Chapter 188: Support

The Wind Rises in Kyushu

The small islands in the Chess Sea were initially not very large, roughly the size of a single plaza. However, as time passed and they merged, their scale would grow significantly.

The larger an island, the stronger and more numerous its enemies were likely to be. This was because, through the continuous merging and elimination processes of the islands, any faction lacking strength or having fewer members had already been wiped out.

Of course, there were exceptions. For instance, Lu Ye and Hua Ci, both at the sixth-level cultivation, had occupied a considerably large island.

As the two small islands rapidly approached, Lu Ye noticed some anomalies on the other side.

On the island opposite, it seemed some people were fighting, and flashes of magical arts occasionally lit up the area.

As the distance grew shorter, the sounds of the struggle became more distinct.

A fight meant there were cultivators from both the Ten Thousand Devil Ridge and the Vast Sky Alliance on the other side. However, he didn't know the current state of the battle between the two sides.

The fight on the other side was intense, and they clearly hadn't noticed the two islands approaching. This might be exploitable.

Lu Ye pondered for a moment and said to Hua Ci, "I'll go take a look; you stay here."

"Be careful."

Lu Ye activated his spiritual power, and a pair of fiery wings, flowing with spiritual energy, immediately unfurled behind him. He transformed into a streak of light and darted towards the island ahead.

As soon as he flew out from the island and reached the sea surface, Lu Ye felt his spiritual power gushing out like floodwaters from an opened sluice gate. The rate of this consumption was almost as high as maintaining a Life-Shielding Spirit Pattern the size of his body.

He was secretly alarmed. In the Chess Sea, one truly couldn't fly casually, or rather, couldn't fly over the sea surface. The spiritual energy consumption was immense, and he didn't know the exact reason for it.

Fortunately, the two islands were not far apart at that moment. After only a few breaths, Lu Ye landed on the opposite island, retracted his wings, tried his best to suppress the outflow of his spiritual power, and darted towards the direction of the battle.

He didn't have much time. The two islands were about to collide, and by then, the people here would surely be alerted.

Fortunately, the island wasn't very large at the moment. After only a moment, Lu Ye arrived at the outskirts of the battlefield. Looking over, he saw five cultivators from the Ten Thousand Devil Ridge besieging two from the Vast Sky Alliance.

Three corpses lay on the ground, indicating the ferocity of the battle.

Among the five cultivators from the Ten Thousand Devil Ridge, there were two spell cultivators, one body cultivator, one weapon master, and one who appeared to be a ghost cultivator.

The two Vast Sky Alliance cultivators, a male and a female, were covered in blood and wounds. From their condition, it seemed they couldn't last much longer.

After all, two against five was clearly not an even match. Their ability to endure until now was partly because the male Vast Sky Alliance cultivator was a body cultivator—he was as burly as an iron tower, had vigorous qi and blood, and was extremely resilient, wielding a large spiritual artifact shield that blocked many attacks. Secondly, the Ten Thousand Devil Ridge side was confident of victory and unwilling to take too many risks; if they pushed their opponents too hard, the latter might resort to suicidal tactics, and a fallen comrade on the ground served as a stark warning.

They were not originally five against two, but six against four! After successfully killing one person, one of their comrades acted too rashly and ended up dying together with a Vast Sky Alliance cultivator.

In the current situation, they only needed to trap these two and break the weapon master's large spiritual artifact shield. After that, their opponents would have no room to resist.

The three cultivators from the Ten Thousand Devil Ridge, excluding the spell cultivators, surrounded the male and female, continuously harassing them. The two spell cultivators stood a little further away, ensuring they wouldn't accidentally harm their comrades, and continuously cast spells, blasting them onto the spiritual artifact shield. The spiritual light on the shield was already very dim and could dissipate at any moment.

In such a situation, it was almost impossible for the two Vast Sky Alliance cultivators to escape. Judging by their expressions, they clearly intended to fight to the death. They had no intention of begging for mercy, as they knew it would be useless and only bring more humiliation. Especially for the female cultivator, falling into enemy hands would undoubtedly be a fate worse than death.

They were currently waiting for an opportunity—an opportunity to die together with their enemies.

The opportunity arrived in an instant!

With a resounding crash, the ground shook violently as the two islands collided. Everyone lost their footing.

The expressions of the Ten Thousand Devil Ridge cultivators all changed. They had encountered these Vast Sky Alliance members over half an hour ago, so no one expected to encounter another island so soon.

"Careful!" one person yelled. But at the moment the islands collided, the two Vast Sky Alliance cultivators charged together at the weapon master. The body cultivator roared, swinging his large shield, covering the slender figure beside him as they surged forward. The determination and ruthlessness in their eyes momentarily flustered the targeted weapon master.

"Ah!"

The scream did not come from the targeted weapon master, but from another direction, startling everyone.

The Ten Thousand Devil Ridge cultivators looked towards the source of the sound and saw a blade tip protruding from the chest of a spell cultivator standing at the outskirts of the battlefield. Behind that spell cultivator, a shadowy figure was vaguely visible, who had appeared there unnoticed.

How did he arrive so fast? All of them were startled.

When the islands collided, they realized others might arrive. If it were cultivators from the Ten Thousand Devil Ridge, they would naturally rejoice. But if it were from the Vast Sky Alliance, the situation here would inevitably change.

What they didn't expect was that just as the islands had collided, one of their own spell cultivators had been ambushed! Had the opponent been hiding nearby all along?

With no time to think further, the great battle had begun.

The two Vast Sky Alliance cultivators had by now charged before the Ten Thousand Devil Ridge weapon master, disregarding their own safety and adopting a stance as if they would drag him down with them even in death. They almost succeeded.

Unfortunately, both were too severely wounded. The targeted weapon master was aided by his side's body cultivator and narrowly escaped death after taking one strike.

The four immediately became entangled in battle. The ghost cultivator from Ten Thousand Devil Ridge also didn't stand idle; his aura suddenly became erratic, and he entered the fray from the side. For a moment, the two Vast Sky Alliance cultivators found themselves in perilous situations.

Meanwhile, after Lu Ye dealt with one of the enemy spell cultivators, he pushed off the ground and ran towards the second spell cultivator, yelling, "Hold on!"

Upon hearing the voice, the body cultivator wielding the large shield didn't react much, but the female cultivator with two short blades showed a look of astonishment because she felt the voice was somewhat familiar... However, there was no time to ascertain the newcomer's identity. Purple patterns had already appeared on her fair neck, and even her eyes had turned purple. The purple patterns continued to spread upwards, making her appear both eerie and beautiful.

Ghost cultivators excelled at assassination, and direct confrontation was not her forte. But at this moment, she had no other choice and could only fully unleash her power.

On the other side, Lu Ye moved nimbly, evading the spells unleashed by the spell cultivator.

As the distance rapidly closed, a hint of fear appeared in the spell cultivator's eyes. He had never seen a weapon master so agile, and every one of his spells was easily evaded.

Seeing Lu Ye about to pounce, the spell cultivator gritted his teeth, spiritual power surged around his body, and a powerful repulsive force swept outwards.

Lu Ye stumbled from the impact. Seizing this opportunity, the spell cultivator hastily moved towards the other Ten Thousand Devil Ridge cultivators.

However, after only a few steps, a scorching aura attacked from the side. Turning his head, he saw a large, flapping firebird flying into view.

He quickly waved his hand, and a spiritual power barrier appeared before him.

With a crash, the firebird slammed into the barrier, spiritual power burst forth, and the impact made him sway. Amidst the chaotic spiritual energy, Lu Ye, wielding his blade, fiercely charged out.

The Pan Mountain Blade swept up, a fiery red blade light flashed, and a forearm flew off. The long blade was then withdrawn and thrust straight, amidst the spell cultivator's horrific screams, piercing several bloody holes in his body.

Boom... Just before dying, the spell cultivator unleashed a spell that slammed into Lu Ye's chest, but it was blocked by his Life-Shielding Spirit Pattern. The massive impact sent Lu Ye flying, and he fell to the ground.

He quickly scrambled to his feet. Looking up, he saw the spell cultivator kneeling on the ground, body slumped forward, and a speck of red light floated towards him from there.

Lu Ye tilted his head and spat out a mouthful of blood. He had long sworn an oath that whenever he saw a disagreeable spell cultivator, he would hack them to death first!

Without delay, he rushed non-stop to support the two Vast Sky Alliance cultivators.

Lu Ye's arrival seemed to give them hope of survival, or perhaps their plan to die with the enemy had been thwarted. The male and female were now fighting while retreating, moving closer to Lu Ye.

But both were too severely wounded, and fighting two against three, they clearly couldn't last much longer, leaving behind bloody footprints with every step.

The offensive from the three Ten Thousand Devil Ridge cultivators grew fiercer.

Only after Lu Ye joined the fray did the situation barely stabilize. By this point, the female cultivator finally realized who the newcomer was. Her feelings were complex; she had never expected to meet him again here.

"Go!" Lu Ye blocked an enemy's attack with his Pan Mountain Blade and yelled in a low voice.

Although he had joined, the situation remained unfavorable. If the fight continued like this, Lu Ye himself was not afraid, but his two allies would surely die.

The female cultivator and the body cultivator hesitated slightly, but Lu Ye roared again, "Hurry up and go!"

The two Vast Sky Alliance cultivators no longer hesitated and immediately turned to flee.

Lu Ye's pressure sharply increased. Fighting three enemies by himself, all of whom were at the seventh level, even he couldn't withstand it.

A desk-sized Life-Shielding Spirit Pattern appeared in front of him. As Lu Ye's spiritual power rapidly drained, the attacks from the three opponents continuously fell upon it, causing cracks to spread across the Spirit Pattern, but it was simultaneously repaired by the activation of spiritual energy, in a continuous cycle.

After only three breaths, Lu Ye could no longer hold on. He felt his internal organs trembling, and his throat filled with the taste of blood.

As he withdrew the Life-Shielding Spirit Pattern, he fiercely swung his blade in a horizontal slash, forcing back the three opponents, and turned to flee immediately.

By the time the three Ten Thousand Devil Ridge cultivators looked up again, Lu Ye had already run ten zhang away. They were astonished by the young man's incredible speed. The three of them simultaneously activated their artifact-controlling techniques, and three spiritual artifacts transformed into streaks of light, striking towards Lu Ye.

Feeling the killing intent behind him, Lu Ye didn't hesitate, shot into the sky, and his fiery red wings unfurled behind him.

He didn't activate his Life-Shielding Spirit Pattern because he felt it wouldn't be able to block the attacks, and even if it could, the immense impact force would instantly severely injure him.

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