Chapter 2519: Left You No Choice

Suddenly, a terrifying killing intent approached. The Harmony City Lord turned, seeing a black lotus spinning beneath Yuancun's feet, which made her entire being appear strangely enigmatic. Her voice was chilling: "Well, well. I intended to let you live, but you dared to lay such a vicious hand on my most important Grand Commander. You won't be leaving here alive!"

As her last word fell, she charged towards the Harmony City Lord.

"You tricked me!" the Harmony City Lord roared, letting out a cry of despair as he met her attack. Instantly, violent shockwaves swept through the area, shattering countless buildings throughout Harmony City. Some unfortunate Dao Merging cultivators were caught in the blast, severely wounded and spitting blood.

Meanwhile, Lu Ye wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and reached up to his chest, adjusting his Battle Tooth.

He had held back too much power just now, causing his injuries to be slightly heavier than expected, but the impact was minor.

He had been hidden in the shadows. When he heard Yuancun issue the warning, he immediately understood her plan. Although they hadn't spent much time together, he and Yuancun shared a significant unspoken understanding at times. There was a clear loophole in that warning. The enemy might not have noticed it, but they were desperate to escape and couldn't delve deeper. Yuancun exploited this point. She first told the enemy she had come alone, a simple sentence that planted a psychological hint—that she was indeed by herself. So when Lu Ye suddenly burst out, the enemy reacted instinctively. At such a moment, Lu Ye only needed to find a way to get himself injured, and Yuancun's previous statement would no longer restrict her in the slightest.

With the defensive formation withdrawn, Yuancun was now directly engaging the enemy. Even without the augmentation of Harmony City, Yuancun could gain the upper hand in a one-on-one fight. This was her confidence in daring to come without Harmony City.

As the two Harmony Dao masters battled, they instantly moved far away from Harmony City. Lu Ye twirled his long blade and flashed into the city, beginning his slaughter!

The sudden turn of events threw the Dao Merging cultivators in the city into chaos. It was only when they sensed Lu Ye's killing intent that they belatedly realized the danger and scattered, fleeing in all directions. Seeing this, Lu Ye wasted no time. He directly manifested his Talent Tree clone. His main body and the clone moved together, their figures shifting erratically, flashing and soaring through the city. Even with his injuries, no Dao Merging cultivator could withstand a single strike from his blade.

After dozens of breaths, Lu Ye stopped his pursuit. Most of the enemies had fled, making further chase impractical. His gains were modest; in that short time, his main body and clone had jointly killed over thirty Dao Merging cultivators and obtained a few Star Abyss Coins.

He left his clone to clear the battlefield and then proceed to the central hall to wait, while his main body followed the traces of the battle to support Yuancun.

When his main body arrived, he saw two figures locked in a fierce battle ahead. Black lotus petals streaked through the void. Yuancun remained calm and composed, while her opponent was furious and pale. In that short time, he had already been wounded by Yuancun.

Lu Ye secretly clicked his tongue in amazement. His City Lord's strength was truly formidable. Facing an enemy who was augmented by their Harmony City without such a boost herself, and still maintaining such an advantage—the disparity in their power was simply too vast.

Without hesitation, Lu Ye charged forward with his blade.

The Harmony City Lord undoubtedly sensed Lu Ye's arrival. Overwhelmed with despair, he realized that death was inevitable today and suddenly made a decision. The next moment, he deliberately took a blow from Yuancun, using the force of the impact to turn and charge directly towards Lu Ye.

Yuancun's expression darkened: "Grand Commander, be careful!"

Lu Ye's gaze remained steady, his expression calm. He advanced directly to meet the enemy. Even before he reached them, a streak of blade light had already materialized! However, his full-power strike was easily parried by the opponent. In terms of relative strength, with the augmentation of his Heavenly Tier Harmony City, he was undoubtedly stronger than the current Lu Ye.

With blood overflowing from his mouth, he gave a grim smile as he looked at Lu Ye: "Blame it on my bad luck!" He couldn't kill Yuancun because she was too strong, so he would kill Lu Ye instead. A life for a life wouldn't be too great a loss.

He lunged forward in an instant, aiming a punch at Lu Ye. But he was surprised to find that Lu Ye showed no sign of dodging. Instead, his long blade struck down, as if he also intended to trade a life for a life.

However, his expression changed immediately. The punch landed on Lu Ye, breaking through his protective Dao power, but it didn't cause him significant harm. It only made Lu Ye's body tremble and caused him to spit blood. This was because at the exact moment he launched his attack, Lu Ye's Talent Tree clone, located in the nearby Harmony City, had shattered its Harmony Orb with a single punch. Having lost 40% of the power amplification from his Harmony City, the disparity in strength between him and Lu Ye was no longer so vast.

He couldn't do much to Lu Ye, and Lu Ye, likewise, couldn't do much to him directly. When the long blade struck down, it was blocked by his protective Dao power, unable to inflict even a minor scratch. But Lu Ye didn't pull back; he continued to press down on the blade with ferocious intensity.

Yuancun had already arrived. Amidst the swirling black petals, the enemy could block Lu Ye's blade, but not her assault. His protective Dao power finally shattered. The blade strike, previously blocked, now plunged unimpeded, completely piercing the opponent's body. Blood and internal organs splattered as his body was severed in two. Under the swirling black petals, the remains of his body completely turned to dust, leaving only gleaming golden Dao bones and remnants of his Dao weapons.

Lu Ye, however, didn't stop for a moment. As spatial Dao patterns appeared beneath his feet, he vanished, reappearing in the central hall. The Harmony Orb there had just been shattered by his clone a moment ago, and as his main body hastily arrived, the numerous fragments were just about to disappear. Lu Ye quickly reached out and grabbed them! He glanced around, slightly relieved. Thankfully, he had arrived just in time; a moment later, he didn't know how many Harmony Orb fragments would have been lost.

Yuancun caught up, looking at Lu Ye with concern: "Grand Commander, are you alright? You didn't need to push yourself so hard; a minor injury would have sufficed."

She knew Lu Ye could discern her intentions, but she hadn't expected him to go to such lengths.

Lu Ye grumbled, "I miscalculated." He had also wanted to only sustain a minor injury to make it convincing, but in that fleeting moment of contact, there were many factors to consider. If he held back too little power, the opponent might not injure him, because the opponent might also hold back. If he held back too much, he himself might be in danger. So, the current outcome was already quite good.

"Next time, I can't let you do such dangerous things," Yuancun said, a little annoyed. Indeed, there were now two other Harmony Dao subordinates in the city, but from beginning to end, the one she valued most was Lu Ye, her Grand Commander of the City Guard. This was not merely because Lu Ye was her first subordinate, a significant symbol of Harmony City's inception. More importantly, she could clearly see that although Lu Ye's cultivation hadn't reached the Harmony Dao realm, his potential was something even she couldn't gauge. Moreover, Lu Ye's cultivation improved incredibly fast, almost unbelievably so. Someone like him would likely ascend to the Harmony Dao realm before long. At that point, how many in the Harmony Dao realm would be his match? Even Yuancun herself was far less powerful than Lu Ye was now during her Dao Merging phase. Therefore, she was certain that her Grand Commander of the City Guard's future achievements would surpass her own, reaching at least the level of the Ten Great City Lords.

"Next time something like this happens, please make sure to bring me along, my Lady!" Lu Ye said gravely. He was certainly unwilling to miss out on killing a Harmony Dao master.

"I know," Yuancun replied, finding herself unable to refuse him.

After the great battle, it was naturally time to collect the spoils. Lu Ye carefully gathered the Harmony Orb fragments here, just as he had before, wrapping them securely. Meanwhile, Yuancun began searching the city. Every Harmony City had its own treasury; not all cultivators kept their belongings solely in their storage rings. Especially for entities like Harmony Cities, where the City Lord needed tangible rewards to motivate subordinates, the existence of a treasury was very significant. If a Harmony City was breached and its treasures couldn't be transferred in time, they would naturally fall into the hands of the victor.

Shortly thereafter, Yuancun led Lu Ye back the way they came. Yuancun City, under Youdie's control, had already landed and hidden itself in a concave hollow on a floating continent. She had even deliberately activated a secret art with additional augmentation to conceal it. So, unless they were extremely unlucky, there was virtually no chance of being discovered. With Yuancun absent from the city and the Snowfield being a chaotic place, Youdie naturally had to proceed cautiously. However, this concealment was irrelevant to Yuancun and Lu Ye. Both had left their imprints on their city's Harmony Orb, allowing them to easily sense its location.

Upon entering the city, Youdie rushed over immediately. Seeing Lu Ye's complexion, she couldn't help but ask with concern, "Brother Ye, are you hurt?"

Lu Ye shook his head: "It's nothing serious." The injuries from the battle were less significant than the backlash he experienced from using his vibrating blade technique.

"I'll go arrange the Harmony Orb fragments," Yuancun said, heading towards the central hall. Lu Ye followed, wanting to see if Yuancun City could ascend to the Grand Tier after this.

In the central hall, Lu Ye handed over all the Harmony Orb fragments he had brought back to Yuancun. A moment later, before the Harmony Orb, Yuancun expectantly integrated the numerous fragments into it. All her efforts and sacrifices had been for this moment; otherwise, she wasn't a person who particularly enjoyed engaging in conflict.

After all the Harmony Orb fragments were integrated, Yuancun's expression showed a hint of dissatisfaction: "It's still not enough!" After all, the Harmony Cities encountered this time were only two Heavenly Tier Harmony Cities. Even though all their Harmony Orb fragments had been captured, it was still insufficient to raise Yuancun City's rank. A significant accumulation was required to advance from Desolate Tier to Grand Tier.

"Grand Commander, rest and recover first. We can discuss battles later," Yuancun said, turning to Lu Ye. "Once we're deeper in the Snowfield, conflicts should become very frequent, so from now on, our priority must be self-preservation."

"Yes, My Lady," Lu Ye nodded. Even if Yuancun hadn't reminded him, he would have done the same.

Returning to his residence, he quietly healed his injuries and simultaneously examined his gains from this trip. Yuancun was interested in the Harmony Orbs, while he was interested in the Star Abyss Coins. It had to be said, the Snowfield was a good place; he had gained quite a lot just by entering. The destruction of the two enemy Harmony Cities and the deaths of seven Harmony Dao masters were all related to him. Except for Daoist Zhou, whom he had killed single-handedly, the remaining six were finished off with the assistance of Yuancun and Youdie. These seven Harmony Dao masters alone earned him ten Star Abyss Coins.