Chapter 198: Let Your Brother Have a Look

In a major battle, fewer than fifty of the three hundred Wanmoling cultivators who arrived as reinforcements managed to escape. Among the slain were numerous Garrison Envoys from prominent sects within the core circles. Even Yan Xing, ranked second on the Spirit Creek List, was severely wounded and forced to flee in humiliation.

Yan Xing was truly unlucky. Ever since his last encounter with Li Baxian on the Spirit Creek Battlefield, he knew he couldn't exact revenge alone. The Spirit Creek Garrison War presented an excellent opportunity, so he had been closely monitoring Li Baxian's whereabouts and movements.

After the formation of the merged continent, he immediately joined other Wanmoling powerhouses to track Li Baxian. He happened to arrive just in time for this battle, inadvertently got caught up in it, and then received a good lesson from a group of low-level cultivators he wouldn't normally even glance at.

This was a victory for the Haotian Alliance, and a celebration for the low-level cultivators. This battle perfectly demonstrated the power of numbers!

After the battle, the Haotian Alliance quickly regrouped. Led by the powerhouses from the core circles, they split into two groups, sweeping from the outer regions inwards, continuously searching for and eliminating enemy cultivators. As news spread, more and more core circle powerhouses joined the effort.

Originally, they had been so battered by the Wanmoling forces that they were utterly disheartened. But unexpectedly, the tide turned, and their own low-level youngsters proved to be so formidable.

Before the continent merger was complete, the Wanmoling side held a numerical advantage, both in high-level and low-level cultivators. Even with the team centered around the two Blood Sect members as a foundation, it couldn't bridge the numerical disparity. Under such circumstances, if Wanmoling could unite wholeheartedly, the Haotian Alliance's living space would only shrink. While it was unlikely to annihilate the entire Haotian Alliance before the Spirit Creek Garrison War, killing eighty to ninety percent of them was still very probable.

This would have achieved Wanmoling's initial objective: for the Haotian Alliance to lose many of its key figures within the next few decades, rendering them powerless to contend with Wanmoling.

However, Wanmoling ultimately became careless. With such a dominant position, everyone's morale had become somewhat lax. Or rather, no one expected there to be such an invincible, triumphant team of low-level cultivators.

Within just a few days, this team swept through the outer regions of the continent, sending the Wanmoling forces scrambling in disarray. Moreover, in the final confrontation, they slew a large number of high-level Wanmoling cultivators.

As a result, the favorable situation was completely rewritten.

Currently, the Haotian Alliance definitely holds the advantage in the number of low-level cultivators, far surpassing Wanmoling. As for high-level cultivators, their numbers might not differ significantly, given that the Haotian Alliance sustained considerable losses over the preceding twenty days.

However, across the entire Qi Hai continent, the Haotian Alliance's situation had been completely revitalized. Now, it was the Haotian Alliance's turn to relentlessly pursue Wanmoling cultivators.

“Junior Brother, this time you and Junior Sister Huaci have brought great honor to our sect. Our old master will probably wake up laughing from his dreams,” Li Baxian’s voice rang out.

After the previous major battle concluded, he and Feng Yuechan did not participate in the subsequent actions. Instead, they found Lu Ye, who was protecting Huaci.

As he spoke, his face was wreathed in smiles, appearing even happier than if he had accomplished such a feat himself.

“It was mainly Huaci’s credit,” Lu Ye mumbled in response, chewing on some dried meat. This was true; the most he could do was provide spiritual gathering patterns for his allies to recover. Huaci, however, could not only heal others but also help in combat.

Li Baxian turned to glance at Huaci, who was speaking softly with Feng Yuechan, and nodded slightly: “Junior Sister Huaci deserves the most credit, but you’re not far behind.” He then winked at Lu Ye: “Where did you pick up this junior sister? Go find a few more like her next time.”

Lu Ye’s cheeks were puffed up, as he ate heartily.

Li Baxian patted his shoulder: “With you two in the sect, I feel much more at ease! Come on, let’s go treasure hunting.”

Lu Ye immediately perked up, quickly swallowing the food in his mouth, an arc visibly sliding down his throat. “What kind of treasure?” he asked.

“I don’t know, depends on luck,” Li Baxian chuckled softly. He picked up his wine gourd and tossed it to Lu Ye. Lu Ye looked around, opened the gourd, and took a gulp. Immediately, his stomach felt as if it were on fire, and a wave of dizziness rushed to his head, causing him to stumble.

In a panic, he quickly switched his cultivation technique, activating the Gluttonous Feast. A buzzing sound emanated from his abdomen, neutralizing the effects of the alcohol.

After a good while, he finally steadied himself, shaking his head. “That’s potent!” he exclaimed.

He tossed the wine gourd back to Li Baxian, knowing he couldn't drink much of this wine; one gulp was his limit.

Li Baxian burst into laughter.

Although they called it treasure hunting, there wasn’t much left to find. Perhaps there had been many rare treasures before, but with cultivators from both factions constantly wandering and searching, anything valuable had already been snatched up.

Along the way, only Huaci, thanks to her medical cultivation skills, managed to find quite a few medicinal herbs. She was accompanied by a mechanical wolf, a gift from Lu Yushan’s junior sister, and the wolf was laden with storage bags.

An hour later, Li Baxian, who was leading the way, suddenly stopped. He glanced in one direction, smiling: “Junior Brother, can you defeat an Eighth-Layer cultivator?”

Lu Ye didn't know why he asked this, pondered for a moment, and replied, “I think so.”

“You can really defeat one?” Li Baxian was a little surprised. At Golden Light Summit, when Lu Ye was at the fifth layer, he had told Li Baxian that he could defeat a seventh-layer cultivator if he went all out. It had been proven true that he indeed possessed such ability; although he didn't kill a seventh-layer cultivator at that time, he fought forty-three consecutive battles, and in the last one, he even killed a Holy Maiden of the Sacred Fire Sect who had crippled her own Spirit Aperture.

Now Lu Ye was at the sixth layer, and Li Baxian had only casually asked, recalling Lu Ye's words from that day. He didn't expect Lu Ye to give such a confident answer.

“Do you know that after cultivators reach the seventh layer, the increase in strength with each subsequent layer is greater than before?”

“Yes.”

Li Baxian studied him intently, then nodded: “If that’s the case, then let me, your elder brother, witness it.”

While Lu Ye was still bewildered, he saw Li Baxian looking in a certain direction: “Are you coming out on your own, or do I have to beat you out?”

As soon as he spoke, Feng Yuechan’s figure suddenly drifted and landed in a certain direction. After she settled, she also stared at the same spot as Li Baxian.

Lu Ye followed their gaze but saw nothing; there was only a large rock in that direction.

But soon, something astonishing happened. Next to the large rock, accompanied by a distortion in the air, a slender figure emerged. It was a young man with a sinister expression, a hooked nose, and a face so gloomy it seemed about to drip water.

It was unclear what method he had used, but he had hidden himself perfectly there. Had Li Baxian not seen through it at a glance, Lu Ye wouldn't have discovered him even if he had stepped directly onto the rock.

“Oh, ho!” Li Baxian chuckled: “It’s you!”

They seemed to know each other.

“Our Flowing Cloud Sect has no grievances with the Pill Heart Sect or the Blood Sect. And my Flowing Cloud Sect did not participate in the last battle at Golden Light Summit. Li Baxian, just name your conditions; I only ask for a way out,” the sinister young man spoke.

Li Baxian raised a hand to scratch his chin, chuckling softly: “The Flowing Cloud Sect didn’t participate because it was declared war upon at the time, wasn’t it? Besides, you’re from Wanmoling, I’m from the Haotian Alliance. Our factions are inherently opposed. Didn’t your old master ever tell you that different factions are reason enough for a fight?”

The young man’s tone grew heavy: “Does it have to be this way?”

As he spoke, his gaze flickered over Lu Ye and Huaci, clearly intending to use them to his advantage. While his strength was considerable, neither Li Baxian nor Feng Yuechan were easy to provoke. That pair had always been inseparable; provoking one was equivalent to provoking two, and frankly, no one could afford to provoke them.

Currently, large numbers of Haotian Alliance cultivators were constantly searching for traces of Wanmoling cultivators, making the inner regions increasingly unsafe. He had originally intended to flee towards the outer perimeter, as it was the safest place on the entire continent at the moment. Who would have thought he would encounter Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan here?

His luck was so bad, he could choke on water.

“I’ll show you a way out, will you take it?” Li Baxian looked at him with a smile.

“What?”

Li Baxian raised a hand and patted Lu Ye’s shoulder: “Fight my Junior Brother. If you win, I’ll let you go!”

Lu Ye and the young man were both stunned.

Only then did Lu Ye understand what his Fourth Senior Brother meant by his earlier question.

The young man’s expression showed no joy; instead, he angrily said, “Li Baxian, are you crazy? If I injure or kill this junior, will I still be able to leave?”

He had heard about the incident at Golden Light Summit and had thoroughly learned about the Blood Sect’s protective nature. That True Lake Realm powerhouse had charged into the Spirit Creek Battlefield as he said he would, braving the damage of the Divine Soul Annihilation Thunder to strike fear into a group of low-level cultivators. Looking across the Nine Provinces, which sect’s True Lake Realm cultivator would do something so undignified?

Only the Blood Sect.

Therefore, when Li Baxian told him to fight Lu Ye, he was not only displeased but felt he was being mocked.

“As the old saying goes, when you’re under someone’s roof, you have to bow your head. It seems you haven’t quite grasped your situation!” Li Baxian’s eyelids drooped slightly.

Over there, spiritual power surged in Feng Yuechan’s hand, as she tossed something resembling compressed flames back and forth in her palm…

The young man’s eye twitched. He knew that if he didn’t agree, he would immediately face the combined assault of the first and tenth ranked cultivators on the Spirit Creek List. This was a mixed doubles attack of a sword cultivator and a spell cultivator, and then there truly would be no way out.

“If I defeat this junior, will you really let me go?”

“I guarantee it on my Junior Brother’s honor!” Li Baxian patted Lu Ye’s shoulder.

Lu Ye frowned. Why use my honor as a guarantee? From another perspective, did this Fourth Senior Brother of his not have much credibility? This was a big problem.

“Don’t play such childish tricks. Besides you, there’s Feng Yuechan.”

“As for her… I guarantee it on this Junior Sister’s honor!” Li Baxian pointed at Huaci, who was standing nearby. Huaci smiled innocently.

The young man said: “Please swear a Heavenly Mystery Oath.”

“Less talk!” Li Baxian roared. “Fight when I tell you to fight! All that pointless talk, and I might just send a sword flying your way!”

The young man immediately felt utterly suffocated with indignation.

“Who are you putting on this humiliated act for? Fight my Junior Brother. If you’re lucky, you might even take someone down with you. Isn’t that what you’re thinking?” Li Baxian scoffed, exposing the other party’s true thoughts.