Chapter 456: Special Privileges

Inside the spiritual domain, six figures were engaged in fierce combat, each in their own skirmishes. The most intense fight, without a doubt, was between Lu Ye and the burly man.

The burly man, a body cultivator at the fifth-layer Cloud River realm, had initially advanced to the Cloud River stage with over three hundred activated meridians. His strength vastly surpassed that of the cultivator named Sun. Even after Lu Ye ambushed him, severing one of his arms and striking him more than a dozen times, he was still alive and possessed the strength to resist.

Despite his injuries, he summoned a large shield spirit artifact, gripping it with his single remaining hand. He continuously blocked Lu Ye's long blade, occasionally launching a counterattack.

As blade met shield, immense forces collided, spiritual energy surged, and vital energy boiled.

Realizing that ordinary slashes wouldn't be effective against the burly man, and to avoid further complications, Lu Ye decided not to prolong the fight. With a downward slash, the two stalemated figures suddenly separated. Lu Ye took two steps back, holding his long blade horizontally in front of him, and assumed an attacking stance as all his vital energy began to gather in his right arm.

Seeing this, the burly man's heart seized with alarm. He quickly charged forward, his tower-like body combined with his large shield, slamming fiercely towards Lu Ye.

Lu Ye leaped high into the air, his blade-wielding right arm suddenly swelled. He descended like a diving eagle, bringing his blade down.

One Flash!

His right arm, already concentrated with vital energy, now emitted a layer of blood-red mist.

Consecutive Slashes!

As the first slash landed, the burly man's eyes instantly widened. A violent, downward force struck his greatshield spirit artifact, causing even him, a body cultivator, to sink slightly under the impact. Before he could adjust his posture, Lu Ye's second slash had already landed.

The burly man directly knelt on the ground, and the greatshield spirit artifact in his hand involuntarily slammed hard onto the earth, creating spiderweb-like cracks on the surface.

The third slash descended, and the greatshield spirit artifact flashed with brilliant light. With the fourth slash, the dazzling light suddenly dimmed. With the fifth slash, accompanied by a shattering sound, the medium-grade greatshield spirit artifact, which possessed eighteen restrictions, instantly crumbled. As the sharp and heavy blade shattered the shield, it continued its descent from his left shoulder, cutting through him and exiting from his lower right abdomen.

His concentrated vital energy and protective spiritual energy were utterly incapable of stopping this violent slash. Like cutting tofu, the attack directly severed the burly man diagonally into two halves.

The burly man's eyes were filled with horror and disbelief. He stared fixedly at the young man before him, his lips twitching as if he wanted to say something, but no words came out.

Lu Ye remained in his final striking posture, his right arm trembling violently as a tearing pain emanated from his flesh.

When he was at the Spirit Stream realm, he could only unleash three slashes in the "One Flash" state of Consecutive Slashes. Now, at the fifth-layer Cloud River realm, he could manage five. This wasn't even his limit; if necessary, he could unleash one more.

However, every time he used this blade art, the repercussions were significant. Therefore, Lu Ye generally avoided doing so unless absolutely necessary.

Three breaths later, Lu Ye stood up and surveyed the other two battlefields. One of them surprised him: Amber was confronting Ruan Qingzhu, roaring at her with its gaping maw. Ruan Qingzhu was bleeding from all seven orifices, her face pale, and she appeared severely injured.

Had Yiyi made a move? But Lu Ye hadn't sensed any spiritual energy fluctuations from spell arts, nor were there any signs of Yiyi's appearance. Amber alone couldn't possibly have beaten a fourth-layer Cloud River realm cultivator to such a state. What was going on? He couldn't figure it out for a moment.

He didn't have time to dwell on it. In the other battle, Shen Xiaomao was struggling to resist Junior Brother Cheng, with faint traces of blood seeping through her clothes, indicating her bandaged wounds had reopened.

Junior Brother Cheng had initially held the upper hand, but the brutal death of the burly man and Ruan Qingzhu's defeat caused him to panic. Seeing Lu Ye's attention shift towards him, Junior Brother Cheng dared not stay any longer. He immediately feigned an attack, forcing Shen Xiaomao back, and was about to shoot into the sky.

However, it was ultimately too late. The weapon box at Lu Ye's waist buzzed, and nine spirit artifacts shot out, sealing off the man's escape route. Lu Ye himself charged forward with his blade. Junior Brother Cheng's strength was not impressive to begin with, on par with that of the cultivator named Sun whom Lu Ye had previously killed. He was barely holding his own against a heavily wounded Shen Xiaomao. Now, with Lu Ye joining the fight, how could he possibly stand a chance? Even escaping became a mere hope.

A moment later, Junior Brother Cheng, who had been screaming continuously, also fell into a pool of blood. His body twitched a few times before he lost all signs of life.

Only then did Lu Ye turn around and walk towards Ruan Qingzhu.

Seeing him approach, Ruan Qingzhu, who was leaning against a courtyard wall, became very flustered. She instinctively tried to escape, but her injuries seemed severe; she struggled for a moment but couldn't get up.

Shen Xiaomao, covered in blood, also followed. The two of them, one on each side, looked down at this fellow cultivator who had been their offensive and defensive ally just a few days prior.

Ruan Qingzhu still maintained her pathetic, pitiable appearance, looking tearfully at Shen Xiaomao and softly pleading, "Sister..."

"Don't call me that. You're not worthy," Shen Xiaomao said, her gaze cold. If she hadn't possessed some ability three days ago, those people would have killed her. How could she possibly feel any sympathy now?

Ruan Qingzhu smiled. "Alright, then I won't call you sister. This time, we miscalculated, but what of it? We signed the Heavenly Secret Pact. You can't harm me, nor can you kill me. Don't you still have to let me go?"

Shen Xiaomao gritted her teeth, her face filled with unwillingness.

Lu Ye lowered his head to check his battlefield imprint. A message came through—it was from Yiyi, who was hiding in the shadows.