Chapter 350: Loyalty and Devotion

The Winds Rise Across Kyushu

Lu Ye asked his Fourth Senior Brother when he planned to advance to the Cloud River realm. His Fourth Senior Brother replied that his Spirit Apertures had only just been repaired and he needed some time to recover, so the specific date was still undetermined.

After ending his communication with his Fourth Senior Brother, Lu Ye became thoughtful.

Dawn gradually broke. Lu Ye stepped out of his residence to find several figures waiting outside: Ju Jia, Yi Yi, Feng Yue, and Gu Yang.

In the past month, Lu Ye had seen Ju Jia only a handful of times. During the day, Ju Jia almost always stayed in his residence to cultivate, and at night, he would take Amber to absorb moonlight. Moreover, Ju Jia had advanced to Heavenly Seven at some point without anyone realizing. This was not surprising; he had long possessed the qualifications to advance to Heavenly Seven but had been suppressing his cultivation. Lu Ye vaguely suspected that if Ju Jia were to fully unleash his potential now, he could even open all three hundred and sixty apertures and directly advance to the Cloud River realm.

Yi Yi had also rarely appeared during this time. While Lu Ye studied the path of spirit纹 with Lady Yun, she was learning spells from the Sect Master. At night, they each cultivated independently. After a month, Yi Yi's aura had noticeably strengthened.

"Fifth Senior Brother!" Feng Yue called out softly, her eyes filled with gratitude. Previously, when she had applied to Lu Ye to train in the inner circle, he had mercilessly refused her, leaving her sad and helpless. She had secretly cursed Lu Ye repeatedly with He Xiyin. However, yesterday, she suddenly received news instructing her to return to the sect to collect some supplies from Shui Yuan, and that she would be taken to the core circle today. Only then did she realize she had misjudged Lu Ye; her previous rejection wasn't due to her being disliked, but because Lu Ye had already made other arrangements.

"I heard you have a lot of complaints about me?"

"Absolutely not!" Feng Yue quickly declared. "This junior sister is already incredibly grateful that Fifth Senior Brother overlooked past grievances and accepted me into the sect. How could I possibly have complaints about you?" Panicked, she wondered where the information had leaked from.

"If you have any complaints, just say them directly. I'm not intolerant."

Feng Yue shook her head like a rattle drum. "No, no, absolutely not."

Lu Ye gave her another glance before turning to Gu Yang. "I'm entrusting the outpost here to you."

Gu Yang, who was there to see them off, replied, "Fifth Senior Brother, please rest assured, I will manage the outpost well."

"Let's go."

Lu Ye summoned his spirit boat. Yi Yi hid inside Amber's body, and Amber jumped onto Ju Jia's head. The group boarded the spirit boat one by one. As spiritual power surged, the spirit boat transformed into a streak of light and soared into the sky. Gu Yang had already opened the great formation, watching the streak of light disappear from sight.

Originally, Lu Ye had planned to transfer his position as Guardian after returning this time. The Crimson Blood Sect's outpost was in the outer circle, and his current cultivation level already surpassed what was typical for the outer circle; it wouldn't be appropriate for him to continue as Guardian. The reason he didn't transfer it wasn't due to a lack of trust in others; managing an outpost wasn't particularly difficult, just a bit time and energy-consuming. Lu Ye's consideration was that his trip to the core circle might allow him to form alliances with some core circle sects. Furthermore, if they managed to break through a Ten Thousand Devil Ridge outpost in the core circle, he would need this identity to plunder the blessings from the Heavenly Mystery Pillar. Therefore, the position of Guardian could not be transferred for the time being.

After advancing to Heavenly Seven, his speed of flying with a spirit artifact had significantly increased. With him and Ju Jia taking turns piloting the artifact, it shouldn't take many days to reach the core circle.

On the spirit boat, Lu Ye took out a detailed map and planned their route. At that moment, he was at the very front of the spirit boat, with Feng Yue behind him, and Ju Jia, sitting cross-legged, behind her. Even while flying, Ju Jia didn't waste any time cultivating; his serious attitude towards cultivation was commendable. Feng Yue, however, was different. Suspended in mid-air, she looked around, filled with novelty. With her current cultivation at the Eighth Level, she could also fly using a spirit artifact. As a disciple of the Crimson Blood Sect, she had no shortage of flying artifacts; Lu Ye's spoils of war from outside included various kinds of spirit artifacts, which Crimson Blood Sect disciples could apply for once they reached the appropriate cultivation level. However, the speed and altitude of an Eighth Level cultivator flying with an artifact were limited, incomparable to the spectacular view she was enjoying now.

They continued their journey, with Lu Ye and Ju Jia taking turns piloting the spirit artifact, making virtually no delays along the way. They left the outer circle and entered the inner circle, finding the journey peaceful and uneventful. Although a month had passed since the uproar Lu Ye caused in the inner circle, the Ten Thousand Devil Ridge was still quite jittery. Normally, the various sects of the Ten Thousand Devil Ridge kept their great formations tightly closed, and cultivators rarely dared to venture out, fearing that "Leaf the Annihilator" might suddenly appear at their doorstep.

By the time they crossed the inner circle and entered the core circle, ten days had already passed. Lu Ye had known for a long time that the Spirit Stream Battlefield was vast, but even with his detailed map, he didn't have a clear understanding of its true immense scale. Now, he was truly witnessing it. At his current speed of flying with a spirit artifact, it still took ten days to travel from the Crimson Blood Sect's outpost to the core circle, which clearly demonstrated the vastness of the Spirit Stream Battlefield.

Upon entering the core circle, they encountered significantly more cultivators. These cultivators were all soaring high in the sky, hurrying along, seemingly on their way to somewhere. However, almost everyone would avoid a distant streak of light, as no one knew whether the approaching person was an enemy, or if they could defeat them if they were. So, despite encountering more cultivators, the journey remained largely uneventful.

After another day, a beautiful scenic area appeared ahead: several spiritual peaks stood tall, with a huge valley in between, enveloped by a great formation. That was clearly the location of a sect's outpost, and Lu Ye's first destination on this journey. The streak of light descended, and the group of three arrived outside the great formation.

A cultivator who had detected Lu Ye and his companions watched cautiously from behind the formation, shouting, "Who goes there?" Lu Ye stepped forward, cupped his fist, and said, "Lu Ye of the Crimson Blood Sect greets fellow cultivator. I am here to find my Fourth Senior Brother. Would you kindly relay a message?" In fact, he could have messaged Li Baxian directly, but his previous attempt hadn't gone through. This undoubtedly indicated that Li Baxian was not in the Spirit Stream Battlefield and had likely returned to the main sect in Kyushu.

"Are you that Lu Yiye of the Crimson Blood Sect?" The cultivator inside the formation narrowed his eyes and scrutinized Lu Ye.

"That's right."

The cultivator pondered for a moment, then said, "Wait here." With that, he turned and flew away on his artifact.

Feng Yue, observing her surroundings, belatedly realized, "Fifth Senior Brother, is this the Danxin Sect's outpost? Are we going to cultivate here as affiliated disciples?" If it was the Danxin Sect, that would be excellent. After all, the Danxin Sect was a Second-Grade sect, and Fourth Senior Brother Li Baxian was even a Vice-Guardian of the Danxin Sect, so they would surely receive much care.

"Fifth Senior Brother, are battles frequent in the core circle? Will people often get injured? If no one gets injured, I'm afraid I won't earn much merit." Feng Yue began to worry again, and then she worried even more: "I'm only at the Eighth Level. The Danxin Sect probably has many medical cultivators, and their cultivation levels should all be higher than mine. Even if someone gets injured in a fight, my chances of earning merit probably won't be very high..." As she spoke, her voice gradually faded because, from both her left and right, Lu Ye and Ju Jia were staring at her expressionlessly. Feng Yue shrank back and closed her mouth. *I really am the most disliked one...*

Inside the great formation, two figures arrived on spirit artifacts: one was the cultivator who had left earlier, and the other was a young man in his early twenties wearing a green robe. The green-robed young man's gaze swept over, then landed on Lu Ye. "Are you Lu Yiye?"

"Lu Ye of the Crimson Blood Sect, greetings, Senior Brother."

The spiritual light around the other party was very strong, indicating he was likely a Heavenly Nine cultivator. Not having advanced to the Cloud River realm at this level of cultivation clearly meant he intended to consolidate his foundation for a while longer.

The green-robed young man said indifferently, "There's no 'senior brother' of yours here. Don't presume familiarity."

Lu Ye raised an eyebrow. He had heard from his Second Senior Sister long ago that the Danxin Sect disciples did not have a good attitude towards the Crimson Blood Sect, and seeing it firsthand today, it was indeed true. This could be considered a remnant issue from history.

Back then, in Bingzhou, "Crimson Blood and Danxin, Twin Swords United" was a renowned saying, their fame echoing throughout Kyushu. In that era, both the Crimson Blood Sect and the Danxin Sect were First-Grade sects. Their relationship was so close they were practically inseparable. Moreover, they had a marital alliance: Feng Wujiang, a pillar of the Crimson Blood Sect, and Qiu Min, the daughter of the Danxin Sect Master, fell deeply in love. They were a perfect match, a celestial couple whose story became a legend. With these two exemplary figures, many cultivators from both the Crimson Blood Sect and the Danxin Sect became cultivation partners. However, this beautiful bond could not last forever.

The final battle led by Feng Wujiang's cultivator army inflicted heavy damage upon many Haotian Alliance sects in Kyushu. The most severely affected, naturally, were the Crimson Blood Sect and the Danxin Sect. The Crimson Blood Sect itself faced complete annihilation, while the Danxin Sect's foundation was also shaken, with countless powerful cultivators dying in battle. After that war, the surviving disciples of the Crimson Blood Sect were targeted in various battlefields, falling one by one. The Sect Master, once disheartened, eventually chose to expel Li Baxian and a few others to protect the remaining few seedlings. Since then, the Crimson Blood Sect never accepted new disciples again, gradually declined, slowly falling from its former First-Grade status to Ninth-Grade, at one point almost being removed from the Heavenly Mystery's registry. The Danxin Sect, on the other hand, fell from First-Grade to Third-Grade, taking a full twenty years to climb back to Second-Grade status.

Lu Ye didn't know the exact details of what happened over thirty years ago. He only knew that his own brilliant First Senior Brother bore significant responsibility for the Haotian Alliance's immense losses in that battle, but he too had died in that war, with not even his bones reportedly found. It was also from then on that many sects, originally on good terms with the Crimson Blood Sect, gradually grew distant. This was especially true for the Danxin Sect, which, as a new generation of leaders gradually took power, turned hostile and became enemies with the Crimson Blood Sect. "Crimson Blood and Danxin" thus fell apart.

When Li Baxian was sent to the Danxin Sect, the relationship between the two sects hadn't yet become so strained. Furthermore, it was the First Senior Brother's widow who had specifically requested Li Baxian, as Li Baxian's age was similar to that of her child with Feng Wujiang, making him a perfect playmate. After the relationship between the two sects gradually deteriorated, Li Baxian's position in the Danxin Sect also became awkward. Had it not been for the First Senior Brother's widow's private care, he would never have achieved what he had today. Therefore, the First Senior Brother's widow was like both a sister-in-law and a mother figure to Li Baxian. And the child born to the First Senior Brother and his widow was none other than Feng Yuechan, currently at the top of the Spirit Stream Ranking. It truly shows that a tiger begets no weak cubs.