Chapter 1931: Being Targeted

"What... what are you doing?"

In the forest, the burly man lowered his head, staring at the hand resting on his chest. It was undeniable that Lu Ye possessed considerable strength, but that was all it seemed to be. He couldn't fathom why his opponent would do such a thing during a life-or-death struggle. As he spoke, he swung his scimitar towards Lu Ye again. Just then, the hand on his chest suddenly exerted force. Lu Ye, sensing something was wrong, had channeled the power within him. The burly man immediately grunted, flying backward, his chest caved in, and landed several yards away. He propped himself up with his scimitar and slowly got to his feet, his face filled with disbelief as he looked at Lu Ye: "A cultivator... a cultivator!" He finished speaking, then collapsed back to the ground, blood flowing from his mouth.

Lu Ye stood still, raising a hand to touch his cheek, then looked at his palm, which was covered in blood. An uncultivated mortal... wielding an ordinary weapon, not even a spiritual artifact, had actually managed to injure him! This was simply unheard of. He quickly examined himself, only to discover that he had become incredibly weak. He had felt this sense of weakness when he first arrived in this trial scene, but before he could fully comprehend it, the Die of Fate had appeared, diverting his attention. Now, experiencing it again, he realized something unacceptable: he was being suppressed, and it was an extremely terrifying suppression.

A few days earlier, while chatting and drinking with Abuluo and Gusheng, Lu Ye had heard them recount their trial experiences. They had mentioned that top-tier Moon Weaver cultivators like themselves would typically encounter suppression from the Asura Arena once every ten trials. Because their strength was immense, there was little that could threaten them unless they were thrown into trial scenarios with Sun Gazer cultivators. This went against the principle that every trial should involve risk, so the Asura Arena would indirectly suppress their strength in this manner. Both of them had experienced being suppressed to the point where they only retained Star Lord cultivation. When Lu Ye first heard this, he had guessed that he would eventually encounter it, but he hadn't expected it to happen so soon. Moreover, the suppression he was currently facing was infinitely more severe than what Abuluo and Gusheng had described.

Upon careful examination, he realized his current strength was only equivalent to a Spirit Stream Realm cultivator. No, not even Spirit Stream Realm, because he could only sense the presence of four Spirit Apertures. And what was stored within these four Spirit Apertures wasn't magic power, but spiritual power! Not only was his cultivation suppressed, but Lu Ye couldn't even activate his divine sense; clearly, his Sea of Consciousness had also been sealed. Even the strength of his physical body had been suppressed to the level of someone who had just entered the cultivation world. Otherwise, how could a single strike from a mortal have injured him? It was fortunate that his assailant had stumbled; otherwise, if that blade had aimed at his neck, he couldn't imagine what might have happened.

Had the mysterious power of the Die of Fate taken effect? Lu Ye's expression was grave; something wasn't right. Suppression was normal, but to this extent, it was far from normal. He composed himself again and checked his Talent Tree. If this was suppression from the Asura Arena, could the Talent Tree play a role? Just as the Talent Tree could burn away the power of the Asura Contract. However, to his confusion, the Talent Tree showed no reaction. In other words, this suppression wasn't an external force that could be incinerated and applied to him; it was a different kind of method he didn't understand, which was why the Talent Tree remained unresponsive.

With his powerful cultivation reduced to the strength of only four apertures, it was fortunate that he could still sense the Talent Tree, meaning he could activate it. Furthermore, he still had the Mountain Breaker Sabre! This was a sharp blade transformed from the Weapon Tribe; even with only the power of four apertures remaining, having such a divine weapon in hand should ensure he could complete this trial without issue. All these thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant. Simultaneously, out of the corner of his eye, Lu Ye suddenly caught sight of a beam of light flying towards him from the direction of the deceased burly man. He instinctively thought he was under attack and quickly tried to dodge, but it was too late; the light struck his waist and vanished. However, Lu Ye felt no sensation of being hit.

With uncertainty and surprise, he looked back at the burly man, confirming he was indeed dead. What then was that light? Upon closer inspection, Lu Ye noticed something different: the "one thousand" that had been hovering above the burly man's head was gone. His corpse was also dissipating into fluorescent light. Recalling where the light had struck... Lu Ye quickly grabbed the Asura Token from his waist and focused on checking the number representing his Asura Seals. It had increased by one thousand! Because the Asura Seals obtained from his last trial had been incorrect, Lu Ye was acutely aware of his current total. Compared to before, his Asura Seals had clearly increased by a thousand. Could it be... Lu Ye's eyes lit up.

This was indeed a great fortune. Although he felt uneasy about the unprecedented suppression he was experiencing, gaining a thousand Asura Seals just by killing a villainous burly man—where else could he find such a good deal? He had initially worried that this trial would be like the last, where he would expend time and effort only to receive the most basic experience. Now, it was clear that this concern was unnecessary. Punishing evil and eliminating villains could directly increase Asura Seals, without needing to wait for the final settlement!

"Immortal Master!" a wailing cry broke out, followed by someone scrambling on hands and knees to kneel before Lu Ye, sobbing and pleading: "Please, Immortal Master, save us!" As she spoke, she kowtowed fiercely. Lu Ye looked down and saw that the woman kneeling before him was none other than the one who had just been captured. She kowtowed with such force that crimson marks soon appeared on the ground. Lu Ye blinked, staring at the top of the woman's head, for he suddenly noticed that she also had an ethereal number floating above her, and it was even larger than the number above the villainous burly man. Two thousand... This undoubtedly meant that by killing her, he could obtain two thousand Asura Seals. Though two thousand wasn't a large sum, it was equivalent to the basic reward for spending a full day in the trial scene.

This wretched, miserable woman... was she also a villain? Lu Ye frowned. She didn't look like one. He was finding it hard to understand the current situation. The woman continued to address him as "Immortal Master," her voice filled with profound sorrow. After a brief contemplation, Lu Ye bent down and extended his hand: "Get up and speak!"

The woman was helped to her feet, her face filled with despair, her eyes showing a hint of urgency: "Immortal Master, please save us." Lu Ye now realized the problem: a village at the foot of the mountain was engulfed in flames, and the sounds of fighting drifted from that direction. Clearly, this woman was not the only one in distress; she had simply been targeted by the burly man because of her striking appearance and figure, brought here for nefarious purposes. At such a distance, Lu Ye would have easily noticed it before, but the current suppression was so severe that he hadn't detected it in time.

Seeing that Lu Ye had noticed the situation, the woman urgently said, "Immortal Master, mountain bandits have attacked! Many people have died. Please, Immortal Master, have mercy and save us!" Lu Ye's expression immediately turned stern: "To be so brazen in broad daylight, it's utter lawlessness! I will go deal with them!" Each bandit was worth a thousand Asura Seals, and there were more down the mountain... Lu Ye hadn't expected to encounter such a fortunate situation; the Die of Fate was indeed unparalleled in its mystery.

The woman paused, then became overjoyed. Clearly, she hadn't expected Lu Ye to be so agreeable. She wanted to say more to him, but saw that Lu Ye was already rushing down the mountain. She could only shout: "Immortal Master, be careful! It seems there are also cultivators among those mountain bandits!" Lu Ye heard her warning but paid it no mind. While his strength was indeed severely suppressed, with the Mountain Breaker Sabre in hand, what was there to fear?

A moment later, he single-handedly charged into the village. At a glance, he saw numerous fierce-looking mountain bandits chasing down villagers. These bandits were utterly brutal; despite having the ability to kill swiftly, they were in no hurry. Instead, they seemed to be toying with the fleeing villagers, slowly tormenting them to death amidst their desperate cries and pleas. Even knowing that these dying villagers were merely projections, the sight still ignited a surge of fury within Lu Ye. His primary reason for agreeing to the woman's request was to confirm his theory: both the woman and the burly man he had killed had numbers representing Asura Seals floating above their heads. This was clearly no coincidence; others should have them too. He had come for the Asura Seals, and naturally, he was willing to earn more by punishing evil and eliminating villains. At this very moment, he did indeed see numbers representing Asura Seals above the bandits' heads, but even without the Seals, Lu Ye could not have stood by idly in such a scene.

"Someone's here!" a bandit wielding a machete spotted him and immediately shouted. Several other bandits, who had been chasing villagers, immediately howled and rushed towards Lu Ye. Each of these bandits carried different weapons. Seeing Lu Ye alone and fearless, the bandit who had first shouted realized something was amiss and yelled: "Be careful! This person seems to have some skill!" As he spoke, he fiercely thrust a long spear towards Lu Ye.

Lu Ye's strength was suppressed, but his years of experience in life-or-death combat had honed his perception. Facing this strike, he merely tilted his head slightly to easily evade it, then fluidly closed the distance, instantly nearing the spear-wielding bandit. He raised his hand, pressed it against the Mountain Breaker Sabre, and sharply pulled... It wouldn't budge! Lu Ye nearly cursed aloud! The Asura Arena... this was too much! Suppressing his cultivation was one thing, but even the Mountain Breaker Sabre was suppressed? Even if he only had the strength of four apertures left, he shouldn't be unable to draw his own weapon. This situation clearly indicated that the Asura Arena was deliberately interfering. He felt targeted! The entire Asura Arena radiated intense malice towards him.

There was no time for further thought. Lu Ye's hand, gripping the hilt, suddenly rose, and he unleashed a punch directly at the bandit's face. With spiritual power swirling around his fist, how could an uncultivated bandit possibly withstand such a blow? The sound of a skull cracking echoed as the bandit flew backward. Lu Ye seized the long spear from his hand, quickly reversed it, and casually thrust it sideways, piercing the chest of another charging bandit, the tip emerging instantly from his back.