Chapter 301: Zhao Li

**The Wind Rises in Kyushu**

Never before had a Spirit Creek Realm cultivator been so highly sought after. After the strongholds of Windflower Court and Sunview Mountain were breached, Lu Ye instantly became a hot commodity in the eyes of various sects. Achieving such a feat with an eighth-level Spirit Creek Realm cultivation was unprecedented.

Who wouldn't want to break through the grand formation of a neighboring stronghold and then firmly subdue rivals they'd clashed with for countless years? Unfortunately, there had never been a means to breach such formations before.

Now there is!

Naturally, all the Haotian Alliance sects flocked to him.

Gu Canyang once again raised his hand, making a calming gesture. "Everyone, please calm down and listen to me."

Drawing everyone's attention, Gu Canyang said, "You have all come from far away. It would be improper if I didn't give you a satisfactory explanation today. What I said before, that there was a significant element of luck in capturing the strongholds of Windflower Court and Sunview Mountain, was not false; it was indeed true. What you may not know is that capturing the Windflower Court stronghold was primarily because that woman, Yuemei, never imagined anyone could infiltrate the stronghold undetected..."

As Gu Canyang explained, everyone's emotions gradually calmed down. Seizing the opportunity, Wei Li quickly had tea served.

Following this, Gu Canyang spoke about the situation regarding the capture of the Sunview Mountain stronghold.

After a moment, he finished speaking. Gu Canyang said, "When capturing these two strongholds, Brother Yi Ye used different methods, but they truly cannot be used again. You are all intelligent people, so I believe you should understand this."

The stronghold masters and deputy masters, who had previously been clamoring incessantly, all fell into deep thought. If things were truly as Gu Canyang described, then it would indeed be impossible to repeat the feat.

The fall of the Windflower Court stronghold was due to Yuemei's excessive carelessness.

It's not entirely accurate to say she was careless; no one could have guarded against this. No one had ever quietly infiltrated an enemy sect's grand formation before. And even if someone had infiltrated, facing a stronghold master like Yuemei, they might not have had the chance to seize the formation jade token.

Lu Ye managed to do it. With two strikes, he not only severed Yuemei's arm but also seized the formation jade token, allowing those from Spirit Hidden Palace and Lingyun Hall to breach the protective grand formation and attack the stronghold.

As for Sunview Mountain, it goes without saying. After Yuemei sent out the warning, Sunview Mountain fortified its defenses against Lu Ye, leaving Lu Ye no chance to infiltrate. He was forced to change his method of breaching the formation.

The ultimate success was also because the number of cultivators left guarding Sunview Mountain was small, only a little over a hundred. Lu Ye led ten body cultivators in a charge, leaving them disoriented.

If Sunview Mountain had a few dozen more cultivators guarding it, the situation would have been completely different. Even if Lu Ye could have led Ju Jia and others in a charge, they would have been surrounded and killed.

This information was not confidential. The Ten Thousand Demon Ridge had likely already clarified the details through Windflower Court and Sunview Mountain. Therefore, with targeted arrangements, such as setting up warning formations within strongholds or having more cultivators on guard, Lu Ye's methods would no longer be effective.

Silence hung in the great hall for a long time.

After a good while, the stronghold master surnamed Niu finally said, "So, are we saying we came all this way for nothing?"

Gu Canyang replied, "Brother Yi Ye said that once his cultivation and formation array attainments are higher, there might still be things he can do, but for now, he truly is powerless."

Although everyone was somewhat disappointed, they also knew Gu Canyang was speaking the truth.

While Lu Ye's methods were indeed remarkable, they were also easy to defend against. As long as enough personnel were stationed in a stronghold, his unique formation-breaching techniques would be useless.

"This could also be considered a good thing," a slender cultivator suddenly remarked.

"Brother Zhao, what do you mean by that?"

The cultivator surnamed Zhao said, "Originally, if Daoist Yi Ye possessed such methods, he would undoubtedly be feared by the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge. If he wished to move freely on the Spirit Creek Battlefield in the future, he would likely be targeted relentlessly. However, as it stands, since his methods can be easily defended against, his threat to the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge is greatly diminished. Consequently, Daoist Yi Ye's situation will also be safer."

Everyone listened and found his words reasonable.

If Lu Ye's methods were truly undefendable, the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge would certainly be restless. They might even disregard the rules and attack indiscriminately, just like last time. If that attracted powerful cultivators from the core circle, especially those on the Spirit Creek rankings, Lu Ye certainly wouldn't be able to resist.

Now, it's different. The Ten Thousand Demon Ridge would definitely still be wary, but it's highly unlikely they would resort to extreme measures.

"Spirit Hidden Palace and Lingyun Hall, you truly are lucky!" Someone sighed with emotion, only regretting why Lu Yi Ye hadn't visited their sect's stronghold before. If he had visited their sect, Spirit Hidden Palace and Lingyun Hall wouldn't have reaped the benefits.

"You flatter us, you flatter us!" Gu Canyang laughed heartily. Upon careful reflection, Spirit Hidden Palace indeed had good fortune. Without Lu Ye, he and Ji Yan would have long since died in Xianyuan City, and none of these subsequent events would have occurred.

Since it was impossible to repeat the previous formation-breaching actions, there was no point in everyone staying any longer. So, they all took their leave.

Gu Canyang and Wei Li naturally extended a warm send-off.

It wasn't until all the stronghold masters and deputy masters had departed that Gu Canyang finally let out a slight sigh of relief.

Returning to the great hall, he sat opposite Wei Li to discuss follow-up matters.

Now that the strongholds of Windflower Court and Sunview Mountain had been breached, the former still had approximately three hundred cultivators alive, while the latter fared poorly, with only about two hundred survivors. And both sects would undoubtedly rebuild their strongholds.

How could Spirit Hidden Palace and Lingyun Hall agree to such a thing? Completely eradicating these two enemy sect forces was impossible, but it was certainly feasible to continuously suppress them and prevent them from recovering quickly. As long as Spirit Hidden Palace and Lingyun Hall jointly maintained pressure on those two Ten Thousand Demon Ridge forces, it would be difficult for them to regain their footing.

In this way, Spirit Hidden Palace and Lingyun Hall could freely develop themselves, and even reallocate some personnel to cooperate with nearby Haotian Alliance sects in attacking more Ten Thousand Demon Ridge forces.

However, the specific course of action would need to be adapted to the circumstances and could not be hastily concluded.

While they were discussing, Gu Canyang suddenly sensed something. He checked his battle imprint and then sent out a message.

"Zhao Li is back again," Gu Canyang said, looking at Wei Li. "Is he still not giving up?"

The Zhao Li he spoke of was one of the stronghold masters who had left not long ago, and for some unknown reason, he had returned.

Wei Li pondered for a moment before saying, "Brother Zhao is a meticulous person. We've already said all that needed to be said, so I don't think he'll make things difficult for us again."

"Then why is he back?"

"Senior Brother, don't forget, what is the basis for Brother Zhao's Heavenly Origin Sect's standing in Kyushu?"

Gu Canyang thought for a moment and then realized, "So that's it. This fellow is cunning. He said nothing when there were many people around, but now he's secretly come back. He probably wants to hog the benefits."

Wei Li chuckled, "That's not necessarily true, but if Brother Zhao asks, Brother Yi Ye might not refuse."

At this point, he fell silent because he had already sensed Zhao Li's presence.

"Brother Gu, Brother Wei," Zhao Li said, stepping inside.

Gu Canyang feigned ignorance. "Brother Zhao, did you leave something behind?"

Zhao Li smiled. "No, I didn't. I just remembered something I forgot to mention to Brother Gu when I was halfway back." His expression turned serious as he spoke, "I previously said that once the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge clarifies the situation, Daoist Yi Ye's position would be relatively safer. But after careful thought, I realized that's only one possibility."

"Then what's the other possibility?"

"The other possibility, of course, is that the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge will spare no effort, disregarding rules and reputation, to deal with Daoist Yi Ye." Zhao Li's expression was solemn. "Daoist Yi Ye is currently only an eighth-level Spirit Creek Realm cultivator, yet he possesses such methods. Although he is easy to defend against now, it will become difficult to guard against him as his cultivation increases and his formation array attainments deepen. The Ten Thousand Demon Ridge might not hesitate to take preventative measures. If that truly happens, not only will Daoist Yi Ye's situation be concerning, but even Spirit Hidden Palace's situation will be grim."

Gu Canyang was startled by this. As the conversation continued, how did it suddenly involve Spirit Hidden Palace?

"Daoist Yi Ye is currently at the Spirit Hidden Palace stronghold; this is not a secret. The Ten Thousand Demon Ridge must know this. If they want to eliminate Daoist Yi Ye completely, then in the next few days, they will certainly mobilize troops, gather personnel from various nearby Ten Thousand Demon Ridge strongholds, and come to attack the Spirit Hidden Palace stronghold!"

Gu Canyang's expression gradually became solemn. "Brother Zhao, how likely do you think this is?"

Zhao Li slowly shook his head. "It's hard to say; this is just my own speculation. So, I thought I wouldn't return to my stronghold for now; I'll stay here and observe for a period. This way, if the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge truly makes a significant move, Heavenly Origin Sect can arrive in time to provide aid. Of course, if the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge doesn't make a move, it proves I was wrong, and a false alarm would be for the best."

"Then many thanks, Brother Zhao."

"It's only proper. However, I believe what Brother Gu should do now is to promptly inform Lingyun Hall and the several nearby allied sects to be ready to provide immediate assistance, as they are closer."

"That makes sense," Gu Canyang said, nodding gravely.

"Then I shall trouble you," Zhao Li said, cupping his hands.

"Junior Brother Wei, take Brother Zhao to rest." Gu Canyang turned to look at Wei Li.

Wei Li nodded and led Zhao Li to the guest quarters.

A moment later, Wei Li returned. Seeing Gu Canyang sitting thoughtfully in his chair, Wei Li walked over, poured himself a cup of tea, took a sip, and then asked, "Senior Brother, what are you thinking about?"

"I was thinking that Zhao Li fellow kept beating around the bush and almost pulled a fast one on me."

"Hm?" Wei Li looked at him, puzzled.

Gu Canyang smiled faintly. "If I'm not mistaken, did he specifically ask to be Brother Yi Ye's neighbor?"

The guest quarters were not small, consisting of individual pavilions. Currently, only Lu Ye and Ju Jia resided there. How to arrange them was Wei Li's responsibility, but if a guest made a specific request, Wei Li wouldn't refuse.

"Yes," Wei Li confirmed. "On the way, Brother Zhao asked about Brother Yi Ye's residence and chose the adjacent pavilion."

Gu Canyang bared his teeth slightly. "Just as I thought."

"Senior Brother, you mean..."

"Can't you tell yet? That fellow came back to poach someone."

Wei Li was no fool, but the day's numerous trivial matters had left him a bit disoriented, and he hadn't considered much at the moment. Now, prompted by Gu Canyang, he immediately realized, "So, Senior Brother Zhao's previous words were alarmist?"