Chapter 2561: What Is the Grand Commander Up To

The unexpected situation made the female cultivator’s face flush from anger to red. She gritted her teeth and cursed, “You scoundrel!”

Lu Ye, however, remained perfectly calm. When facing an enemy, he didn’t overthink things. Although it was an accident, he had no intention of letting go. The power of his Innate Tree was already activated, absorbing the mystery from the female cultivator’s treasure.

Nearby, the Harmonious Dao expert from Lingfeng City was dumbfounded. He mused that he hadn't realized Grand Commandant Yuan Xi of Yuanxi City was so lustful. While the female cultivator’s appearance and figure were indeed top-notch, was it really appropriate to be doing something like this during a life-or-death battle between cultivators? He deserved to be cursed at.

With that thought, he could only move to attack the female cultivator.

This time, the female cultivator was clearly genuinely furious. Ignoring his attack, she bit her tongue, then spat a mouthful of blood directly at Lu Ye's face.

A blood-red arrow shot forward, containing the full explosive power of the female cultivator.

Lu Ye, however, decided not to retreat further. From her previous move, he had roughly gauged the female cultivator’s true strength, which was quite similar to his own.

Therefore, even if he didn't retreat, he likely wouldn't suffer any significant harm.

His Dao power circulated, protecting him.

The blood arrow struck his face and was indeed blocked by his protective Dao power, but the immense frontal force still caused Lu Ye's head to snap back, sending his body flying.

He quickly grabbed her forcefully, holding onto the female cultivator. Her facial features visibly contorted.

She suddenly raised a hand, clenched it into a fist, and punched towards Lu Ye's jaw, clearly intending to send him flying.

Lu Ye wouldn't let her succeed. He raised his other free hand and directly clasped her wrist.

Although their overall strengths were similar, Lu Ye was undoubtedly stronger in terms of pure physical power, a fact that even a Harmonious Dao expert like the female cultivator couldn't match.

With a slight exertion of force, she found herself unable to break free. The female cultivator's whip-holding hand was raised high, and a halo of light shimmered along the long whip.

Seeing this, Lu Ye knew it was bad and didn't hesitate. He quickly raised his large hand and clasped her second wrist.

Then he noticed the female cultivator slightly bend a long leg, fiercely aiming a kick at his lower abdomen!

A sharp glint flashed in his eyes. He suddenly pressed forward, launching a kick to block her brutal attack, and at the same time, clamped his legs together, immobilizing the female cultivator's lower body.

He also applied fierce force with his hands, twisting the female cultivator's arms behind her back.

In an instant, their two bodies were pressed tightly together. The power of the Innate Tree surged, and invisible roots extended outwards.

Their eyes met. Lu Ye's gaze was calm, while the female cultivator was filled with despair and indignation.

Not far away, the Harmonious Dao expert from Lingfeng City watched, wide-eyed and dumbfounded.

What was going on?

He had never seen a life-or-death battle turn into such a scene; in all his years, this was a first. It seemed the Grand Commandant of Yuanxi City was not only lustful but also extremely famished, otherwise, he wouldn't act this way during a battle.

“Fellow Daoist Lu…” He suddenly felt it was inappropriate to stand by and watch. While other battlefields raged fiercely, the scene before him was sensuous and ambiguous. "I'll go help elsewhere!"

With that, he turned and left. He could see that Lu Ye's strength was considerable, at least not weaker than the female cultivator's, so even without his help, there would be no danger.

This Grand Commandant seemed to enjoy these antics, and he didn't want to spoil it.

Lu Ye was about to open his mouth and ask for help in killing the enemy…

It had been confirmed that the female cultivator possessed a treasure. He didn't necessarily need to use this method for the Innate Tree to absorb the treasure's mystery; killing the female cultivator and taking the treasure would achieve the same result, and it would be simpler.

However, due to an unfortunate coincidence, the situation had escalated to this. With the female cultivator restrained by him, the Harmonious Dao expert from Lingfeng City could have easily taken her life with a casual move.

But before he could speak, the female cultivator's Dao power fiercely erupted.

He could only activate his strength to resist. At such close quarters, their Dao powers clashed and nullified each other like two raging tides. The first one to falter would suffer.

With their strengths being similar, the competition became a test of Dao power reserves. In this regard, Lu Ye was confident he wouldn't be inferior to any Harmonious Dao expert.

Of course, Harmonious Dao experts could borrow external power, so their Dao power consumption rate was much slower than his. Even so, he would still be the one to survive in the end.

The abundant Dao power reserves within his Innate Tree were his ultimate confidence!

“Grand Commandant!” a delicate shout rang out.

It was Yuan Xi calling for his help to finish an opponent. Receiving no response, she turned her head and saw Lu Ye in a distant battle group, embracing a beautiful female cultivator, pressed tightly together.

Yuan Xi was stunned. What in the world was the Grand Commandant doing? How did things end up like this after just a moment?

She didn't think the Grand Commandant was acting on lust, but the scene was truly uncommon, so she couldn't help but glance a few more times.

Lu Ye was both annoyed and anxious. He was annoyed that the Harmonious Dao expert from Lingfeng City lacked perceptiveness. Although he could certainly wear his opponent down to exhaustion through this clash of Dao power, he would also expend a considerable amount of his own. If that expert had intervened earlier, he wouldn't have needed to be in such a stalemate with his opponent.

He was anxious because if he didn't go help Yuan Xi finish her opponent, she would kill them, resulting in one less Star Abyss Coin, and potentially many more losses later.

He sighed inwardly, realizing it was better to rely on himself.

Fortunately, he had condensed his Innate Tree clone before this battle, which now played a crucial role.

While he was busy, his clone had been slaughtering foes everywhere. In the Fusion Dao battlefield, no one could withstand a single sword qi from the clone wielding the Sword Gourd.

After such a fierce battle, the number of enemy Fusion Dao experts continuously dwindled. Countless had fallen, and the survivors, sensing danger, either scattered and fled or retreated back to their respective Harmonious Dao cities.

Thus, the battle on the clone's side was nearing its end, and having it come to assist now wouldn't result in much loss.

Spatial Dao patterns manifested, and the clone warped to his side.

The female cultivator was still locked in a stare with Lu Ye when she suddenly sensed a figure appear beside them. She turned her head and instantly her face was filled with despair.

The clone slapped the Sword Gourd, and a startling sword qi shot out, perfectly timed just as the main body dissipated the female cultivator's protective Dao power.

The sword qi silently pierced through the female cultivator's forehead, and her wide eyes lost their luster.

Lu Ye reached out to grab the female cultivator's front, intending to strip off her treasure. But he suddenly realized that stripping someone's clothes after killing them would surely make this misunderstanding impossible to clear, even if he poured all the water from the Myriad Phenomena Sea over it.

Changing his mind, he put the female cultivator's corpse into his small Flower Realm to deal with later.

He turned around and, with his clone, rushed to the battleground of the Harmonious Dao experts.

Yuan Xi's opponent was already powerless to retaliate. If not for Lu Ye's delay, he could have arrived earlier to finish them off.

After Lu Ye dealt with Yuan Xi's opponent, Lien called for him again. She had already defeated one opponent earlier and was now, with a Harmonious Dao expert from Lingfeng City, fighting two-on-one against an enemy who had no hope of escaping and was desperately holding on.

As Yuan Xi and Lien moved about the battlefield, the situation quickly became clear. Lu Ye followed their pace, killing wherever they went.

The Harmonious Dao experts from Lingfeng City had experienced such a scene before and knew Lu Ye's strong killing intent. Therefore, seeing it again now, they were not surprised. Instead, they intentionally cooperated, leaving their opponents alive for Lu Ye to deal with.

A moment later, among the enemy's Harmonious Dao experts, only the Barren-level City Lord remained, stubbornly resisting. It wasn't that he hadn't wanted to escape, but by the time he thought of fleeing, it was already too late.

His opponent was Zhao Lingfeng. Both were Barren-level City Lords, of comparable strength, neither able to truly defeat the other. If he had fled at the very beginning, Zhao Lingfeng wouldn't have been able to stop him.

But who would flee without fighting at the very start of a major battle?

By the time he realized the situation was dire and tried to escape, Lien had already surged over. With her speed, she easily intercepted him and, along with Zhao Lingfeng, pursued and attacked relentlessly.

When the enemy Harmonious Dao experts on the field were almost entirely wiped out, leaving him alone, he was no longer able to resist.

Lu Ye delivered the final blow, and the great battle ceased.

But the fighting wasn't over, as the enemy's Barren-level city was escaping under the control of the remaining Harmonious Dao expert.

However, when their numerous Harmonious Dao experts surrounded the city, the remaining expert knew it was futile. He took the surviving Fusion Dao cultivators from the city and escaped into the Harmonious Dao Realm using a Harmonious Dao Orb, leaving behind an empty city.

The many Harmonious Dao experts acted together, and moments later, the grand formation was breached.

Zhao Lingfeng looked at Yuan Xi and smiled slightly, "City Lord Yuan, I'll trouble you with this!"

Having experienced it several times before, he was already accustomed to letting Yuan Xi handle the Harmonious Dao Orb at such times.

Initially, he had wondered if Yuan Xi wanted to loot some good items first, but he later discovered this wasn't the case. Each time, Yuan Xi brought Lu Ye into the central hall and quickly emerged, with no time for looting.

Furthermore, Yuanxi City never withheld their rightful share.

As for the other resources within the breached Harmonious Dao City, they were generally collected by people from Lingfeng City.

So, although he didn't know why Yuan Xi insisted on handling the Harmonious Dao Orb herself, as long as Lingfeng City received a good share, there was no issue.

“Mm,” Yuan Xi nodded, then led Lu Ye towards the central hall.

A short while later, when the two emerged again, Lu Ye handed a small package to Zhao Lingfeng.

Zhao Lingfeng took it with a smile, then said meaningfully, "If Fellow Daoist has some leisure time, you are welcome to visit our city. You left in a hurry last time and likely haven't experienced its full splendor."

Lu Ye had been to Lingfeng City before, when he entered alone as a hostage. That time, he had injured many of Lingfeng City's Fusion Dao cultivators.

But at that time, they had no significant relationship. Now that Lingfeng City was affiliated, Lu Ye could naturally visit anytime.

However, the implied meaning in Zhao Lingfeng's words made Lu Ye's eye twitch.

It seemed his reputation was completely ruined after the battle with that female cultivator.

He could even feel that after Zhao Lingfeng spoke, the group of Harmonious Dao experts opposite him looked at him strangely.

“Indeed,” he replied calmly. His glance happened to catch Lien also looking at him with a strange expression.

Lu Ye sighed inwardly, feeling the bitterness of life.