Chapter 564: Roll Out and Die

Each day was spent reading and cultivating, with some time dedicated to refining himself in the Mirage Realm to familiarize himself with the power of the upgraded Stone Mountain Blade. Life was uneventful.

This kind of life was deeply yearned for by many Cloud River Realm cultivators. Having a stable environment for cultivation, without the need for constant travel and toil, naturally meant fewer dangers and a steady increase in cultivation.

Lu Ye found this life agreeable as well.

Although he had been constantly on the move since he began cultivating, who would refuse such peace and stability unless absolutely necessary?

Cultivating in a spirit land, while not as effective as obtaining spirit tokens, offered stability. In terms of overall efficiency, it might even be faster than constantly searching for spirit tokens to improve cultivation, as spirit tokens were not always available and depended on luck.

On the evening of the third day after the wolf pack's disappearance, as the sun set, Lu Ye, who was reading and cultivating, suddenly looked up. Beyond the spirit land's grand formation, he saw a dense cluster of figures.

The wolf pack had returned.

The majestic alpha wolf was covered in blood, and other demon wolves also bore marks of injury, indicating they had been through a fierce battle.

What surprised Lu Ye, however, was that the wolf pack had grown in number.

Previously, this wolf pack had only about a hundred demon wolves, but this time, more than two hundred returned, including several clearly underdeveloped wolf cubs.

Led by the alpha wolf, the pack stopped outside the formation, waiting quietly.

Lu Ye waved a formation flag, opening a gap in the grand formation. The wolves then surged into the spirit land, each finding a suitable place to rest, while the injured demon wolves silently licked their wounds.

The alpha wolf, leading some demon wolves, walked directly to Lu Ye. At its signal, the demon wolves came forward one by one and spat out the demon cores they held in their mouths.

Lu Ye had previously received over a dozen demon cores from the wolf pack. This time, the wolves, after whatever they had been doing, not only expanded their clan but also brought back nearly fifty more demon cores.

This was clearly the wolf pack's way of showing gratitude, a return for the spirit纹es Lu Ye had etched on them.

It was a very profitable exchange!

The materials Lu Ye bought from the Heavenly Secret Treasury amounted to just over a thousand merit points. However, the value of these demon cores was far more than a thousand; selling them to the Heavenly Secret Treasury would fetch ten thousand.

Since the wolves showed gratitude, Lu Ye was not stingy. He immediately spent some merit points to buy a batch of healing pills from the Heavenly Secret Treasury and, working with Yi Yi, administered them to the injured demon wolves.

Regardless, the safety of the spirit land would continue to rely on this wolf pack in the future. Lu Ye had chosen the Return to Heaven Valley for his spirit land precisely because he wanted to leverage the wolf pack's strength.

Without this wolf pack, he would never have established his spirit land here. Although the location was secluded, the risks were considerable. If powerful demon beasts attacked, he and Li Baxian alone might not be able to fend them off.

Many of the newly arrived demon wolves were initially resistant to Lu Ye's touch, but under the alpha wolf's deterrence, they obediently took the healing pills.

Demon beasts possessed strong vitality; as long as their injuries weren't too severe and didn't result in immediate death, their lives were generally not in danger.

After two or three days, the wolf pack had mostly recovered.

The alpha wolf brought its newly acquired kin to Lu Ye, asking him to help etch spirit紋es on them. Lu Ye naturally didn't refuse, as enhancing the wolf pack's strength was equivalent to strengthening the spirit land's defensive power.

Meanwhile, thirty miles from Return to Heaven Valley, in a mountain cave, Tan Sheng and his two companions sat on the ground, meditating and recuperating.

Even though all three were at the Ninth-Layer Realm, they looked somewhat disheveled. For days, they had been searching for Lu Ye in the vicinity. Unfortunately, the compass they carried was far less effective than a tracking disk, allowing them only to roughly determine Lu Ye's direction, not his precise location.

Their search often disturbed powerful demon beasts, leading to frequent fierce battles.

Just an hour earlier, the three of them had jointly slain a demon beast comparable to a Cloud River Ninth-Layer cultivator.

While they had gained some spoils, their primary target was Lu Ye. Killing more demon beasts would be pointless if they couldn't find him.

"Lu Yiye should be somewhere nearby," Tan Sheng said. "Let's rest tonight and search southeast tomorrow."

Wei Que and Xia Liang had no objections. Although they hadn't found Lu Ye's whereabouts, the clues they had indicated that he hadn't left this area. Therefore, they were confident they would eventually find him by continuing their search.

"We've searched this hundred-mile radius multiple times without any findings," Wei Que added. "That Lu Yiye is skilled in formation arts. If he truly established his spirit land here, he would certainly have set up many grand formations. Tomorrow, we must not overlook any suspicious spots during our search."

"Indeed," Tan Sheng nodded. "However, the teleportation formation that fellow sets up is still a problem. If he has already prepared one, we might not be able to kill him even if we find him."

In the hunting grounds, Tan Sheng had been tracking Lu Ye's movements with a tracking disk. However, Lu Ye's whereabouts were elusive; he would be ahead one moment, behind the next, instantly shifting two or three hundred miles.

At that time, Tan Sheng didn't understand what was happening and even suspected that his tracking disk was malfunctioning.

It wasn't until the hunting grounds closed that he calmed down to ponder the matter and consulted others. He eventually came to a conjecture: Lu Yiye might be able to set up teleportation formations! That would explain his ability to instantly travel two or three hundred miles, making him impossible to catch.

He was truly astonished when he reached this conclusion, as teleportation formations were not something ordinary formation cultivators could set up. Even True Lake Realm formation cultivators found it difficult, let alone Lu Ye, who was only in the Cloud River Realm.

Yet, there was no other explanation for the bizarre situations he had encountered besides teleportation formations.

After meeting with Wei Que and Xia Liang and discussing the matter, their conjecture became even more solidified.

This was because Wei Que had also pursued Lu Ye. The latter had clearly entered a cave, but when Wei Que went in to search, Lu Ye was nowhere to be found, with only traces of a shattered formation remaining, as if something had been destroyed.

The three of them later re-entered the hunting grounds to carefully investigate areas where Lu Ye had been seen. They eventually found a teleportation formation left behind by Lu Ye, which confirmed their theory about the formations.

Xia Liang said, "I've asked our elders about teleportation formations, and there's no need to worry too much. Even if Lu Yiye can set them up, the range of a formation created with his cultivation won't be very large. Furthermore, teleportation formations must be linked remotely to function. Since the Grand Barren Mountains are teeming with demon beasts, he definitely wouldn't dare to casually set up formations outside, lest they be destroyed by passing beasts. Rather than worrying about teleportation formations, I'm more concerned about whether he'll summon a Heavenly Secret Pillar to his spirit land."

At his words, Tan Sheng and Wei Que fell silent.

Summoning a Heavenly Secret Pillar might be unlikely for others due to the immense cost, but for Lu Yiye, it was perfectly normal.

That fellow was incredibly wealthy! He had recently acquired twenty to thirty million merit points worth of resources from the Myriad Demon Ridge, so he undoubtedly had plenty of merit points at hand and could summon a Heavenly Secret Pillar at any time.

In the hunting grounds previously, he had used this very method to escape.

"Last time, he had the Golden Body Token for protection, so no one could stop him. Without it, he wouldn't have escaped then, so it's not a major issue," Tan Sheng said, though it was unclear if he was trying to comfort himself. He paused, then added, "Even if he summons a Heavenly Secret Pillar in advance and escapes when things go south, we can at least seize his spirit land, so it won't be a complete loss. Anyway, regardless, let's find his whereabouts first! Even if he does summon a Heavenly Secret Pillar and we can't kill him this time, there will always be a next time!"

The three said no more, each silently recovering.

At dawn, they set off again, searching southeast.

A moment later, three streaks of light, revealing Tan Sheng and his two companions, swept across the sky above Return to Heaven Valley. Their eyes scanned left and right, but due to the concealing grand formation, all they saw was a picturesque valley with nothing particularly special about it.

Of course, this was mainly because none of them were proficient in formation arts; otherwise, they would surely have noticed something amiss.

Just as the three were about to pass over, Xia Liang suddenly paused, focusing his gaze downwards.

In the valley below, which had been empty moments before, a wolf-like demon beast had appeared. From its appearance, it was a young wolf cub that hadn't fully grown yet.

Noticing Xia Liang's unusual behavior, Tan Sheng and Wei Que also quickly stopped.

"Brother Xia?" Tan Sheng asked, looking at him suspiciously.

Xia Liang remained silent, focusing his vision to continue observing.

Just then, the space not far from the small wolf cub distorted, creating a visible ripple. Immediately after, a powerful demon wolf appeared out of thin air. It walked up to the cub, bit its neck, and, ignoring the cub's struggles, carried it away.

Ripples reappeared, and the demon wolf's figure vanished into thin air.

"A concealing grand formation!" Tan Sheng exclaimed in a low voice, his eyes widening with surprise and delight.

Xia Liang and Wei Que also grew excited.

Wei Que said, "There's a concealing grand formation here. It must be Lu Yiye's doing. He's established his spirit land right here!"

This was truly a case of finding something effortlessly when one had searched everywhere in vain.

They had been searching for Lu Ye's whereabouts nearby but had consistently failed to find him. They never expected that a serendipitous encounter today would reveal traces of the grand formation to them.

Lu Ye, too, had not anticipated that the formation he had set up would be exposed because of a playful little wolf cub. Primarily, he had no idea that Tan Sheng and his two companions had been tracking him.

When he had previously been tracked by a tracking disk, he would have some faint sensation if their positions were close. But now, he felt nothing at all.

The heavily modified tracking disk was far less effective than a genuine one, but precisely because of this, Lu Ye felt no perception of it. One could say it had both advantages and disadvantages.

Having confirmed that this was likely Lu Ye's hiding place, the three wasted no time. Xia Liang drew his long saber, Wei Que's magical arts surged, and Tan Sheng also brought out his spirit artifact.

The three Ninth-Layer Cloud River Realm powerhouses simultaneously launched their attacks, unleashing them toward the valley below.

Violent magical arts surged, and a massive saber aura swept forth.

Tan Sheng's furious roar, filled with grief and indignation, echoed through the sky: "Lu Yiye, get out here and face your death!"

Accompanying his roar, a booming sound resonated. Around the spirit land, a solid barrier of light suddenly appeared, blocking the incoming attacks and sending ripples across its surface.