Chapter 2472: A Lifetime, A Death

Lu Ye was somewhat puzzled. Why would such a powerful individual stare at his Dao Soldier? Surely he didn't recognize Liao as a Soldier race member, did he?

However, considering Qin Feng had recognized it before, it wasn't entirely impossible.

But even if he recognized it, the other party shouldn't develop a desire to seize it, because the Soldier race's acknowledgement of a master isn't so casual. Even if he were to truly snatch Liao, it wouldn't be of much use.

As various thoughts raced through Lu Ye's mind, Ba Qiu's gaze had already shifted. He continued to stare straight ahead, his eyes blank and empty, as if nothing in the world could register in his vision.

A deep, weighty voice then rang out: "No one dares to act presumptuously in my Hegemon Dao City! You two, one lives and one dies. Who wants to live, and who wants to die?"

As Ba Qiu spoke, one hand still propped up his chin. His tone was flat, his expression silent, yet he exuded an undeniable authority.

At these words, Peilin panicked. He hadn't acted presumptuously at all; he had clearly been captured and brought in. Now, suddenly, he faced a life-or-death decision.

He was already no match for Lu Ye, and now, facing a powerhouse like Ba Qiu, he knew that a single misstep could lead to eternal damnation.

Steeling his nerves, he slowly began, "Senior, this junior truly just passed by here unintentionally. I had absolutely no intention of disrespecting you!"

While speaking, he observed Ba Qiu's expression, but saw no reaction. Gritting his teeth, he continued, "This junior has repeatedly heard the City Lord's teachings in Hundred Battles City, and knows that you, Senior, have been unrivaled in this realm for eons. I have long held you in deep admiration. To see your esteemed presence today is truly a blessing of three lifetimes. If Senior wishes to kill, this junior will not resist. To die at the hands of a figure like Senior, this junior's life would not have been lived in vain."

He didn't know if Ba Qiu liked flattery, but at that moment, he truly didn't know what else to say. Anyway, a flattering remark was better than nothing.

Ba Qiu remained unmoved, and cold sweat streamed down Peilin's forehead.

It was precisely then that Lu Ye, who had been silent, spoke up. He first bowed respectfully, then spoke neither humbly nor arrogantly: "Human Lu Ye greets Senior Ba Qiu!"

Peilin's heart sank... He cursed Lu Ye inwardly, thinking that despite his honest appearance, he was incredibly cunning to try to draw closer to Ba Qiu using their shared race.

That's right, Ba Qiu was human, and one of the rare, top-tier powerhouses among humans.

Due to the physical structure of the human race, they were particularly suited to be used as 'bone cauldrons' for raising bones. Consequently, in the Outer Realm, countless humans suffered oppression and enslavement. This led to a low proportion of human powerhouses in the Inner Realm; it was only due to the sheer vastness of the human population that there were any human cultivators in the Inner Realm at all under such circumstances.

While Peilin had indeed flattered him, for a powerhouse like Ba Qiu, even if he had never met Lu Ye before, their shared racial origin would create a natural sense of affinity. Powerhouses of his caliber were generally quite willing to mentor juniors of the same race.

This one factor alone was something Peilin could not emulate.

Sure enough, just as Lu Ye finished speaking, Peilin suddenly felt a subtle killing intent emanating from Ba Qiu. His heart chilled, and just as he was about to beg for mercy, he heard Ba Qiu let out a cold snort: "Humans!"

At that very instant, Lu Ye also felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. He had deliberately mentioned his race, indeed, just as Peilin had thought, hoping to use it to bridge a connection, because apart from being human, Lu Ye had nothing else that could impress the other party.

Who knew he seemed to have said the wrong thing? The subtle killing intent Peilin felt was clearly directed at him.

Lu Ye didn't know why Ba Qiu held a prejudice against his own race, but humans, as a race, inherently possessed significant flaws. While they could unite against external enemies, they were most adept at internal strife when there were no such threats.

He secretly guessed that Ba Qiu had likely suffered a great loss at the hands of his own kind.

However, the current situation was clearly unfavorable to him. Just as he was racking his brain about what to say next, Ba Qiu suddenly raised a hand and grasped the giant sword resting beside him.

The giant sword was massive, like a door panel, yet his figure was imposing. With him holding such a great sword with one hand, there was no sense of incongruity; instead, it further highlighted his dominant presence.

Then, under Lu Ye's horrified gaze, he lightly swung the sword down.

A powerful sense of alarm arose in Lu Ye's heart. He wanted to do something, but under that overwhelming suppression, he couldn't even make a move to resist, or even activate his Dao power.

A silent, invisible attack struck him. He immediately groaned, and his body was directly sent flying. Along the way, a mouthful of blood sprayed out, forming a crimson mist!

The sensation of death had never been so clear as it was at that moment.

Peilin, standing beside Lu Ye, felt his heart leap into his throat the moment he saw Ba Qiu grasp the giant sword. Immediately after, he felt a violent force, like a tornado, sweep past him, and Lu Ye suddenly vanished...

He was ecstatic!

A figure like Ba Qiu's words were not to be questioned. Since he had just declared one to live and one to die, then it would certainly be one life and one death. Now that Lu Ye was surely dead, he would certainly survive.

Indeed... just as the rumors claimed, this overlord was temperamental and acted purely on his whims. Other powerhouses would certainly disdain to attack a mere junior at the Dao Fusion stage, but he cared for nothing, simply attacking because a single remark from Lu Ye was displeasing.

"Oh? He's not dead?" Ba Qiu suddenly spoke.

Peilin was startled, and soon realized why. Lu Ye, having taken a blow from Ba Qiu, surprisingly still had life force, though he appeared incredibly weak compared to before and had been sent flying a great distance.

Ba Qiu certainly hadn't used his full power. A powerhouse of his caliber wouldn't need to use full strength against a Dao Fusion cultivator, yet even a casual strike should have been enough to incapacitate an ordinary Dao Fusion cultivator.

Peilin had personally experienced the uncanny power of Lu Ye's strength, so he knew this human couldn't be treated as a normal Dao Fusion cultivator. Perhaps it was for this very reason that Ba Qiu's strike hadn't achieved its intended effect!

For this overlord, it was clearly a very embarrassing outcome...

Peilin's eyes darted around, and he immediately said, "Senior, don't worry. This junior will go and take his head right now to quell your anger!"

Ba Qiu glanced at him indifferently: "You, not bad!"

Peilin was overjoyed, knowing he had survived. He eagerly said, "Then this junior will go now!" He raised the silver spear in his hand, turned, and charged in the direction Lu Ye had been sent flying.

He had been thoroughly humiliated by Lu Ye's pursuit earlier and was filled with pent-up frustration. Now that he had an opportunity, he naturally intended to repay it personally.

No matter how strong Lu Ye was, he must have been severely wounded after taking a blow from Ba Qiu. It was unknown how much strength he could still exert. If he couldn't even defeat an enemy like that, how could he justify his many years of cultivation?

He could exact revenge and make an impression on a figure like Ba Qiu — two birds with one stone. Why not?

At this moment, the fatal sense of crisis in Lu Ye's heart had only just vanished. However, under Ba Qiu's strike, his internal organs had been displaced, and he had no idea how much blood he had vomited. He felt entirely listless.

If it were just that, it would be fine, but the key was that Ba Qiu's strike seemed to have done something else; now, Lu Ye felt his strength was somewhat difficult to rouse.

There was no abnormality inside his body, only a strange power lingering in the wound from the attack, like a seal, restricting the flow of his Dao power!

He tried to activate it slightly, frowned, and realized the problem was not simple.

Because of this, of his original six hundred sixty-plus strands of Dao power, he could now only activate one hundred seventy or eighty. His overall strength had instantly been reduced by as much as seventy percent!

The crucial point was that even the Talent Tree was progressing slowly in incinerating this strange sealing power. This level of slowness had only occurred when incinerating oath restrictions made in the name of the Star Abyss Will!

This meant that until this strange sealing power was completely incinerated, Lu Ye would be unable to use his full strength. At most, his strength would slowly recover as the sealing power gradually dissipated, and this recovery would not happen quickly.

"Lu Ye, that's a Soldier race member! That's a Soldier race member!" Liao's voice suddenly rang out in his ear, sounding extremely excited.

"What?" Lu Ye was startled.

"Ba Qiu's Dao Soldier, that's my kin!" Liao was even more excited.

Lu Ye suddenly understood.

He had felt that the strange power lingering in his wound was somewhat familiar. It wasn't that he had encountered this specific power before, but rather that it was the same type of power as Liao's. However, the nature of the two Soldier race powers was slightly different: Liao's power could be wielded by Lu Ye to tear wounds, whereas the power of Ba Qiu's Soldier Dao Soldier could seal an enemy's strength!

In comparison, the ability of Ba Qiu's Soldier Dao Soldier was undoubtedly more overbearing, allowing him to gain an even greater advantage in combat. This was because once injured, strength would be weakened, and the more wounds, the weaker the strength.

No wonder one person could sustain a top-tier Hegemon Dao City. With such a Dao Soldier in hand, it wouldn't be difficult to even defeat a stronger opponent.

However, Liao was not inferior, as it inherently possessed the ability to restrain defensive artifacts. After its promotion to a subordinate treasure, this ability was greatly amplified, now giving it an extremely strong restraining power over all Dao Soldiers, similarly allowing Lu Ye to defeat stronger opponents with it.

But the quality of Ba Qiu's Soldier Dao Soldier was certainly much higher than Liao's. This could be seen simply from the Talent Tree's reaction to incinerating that strange sealing power. If it were an ordinary anomaly, the Talent Tree could easily incinerate it. It was precisely because the Dao Soldier's power was too strong that the Talent Tree's incineration process was slow.

Could it be an ultimate treasure? The thought flashed through Lu Ye's mind. Only the power of an ultimate treasure could make the Talent Tree's incineration seem somewhat ineffective.

Both being human, both wielding Soldier Dao Soldiers — if Ba Qiu hadn't struck him with that sword, it would certainly have been a wonderful destiny. But now, he had nearly died at Ba Qiu's hands.

Fortunately, Ba Qiu must have underestimated his strength, which led to his miscalculation. Otherwise, under that sword, he would surely have been annihilated.