Chapter 599: Crisis Approaches

"The other Ten Thousand Demon Ridge force, junior brother, you shouldn't be unfamiliar with them."

"Which one?"

"The Sacred Flame Cult!"

Lu Ye was indeed not unfamiliar with this force. His first encounter with their people left a deep impression on him.

That was on Golden Light Peak in the Spirit Creek Battlefield, where his final battle was against a Saintess from the Sacred Flame Cult who had deliberately shattered her Spirit Aperture, reducing her cultivation from the seventh level to the sixth.

That battle was incredibly fierce; both sides were exhausted by the end. Only by expending every last bit of spirit power to cast a Fire Phoenix spell was he able to defeat his opponent.

Later, in the inner circle of the battlefield, when he formed a joint army of the Haotian Alliance, Lu Ye even specifically led the allied forces to destroy the Sacred Flame Cult's stronghold, because his senior sister had told him that the Sacred Flame Cult had a deep enmity with the Crimson Blood Sect!

With someone suspected of being from the Boundless Sect suddenly appearing here, and a Sacred Universe Spirit Land jointly controlled by the Sacred Flame Cult and the Boundless Sect located two to three thousand miles away, Li Baxian couldn't help but make many connections.

"If this person truly came from Sacred Universe Spirit Land, then we might be in for some significant trouble recently," Li Baxian said.

Putting everything else aside, a large first-grade sect was forcefully reduced in rank and only now has recovered to the fourth-grade level. Such animosity is impossible to resolve. Once the Sacred Flame Cult knows Lu Ye's current location, they will certainly take action.

"We'll play it by ear," Lu Ye said, his eyes glinting.

He had originally thought that with a Class A Spirit Land, he could cultivate peacefully here with Li Baxian and the others. However, things didn't go as planned. Not long after, first Xia Liang, Tan Sheng, and their group attacked, and now they might be targeted by Sacred Universe Spirit Land again.

Lu Ye, however, was not flustered. The Spirit Land had the Heavenly Mystery Pillar he had summoned, along with numerous formations and a wolf pack guarding it. The worst outcome would simply be the Spirit Land being breached, forcing him and Li Baxian back to Kyushu.

"Did this person send out a message before he died?" Li Baxian asked.

Lu Ye nodded. "Yes, but whether it was successful or not, I'm not sure."

When Yan Gui realized something was wrong, he suddenly raised his hand and tapped his battlefield mark. Although Lu Ye quickly killed him, Lu Ye didn't know if he had successfully sent the message.

"Let's prepare for the worst and respond appropriately," Li Baxian said, and the three quickly returned to the Spirit Land.

Amber was sound asleep. The reason for this was that Lu Ye had fed it the monstrous beast core from the overlord-level beast.

The storage bag he got from the fox demon had already been opened, yielding a rich harvest, with hundreds of beast cores alone.

Considering the fox demon had been acting tyrannically in Fox Immortal Valley for twenty years, it was no surprise that it had accumulated so many beast cores.

Amber had consumed many beast cores before, but without much reaction. This time, after swallowing the monstrous core of the berserk giant ape, it soon fell into a deep sleep, evidently because the power contained within that core was too strong, requiring Amber to refine it through sleep.

This also caused Yiyi to enter a dormant state.

However, Lu Ye was quite expectant. Given Amber's unusual reaction this time, it would surely gain a lot upon waking, perhaps even achieving another breakthrough.

***

Sacred Universe Spirit Land.

Tu Guanxiong suddenly felt a reaction from his battlefield mark and quickly checked it, discovering that it was a message from Yan Gui, who had left a few days ago. The message was simple, containing only three words.

"Lu Yiye..."

It wasn't that Yan Gui didn't want to send more information; he simply ran out of time. Transmitting those three words was his limit.

And just as Tu Guanxiong finished examining the unclear message, Yan Gui's battlefield mark completely vanished.

Tu Guanxiong's expression changed drastically.

The disappearance of the battlefield mark undoubtedly meant Yan Gui's demise, which Tu Guanxiong had never anticipated. Yan Gui was, after all, a seventh-level cultivator, and as a ghost cultivator, he was highly skilled in stealth. If he didn't reveal himself, he wouldn't be in significant danger even if he encountered a ninth-level Cloud River cultivator.

This was also why he had confidently allowed Yan Gui to go.

He had only gone to investigate the situation at Return-to-Heaven Valley; how could he have fallen there?

However, Yan Gui's final message undoubtedly indicated that he had seen Lu Yiye, meaning the intelligence Huo Liaoyuan had received earlier was true!

Lu Yiye was in Return-to-Heaven Valley!

"Damn it!" Tu Guanxiong growled, clenching his teeth. His junior brother's mysterious death filled him with immense grief.

Suppressing his sorrow, Tu Guanxiong left the room, found Huo Liaoyuan, and informed him of Yan Gui's fate.

Huo Liaoyuan was extremely surprised. "Yan Gui is dead?"

Tu Guanxiong replied gravely, "He's dead!"

The disappearance of the battlefield mark was the most definitive proof.

Huo Liaoyuan's lips moved, and he finally could only say, "My condolences."

"Yan Gui cannot die in vain!" Tu Guanxiong said coldly.

Huo Liaoyuan nodded. "Naturally, he won't die in vain. Since Lu Yiye is in Return-to-Heaven Valley, I'll lead people there to kill him immediately!"

"If the intelligence about Lu Yiye being in Return-to-Heaven Valley is true, then the rest should also be accurate. Hundreds of demonic wolves aren't easy to deal with. Brother Huo, a small force might not be enough to succeed!"

Huo Liaoyuan nodded. "Don't worry, I'll send out a message for our Sacred Flame Cult disciples in the vicinity to gather at Return-to-Heaven Valley. Additionally, I'll take half of the people from the Spirit Land with me!"

Just half of the Spirit Land cultivators would be fifty people. If they also included the cultivators summoned by the Sacred Flame Cult, they could easily assemble a hundred-person lineup. Such a force could indeed deal with Return-to-Heaven Valley... if the intelligence they had was correct.

"Take seventy percent!" Tu Guanxiong said. "If we're going to strike, let's crush them with overwhelming force!"

Huo Liaoyuan wanted to say it wasn't necessary, but seeing the hatred in Tu Guanxiong's eyes, he finally nodded. "Then I'll follow Brother Tu's advice. I will personally kill Lu Yiye and bring his head back."

Tu Guanxiong said, "Brother Huo, don't be careless. Last time in the hunting ground, Lu Yiye summoned the Heavenly Mystery Pillar to escape back to Kyushu. He might still be capable of summoning it again now."

"I've heard about the hunting ground incident. His biggest reason for escaping then wasn't the Heavenly Mystery Pillar, but the Golden Body Token's protection, which was impenetrable. This time, he doesn't have the Golden Body Token, so even if he summons the Heavenly Mystery Pillar, he might not have a chance to escape back to Kyushu." Huo Liaoyuan said, a chilling smile appearing on his face. "Besides, Brother Tu, don't forget, I still have *that thing* in my possession. As long as I find an opportunity, he will surely die!"

Tu Guanxiong was momentarily stunned, then seemed to remember something and nodded slightly. "That's true. But using that item on Lu Yiye... might be a bit of a waste."

"I'll act depending on the situation, Brother Tu. Just await my good news."

With a decision made, Huo Liaoyuan immediately took action. Everyone in the Spirit Land who wasn't in secluded cultivation was immediately summoned, and seventy percent of them were selected.

Following this, Huo Liaoyuan continuously sent out messages, summoning Sacred Flame Cult disciples scattered outside to gather at the outskirts of Mount Taimang.

Just half an hour later, a huge Spirit Boat ascended into the air and sped towards Mount Taimang.

In the Spirit Creek Battlefield, large Spirit Boats capable of carrying many cultivators were not uncommon, especially in the inner and core circles, where almost every sect's stronghold had one.

Although these massive Spirit Boats weren't as fast as smaller flying artifacts, they weren't much slower and were essential tools for sects or forces traveling together.

However, in the Cloud River Battlefield, such large flying artifacts were rarely seen, as cultivators at the Cloud River Realm seldom gathered in large groups. Only a few large Spirit Lands would be equipped with such a flying artifact for emergencies.

Tu Guanxiong watched the Spirit Boat depart. Although he greatly wished to personally seek revenge, someone always needed to stay and guard the Spirit Land. He and Huo Liaoyuan had to leave one person behind, and since Huo Liaoyuan possessed *that item*, Tu Guanxiong could only let him lead the contingent.

As the Spirit Boat set off, dozens of miles away, two other pairs of eyes were quietly observing.

They were Xia Liang and Tan Sheng. After several days of recovery, both had almost fully recuperated.

"Brother Xia, your foresight is extraordinary. Sacred Universe Spirit Land truly couldn't hold back and has made a large-scale move. It also seems the news hasn't fully leaked out."

Xia Liang snorted coldly. "Wealth stirs hearts. How could they bear to let the news leak? Everyone would want a piece of the pie then."

"Shall we depart as well?"

"Let's go."

The two didn't follow the Sacred Universe Spirit Land's Spirit Boat. After all, they already knew the location of Return-to-Heaven Valley and could arrive there first to wait quietly.

***

Inside the Spirit Land, there was a profound quiet.

Li Baxian and the others were all cultivating. Amber was still asleep, while Lu Ye held a broken arrow segment in his hand, examining it repeatedly.

This broken arrow belonged to Wei Que. When he was on the verge of death, he unleashed this arrow segment, which possessed incredible power. Even Ju Jia's body couldn't withstand its destructive force, and it pierced straight through him.

Afterward, Lu Ye and Li Baxian pursued the heavily injured Tan Sheng and Xia Liang, while Feng Yuechan stayed behind to look after Ju Jia and thus collected this broken arrow.

This item looked quite ancient, and it was unknown where Wei Que had found it.

However, according to Feng Yuechan, this broken arrow was an 'Exotic Treasure'.

An 'Exotic Treasure' refers to a treasure whose quality is difficult to assess using ordinary criteria.

For instance, the Golden Body Token Lu Ye used in the hunting ground, and even the Tracking Compass Tan Sheng used to pinpoint his location, were all Exotic Treasures.

There were quite a few Exotic Treasures in Kyushu, most of which originated from various secret realms, while some were gifts from heavenly mechanisms. Anything connected to an Exotic Treasure could not be judged by common sense; they often possessed peculiar and strange functions.

Taking this broken arrow as an example, according to Lu Ye's examination, the number of restrictions within it wasn't many, at most equivalent to a top-grade spiritual artifact.

Yet, no top-grade spiritual artifact could unleash such devastating power. One must remember that this item even pierced through Ju Jia's defenses.

And this was only a broken arrow segment!

It was hard to imagine what power it could unleash if it were complete.

There was a crack on the broken arrow, indicating it couldn't be used many more times. Feng Yuechan handed it to Lu Ye because activating it required an enormous amount of spirit energy. Even with her current sixth-level Cloud River cultivation, fully unleashing the arrow's power would likely drain all her spirit energy.

Therefore, it was difficult for her to utilize its full potential.