Chapter 2588: Recruitment

Not only were the cultivators from Lingfeng City fleeing, but the Hegemons who had been fighting in various locations also abandoned their battles, scattering in different directions. Even the four Desolate-grade cities were affected.

Yuan Xi couldn't tolerate this. She immediately rushed towards the nearest Hegemon City, shouting, "All of you, get yourselves to the Hehe Realm, or I'll kill every last one of you!"

If anyone else had uttered such a wild threat, it would likely have had no deterrent effect. But coming from Yuan Xi, her words carried immense power.

The Desolate-grade city she targeted soon came to a halt. The auras of the cultivators within quickly diminished, a clear sign of their obedience as they used their Hegemon Orbs to flee into the Hehe Realm.

Seeing this, Yuan Xi turned and charged towards another Hegemon City, her killing intent palpable. Before she even arrived, her imposing aura had already pressed down upon it.

Soon, this Hegemon City made the same choice as the previous one.

Then came the third, and the fourth...

In just a short moment, all four Desolate-grade cities became empty, hovering motionlessly in their positions.

Lu Ye felt a surge of admiration and immediately offered a compliment: "Your Excellency is truly mighty! With a single command, you effortlessly secured four Desolate-grade cities. Your humble subordinate is filled with profound reverence."

Yuan Xi let out a light snort. "They're just being sensible," she said.

Lu Ye, however, turned his head, his gaze complex, and looked at a nearby spot where a battlefield was still raging without pause.

Two Hegemons were locked in fierce combat!

One of them was Wu Mi; the other's origin Hegemon City was unknown.

When Yuan Xi and Lu Ye emerged from Lingfeng City, all other Hegemons had fled; only these two remained.

Wu Mi's opponent didn't want to stay, but he couldn't escape. Wu Mi was currently like a madman, his eyes bloodshot, his spiritual power boiling. He was fighting with utter disregard for his own life and injuries.

He was not weak; within Lingfeng City, his strength was second only to Zhao Lingfeng.

However, his opponent was clearly stronger. It was precisely Wu Mi's desperate, suicidal fighting style that had delayed him until this point.

"Stop already!" the other Hegemon cried out, filled with grief and indignation. He couldn't understand Wu Mi's madness. Everyone else had fled, yet only these two remained. Now that Yuan Xi was free, she could easily dispose of them both.

True, he and Yuan Xi were adversaries, and he was certainly destined for a grim end. But Wu Mi, hailing from Lingfeng City, would also be dragged down with him.

Wu Mi's current actions were utterly self-defeating and detrimental to both.

As he spoke, he unleashed a ferocious sword thrust.

He had intended to force Wu Mi back, but to his surprise, facing this vicious sword, Wu Mi showed no intention of dodging. He allowed the blade to pierce his chest, yet simultaneously clamped his hands together, pinning his opponent in place. Then, he spat a mouthful of blood mixed with organ fragments at his enemy, grinning savagely through clenched teeth, "Scum!"

His head tilted back slightly, then slammed forward violently in a brutal headbutt.

Their spiritual powers collided, leaving both dizzy. The Hegemon's expression turned ferocious as his spiritual power surged, pouring into the Dao weapon in his hand, preparing to unleash a devastating blow.

If he unleashed that attack, Wu Mi would be either dead or severely wounded.

However, just as he was about to do so, he suddenly felt his body lighten, all strength draining from him, and his vision plunged into darkness.

Wu Mi was currently covered in blood, his body riddled with wounds, a long sword still protruding from his chest, a truly miserable sight. In front of him, his former opponent lay as a headless corpse. Beside them, Yuan Xi glanced indifferently at Wu Mi, then tossed the head she was holding aside.

Meanwhile, Lian had already led the city's cultivators out and was engaged in attacking a city.

Although all four Desolate-grade cities were now empty, their protective arrays were still maintaining basic operation. Thus, to enter the cities, they first had to breach these defenses.

However, arrays without an operator did not offer strong defenses and could be easily overcome.

With Yuan Xi and Lu Ye joining the assault, the speed of breaching the cities increased significantly.

As each Desolate-grade city was breached, Lu Ye rushed from one to another, destroying all the Hegemon Orbs from these four cities and sending them back to his own city for safekeeping.

Next was the task of collecting supplies.

Previously, Lingfeng City had handled these tasks; their numerous Fusion cultivators made such miscellaneous work effortless. But now that Lingfeng City was gone, they had to rely solely on themselves.

Yuan Xi finally had a profound realization: "Leaving aside Hegemons for now, we really need to recruit more Fusion cultivators." Beyond just handling miscellaneous tasks, Fusion cultivators could play a significant role during sieges and defense.

However, Yuan Xi City was limited by its size; even if they recruited, they couldn't accommodate more than fifty individuals.

Collecting supplies from four enemy Hegemon Cities, in addition to Lingfeng City, was extremely tedious and would likely take several days.

Desolate-grade cities generally possessed their own Dao pools. While these Dao pools couldn't be relocated, they had been constructed using many precious materials. Although some of these materials were now useless, others could be salvaged. This meant that Yuan Xi City wouldn't have to worry about a lack of materials if they wished to build a second or more Dao pools in the future.

Fan Wu had always wanted to build a second Dao pool because the first one was already rendered useless—Lian Zai resided within it, consuming all the Dao fish produced.

This was completely contrary to rumors, which claimed Lian Zai could boost Dao pool fish production. Yet, their own turned out to be a bottomless pit.

However, it might also be related to its juvenile stage; it might improve once it grows larger—provided Lu Ye doesn't use it for city assaults.

Lu Ye instantly arrived at Lingfeng City, where his own city's Fusion cultivators were busy plundering many valuables. Previously, when Lingfeng City was subservient, thirty percent of all its profits were distributed to them, with most of it kept by Zhao Lingfeng in the treasury.

Now, however, it was to be reclaimed by Yuan Xi City—a truly ironic twist.

Amidst the bustling activity, a lone figure sat, covered in blood.

Lu Ye landed beside him. "Brother Wu!" he called.

Wu Mi had been staring at the City Lord's Mansion, his gaze obscure and his expression unreadable. Only now did he finally let out a long sigh.

After Yuan Xi killed his opponent, she paid Wu Mi no further attention.

Zhao Lingfeng had paid the price for his betrayal. While not directly killed by Yuan Xi, his death was a direct consequence of her actions.

Since things had come to this, she was disinclined to vent her anger on others. Especially since that betrayal was solely Zhao Lingfeng's unilateral decision, and the other Hegemons of Lingfeng City were completely unaware, she hadn't sought to kill Wu Mi.

Wu Mi, however, didn't leave; instead, he returned to Lingfeng City.

"Come to Yuan Xi City," Lu Ye began. "You know our city's situation. If you can come and help, the City Lord will certainly not treat you unfairly."

He had come this time specifically to recruit Wu Mi. Wu Mi's strength was considerable, and his temperament suited Lu Ye. With the city currently short on Hegemons, recruiting him would be a significant asset.

Especially now that Wu Mi had nowhere else to go, his joining Yuan Xi City would be an excellent choice for both sides.

Wu Mi, however, shook his head. "No, thank you," he said. "It's already a stroke of luck that I've been able to reclaim my life under City Lord Yuan. If I were to brazenly enter the city again, what kind of person would I be?"

Lu Ye frowned. "Zhao Lingfeng's actions have nothing to do with you, Brother Wu," he stated.

Wu Mi chuckled softly. "While that may be true," he said, "I also left with him at the time and didn't stay to assist. If I couldn't offer help when it was most needed, how could I now brazenly seek to 'add flowers to brocade'?"

Lu Ye still wanted to persuade him, but Wu Mi slowly rose, raising a hand to stop him. Then, looking directly at him, he said, "Brother Lu, you have truly found a good City Lord; I envy you." He cupped his fist in a salute: "Brother Lu, the world is vast. May we meet again someday!"

As he watched Wu Mi's retreating figure, Lu Ye felt a deep sense of regret.

He had tried to recruit Wu Mi simply because he was competent and had a good temperament. But Wu Mi's lack of intention to stay made Lu Ye feel even more regretful.

This was truly someone worth befriending.

Then again, if Wu Mi had readily agreed, perhaps he wouldn't have been worth recruiting after all.

Human nature is indeed complex.

Yuan Xi City remained there for several days before setting sail once more.

However, Lu Ye distinctly felt that the city's speed seemed to have increased. Upon asking Fan Wu, he learned that among the spoils of war were many rare items, which he and Yuan Xi had used to improve the city's grand array.

Consequently, while Yuan Xi City's grand array might not have seen a significant improvement in defensive power, its speed had markedly increased.

Lu Ye understood that Yuan Xi intended to maximize their city's inherent advantages to the fullest!

In the future, once it ascended to Cosmic-grade, its speed alone would likely be unmatched by ordinary Hegemons. At that point, they wouldn't have to worry about being besieged, though if it truly reached Cosmic-grade, few would likely dare to attack it anyway.

In his residence, Dao fish were spread all around Lu Ye, who was urging his talent tree to frantically devour and refine them.

The two recent battles had depleted a large portion of his spiritual power reserves. Now that he had free time, he naturally needed to replenish them quickly.

Not only that, but he was also deeply immersed in his cultivation, accelerating the derivation of a Dao pattern by consuming resources without hesitation.

Ever since he no longer needed to cultivate arduously to increase his spiritual power reserves, he had been diligently working on this.

Previously, he would dedicate any free time to arduous cultivation to increase his spiritual power reserves. But after the death match with the spiritual eye in the battle arena, he possessed an enormous quantity of Dao fish. With no need for arduous cultivation, the time freed up could naturally be devoted to other pursuits.

Before this, he hadn't focused on deriving Dao patterns for a long time. Firstly, his existing Dao patterns were already sufficient. Secondly, the derivation of Dao patterns was directly tied to his comprehension in that field.

If his comprehension was insufficient, no amount of derivation would yield significant results.

Having been in the Inner Realm for a long time, Lu Ye had encountered various powerful individuals. His own comprehension had consequently improved, allowing him to resume deriving Dao patterns.

However, the Dao pattern he currently intended to derive was actually only one: the Blood Pupil Dao pattern.

The original source of this Dao pattern came from the core world of Fangcun Mountain, specifically from the blood moon hanging in the sky there. That blood moon was like a blood pupil, overseeing the world, possessing extremely potent hallucinatory power.

The secret technique left by Shen on the Hegemon Orb was also a hallucinatory art, profound and unfathomable, and considered one of the most sophisticated illusion arts in this world. With Yuan Xi's help, You Die had already thoroughly comprehended it and could skillfully activate it.

During this period, Lu Ye had frequently consulted You Die regarding the mysteries of this secret technique, gaining considerable insight.