Chapter 332: Weishui Showdown

**Rising Winds Across the Nine Provinces**

The Spirit Stream List is a spontaneous ranking generated by the Heavenly Secret in the Spirit Stream Battlefield. It includes only one hundred individuals, and every cultivator on the list is an undisputed top talent. It can be said that as long as they survive, they are guaranteed to advance to the Divine Sea Realm in the future.

Yet, such exceptional talents were inexplicably killed in an ambush. Although Li Baxian had previously explained the rules of the Spirit Stream Battlefield to Lu Ye, Lu Ye himself had already been targeted once. How could he be unprepared for this?

As his allied forces reached a certain scale, he had always been on guard against ambushes from the Myriad Devil Ridge. To kill him while he was surrounded by thousands of cultivators, only ghost cultivators could be used.

The ghost cultivator faction posed little threat to Lu Ye. Not only was his spiritual power strong, with perception far exceeding those in the Spirit Stream Realm, but even without this powerful perception, he had array master abilities. He had left the outside of his large tent unguarded because it was unnecessary. The tent itself had long been protected by an array he set up. If anyone dared to sneak in, Lu Ye only needed to activate the array to trap the enemy. Had he not been so confident, he wouldn't have let Ju Jia allow people in earlier.

With Lu Ye's current strength, he was no match for a single Heavenly Ninth-level cultivator, let alone five. But with the aid of the array and his prior arrangements, those five powerful ghost cultivators were killed without even making a sound. Among them were two formidable experts from the Spirit Stream List.

The Myriad Devil Ridge was undoubtedly anxious because the浩天盟 allied army commanded by Lu Ye posed too great a threat to them. Upon learning that the Myriad Devil Ridge had dispatched five Heavenly Ninth-level ghost cultivators for an attack, the thousands of allied forces were filled with righteous indignation. Seizing the opportunity, Lu Ye ordered the allied army to set sail, marching to the next destination. Soon, a majestic fleet of dozens of large ships set off.

Meanwhile, within the Myriad Devil Ridge camp, messages circulated among the Divine Sea Realm grand cultivators. When it was confirmed that the five highly-anticipated ghost cultivators had failed, even these Divine Sea Realm cultivators felt a heavy heart. Never before in the cultivation world of the Nine Provinces had a Spirit Stream Realm cultivator been so intensely fixated upon by Divine Sea Realm cultivators, to the point of wishing to drag him before them and tear him to pieces.

The decapitation strike targeting Lu Ye had failed. Although the reason for the five ghost cultivators' failure was unknown, this incident had alerted Lu Yi Ye, making similar tactics impossible to employ again. With no way to target Lu Ye directly, they could only confront him head-on! This was the contingency plan formulated by the Divine Sea Realm cultivators of the Myriad Devil Ridge. They had not intended to use this plan unless absolutely necessary, because once executed, it meant the Myriad Devil Ridge would have to actively abandon many sectarian strongholds. However, without doing so, there was no way to curb the advance of the浩天盟 allied forces, which would lead to even more severe losses for the Myriad Devil Ridge.

Orders were relayed. In the direction of the浩天盟 allied army's advance, Myriad Devil Ridge factions abandoned their sectarian strongholds, and all cultivators withdrew to the rear in advance. Several thousand miles away, even more Myriad Devil Ridge factions abandoned their own strongholds and moved forward, converging at a single location.

The large-scale movements by the Myriad Devil Ridge naturally couldn't escape the scrutiny of the浩天盟. Soon, the allied army understood the Myriad Devil Ridge's intentions. It must be said, this was the best possible response the Myriad Devil Ridge could make, and the only way to curb the allied army's offensive.

However, at this time, the news of the Myriad Devil Ridge dispatching five Heavenly Ninth-level ghost cultivators to assassinate Lu Ye also spread, naturally infuriating the浩天盟. It was as if two children were fighting, and one couldn't win, suddenly calling in several adults. How could the浩天盟 tolerate such flagrant disregard for the rules? The last time the Myriad Devil Ridge broke the rules in such a manner, the浩天盟 quickly responded. This time was no different. The conflict, initially sparked in the inner circle, now permeated the core circle, with more and more experts from the core circle joining the allied army.

Seeing this situation, the Myriad Devil Ridge was naturally unwilling to show weakness, and a large number of core circle experts began to mobilize and gather. The number of cultivators amassed by both sides saw an explosive increase.

Ten days later, along the banks of the Wei River, the two armies stood in confrontation. The Wei River is a large river that traverses the Spirit Stream Battlefield, a hundred zhang wide, with turbulent, muddy yellow waters. It is also a natural barrier. Ordinarily, cultivators could easily cross a hundred zhang distance by flying on their artifacts. However, at this moment, neither army on either side of the river dared to make a move. This was because too many people had converged.

The浩天盟 had over 18,000 people, all of whom had joined from various places recently, including many Heavenly Eighth and Heavenly Ninth-level experts who had rushed from the core circle. The Myriad Devil Ridge had even more, over 20,000. Such a scale of cultivator confrontation had never occurred in the Spirit Stream Battlefield because it involved too many sects. The浩天盟 had gathered so many people, involving over a hundred sects. The Myriad Devil Ridge had fewer, roughly forty sects combined, but unlike the浩天盟, they had gone all out, with all forty sects abandoning their strongholds in advance and gathering all their personnel here. This meant the Myriad Devil Ridge had preemptively concentrated the strength of forty sects.

This was the contingency plan formulated by the Divine Sea Realm grand cultivators of the Myriad Devil Ridge. Since Myriad Devil Ridge sects couldn't hold their strongholds wherever the浩天盟 allied army went, they simply abandoned them in advance and concentrated all their forces in one place to counter the enemy. It must be said, this drastic measure of "severing the arm to save the body" was very effective. At the very least, the浩天盟 allied army was now blocked at the Wei River and could no longer advance.

The entire cultivation world of the Nine Provinces focused its attention on this area, with vast amounts of information being transmitted constantly. Moreover, as time passed, more cultivators from both factions who heard the news continued to arrive, swelling their respective ranks.

Lu Ye truly had not expected things to escalate to this point! His original intention was simply to lead some people to conquer more Myriad Devil Ridge strongholds and earn more merits, but step by step, the situation slowly spiraled out of his control. This was not a good thing, because once such a large-scale confrontation erupted, it would cause immense losses for both the浩天盟 and the Myriad Devil Ridge. In a chaotic battle of tens of thousands of people, who could guarantee their victory? Furthermore, with the Wei River separating them, the attacking side would be at a significant disadvantage. It could be said that no one dared to launch an offensive now. To cross the river, one would have to fly on artifacts, and if a flying artifact were destroyed, it would inevitably lead to heavy casualties.

In this situation, the cultivators from both sides stood in a stalemate across the Wei River. The Myriad Devil Ridge sighed in relief. It wasn't easy; they had finally blocked this浩天盟 allied army. Looking at the entire Spirit Stream Battlefield, this allied army, starting from the Canglan Mountain stronghold, was like a gluttonous silkworm. Everywhere it passed, all Myriad Devil Ridge strongholds were devoured. One or two hundred Myriad Devil Ridge sectarian strongholds had already been breached, with incalculable losses.

During the stalemate, the cultivators on both sides were not idle, exchanging taunts and curses across the Wei River. Everyone had excellent hearing, so even with the rolling waves of the Wei River, the shouts and insults could be heard clearly. But it was all thunder and no rain; everyone was waiting for the other side to lose patience and attack first. But no one was a fool; no one would make such a stupid choice. It was a complete mess.

Amidst the curses, the Myriad Devil Ridge side paid special attention to Lu Ye, as he was the source of this incident. Before this "Sect Exterminator Lu" appeared in the Spirit Stream Battlefield, everything was stable and orderly. But since this "Sect Exterminator Lu" arrived, everything was in chaos. Now, experts from the core circle were moving to the inner circle; would they eventually go to the outer circle? From the perspective of the Myriad Devil Ridge, the "Sect Exterminator Lu" was the biggest disaster in the world.

It was the third day of the stalemate between the two sides. In Lu Ye's large tent, dozens of people gathered. Scanning the crowd, Lu Ye slowly began, "I believe all of you have received messages from your sect elders. The Divine Sea Realm cultivators of the浩天盟 have agreed to the Myriad Devil Ridge's request and are preparing to discuss how to resolve this matter."

An incense stick's time ago, he had received a message from Shui Yuan, who informed him of this news. If not for extreme necessity, the Divine Sea Realm cultivators of both factions would never sit down for peace talks. With deep-seated grudges spanning so many years, if they could fight, what was there to talk about? Everyone had short tempers, and perhaps the talks would break down, leading to a bloody battle. Moreover, Divine Sea Realm grand cultivators generally didn't concern themselves with matters of the Spirit Stream Battlefield. To them, the Spirit Stream Battlefield was a place for young cultivators to gain experience, not worth much attention.

But this time, the situation in the Spirit Stream Battlefield had escalated too much, to the point where the junior cultivators in the Spirit Stream Realm could no longer handle it, forcing the Divine Sea Realm cultivators to intervene. Once these two armies, separated by the Wei River, erupted into battle, it would be a real war! At that time, regardless of which side, they would suffer tremendous losses.

Everyone nodded, evidently having received messages from their respective sects. "What are your plans, Brother Yi Ye?" a Heavenly Eighth-level expert who had rushed from the core circle to assist inquired. Lu Ye summoning them at this moment clearly meant he intended to do something.

Lu Ye's expression was calm: "Judging from the current trend, peace talks are the ultimate outcome, and it is the general trend for both sides. Perhaps the seniors of the浩天盟 can make the Myriad Devil Ridge bleed a little, but our allied army's offensive ends here."

The crowd fell silent. Although unwilling, they had to admit that Lu Ye was right. The Myriad Devil Ridge could not bear the consequences of a full-scale war, and neither could the浩天盟. In a confrontation of this magnitude, even experts from the core circle would not have a significant advantage. Therefore, the only outcome was for both sides to cease hostilities and withdraw their troops. However, since the Myriad Devil Ridge was the party being attacked, the Divine Sea Realm cultivators of the浩天盟 would certainly propose some reasonable demands that the Myriad Devil Ridge could accept. For instance, compensation in the form of resources, which would also serve as an explanation to the浩天盟 allied army. This process would certainly not be short, likely involving some prolonged negotiations.

"So, I intend to open another battlefield!"

Everyone looked up, startled, at Lu Ye, momentarily failing to grasp the meaning of his words. After a moment of thought, some suddenly understood.

Zhao Li said, "Brother Yi Ye means... to start anew somewhere else?"