Chapter 392: So Big

To Lu Ye's dismay, he had no Core Flame left!

He instantly regretted it, wishing he had spent all his merit points at the Heavenly Mystery Trade Union a few days ago.

Checking his merit points, he had over 2,500. This was enough to buy about ten portions of Core Flame, but certainly not enough for his needs. Even if he sold all the spoils of war he had acquired these past few days to the Heavenly Mystery Treasury, he wouldn't get many more merit points.

Where could he find Core Flame? Lu Ye was a bit worried.

Meanwhile, within the core circle, at the outpost of a second-rank Ten Thousand Demons Ridge sect.

On a massive cliffside boulder, two Sky Ninth cultivators sat side by side—a man and a woman. The man was handsome and exuded an extraordinary aura, while the woman was as beautiful as a flower with a graceful figure. She nestled intimately in his arms.

The two were none other than the outpost's guardian and deputy guardian.

Leaving aside the man, the woman was Bai Lan, ranked forty-eighth on the Spirit Stream Ranking. Her loose robes and wide sleeves clearly indicated she was a spell cultivator, as only spell cultivators, who don't engage in close-quarters combat, would wear such loose attire. Weapon cultivators, body cultivators, or ghost cultivators typically choose form-fitting clothing for ease of movement during combat.

Despite her loose clothing, her impressive figure was undeniable, concealing none of her generous endowments.

Bai Lan held the man's hand and softly said, "Senior Brother, there's no need to worry. I chose a terrain suitable for spell cultivators. No matter how fierce Lu Yiye is, he can't possibly kill me with a single strike, can he? If I truly can't win, I'll simply concede."

It's worth noting that many Spirit Stream Ranking experts slain by Lu Ye had similar thoughts when accepting his challenges...

A Sky Ninth against a Sky Eighth—if I can't win, don't I still have a chance to concede?

As it turned out, they truly didn't.

"Are you sure it's Lu Yiye challenging you?" The man's expression was filled with worry.

Bai Lan smiled slightly, "He's been climbing the ranks these past few days, challenging every Spirit Stream Ranking cultivator ahead of him. He's currently ranked fiftieth, and I'm forty-eighth. Who else could it be but him?"

"Such a brute... Junior Sister, perhaps you should just refuse..."

"If I refuse, it would bring shame upon our sect. How would our junior brothers and sisters ever hold their heads high in the core circle afterwards?"

As an expert on the Spirit Stream Ranking, lacking the courage to even accept a fight would only make others laugh. Furthermore, Lu Ye's climb up the ranks had drawn significant attention from many Divine Sea Realm grand cultivators in the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge. They all saw this as an opportunity.

Currently, Lu Ye's whereabouts in the Spirit Stream battlefield are unknown. If someone could kill him while he's climbing the ranks, there would be no need to waste time and effort searching for him.

Those ranked below fiftieth on the Spirit Stream Ranking couldn't be relied upon, so hopes were placed on those in the top fifty!

If the top fifty couldn't do it, then the top ten!

Surely, they couldn't let a Sky Eighth cultivator reach the very top of the Spirit Stream Ranking?

Someone had to be able to defeat him, to kill him!

"But..."

The man was about to say more, but Bai Lan raised a hand to gently press his lips, softly saying, "It's alright, truly no need to worry. My master bestowed upon me a high-grade spirit artifact a few days ago. Its defense is incredibly strong. Although my cultivation isn't enough to unleash its full power, I truly won't be in any danger."

The man looked down at her earlobe, where a stunning, tear-shaped earring dangled. He suddenly realized, "So, this is the spirit artifact the Second Elder gave you."

A teasing smile played on Bai Lan's lips. "Otherwise? Who did Senior Brother think gave it to me?"

The man gave an awkward smile.

Bai Lan reached out and tickled him. "Senior Brother, how could you think such a thing of me!"

The man quickly begged for mercy.

Two hours passed in a flash. Under the man's worried gaze, Bai Lan's figure vanished.

Within a small space spanning roughly a dozen square miles, flowers diffused their fragrance, and the environment was surprisingly beautiful.

As per usual, Yiyi burrowed underground almost immediately. After his vision stabilized, Lu Ye surveyed his surroundings. He saw no sign of an enemy, but from the name on the Spirit Stream Ranking, he guessed his opponent this time was a woman.

The small space was quite large. Ruling out the possibility of a body cultivator or weapon cultivator, as for a medical cultivator... that was even less likely.

After the fiftieth rank on the Spirit Stream Ranking, there might be a few medical cultivators who also cultivated other disciplines, but before the fiftieth rank, not a single medical cultivator could be found.

After all, a cultivator's energy is limited. When cultivating two disciplines simultaneously, the secondary discipline usually wouldn't have significant combat power.

A spell cultivator? Or a ghost cultivator?

By his count, Lu Ye had fought two or three dozen battles in the past few days. Apart from medical cultivators, he had faced practitioners of every other discipline, even encountering some strange minor disciplines. Originally, for a weapon cultivator, body cultivators were the most formidable opponents, and ghost cultivators were also difficult to deal with, but that was for ordinary weapon cultivators.

For Lu Ye, his physique was on par with, or even superior to, any Spirit Stream Realm body cultivator. In clashes with body cultivators, he often resolved the fight within two or three rounds.

As for ghost cultivators, whose physical bodies are as fragile as those of spell cultivators... if they dared to sneak up on Lu Ye, they would quickly discover the meaning of "eyes like torches, sharp and piercing"!

Relatively speaking, among the various disciplines, Lu Ye preferred encountering ghost cultivators the most. This was because ghost cultivators, relying on their ability to commune with the netherworld, would often try to ambush him. Yet, every ghost cultivator who sneaked up on him would find themselves inexplicably exposed and bafflingly cut down.

Next were spell cultivators—easy to kill!

Once their defenses were breached, they were essentially one-shot kills.

He left the task of finding the enemy's whereabouts to Yiyi. Lu Ye stood still, patiently waiting, while popping a few spirit pills into his mouth, his cheeks bulging as he chewed.

Since he began cultivating, he had consumed so many spirit pills that he felt sick. Lu Ye really wanted to suggest to the alchemists if they could create different flavors—perhaps apple, orange, or even banana... anything to break the monotony.

Taking dozens of the same-flavored spirit pills every day was truly unbearable.

Yiyi sent a message: she had found the female cultivator's traces. The opponent was clearly very cautious, constantly changing positions to avoid being ambushed by Lu Ye.

"Lu Ye, Lu Ye, it's so big!" Yiyi's message contained some strange information.

"Hm?"

"Bigger than Sister Hua Ci."

"Age?"

"No, not age. It's the one you prefer."

"What nonsense are you spouting, child."

"Don't go easy on her later."

Within the small space, Bai Lan didn't dare to fly using an artifact. She had long heard that Lu Ye's artifact-flying speed was unparalleled; even sword cultivators couldn't match him. As a spell cultivator, she wouldn't dare to show off her meager skills in front of Lu Ye.

As she moved swiftly, searching for Lu Ye's whereabouts, her only hope of defeating him as a spell cultivator was to absolutely prevent him from getting close. As long as she could maintain a sufficient distance, Lu Yiye, no matter how strong, would be blasted to dust by her spells.

Suddenly, she stopped. In her path, a figure had appeared, standing expressionlessly as if waiting for her for a long time.

Lu Yiye!

Bai Lan's reaction was undeniably swift. The moment she saw Lu Ye, she raised her hand and unleashed a spell. Spiritual power surged, creating ripples of water that formed a mist. From within the mist, three beasts, purely composed of spiritual energy, burst forth, lunging at Lu Ye from three different directions.

She raised another hand, and a massive disk of spiritual energy appeared above her head. Runes flowed within the disk, and as they moved, torrents of water arrows rained down on Lu Ye.

Lu Ye raised an eyebrow.

He mused that cultivators in the top fifty were indeed different from those he'd faced before. Their casting speed, spell strength, and range were certainly something he hadn't seen before.

Among the Five Elements spells, water-based spells were generally weaker in power. However, the water-based spells unleashed by Bai Lan showed no such flaw; the power of each spell was no less than that of other disciplines.

His weapon box buzzed. Nine spirit artifacts flew skyward, dividing into three groups to meet the three beasts. At the same time, he drew the Pan Mountain Saber from his waist, spiritual power surging around him as he precisely cleaved open the incoming torrent of water arrows.

The clash between fire and water spiritual energies generated large swathes of mist in the space between the two.

Bai Lan stared fixedly at Lu Ye, her face betraying no emotion, but her heart was filled with shock.

Lu Yiye's spiritual consciousness was incredibly strong. Controlling nine artifacts, each with the precision of his own arm—that alone was remarkable. But he could also multitask, deflecting her water arrows without a single oversight.

This only indicated one thing: her opponent was handling her attacks with ease, not even bothering to dodge.

At that moment, Bai Lan felt a pang of envy.

Every spell cultivator hoped their spiritual consciousness would be as strong as possible, because the stronger their spiritual consciousness, the better their control over spiritual energy, and the greater the power of their spells...

They would even undertake special cultivation methods specifically to strengthen their spiritual consciousness.

Yet, a weapon cultivator now displayed a spiritual consciousness far exceeding that of a spell cultivator, and Bai Lan couldn't help but feel envious.

The disk in the sky slowly vanished, and the water arrows ceased to fall. Lu Ye sheathed his saber. The next moment, he frowned as the nine streams of light from his controlled artifacts flew back, returning to his weapon box.

A brief examination revealed that his connection to the nine spirit artifacts seemed to have weakened considerably. The three beasts formed from water spiritual energy were not merely offensive moves; they also had the effect of corroding spirit artifacts.

Water seeps invisibly! It appeared this was Bai Lan's unique ability.

With this ability, others using artifacts against her would be at a significant disadvantage, as the artifacts' power would quickly diminish during the fight.

Bai Lan was about to cast another spell when she saw Lu Ye raise a hand. "Wait."

Bai Lan watched him warily, her spiritual power ready to be unleashed. "What?"

In battle, Lu Ye rarely spoke to his enemies, but this time, for the sake of the dozen unignited leaves on his Talent Tree, he couldn't afford to stay silent.

"I need twenty portions of Core Flame."

"Huh?" Bai Lan was utterly confused; she clearly hadn't understood.

A Spirit Stream Ranking challenge was typically a fight to the death or a concession from one side. Why was Lu Yiye suddenly asking her for Core Flame?

Was this person crazy?

"It's sold in the Heavenly Mystery Treasury, two hundred merit points per portion. I need twenty portions!"

As if by a strange compulsion, Bai Lan seriously calculated, "Wouldn't that be four thousand merit points?" After saying it, her face darkened. Why was she even calculating this?