Chapter 405: Top Rank One

Wind Rises in Kyushu

Regardless of cultivation level, and focusing only on strength, when Lu Ye and Shi Guang first began their battle, Shi Guang was initially stronger. However, Lu Ye could activate various spirit patterns during combat, especially the Guardian spirit pattern, which protected him from several fatal threats.

This allowed them to fight fiercely.

But as time passed, the Bloodstained spirit pattern gradually took effect, and Lu Ye's strength steadily increased, slowly surpassing Shi Guang.

The Bloodstained spirit pattern continued to work, and Lu Ye's strength continued to grow. By this point, every clash ended with Shi Guang at a disadvantage.

Shi Guang was furious.

Although consuming the Rage Pill could temporarily boost a cultivator's strength, it came with severe side effects. Moreover, while the pill was active, a cultivator's mind would also be affected, making them more prone to anger and aggression. Normally, Shi Guang would have recognized the growing power gap between himself and Lu Ye. But now, he was completely blinded by rage, with only one thought surging in his mind: to kill his opponent!

Getting up from the ground, Shi Guang turned his head and spat out a mouthful of blood. Squinting his swollen eyes, he watched Lu Ye rushing toward him. He slightly raised his long spear, adopting an extremely strange stance.

The next instant, his spiritual power surged into the spear like a burst dam.

As he charged, Lu Ye's hairs stood on end, and a strong sense of danger arose in his heart. He immediately realized that Shi Guang was likely about to unleash some powerful secret technique!

After a brief moment of thought, Lu Ye did not retreat. He likewise channeled his spiritual energy into the Mountain Breaker Blade, and the long blade, already wreathed in fire, erupted into full flame.

Boom...

The explosion of both sides' spiritual power warped the space of the entire arena, as countless large and small energy vortices swirled around them.

Amber was forced to the edge of the arena by the violent power, her small body pressed against the ground, completely still.

The two figures charged at each other with extreme speed.

Shi Guang thrust his spear, roaring, "Beacons of War!"

A spear shadow appeared in Lu Ye's vision, but it spread rapidly like a wildfire, instantly filling his sight with countless spear images.

Ignoring everything, his fully blazing blade struck down with all its might.

The myriad spear shadows shattered into nothingness. The Mountain Breaker Blade felt as if it had struck flesh, and at the same moment, Lu Ye felt a chill in his chest.

The spiritual power surge slowly subsided, and the two combatants stood frozen.

Looking at them, Lu Ye's Mountain Breaker Blade was lodged in Shi Guang's shoulder blade, almost decapitating him. Meanwhile, Shi Guang's long spear had pierced Lu Ye's chest, exiting from his back.

Drip, drip...

Blood dripped, making distinct sounds.

Both looked at each other with bloodshot eyes, then simultaneously raised a foot and kicked.

With a thud, both were thrown off balance by the recoil, staggering backward. Blood gushed from Lu Ye's chest, while from Shi Guang's neck, blood spurted like a fountain.

Clang...

The long blade stuck into the ground, Lu Ye barely managed to stay upright. Shi Guang, however, couldn't hold on. With a thud, he fell backward onto the ground, his aura visibly weakening at an alarming rate.

The Rage Pill's effect had worn off.

The powerful backlash contorted his face, and an unspeakable agony swept through his body. At this moment, he had no strength left to fight.

Lu Ye gasped for air, laboriously got to his feet, and slowly walked toward Shi Guang.

Shi Guang, with swollen eyes wide open, stared blankly at the sky above the arena, his thoughts unknown.

Only when he heard Lu Ye's footsteps did his lips twitch, as if to speak.

"Roar!" Amber roared at the opportune moment.

However, it didn't stop Shi Guang. Knowing Amber's ability, Shi Guang wouldn't have entered without some precautions. Amidst the impact of Amber's roar, Shi Guang was suddenly enveloped by an invisible barrier, shielding him from the sound's effect.

"I concede!" Shi Guang uttered these two words, completely relaxing as if a heavy burden had been lifted from him.

Heaven's Will descended, and Shi Guang's figure vanished.

Lu Ye stopped.

Yiyi appeared and quickly helped him, looking at the wound on Lu Ye's chest with a look of lingering fear. If that spear had been slightly off, Lu Ye would likely have died.

In fact, Shi Guang's spear had indeed aimed for Lu Ye's heart, but Lu Ye had managed to dodge the vital spot at the critical moment.

A short while later, in the wooden house, Lu Ye lay on the bed. Hua Ci sat casually by the bedside, pure wood-element spiritual power flowing from her hands as she healed him. Before Hua Ci had even finished, Lu Ye had already fallen into a deep sleep.

Undeniably, the battle with Shi Guang was the most exhilarating fight Lu Ye had experienced since he began challenging the Spirit Stream Ranking. The anger he had accumulated from Ghost Shadow and others was completely vented.

Although his opponent's methods were not entirely honorable, having taken the Rage Pill beforehand, as adversaries, they would naturally use every means possible. There was no room to care about what was honorable or not.

Lu Ye wanted nothing now but a good sleep.

While he slept, cultivators from the two major factions in the Spirit Stream Battlefield displayed two vastly different mentalities.

The change in the Spirit Stream Ranking was noticed by cultivators immediately. The moment the top spot and the third spot swapped, cultivators of the Vast Sky Alliance rejoiced, their spirits lifted and filled with pride. The Myriad Demon Ridge, on the other hand, was utterly silent, with countless cultivators' hearts shrouded in gloom.

Their worst fear had finally come true!

Lu Yiye of the Blood Dao Sect, with a Heaven-Eight cultivation, had defeated Shi Guang and ascended to the top of the Spirit Stream Ranking!

This feat shattered various records in the cultivation world of Kyushu.

Before this, there had never been a precedent of a Heaven-Eight cultivator holding the top spot on the Spirit Stream Ranking. Take Li Baxian, for instance; he had been immersed in the Spirit Stream Realm for over a decade, yet he only dominated the top ten. Even after his major battle with Yan Xing, which revealed his true strength, he only reached third place...

Although the value of the Spirit Stream Ranking had greatly diminished since the disappearance of those three 'malignant tumors,' the top spot was still the top spot.

Among the hundred people on the entire Spirit Stream Ranking, there was only one Heaven-Eight cultivator, sitting high above, with all the rest being Heaven-Nine cultivators!

This was undoubtedly a scene destined to be etched in history.

Furthermore, when Lu Yiye first appeared on the Spirit Stream Ranking, he was only at Heaven-Seven cultivation, yet he ranked thirty-third...

This, too, had never happened before. Apart from him, no one had ever entered the Spirit Stream Ranking with Heaven-Seven cultivation, let alone ranked so high.

Putting aside the matter of cultivation level for a moment, this fellow's speed in climbing the ranks was also astonishing.

Since he began actively challenging the ranking, less than half a month had passed. During this time, he also spent five days contending with Bai Lan and other Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators who challenged him.

In other words, his actual time spent climbing the ranking was only about ten days!

In ten days, he swept through all opposition, reaching the top spot on the Spirit Stream Ranking—it was simply astounding.

The cultivators of the Myriad Demon Ridge felt a bitter pang in their hearts. Was the era of being dominated by a single individual about to return?

Before, when this fellow was in the inner circle, he had already caused widespread panic among the Myriad Demon Ridge. However, at that time, he had only relied on his mastery of formation arrays to gather the Vast Sky Alliance army.

Now, he was relying on his true strength!

The two types of threats were completely different. Without a doubt, the current Lu Ye was even more formidable than when he was in the inner circle.

The only thing the Myriad Demon Ridge could be thankful for was the news from Shi Guang: Lu Yiye was severely injured in their final battle and would likely need considerable time to recover. Therefore, for the time being, the Myriad Demon Ridge didn't have to worry about him causing trouble.

Under normal circumstances, the Myriad Demon Ridge could seize this opportunity to challenge Lu Ye and pull him down from the top spot on the Spirit Stream Ranking.

However, looking at the current Spirit Stream Ranking, only two of the top six belonged to the Myriad Demon Ridge: Shi Guang and the female archer. Only these two were qualified to challenge Lu Ye.

Shi Guang himself was gravely injured, and with the after-effects of the Rage Pill, he wouldn't be able to get out of bed for at least ten days to half a month. It would be fortunate if he could even maintain his current rank, let alone challenge Lu Ye.

As for the female archer, all her arrows had been depleted. To replenish them, it would take several days.

A few days would be enough for Lu Ye to recover.

Therefore, unless someone from the Vast Sky Alliance challenged Lu Ye, his position at the top of the ranking was unshakeable.

Naturally, no one from the Vast Sky Alliance would be so foolish as to do something that would please their enemies and pain their allies.

However, the Myriad Demon Ridge was indeed considering this plan. After Lu Ye ascended to the top of the Spirit Stream Ranking, the top six Vast Sky Alliance cultivators were constantly being challenged by Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators ranked below them. The Myriad Demon Ridge clearly intended to use these cultivators' rankings as a springboard to challenge Lu Ye. If they could defeat these Vast Sky Alliance cultivators and take their spots, they would then be qualified to challenge Lu Ye. And given Lu Ye's current condition, they would most likely win.

In the wooden house, Lu Ye awoke from his sleep. He still felt distinct pain in his chest and left arm, and his body had little strength. He slowly got up and yawned.

Yiyi was standing by. Hearing the movement, she quickly stood up, picked up a pillow to place behind Lu Ye, and asked with concern, "How do you feel?"

"Alright," Lu Ye said, touching his stomach. "I'm a bit hungry. Could I get something to eat?"

He smelled a fragrant aroma drifting in from the window. Unsurprisingly, Hua Ci was cooking.

It seemed that all those from the Blood Dao Sect shared this virtue; every one of them was an excellent cook. It was true for his Second Senior Sister, his Fourth Senior Brother, and now for Hua Ci as well.

"Just a moment," Yiyi said, then floated directly out the window. A moment later, she returned with a bowl of porridge. He wasn't sure what was in the porridge, but it certainly looked colorful...

As Lu Ye drank the porridge, he checked the various messages in his battle imprint and replied to some of them.

Most were congratulatory messages. It was certainly worth celebrating to overpower the crowd with Heaven-Eight cultivation and claim the top spot on the Spirit Stream Ranking. To these messages, Lu Ye gave simple replies.