Chapter 446: Purple Sign

The four-colored clouds in the sky had vanished, and the struggle for the Spirit Charms was nearing its end. Cultivators who had seized purple Spirit Charms had already fled. Whether they could keep the charms depended on their speed and strength.

If they weren't fast or strong enough, even if they were the first to snatch a purple Spirit Charm, it would ultimately benefit someone else.

The competition for just purple Spirit Charms was so intense. If golden Spirit Charms had appeared, the cultivators would likely have fought to the death.

Cultivators who had gained something dispersed joyfully, while those who had acquired nothing looked dejected.

“Young man…” the alluring woman suddenly spoke again.

Lu Ye ignored her completely, turning and walking away.

“Stingy!” the female cultivator huffed, her expression glum. However, compared to those who had gained nothing, her luck was decent; at least she had obtained a white Spirit Charm.

The wilderness was vast and empty, and Lu Ye sped along.

The Cloud River Battlefield was truly different from the Spirit Creek Battlefield. The recent events showed that, as long as their respective factions weren't revealed, hostile and cooperative relationships could shift at any moment, all for the sake of profit.

This was something that would never happen on the Spirit Creek Battlefield. There, cultivators from the Myriad Demons Ridge and Haotian Alliance would never have an opportunity to cooperate. Due to their lower cultivation levels and limited activity range, it was immediately obvious whether someone encountered belonged to their own faction.

However, the Cloud River Battlefield was different. Most cultivators roamed widely, and upon encountering strangers, they could cooperate to some extent if the conditions were right.

After flying several miles, a streaking light suddenly shot towards him from ahead, followed by several figures. From their posture, it seemed the first figure was being pursued.

Lu Ye dodged, preparing to go around them.

As they drew closer, he was astonished to realize that the person fleeing was the spear-wielding cultivator he had fought earlier during the Spirit Charm scramble. The man had been battered and bruised before, and he still looked disheveled and comical.

The struggle for the Spirit Charms had ended. To still be pursued at this point, could it be…

Just as he was thinking this, the approaching spear-wielding cultivator suddenly raised his hand and flung a purple beam of light towards Lu Ye. It was indeed a purple Spirit Charm.

This guy's luck was truly extraordinary. Only a few purple Spirit Charms had appeared earlier, and despite hundreds of cultivators scrambling, he had managed to get one.

However, he clearly lacked the strength to keep the purple Spirit Charm. Seeing that the pursuers were about to catch up, he simply tossed the Spirit Charm to Lu Ye, who was passing by.

Whether he intended to divert trouble or had some other motive was unknown.

After all, Lu Ye had treated him similarly before; it was a case of tit for tat.

As the Spirit Charm was thrown, the cultivators chasing the man quickly changed direction and pursued the charm instead. They then saw Lu Ye snatch the Spirit Charm from the air.

“Kid, throw the Spirit Charm over here!” one of them shouted.

Another cried out, “This item is dangerous; you can’t handle it, let me!”

“Let go if you don’t want to die!” someone else threatened angrily.

Just as these individuals rapidly closed in, a pair of fiery red wings unfurled with a whoosh behind Lu Ye. With a single beat of his wings, he transformed into a streak of fire and darted away in one direction.

During the earlier scramble for Spirit Charms, cultivators were everywhere, making it impractical to freely activate the Wing Spirit Rune, as it wouldn't have been very effective anyway.

But the situation was different now; there were only a few pursuers. For a purple Spirit Charm, it was worth taking a risk.

A purple Spirit Charm was second only to a golden one.

He had tried so hard earlier and only managed to get a green one.

With the Wing Spirit Rune active, Lu Ye’s speed was like lightning.

The spear-wielding cultivator who had tossed the purple Spirit Charm to Lu Ye stared in astonishment, clearly not expecting Lu Ye to possess such ability. In the blink of an eye, Lu Ye had vanished.

Mid-air, the wings behind Lu Ye continuously flapped, and his spiritual power rapidly drained like floodwaters released from a dam.

Currently, he had three ways to fly: by controlling an artifact, by soaring through the air, and by using the Wing Spirit Rune.

Each method consumed more spiritual power than the last, especially activating the Wing Spirit Rune. The spiritual power required to sustain this rune was incomparable to the first two methods.

However, in terms of speed, activating the Wing Spirit Rune was the fastest and most agile.

Even so, he couldn't shake off his pursuers.

The persistent pursuers were clearly Cloud River Realm cultivators of several layers, far beyond what a newcomer like him, who had just advanced to the Cloud River Realm, could compare to. The higher a cultivator's cultivation level, the more profound their foundation, and the faster they could fly!

Fortunately, he didn't encounter any other cultivators along the way; otherwise, the situation would have been grim.

He fled for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, yet the distance between them had only stretched by a few hundred zhang. Such a distance was nothing to a Cloud River Realm cultivator.

Gritting his teeth, Lu Ye activated the Wind Walk Spirit Rune as well!

He had never combined the Wind Walk and Wing Spirit Runes before. The consumption from the Wing Rune alone was terrifying, and with the added Wind Walk, even though his spiritual power reserves had greatly increased after advancing to the Cloud River Realm, he might not be able to sustain it for long.

However, at this critical juncture, he couldn't afford to worry too much. If even this couldn't shake off his pursuers, his only option would be to abandon the purple Spirit Charm.

Regardless, his life was the most important thing.

With the enhancement of Wind Walk, Lu Ye's speed increased even further.

Seeing this, the cultivators chasing him couldn't help but change their expressions. They were already putting all their effort into the pursuit, not daring to relax for a moment. Furthermore, judging by the fluctuations of Lu Ye's spiritual power, the other party had clearly only recently advanced to the Cloud River Realm, likely only at the first or second layer. Each of them had a cultivation level three or four layers higher than Lu Ye's. With such a significant gap in cultivation, they still couldn't catch him, a fact no one would believe if told.

What was even harder for them to accept was that Lu Ye's previous speed wasn't his limit.

Now, with the Wind Walk enhancement, the distance between them quickly widened…

After another incense stick's time, the cultivators could only see a small black dot on the horizon! In a moment, even that black dot would likely disappear.

Even so, they didn't give up. Although they didn't know what method Lu Ye had used to fly so fast, such a method must consume an immense amount of spiritual power. A cultivator at the first or second layer of the Cloud River Realm certainly couldn't sustain it for long.

Therefore, as long as they didn't lose track of Lu Ye and followed him from afar, they would naturally succeed once his spiritual power was nearly depleted.

Just as they were thinking this, Lu Ye's figure suddenly descended and vanished from sight in an instant.

When the pursuers arrived at the spot and looked down, they saw only a dense forest below, with no sign of Lu Ye.

The cultivators hesitated briefly in mid-air before fanning out to search for Lu Ye's whereabouts.

They weren't working together either.

Somewhere in the forest, Lu Ye activated the Concealment Spirit Rune to enhance himself and lay quietly in wait.

His spiritual power was severely depleted. Although not completely exhausted, he couldn't sustain it for much longer, so he had to hide in the forest.

With the Concealment Spirit Rune, Lu Ye wasn't too worried about being found, unless his luck was exceptionally bad.

From time to time, he heard the movements of cultivators sweeping low overhead, clearly those persistent individuals still searching for him.

Lu Ye remained hidden, not moving a muscle.

It wasn't until half a day later, when no more sounds came from the surroundings, that Lu Ye began to move.

He kept the Concealment Spirit Rune active, just in case someone was still hiding in the dark.

Moments later, Lu Ye found a dry cave and entered it.

He took out some formation flags and set up a few simple formations at the cave entrance before returning inside and sitting cross-legged.

Having expended too much spiritual power, Lu Ye took out and consumed some spirit pills to recover. Activating the Gluttonous Meal, the effects of the Yuanling Pills he ingested quickly transformed into his own spiritual power, filling his Great Zhou Heavenly Cycle.

He then took out two Spirit Charms to examine them.

One green, one purple.

The green one he had seized through his own efforts, while the purple one had been thrown to him by the spear-wielding cultivator.

In the Cloud River Battlefield, the spiritual energy in the wilderness was similar to that in the core region of the Spirit Creek Battlefield's wilderness. Cultivation wasn't impossible in such an environment, but the efficiency was extremely poor.

Therefore, for Cloud River Realm cultivators to advance their cultivation more quickly, they needed to occupy Spirit Lands or compete for Spirit Charms. The latter, in particular, was the fastest way for Cloud River Realm cultivators to improve their cultivation.

For most cultivators, consuming spirit pills was merely an auxiliary method, as no one else, unlike Lu Ye, was unbothered by pill toxins.

Of course, one could also cultivate using spirit stones. Cultivating with spirit stones was much more efficient than simply absorbing ambient spiritual energy, but it was less effective than consuming spirit pills.

Furthermore, the Cloud River Battlefield contained numerous mystic realms. Some of these realms opened at regular intervals, allowing cultivators to enter during specific periods. Others had no set schedule and could appear anywhere in the Cloud River Battlefield at any time.

Most mystic realms contained Spirit Charms, and lucky cultivators could enter them for exploration. A small number of mystic realms yielded unique and highly valuable products.

These were also considered opportunities.

In contrast, the Spirit Creek Battlefield offered more opportunities in the form of inheritances. For instance, Hua Ci received the legacy of a poison doctor, and people also believed Lu Ye had obtained the legacy of a Spirit Rune Master on the Spirit Creek Battlefield.

However, the opportunities within the Cloud River Battlefield were not primarily focused on inheritances; they mainly aimed at improving cultivators' cultivation levels.

All this information was recorded in the jade slip Lu Ye had purchased from the Heavenly Secret Merchant Alliance.

When Lu Ye first read this information, he had a strange feeling, as if it was all deliberately arranged.

Cultivators in the Spirit Creek Realm had low cultivation levels and were new to the cultivation world, so they needed inheritances more. Moreover, most inheritances on the Spirit Creek Battlefield were concentrated in the outer and inner rings, with very few appearing in the core region.

But once cultivators reached the Cloud River Realm, they had already forged their own path in cultivation and needed to improve their strength as quickly as possible.

Everything on the Cloud River Battlefield, including Spirit Lands, Spirit Charms, and the various mystic realm opportunities, could help Cloud River Realm cultivators enhance their strength.

To say this was mere coincidence and not a deliberate arrangement simply didn't make sense.