Your mushrooms seem to have become more powerful,” Lu Ye voiced his confusion. Back in Mount Ying, although Hua Ci had planted mushrooms on that seventh-level cultivator, their power wasn't this great, nor did they take effect so quickly.

“Second Senior Sister guided me,” Hua Ci explained.

Lu Ye was surprised. “Second Senior Sister understands this?”

“She doesn't, but she has insight and experience. Guiding a junior cultivator like me isn't an issue for her.”

That made sense.

As if discerning Lu Ye's thoughts, Hua Ci smiled and said, “Every medical cultivator is skilled at using poison. It's simply a matter of whether they want to or are willing to. If you don't understand poison, how can you heal? So, in the future, don't assume those seemingly gentle medical cultivators are easy to bully.”

“I never underestimate anyone—especially an enemy!”