Chapter 238: This Person is No Less Than That Lu Yiye

Since the four were a group, the remaining three wouldn't stand idly by when the ghost cultivator made his move. With Lu Ye's back turned to them, it was the perfect moment for a sneak attack.

Yiyi also thought so.

The remaining seventh-level and sixth-level cultivators immediately turned to look, but there wasn't even a shadow behind them. They didn't even know who was attacking them, only that it was a powerful fire-elemental spell.

"Ah!"

Another scream rang out, chilling them to the bone. When they turned their heads again, the sight that met their eyes made their scalps tingle and their minds buzz.

A head flew high into the air, blood spurting like a geyser from the headless neck. It was unmistakably the ghost cultivator senior brother's head. The seventh-level youth standing before him still held his blade in an attacking stance, a posture that clearly indicated he had just decapitated the ghost cultivator senior brother with a single strike.

A seventh-level cultivator killed an eighth-level one? And in such a short time?

Their exchange had lasted only three breaths; the others had merely turned around and turned back. In the time it took for two turns, life and death had been decided. It was almost unbelievable if they hadn't witnessed it themselves.

Lu Ye flicked the blood from his Mountainbreaker Blade, slowly turning to face forward. Meeting his gaze, the two already horrified cultivators grew even more uneasy, unsure whether to flee or fight.

“Pah...” The seventh-level cultivator, knocked down by Yiyi's sneak attack, staggered to his feet, spitting out dirt. A searing pain shot through his back; while Yiyi's spell was potent, it hadn't been enough to kill him.

Infuriated by the surprise attack, he rose to his feet. Before he could fully grasp the situation, a streak of light from a controlled artifact shot towards him. In that split second between life and death, he roared, activating his protective spiritual energy, and simultaneously threw a punch.

His body surged with vital energy; the punch was formidable. As a body cultivator, he was confident he could block the strike.

Indeed, he blocked it; the controlled artifact was sent flying by his punch. However, Lu Ye had already charged forward like a gust of wind, reaching him in an instant. The speed he displayed was far beyond what a typical seventh-level cultivator could achieve.

A normal seventh-level cultivator certainly couldn't unleash such burst speed, but Lu Ye had been using the vital energy from the scales to temper his body during his cultivation. As his cultivation improved, his physique steadily grew stronger. Unlike ordinary body cultivators who merely refine their physique, Lu Ye's physical strength wasn't just about abundant vital energy; it also encompassed his speed, reaction time, and even vision. In short, compared to cultivators of the same level, Lu Ye had a stronger body, more vigorous vital energy, greater speed, quicker reactions, and keener vision.

On top of this, he also activated a Windwalk Spirit Mark on his legs. The burst of speed in that moment was comparable to a lightning strike. One moment, Lu Ye was thirty feet away from his enemy; the next, he was right in front of him.

No one, even a seventh-level cultivator, could withstand such a sudden strike. The Mountainbreaker Blade plunged into the seventh-level cultivator's chest and emerged from his back. Lu Ye twisted his long blade, instantly pulverizing the opponent's heart.

As the blade was withdrawn, the man collapsed, blood staining the ground.

The two survivors stared, dumbfounded, frozen in place. Behind them, a strong spiritual energy fluctuation erupted. Yiyi appeared, unleashing a Golden Arc Slash at the remaining seventh-level cultivator. The sharp strike tore a huge wound across the man's back. Just as he cried out in agony, Lu Ye's controlled artifact streaked forward, piercing his skull.

Lu Ye looked at the last remaining sixth-level cultivator, who was visibly terrified.

He wasn't a coward, nor was he unfamiliar with cultivators from opposing factions clashing. To have reached the sixth-level, he certainly had some combat experience. But he had never witnessed such swift and decisive slaughter. An eighth-level senior brother and two seventh-level senior brothers had died so quickly before his eyes.

“You... don't come any closer!” The sixth-level cultivator raised his spiritual artifact, his voice trembling despite his attempt at a fierce tone.

Amber, perched on Lu Ye's shoulder, yawned, the strong scent of blood making it somewhat hungry. It would get something to eat after the fighting was over...

Lu Ye slowly advanced towards the remaining sixth-level cultivator, who retreated step by step until he tripped over a rock and fell onto the ground.

Lu Ye frowned, stopping in place. The controlled artifact hovered beside him, and blood dripped from the Mountainbreaker Blade in his hand. Compared to the sixth-level cultivator, Lu Ye currently looked like some heinous demon lord. Little did he know, in the sixth-level cultivator's eyes, Lu Ye was even more terrifying than any so-called demon lord.

This sixth-level cultivator was not gutless; he had endured severe injuries without flinching before. But this time, he was genuinely afraid, because everything he had just witnessed completely defied his understanding. His panic stemmed from the unknown, which was why he behaved so poorly.

“Which direction is your ore vein?”

Lu Ye's question left the sixth-level cultivator bewildered. The other side had killed three of his senior brothers, spared his life, and now suddenly asked about their ore vein. Clearly, his intentions weren't good. Despite the fear and unease in his heart, despite knowing he was doomed, and despite his hand clutching the spiritual artifact trembling, he gritted his teeth and said, “I don't know!”

With a whoosh, the fiery-red controlled artifact flew to a stop before his forehead. Its sharp tip caused him pain, and the silent threat was particularly deadly.

“I'll fight you!” he roared. Loyalty to his sect overcame his fear. He raised his spiritual artifact, batting away the controlled artifact hovering in front of him, and quickly stood up. However, what awaited him was a flash of gleaming blade light.

With a thud, the body fell to the ground.

Lu Ye sheathed his blade.

This was the problem with cultivators in the Cultivation World of Kyushu: they were often too stubborn, making it hard to extract valuable information. Naturally, Lu Ye wouldn't waste more words. Kneeling at the first sign of trouble, like Feng Yue, was a rare occurrence. Feng Yue had only done so because she relied on her identity as a medical cultivator, and at that moment, she clearly felt that if she didn't do something, she would die immediately! That single kneel had turned her into a pitiful, homeless person. Before Lu Ye left, she was still at the Bloodfiend Sect's outpost, though without any official status. Fortunately, she was a medical cultivator, and the Bloodfiend Sect members hadn't ostracized her.

Yiyi began cleaning up the battlefield, collecting the spoils.

Lu Ye sat on a rock next to the spiritual flower, holding the hiltless short blade he used for controlling artifacts. The power of his controlled artifact was still a bit lacking; it had just been punched away by a cultivator of the same level. While this was partly because the opponent was a body cultivator, overall, the artifact's power was indeed inferior to his direct blade attacks. When he used his blade, he could infuse the Mountainbreaker Blade with a Sharpening Spirit Mark.

He had always had an idea: to try applying spirit marks to his controlled artifact as well. If he could have infused the artifact with a Sharpening Spirit Mark just now, that guy's punch would have been directly shattered by its enhanced sharpness. However, applying spirit marks to controlled artifacts was troublesome. Even with his current ability to slightly control spiritual energy outside his body, it was difficult. He had attempted it repeatedly before, but each time ended in failure because the constructed spirit marks weren't stable enough to be effective. His control over spiritual energy was still insufficient. If his control were adequate, applying spirit marks to controlled artifacts shouldn't be difficult. He would have to wait until his cultivation was higher to try again.

He wasn't in a hurry to leave; there was still a spiritual flower here waiting to be collected. Although Yiyi didn't know what kind of spiritual flower it was, it was certainly valuable, otherwise, those four cultivators wouldn't have been guarding it.

He took out a spirit pill, tossed one into his mouth. Amber stretched its head over, mouth open, waiting to be fed... Lu Ye gave it a pill, flicking its forehead.

“You're getting lazier and lazier!”

During the recent battle, Amber showed no intention of intervening, remaining quietly on Lu Ye's shoulder the entire time. He recalled that when he was weaker, Amber would even rush forward to bite enemies.

Four people, four storage bags. Lu Ye sat on the rock, casually picked one up, and unlocked its restriction.

Several hundred feet away, behind a large boulder, two heads peeked out, a man and a woman. Although not close, they had clearly seen everything that had just transpired. From Lu Ye's sudden appearance, to his slaying of the ghost cultivator, then the two seventh-level cultivators, and finally the sixth-level one, the pair had watched, utterly dumbfounded.

Once the battle concluded, both quickly ducked back, exchanging a glance, each seeing shock reflected in the other's eyes.

“Good heavens, who was that guy?” the man uttered.

“Brother, I didn't misread it, did I? Was he truly a seventh-level cultivator? Did he have some spiritual artifact that concealed his cultivation?” the woman asked.

“Even if he had such an artifact, his true cultivation would be revealed when he made his move.”

“So he really is just a seventh-level cultivator? How could he be that strong?”

“My dear sister, this is what I've always told you: never judge someone's strength solely by their cultivation level. There are always exceptional geniuses in this world who can defeat enemies of higher levels. Remember this well when you travel the battlefields in the future.”

“But this... this is excessively strong.”

She had seen cultivators defeat those of higher levels before, but those battles were always intense and drawn-out. Nothing like what just happened, where an eighth-level ghost cultivator was cut down by a seventh-level one in just a few strikes, as if he were slaughtering a chicken.

“Indeed!” the man nodded. “A few months ago, I heard that a monstrous talent emerged from the Bloodfiend Sect, a fifth-level cultivator who killed forty-three sixth-level cultivators consecutively at Golden Light Peak. At the time, he was hailed as a prodigy, a true role model for our generation, and I regretted not having the chance to meet him. Now, it seems this person is no less impressive than that Lu Yiye.”

“Are we still going to try for that Purple Cloud Flower?”

From her words, it was clear they had been hiding there, drawn by the spiritual flower, waiting for it to mature before trying to snatch it. This area was within the jurisdiction of the Heaven-Reaching Sect's outpost, so their daring presence here showed considerable skill and courage. However, they hadn't expected that the flower, still unripe, would be intercepted by a seventh-level cultivator.

“He's also from the Clear Sky Alliance. Why would we snatch anything? Come on, let's go meet this expert.”

“Huh? Just like this? Will we get chopped? That guy looks really fierce.”

“What's there to be afraid of? We're both eighth-level cultivators, after all!”

With that, the two emerged from their hiding spot and walked directly towards Lu Ye.