Chapter 603: Night Visit

After the battle in Return-to-Heaven Valley concluded in mere moments, Tu Guanxiong received intelligence from Universal Sect cultivators. A single glance at the report left him greatly alarmed.

Under Huo Liaoyuan's command, the cultivators from both sects not only failed to breach Lu Yiye's Spirit Land and capture him, but instead suffered a crushing defeat with heavy casualties!

Sixty-three cultivators had died, forty-five from the Sacred Fire Sect and eighteen from the Universal Sect!

These simple lines of text conveyed a suffocating aura of bloodshed.

Tu Guanxiong initially couldn't believe it and personally sent a message to Huo Liaoyuan to inquire. It took a while to receive confirmation, and he was utterly dumbfounded.

How could this be?How was this possible?

Huo Liaoyuan had led over seventy cultivators from Sacred Universe Spirit Land and gathered a similar number from the Sacred Fire Sect, totaling over 150 people. How could they suffer such heavy losses against a single Lu Yiye, even if he could command a wolf pack?

After messaging several Universal Sect cultivators again, Tu Guanxiong finally understood the root cause of such immense losses.

It was an Anti-Flight Array!

Sacred Universe Spirit Land didn't even have an Anti-Flight Array, yet Lu Yiye's did? How high was this person's mastery of formations?

The first defensive array feigned weakness, causing the cultivators of both sects who rushed into the Spirit Land to be separated, unable to support each other. The sudden activation of the Anti-Flight Array further caught the trapped cultivators off guard. Unable to fly freely, they were naturally helpless against the numerous demon wolves.

Understanding this, Tu Guanxiong let out a heavy sigh. Although he was annoyed by Huo Liaoyuan's carelessness, he couldn't fault him. Anyone in Huo Liaoyuan's position, facing such a situation, would have been powerless to turn the tide.

After a moment of thought, he could only send a message to Huo Liaoyuan, informing him that he would gather Universal Sect disciples scattered nearby to assist, and telling him not to act rashly until he had amassed sufficient forces.

This was also Huo Liaoyuan's intention, so he readily agreed.

Moments later, across the Cloud River Battlefield, large numbers of cultivators from both sects received messages and rushed towards Great Wilderness Mountain. However, these cultivators were at varying distances; the fastest would take seven or eight days to arrive, while slower ones would take fifteen to twenty days, making them unreliable for immediate support.

Inside the Return-to-Heaven Valley Spirit Land, a few people were cleaning up the messy battlefield and collecting spoils of war.

Li Baxian and the others were unharmed. Even among the demon wolves, only a few had died. Compared to the battle's outcome, such losses were almost negligible.

However, Ju Jia seemed a little melancholic. Although the wolf pack had initially followed him unilaterally, greatly annoying him, their time together had changed his initial feelings.

The Spirit Land could be established in Return-to-Heaven Valley entirely thanks to the wolf pack's protection and guardianship. For the Spirit Land, this wolf pack was the most solid shield, not the defensive formations Lu Yiye had set up.

The facts proved that if not for the wolf pack's assistance today, even if Lu Yiye had set up more formations, it would have been useless. There were only four of them in total. No matter how skilled they were at killing enemies of higher cultivation, how many could they eliminate?

Therefore, even with only a few demon wolves dead, Ju Jia was deeply saddened.

"Junior Brother, the people from Sacred Universe Spirit Land are stationed at the valley entrance. It seems they're waiting for reinforcements," Li Baxian said slowly, looking towards the valley entrance from within the Spirit Land.

In today's battle, Sacred Universe Spirit Land suffered huge losses. After realizing this place was covered by an Anti-Flight Array, they certainly wouldn't dare to launch another active assault.

However, having suffered such a heavy defeat, they didn't retreat but instead adopted a strict defensive posture, as if afraid Lu Yiye and the others would escape. This clearly indicated they were gathering more manpower.

Once their summoned helpers reached a sufficient number, they would undoubtedly launch a forceful attack on the Spirit Land.

"Should I also call some people to help?" Li Baxian asked.

Lu Yiye shook his head, "Money is easy to repay, but favors are hard to return. We'll handle our own affairs; there's no need to trouble others."

Although with Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan's connections, calling for assistance would certainly be no problem, Li Baxian had already asked many people for help when Lu Yiye was being hunted by numerous powerful cultivators from Myriad Devil Ridge in the hunting grounds. All those debts of gratitude were borne by Li Baxian.

If they were to ask again today, they would only incur more.

Hearing him say this, Li Baxian sighed, "That's true."

Lu Yiye continued, "Before today, if we had fled back to Kyushu, it wouldn't have mattered much. But after today, if we were to flee back to Kyushu... the loss would be more than just a Heavenly Secret Pillar and a Spring Spirit."

Li Baxian paused slightly but quickly understood what he meant.

While they could indeed flee back to Kyushu and escape the trouble here, the wolf pack couldn't leave. In today's battle, dozens of cultivators from both sects were slaughtered by the wolf pack. Once they left, the wrath of the two sects would inevitably be vented upon the wolf pack. How many of them would survive then? They would likely be wiped out soon.

Based on such concerns, Ju Jia might not be willing to abandon the wolf pack and return to Kyushu with them. If Ju Jia wouldn't leave, how could they?

"Compared to Sacred Universe Spirit Land, I'm more concerned about something else," Lu Yiye frowned slightly.

"What is it?"

"Xia Liang and Tan Sheng!" Lu Yiye uttered their names. "Sacred Universe Spirit Land was able to precisely locate the Spirit Land and even dispatched so many people at once. They clearly had some understanding of our Spirit Land's situation. This intelligence could only have been leaked by Xia Liang and Tan Sheng, but I didn't see either of them today... Furthermore, while Sacred Universe Spirit Land possessed a lot of intelligence, there were two things they didn't know: first, they didn't know the Spirit Land had an Anti-Flight Array, otherwise they wouldn't have been so careless today; and second, they didn't know we had a Heavenly Secret Pillar."

If they had known about the Heavenly Secret Pillar in the Spirit Land, the people from Sacred Universe Spirit Land might not have been willing to trek all the way here, because even if they pushed Lu Yiye to a desperate situation, he could still use the Heavenly Secret Pillar to return to Kyushu.

"So, Xia Liang and Tan Sheng held back some of the information they revealed."

Lu Yiye nodded. "Concealing the existence of the Heavenly Secret Pillar was merely to watch from the sidelines, waiting for an opportunity to benefit from others' conflict. As for not revealing the Anti-Flight Array, it was probably to intensify the hatred."

"In that case, those two must be hiding in the dark!"

"How sinister!" As he spoke, Lu Yiye stood up. "Senior Brother, I plan to scout their location. At the very least, I need to turn these hidden enemies into open ones. We can't let those two scoundrels lurk in the shadows."

Li Baxian quickly stopped him, "That's too dangerous."

"To keep waiting would just be sitting still and waiting for death. Don't worry, Senior Brother, I'm confident. If it comes to a fight, I'm certainly no match for them, but it won't be easy for them to kill me either."

"Then I'll go with you!"

Lu Yiye chuckled, "Senior Brother, don't you know what I'm capable of? If you come with me, my methods won't be as effective."

Li Baxian was about to say more when Feng Yuechan, who had been standing silently nearby, tugged at his sleeve. She said, "Junior Brother Lu is right. To keep waiting is just sitting still and waiting for death. We still need to find a way to break this deadlock. Junior Brother Lu has ghost cultivation techniques; Senior Brother, you would only be a hindrance if you went along."

Li Baxian frowned deeply and remained silent.

Feng Yuechan took out a small umbrella. "Junior Brother Lu, if you insist on acting alone, then refine this and take it with you. Otherwise, your Senior Brother and I won't agree!"

Lu Yiye looked at the small umbrella. Although he didn't know its exact power, for Feng Yuechan to produce it at this moment, it must possess extremely strong defensive capabilities.

"Alright!" He did not refuse Feng Yuechan's kindness. Taking the umbrella, he quietly sensed it and was surprised to discover that it was an artifact-grade item.

Cloud River Realm cultivators naturally couldn't unleash the full power of an artifact, just as Yiyi had always found it difficult to fully activate the Nine Formation Diagram's power. Their strength was insufficient; they hadn't reached that level yet.

Furthermore, forcibly activating this item would surely consume a lot of energy.

However, having this item in hand at least provided some extra means of survival.

But to unleash its power, it first needed to be refined.

Lu Yiye immediately channeled his spiritual power to refine it. With Feng Yuechan, the original owner, cooperating, it wasn't difficult. Once the refinement was complete, Lu Yiye learned that the small umbrella not only had strong defensive power but also a concealing ability that isolated one's aura.

However, when activating its aura-concealing function, he couldn't move, which was similar to the Trace-Erasing Bracelet Lu Yiye had previously obtained.

This function wasn't of much use to Lu Yiye. He could inherently construct Concealment and Aura-Concealment Spirit Runes. With the enhancement of these two runes, his concealment abilities were even stronger than those of ordinary ghost cultivators, so why would he need external objects?

At this time, the moon was high in the sky, and it was late at night, a perfect time for action.

Lu Yiye walked directly to a corner of the house, where a teleportation array had been set up a few days prior.

The people from Sacred Universe Spirit Land, having set up camp at the valley entrance, would surely maintain a strict watch over the Spirit Land's situation, constantly monitoring any activity.

However, the Spirit Land was covered by a concealment array, so they couldn't see what was inside. If Lu Yiye were to walk out from within, it would inevitably disturb the concealment array, leaving some traces.

Teleporting directly out would avoid this problem.

Standing on the teleportation array, Lu Yiye's mind connected to the locations of several other teleportation points.

Li Baxian still uneasily exhorted him, "Junior Brother, please be extremely careful."

Lu Yiye nodded. The space around him subtly twisted, and his figure vanished.

Over two hundred li away from Return-to-Heaven Spirit Land, in a hidden cave within a mountainous wilderness, spiritual energy suddenly surged, and Lu Yiye's figure appeared.

He immediately sensed his surroundings, perceiving no signs of life, before leisurely walking out of the cave.

He did not summon his spirit artifact to avoid leaving too obvious a trace. Channeling his spiritual power, he rose into the air and swept directly towards Return-to-Heaven Valley.

Previously, the wolf pack would go out hunting every now and then, which resulted in very few monster beasts being encountered within a thousand li radius of Return-to-Heaven Valley. This conveniently facilitated Lu Yiye's current actions; otherwise, encountering a few monster beasts on the way would only add trouble.

However, even so, he did not fly too high, only hovering and gliding at a height of about ten meters above the ground.

It was only when he was about thirty to fifty li from Return-to-Heaven Valley that Lu Yiye landed, applying his Concealment and Aura Concealment techniques to himself, completely disappearing from sight.