Chapter 620: Enemies Meet on a Narrow Path

The patterns within the grand formation grew increasingly bright, and the space around Lu Ye suddenly began to distort. He then abruptly vanished.

This bizarre scene stunned everyone present. Song Zhui instinctively took a step forward, and a commotion erupted among the crowd behind him.

In broad daylight, under everyone's watchful eyes, a living person had simply disappeared, and it wasn't even due to the Heavenly Mystery Pillars' effects.

If they hadn't witnessed it themselves, no one would have dared to believe it.

"It's a teleportation formation! That's a teleportation formation!" a voice suddenly exclaimed from the crowd. It was a formation master who had once seen the method for setting up a teleportation formation in an ancient text. He had been very interested in it and had specifically studied it for a period. However, he realized that with his talent in formation arrays, he would likely never be able to construct such a complex formation in his lifetime, mainly because the core void spirit patterns were too difficult to create.

Moreover, in the cultivation world of Kyushu, due to divine artifacts like the Heavenly Mystery Pillars, teleportation formations weren't particularly useful, so after studying it for a while, he reluctantly gave up.

But he still recognized the formation patterns of a teleportation array.

He couldn't believe that someone in the Cloud River Realm had managed to set up a formation that he himself could never construct in his entire life.

Lu Yi Ye's mastery in formation arrays probably exceeded everyone's imagination!

His words astonished everyone. Though shocked, they finally understood why Lu Ye had vanished into thin air.

It was actually a teleportation formation!

If there had been a Grand Cultivator of the Divine Sea Realm present, they might have been able to perceive the spatial distortion and determine Lu Ye's teleportation direction with their divine sense. But a group of Cloud River Realm cultivators had no such ability.

Once Lu Ye's figure disappeared, they could no longer trace his whereabouts.

Song Zhui clenched his fists, his expression furious, feeling that Lu Ye had played him for a fool!

The deal Lu Ye had proposed earlier was for him to leave the spirit land, giving the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge faction a chance to kill him. In return, the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge was not to destroy his spirit land, otherwise he would return to the Spirit Stream Battlefield and destroy their sect's strongholds.

Song Zhui had initially thought Lu Ye would fly out of the spirit land. In his mind, as long as Lu Ye dared to leave, he could immediately pursue him, confident that a fifth-layer Cloud River Realm cultivator could never escape him.

But Lu Ye had now been teleported away; who knew where he had gone?

Just as Song Zhui was seething with frustration, the formation master who had spoken earlier spoke again: "Senior Brother Song, Lu Yi Ye must not be far from here. His cultivation isn't high, so the teleportation formation he set up can only transmit a limited distance — at most two or three hundred li!"

Song Zhui's expression brightened. "Are you certain?"

"There can be no mistake!" the formation master declared firmly.

Hope flickered in Song Zhui's eyes again. He immediately commanded, "Disperse everyone and search for Lu Yi Ye. If you find him, give a warning whistle!"

Two or three hundred li was nothing for Cloud River Realm cultivators, so even if they had temporarily lost track of him, with so many people dispersing, it was not impossible to find him.

With his command, hundreds of cultivators outside the spirit land immediately dispersed, sweeping in all directions.

The current situation was undoubtedly a godsend for the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators. All those who had come were at the sixth layer or above, each fully confident that if they found Lu Yi Ye, they would be able to kill him. Previously, under Song Zhui's leadership, the bounty for killing Lu Yi Ye would have had to be shared among everyone, but now they had the chance to claim the bounty for themselves. How could they miss such an opportunity? They were all as if injected with stimulants, their spirits high and excited.

Inside the spirit land, Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan watched with complex expressions as the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators thundered away, no longer paying any attention to their side.

Feng Yuechan took out the jade token that controlled the spirit land's various grand formations, a look of realization dawning on her face. "So, Junior Brother Lu always had this plan."

The grand formations in the spirit land were set up by Lu Ye, and the jade token for them had naturally always been under his control. However, just yesterday, Lu Ye had found Feng Yuechan and handed her the jade token, also returning the small umbrella spirit artifact he had borrowed from her earlier.

At the time, Feng Yuechan hadn't understood why Lu Ye would hand her the jade token. Now, looking back, she realized Lu Ye had never intended to escape back to Kyushu from the very beginning.

It made sense; he had been cultivating peacefully here, yet he had been sought out repeatedly, subjected to various provocations and coercion. How could he possibly stay in such a situation?

Last time in the hunting ground, he had been forced to escape back to Kyushu.

This time, he was naturally unwilling to repeat the same mistake, so he left, preparing to contend with the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators.

"Senior Brother, since Junior Brother Lu has done this, he must have a certain level of confidence," Feng Yuechan said, turning to Li Baxian to comfort him.

Li Baxian sighed, realizing he was ultimately useless. If he had been a ninth-layer Cloud River Realm cultivator, he would have killed as many as came today, and his junior brother wouldn't have had to suffer such humiliation.

He turned to look at Ju Jia. He had thought that after Lu Ye left, Ju Jia wouldn't be able to stay put and might even chase after him, but to his surprise, the fellow just stood there quietly, as if nothing had happened.

Then he saw Ju Jia turn around, walk into his wooden hut, and resume cultivating.

Lu Ye had spoken to him yesterday, telling him to stay here and wait...

Just as when Lu Ye had told him to wait in place, he had waited for two months. Now that Lu Ye had told him to continue waiting, he would simply wait.

No need to overthink; he would just do whatever Lu Ye said.

"Let's cultivate," Li Baxian said.

Junior Brother took a huge risk to protect this A-grade spirit land. While he certainly had his own considerations, it was perhaps also to leave them a good cultivation environment.

Junior Brother was gone, and he couldn't help him. The only thing he could do was cultivate diligently and raise his cultivation as quickly as possible.

If they ever encountered such a situation again, he would never be as helpless as he was today!

Feng Yuechan activated the grand formation jade token. The protective and concealment formations in the spirit land were activated, and soon, the vast spirit land vanished from sight.

In a mountain cave over two hundred li away from the Rebirth Spirit Land, Lu Ye's figure suddenly appeared.

Although he had instantly moved over two hundred li away using the teleportation formation, this location was not safe. The Ten Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators would definitely scatter to search for his whereabouts. So, for now, he only needed to do one thing: move as far away from Rebirth Valley as possible, preferably leaving Mount Taimang entirely.

This wasn't too difficult for him. He possessed concealment and breath-concealing spirit patterns, and although he was a weapon cultivator, he also had the techniques of a ghost cultivator. While the Ten Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators were numerous, it wouldn't be easy for them to find him.

Stepping out of the mountain cave, Lu Ye was about to depart when he suddenly froze.

Not far in front of him, a figure with a weak aura, pale face, and wearing a black cat mask was turning to look in his direction.

Their eyes met. Lu Ye raised a hand to grip the hilt of his Panshan Saber, a playful expression on his face.

Wasn't this the ghost cultivator who had approached within twenty zhang of him just now? In such a short time, this person had actually come all the way here, and he had coincidentally stumbled right into him!

What a small world, indeed.

Lu Ye didn't know this ghost cultivator's name or origin; the only thing he knew was that the opponent was at the ninth layer of cultivation.

Beneath the black cat mask, Ying Wuji's expression was one of surprise and delight.

He didn't understand why Lu Ye would appear here; for a moment, he even thought the person just looked similar to Lu Ye.

But the amber crouching on Lu Ye's shoulder was undoubtedly a striking identifier. It made no sense for someone to look exactly like Lu Ye and also have an identical small beast.

This guy was Lu Yi Ye!

Regardless of why the other party had suddenly appeared here, to Ying Wuji, it was a big fish delivered right to his doorstep.

Their gazes only met for a brief moment, then both moved simultaneously.

Two figures stirred up two gales and collided with a roar.

At some point, two short blades appeared in Ying Wuji's hands. The blades were only three inches longer than daggers, entirely black and dull, looking similar in color to the Panshan Saber.

However, the Panshan Saber's color was due to materials added by the woman who called herself Master Yu during its upgrade, while the color of the short blades in Ying Wuji's hands was intentionally crafted. As a ghost cultivator, he needed to be silent during assassinations, and black blades would undoubtedly reduce the risk of exposure.

One of his short blades parried the Panshan Saber's strike, while the other aimed directly for Lu Ye's throat.

With a cultivation gap of more than four minor realms, he couldn't understand where Lu Ye found the audacity to actively attack him. Yet, he could almost foresee the scene of the opponent being instantly killed by his single blow.

If he had known that Huo Liaoyuan had thought the same thing before his death, his mood would not have been so relaxed.

A mighty, irresistible force suddenly struck, and beneath the black cat mask, Ying Wuji's expression immediately changed.

In that instant, he felt he was not facing a fifth-layer cultivator at all, but a powerful expert who was his equal!

He couldn't help but lean back, and the short blade aimed at Lu Ye's throat lost its precision.

He quickly steadied himself; however, Lu Ye's second strike had already descended.

In conflicts between cultivators, especially close-quarters combat, a single misstep can often lead to complete defeat.

Ying Wuji was now paying the price for his carelessness.

When the second strike fell, its force was even heavier than the first. Ying Wuji's arm holding the short blade was numb, and his body leaned back again, this time even stumbling back a few steps.

Then came the third, fourth strike...

Clanging sounds rang out. With each sound, Ying Wuji had to retreat several steps. He, who had initially only parried with one short blade, was now using both.

His arms were numb, and the skin between his thumb and forefinger was torn. Ying Wuji's heart sank to rock bottom!

If he had been at his peak, he naturally wouldn't have been so discomfited. But when he had previously infiltrated the spirit land, he was injured by several explosive formations, and then he was forced to use an escape secret technique. Now, while not at his last gasp, he could only unleash less than half of his peak strength!

But even with only half his strength, dealing with a fifth-layer cultivator should have been more than enough.

But... was this the strength a fifth-layer cultivator could display?