Chapter 267: Lu Yiye Is Certainly Doomed

Winds of Kyushu

Lu Ye couldn't understand how Ju Jia and Hu Po got along so well. Back in the valley, it was the same; despite being their first meeting, the man and the beast were remarkably close.

Lu Ye didn't particularly like the mustached cultivator, but Ju Jia's simple and honest nature made him hard to dislike.

He popped a few spirit pills into his mouth, swallowing them whole, then fed a few to Hu Po.

As he switched his cultivation technique, a humming sound resonated within his abdomen.

"This Immortal Yuan City is truly dangerous," the mustached cultivator remarked, walking to the door and peering out through the crack. "With the Immortal Yuan Guards and the mist, who knows how many will die this time?"

He turned, looked at Lu Ye, and said with a smile, "Did you encounter an enemy, fellow cultivator?"

Lu Ye looked quite disheveled at the moment, mainly because his previous skirmish with the cultivators from Wind Blossom Academy had left him heavily depleted and with some minor injuries.

"Being an eighth-level cultivator alone here is a bit disadvantageous. Would you consider teaming up with me, fellow cultivator? I assure you, you won't regret it."

"No need."

The mustached man chuckled, "Don't be so quick to refuse, fellow cultivator. It's not too late to think it over."

Although he spoke with a smile, his words carried an underlying threat. Furthermore, he was blocking the doorway; while appearing to be checking the situation outside, only he knew his true intentions.

This mustached man was indeed no good.

In the valley, Lu Ye had refused his overtures simply because they weren't familiar with each other. Afterward, the man tried to recruit others, but he hadn't managed to attract anyone by the time the Boundless Mirage Realm opened.

This suggested that his reputation wasn't good, and he might have a history of bad deeds, which is why no one was willing to cooperate with him.

Moreover, when Lu Ye had rushed in earlier, he'd hastily exchanged blows with Ju Jia, but Ju Jia had immediately stopped upon seeing Hu Po. In contrast, the mustached man had still launched a large fireball at him.

He later claimed it was a misunderstanding, but was it really? A cultivator's eyesight is keen, especially a ninth-level spell cultivator. Even if he hadn't clearly seen Lu Ye's appearance at first, he would have been able to identify him moments later, yet he still launched the fireball.

This undoubtedly pointed to some issues.

"Could this guy be planning to kill for treasure?" Lu Ye mused silently.

"Hahaha, just tell me when you've had time to consider it, fellow cultivator."

Just as Lu Ye was thinking this, the mustached cultivator's smile suddenly became much friendlier. He moved away from the doorway and called out to Ju Jia, "Stop playing with someone else's spirit beast, Ju Jia, come back!"

"Oh," Ju Jia grunted in response, lifting his thick fingers from Hu Po's head, and lumbered after the mustached cultivator into an inner room.

Sitting cross-legged, the mustached man's expression was uncertain and surprised; he couldn't quite figure out what kind of person Lu Ye was.

Earlier, he had almost been ready to make a move. It wasn't his first time killing someone from the same faction. For a lone cultivator like him, with no backing, things like the Vast Heaven Alliance or the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge were meaningless; only what he possessed truly mattered.

Having clawed his way up from the very bottom, he had long seen the true face of the cultivation world: survival of the fittest.

The reasons he didn't act were twofold: first, Ju Jia's attitude toward Lu Ye was intriguing; second, he suddenly noticed the numerous storage bags hanging from Lu Ye's waist.

Cultivators usually carried only one storage bag, sometimes two or three to store various items categorized for easy retrieval.

The youth, however, had probably over a dozen storage bags tied to his waist! This was highly unusual, especially since many of them had fresh bloodstains.

This was the fundamental reason the mustached man changed his mind. As a lone cultivator who had struggled his way up, he knew one truth deeply: never judge someone's strength solely by their cultivation level.

There were people in this world with low cultivation but immense strength, and there were also spirit artifacts that could conceal spiritual energy fluctuations and hide one's true cultivation.

He couldn't gauge Lu Ye's true background, so he dared not act rashly. Capsizing in a ditch was something he had always painstakingly avoided.

Nevertheless, the eighth-level youth was not someone to trifle with. He refused to believe that the youth had simply gotten lucky and picked up so many storage bags; such coincidences didn't happen in this world.

Those dozen or so storage bags made him quite envious. After a moment's thought, he tapped his battlefield imprint and sent a message to Ju Jia.

Ju Jia, oblivious, was simply engrossed in eating.

The mustached man poked Ju Jia and then pointed to his hand. Ju Jia finally reacted, looked down to check, and then shook his head.

The mustached man glared. What did shaking his head mean?

He had only asked Ju Jia why he liked the other's spirit beast so much, and he was still shaking his head? This big, dumb oaf was beyond help.

"If you like it, why don't we snatch it?" the mustached man messaged again.

"No good," Ju Jia replied aloud instead of messaging, shaking his head.

The mustached man's liver ached with anger. If Ju Jia wasn't so incredibly useful, he would have kicked him away long ago.

After being glared at fiercely by the mustached man for a while, Ju Jia seemed to realize he had probably done something wrong again. He scratched his head, lowered it, and continued eating, his expression quickly becoming carefree.

Through the wall, Lu Ye recovered while simultaneously breaking the seal locks on the storage bags. Having over a dozen storage bags hanging from his waist was quite uncomfortable.

As for the malice the mustached man might have shown earlier, Lu Ye didn't pay it much mind. If the other party dared to attack him, it would be a death wish.

The dozen or so storage bags were unsealed in less than an hour, though one was destroyed because Lu Ye, in his haste to not waste time, was a bit too eager in the process.

He transferred the useful items out and discarded the empty bags, finding no particularly valuable treasures.

Generally, cultivators' storage bags rarely contained truly excellent treasures. Most cultivators had established foundations, keeping their genuine valuables in their sect's strongholds or other safe places, and only carrying items for recovery and combat.

Only Lu Ye, currently without a fixed abode and protected by his elders, had numerous treasures on him.

Hu Po ate a few spirit pills and recovered slightly, but still looked listless. Lu Ye took out the scaled armor and let it absorb some energy.

Then he messaged Yi Yi to ask about the current state of the specters.

He learned that most of the specters had died in the previous battle, and only fourteen remained.

It seemed he would need to replenish his specters later. Their role in countering Wind Blossom Academy's ambush was too significant; in that situation, without the specters, Lu Ye would have had no choice but to flee.

No matter how strong he was, he couldn't take on that many cultivators alone.

But with the specters assisting him, it was different. Wind Blossom Academy had suffered heavy losses this time, but they certainly wouldn't give up and would likely come looking for him again.

Replenishing specters wasn't difficult; there was no shortage of Immortal Yuan Guards here. He just needed to wait for the mist outside to dissipate before acting.

Once the specters were replenished, he would take the initiative, strike while Wind Blossom Academy wasn't fully assembled, find Chu Qing, and kill her!

His objective suddenly became clear! Lu Ye's slightly depressed mood improved considerably.

Meanwhile, in another building, seven or eight cultivators from Wind Blossom Academy had gathered, each with injuries.

Chu Qing's eyes overflowed with hatred, while Ruo Yan softly sobbed.

Qiao Yun was dead!

She had died not long after they retreated!

It was completely different from what they had expected. They had thought the Immortal Yuan Guards would capture Qiao Yun and imprison her in the dungeon, and that Lu Yiye wouldn't escape either. But Qiao Yun had actually died!

Qiao Yun was Wind Blossom Academy's strongest body cultivator. This "strongest" didn't refer to her cultivation level, but to her physique at the same level. Due to her unique constitution, Qiao Yun's physique was comparable to those body cultivators who had already switched to Heaven-grade cultivation techniques. If it weren't for her rather unappealing appearance, the position of garrison commander would undoubtedly have been hers.

It could be said that Qiao Yun was a rare talent for Wind Blossom Academy, as the academy itself greatly lacked body cultivators, making every one of them extremely precious.

With Qiao Yun present, Wind Blossom Academy's stronghold was impregnable. Whenever conflicts arose with the Vast Heaven Alliance, Qiao Yun would lead the charge, withstanding immense pressure.

Losing Qiao Yun was undoubtedly an unbearable pain for Wind Blossom Academy.

"Why are you crying?" Chu Qing snapped.

Ruo Yan's sobbing ceased abruptly.

"As cultivators, life and death are common. You and I might face this day too. Instead of crying, you should think about how to live well."

Ruo Yan suppressed her grief and sniffed.

Chu Qing patted her shoulder. "That Lu Yiye surely won't escape death either. At least our mission this time can be considered complete; we haven't gained nothing. Once the mist clears, we'll collect Qiao Yun's body, sever Lu Yiye's head, and bring it back to honor the spirits of our junior brothers and sisters in heaven."

"Yes," Ruo Yan nodded firmly.

Chu Qing turned away, tears silently streaming down her face.

In another building, Ji Yan of the Divine Concealment Palace pressed a hand to his forehead, suffering from a terrible headache.

The reason? Gu Canyang had been captured by the Immortal Yuan Guards! He was currently detained in the dungeon.

Gu Canyang had been truly unlucky. He had just arrived in Immortal Yuan City and before he could even collect himself, he was surrounded by a squad of Immortal Yuan Guards. Though he fought fiercely, two fists were no match for four hands, and he was apprehended on the spot.

According to a junior brother who saw the scene from afar, Senior Brother Gu's expression at the time was utterly despairing...

If it had been anyone else captured, it wouldn't have mattered as much. The key was that Gu Canyang was the garrison commander of the Divine Concealment Palace, and he wasn't a body cultivator, so being imprisoned in the dungeon likely meant a grim fate for him.

The Divine Concealment Palace was now essentially leaderless. Even though Ji Yan had stepped forward to take charge, his prestige was clearly not comparable to Gu Canyang's.

He could only try his best to gather his people and, after the mist cleared, see if they could go to the dungeon to rescue Gu Canyang.

However, he also knew the chances were slim. The dungeon was heavily guarded by Immortal Yuan Guards, and while others had attempted prison breaks before, no one had ever managed to breach the inner dungeon.

The Divine Concealment Palace faced not only these challenges but also hostility from Bright Sun Mountain and Wind Blossom Academy. If those factions learned of their plan, they would certainly obstruct it.

The Divine Concealment Palace was no match for two factions at once.

Ji Yan had a terrible headache now. "Senior Brother Gu, oh, Senior Brother Gu, why are you so unlucky?"