Chapter 408: Purple Qi Comes from the South

Cultivators often engage in fierce battles, and even the most physically robust among them are bound to get injured. While these injuries can heal, many deep-seated issues within the body often remain.

Hua Ci's cultivation is still low, leaving her unable to address these unseen problems. Only a medical cultivator of her second senior sister Shui Yuan's caliber possesses the ability to properly treat them.

Previously, whenever Lu Ye returned to the Bloodplain Sect after his expeditions, Shui Yuan would meticulously tend to his body, ensuring all lingering issues were resolved.

It now appears that the spiritual mist within the Heavenly Mystery Pool also has the effect of alleviating deep-seated physical ailments.

Lu Ye now felt his body was much lighter, as if an invisible burden had been lifted.

He continued to focus on practicing "Flash."

Suddenly, a message arrived through his battlefield imprint. It was from Yu Lianzhou: "Fellow Daoist Lu, I'm about to advance to the Cloud River realm. Also, Shi Guang has already advanced."

Lu Ye quickly checked the Spirit Creek List and, sure enough, Shi Guang's name was gone. It seemed Yu Lianzhou was right; Shi Guang had indeed ascended to the Cloud River realm.

Furthermore, many familiar names were missing from the Spirit Creek List, while a large number of unfamiliar names had appeared at the bottom.

The Spirit Creek List changed rapidly. Normally, the entire roster would be replaced every few months because, regardless of their ranking, cultivators usually reached their limit after entering the Heavenly Mystery Pool three or four times. At that point, there was no benefit in remaining at the Heavenly Nine level.

As for the "Leaf Extermination Alliance" Yu Lianzhou mentioned, Lu Ye had heard of it. He knew it was a temporary organization formed by the Myriad Demon Ridge with the sole purpose of eliminating him, and Shi Guang had been its leader.

This was originally a temporary, loose organization. Now that Shi Guang, its leader, had advanced, wouldn't the Leaf Extermination Alliance be leaderless?

Lu Ye messaged Yu Lianzhou, and they bid each other farewell. Moments later, Yu Lianzhou's name vanished from the Spirit Creek List.

Outside the wooden hut, Lu Ye remained focused on practicing his blade techniques. When tired, he would cultivate or read, resuming his practice once refreshed.

Meanwhile, at the Infinity Isle outpost in the core region.

Infinity Isle was a first-rank sect, possessing profound heritage and producing a continuous stream of exceptional talents.

At this moment, a young man stood alone in the outpost, silently gazing at an exquisite pavilion not far away.

If Lu Ye were here, he would surely recognize this youth as Luo Ji, whom he had fought before.

However, back then, their cultivations were not high. Lu Ye had set off from Qingyun Mountain towards the Bloodplain Sect's outpost, passing through the territories of the Profound Sect and the Nine Star Sect along the way. His killing of the Nine Star Sect's young master led to him being pursued by the sect, prompting the Profound Sect to intervene, resulting in a chaotic battle between the two sects in Rift Gorge.

At that time, Luo Ji was training at the Nine Star Sect and was tasked by Dong Shuye to eliminate Lu Ye.

This individual was the first true spell cultivator Lu Ye had encountered, and it was through this encounter that Lu Ye developed a strong dislike for the spell cultivation faction.

Of course, Lu Ye didn't dislike them as much now, primarily because spell cultivators were easy to kill.

Time flew by, and a year and a half had passed since then. Luo Ji had also advanced to the Heavenly Seven cultivation level.

Luo Ji was unlike ordinary cultivators; he directly practiced a Heavenly-tier cultivation method. When Lu Ye first met him, Luo Ji was at the Heavenly-tier second stage with over fifty opened apertures.

At that time, Lu Ye was at the Spirit Creek third stage, engaging in a difficult and inseparable battle with Luo Ji.

In a year and a half, Luo Ji's cultivation had risen to Heavenly Seven, with nearly three hundred opened apertures. This speed was undoubtedly fast, given his good background and excellent innate talent. Furthermore, he had rendered great service to Infinity Isle, earning him many rewards when he returned to the sect after the Nine Star Sect outpost was breached.

However, Luo Ji was not satisfied with his own situation. Currently, he remained unknown on the Spirit Creek battlefield, with only his identity as an Infinity Isle disciple to show for himself. Yet, Lu Yiye, who had been his equal in strength that day, was now renowned throughout the Nine Provinces.

Moreover, Lu Yiye had already reached Heavenly Eight cultivation and was the top-ranked on the Spirit Creek List.

Under this brilliant light, any genius would feel inferior.

When he returned to Infinity Isle that day, he had secretly vowed to personally defeat the "Mountain-Crossing Tiger" Lu Yiye one day and avenge his past humiliation. But now, it seemed this wish was impossible to fulfill.

Looking at the current Spirit Creek battlefield, perhaps only she could defeat Lu Yiye!

The woman he had brought back from the Nine Star Sect!

At the time, he didn't know anything special about this seemingly apathetic woman. He had merely gone to the Nine Star Sect's outpost for training, guided by an elder of his sect who was skilled in divination, to search for a specific person.

That elder, skilled in divination, had once performed a reading and received the prophecy "Purple Qi comes from the South." Consequently, many Infinity Isle disciples were dispatched to the southern parts of the Spirit Creek battlefield to search for the person mentioned in the prophecy.

In the end, he was fortunate enough to find the woman at the Nine Star Sect.

It turned out the elder's divination was accurate.

While at the Nine Star Sect, this woman had appeared dull and her innate talent seemed unremarkable. However, after she returned to Infinity Isle with Luo Ji, she immediately received recognition from the legacy left by the sect's founder. From then on, her cultivation progressed rapidly, improving by leaps and bounds each day.

He had last seen her a month ago, and she was already at Heavenly Eight cultivation. It might not be long before she advanced to Heavenly Nine!

Luo Ji's own cultivation speed was already impressive, but compared to this woman, it paled in comparison.

"Junior Brother Luo, are you waiting for Ziyi?" A voice suddenly chimed in.

Luo Ji turned his head to see his Senior Brother Kong Bu, the outpost guardian. His face reddened slightly. "Just taking a stroll," he replied.

Kong Bu chuckled, "There's nothing to be ashamed of about romantic affections. Besides, you're the only one in the entire sect who can get a few words out of Ziyi. That junior sister... sometimes she doesn't even respond when I talk to her."

Luo Ji quickly explained, "Ziyi means no harm; she's just a bit slow by nature."

It was widely known that the woman was slow-witted. You might ask her a question today, and she'd only react the next day, then come running to give you an answer. Some of the senior and junior brothers in the sect were often bewildered by her.

Kong Bu laughed. "Of course, I know she means no harm, Junior Brother Luo. No need to be nervous. I'm not the type to dwell on such things."

After a pause, Kong Bu remarked leisurely, "Purple Qi comes from the South. Lan Ziyi. Grand-uncle Master's divination skills are becoming increasingly refined."

"Indeed. The day I heard someone call her name at the Nine Star Sect outpost, I knew she was the person I was looking for."

It was precisely because Luo Ji brought Lan Ziyi back that he rendered a great service to Infinity Isle.

"By the way, Senior Brother, I remember you sparred with Ziyi before. If she advances to Heavenly Nine, do you think she can defeat Lu Yiye?" Luo Ji asked, bringing up a matter of concern.

"Yes!" Kong Bu replied without hesitation. "During our last spar, Ziyi was only at Heavenly Eight cultivation, but I was almost no match for her."

Luo Ji hadn't known the outcome of their last spar, and his expression brightened upon hearing this. "That's excellent!"

With so many Heavenly Nine cultivators on the vast Spirit Creek List being suppressed by a single Heavenly Eight, how could the Myriad Demon Ridge be at ease? If Ziyi could defeat Lu Yiye after her seclusion, it would surely bring immense glory to their sect.

"Given her cultivation speed, she should emerge from seclusion soon."

"I hope so," Luo Ji replied casually. "Oh, by the way, I forgot to congratulate Senior Brother on entering the top twenty of the Spirit Creek List."

Kong Bu shook his head with a wry smile. "My top twenty ranking isn't truly deserved."

Recently, many people ranked above him had chosen to advance to the Cloud River realm, so his ranking had naturally risen.

Back in the wooden hut in the Myriad Venom Forest, Lu Ye's leisurely days had only lasted three days when he received a message from Feng Yue: "Fifth Senior Brother, this is bad! Many people from Myriad Demon Ridge are surrounding the Three Saints Academy outpost. It seems they're targeting you."

Lu Ye was puzzled. "Targeting me? Why are they going to the Three Saints Academy?"

Feng Yue replied, "They couldn't find you, so they came for me instead. I don't know how they found out I'm a Bloodplain Sect disciple... Fifth Senior Brother, what should we do?"

"Wait!"

Lu Ye sent a quick reply, then immediately messaged others to inquire about the situation.

Soon, he received some feedback.

He had been hiding in the Myriad Venom Forest for some time, completely eluding the Myriad Demon Ridge. Seeing him ascend to the top of the Spirit Creek List and receive the Heavenly Mystery's baptismal reward, the Myriad Demon Ridge found it increasingly unbearable.

Lu Yiye was already difficult to kill. If he continued to grow stronger, no one in the entire Spirit Creek battlefield would be able to stop him.

Thus, Myriad Demon Ridge was now desperately trying to force him out.

As for how they knew Feng Yue was a Bloodplain Sect disciple, it wasn't due to a deliberate leak of information. When Lu Ye first entered the core region, he had taken Feng Yue into the Three Saints Academy outpost and left her there.

Those with observant minds could naturally infer this.

Not only was the Three Saints Academy outpost surrounded, but the Danxin Sect's outpost also suffered collateral damage.

Previously, when Feng Yuechan and Li Baxian were stationed at the Danxin Sect outpost, no one dared to provoke them. However, now Myriad Demon Ridge didn't care whether Bloodplain Danxin had disintegrated or not; any sect in the core region with even a slight connection to the Bloodplain Sect was targeted.

For a time, the Danxin Sect was miserable, unable to explain anything to the Myriad Demon Ridge forces, and could only hold their ground within their outpost.

Fortunately, Myriad Demon Ridge merely wanted to force Lu Ye out, so they only surrounded the Three Saints Academy and Danxin Sect without attacking, using this to pressure Lu Ye!

Lu Ye was not particularly concerned about the fate of the Danxin Sect, but he couldn't ignore the Three Saints Academy.

His involvement with the Three Saints Academy stemmed from the sect leader having snatched fifty disciples from them. He had already failed to uphold his promise to let them cultivate there under the sect's name. If the Three Saints Academy outpost were to be breached because of him... the sect leader would have a difficult time explaining it to them.

He had originally planned to cultivate peacefully to the Heavenly Nine level in the Myriad Venom Forest, but it truly felt like "the tree desires tranquility, but the wind will not cease!"

Suppressing his anger, Lu Ye messaged Feng Yue: "Tell the fellow daoists at Three Saints Academy not to panic. If their outpost is breached because of me, I will compensate them later."