Chapter 670: Thousand Miles Away

In a hidden cave, Lu Ye refined the spiritual pill's efficacy to recover, while also checking his current location. A moment later, he frowned, feeling that his current position seemed a bit off.

He had been picked up by the mysterious woman near the Pei River. Together, they had sped into a hidden mountain cave and used a teleportation array to arrive here. He clearly remembered his previous location. What felt off to him was the distance. His previous location was over 1,500 li away from here. Even accounting for the distance he and the mysterious woman had flown, the remaining journey was still over a thousand li. In other words, the previous teleportation array was more than a thousand li from this spot! He was greatly shocked.

He could set up teleportation arrays himself. Initially, the range of his arrays was limited, but as his mastery of array formations improved and his cultivation grew, the range also increased. Currently, at the fifth-level Cloud River Realm, his teleportation arrays had a range of about 300 li. He had estimated that even if he reached the ninth-level Cloud River Realm in the future, his arrays wouldn't exceed 600 li; beyond that, they wouldn't be able to resonate. However, the teleportation array left by that mysterious organization in the Cloud River Battlefield could span a thousand li. This undoubtedly indicated that the array master's skill in formations was far superior to his own.

After a brief thought, Lu Ye realized. Ordinary Cloud River Realm cultivators naturally wouldn't possess such ability. But since the organization could allow a cultivator above the Cloud River Realm, like the mysterious woman, to enter the Cloud River Battlefield, they could certainly allow others to enter as well. For example, True Lake Realm array masters or even Divine Sea Realm array masters. If such powerful array masters were involved in setting up the arrays, spanning a thousand li wouldn't be surprising. This organization must have left these hidden locations in the Cloud River Battlefield for emergencies. Although Lu Ye had only encountered two, it was clear there couldn't be just two such hidden strongholds. It seemed the scale of this mysterious organization was likely much larger than he had initially imagined.

Lu Ye wasn't concerned about the mysterious organization's true purpose, but their teleportation array had piqued his interest. Furthermore, this meant he no longer needed to worry about his predicament. The Wanmoling cultivators would likely deduce that he had escaped using a teleportation array. However, in their understanding, his arrays only had a range of three to four hundred li, so they would probably search within that radius, centered on the location where he disappeared. Who would have thought he was a thousand li away? For Lu Ye, this was undoubtedly good news.

A moment later, Lu Ye returned to where he had first appeared, found the teleportation array, and carefully investigated it by channeling spiritual power into it. Regardless of who created this array, since it was left for cultivators within the same organization for emergencies, there wouldn't be many restrictions on its activation. Simply put, anyone could activate it by injecting spiritual power. This made it convenient for Lu Ye to examine the array's intricacies.

After some study, Lu Ye quickly noticed subtle differences between this array and the ones he constructed. Even the core Void Spirit Mark was slightly different from what he had learned from books. In fact, it wasn't just Void Spirit Marks; he had learned many Spirit Marks from books, such as Sharpness and Defense, all of which were found in Madam Yun's collection. However, these all differed somewhat from the Spirit Marks on his Talent Tree. Spirit Marks were not immutable; subtle changes in their yin-yang components often affected a Spirit Mark's overall effect. Therefore, the same type of Spirit Mark often had several construction methods, with varying powers. But Lu Ye had previously researched this: regardless of how Spirit Marks were described in books, the ones on his Talent Tree unleashed the greatest power and were the easiest to construct. The Spirit Marks on his Talent Tree seemed to condense the essence of each Spirit Mark, using the most logical construction method to unleash the strongest power. Furthermore, activating them required no effort from Lu Ye; with a thought, the Spirit Mark would naturally form, reaching a state of spontaneous activation.

The Void Spirit Marks on the teleportation array before him yielded significant insights for Lu Ye, but his greatest gains came from understanding the array's construction methods. The other party's mastery of array formations was far superior to Lu Ye's. Such opportunities to directly study an array master's work were rare, and one could often learn a great deal from them.

While Lu Ye was engrossed in studying the teleportation array, the Wanmoling cultivators outside had already searched every inch of the surrounding hundreds of li. Yet, Lu Ye was nowhere to be found, leaving the Wanmoling cultivators both furious and helpless. Many had dispersed, but others remained persistent, still searching for Lu Ye's whereabouts. Simultaneously, a large amount of information was disseminated, meaning that now, anywhere in the Cloud River Battlefield where Wanmoling cultivators were present, people would be on the lookout for Lu Ye's traces. In principle, if Lu Ye dared to show himself, even wearing a mask would be useless. But amidst such intense scrutiny, not a single piece of news about Lu Ye emerged; it was as if he had already left the Cloud River Battlefield.

Three days passed in a flash. In the hidden cave, Lu Ye let out a long breath, a thoughtful expression in his eyes. Three days had been sufficient for his full recovery; he had even completely replenished the spiritual energy consumed from his Spirit Storage Ring. During this time, he had continuously studied the teleportation array here. His gains were substantial. Among other things, if he were to construct a teleportation array now, its range should increase by several tens of li. One should not underestimate this small increase; for a Cloud River Realm cultivator, a few tens of li was indeed insignificant, traversable in a short time by flying at full speed. However, such a breakthrough in teleportation arrays undoubtedly showed that Lu Ye's mastery of this formation had improved. Moreover, he was currently only at the fifth-level Cloud River Realm; his cultivation would improve in the future, and if this trip to the Hundred Array Pagoda yielded results, his array formation mastery would also significantly increase, leading to an even greater range for the arrays he constructs.

The only drawback was the experience itself. The experience of using a teleportation array was completely different from that of a Heaven's Mystery Pillar. The latter was silent and seamless; cultivators often didn't even realize it was complete until the teleportation was done, making it extremely stable and comfortable. However, with teleportation arrays, the experience was far from pleasant. When Lu Ye first constructed teleportation arrays, each transfer felt like stepping into an empty space and continuously falling into a bottomless abyss, followed by a dizzying sensation upon completion. He initially thought this was due to his lack of skill, but after experiencing an array constructed by someone else, he realized it wasn't his inadequacy; that was simply how teleportation arrays were. The longer the teleportation distance, the worse the experience seemed to be. This somewhat restored Lu Ye's confidence.

With his spiritual energy fully restored and his study of the teleportation array largely complete, it was time to set off again. Waking Amber, who was dozing nearby, Lu Ye followed the passage leading outside. During his three-day stay here, Yiyi had already found an exit, which wasn't particularly hidden to begin with. Before long, they reached a rock wall that blocked their path. However, this was merely a facade; the rock wall was just a man-made obstacle. Lu Ye raised his hand and punched, shattering the wall instantly. Dazzling light flooded in, causing Lu Ye to squint. After gradually adjusting to the brightness outside, Lu Ye summoned his spiritual boat, stepped aboard, and ascended into the air.

He no longer put Amber into his spiritual beast bag. Amber had never liked being in the bag; according to Yiyi, it was pitch black inside, completely silent, like a fully enclosed small space. So, Lu Ye rarely kept Amber in the spiritual beast bag previously, only doing so when he needed to hide his tracks. Now, his appearance was already ingrained in the minds of many Wanmoling cultivators, and even wearing a mask would have little effect, so he simply stopped bothering with useless disguises.

The Hundred Array Pagoda's location was not close, but as long as he was careful enough, there shouldn't be any issues. As he flew, Lu Ye tried to travel by night and hide by day, maintaining a flight altitude of about thirty to forty zhang above the ground. This height made it easy for him to land and hide quickly, minimizing the chance of being discovered. Of course, this altitude also had its drawbacks; if someone were to ambush him from the ground, it would be difficult to evade. However, everything involved trade-offs. Lu Ye could have chosen to fly at two or three hundred zhang, but then it would be inconvenient to hide if he encountered anyone.

Several days passed quickly and uneventfully, with no major disruptions along the way. With Lu Ye intentionally avoiding cultivators, he didn't encounter a single one, let alone those from Wanmoling, not even from the Haotian Alliance.

A message suddenly arrived via his battlefield imprint. Lu Ye checked it and found it was from his fourth senior brother. Since Lu Ye had left Reverting Heaven Valley, Li Baxian had frequently sent messages inquiring about his well-being, and Lu Ye occasionally updated him. Although the two brothers were not together, their bond remained strong. After a brief exchange, everything in Reverting Heaven Valley was as usual. Although some Wanmoling cultivators occasionally appeared nearby, they never dared to approach and cause trouble. Firstly, Reverting Heaven Valley was now guarded by a wolf pack and numerous arrays left by Lu Ye. A small force from Wanmoling would be useless, and if they launched a major attack, there was also a Heaven's Mystery Pillar left by Lu Ye in the spiritual land, allowing Li Baxian and the others to instantly retreat to Kyushu. Secondly, when Lu Ye left Reverting Heaven Valley, he had declared that anyone who dared to breach his spiritual land would face his immediate retaliation in the Spirit Creek Battlefield, where he would destroy their sect's stronghold. No matter how unwilling Wanmoling felt, they dared not attack Reverting Heaven spiritual land rashly while Lu Ye was still alive, or they would only bring disaster upon their own sects. "Sect-Destroying Ye" had already destroyed other sects' strongholds in the Spirit Creek Battlefield more than once or twice; who wouldn't be afraid? (To be continued)