Chapter 1946: Terrifying Harvest

The tall Black-Turban leader landed awkwardly, his eyes filled with terror. In that brief moment, he had genuinely felt the threat of death.

If that young man had wished, he truly could have killed him! But the leader couldn't understand why he had been spared.

Despite his confusion, the Black-Turban leader made the best decision: he quickly got up, merged with the crowd, and fled into the distance!

This was no place to stay; his Black-Turban forces were utterly incapable of stopping such a cavalry unit. Remaining would surely mean death.

From the battlements of Qianliu City, Xie Li watched the scene unfold. Seeing Lu Ye's cavalry unit cut down the Black-Turban leader's personal guard as easily as slicing melons and dicing vegetables, he finally made up his mind: "Open the city gates! Prepare for battle!"

With a single command, the city gates, which had only just been closed with great effort, began to open again.

He had considered this course of action earlier, when the gates were still open, but the risk was too great. He didn't know how long that cavalry unit could hold out, and if they faltered, actively engaging would only drag Qianliu City into a quagmire.

Only now, after witnessing the Black-Turban leader flee with his own eyes, did he no longer hesitate.

At such a critical moment, if he still hesitated, he wouldn't be worthy of being the Lord of Qianliu City.

The cavalry continued their charge. Under the Black-Turban leader's command, his personal guard, though several times larger than the cavalry, behaved no differently from ordinary soldiers, collapsing at the first contact.

Once Qianliu City's gates opened wide and the defenders charged out, the Black-Turban army finally realized something was wrong. Their leader was nowhere to be seen, their formation was in complete disarray, and even loud shouts from their generals couldn't stem the tide of collapse.

They were, after all, a bandit army; they could be unstoppable when things went smoothly, but faced with such a setback, they became a scattered mess.

Initially, only a few Black-Turbans, seeing the unfavorable situation, began to flee. Gradually, this atmosphere of panic spread throughout the entire battlefield.

Within half an hour of Qianliu City's gates opening, the Black-Turban army suffered a crushing defeat.

Under Lu Ye's command, the cavalry unit had dispersed, each forming formations, pursuing the retreating enemy from all directions.

After a while longer, all the cavalry who had followed Lu Ye collapsed to the ground. Even with the aid of their formation disks, such prolonged combat had completely drained their strength.

Only Lu Ye remained, fighting alone, relentlessly slaying until he had killed the last Black-Turban within his sight, finally ceasing his assault.

Hoofbeats sounded from behind him. Lu Ye turned to look back and saw a group quickly approaching him. He watched for a moment, feeling a touch of disappointment; it wasn't the Black-Turban bandits, but seemingly people from Qianliu City.

The middle-aged man leading them was the one who had shouted to him from the city battlements earlier. If he wasn't mistaken, this must be the Lord of Qianliu City.

A moment later, they met. Xie Li looked at the blood-soaked Lu Ye with admiration. The young man's valiant deeds from earlier flashed before his eyes. Such a formidable general—if he could be brought under his command, there would be no need to fear Black-Turbans or White-Turbans in the future. He clasped his hands and bowed: "I am Xie Li, Lord of Qianliu City. Many thanks, young brother, for your righteous assistance."

Lu Ye nodded and returned the bow from horseback: "You are too kind, Lord. The Black-Turban menace incurs the wrath of heaven and resentment of men; everyone should rise to eliminate them."

Xie Li's eyes lit up: "Well said, young brother! Qianliu was able to be relieved and the bandit army decisively defeated thanks to your cavalry unit. Please, young brother, return to the city with me, and allow me to extend my hospitality."

Lu Ye didn't refuse. After fighting until now, he had also expended a great deal of energy and truly needed a good rest.

So, he returned towards Qianliu City with Xie Li.

They hadn't traveled long when a rider quickly approached, whispering something to Xie Li. Hearing it, Xie Li's expression brightened, and he couldn't help but burst into laughter.

None other than the Black-Turban leader, previously injured by Lu Ye, had been captured alive by Qianliu's forces and was currently being escorted back.

Less than half an hour later, at the city gates, Lu Ye and Xie Li had just arrived when the Black-Turban leader was brought over, bound securely.

Lu Ye glanced at him, feeling that this fellow was truly a disappointment. He had clearly spared him, yet he had still been captured.

The Black-Turban leader was covered in horrific wounds, but his expression remained defiant.

However, upon meeting Lu Ye's gaze, he couldn't help but shiver. He held no one else present in regard, but Lu Ye was different. He knew this was not someone he could provoke; that overwhelming spear thrust earlier had left too deep a psychological scar.

Lu Ye strolled forward, looking down at the man and asking, "Will your subordinates come to rescue you?"

The Black-Turban leader stammered weakly, "We gathered here out of shared ambition. Now that I am defeated and captured, the Black-Turbans no longer exist. Who would come to save me?"

"Then... you're useless," Lu Ye sighed. If there were still fleeing Black-Turbans who might try to rescue him, this leader would have had some value.

As he spoke, he thrust his spear forward, piercing the man's chest.

A point of light flew out from the Black-Turban leader, streaking into the Asura Token at Lu Ye's waist. Then, the corpse dissolved into specks of light and vanished.

Everything around him froze for an instant, then shattered.

Lu Ye's vision blurred, his overwhelming fatigue rapidly vanished, and that indescribable weakness disappeared completely at that moment.

The Asura Arena's suppression on him... was gone! He had recovered his original strength.

A dense aura of the realm enveloped him. He looked around and saw cultivators' figures constantly appearing and disappearing.

The trial was over!

Lu Ye oriented himself and immediately headed towards his cave dwelling.

A short while later, he sat cross-legged in his cave dwelling, examining his Asura Token.

Then his eyes widened in surprise...

Although he knew he wouldn't gain a small number of Asura Marks from this trip, the figure still exceeded his imagination.

A staggering fourteen million Asura Marks!

It was worth noting that before entering this trial scenario, he only had a little over seven million Asura Marks. Now, that number had more than doubled.

All told, he had spent less than a month in it.

In just one month, he had gained over seven million Asura Marks—an efficiency even a Sun-level cultivator couldn't achieve!

Although that trial scenario was quite unfriendly to him, seemingly targeting him in every way—not only was his cultivation suppressed, but he couldn't even draw his Mountain-Shattering Blade, and his storage ring wouldn't open—the high rewards offset these difficulties.

If he could experience such trial scenarios a few more times, he feared he would soon accumulate enough Asura Marks to exchange for the treasures he needed.

But Lu Ye had a faint feeling that such an opportunity might not come again.

This trial... something was definitely off, or rather, something had gone wrong! He had never heard of anyone gaining massive amounts of Asura Marks just by casually killing enemies in a trial scenario.

And it wasn't something easy to inquire about.

With over fourteen million Asura Marks, he could exchange for almost ten portions of even the most expensive Violet Haze Cold Crystals from the treasury. The enhancement this would bring to his own Dharma Source would undoubtedly be substantial.

However, reaching the complete refinement of his Dharma Source would likely still require some effort.

Lu Ye was in no hurry to make exchanges. He planned to accumulate twenty million Asura Marks and then exchange them all at once.

After admiring the enormous number of his Asura Marks again, Lu Ye sent out a message: "I'm back."

Earlier, while still in the trial, he had received a message from Abuluo. Learning that Lu Ye was in a trial, Abuluo simply told him to get in touch upon his return.

That guy and Gu Sheng definitely had something to discuss with him!

Lu Ye had noticed it the last time the three of them met, but since they hadn't brought it up, he naturally didn't ask.

The main reason was that they hadn't interacted much and weren't really that familiar with each other.

Now, it seemed they had probably made some decision and wanted to have a proper talk with him.

After sending the message, he received no reply, unsure what Abuluo was doing. Lu Ye decided to visit the Bounty Hall to see if there were any suitable missions for him to take. Missions like the previous one, helping people detoxify, were still hassle-free, effort-saving, and worthwhile.

Countless cultivators underwent trials in the Asura Arena, inevitably encountering various accidents. A considerable number were poisoned. Those capable of resolving it naturally didn't need to post bounties, but those who couldn't would have to seek external help through this method.

Indeed, Lu Ye received two more bounty missions. The rewards weren't substantial, totaling less than a hundred thousand Asura Marks combined.

Once he finished up here, Abuluo responded.

Lu Ye simply gave him the number of his small private room and quietly waited.

These small private rooms in the Bounty Hall were generally used for parties taking on bounty missions to meet. However, cultivators could also use them to discuss other matters, as long as they didn't occupy them for too long.

Before long, two figures entered one after another: Abuluo and Gu Sheng.

Both looked the same, though Gu Sheng's injuries appeared to have healed. Lu Ye didn't know what kind of injuries he'd sustained, only that he had encountered a powerful enemy in his most recent trial.

They both sat down.

"What's going on?" Lu Ye asked, looking at Abuluo.

"Heh heh..." Abuluo chuckled slyly, his voice a bit suggestive. While chuckling, he turned to look at Gu Sheng.

Gu Sheng frowned and said, "Since we've decided, there's no need to hide it." He paused, then added, "And stop smiling at me like that; I want to punch you!"

Abuluo's expression sobered. Staring at Lu Ye, he said, "Brother, want to get rich?"

"What kind of riches?" Lu Ye suddenly became wary. Gu Sheng was fine; he looked delicate and refined, like a well-educated young master, clearly sensible. But Abuluo gave him an unreliable impression, so when he heard that question, Lu Ye couldn't help but recall some unpleasant associations.

As if sensing his thoughts, Abuluo said, "Don't worry, we won't do anything that violates the rules of the Asura Arena. That's a path to certain death!"

Lu Ye considered this. Indeed, in the Asura Arena, no crooked schemes ended well. And if it was something that concerned both Abuluo and Gu Sheng so much, it certainly wasn't a small matter.

"Tell me more."