Chapter 1963: Van Gogh Strikes

In the two years leading up to the Shura Field's closure, something significant happened on the Moonstone Battlefield. A mysterious powerful cultivator defeated Abulou from the Ancient Barbarian Realm, then Guzhen from the Yellow Dragon Realm, seizing the top spot on the Moonstone Ranking.

When the Moonstone Ranking was finalized that time, countless Moonstone cultivators were deeply stirred.

After all, they had long known of Abulou and Guzhen's immense power. Across the entire Moonstone level, these two stood in a league of their own. Since their arrival at the Shura Field, no one had ever shaken their positions; they had always been each other's sole rivals.

A situation of balanced strength, maintained for many years, was suddenly broken one day by a mysterious powerful cultivator. How could the Moonstone cultivators not pay attention?

Although there were some spectators that day, there weren't that many. Moreover, Lu Ye had concealed his name on the combat ranking board. Thus, apart from a few individuals who knew his background, the vast majority were unaware of his specific origins or name.

Later, this Moonstone Ranking leader, who had risen like a legend and gained widespread fame, suddenly disappeared. He no longer appeared on the battlefield. His rank repeatedly dropped, and by the time the Shura Field closed, he was outside the top 500.

Yet, no one underestimated him because of this. He remained the universally acknowledged top cultivator at the Moonstone level during that period!

Many rumored that this top-ranked cultivator didn't care about his position, which was why he stopped participating in the battlefield rankings. However, in reality, Lu Ye had been helping the Celestial Shura tribe resolve the bloodline curse poison during that time. Furthermore, with the same discounted rates for exchanging resources in the treasury as the Celestial Shura tribesmen, the benefits of being the Moonstone Ranking leader indeed became negligible for him.

Sun Zheng had undoubtedly witnessed Lu Ye's battles against Abulou or Guzhen, so he recognized him at a glance.

The other Moonstone cultivators, who hadn't seen Lu Ye before, looked over with curiosity upon hearing Sun Zheng's words. They had long admired this mysterious Moonstone Ranking leader, and now, seeing him in person, they all came forward to greet him.

Lu Ye returned their greetings one by one.

After some pleasantries, as it was their first meeting, there wasn't much to say. It was merely a simple introduction.

Lu Ye turned to look at Yu Yaorao. Under her nervous and uneasy gaze, he said, "Junior Sister Yu, I should be going. Take care, and may we meet again someday!"

Although Yu Yaorao had guessed what Lu Ye would say, she was still filled with reluctance when the moment truly arrived. Pressing her red lips together, she nodded and said, "Senior Brother, please take good care of yourself too!"

Sun Zheng glanced at Yu Yaorao, understanding the situation, and smiled as he spoke: "Are you leaving already, fellow Daoist? Why not rest for a bit?"

Anyone who could defeat Abulou and Guzhen was bound to become a great talent in the future. Sun Zheng privately admitted his own inferiority. Junior Sister Yaorao clearly had some feelings for him. If he could facilitate this connection, it would benefit both Yu Yaorao and the Nine Profound sect in the future.

Yu Yaorao was shy and found it hard to ask him to stay. Sun Zheng, however, naturally had no such qualms.

Lu Ye shook his head and said, "I appreciate your kindness, Brother Sun, but I should be looking for my way home now."

Sun Zheng tried his best to persuade him: "There's no rush. Perhaps you don't know, but Senior Martial Aunt Cen Xin speculates that this is a Shura Region concealed by the Shura Field's power. After the Shura Field closed, we were scattered here. Currently, it's hard to discern directions within it. Senior Martial Aunt only managed to deduce the location of Nine Profound through some secret methods. Rather than searching aimlessly, why not return to Nine Profound with us? We can ask Senior Martial Aunt for help later; it might be easier than searching on your own."

If Lu Ye didn't have the means to communicate with the Soul Clan ancestral land using the Seven-Colored Divine Lotus, this would undoubtedly be a very reliable suggestion. But at this moment, he had already faintly sensed the location of a passage leading to the Soul Clan ancestral land, so there was naturally no need to waste time.

His gaze swept past Yu Yaorao, who was behind Sun Zheng. Seeing the hopeful look in her eyes, Lu Ye still shook his head.

Just as he was about to speak, a powerful Sun-rank aura suddenly erupted from the cabin on the top floor. Immediately, a woman's voice reached their ears: "Enemies incoming! Continue forward and prepare defenses!"

As the words fell, Lu Ye vaguely saw a figure flash out from that direction, carrying immense power, and speeding towards the depths of space.

On the starship, all the cultivators were startled.

Sun Zheng reacted swiftly, immediately shouting, "Speed up! Activate the defensive array!"

The numerous cultivators quickly got to work.

Lu Ye couldn't help but spread out his divine sense. Soon, he frowned, as he vaguely detected many powerful auras rapidly approaching.

Just then, violent sounds of Sun-rank cultivators clashing suddenly came from the depths of space. It seemed to be the Nine Profound Sun-rank cultivator engaging the incoming enemy.

For her to actively confront them, the opponent was undoubtedly also a Sun-rank cultivator.

"Senior Brother, follow me!" Yu Yaorao suddenly reached out and grabbed Lu Ye's hand, pulling him in one direction, and in a moment, they were inside the ship's cabin.

Sun Zheng was already standing there. Many cultivators were seated at various arrays, activating their own power.

"Who's coming?" he asked with a solemn expression.

In one of the detection arrays, a cultivator closed his eyes and focused, using the array's power to scan the surroundings. Upon hearing Sun Zheng's question, he immediately said, "I see the Brahma Valley's starships!"

"It's them, as expected!" Sun Zheng seemed to have anticipated this, clenching his jaw. He then asked, "How many have arrived?"

"Fewer than ten..." replied the cultivator, then his expression changed: "No, there are more here too, at least fifteen!"

Sun Zheng's face instantly paled. Fifteen people – not a huge number, but those daring to come at this moment were undoubtedly Moonstone cultivators. In other words, there were fifteen Moonstone cultivators, while they only had a few?

He immediately understood the gravity of the situation. Brahma Valley had somehow discovered their whereabouts. First, a Sun-rank cultivator acted to draw away Senior Martial Aunt Cen Xin, then a dozen or so Moonstone cultivators attacked simultaneously. This was clearly an attempt to annihilate everyone on their starship.

The disparity in Moonstone cultivator numbers was too vast; they couldn't possibly contend with them. He could only order them to maximize their speed and escape as quickly as possible.

On Lu Ye's side, Yu Yaorao was still holding his hand tightly, her fingers clenching with effort, clearly indicating her inner tension.

"Brahma Valley is..." Lu Ye asked softly.

Yu Yaorao then snapped back to attention and explained: "The Brahma Valley galaxy is a neighboring galaxy to Nine Profound. Our relationship with them is poor, and conflicts often arise. This time, they must have discovered our whereabouts and are now targeting us."

She hadn't expected that after finally reuniting with cultivators from her own galaxy, they would encounter such a situation. She couldn't help but say apologetically, "Senior Brother, I've dragged you into this."

Lu Ye shook his head. At his current level of cultivation and strength, cultivators of the same rank posed no threat to him. Only Sun-rank cultivators could threaten him.

However, Brahma Valley was likely unprepared as well; otherwise, they wouldn't have dispatched so few people. If there wasn't a second Sun-rank cultivator, he wouldn't fear them at all.

But if there was a second Sun-rank cultivator... he secretly decided that he would then take Yu Yaorao into the Small Flower Realm and directly activate the red talisman's power to escape.

"Senior Brother Sun, we can't escape!" a cultivator shouted.

While starships shaped like huge tower-boats could accommodate more cultivators, they were not faster than smaller starships. The attacking cultivators were all piloting small starships, so they naturally caught up with ease.

"Engage!" Sun Zheng's expression turned cold. With his command, battle immediately erupted.

Moments later, the starship shook violently and continuously. The shouts of the cultivators resounded one after another. The defensive array's strength was constantly diminishing under the enemy's frantic assault. And once the defensive array was breached, the enemy could do as they pleased.

Sun Zheng stepped forward to Lu Ye and bowed respectfully: "Fellow Daoist Lu, this unexpected turn of events will likely implicate you. But as the saying goes, 'when the lips are gone, the teeth feel cold,' so we might need your strength later. May I ask if you can join forces with us to repel the enemy?"

Brahma Valley's actions indeed caught Nine Profound unprepared. However, they probably didn't anticipate that the Moonstone Ranking leader happened to be right here. Sun Zheng had personally witnessed Lu Ye's battle with Abulou, so he naturally understood the significant weight of the Moonstone Ranking leader. If Lu Ye was willing to act, then Nine Profound might turn the tide and overcome this crisis.

"No problem," Lu Ye nodded.

At this point, he couldn't just withdraw and leave. He couldn't very well tell the Brahma Valley people that he wasn't a Nine Profound cultivator and ask them to let him go; they certainly wouldn't agree.

So, as Sun Zheng said, he was already implicated in this matter. Since that was the case, he could only fight back.

Sun Zheng was overjoyed: "Thank you in advance, fellow Daoist!"

He turned and left, clearly intending to rally the troops before the major battle.

Lu Ye lowered his head and said, "Junior Sister Yu, I'm going to face the enemy."

Yu Yaorao nodded: "Senior Brother, be careful."

Lu Ye wiggled his hand. Yu Yaorao looked down and only then realized she had been holding Lu Ye's hand all along without letting go. Her ears instantly turned red, and she quickly released him.

A moment later, on the deck, five Moonstone cultivators from Nine Profound had gathered. With Lu Ye, there were only six figures in total.

This wasn't to say that Nine Profound only had so few Moonstone cultivators, but rather that these were the only ones who could gather. The others were still scattered throughout the Shura Region and hadn't been able to rendezvous.

In contrast, on Brahma Valley's side, over a dozen figures surrounded the starship, each employing their methods, making the starship's defensive array tremble precariously.

"Sun Zheng, still alive and well, I see!" a voice suddenly called out. It was a Moonstone cultivator from Brahma Valley speaking, his words full of smugness and arrogance: "Didn't expect to meet us here, did you?"

Sun Zheng's face was grim; he did not respond.

"Who among them is the strongest?" Lu Ye, standing beside him, suddenly asked.

Sun Zheng replied, "It's that fellow who just shouted, Jiang An. He ranks within the top thousand on the Moonstone Ranking."

"That's indeed impressive," Lu Ye nodded.

Among the vast number of Moonstone cultivators in the entire Shura Field, being able to rank within the top thousand on the Moonstone Ranking showed extraordinary strength. As he spoke, Lu Ye looked up at Jiang An, and with a glance, found him somewhat familiar.

Had he vaguely... perhaps... seen him somewhere before?

As if sensing Lu Ye's gaze, Jiang An's eyes shifted, and he clearly saw Lu Ye's face. This made him pause, as at that very moment, he suddenly had the same feeling as Lu Ye.

Had he vaguely... perhaps... seen this person somewhere before?