Chapter 322: Jiaolong Enters the Sea

"You've worked hard," Bai Qian said, smiling at Lu Ye. "Go back and rest first."

"Elder Bai, previously, Zhao and I..."

Bai Qian raised a hand to stop him. "I already know your plan. There's no rush for this. Our sect is completely sealed off now, so no news can get out. Go rest for a day. Let Zhao Li handle the remaining matters, and you can act together tomorrow."

Lu Ye pondered for a moment. "Then I'll follow Elder Bai's advice."

Bai Qian activated his spiritual power, enveloping Lu Ye and sending him soaring into the sky, where he quickly disappeared. The urgency to take Lu Ye away wasn't due to any malicious intent from the Tianyan Sect.

Lu Ye had successfully challenged the thirty-three layers of the Hundred Formations Pagoda, each layer triggering a resonance from the pagoda. The Tianyan Sect had many formation masters, and with so many eyes on Lu Ye, they all wanted to discuss the Path of Formations with him.

If he hadn't been quickly taken away, there would have been no way for him to escape.

Bai Qian understood the character of his sect's formation masters better than anyone.

Sure enough, seeing Bai Qian take Lu Ye away, many formation masters who had been preparing to approach him for a chat sighed in disappointment. Some bolder ones even pursued Bai Qian, including cultivators from the Cloud River Realm.

"Zhao Li, follow me. The rest of you may disperse," Yu Xiao ordered.

"Yes!" Zhao Li responded from somewhere in the crowd.

Soon, Yu Xiao also departed with Zhao Li, clearly to arrange some matters. After a long while, the clamor in the valley slowly subsided.

However, stimulated by Lu Ye's challenge of the Hundred Formations Pagoda, many formation masters rushed into the pagoda to refine their skills. As for how much they would gain, that was uncertain.

Lu Ye returned to Bai Qian's residence, devoured a large meal, took a shower, and then slept soundly. When he awoke, it was the next day, and the accumulated fatigue had vanished, leaving him feeling light and refreshed.

His battle imprint contained a message from Zhao Li, indicating that the Tianyan Sect had made all necessary preparations. Even their allied sect was ready. All they needed was Lu Ye, and they could begin their grand operation.

Lu Ye sent a message back, asking Zhao Li to count the personnel and prepare.

He also messaged Yiyi and Ju Jia, asking them to come and meet him.

While waiting, Lu Ye examined his spiritual apertures.

He had advanced to the ninth layer of the Spirit Stream Realm on the first layer of the Hundred Formations Pagoda. By now, he had opened two hundred and eighteen spiritual apertures!

He had spent about seventeen days in the Hundred Formations Pagoda, opening a remarkable thirty-nine apertures. On average, he opened one aperture per layer, or two per day.

Since Lu Ye began his cultivation, he had never experienced such rapid aperture opening. If the Spirit Stream Battlefield had such an excellent cultivation environment as the Hundred Formations Pagoda, he could probably advance to the Cloud River Realm in two or three months.

But this was clearly unrealistic. The superior environment within the Hundred Formations Pagoda was a reward he earned by passing the trials. Other cultivators challenging the pagoda did not receive such favorable treatment.

This made him very much look forward to the second part of the Hundred Formations Pagoda, though he couldn't enter it yet.

Before that, he needed to diligently improve his Path of Formations. Once he could enter, his cultivation could experience another rapid increase.

He had gained immense benefits from the Hundred Formations Pagoda this time. Although he had perceived and absorbed the benefits of each layer, time was limited then, and his perception and absorption were merely a rushed glance, far from a complete understanding.

Just that rushed glance had improved his formation skills several times over. If he were to fully understand them, who knew to what extent they would improve? This required time for precipitation and accumulation.

He was only twenty-two apertures away from reaching two hundred and forty apertures, which would allow him to transition to a Heaven-tier cultivation method. Under normal cultivation, it should take only a month and a half to achieve this. However, he had many tasks ahead and likely wouldn't have that much time for cultivation.

He then took out the set of black formation flags to examine them.

This set of flags undoubtedly contained more and more comprehensive restrictions than the set he had crafted himself. Moreover, their material was clearly superior. Lu Ye hadn't had much contact with rare treasures, so he couldn't identify the material from which these flags were made, but as a reward from the Hundred Formations Pagoda, they certainly wouldn't be of low quality.

Across the Nine Provinces, these flags should be among the top-tier.

Although formation flags were merely auxiliary tools for deploying and breaking formations, the better their quality, the more efficient the formation breaking would be, and the more stable and powerful the deployed formations would undoubtedly become.

Having such a set of formation flags in hand would undoubtedly be a significant advantage for Lu Ye.

A moment later, Lu Ye stood up and walked out. Ju Jia was waiting outside, with Amber perched on his head. As for Yiyi, she was hidden inside Amber's body, out of sight.

After half a month apart, Ju Jia hadn't changed much, but Amber had clearly grown, and his aura had solidified considerably.

Lu Ye took them to bid farewell to Bai Qian.

The old man earnestly said, "Young friend Lu, the Tianyan Sect's Spirit Stream Realm foundation is now entrusted to you. Be careful not to act too aggressively."

"Elder Bai, don't worry. Whatever the Tianyan Sect lost, I will lead them to take it back."

"Go then."

Lu Ye bowed and withdrew.

Once outside, Ju Jia summoned his flying spiritual artifact. Lu Ye stepped onto it, and with Ju Jia's manipulation, the artifact transformed into a streak of light and soared into the sky.

A short while later, in front of the Heavenly Secret Palace plaza, Lu Ye heard Zhao Li's impassioned voice from afar, clearly giving a pre-battle mobilization speech.

Accompanying his shouts, thunderous cries of "Kill!" constantly resounded.

In front of the Heavenly Secret Palace, the killing intent gathered from hundreds of Spirit Stream Realm cultivators surged straight into the clouds.

Two months prior, the Tianyan Sect's outpost had been forcefully captured by the Myriad Demon Ridge, forcing many Spirit Stream Realm cultivators to retreat to the main sect in the Nine Provinces. The Tianyan Sect, from top to bottom, was seething with rage.

What made the Tianyan Sect disciples even more frustrated was that ever since their outpost was captured, the sect had been completely sealed off, preventing them from returning to the Spirit Stream Battlefield for revenge.

They had waited for a full two months, and no one knew what the sect's high-ranking members were thinking.

The Myriad Demon Ridge had long since retreated. Even if revenge wasn't immediately possible, they should quickly rebuild the outpost. Otherwise, where would disciples of the Spirit Stream Realm cultivate in the future? They couldn't all rely on other sects' outposts; what kind of situation would that be?

During this period, disciples continually submitted petitions, requesting to go to the Spirit Stream Battlefield, but Yu Xiao and the Tianyan Sect's Elder Council suppressed them all.

It could be said that after two months of accumulation, the Tianyan Sect's anger had reached its limit, needing only a spark to explode.

Then, yesterday, many cultivators saw Lu Ye unharmed at the Hundred Formations Pagoda, and some rumors gradually spread.

Today, Zhao Li summoned the Spirit Stream Realm disciples to gather there.

Everyone knew that the time for revenge had come!

The two months of dormancy were not out of fear from the Tianyan Sect, but rather a wait for a crucial strategic move.

Their spirits were high.

They were eager to embark on a killing spree.

Ju Jia carried Lu Ye down, and hundreds of eyes turned towards them.

Zhao Li came forward, cupped his fists, and said, "Brother Yi Ye, everything is ready."

Lu Ye stepped forward, his gaze sweeping across the battle-eager faces and then to Yu Xiao and several Tianyan Sect elders observing from a distance. He nodded slightly.

"Depart!"

Zhao Li turned and shouted, "Depart!"

Silently, hundreds of cultivators rushed towards the Heavenly Secret Palace, and using the Heavenly Secret Pillar, entered their own outpost in the Spirit Stream Battlefield.

This departure was like dragons entering the sea, destined to turn the Spirit Stream Battlefield upside down.

The first to enter were a group of body cultivators, followed by weapon cultivators and ghost cultivators, then spell cultivators and medical cultivators.

Although the Myriad Demon Ridge had long since retreated, some precautions were necessary. In case Myriad Demon Ridge members had set an ambush, body cultivators going first could offer some resistance.

In just a few dozen breaths, all hundreds of cultivators had entered the outpost. Ghost cultivators, who had scattered to scout the surroundings, reported back that no enemies were seen.

This was normal. Two months had passed since the outpost was breached. No matter how arrogant the Myriad Demon Ridge was, they wouldn't continuously occupy someone else's outpost, as it offered them no real benefit.

A moment later, in front of the Heavenly Secret Palace plaza, a large boat-shaped spiritual artifact ascended. Tianyan Sect cultivators boarded, and under Zhao Li's command, the large boat flew rapidly in one direction.

On the boat's deck, Lu Ye stood shoulder to shoulder with Zhao Li. After ending a communication, Zhao Li spoke, "Canglan Mountain has also departed. The leader is Brother Song Yin, the Garrison Commissioner of Canglan Mountain. According to Brother Yi Ye's previous plan, we'll attack Qingfeng Sect first."

"How many people did they bring?"

"They left one hundred people to guard their outpost; everyone else came."

Lu Ye raised an eyebrow. "This Fellow Daoist Song is quite daring."

Zhao Li said, "Brother Song has always been prudent. For him to make such a decisive move, he must have received some instructions from above. It might also be related to our sect's outpost being captured. Our sect is adjacent to theirs; it's a case of 'if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold.' When our sect's outpost was captured last time, Canglan Mountain was nervous for a long time."

Two months prior, Lu Ye had just arrived at the Tianyan Sect's outpost when he was poisoned by a spy from the Myriad Demon Ridge. Immediately after, the Tianyan Sect outpost was jointly captured by several sects from the Myriad Demon Ridge.

He was poisoned in the Tianyan Sect outpost, for which the Tianyan Sect was inevitably implicated. However, the capture of the Tianyan Sect outpost was also due to his arrival. In this matter, he could be said to have brought trouble to the Tianyan Sect, but he also suffered greatly as a result. If not for the Soul Cleansing Water, even with Shui Yuan's personal intervention, Ju Jia and Zhao Li might have died.

At this point, dwelling on who burdened whom was meaningless. The ones behind the attack were the Myriad Demon Ridge.

Just as he had told Bai Qian before, whatever the Tianyan Sect had lost, he would help them reclaim.

To rebuild an outpost, a large amount of sect merit was needed. Where would it come from? Naturally, by capturing enemy outposts and plundering their resources.

His purpose in coming to the Tianyan Sect to specialize in formation arts was to break through protective formations, and now he possessed that ability.

From the Ten Formations Map, the Tianyan Sect's location wasn't ideal, being surrounded in a triangular formation by three Myriad Demon Ridge forces: Qingfeng Sect, Scarlet Blood Valley, and Thunderlight Sect. These three sects were the main force that had previously captured the Tianyan Sect outpost.

The reason for attacking Qingfeng Sect first was because this Myriad Demon Ridge force was adjacent to both the Tianyan Sect and Canglan Mountain.

The Tianyan Sect was currently like a barefoot person not fearing a shoed one; their outpost was already in such a state that it couldn't get much worse. But Canglan Mountain was different; they still had their outpost. Only by dealing with Qingfeng Sect first could Canglan Mountain proceed without worries in subsequent operations.