Chapter 521: Escape

The area was densely populated with cultivators from Ten Thousand Demon Ridge, which made it difficult for Lu Ye to move quickly. Every time he detected the slightest movement around him, he had to stop and conceal himself using the Concealment Spirit Mark.

He silently estimated the time.

He needed to get as far away from this area as possible within an hour. Only then could he gain a better chance of survival.

Soon, an hour had passed.

The reddish glow reappeared on his body, and immediately afterward, a pillar of blood-red light shot skyward. This obvious phenomenon was clearly visible to any nearby cultivators who weren't blind.

As the pillar of blood-red light erupted, Lu Ye popped a few Primordial Spirit Pills into his mouth. Flames surged behind him, a pair of wings unfurled, imbued with the Flying Wing Spirit Mark. With a flap of his wings, he transformed into a streak of light and shot toward the distance.

His position was now exposed, and there were no more teleportation arrays he could use. All he could rely on was his own speed.

Although he was only at the third-level cultivation, with the Flying Wing Spirit Mark, his flying speed was no less than that of typical sixth or seventh-level cultivators. If he also activated the Windwalking Spirit Mark, his speed would be even greater.

Not long after he set off, several streaks of light appeared ahead. These were clearly cultivators from Ten Thousand Demon Ridge who had noticed the commotion and came to investigate. Upon seeing a red streak of light approaching at extreme speed, they all stiffened and stopped.

The speed of flight often indicated a person's cultivation level. Generally, the higher the cultivation, the faster one could fly. This applied whether one was controlling an artifact or flying through the air. Therefore, it was difficult for weaker cultivators to escape from stronger ones, as fleeing was often futile.

When they saw the red light that was Lu Ye, the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators didn't think much of it. They simply assumed it was a powerful cultivator from their own faction.

It wasn't until Lu Ye's figure streaked past them that the battle marks on the backs of their hands began to flash red. Only then did they realize what was happening.

That was not one of their own at all; it was from the Vast Sky Alliance.

Moreover, the spiritual power fluctuation from the opponent was not as strong as they had imagined. At most, it was a third or fourth-level cultivator...

A third or fourth-level cultivator, Vast Sky Alliance...

One person suddenly snapped back to reality. "It's Lu Yiye!"

Shouting this, he immediately gave chase in the direction Lu Ye had fled. Being a fifth-level cultivator, he naturally wasn't afraid of a mere third-level one.

Seeing this, his companions also followed suit.

However, in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, they were outrun by Lu Ye and lost sight of him. Each of them looked dejected, regretting that such a golden opportunity had slipped through their fingers.

Lu Ye no longer tried to conceal his presence along the way, because he couldn't hide it anymore. The Flying Wing Spirit Mark was continuously activated, causing him to charge recklessly. He encountered many Ten Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators en route, but those people hadn't expected him to act so boldly. Like the first group of cultivators he encountered, by the time they reacted and tried to give chase, it was already too late.

Messages were constantly being sent in all directions, reporting Lu Ye's current location. Large groups of Ten Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators pursued him, searching for his whereabouts.

As he flew, Lu Ye continuously popped Primordial Spirit Pills into his mouth to replenish his depleted spiritual power.

Continuously activating the Flying Wing Spirit Mark was very draining on him. With his current third-level cultivation, if he didn't consume spirit pills to replenish it, his spiritual power would be exhausted in less than half a day.

Even with the pills, he was still consuming more than he could replenish.

This was without activating Windwalking. If he were to use Windwalking as well, the consumption would be even greater.

Without stopping for an hour, the pillar of blood-red light erupted once more.

Just moments later, a streak of light suddenly approached him from the side. Clearly, someone had noticed the commotion and rushed over. The streak of light was incredibly fast; even with the Flying Wing Spirit Mark activated, Lu Ye couldn't match its speed.

Lu Ye knew at a glance that the approaching person was a powerful eighth or ninth-level cultivator. He felt helpless, realizing he had finally been targeted by such a strong opponent.

With the Flying Wing and Windwalking Spirit Marks, he didn't need to worry about cultivators below the eighth level, including those at the seventh level. But he genuinely couldn't outrun cultivators at the eighth or ninth level.

However, even if he couldn't outrun them, he had to try. With a surge of determination, he activated the Windwalking Spirit Mark as well. His speed increased further, and the spiritual power in his body drained away like floodwaters breaking through a dam.

This sudden increase in speed astonished the pursuing Ten Thousand Demon Ridge cultivator. He then roared furiously, "Lu Yiye, you can't escape! Surrender now, and I'll grant you a swift end!"

The voice sounded familiar. Wei Que's figure immediately flashed in Lu Ye's mind.

How unlucky. How could he keep running into this guy everywhere?

As he was hastily flying, another streak of light shot up from diagonally below and sped directly towards him.

Lu Ye's expression changed dramatically. He clutched the Golden Body Token, secretly channeling spiritual power, ready to activate this last life-saving trump card at any moment.

For no other reason than that the streak of light emerging from below had strong spiritual power fluctuations, clearly indicating another ninth-level cultivator.

With such a pincer attack, how could he possibly survive?

This was why Lu Ye had decisively acted alone earlier when he realized his situation was dire. There was only one Golden Body Token. In dire circumstances, he could use it to save his life, at least buying himself a few more hours. But if Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan were with him, they would only suffer needlessly.

Their distance quickly closed. Just as Lu Ye was about to activate the Golden Body Token's power, a strange voice whispered in his ear, "Go!"

As the words fell, the streak of light brushed past him and confronted Wei Que, who was pursuing from behind.

Instantly, spiritual energy surged as the two engaged in a fierce battle.

"Thank you, Senior Brother!" Lu Ye shouted, his figure streaking away like thunder and lightning towards the distance.

He didn't know who had helped him at this critical moment by intercepting Wei Que. The only thing he could confirm was that the person belonged to the Vast Sky Alliance.

Perhaps it was a helper invited by Li Baxian, or maybe they were simply passing by. But no matter what, he had managed to escape this predicament.

Lu Ye felt relieved and continued his journey.

A moment later, he descended, found a hidden spot, and rested briefly. His continuous flight had been truly exhausting. He couldn't miss any opportunity to recover.

After only the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, sounds of rushing air came from above. Clearly, the cultivators from Ten Thousand Demon Ridge had caught up.

Now, his position was exposed every hour, making it impossible to remain fully hidden. Although he was safe for now, his position would be exposed again soon. So he had to move quickly. He couldn't stay in one place for too long, or too many Ten Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators would gather, and he would surely be surrounded.

After eating a bit and taking some spirit pills, Lu Ye resumed his escape.

He didn't rush to activate the Flying Wing Spirit Mark. As his position hadn't been exposed yet, there was no need to rush.

About half an hour later, estimating that the blood-red pillar of light was about to erupt again, Lu Ye reactivated the Flying Wing Spirit Mark and sped off like lightning.

The escape was incredibly arduous. The secret art of the Tracking Disk was impossible to break. Every time his position was exposed, it drew a large number of Ten Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators in pursuit. With no way to conceal himself, there was very little a third-level cultivator like him could do.

He could only desperately flee to buy himself as much time as possible and pray that the hunting ground would close soon.

However, this time, fate seemed to offer him little favor. The hunting ground, shrouded in a blood-red light screen, showed no signs of closing. On the hunting leaderboard suspended high in the sky, Lu Ye's ranking continued to fall, now reaching seventh place.

He encountered several eighth or ninth-level cultivators who were difficult to contend with, but usually, it wasn't long before powerful cultivators from the Vast Sky Alliance would intervene to block his pursuers.

Once might be a coincidence, but two or three times indicated the connections of Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan.

In the hunting ground, the scale of Ten Thousand Demon Ridge's pursuit of Lu Ye was so immense, how could it be concealed from the Vast Sky Alliance cultivators? Many people initially didn't understand what was happening, but after Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan requested some people to intervene, the news quickly spread.

This led to many areas where cultivators from both factions were engaged in fierce confrontations, with continuous casualties.

According to the usual progression of the hunting ground, when the hunting ground was on the verge of closing, most people would choose to lie low, apart from the few powerful cultivators vying for the hunting leaderboard. This was because they would have already obtained most of the benefits and opportunities. At this point, preserving oneself was naturally the main objective.

However, the situation this time was completely different from previous occasions. As time passed, the conflict between the cultivators of both factions not only didn't subside but intensified.

High in the sky, Lu Ye's figure streaked by. Empowered by both the Flying Wing and Windwalking Spirit Marks, his speed far exceeded his own limits.

However, a few miles behind him, a streak of light was hot on his heels, and another streak of light was rapidly closing in from over a dozen miles away.

The closer one was an eighth-level cultivator, and the farther one was a ninth-level cultivator.

At Lu Ye's current speed, only eighth or ninth-level cultivators could keep up with him.

Originally, there were three pursuers, but not long ago, a powerful cultivator from the Vast Sky Alliance intervened and engaged one of them, so now only two remained.

Even so, Lu Ye was cornered by the pursuit.

Both the eighth-level and ninth-level cultivators were closing the distance to him. It was clear that both of them were faster than Lu Ye, especially the ninth-level cultivator, who was closing in very noticeably.

By now, over a day had passed since his great escape began. To have persisted for so long with only third-level cultivation while being pursued by numerous powerful Ten Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators, no one would likely believe it if told. This was largely due to the help of many powerful Vast Sky Alliance cultivators, but primarily, it was because his own speed was exceptional.

But he had reached his limit. For one, his spiritual power was nearly depleted. Even though he had been continuously consuming spirit pills, he was struggling to keep going.

There was also the mental pressure. Constantly fleeing between life and death placed an enormous burden on one's mind.

Even so, he had no intention of giving up.

Earlier, while resting in one spot, he had taken the time to set up a teleportation array. Although the array wasn't sufficiently hidden, and he hadn't had time to set up other concealing formations, if he just had time for another tea-burning stick, he could set up another teleportation array, instantly warp over 200 miles away, and thus shake off these two pursuers.