Chapter 618: Transaction

Song Zhui burst out laughing. "Seeing is believing, and Fellow Daoist Lu is truly interesting."

Hailing from Yuanhong Palace, he had read numerous ancient texts. Though he didn't practice the art of formations, he possessed a basic understanding of them.

The names of the formations Lu Ye casually mentioned were all legendary, earth-shattering arrays—far beyond the capabilities of a Cloud River Realm cultivator to set up.

It was impossible for these specific formations to be present in the spiritual land before them.

However, whether other formations were present remained unknown...

The opponent's open invitation, like asking them into a trap, clearly showed his confidence.

"Interesting, isn't it?" Lu Ye's gaze lowered. "Then allow me to show you something even more interesting!"

As he spoke, a formation flag suddenly appeared in his hand, and he waved it gently.

A thunderous boom echoed, followed by a burst of fire that shot skyward. Somewhere in the spiritual land, amid violent spiritual energy fluctuations, a hidden figure abruptly materialized. Enveloped by the flames, it shrieked miserably and rapidly retreated.

It was a ghost cultivator attempting to sneak into the spiritual land. This particular ghost cultivator, only at the sixth-layer cultivation level, had no apparent reason to be so audacious. Now engulfed by the explosive formation, its body ablaze, it barely managed to escape the range of the blast before collapsing onto the ground, clearly on its last breath.

This sudden turn of events startled the cultivators from Myriad Demons Ridge, who collectively looked down at the fallen ghost cultivator.

Before they could fully register what happened, Lu Ye's formation flag was already waving continuously.

Boom! Boom! Boom!...

Loud roars continuously erupted from various parts of the spiritual land, with flashes of fire appearing one after another. Each sound was accompanied by a gasp or a scream, and within every activated explosive formation, the figure of a ghost cultivator was revealed.

In a short span, over a dozen explosive formations were triggered, exposing the whereabouts of more than ten hidden ghost cultivators, who were either killed or severely wounded.

The group from Myriad Demons Ridge watched, dumbfounded.

While they knew some ghost cultivators might be lurking in the shadows, they never imagined there would be so many! And these were just the ones exposed; how many more remained hidden?

These ghost cultivators... were truly useless and only caused trouble!

What horrified them even more was the sheer number of formations Lu Yiye had laid out in the spiritual land. Those ghost cultivators were scattered across various locations, yet they couldn't escape their fate of being harmed by the arrays.

Now, within this spiritual land, it seemed every step was a formation.

In the sky, Song Zhui frowned, scrutinizing the exposed ghost cultivators. Although he knew that with Shadow Wuji's abilities, he wouldn't be easily exposed, he still felt a degree of worry. After scanning the dozen-plus ghost cultivators and finding no trace of Shadow Wuji, he finally relaxed slightly.

Elsewhere in the spiritual land, Shadow Wuji remained hidden, inching silently closer to Lu Ye's position, completely unfazed by the exposure of his dozen companions.

As an exceptional ghost cultivator, he naturally had some knowledge of the art of formations, especially the methods for breaking them. This was crucial because ghost cultivators often needed to infiltrate arrays to assassinate their targets.

A saying circulated among the cultivation world of Kyushu: a ghost cultivator who doesn't understand formations is not a qualified ghost cultivator!

In the Spirit Stream and Cloud River realms, ghost cultivators didn't have high demands regarding formations. However, as their cultivation deepened, their need for understanding formation-breaking techniques increased significantly.

This led to an odd phenomenon in the cultivation world of Kyushu: some individuals appeared to be formation masters on the surface, but were, in reality, ghost cultivators skilled in stealth and assassination.

In terms of formation mastery, Shadow Wuji was inferior to Lu Ye. However, unlike those foolish ghost cultivators, he could discern some traces of formations. Thus, he had not triggered any formations along his path, nor had he even stepped into their covered areas.

"Was that entertaining?" Lu Ye lowered his formation flag.

Song Zhui took a deep breath and exclaimed, "I had long heard that Fellow Daoist Lu possessed extraordinary mastery in formations, and what I've witnessed today is truly remarkable. Song is impressed!"

With such ease, he had forced over a dozen ghost cultivators to reveal themselves. Under such deterrence, it was likely that other hidden ghost cultivators would not dare to make any further moves.

Therefore, for their plan to succeed, it all depended on Shadow Wuji!

Although the current situation was unexpected, it was exactly what Song Zhui wanted. He didn't need to do much; he simply needed to keep Lu Ye's attention here and create an opportunity for Shadow Wuji to act.

Once Shadow Wuji made his move, Lu Yiye would undoubtedly die, and their objective for this trip would be accomplished.

With this thought, he slowly shook his head. "However, Fellow Daoist Lu, forgive my bluntness, but this is meaningless. Today, hundreds of my fellow daoists from Myriad Demons Ridge have gathered here. I believe you understand why. Under such overwhelming odds, do you truly believe you still have a chance to survive?"

"So, it seems I'm doomed?"

Song Zhui replied, "Are you still holding onto some unrealistic illusions, Fellow Daoist Lu? Naturally, even ants cling to life, let alone cultivators like us. It's understandable that you wouldn't resign yourself to fate. But, Fellow Daoist Lu, are you truly willing to implicate others because of your own predicament?"

Lu Ye's eyes narrowed slightly.

Song Zhui continued, "No matter how many grand formations Fellow Daoist Lu has laid out in this spiritual land, since numerous cultivators from Myriad Demons Ridge have arrived today, we will not leave empty-handed! However, if we resort to force, both our sides will likely suffer casualties. The greatest possibility is that we pay a certain price, while your side is completely annihilated!" He raised an eyebrow. "Fellow Daoist Lu, how about we make a deal?"

A faint smile suddenly touched Lu Ye's lips, dispelling his usual expressionless demeanor. "Coincidentally, I also wish to make a deal with you."

Song Zhui looked surprised. "Oh? What kind of deal does Fellow Daoist Lu have in mind? Please, tell us."

"You go first."

Song Zhui didn't mince words. "As I just said, if conflict arises, both our sides will pay a price. So, how about Fellow Daoist Lu surrenders?"

"Are you still dreaming?"

Song Zhui said, "As long as Fellow Daoist Lu is willing to surrender, I can guarantee the safe departure of your three companions. If you don't trust me, I can swear an Oath of Heavenly Secrets!"

"I see!" Lu Ye finally understood his meaning. "A very sincere proposal."

To sacrifice himself to ensure the safety of Li Baxian and the others—if Lu Ye truly had no other contingency, this would indeed be a proposal worth considering. Of course, Li Baxian and his companions would certainly not agree to it.

"So, what's your answer, Fellow Daoist Lu?"

"I..." Just as Lu Ye began to speak, he suddenly turned his head to look sideways, his eyes instantly empowered by an Insight spiritual pattern. Then, he swiftly raised the formation flag in his hand and sharply swung it down.

He had made such a move before, resulting in the sudden exposure of over a dozen ghost cultivators. Now, repeating the action, it was clear he had detected another ghost cultivator.

This time, however, the hidden ghost cultivator was only ten *zhang* away from his position!

This was an extremely dangerous distance, and the only ghost cultivator capable of infiltrating to this extent despite the previous deterrent was Shadow Wuji!

The moment Lu Ye's gaze fell upon him, Shadow Wuji felt a surge of surprise. Instinctively, he didn't believe he had revealed his presence, yet Lu Ye's eyes were fixed directly on his location, clearly indicating he had been detected.

How was this possible?

Two months prior, even that True Lake Realm cultivator hadn't detected his approach. How could this Lu Yiye possibly have noticed him?

He hadn't triggered any formation traces. Could it be that this person's spiritual sense was even stronger than that deceased True Lake Realm cultivator?

In the fleeting moment of mutual gaze between light and shadow, Shadow Wuji reacted, transforming into a dark blur and lunging at Lu Ye with astonishing speed.

Although he had preferred to sneak up on Lu Ye for a killing blow, since he was exposed, a frontal assault was his only option.

At a distance of ten *zhang*, with a ninth-layer cultivator like him making a decisive move, his opponent would surely be unable to evade!

Lu Ye didn't dodge. He simply swung the formation flag in his hand.

In the next instant, a light barrier, several *zhang* in radius, appeared out of thin air, completely engulfing the charging Shadow Wuji.

Shadow Wuji's heart sank. The moment he saw the light barrier, he sensed trouble, for it felt like a... containment formation!

The next moment, he, infused with a sharp aura, slammed into the light barrier.

As expected, it was indeed a containment formation. Even with a full-power strike from a ninth-layer ghost cultivator like him, he couldn't break through the light barrier.

A chilling sensation overwhelmed him. Inside the containment formation, violent and chaotic spiritual energy fluctuations surged, and bright flashes of fire suddenly erupted in Shadow Wuji's vision.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!...

The explosive formations unleashed their power, and it wasn't just one. Judging by the commotion, at least three or four explosive formations had detonated simultaneously.

Moreover, being confined within the containment formation further amplified the explosive power of these arrays.

Outside the spiritual land, the many cultivators from Myriad Demons Ridge watched with twitching eyes. This scene... it looked painful just to witness.

Amidst the sky-high flames, a muffled groan was heard.

The containment formation's light barrier only held for a single breath before shattering...

It wasn't that the containment formation Lu Ye set up wasn't sturdy enough. Even a powerful ghost cultivator like Shadow Wuji, with a full-power strike, couldn't break it, proving it was a formidable array.

It was simply that the combined detonation of several explosive formations had exceeded the containment barrier's endurance limit.

Almost the instant the containment barrier shattered, a dark figure darted out of it, not toward Lu Ye, but in the opposite direction.

Its speed was far greater than before, and its body was even covered in a thick crimson glow, indicating the use of some secret art.

The black figure vanished in a flash, dashing out of Huotian Valley in the blink of an eye, leaving no trace.

From start to finish, no one had seen his true face.

Only Lu Ye, in the fleeting moment the figure was exposed, vaguely saw something. However, the figure wore a black cat mask, so Lu Ye couldn't discern his features. He only inferred from the spiritual energy fluctuations that it was a ninth-layer ghost cultivator.

In the sky, Song Zhui watched the scene, speechless.

Shadow Wuji... had failed!

Not only had he failed, but he was also heavily wounded!

This was truly a monumental joke...