Chapter 2068: Reasoning Versus Fist

The Winds of Kyushu Rise

Even without prior practice, the cooperation of the three Sunlit realm cultivators was seamless, which was naturally thanks to their extensive combat experience. Any Sunlit realm cultivator who reached their level was undoubtedly a veteran of countless battles.

As the Net of Heaven closed in, the Sunflame Beast King had nowhere to escape. Lie Huo, like a ferocious humanoid beast, pounced forward and unleashed a punch. To their surprise, the punch struck empty air; the Sunflame Beast King had already vanished by the time the Net of Heaven closed. All three gazes simultaneously turned to look aside, where Lu Ye stood quietly, holding the Sunflame Beast King that should have been killed. It was clear he had rescued the Sunflame Beast King at that critical moment.

This surprised Ji Boyun and the other two. Although all three of them significantly outranked Lu Ye in cultivation, the speed Lu Ye displayed in that instant was even a fraction faster than their full-power bursts. Otherwise, he couldn't have saved the Sunflame Beast King from their combined attack.

Squeaking sounds emanated from the Sunflame Beast King, which seemed oblivious to the situation. Held in Lu Ye's hand, it continued to bare its fangs at Ji Boyun, as if harboring a deep hatred for him. In fact, the Sunflame Beast King did hold a grudge against Ji Boyun. Originally, there had been another Sunflame Beast at the Sunlit level, not just this one. But the other one had previously died at Ji Boyun's hands, which undoubtedly caused the Sunflame Beast King to bear a grudge. Otherwise, it wouldn't have singled out Ji Boyun for an attack just now. However, all these events had occurred before Lu Ye arrived, and he had no idea.

"Go!" Lu Ye said, casually flicking it away. As he did, he briefly exerted a hint of his unique power as a warning. Only then did the Sunflame Beast King react, plunging into the lava and swiftly vanishing from sight. At this, the expressions of Ji Boyun and the other two turned exceedingly grim...

"Youngster, are you deliberately challenging me?" Ji Boyun's heart simmered with suppressed rage, like a volcano poised to erupt. Their original plan had been flawless: if Lu Ye hadn't suddenly intervened, the Sunflame Beast King would have surely died. Once it was eliminated, they would have been able to cultivate on this Giant Red Star without any further concerns. But now, thanks to Lu Ye's intervention, their efforts had been completely derailed. Although Jiu Se and Lie Huo weren't as enraged as Ji Boyun, their expressions were subtly displeased.

Lu Ye sighed inwardly, then cupped his fist and said, "Please calm your anger, sirs. I ask that you seriously consider what I just said. If it's merely for cultivation, there's no need to annihilate them completely. The Sunflame Beast King will certainly not disturb any of you again in the future." He had said as much just now, but none of the three had paid him any mind.

After what had just happened, Ji Boyun immediately sensed something was amiss. Suppressing his anger, he asked with surprise and suspicion, "Are you from the Beast Taming school? Can you control that Sunflame Beast King?" If he wasn't a Beast Taming cultivator, how could he coexist peacefully with a star beast? When Li Taibai was holding the Sunflame Beast King just now, it hadn't shown any resistance. Yet, it was still unbelievable. While Beast Taming cultivators could certainly control ordinary beasts, this typically didn't include star beasts due to their very low intelligence. Moreover, controlling a Sunlit-level star beast was practically impossible. But Li Taibai had done it!

"You could say that," Lu Ye replied, too lazy to explain further. Since Ji Boyun had this misunderstanding, he let him believe it.

"What an eye-opener!" Ji Boyun nodded slightly, his expression softening. He seemed to intend to reconcile with Lu Ye. Yet, even as he spoke, he suddenly stomped his foot, instantly causing the surroundings to vibrate and fiery light to shoot into the sky. Hot lava surged and boiled, and intricate patterns spontaneously appeared in a vast area, sealing off the inside and outside. In an instant, a vast area spanning a thousand li was enveloped by a formation. The fiery light on Ji Boyun's body was particularly intense, solidifying and coiling around him like a swimming dragon, making him appear extraordinarily majestic and powerful. It turned out this place had already been pre-arranged with a formation by him. This formation was clearly intended for the Sunflame Beast King, but it hadn't been used. Instead, it was now deployed against Lu Ye.

This sudden turn of events truly surprised Lu Ye. Ji Boyun's attitude just moments ago had shown clear signs of softening, so Lu Ye hadn't expected him to turn hostile so quickly. By the time Lu Ye recovered his senses, Ji Boyun was already upon him. Fierce and pure soul power surged, continuously assailing Lu Ye's spiritual sea barrier, while the fire dragon coiling around Ji Boyun opened its maw and lunged to bite Lu Ye. Not only that, but two more fire dragons materialized in Ji Boyun's hands, transforming into two ropes that coiled towards Lu Ye.

Two years ago, when he had just advanced to the Sunlit realm, Lu Ye would certainly have been at a disadvantage in a spiritual clash against a veteran Sunlit like Ji Boyun. However, after two years of cultivation in the Soul Clan Ancestral Land, he had achieved minor mastery of the Soul Suppressing Secret Art, and his spiritual sea barrier had become significantly tougher. Thus, although he could feel the onslaught of Ji Boyun's soul power, he remained unaffected.

As his blade flashed, Lu Ye swept his body away, instantly evading Ji Boyun's attack while simultaneously unleashing a fierce slash. Ji Boyun immediately broke out in a cold sweat. He had believed that by suddenly attacking with his late-stage cultivation against an early-stage cultivator, and within a formation he had set up, his opponent would surely have no chance to retaliate. Who knew that Li Taibai's reaction would be so swift, and his soul power so outrageously strong, rendering his spiritual suppression completely ineffective? In his overconfidence, he had almost been wounded by Lu Ye instead. As expected, anyone capable of establishing themselves on this Giant Red Star was no simple character!

"What are you staring at?" Ji Boyun roared. "Work together to take him down! He can control the Sunflame Beast King, and with that as a pivot, we can control the entire Sunflame Beast horde! Sunflame Beasts naturally possess the ability to refine the essence of the fiery sun, which would greatly benefit our cultivation!"

Ji Boyun's sudden, unannounced attack had left Jiu Se and Lie Huo utterly bewildered. It was only now, after hearing Ji Boyun's words, that they finally understood. Right, they knew that Sunflame Beasts possessed the ability to refine the essence of the fiery sun. They had previously considered leveraging this ability to accelerate their cultivation, but unfortunately, they couldn't communicate with the beasts. All their attempts had ended in failure, leaving them no choice but to kill them for their core crystals. But now it was different. With Li Taibai, a Beast Taming cultivator, here—and he seemed to have already enslaved the Sunflame Beast King—cultivating by leveraging the Sunflame Beasts' ability was no longer a fantasy, but a tangible possibility! Indeed, the older the ginger, the spicier! Neither of them had considered this angle, yet Ji Boyun had already made his move. With a shift in their thoughts, they no longer hesitated, and pounced on Lu Ye from both sides!

When Ji Boyun shouted that, Lu Ye knew things were about to get ugly. With his current foundation, he wasn't afraid of facing a late-stage Sunlit like Ji Boyun. Although they had only briefly exchanged blows, Lu Ye had roughly estimated his current true strength; fighting beyond his cultivation level had always been second nature to him. But if Jiu Se and Lie Huo were added, it would be different. Both of their cultivation levels were comparable to Ji Boyun's; while their individual strength might not surpass his, it wouldn't be far off. Facing three against one, he simply couldn't be their match. Even if Lu Ye wanted to escape, the formation now sealed off all directions, meaning he would first have to break through it.

With a slight sigh, he murmured, "Why do you have to force my hand?"

He bore some responsibility for this matter, but given the differing standpoints, it was hard to say who was entirely right or wrong. That's why he had initially offered to compensate the three of them to some extent and ensure their future cultivation would not be disturbed. He wasn't an unreasonable person. But in the cultivation world, sometimes, reason simply didn't apply. Ji Boyun valued his "beast-taming" ability and wanted to capture him for his own use, which Lu Ye naturally couldn't accept.

As three powerful auras locked onto him, Lu Ye suddenly sheathed his Pan Mountain Blade and calmly brought out his Sword Gourd. Since Ji Boyun didn't want to reason with him, then Lu Ye could only resort to force. He opened the gourd's mouth, aimed it towards Ji Boyun, locked onto his figure with his divine sense, and activated his spiritual power!

Almost simultaneously with Lu Ye bringing out the Sword Gourd, Ji Boyun suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of impending doom. Boundless fear descended upon him, and the hairs on his entire body stood on end. In all his years of cultivation, he had never experienced such terror, especially now that he was a late-stage Sunlit, a realm where very few in this world could threaten his life. Until this very moment!

He didn't hesitate for a moment, abruptly roaring, "By my body, I command the Array Integration!" The moment his late-stage Sunlit spiritual and soul power surged wildly, his entire being resonated fiercely with the formation. In an instant, the area he stood in was enveloped by fiery light. The fiery light twisted and continuously expanded, transforming in the blink of an eye into a towering fire giant that continued to grow larger as time passed. This was a desperate secret art of Array Cultivators: the Array Integration technique, which involved merging one's body and life with a self-established formation. While paying the price of burning one's own soul and spiritual power, it allowed the user to gain immensely greater power for a short period. This was a secret art that many Array Cultivators practiced but would never easily use. Once activated, severe damage to one's vital energy was the lightest outcome, and a single mistake could lead to complete annihilation of the soul. But under that fatal threat, Ji Boyun could no longer care about the consequences. Even though he had activated the Array Integration technique, he didn't feel the slightest bit of safety. Instead, the latent fatal aura grew even denser.

Jiu Se and Lie Huo had already moved out of the way... In fact, both of them sensed something was wrong almost the moment Lu Ye brought out the Sword Gourd. Even though Lu Ye hadn't targeted them, they still felt a soul-shaking tremor and a chilling sense of dread, which prompted them to make the correct choice. And by this moment, Ji Boyun had actually integrated his body with the formation, which astonished them even more. No one had expected the situation to develop this way. Originally, none of them had paid much attention to Lu Ye, this newcomer. He was merely an early-stage Sunlit; even if he had the means to control the Sunflame Beast King, who didn't have some special abilities? Ultimately, cultivators still relied on who was stronger. There was no doubt that the three of them were much stronger than Lu Ye, but the current situation was clearly amiss.