Chapter 398: A Bit Disappointed

In the battle arena, Lu Ye summoned his spirit boat and ascended on it, reaching a position level with Zhuo Jianchen, separated by dozens of yards.

Although his journey up the ranking board had been extremely smooth so far, Lu Ye never underestimated his opponents, especially this one, who was very likely a sword cultivator!

The fact that his opponent was ranked thirty-second undoubtedly showed considerable skill.

Their eyes met. Zhuo Jianchen, seething with anger, demanded, "Lu Yiye, what outrageous thing did you do to my junior sister?"

Lu Ye thought for a moment. He had driven Bai Lan all the way from the forty-eighth spot on the Spirit Creek List down to the ninety-seventh, and extorted four thousand points of merit for her core flame. That did seem a *tiny* bit excessive, didn't it?

But then again, that woman should be grateful he didn't kill her. If he hadn't been in such a hurry to get the core flame then, she would already be dead.

Compared to her life, what did dropping in rank on the Spirit Creek List or losing some possessions amount to?

It was understandable for an elder brother to step forward when his junior sister was bullied.

Lu Ye's silence undoubtedly fueled Zhuo Jianchen's rage even further, his face turning a shade of green. He gritted his teeth and said, "Fine. Since you have nothing to say, then die!"

As he spoke, seven flying swords of varying lengths appeared beside Zhuo Jianchen, radiating sword light. A whooshing sound filled the air as the sword lights shot towards Lu Ye, closing in instantly.

Flying swords of sword cultivators were extremely fast, and their destructive power was immense. These were the assets that allowed sword cultivators to kill enemies beyond their cultivation level.

Lu Ye didn't know much about sword cultivators' techniques, but for Zhuo Jianchen to be able to wield seven flying swords, his spiritual power was undoubtedly much stronger than that of an average cultivator; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to control so many.

However, there was still a significant gap compared to Yu Lianzhou. As far as Lu Ye knew, Yu Lianzhou's current limit for wielding swords was twenty, almost three times that of Zhuo Jianchen.

And he couldn't be compared to Li Baxian at all. Li Baxian's number of swords wielded in the Spirit Creek Realm was an unbreakable record. His innate talent in this area was one reason; another was that he had stayed in the Spirit Creek Realm for too long.

For over ten years, he couldn't advance his cultivation, so he had been constantly strengthening his spiritual power, which allowed him to wield a hundred swords.

It could be said that with such a foundation to ascend to the Cloud River Realm, Li Baxian's starting point in the Cloud River Realm would be far higher than that of ordinary people.

As the seven flying swords attacked, the weapon box at Lu Ye's waist hummed, and nine streaks of light shot out to meet them. In an instant, in the air where they stood, streaks of light flashed incessantly, a continuous clanging sound filled the air, and sparks flew intermittently.

Lu Ye had strong confidence in his artifact manipulation skills. After all, his powerful divine soul meant powerful spiritual energy, which greatly enhanced his ability to wield artifacts and control spiritual power.

Looking across the entire Spirit Creek Battlefield, there should be no one with a stronger divine soul than him yet, and very few whose artifact manipulation skills could surpass his, and that certainly did not include Zhuo Jianchen.

In the mid-air where the two stood, the artifacts clashed fiercely. Under their control, the artifacts seemed to come alive, engaging in a fierce duel.

But in just a moment, Zhuo Jianchen's flying swords were at a disadvantage, completely suppressed.

For no other reason, Lu Ye had an advantage in the number of artifacts, and he could also imbue his artifacts with various spirit patterns, something Zhuo Jianchen couldn't do.

He clearly sensed the disadvantage. As his seven flying swords were pushed back close to him, his spiritual power suddenly surged. In an instant, the seven previously scattered flying swords gathered together, intertwined with each other, and shot out like a spinning top.

Along their path, all of Lu Ye's artifacts were knocked away.

A sword formation! Lu Ye raised an eyebrow. Although he didn't know much about sword cultivators' techniques, he had heard of sword formations.

Generally, a formation composed of cultivators required at least three people, but powerful sword cultivators could form a formation by themselves because they could wield multiple flying swords.

A sword formation composed of seven flying swords was not to be underestimated. The sword hummed and roared like thunder, instantly closing in on Lu Ye.

Lu Ye's artifacts were knocked away, and there wasn't enough time for them to return and assist.

Just as the sword formation reached Lu Ye, the Pan Mountain Saber burst from its sheath. A fiery red saber light swept down. A powerful impact surged from the front, accompanied by a chilling sword intent.

On the ground, Yi Yi looked up. She saw Lu Ye holding the Pan Mountain Saber in front of him, the sword formation humming before the saber, pushing his body back relentlessly. And behind the sword formation, Zhuo Jianchen had merged with his sword light, becoming one with his sword, and was charging forward with it!

Yi Yi watched calmly, with no intention of intervening.

For Lu Ye, challenging the Spirit Creek List was not only about reaching his limit as quickly as possible, but also a means of self-improvement.

Engaging in life-and-death battles with powerful cultivators of various schools, there was nothing that could accelerate the growth of his strength more.

The opponents he had encountered before were too fragile to withstand a single blow. Now that he finally had a worthy opponent, how could Yi Yi intervene and spoil it?

Nine streaks of artifact light attacked from both sides. Zhuo Jianchen, who had merged with his sword light, immediately felt the killing intent. He continuously thrust his long sword, parrying the incoming artifacts one by one, but the immense impact numbed his wrist. He was secretly shocked: Lu Yiye was just a soldier cultivator, how could his artifact's speed and force be so great?

As he was distracted, a flaw appeared in the sword formation.

Lu Ye retracted his saber and thrust it straight. The Pan Mountain Saber pierced into the sword formation's flaw. A torrent of violent spiritual power surged, and the sword formation, previously unified, immediately disintegrated, scattering into streaks of light in all directions.

Lu Ye's body paused. The next moment, he pounced towards Zhuo Jianchen like a tiger descending a mountain.

Saber and sword clashed, producing a grating friction sound. In mid-air, their figures stood less than a yard apart, glaring at each other. One had eyes blazing with fury, as if harboring an irreconcilable hatred for the other; the other remained calm.

"I'll kill you!" Zhuo Jianchen gritted his teeth and growled.

Before the battle, he had actually been very worried, because so far, no Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators who accepted Lu Ye's challenge had ended well. But once they started fighting, he discovered that the outside world had overestimated Lu Yiye. Granted, the fellow did have some strength; otherwise, he wouldn't even be qualified to challenge him, but that was all!

He even felt that with a bit more effort, he could defeat his opponent.

If that were truly the case, he would surely bring glory to Myriad Demon Ridge and to his sect!

With an angry roar, his long sword thrust repeatedly, sending a flurry of sword flowers towards Lu Ye.

A dazzling saber light sliced through the sky, and the myriad sword flowers vanished.

Zhuo Jianchen felt a chill in his chest, instinctively stepping back a few paces. He looked at Lu Ye with a mix of surprise and uncertainty, then glanced down at his own chest.

A gash, with flesh torn open, had appeared on his chest.

The opponent's saber strike just now had been so fast he hadn't even reacted.

"You..." Zhuo Jianchen suddenly doubted his life. He had thought his opponent was nothing special, but when the opponent suddenly erupted with an attack, he immediately realized a serious issue.

Was what he had seen before all of this fellow's strength?

He hadn't considered it before, mainly because he never expected someone challenging the Spirit Creek List to hold back.

As he spoke, a figure flashed before his eyes. Lu Ye, who had been dozens of yards away, was now close. Facing the saber strike coming down on him, Zhuo Jianchen could only parry with his sword.

An overwhelming force surged from above. Zhuo Jianchen's body, along with the flying artifact beneath his feet, plummeted directly towards the ground like a meteor falling from the sky.

With a loud crash, dust flew up.

Zhuo Jianchen scrambled to his feet in disarray, blood oozing from the corner of his mouth, feeling as if his bones were about to fall apart. His eyes were filled with disbelief, seemingly unable to comprehend how he couldn't even block one of Lu Ye's saber strikes. And the sudden explosive, ferocious power of his opponent was simply terrifying.

At his feet lay his flying artifact, but under such an impact, the artifact was essentially scrap metal, as flying artifacts weren't inherently designed for strong defense.

He stumbled a few steps, looked up, and saw no sign of Lu Ye. As he remained wary, he heard footsteps approaching from the side. He turned his head to see Lu Ye, Pan Mountain Saber in hand, walking towards him step by step.

His opponent's steps were not fast, yet an immeasurable pressure weighed on Zhuo Jianchen's heart, making it difficult for him to breathe.

Zhuo Jianchen raised his sword, pointing it at Lu Ye, and bellowed, "Why didn't you use your full strength from the start!"

Only at this moment did he understand that Lu Yiye hadn't used his full strength at the beginning, which had given him the illusion that he "could defeat this person with a bit of effort."

What was this? Insulting his junior sister wasn't enough; he had to insult him too?

Hearing Zhuo Jianchen's words, Lu Ye initially didn't want to respond, but after a thought, he said, "I wanted to see the strength of someone ranked around thirty."

He hadn't had the chance to fight in several previous matches, as he was directly rejected by Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators, which meant he only knew the approximate strength of cultivators ranked around fifty. He had no idea about those ranked in the forties.

Since Zhuo Jianchen finally accepted his challenge, he naturally wanted to hold back a little.

"And the result?"

"A bit disappointing!"

Zhuo Jianchen's eye twitched violently. Just as he was about to say something else, he saw Lu Ye's spiritual power surging around him, his figure rapidly darting towards him.

"I..."

"Roar!" Under the tiger's roar, Zhuo Jianchen only managed to utter one word before his mind was struck by a heavy hammer and immediately became hazy.

But he was a sword cultivator after all, capable of wielding seven swords, which undoubtedly meant his spiritual power was stronger than that of an average Spirit Creek Realm cultivator, so Amber's roar had less effect on him than on others.

"...I concede!" Zhuo Jianchen shouted these two words the moment he regained consciousness. However, Lu Ye's figure was no longer before him, only the sound of a saber returning to its sheath from behind him.

Zhuo Jianchen let out a soft breath, looked up at the rolling clouds in the sky, and murmured, "So that's how it is!"

So this was the reason Lu Yiye could make Myriad Demon Ridge fellow cultivators who accepted his challenges unable to utter their concession...

Although he had shouted it out, it was ultimately a little too late.

On the Spirit Creek List, the name ranked thirty-four, after a slight tremor, dissolved into nothingness, replaced by the name Lu Yiye of the Jade Blood Sect.