Chapter 597: Saint Universe Sacred Land

The Spirit Land was unharmed. After all, it was deep within Taimang Mountain, and even if cultivators occasionally passed by, Lu Ye's obscuring formations made it unlikely they would detect anything.

Activating the grand formation's jade token, the group entered. Beautiful scenery met their eyes: on the soft, verdant grass, many wolf pups were playing and wrestling. Only a small number of adult demon wolves, about a dozen, remained at the Spirit Land. They noticed the movement and looked over, but once they confirmed it was Lu Ye and the others returning, they paid no further attention.

After another two or three hours, the entire wolf pack returned. Demon wolves cannot fly, so their speed was significantly slower than Lu Ye and his companions.

At this very moment, Lu Ye stood before the Heavenly Mystery Pillar, his mind linked to the Heavenly Mystery Treasure Trove, from which he purchased a large quantity of materials. The Spirit Land's location had been exposed, and Tan Sheng and Xia Liang would certainly not let the matter rest. It was foreseeable that soon, cultivators from the Myriad Demons Ridge would come to attack. Since they had decided to temporarily remain within the Spirit Land, essential formations needed to be set up, especially teleportation formations. Although the Spirit Land had the Heavenly Mystery Pillar summoned by Lu Ye, allowing everyone to return to Kyushu at any time, having a few extra teleportation formations wouldn't hurt.

With the materials purchased, Lu Ye began crafting formation flags. He had just recently crafted a large number of formation flags in Fox Immortal Valley, but they had all been used up, helping the fox demon kill the berserk giant ape. Just a few days later, he began crafting formation flags again, but the experience was completely different; it was simpler this time. This was not merely a result of his cultivation level increasing by one layer, but also due to his spiritual sense becoming stronger. A powerful spiritual sense allowed for more precise control over spiritual energy. He could now craft three formation flags in the time it took him to craft two a few days ago, a significant improvement in efficiency.

Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan were tasked with searching for suitable locations to set up teleportation formations nearby. As for Jujia, he couldn't offer much help and was best kept from causing trouble; he had been cultivating continuously ever since their return.

While they were busy there, in another valley less than three thousand li from Hui Tian Valley, a grand formation enveloped the area, with cultivators frequently entering and exiting. This was the Saint-Yu Spirit Land, which was even marked on the ten-part map sold by the Heavenly Mystery Alliance. The Saint-Yu Spirit Land had existed on the Cloudy River Battlefield for over twenty years and was considered a relatively famous Spirit Land in the vicinity.

Compared to Lu Ye's Spirit Land, Saint-Yu Spirit Land was undoubtedly a large-scale Spirit Land. With over twenty years of development, its scale had continuously expanded. Currently, there were over a hundred cultivators within the entire Spirit Land, and looking across the entire Cloudy River Battlefield, there weren't many Spirit Lands larger than Saint-Yu Spirit Land.

What was particularly noteworthy was that a few years ago, Saint-Yu Spirit Land had been promoted from a Class B to a Class A Spirit Land.

The grade of a Spirit Land can be upgraded, and its scale can also be expanded, simply by integrating more Spirit Springs. For instance, while Lu Ye's Spirit Land is already Class A, the highest grade, if he could obtain Spirit Springs of other qualities and place them within the Spirit Spring, the Spirit Land's grade wouldn't improve, but its scale would expand. The higher the quality of the integrated Spirit Spring, the more the scale would expand, thus allowing more cultivators to reside and cultivate there.

Generally speaking, large-scale Spirit Lands on the Cloudy River Battlefield developed step by step in this manner.

Many sects have their own exclusive Spirit Lands, passed down through generations of cultivators. This has extremely long-term significance for the development of a sect, as their cultivators, once they advance to the Cloud River Realm, can enter the Spirit Land and cultivate securely.

However, for many cultivators, while cultivating in a Spirit Land is secure, it can also be a hindrance. Excessive security can lead to a lack of drive and a loss of ambition.

Therefore, even in sects with Spirit Land inheritances, cultivators do not constantly stay within the Spirit Land; they venture out for experience every now and then.

The Saint-Yu Spirit Land was not the inherited Spirit Land of just one sect, but two: the Sacred Fire Sect and the Boundless Sect. Both were Myriad Demons Ridge sects located in You Province, having long-standing ties. Naturally, their disciples would help each other once they arrived at the Cloudy River Battlefield.

Currently, the cultivators in Saint-Yu Spirit Land were led by two ninth-level Cloud River Realm cultivators: Huoliaoyuan of the Sacred Fire Sect and Tu Guanchong of the Boundless Sect. For a Spirit Land with over a hundred people, two ninth-level cultivators was a very small proportion. This didn't mean that these two major sects only had two ninth-level Cloud River Realm cultivators; even at their weakest, these sects were Fourth or Fifth Grade—how could they only have two ninth-level Cloud River Realm cultivators? It was simply that Cloud River Realm cultivators did not stay on the Cloudy River Battlefield year-round. Especially after their cultivation became high, most of their time was spent in Kyushu, where improving cultivation was secondary and personal experience and tempering were more important. Were it not for the need to oversee the Spirit Land and look after their junior disciples, they wouldn't stay in the Spirit Land year-round either. Even this oversight was on a rotating basis, for three months at a time, after which other ninth-level Cloud River Realm cultivators would replace them.

In the secret chamber, Huoliaoyuan was cultivating when his battle imprint suddenly showed activity. He didn't check it immediately, but remained seated quietly. Only after a stick of incense had burned did he slowly open his eyes and exhale a breath of turbid air. He raised his hand and tapped his battle imprint. After a brief check, Huoliaoyuan's expression shifted slightly. This message was sent back by a junior disciple of his sect who was out adventuring on the Cloudy River Battlefield, and its content greatly intrigued him.

After a moment of thought, he sent a message out and quickly stood up. Leaving the secret chamber, he went directly to another house. Before he could knock, the door opened by itself, revealing a figure: Tu Guanchong, the other ninth-level cultivator in the Spirit Land.

Welcoming Huoliaoyuan inside, Tu Guanchong asked, "Senior Brother Huo, is the news confirmed?"

"It's a message sent back by Nan Cheng from outside, so its accuracy can't be definitively confirmed," Huoliaoyuan replied.

Tu Guanchong thought for a moment and recalled who "Nan Cheng" was. The two sects had more than just these two ninth-level Cloud River Realm cultivators, and naturally, their Cloud River Realm disciples totaled more than a mere hundred. However, the Spirit Land here could only accommodate a hundred cultivators, so more disciples were scattered throughout the Cloudy River Battlefield, seeking their own opportunities.

"Where did he get the news?" Tu Guanchong asked again.

Huoliaoyuan said, "Someone messaged him, and the person who received that information heard it from somewhere else. The message has been relayed several times, so the original source can no longer be determined."

"Senior Brother Huo, how reliable do you think this news is?"

"Before seeing it with my own eyes, any news is hard to confirm. However, since it concerns Lu Yiye, it's worth investigating! What bothers me, though, is how detailed the information in the message is." The intelligence he received not only detailed Lu Ye's current location but also the various forces within the Spirit Land, including the cultivation levels of Li Baxian and others, and the numerous wolf pack.

"Senior Brother Huo, are you suspecting..." Tu Guanchong pondered.

"If I'm not mistaken, someone must have suffered a great loss at Lu Yiye's hands but has no hope of revenge, so they want to use us to do their dirty work!" He paused. "Nearly three hundred demon wolves... Lu Yiye isn't from a beast-taming lineage, so how could he possibly control them? Even if he were truly from a beast-taming lineage, he couldn't possibly control so many demon wolves."

"If that's truly the case, we might not be able to handle it," Tu Guanchong said with concern. However, he knew about the animosity between the Sacred Fire Sect and the Crimson Blood Sect, and moreover, Lu Yiye carried an immense bounty, so he understood that Huoliaoyuan must have been swayed; otherwise, he wouldn't have sought him out to discuss this matter. Not to mention Huoliaoyuan, even he himself was tempted. After the incident at the hunting grounds, Lu Yiye had gone to the Spirit Creek Battlefield and extorted a huge amount of resources from the major sects of Myriad Demons Ridge, which further increased Myriad Demons Ridge's bounty on him. These days, countless people across the entire Cloudy River Battlefield had been searching for Lu Yiye's whereabouts, but to no avail; no one knew where he was. Now that there was an exact location, who wouldn't be tempted? If this news were to spread, that place would likely be overflowing with people within days. Yet, the person secretly revealing the news chose not to spread it widely, instead precisely transmitting it to the Sacred Fire Sect, clearly indicating they hadn't given up hope.

"The number of demon wolves is indeed considerable, but if we plan properly, we might still have a chance to kill Lu Yiye." Previously, Lu Ye was at the third-level Cloud River Realm, and even with the rewards from the hunting grounds' kill list, his cultivation wouldn't have changed significantly. Against such an enemy, as long as they found an opportunity, they could kill him in one blow. Why bother tangling with a wolf pack?

"In any case, let's send someone to investigate first to confirm if the news is reliable. As for someone wanting to reap the benefits without effort..." A cold glint flashed in Huoliaoyuan's eyes. "They'll have to see if they have the ability to snatch food from a tiger's mouth!" The other party's secretive actions clearly showed they were acting alone and lacked strength. What was there to fear from them, with the full power of their Spirit Land?

"I understand," Tu Guanchong replied, immediately sending a message. Sending someone to investigate news naturally required a Ghost Cultivator. However, ninety-nine percent of the Sacred Fire Sect's disciples were magic cultivators, making it impossible to find a Ghost Cultivator among them, so they could only rely on someone from the Boundless Sect.

A moment later, a short, lean man walked in, saying, "Senior Brother Tu, Senior Brother Huo."

Tu Guanchong said, "Yan Gui, there's a place I need you to investigate."

The Ghost Cultivator, Yan Gui, replied, "Please instruct me, Senior Brother."

"Hui Tian Valley!"

Yan Gui took out his ten-part map. After a brief check, he located Hui Tian Valley, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "This place is deep within Taimang Mountain, Senior Brothers. What's there?"

"You'll know when you get there," Tu Guanchong said without elaborating, fearing he might give his junior disciple a preconceived notion. "Remember to investigate thoroughly and be careful. There... might be danger."

Yan Gui was unconcerned. "Don't worry, Senior Brother, I'll be careful." Although his cultivation wasn't particularly high, he was at least at the seventh-level Cloud River Realm, and as a Ghost Cultivator, he excelled at concealment. Gathering intelligence was effortless for him.

"If you find anything, report it immediately."

"Understood!" Yan Gui accepted the order and left. Stepping out of the room, he mounted his artifact and soared into the sky.