Chapter 2691: Is Anyone Home?

Struck by such a heavy blow, the Night Wolf clan's Harmonization realm expert rapidly lost vitality. Lu Ye only needed two or three breaths to finish him off completely.

"Dream on!" a furious roar erupted. It was the Lava Giant, who had arrived a step too late, punching in Lu Ye's direction. Scorching flames swept forth, instantly burning away the Night Wolf's fur. This punch landed squarely on Lu Ye's shoulder, unleashing violent power that shattered his protective Dao power!

It was a power level of around 1,200 Dao!

Even when he was ambushed earlier, Lu Ye had sensed that some of these Harmonization realm experts were stronger than him, but those he had killed previously were not among these stronger ones. This time, he had finally encountered one. In fact, this Night Wolf's strength was likely not much inferior to the Lava Giant's; it was just that he was affected by the power of Time Sequence, preventing his protective strength from fully activating, which allowed Lu Ye to land a successful strike.

The moment his protective power shattered, Lu Ye's body trembled. He felt as if his shoulder blade was about to shatter, and the scorching energy surged into his body, agitating his qi and blood.

"You want to kill me!" Thanks to the Lava Giant's assistance, the Night Wolf finally regained his senses. Realizing his precarious situation, instead of retreating, his ferocity was ignited. He clawed at Lu Ye's neck.

Flesh and blood flew as half of Lu Ye's neck was torn to shreds by the attack. He, too, did not retreat, but continuously poured his own power into the Mountain-Shattering Blade. With a thud, the Night Wolf's Harmonization realm body in front of him exploded, scattering flesh and blood.

This Harmonization realm expert was not fearless in the face of death. In fact, he had just realized that even if he retreated, he wouldn't survive. Rather than that, it was better to drag Lu Ye down with him, which was why he acted so decisively. Unfortunately, he ultimately failed, just as Lu Ye had previously failed to sever an enemy's head with a single strike because the opponent's neck bone had been tempered into a Dao bone, making it impossible to cut through even with the sharp Mountain-Shattering Blade. The Night Wolf Harmonization expert also hadn't expected Lu Ye's neck bone to be a Dao bone; otherwise, with that last attack, he should have been able to tear Lu Ye's entire head off, not just a chunk of flesh.

Under the impact of the violent force, Lu Ye stumbled back a few steps. Before he could steady himself, the Lava Giant attacked again, its body burning with raging flames that spread in all directions, as if to incinerate everything. The intense flames even transformed into fiery serpent-like dragons, coiling towards Lu Ye. However, the giant quickly showed a look of astonishment, because Lu Ye showed no fear at all. Instead, he stood calmly, and whenever the fiery serpents touched him, they seemed to disappear, like water merging into the sea, as if they were being consumed.

Lu Ye already charged towards him, spatial power coiling around the Mountain-Shattering Blade. Having finally killed the Night Wolf, he naturally intended to wipe out the remaining one as well; these were all walking Star Abyss currency.

The Lava Giant frowned and retreated. While it was true that the Night Wolf's death was partly due to his own overeagerness—if he had been as cautious as the giant, he wouldn't have met such a tragic end—it was also a fact that they had severely underestimated this human's strength. Right now, the giant couldn't gauge how strong Lu Ye truly was. He seemed to be in the Fusion Realm, with no signs of external assistance, but if he were truly in the Fusion Realm, his Night Wolf companion shouldn't have died.

The giant was always cautious, so after realizing his fire techniques were ineffective against Lu Ye, he immediately withdrew his divine ability, retreating while activating his Dao power to protect his body.

Space was distorted again. The Lava Giant felt a jolt on his body, and by the time he realized it, he had been struck. He couldn't help but widen his eyes, because from this single strike, he had judged Lu Ye's strength!

It was less than 1,200 Dao! Slightly weaker than him.

His mind was put at ease. In this situation, as long as he resolved to defend, the opponent would have no way to harm him.

He realized this, and Lu Ye realized it too. So, without hesitation, Lu Ye employed the "Beating the Ox" secret art, attempting to project his power into the opponent's body from a distance. However, he quickly found that he couldn't do it!

Back during the Star Abyss Son's competition, when Lu Ye was practicing this secret art with Su Yan, he had asked her about such situations. Su Yan had said that a cultivator's protective Dao power acts as a barrier, and if it is perfectly smooth and flawless, even the "Beating the Ox" secret art cannot take effect. Of course, if there are flaws, then it can work. This Lava Giant's body was intact, and his protective Dao power was flawless, so the "Beating the Ox" secret art naturally couldn't work.

In that case...

Lu Ye's right arm, holding the blade, suddenly swelled up. The color instantly drained from his face as all his qi and blood power converged into his right arm. The Mountain-Shattering Blade vibrated violently a few times.

Blade Vibration!

His internal Dao power, at that instant, flowed out like floodwaters breaking a dam. The previously composed Lava Giant immediately showed a look of panic, because at that very moment, his protective Dao power endured at least five fierce slashes, each one the opponent's full-power burst. Even though he promptly activated his power to replenish it, he only barely managed to block three.

Lava splattered as the sharp blade cut into the seemingly incredibly sturdy rock body. The Lava Giant immediately tried to pull back and retreat, but at that instant, the power of Time Sequence began to flow. Even though he had been vigilant, he couldn't resist it. His mind froze, his body stiffened, a flash of bright blade light passed, and a head flew off.

This Lava Giant had not tempered his neck bone; instead, he had chosen to temper Dao bones in other locations. Lu Ye had clearly discerned this when he executed the Blade Vibration earlier, otherwise, he wouldn't have attempted this decapitating blow.

With many auras rapidly approaching, Lu Ye quickly collected his spoils and flashed away.

When Green Mantis and Blood Reverse arrived at the scene, they saw the same situation as before: only blood remained.

"He's injured!" Blood Reverse sniffed the surroundings, his eyes lighting up. Although Lu Ye had completely wiped away his blood before leaving, time was short, and some traces remained. Others might not notice, but the Blood Clan specialized in this, so how could they not? The human, Lu Ye, was clearly injured in the recent battle. This was indeed good news. Since being ambushed and wounded previously, he had hunted down many Harmonization realm experts, escaping unscathed every time. This time, it was finally different. They just didn't know how serious his injuries were.

Green Mantis solemnly said, "Can you find him?"

Blood Reverse shook his head. "Still the same as before, no traces to investigate." He paused, then added, "We're already severely understaffed."

Before starting this operation, every one of them believed that with nearly twenty Harmonization realm experts working together, no one could escape their pursuit. But with each casualty, their formation had been thrown into disarray. The internal space of the Tower of Time was actually very large, so without enough personnel, they couldn't form an effective search net or provide mutual support. His side had already begun to dispatch personnel from upper levels, but it would take some time.

Several days later, in a hidden location, Lu Ye slightly frowned. Something felt wrong. He had assumed that these hunts would make the enemy retreat in the face of difficulties, given that there were only so many enemies, and he had already killed more than half of them. Without enough personnel, they shouldn't be able to achieve anything.

However, over the past few days, he had slowly discovered something: the number of Harmonization realm experts searching for him was gradually increasing. Although he had carried out several more hunts, the situation had not improved. He immediately understood that the enemy was pulling in reinforcements from other areas.

He had to leave!

His previous decision to stay was based on his confidence in surviving a siege by twenty Harmonization realm experts. But if the enemy numbers were too large, forming a sufficiently dense search net, then staying would be unwise. He couldn't be sure how many reinforcements the enemy had drawn in, but judging by the increase over the past few days, it certainly wouldn't be a small number, and it would only continue to grow.

But there was a problem now. If he were to leave, should he go up or down?

In an instant, Lu Ye made his decision: he could only go down. His strength was only at this level; going up would mean encountering increasingly powerful cultivators, and even if they weren't allied with his enemies, encountering them would be trouble. Going down was different; going down, cultivators' strength would progressively weaken, allowing him to handle situations at his leisure.

However, all exits to the current tower level were sealed. He still needed to find a way to break through.

In a pit, a graceful figure sat, her pretty face filled with resentment, muttering curses through gritted teeth: "Bastard, stinky man, you deserve to be hunted down, just die already."

This woman was the Eight-Tailed Demonic Fox, who had separated from Lu Ye a few days prior. When they encountered the ambush, she had decisively parted ways with Lu Ye, and these past days she had been on tenterhooks, fearing she would be implicated. Although she didn't know what had happened to Lu Ye, she could infer from their previous experiences that the human, Lu Ye, must have provoked an extremely powerful force, otherwise, they wouldn't mobilize so many people to painstakingly deal with him. Recently, she had also heard some rumors, making her increasingly gloat, feeling certain that Lu Ye's days were numbered.

The reason for her intense hatred for Lu Ye wasn't anything else; it was mainly because the wound Lu Ye had left on her was so disgusting. A strange power lingered around the wound, and even with her strength, she couldn't resolve it quickly. Fortunately, after many days of effort, only a tiny bit of that power remained, and it would be completely dispelled in less than two days.

Just then, the formation she had set up outside showed signs of being triggered. Her heart jumped in alarm, and she quickly turned her head, then heard a voice that made her scalp tingle.

"Anyone home?"

Along with the question, she also heard two knocking sounds, as if an old friend had come to visit and was knocking on the door.

How did he find her? How could he possibly know she was here? She had changed several hiding spots recently, and she had only arrived at this location less than half a day ago. It made no sense for her to be discovered so quickly.

Coincidence, it must be a coincidence! He definitely didn't know she was here and sought her out specifically; he must have just noticed traces of a formation and was simply asking.

Just as the Eight-Tailed Fox was thinking this, she suddenly felt a pain, as if someone had cut her. Her face drastically changed, because that pain had come from her wound, and the strange power lingering there seemed to come alive, tearing the wound open.