Chapter 2158: Gaining One's Desires and Wanting More

**Wind Rises in the Nine Provinces**

Lu Ye was confident that with eighteen Dao powers against a recently promoted Dao-melding expert, even if he couldn't defeat him, he could at least hold him back. Furthermore, he had his Talent Tree clone to slaughter the Dragon Spine cultivators, which meant he could definitely create an escape route for Qingyu and the others.

To his surprise, due to Man Shan's underestimation, Lu Ye's first strike severed one of Man Shan's arms. Moreover, after several clashes, he realized that although he wasn't an equal match, the enemy wasn't as strong as he had imagined. This gave him more ideas!

Qingyu and her group were quite good people. He wouldn't stay here indefinitely. Even if he protected them this time, if Man Shan didn't die, Qingyu and the others would never have peace in the future. Furthermore, with the Dao Fish about to emerge, how could they seize the Dao Pool without killing Man Shan? Therefore, only by killing him could they gain these numerous benefits. With this thought, his resolve hardened. He maneuvered his body even more agilely, trying to avoid direct confrontation with Man Shan and instead focused on killing his subordinates.

In the sea of blood, as life forces were extinguished one by one, the continuous screams gradually ceased. Led by Qingyu, more than twenty human cultivators finally charged out! The reason for such a smooth escape was, of course, Lu Ye's intention; if he hadn't allowed it, Qingyu and the others would never have left so easily.

Turning back, they saw a vast sea of blood covering the void, and from one spot within, violent fluctuations emanated, causing the blood sea there to churn like boiling water.

"Madam, what exactly is happening?" Chen Wu asked, a bewildered look on his face. Not only he, but everyone else also wanted to know what was going on. They had all resigned themselves to death, yet somehow, they had emerged completely unscathed.

"Whatever this is, it's best we leave first!" Ying Hu said with a grave expression. In the sea of blood, two Dao-melding experts were certainly clashing—a level they could not hope to reach.

Qingyu's gaze swept through the crowd and confirmed that Lu Ye was indeed missing. Connecting this with the preceding events, she became increasingly certain that the man with the pure aura was currently fighting Man Shan.

"Wait!" Qingyu spoke with a firm voice. Under normal circumstances, Ying Hu's suggestion was correct—it was not wise to linger in such a dangerous place. However, Qingyu was unwilling to simply leave. She wasn't sure of Lu Ye's true strength or if he was a match for Man Shan, but if they stayed, they might be able to help him.

The fierce battle continued, and the sea of blood churned even more violently. Qingyu could see at a glance that the sea of blood wouldn't last much longer; the residual shockwaves from the clash of the two Dao-melding experts had already wreaked havoc within it.

At a certain moment, the commotion suddenly subsided, and the surging sea of blood began to converge towards a single point. "Is it over?" Chen Wu watched intently, his expression anxious. When the blood-red color dissipated, the sight that met their eyes made the pupils of Qingyu and the other twenty-plus people contract sharply. This was because within the area previously enveloped by the sea of blood, corpses lay scattered, all gruesomely disfigured; some had even exploded, leaving only golden Dao bones floating.

The leader of the Dragon Spine great demons was nowhere to be seen, only scattered fragments of clothing remained. There were at least thirty to forty corpses, clearly belonging to the Dragon Spine and Man Shan's subordinates. In less than an incense stick's time, all of them had perished! On the other side, three figures stood in a triangular standoff. One of them was powerfully built—who else but Man Shan?

However, compared to his previous arrogance, Man Shan was now much more disheveled. Not only was he missing an arm, but his chest was covered in blood, and blood was still flowing from the wounds on his severed arm and chest. It was hard to imagine that a Dao-melding expert couldn't even suppress his own injuries. At that moment, his eyes bulged, and his face was contorted with rage, like a volcano ready to erupt, as he glared fiercely at the figure holding a long blade not far away.

"It's Brother Lu..." Chen Wu exclaimed. Since Lu Ye had joined them, Chen Wu had had the most interaction with him. He had never inquired about Lu Ye's strength level, thinking it unnecessary. A Starry Sky Remnant with such a pure aura, even if he had entered the Dao, wouldn't have very high strength. Everyone grew stronger bit by bit; who wasn't aware of this common sense? Only now did he realize how terribly wrong he had been! To be able to fight a Dao-melding expert like Man Shan to such a state, Lu Ye must also be a Dao-melding expert!

Moreover... "There are two Brother Lus." Indeed, there were two Lu Yes: one holding a blade, and the other holding a gourd in one hand, wearing ill-fitting clothing that looked as if it had just been stripped from a corpse.

"It must be a clone!" A strange light flickered in Qingyu's eyes. As she spoke, Man Shan suddenly roared, "I will surely kill you!" Before coming here, he had imagined this as a glorious moment when he would subdue Qingyu and unify the region. Who would have thought that an unknown individual would ruin his plans and even wound him?

During their confrontation, he had generally figured out Lu Ye's strength, so he knew that even with his injuries, the opponent was not his match. As for his subordinates all dying in battle... that was no big deal. With his Dao-melding status, recruiting more people would be very simple. He charged directly towards Lu Ye's main body, not even bothering to glance at the clone. Clone techniques existed across all starscapes, including the Star Abyss. However, clones generally possessed only a fraction of the main body's power. Since Lu Ye's main body was inferior to him, what more could be said of a mere clone? In his view, if this clone dared to approach him, he could easily crush it. He only needed to deal with Lu Ye's main body.

The moment he moved, Lu Ye's main body darted away. The clone, raising the gourd in its hand, aimed its opening at Man Shan. The next instant, a strange fire shot out, coiling around him like a fiery serpent. Lu Ye had three associated treasures. The Sword Gourd he had previously given to Ma Bin to aid his cultivation and had not retrieved it. The Heavenly Net Umbrella he had given to Hua Ci. So, he only had the Fire Gourd in his hand. However, compared to the power unleashed by the Fire Gourd in the past, its might this time was much fiercer. This strange fire, possessing nineteen Dao powers, was just one Dao power short of Dao-melding!

Flames surged, and in an instant, Man Shan became a man of fire, burning fiercely. Man Shan was startled, never expecting a clone to unleash such powerful might. His attack towards Lu Ye involuntarily paused as he frantically channeled his Dao power to protect himself. Seizing the moment of his distraction, Lu Ye's main body arrived with his blade, its radiance as brilliant as the moon, striking down heavily! Man Shan roared, ignoring the burning on his body, and threw a punch. In the instant of impact, the blade's radiance shattered, the webbing of Lu Ye's hand split, and he tumbled backward. Man Shan's burly body also trembled slightly.

Just as before, in a direct confrontation, Lu Ye was no match. Superficially, the difference between him and Man Shan was only two Dao powers, but in reality, the biggest distinction between Dao-entry and Dao-melding was the mastery of Dao power. Lu Ye knew from Qingniao that Dao-melding experts wielded more concentrated Dao power, whereas Dao-entry level Dao power was relatively dispersed. Specifically, although Man Shan could only wield twenty Dao powers, due to the unique nature of Dao-melding, these twenty powers could exert an additional ten percent of offensive or defensive force. This was equivalent to twenty-two Dao powers. Thus, the apparent strength difference between them was two Dao powers, but in reality, it was four. A difference of two Dao powers was not significant, but four was considerable. This was why Lu Ye repeatedly suffered losses in direct confrontations.

Fortunately, he wasn't alone; he had his clone. Otherwise, he would never have even considered fighting Man Shan and would have already fled by now. As the main body retreated, the clone attacked. Man Shan had barely regained his footing when he was forced to engage in battle again.

After a series of rapid clashes, Man Shan's eyes widened in surprise, as he realized he had made a mistake: the clone displayed power indistinguishable from the main body! How could there be such an unreasonable clone in this world?

Outside the battlefield, Qingyu and the others watched, utterly mesmerized. The two Lu Yes, one retreating as the other advanced, then advancing as the other retreated, launched relentless, wave-like attacks on Man Shan without any pause. The rhythm was flawlessly coordinated. The strange fire on Man Shan had already extinguished, but he seemed to have become a mere target, forced to passively endure the fierce assaults from both Lu Yes, unable to let down his guard at all. In such a situation, even escape became a luxury, because if he fled and exposed his back to Lu Ye, the situation would inevitably become even worse. The scene was somewhat comical: the stronger one was utterly disheveled, while the weaker one exuded an imposing aura, as if capable of devouring a thousand miles like a tiger.

Qingyu's eyes lit up, and she cried out, "Assist them!" She saw through Lu Ye's plan: he clearly intended to kill Man Shan here. However, due to the disparity in strength, to kill Man Shan, he first had to deplete his Dao power, which was why he was repeatedly clashing head-on without regard for his own energy consumption. No one knew how much Dao power Man Shan possessed, but it was a fact that he had only recently advanced to Dao-melding, so it was unlikely he had accumulated much. Once his Dao power was exhausted, even if he was a Dao-melding expert, he would be nothing more than a lamb to the slaughter.

In a direct confrontation, Qingyu and her group had no chance to contribute. But if they merely provided remote assistance, more than twenty people could still make a difference! At Qingyu's command, everyone followed closely, moving to the vicinity of the battlefield, spreading out, and launching attacks towards Man Shan using their various abilities. Normally, Man Shan wouldn't even pay attention to such attacks and could easily resolve the situation. But at this moment, they became the straw that broke the camel's back. Even if their strength wasn't great, resisting the attacks of more than twenty Dao-entry cultivators still consumed Man Shan's own Dao power. Not to mention the two formidable enemies, both Lu Yes, constantly harassing him, making him utterly exasperated!

Seeing the unfavorable situation, Man Shan finally calmed down and decided to retreat. He inwardly cursed, hating that his subordinates had been completely annihilated; otherwise, how could these mere clowns be humiliating him! After blocking one more attack from Lu Ye, Man Shan used the momentum to drift backward, instantly breaking free from Qingyu's group's encirclement, and was about to flee. How could Lu Ye allow such a thing to happen? In this battle, he had expended nearly three hundred units of Dao power, making it the most costly battle in terms of Dao power loss he had ever fought. Having finally cornered Man Shan, he certainly wouldn't let him escape just like that.