Chapter 579: Forbidden Land

Within a few days, Lu Ye had familiarized himself with the situation at Fox Immortal Valley, but he still had no idea how to safely take Li Baxian away.

As long as the Fox Demon's spiritual soul secret technique remained unbroken, Li Baxian would not willingly follow him. Killing the Fox Demon was an even more outlandish idea. Aside from seeing her once in the Fox Demon's sleeping quarters shortly after his arrival, Lu Ye hadn't seen her again in the past few days; she consistently remained in her private chambers, not showing herself.

Moreover, even if she did show herself, Lu Ye's current strength wouldn't be enough to kill her, as she was guarded by many cultivators.

There was also some good news, which came from Feng Yuechan.

The wolf pack in the Spirit Land had grown stronger again. Initially, the pack numbered just over a hundred. It was unknown where they later gathered more of their kind, but by the time Tan Sheng and others entered the Spirit Land, the pack already numbered over two hundred. Just a day ago, the wolf pack brought back another group of their kind, increasing their numbers to over three hundred.

In Lu Ye's plan, killing the Fox Demon absolutely required the strength of the wolf pack, so the growing wolf pack was good news for him.

He just had to wait for the right opportunity.

Fox Immortal Valley had too many cultivators and relied on formations. Even with over three hundred wolves, they would definitely not be a match. If the wolf pack could grow to five hundred, perhaps they could attempt a frontal assault on Fox Immortal Valley, but three hundred was still too few.

He could only continue to wait for a good opportunity.

On the second day of learning blade techniques with Xia Liang, Zhou Yuntian came to find him and conveyed the Fox Demon's order: from now on, Lu Ye would be primarily responsible for the formations in Fox Immortal Valley, with Xie Yunhan as his assistant.

Since it was the Fox Demon's order, Lu Ye naturally had no reason to refuse. He immediately accepted the command, finally confirming that Zhou Yuntian's various favors towards him yesterday were indeed due to his performance in formation mastery.

Xie Yunhan must have said many good things about him.

In fact, in daily operation, it made little difference who was primary and who was secondary. The formations in Fox Immortal Valley had been maintained for many years, and a few days prior, Lu Ye and Xie Yunhan had performed various maintenance and adjustments. Now, there wasn't much for them to do; they just needed to patrol various parts of Fox Immortal Valley three times a day—morning, noon, and evening—to check the formations' operation.

The change in primary and secondary roles was merely a nominal shift, allowing Lu Ye to gain more attention and higher status in Fox Immortal Valley.

Most of the time, Lu Ye practiced blade techniques with Xia Liang. He had never paid much attention before, but after practicing blade techniques with Xia Liang, he realized how poor his fundamentals truly were.

Since embarking on his cultivation path, he had almost entirely fumbled his way through everything. Especially in blade techniques, no one had ever systematically taught him. The only assistance he received was his Third Senior Brother's blade technique cultivation insights, which were entrusted to his son in the Spirit Stream battlefield and from which Lu Ye learned the Blood Transference technique.

But this was merely a secret technique commonly practiced by weapon cultivators; it was of no use for improving fundamentals.

Xia Liang's meticulous guidance would undoubtedly compensate for Lu Ye's shortcomings.

Lu Ye greatly cherished this opportunity.

How to exert force, how to breathe, how to change moves—all of these were intricate. Lu Ye had previously only wielded his blade instinctively. Now, with Xia Liang's guidance, he felt a sense of sudden enlightenment, and the fundamentals of his blade techniques were improving day by day.

Xia Liang had praised Lu Ye's talent in blade techniques more than once, even stating directly that if Lu Ye had joined the Mad Blade Sect back then, he would undoubtedly have grasped its essence.

Several more days passed in a flash.

On this particular morning, Lu Ye, as usual, patrolled the various formations of Fox Immortal Valley with Xie Yunhan. It took them less than half an hour to inspect all the formations and confirm they were operating smoothly.

Just as Lu Ye was about to return to practice blade techniques with Xia Liang, Xie Yunhan suddenly spoke, "Brother, there's another place to patrol today."

"Another place?" Lu Ye asked, puzzled.

The daily patrol areas were fixed, and he had become completely familiar with them these past few days, sure there were no overlooked spots. Where could another place be?

"That's a forbidden area in Fox Immortal Valley," Xie Yunhan explained. "It only needs to be inspected once every half a month. No one is allowed near it on other days."

"A forbidden area?" Lu Ye's interest was immediately piqued. There was actually a forbidden area within Fox Immortal Valley, which he had never known about before.

But since it was a forbidden area, it was natural that he, a newcomer, wouldn't know about it.

He followed Xie Yunhan in a certain direction until they reached the deepest part of Fox Immortal Valley, where a large formation covered an area ahead.

"This is it," Xie Yunhan said, pointing to the large formation. "No one is allowed near this place, but the Honored One has ordered me to inspect it every half a month. From now on, you'll be responsible for this."

Lu Ye observed the formation ahead. On the surface, it was a concealing formation, and inside, there should also be a protective formation operating. However, with the concealing formation in place, he couldn't discern what was inside.

The area covered by the formation wasn't very large, only about a dozen zhang in circumference and circular in shape.

"What's in there?" Lu Ye asked.

Xie Yunhan shook his head. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Lu Ye was surprised.

"The forbidden area was already here when I arrived at Fox Immortal Valley," Xie Yunhan replied. "I've only maintained the formation; I've never gone inside. Brother, the Honored One forbids anyone from entering it. In the future, you just need to come and inspect it every half a month."

"I understand."

So, the two of them proceeded to check the formation's operation separately. After confirming the formation was intact and functioning properly, they soon left.

"Brother, care for a drink at my place?" Xie Yunhan invited.

"I'll bother you later, brother. I'm going to practice blade techniques with Brother Xia first."

Xie Yunhan chuckled. "Then I'll wait for you."

"Fellow Daoist Lu!"

A voice suddenly came from nearby. Lu Ye turned his head and saw Zhou Yuntian smilingly looking at him. From his appearance, it seemed he was specifically waiting for him.

Xie Yunhan said, "Brother Zhou is looking for you; he probably has something to discuss. You should go over first."

Lu Ye nodded, parted ways with Xie Yunhan, and walked towards Zhou Yuntian.

Upon reaching him, Lu Ye cupped his fist in a salute: "Fellow Daoist Zhou."

Zhou Yuntian said with concern, "You've worked hard these past few days. The Honored One is very pleased with your performance."

Lu Ye immediately showed a delighted expression and said, "It is my duty to serve the Honored One."

"Indeed," Zhou Yuntian nodded slightly. "It's right for Fellow Daoist Lu to think that way. Everything we have was bestowed by the Honored One; protecting the Honored One is our greatest mission!"

His face showed a look of fervent devotion, as if he wouldn't even frown if the Honored One ordered him to die.

Lu Ye felt a chill in his heart watching this. He changed the topic and said, "Is there something you need from me, Fellow Daoist Zhou?"

"Oh," Zhou Yuntian snapped back to attention. "When I met the Honored One a few days ago, I recall Fellow Daoist Lu mentioning proficiency in the path of spirit marks, formations, and inscription marks?"

"Strictly speaking, I am a spirit marks master. My involvement in formations and inscription marks is merely a sideline."

"Merely a sideline, yet Fellow Daoist Lu has such high attainments in formations. What about the path of inscription marks?"

"I've only recently begun practicing inscription marks. It's nowhere near comparable to my mastery of formations."

"Can you already inscribe them?"

"Yes, I can, but only three types of inscription marks."

"Which three?"

"The offensive Sharpness mark, the defensive Aegis mark, and the auxiliary Swiftness mark."

Zhou Yuntian's eyes lit up upon hearing this. He eagerly asked, "What's the success rate?"

"Generally speaking, the probability of failure is very low." He had practiced on the wolf pack before, and failures were rare. And even if it failed, it didn't matter; after a few days, when the inscribed area healed, it could simply be reinscribed without causing much damage to the host.

"Excellent! Excellent!" Zhou Yuntian was overjoyed. "Fellow Daoist Lu, would you be able to demonstrate it for me?"

"Certainly. Who wishes to receive an inscription?" Lu Ye still had plenty of inscription materials, more than enough to use.

"Please inscribe it on me."

"Then, Fellow Daoist Zhou, please follow me," Lu Ye said, leading the way.

Soon, they returned to Lu Ye's pavilion. Lu Ye took out various inscription materials and, after giving Zhou Yuntian an introduction, asked, "Which type of inscription mark do you want, Fellow Daoist Zhou?"

Zhou Yuntian pondered for a moment. He then said, "The Aegis mark."

The Sharpness inscription mark was not suitable for inscribing on a person; this was different from demon wolves. After all, cultivators typically used spirit artifacts in battle, and no one would scratch or bite others with their hands or mouths. For cultivators, the only suitable inscription marks were Aegis or Swiftness.

One allowed cultivators to possess a stronger defensive means, while the other allowed them to move faster.

Overall, the Aegis mark was the most suitable, so it was not surprising that Zhou Yuntian made this choice.

"Where would you like it inscribed, Fellow Daoist Zhou?" Lu Ye asked again.

Zhou Yuntian reached out, pulled open the clothes around his chest, and pointed to his heart. "Here!"

This was a very normal choice. The heart area was a vital point for humans, and having an Aegis spirit mark protecting it could very likely save one's life at critical moments.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, please lie down," Lu Ye gestured.

Zhou Yuntian then lay on Lu Ye's bed, opening his robes.

Lu Ye picked up an inscribing needle, dipped it in the materials for the Aegis inscription mark, and raised his hand to inscribe it on Zhou Yuntian's chest.

As the needle descended, Zhou Yuntian's expression was clearly a bit tense, but he soon relaxed.

As one needle after another descended, a triangular, yellowish-brown mark gradually appeared on Zhou Yuntian's chest. Within that mark, intricate patterns interlinked and embedded; just looking at it gave one a feeling of invincibility.

An Aegis inscription mark was nothing difficult for Lu Ye.

It took less than an incense stick's time for Lu Ye to finish and withdraw his hand. He said, "Fellow Daoist Zhou, it's done."

Zhou Yuntian stood up, lowered his head to gaze at the mark on his chest, and gently channeled spiritual power into it. A triangular barrier immediately appeared on his chest, clinging tightly to his body and clearly countless times tougher than his own protective spiritual energy.

Zhou Yuntian was overjoyed and couldn't help but praise, "Fellow Daoist Lu is truly extraordinary. For someone at the Cloud River Realm to be able to inscribe marks is something I've never seen in my life."

Lu Ye said, "You flatter me, Fellow Daoist Zhou. My technique is not refined. This is merely a temporary inscription mark, with a limited number of uses. As long as you are satisfied, Fellow Daoist Zhou, that is all that matters."

"Satisfied, I'm extremely satisfied," Zhou Yuntian said, nodding with a smile. Looking at Lu Ye again, he felt even more convinced that he had found a treasure.