Chapter 2554: Strange Corpse

If Lu Ye and Qin Feng hadn't had such a deep connection, Gong Mao would naturally have been happy to arrange the death match wholeheartedly. However, the person before him was on brotherly terms with his own master, so how could he dare push Lu Ye into such a dangerous situation?

If anything went wrong for Lu Ye, his comfortable life would be over.

"Brother Gong," Lu Ye began, "you just said that Brother Feng instructed you before he left to fully cooperate with any requests I might have."

Gong Mao forced a bitter smile. "But not something this insane..."

Lu Ye sighed. "Then, Brother Gong, before the results were known, who did you favor in the two previous death matches?"

"Uh..." Gong Mao didn't know how to respond. He certainly couldn't admit that he had actually favored Lu Ye's opponents in those two matches.

"Brother Gong, trust me," Lu Ye said, raising a hand to pat Gong Mao's shoulder. "I've killed many Hedao cultivators. I wouldn't attempt this without confidence, so just proceed with the arrangements."

He could defeat Hedao cultivators even in the inner realm, let alone this Hehe Realm, which lacked the aura of the Star Abyss. This meant that any Hedao who entered the combat arena wouldn't be able to draw on external power, but would have to contend with him based solely on their own fundamental strength.

In a battle of fundamental strength, Lu Ye, with his current 800 Dao power, could surpass most Hedao cultivators!

Gong Mao's scalp tingled slightly. "Fellow Daoist has even killed Hedao cultivators!"

A Fusion Dao at the eighth level, how could he kill a Hedao? And with what?

He couldn't understand, nor could he imagine it.

"Around twenty or thirty, perhaps..."

Gong Mao was utterly stunned. He had only thought Lu Ye might have killed one Hedao cultivator, but never imagined so many. Are all the younger generation this formidable now? Or was this particular individual simply an exception?

"Fellow Daoist, are you certain..." Gong Mao still found it difficult to make a decision.

Lu Ye sighed again, then raised a palm and struck it towards Gong Mao.

Gong Mao had significant reservations, and Lu Ye understood that further words would be useless. He decided the only way was for Gong Mao to experience it himself.

The fact that Gong Mao had followed Qin Feng for many years and was even entrusted with managing the arena after Qin Feng's departure proved his trustworthiness.

Realizing Lu Ye's intention, Gong Mao immediately activated his Dao power and met the strike with his own palm.

As their palms met, an expression of disbelief flickered in Gong Mao's eyes. He clearly felt the immense and fierce Dao power emanating from Lu Ye's palm. This was a purely physical strike, without any augmentation from a Dao weapon, and it completely surpassed the usual limits for a Fusion Dao cultivator.

Before he could fully process the thought, the Dao power from Lu Ye's palm surged even more intensely, causing Gong Mao to hastily defend himself.

A moment later, he took a slight step back, gazing at Lu Ye with a complex expression. After a long pause, he finally managed to utter, "Fellow Daoist is truly... extraordinarily gifted!"

He had never seen or heard of a Fusion Dao cultivator possessing such profound fundamental strength.

If this were the case, then arranging a Hedao as his opponent would certainly be no problem. Based solely on Lu Ye's recent demonstration, many Hedao cultivators wouldn't be able to match him.

And he could confirm that Lu Ye hadn't even used his full strength.

"Then I'll leave the arrangements to you, Brother Gong."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure this match is well-managed for you!"

Lu Ye nodded. "Then I'll take my leave for now. Once the time is confirmed, Brother Gong, you can just send me a message."

"I'll see you out." Gong Mao's demeanor was polite, as it always had been due to Qin Feng, but now it seemed even more deferential.

Returning to Yuanxi City via the Hehe Realm, Lu Ye flew towards his residence. Just as he stepped through the door, You Die greeted him, holding a storage ring in both hands as if offering a precious treasure to him.

"What is this?" Lu Ye asked, puzzled, as he took the storage ring and examined it. He raised an eyebrow. "Where did all these Dao Fish come from?"

The storage ring contained nothing but approximately ten thousand Dao Fish.

You Die herself surely wouldn't possess such a large quantity of Dao Fish; ten thousand was no small sum for any ordinary Hedao cultivator.

"City Lord Yuan Xi gave them to me," You Die replied cheerfully, "She said they were an apology from City Lord Zhao Lingfeng."

Lu Ye raised an eyebrow. "He's quite discerning." He then handed the storage ring back to her.

Zhao Lingfeng was undoubtedly the City Lord Zhao they had previously encountered. Their initial interaction hadn't been pleasant, and they hadn't even exchanged names. Now that Zhao Lingfeng had chosen to align himself with Yuanxi City, there had been sufficient communication, making it natural for them to become better acquainted.

Previously, Zhao Lingfeng had injured You Die and detained her due to the death of the supervisor.

Yuan Xi was also one to hold a grudge. Although she had allowed Lu Ye to publicly injure Zhao Lingfeng under false pretenses, she had clearly brought up the incident again during their recent discussions about cooperation.

Unable to save face, Zhao Lingfeng had no choice but to offer ten thousand Dao Fish as an apology.

Yuan Xi, being quite generous, immediately passed these ten thousand Dao Fish to You Die.

"They're for you," Lu Ye insisted. You Die didn't take them. "It's more important for you to advance to Hedao quickly. I can cultivate slowly on my own."

Lu Ye took her hand and placed the storage ring into it. "This amount of Dao Fish isn't even enough to fill my teeth," he said dismissively.

You Die suspected he was saying that on purpose, as ten thousand Dao Fish was indeed a considerable sum. She had never actually seen so many Dao Fish before.

"Even mosquito meat is still meat," You Die pouted. "I just wanted to give them to you."

Lu Ye rubbed his temples. "Don't pretend to be young at your age. Go heal your injuries!" He strode inside. Behind him, You Die stomped her foot, feeling as though her good intentions had been completely wasted.

"Oh, right..." Lu Ye suddenly stopped and turned back to You Die. "Do you want to get rich overnight?"

You Die immediately nodded her head vigorously, like a chick pecking at grains.

Lu Ye said, "Keep these Dao Fish for now, and wait for my instructions later."

If You Die were to use these Dao Fish to place a bet on the 'Nameless Guest's' final battle, she should be able to gain a considerable amount.

While it might seem a bit unfair to Qin Feng to extract a large sum of Dao Fish from his arena, Lu Ye assumed that even if Qin Feng found out, he wouldn't object.

"Understood!" You Die responded. She didn't know Lu Ye's exact plan, but since he had said it, she was confident it would be fine.

Somewhere in the inner realm, a Hedao City was swiftly moving. Judging by its size, it was at least a Desolate-grade Hedao City, and its trajectory clearly indicated it was heading towards the snowy plains.

The snowy plains had been in turmoil for some time now, and most Hedao Cities in the vicinity had already been drawn into the conflict. Yet, periodically, a large number of Hedao Cities would hear the news and travel from even more distant locations to participate.

This Desolate-grade City was clearly one of those from a greater distance, which was why it was still en route.

On a building within the city, two figures stood—a man and a woman—casually chatting.

"How much farther is it to the snowy plains?" the man suddenly asked.

The woman sighed, rubbing her temples. "My Lord, are you truly ill in the head or just forgetful? You ask this eight hundred times a day! I just told you an hour ago that it's still two months' journey to the snowy plains!"

The man, who was undoubtedly the City Lord, sniffed. "Did I just ask that?" he inquired.

The woman looked at him with a serious expression. "My Lord, your cognitive impairment seems to be getting worse."

The man laughed heartily. "I won't die anyway! If I forget anything later, just be sure to remind me!"

"Ah, but there will always be times when I'm not by your side."

The man tilted his head. "Where would you go?"

The woman blinked. "I'm not going anywhere, but accidents do happen."

The man declared with great confidence, "Don't worry, no matter what happens, I'll always keep you by my side!"

The woman's face colored slightly, but she quickly regained her composure.

"Huh, there's someone over there!" The man suddenly exclaimed, as if he had spotted something, turning his gaze to the side.

The woman followed his gaze and indeed saw a person there. However, this person was quite strange: they stood motionless, utterly still, and emanated no aura whatsoever.

"Poor fellow, I wonder who killed him," the man said, shaking his head with a sigh. Encountering unattended corpses in the void was a common occurrence, so he wasn't particularly surprised.

"Something's off..." the woman murmured, frowning.

"What's strange about it?"

"His body is too intact!" The woman scrutinized the corpse. Though its clothes were ragged, the body itself was perfectly preserved, which was an unusual sight. If the person had been killed by an enemy, their Dao bones would typically be extracted, yet there were no such signs on this body.

What was even more peculiar was that the person still clutched a longsword in their hand.

That must have been his Dao weapon.

"You're right, that's certainly true," the man nodded in agreement. "Is there a possibility he was too severely injured and simply collapsed and died while trying to escape?"

"That's also a possibility," the woman acknowledged with a nod. The next instant, she gasped in alarm. "My Lord, what are you doing?"

"Looting the body, of course..." The man's voice drifted back from ahead; he had already dashed towards the corpse. "He might have some valuable items on him."

Since they had come across it, he naturally couldn't miss the opportunity. A quick search would reveal if there was anything valuable.

He quickly reached the body and examined it closely, ensuring there was no sign of life. Only then did he take a step forward and reach out to grasp the longsword.

From what he could tell, the man seemed to have nothing valuable on him. However, the Dao weapon might still be somewhat useful; refining it later could yield some Dao power.

Yet, at that very instant, the man was seized by a terrifying premonition. A profound sense of inexplicable danger arose in his heart. Without a moment's hesitation, a burst of blood mist erupted from his body as he instantly retreated backward.

While he did suffer from a cognitive impairment, it didn't mean he was truly senseless. His innate keen perception of danger had allowed him to overcome countless perils.

As he looked up, the man's dread intensified. The lifeless corpse before him was now slowly opening its eyes.

Those eyes held no focus, only a strange, flickering light.

The man instantly felt a prickle of alarm up his spine. With a strange cry, he spun around and darted towards his Hedao City, simultaneously shouting, "Protect the city! Protect the city!"

The woman watched, utterly bewildered. Her City Lord had merely gone ahead for a moment, only to suddenly react with such intense alarm, especially when the corpse had merely opened its eyes.

However, her experience from numerous past perils taught her that her seemingly ill City Lord would never react without good reason.

He must have sensed some profound threat, which was why he had fled in such disarray and even called out to protect the city.