Chapter 455: Ambush

Winds Rise Across the Nine Provinces

Inside the Nine Realms Diagram, seeing nine streaks of light attacking him one after another, the cultivator surnamed Sun frantically brought out his spirit weapon—a long staff!

With the long staff in hand, he parried and deflected, sending all nine incoming imperial artifacts flying. However, the staff vibrated incessantly, and his hands trembled slightly. The anger on his face was replaced by shock, and he immediately realized he had encountered someone extraordinary!

Initially, seeing that Lu Ye was only at the second layer of the Cloud River Realm, he hadn't paid much attention. But after just one exchange, he understood that this Cloud River Realm second-layer cultivator's strength far exceeded his imagination.

The Cloud River Realm is a stage where cultivation disparities are vast. Some advance to the Cloud River Realm with 240 spirit apertures opened, while others achieve it with 360. At the same cultivation level within this realm, the power one can unleash often varies wildly.

The sect from which the cultivator surnamed Sun and his companions hailed was merely a fifth-rank sect. None of them had advanced to the Cloud River Realm with 360 spirit apertures. The best among them was the robust man, who had reached the Cloud River Realm with 312 spirit apertures. The cultivator surnamed Sun was even worse, having only cultivated to 290 spirit apertures in the Spirit Stream Realm before reaching his limit, making it difficult to open any new ones.

On the Cloud River battlefield, cultivators like him were numerous, whereas those who advanced with 360 spirit apertures, like Lu Ye, were very few.

Moreover, Lu Ye was formerly the top cultivator on the Spirit Stream Ranking, having received four baptismal rewards from Heaven's Mystery and a blessing when he ascended to the Cloud River Realm!

No match!

The moment they clashed, this thought emerged in the cultivator surnamed Sun's mind.

He had just parried the nine attacking imperial artifacts, and his body was sent reeling backward from the immense force. Before he could regain his footing, Lu Ye had already lunged in front of him. A flash of fiery red blade light, and the long saber slashed down.

This strike was blocked by the spirit weapon long staff in the cultivator surnamed Sun's hands, but it forced him to crouch down, the immense power almost sending his staff flying from his grasp.

Without a moment to breathe, the fiery red blade light continuously flashed down, strike after strike, relentless as a torrential storm.

After the Mountainbreaker Saber was upgraded to a mid-grade spirit weapon, it was undoubtedly even more convenient for Lu Ye to wield.

The cultivator surnamed Sun gritted his teeth and resisted, holding the long staff with both hands before him. Clanging sounds rang out incessantly, sparks flew, and his body was continually forced lower.

Suddenly, instead of striking down, Lu Ye thrust his saber straight out. Although the cultivator surnamed Sun saw the attack and wanted to block it, his arms were already numb from the vibrations, making it impossible to defend.

The long saber pierced the cultivator surnamed Sun's shoulder blade, emerging from his back. He let out a pained cry.

As Lu Ye pulled out his saber, he simultaneously delivered a kick, sending the man flying backward to land awkwardly on the ground.

Not pursuing him, Lu Ye stood his ground, his long saber pointing diagonally to the ground, his brow furrowed.

A bit weak!

He had expected a tough battle, or at least an evenly matched fight, but only after engaging did he realize that the cultivator surnamed Sun was significantly inferior to him in both strength and reaction speed.

He understood that this person, when advancing to the Cloud River Realm, must not have opened more than 300 spirit apertures; otherwise, a Cloud River Realm fourth-layer cultivator would not perform so poorly.

"Wait, fellow cultivator!" The cultivator surnamed Sun, who had fallen to the ground, awkwardly stood up, fearfully distancing himself from Lu Ye. He anxiously asked, "Are you the helper invited by that Shen Xiaomao? If so, please spare my life! My brothers and I will leave this place immediately and never trespass again!"

Lu Ye said nothing, merely raising his hand and revealing his battlefield imprint to him!

The cultivator surnamed Sun's face suddenly turned pale.

Lu Ye understood that the other party was from the Myriad Demons Ridge faction.

If the opponent had been from the Vast Sky Alliance, Lu Ye genuinely wouldn't have known whether to kill them, as he had received much help from Vast Sky Alliance sects on the Spirit Stream battlefield. But since they were from Myriad Demons Ridge, there was no issue.

With the Gale blessing, an afterimage trailed behind him. In an instant, Lu Ye lunged in front of the cultivator surnamed Sun and unleashed a fierce slash, sending the man flying. While airborne, a spray of hot blood scattered, and a scream echoed.

Before he could land, Lu Ye followed up with another strike. With this blow, the scream abruptly ceased.

With two thuds, the head and headless corpse fell to the ground, blood staining the earth crimson.

"Yiyi!" Lu Ye retracted his saber and softly called out.

The next instant, a repelling force emanated from his surroundings. His vision blurred, and he found himself in the room of the cultivator surnamed Sun, with a corpse beside him.

Lu Ye bent down and collected the battle array jade token and the opponent's storage bag.

Of the four opponents, one had been slain, leaving the robust man, the formation master Junior Brother Cheng, and Ruan Qingzhu.

How to kill them was the problem. He could no longer easily sneak into their rooms. Even if he lured them out for an ambush, he could at most kill one more, leaving two remaining.

Among these individuals, Junior Brother Cheng should be the easiest to kill. As a formation master, he must spend a great deal of time on array mastery, and his personal combat strength might not be very strong. The most difficult to kill would likely be the robust man, who clearly cultivated his physique, judging by his vibrant qi and blood.

Yiyi and Amber combined should be able to hold one person for a moment, which means he would have to kill two of them in the shortest possible time!

Unfortunately, some of the formations he had previously set up in this spirit land had been destroyed. Otherwise, with the power of the formations, fighting three opponents alone would be no problem.

With a rough plan in mind, Lu Ye quietly pushed open the door and slipped out, while Amber remained in the room.

Everything had proceeded smoothly just now, so the death of the cultivator surnamed Sun had not alarmed anyone.

With the Spirit Runes of Concealment activated, Lu Ye moved like a phantom, silently arriving in front of the robust man's room.

Since this person was the most difficult to kill, he decided to start with him. As long as he could deal with him, the remaining two would be easy. Otherwise, if this person teamed up with the others, the situation would only become worse.

Having concealed himself, Lu Ye was about to activate the battle array jade token in his hand to create a disturbance and draw out the enemies for investigation, when he heard a loud boom from outside the grand formation.

Looking up, he saw a familiar figure standing in the sky. Who else but Shen Xiaomao?

This fellow wasn't recuperating in the cave; for some reason, she had come here, and her expression seemed a little anxious.

The commotion just now was caused by her attacking the protective formation.

Lu Ye seized the opportunity and activated the battle array jade token, shutting down the entire protective formation.

Outside the formation, after Shen Xiaomao launched her attack, she watched as the protective formation covering the entire spirit land suddenly dissipated rapidly. The spirit land, previously obscured by the formation, now clearly appeared in her sight.

She had been recuperating in the cave earlier, but when she woke up, Lu Ye was nowhere to be found. She initially thought he had abandoned her, but on second thought, it seemed unlikely. If Lu Ye truly didn't want to bother with her, he wouldn't have saved her or guarded her for three days.

Recalling her previous conversation with Lu Ye, Shen Xiaomao vaguely grasped Lu Ye's intention. Disregarding her own injuries, she rushed to the spirit land to investigate.

She wasn't sure if things were as she suspected. If so, Lu Ye might have come to this spirit land, but Lu Ye was only at the first layer of the Cloud River Realm, with low strength. There was a chance he might be captured if he made a mistake.

That's why she attacked the protective formation, wanting to probe the situation. Regardless, she and Lu Ye had both signed a Heaven's Mystery contract for an offensive and defensive alliance.

However, something shocking happened: with just a casual strike, the protective formation was gone!

There were no signs of a struggle, nor was there any sign of Ye Liu...

Shen Xiaomao thought, "This is bad," and prepared to leave quickly.

But the commotion was so loud that it had already alerted the three people inside the spirit land.

The room doors quickly opened, and three figures darted out.

The next instant, the robust man's qi and blood erupted, and he turned to unleash a punch.

As a flash of blade light passed, an arm flew off, and blood spurted.

Lu Ye, his concealed figure now revealed, stood with the Mountainbreaker Saber in hand, his eyelids lowered. The robust man stumbled back a few steps, clutching his severed arm, his eyes filled with disbelief.

He had never imagined someone would be ambushing him right outside his room. If not for his powerful senses, that single strike would have been enough to kill him instantly.

Even so, he had lost an arm.

"Ye Liu!"

Shen Xiaomao, still recovering from her injuries, and Ruan Qingzhu, who witnessed this scene, both exclaimed in surprise.

Junior Brother Cheng paused for a moment, then reacted, flashing forward to lunge at Lu Ye. However, Shen Xiaomao had already swiftly pounced on him, intercepting him.

In terms of strength, Shen Xiaomao was undoubtedly superior to Junior Brother Cheng; if the woman hadn't been lying, she too was a strong cultivator who had once topped the Spirit Stream Ranking. But now, her injuries were not fully healed, and her strength was compromised. After a few exchanges, she was somewhat struggling against Junior Brother Cheng, the formation master.

At this moment, Lu Ye, wielding the Mountainbreaker Saber, enveloped the robust man in fiery red blade light, pressing him relentlessly, giving no quarter.

If the opponent had been uninjured, this battle might have been challenging. The robust man, at the fifth layer of the Cloud River Realm, was much stronger than the cultivator surnamed Sun.

However, with one arm severed by Lu Ye, he could barely maintain the grand cycle of his spiritual energy river, and his overall strength was greatly diminished. Faced with Lu Ye's relentless onslaught of saber strikes, he could only evade.

On the other side, Amber had darted out of the cultivator surnamed Sun's room, revealing her true form, and fiercely lunged at Ruan Qingzhu. Yiyi had not yet appeared, secretly looking for an opportunity to deliver a fatal blow to Ruan Qingzhu.

As a scream echoed, blood splattered. Even though the robust man desperately surged his spiritual power and qi, he could not withstand Lu Ye's relentless hacking. In just a few moments, he suffered more than a dozen saber wounds, each strike tearing through flesh and blood.

Junior Brother Cheng and Ruan Qingzhu were both greatly alarmed. Ruan Qingzhu would ordinarily have had no problem against Amber, but at this moment, her mind was unsettled, making it difficult to shake off Amber's entanglement.

She never imagined that Ye Liu, who she had considered merely a formation master at only the first layer of the Cloud River Realm, would be such a ferocious individual!

And where was Senior Brother Sun? Why was he nowhere to be seen?

All these questions and terror swirled in Ruan Qingzhu's mind. For a moment, she felt as if she had stepped into an abyss, her body ceaselessly plummeting.