Chapter 2574: Thousand-Mile Dam Destroyed by an Ant's Nest

Rise of Kyushu

As such, the original reward was practically worthless to him.

Ying Fei remained silent. The young man merely smiled faintly, unconcerned, and said calmly, "Daoist friend, it's time for you to lead your forces to intercept them. However, I advise you to bring two helpers, otherwise, you'll suffer a very embarrassing defeat."

Ying Fei sighed.

Had anyone else addressed him in such a manner, he would have considered it an insult. But the young man before him was no ordinary person, and the enemies they were about to confront were also out of the ordinary, so Ying Fei readily complied.

Soon, under his leadership, a group of Hedao-level cultivators led their troops out of the city to meet the invading enemy.

Ying Fei, leading two Hedao cultivators from his own ranks, ignored everyone else and went straight to confront Yuan Xi.

Three other Hedao cultivators teamed up to face Zhao Lingfeng, and two more joined forces to attack Lian.

The remaining combatants quickly paired off and engaged in fierce combat, forming a chaotic melee. The scene was incredibly intense, with cold currents surging, the surrounding Star Abyss aura becoming chaotic, and Dao power raging.

Lu Ye had already condensed his Talent Tree avatar, as before, and mingled among his side's Rongdao cultivators, charging into the enemy formation.

His main body, meanwhile, stood still nearby, ready to step in and deliver the final blow at any moment.

But as soon as the clashes began, he frowned, sensing that something wasn't quite right!

In battles between Hedao cities, city lords typically need to be confronted by Hedao cultivators who are also city lords, which is quite normal.

So, it wasn't problematic for the opposing Hedao city lord to directly confront Yuan Xi; what was problematic was that this individual actually brought two helpers.

It was as if he knew he was no match for Yuan Xi on his own.

Furthermore, on Zhao Lingfeng's side, three Hedao cultivators were teaming up against him, and even though Zhao Lingfeng was a Barren-level city lord with formidable strength, he was currently stretched thin.

And then there was Lian, facing two opponents...

This situation was as if the enemy had long since discerned all of their strong cultivators and had prepared countermeasures in advance.

Another matter that concerned Lu Ye even more was this:

The number of Hedao cultivators on the enemy side was simply excessive. Just for Yuan Xi and two other primary combatants, there were already six Hedao cultivators opposing them, while all remaining Hedao cultivators on their side were also met by enemy forces, each pairing off for battle.

A quick glance revealed that this mere Barren-level city actually had over a dozen Hedao cultivators.

This was clearly abnormal.

A sense of unease began to grow in Lu Ye's heart.

If he could detect such an obvious anomaly, Yuan Xi and Lian naturally could as well. Yuan Xi, in particular, even in the midst of the fierce battle, could keenly sense that a subtle, almost imperceptible gaze from the enemy Hedao city was fixed on her!

That subtle gaze actually made her feel a faint sense of threat.

Not far away, Lu Ye pondered briefly, then instantly moved towards Lian.

In previous battles between Hedao cultivators, he rarely intervened so directly. He usually sought out opportune moments to deliver the final blow to enemies, thus more efficiently finishing them off and acquiring Star Abyss coins.

But the current situation was different, so he naturally couldn't act as he had before.

His figure flashed, rapidly approaching. Lian immediately sensed his presence. After a brief thought, she swept out the Blazing Thunderwood in her hand, and surging thunder crackled, spreading in all directions.

Her two opponents, seeing this, quickly retreated.

However, Lian took advantage of their retreat and pressed forward, directly attacking one of them.

The other opponent was about to move to assist when he suddenly felt a sharp killing intent strike from his flank. He immediately roared, his body surging with a mixture of vital energy and Dao power, and turned to deliver a punch.

The furious punch disturbed the surrounding space but was parried by a long, black saber. As he looked up, a handsome and youthful face came into view.

"Who is this?" He frowned.

Through certain channels, they had already learned the overall strength of Yuan Xi City and Lingfeng City in advance, including all the Hedao cultivators in both cities. That's why in this engagement, they were able to respond so perfectly. Every Hedao cultivator from Yuan Xi City and Lingfeng City had someone assigned to intercept and engage them.

According to the plan, they only needed to engage for a while to wear down the enemy's strength before proceeding to the next step.

But what was with this suddenly appearing soldier cultivator? And he was so young.

Even more bizarrely, he couldn't sense any traces of borrowed power from the opponent, making it impossible to tell if he was a Hedao cultivator.

He had to admit, the opponent's strength was considerable. Judging by the Dao power transmitted through the long saber, it was almost on par with his own current strength.

A formidable enemy!

As these thoughts raced through his mind, a sudden pain flared on his fist.

His expression changed, and he looked down, only to see that his protective Dao power had actually been severed.

He had clearly blocked it just now! And there was no sign of the opponent's strength increasing...

He dared not remain in a stalemate, and immediately pulled back, intending to retreat.

Lu Ye had been waiting for this moment. Almost at the same instant he retreated, Lu Ye charged forward, his long saber transforming into a cascade of blades, engulfing his opponent.

Since his promotion to Rongdao Ninth Layer, although he had been through several battles, he had never truly engaged a Hedao cultivator head-on like this. He typically handled the finishing blows.

This was the first opponent he had directly clashed with since reaching Rongdao Ninth Layer.

The Ninefold Divine Edge's amplification effect on the Pan Mountain Saber exceeded expectations. Just like when he tested the saber on Fu Wei over half a year ago, even though he used the same amount of power as Fu Wei at the time, and even if Fu Wei blocked his strike, his defenses were still breached during the subsequent standoff.

This was not because Lu Ye's strength surpassed the enemy's, but because the Pan Mountain Saber was now incredibly sharp.

In terms of overall strength, the Hedao cultivator before him was almost on par with Lu Ye's current power. This was even after the opponent had been weakened in this place. If the opponent had been at full strength, their strength would undoubtedly have been significantly greater than Lu Ye's.

As the clashes continued, this Hedao cultivator realized something was wrong.

Because in such an engagement, his protective Dao power was being torn to shreds. Although he could continuously channel Dao power to repair it, if any flaw or mistake appeared and he couldn't repair it in time, he would certainly be in trouble.

In an instant, he no longer dared to let Lu Ye's saber touch his body, and violently swung his arm.

Lu Ye blinked. The Pan Mountain Saber moved in a direct, straightforward manner, slicing directly towards his arm. This enemy was likely a body cultivator, which was why his Dao artifact consisted of two armguards. While they lacked the sharpness of swords or sabers, they could be used for both offense and defense, and many cultivators specializing in body cultivation favored such Dao artifacts.

Amidst the clanging sounds, the Dao artifacts clashed, sending sparks flying. The two figures intertwined and moved, striking like thunder.

Suddenly, a continuous stream of agonizing screams came from the side!

The body cultivator was startled, because he recognized the voice as that of his companion. Judging by the trembling in the voice, his companion seemed to be enduring some unbearable torture.

Originally, the two of them had been fighting Lian two-on-one, with little risk. However, with Lu Ye's powerful intervention, their combined effort was broken, and they were forced to deal with their opponents individually.

Intelligence stated that this woman was the head of the Golden Stamen Pavilion, possessing great strength.

While fighting together with his companion earlier, he had indeed felt that her strength was impressive, but for her to dispatch his companion so quickly still filled him with dread.

For the first time, he realized that the disparity in strength between Hedao cultivators could be so immense.

His companion wasn't dead yet, but under the erosion of the thunder light, his life force was rapidly weakening.

And once the head of the Golden Stamen Pavilion finished off his companion, she would undoubtedly turn her attention to him. He was already struggling against the soldier cultivator, and with the addition of the Golden Stamen Pavilion's head, he would have no chance of victory.

His concentration wavered, and a flash of brilliant saber light streaked across his vision.

He was instantly alarmed, and raised his arm to block again.

Dao power surged, and his armguard precisely blocked the sharp saber, but in the very next moment, the armguard, which was crucial to his Hedao cultivation, was directly severed, splitting into two pieces and flying off.

The surging Dao power within him suddenly subsided significantly.

Although the armguards were a pair, they were his Hedao Dao artifact. Even breaking one would greatly impair his strength.

As his expression drastically changed, a sharp pain shot through his wrist, and a severed hand flew off.

How could this be?

In his haste, he tried to retreat, but a flash of saber light had already swept across his neck. With his strength greatly diminished, his protective Dao power was utterly unable to stop this sharp strike. Like cutting through tofu, the saber sliced through his neck.

On the battlefield, two Hedao auras extinguished almost simultaneously.

One was Lu Ye's opponent, and the other was Lian's opponent.

Lian, who was already gaining the upper hand fighting two against one, with Lu Ye's assistance, found her opponent no match for her in a one-on-one fight. In just a short moment, the enemy died on the spot.

After dispatching the body cultivator, Lu Ye's eyes lit up. He quickly reached out, and four Star Abyss coins fell into his grasp.

Although this Hedao cultivator had fought Lian for a while earlier, because it was a two-on-one fight, he had sustained minimal damage. It could be said that Lu Ye dealt with him single-handedly. This reward, compared to merely delivering a finishing blow, was indeed much more substantial, and it didn't take much time either.

Lu Ye and Lian exchanged a glance from a distance, both understanding what the other was thinking. Without the slightest hesitation, they split off in different directions, each rushing towards another part of the battlefield.

Lian rushed in the direction of Yuan Xi, as once these two teamed up, Yuan Xi's three current opponents would be no match.

Lu Ye, meanwhile, charged towards Huan Qing. The reason he chose this direction was not because Huan Qing was one of their own, but simply because Huan Qing was the closest.

In the Barren-level city, the dashing and handsome young man watched Lu Ye's figure, his expression filled with doubt.

He had made comprehensive deployments for the situation with Yuan Xi City, even fully accounting for Lingfeng City's Hedao combat strength. It could be said that this arrangement was foolproof.

Yet, unexpectedly, such an unusual soldier cultivator suddenly appeared, who could actually kill one of their Hedao cultivators in a very short time, causing a flaw in his plan.

On a battlefield of this scale, in most cases, it wouldn't make much difference if one side had one or two more Hedao cultivators, because if the strength gap between Hedao cultivators isn't significant, it's not easy to determine a victor or a loser.

What was feared was someone who could quickly decide life and death, like what was happening now, because once a life-or-death situation was decided, his arrangements would fall apart.

Currently, it was just a minor flaw, but if it wasn't remedied quickly, this small flaw would inevitably become a major variable.

It exemplifies the saying, "A thousand-mile dike is destroyed by an ant-hole."