Chapter 858: Haotian City

A gust of wind swept across the Nine Provinces.

A gust of wind swept across the Nine Provinces.

The battle on Spirit Peak quickly ended. Without a spell cultivator to control it, the spell's power significantly diminished. It struck Lu Ye's defensive spirit pattern, which shattered, sending Lu Ye flying. Although he was disheveled, he was unharmed.

When Lu Ye arrived at Spirit Peak, he immediately saw his second senior sister, Shui Yuan.

There was also a cultivator with blood at the corner of his mouth, his face pale, holding his chest and standing to the side.

Judging by his attire, he was clearly a spell cultivator, and it was he who had cast the spell that attacked Lu Ye earlier.

At this moment, the spell cultivator explained with a troubled expression to Shui Yuan, "Senior Sister Shui Yuan, it's truly a misunderstanding. I received a secret order that a villain from the Myriad Demon Ridge would pass through here, and I was told to capture him. Who knew it would turn out to be such an absurd mistake!"

"Whose secret order?" Shui Yuan asked coldly.

The spell cultivator smiled bitterly, "Senior Sister, you also belong to the Bing Province Guard. You must know that military law is like a mountain. Please don't make things difficult for me."

Since it was a secret order, how could it be disclosed to others at will? Shui Yuan stared at him coldly for a long time before gritting her teeth and saying, "Get lost!"

The spell cultivator let out a long breath, cupped his fists at Shui Yuan, and quickly departed.

"Second Senior Sister." Lu Ye stepped forward.

Lu Ye was not surprised that Shui Yuan might be following him to protect him. Although he hadn't detected Shui Yuan's traces or aura on the journey, he could feel that someone had been following him the moment he left the Crimson Blood Sect.

Since the sect master was with their master, the only person following him could be his second senior sister.

"Are you alright?" Shui Yuan turned and asked, scanning Lu Ye up and down. Only after confirming he was unharmed did she feel at ease.

"I'm fine!" Lu Ye shook his head. "If I can't reach Haotian City on time, what will be the consequences?"

"Military law is like a mountain. If you cannot arrive on time, you will surely die!"

Lu Ye raised an eyebrow. "Someone wants to kill me?"

"It seems you've already realized it."

Lu Ye said, "I hadn't thought of that before, but some things are just too coincidental."

He had just left the Crimson Blood Sect for Haotian City when he encountered a flood on the way, followed by Haotian Alliance sword cultivators pursuing a villain from Myriad Demon Ridge. Coincidentally, the Myriad Demon Ridge villain tried to capture him while fleeing.

If these two incidents were just coincidences, then his inexplicable ambush by the spell cultivator here was worth pondering.

A powerful strike from a True Lake Realm spell cultivator, even with Lu Ye's defensive spirit pattern, might not have been completely blocked. One could say that if Shui Yuan hadn't appeared in time to injure the spell cultivator, preventing him from fully controlling the spell he cast, Lu Ye would definitely have been injured.

Perhaps even seriously injured!

Once that happened, his journey would undoubtedly be delayed, and whether he could reach Haotian City within the time limit would be uncertain.

The spell cultivator who ambushed him might not have known the true situation, but from his perspective, even if Lu Ye was seriously injured, as long as his life wasn't at risk, there wouldn't be a major mistake. He was just following orders, at most it would be a misunderstanding, and he could apologize later.

This was also why Shui Yuan didn't kill him. Killing a True Lake Realm spell cultivator from the same faction here would make things very troublesome.

Moreover, the person was likely being used.

"So, the previous flood and the fleeing Myriad Demon Ridge cultivator were just tests?" Lu Ye suddenly understood.

These two incidents, while delaying Lu Ye's journey, were primarily testing whether there was a strong protector behind Lu Ye.

Since no trace of a strong cultivator from the Crimson Blood Sect had been seen, that led to the direct attack just now.

"Little Junior Brother, you are very smart." Shui Yuan looked at Lu Ye. "The path to Haotian City ahead will be thorny, so you must be careful."

"I understand." Lu Ye nodded.

To be able to arrange all these incidents Lu Ye encountered on his journey without anyone knowing, the mastermind must possess extraordinary power and status. Their target was not Lu Ye himself, but the Crimson Blood Sect.

The Myriad Demon Ridge was not monolithic, and neither was the Haotian Alliance.

It was completely normal for a huge alliance composed of numerous large and small sects and families to have many internal factions, each with their own agendas.

The hidden dangers left by the Crimson Blood Sect more than thirty years ago had left many people resentful.

"You go now. There will be no more disturbances on the road ahead. Once you join the Bing Province Guard, remember to act discreetly in everything."

Since Shui Yuan had already revealed herself, the mastermind would surely not dare to make any more moves, lest they be caught.

"Yes, Senior Sister, take care!" Lu Ye saluted and turned to leave.

Watching Lu Ye depart, Shui Yuan remained silent for a long time. After a while, she raised her hand and touched her battlefield imprint, sending out several messages.

As Shui Yuan said, there were no more disturbances on the road ahead.

Lu Ye sped all the way, finally reaching Haotian City in the evening.

The twelve passes of Bing Province formed the front line of the Haotian Alliance's resistance against the Myriad Demon Ridge, and beyond these twelve passes lay the heart of the entire Bing Province Guard.

Haotian City was also the final defensive line of the Bing Province Haotian Alliance.

It was a grand and majestic city. Its city walls alone were a hundred zhang high, covered in ancient, mottled marks, faintly showing traces of numerous battles.

Decades ago, Haotian City had experienced a great catastrophe and was once almost captured by the Myriad Demon Ridge.

If this central hub had been conquered that day, Bing Province would surely have been lost.

To this day, all the cities Lu Ye had seen were like small blades of grass compared to the mighty tree of Haotian City. Even dozens of miles away, one could clearly see the various defensive fortifications on Haotian City's walls.

He urged his body forward and soon arrived before Haotian City. Lu Ye looked around, trying to find the city gate. After searching, he realized the city had no gates.

Cultivators continually arrived from all directions, all flying directly into the city.

Lu Ye understood. For cultivators who could fly, city gates were no longer necessary. If they existed, they might even become defensive weaknesses.

To enter the city, one simply flew in.

Following suit, Lu Ye flew directly over the city wall and into the city.

As soon as he stepped into Haotian City, Lu Ye felt his battlefield imprint on the back of his hand subtly vibrate, then emit a blue light.

Normally, such a reaction only occurred when a cultivator actively displayed their battlefield imprint.

But Haotian City clearly possessed a mysterious power that could activate the battlefield imprints of all cultivators entering the city, thereby determining their faction allegiance.

This way, no Myriad Demon Ridge cultivator could trespass here.

Although the city was large, the number of cultivators inside was not excessive. Most were Cloud River Realm cultivators who had just arrived from outside.

An accident had occurred in the Cloud River battlefield, which was currently merging with the Peerless Continent, causing the Cloud River battlefield to temporarily close. Cloud River Realm cultivators with nowhere else to go naturally flocked to the front lines where the two major factions were opposing each other. Regardless, joining the Bing Province Guard meant receiving a monthly stipend, which was real battle merit. If one killed enemies on the front line or completed tasks assigned by the Bing Province Guard, one could gain even more benefits.

This was naturally a great attraction for cultivators.

So, at this stage, the number of cultivators in Haotian City was large; they were all arriving from various sects, preparing to join the Bing Province Guard. Normally, this great city was sparsely populated, with ninety-nine percent of the Bing Province Guard on the front lines, and not many people remaining in the central hub.

Now that he had arrived at Haotian City, he naturally needed to report first.

He was different from most other Cloud River Realm cultivators who came here. Others came voluntarily to join the Bing Province Guard, while he came because he received a transfer order.

Therefore, he had to first go to the Command Division to report. Shui Yuan had specifically warned him about this before he came: the so-called three-day deadline was not based on his arrival time in Haotian City, but on the time he reported.

He wasn't entirely sure where the Command Division was, but such information could be easily inquired about.

Before long, Lu Ye arrived outside a grand hall. There were cultivators guarding the hall's entrance, and upon seeing Lu Ye, they all looked at him intently.

Lu Ye cupped his fists, "Lu Ye of the Crimson Blood Sect, here to report!"

The person on the left said, "Wait here. The Division Chief is meeting a guest!"

Lu Ye quietly stood to the side, waiting silently.

It was already night, with stars filling the sky, but Haotian City was still bustling. Many cultivators flew and darted through the air.

Flying was not forbidden in Haotian City. After all, the city was vast, and if flying were not allowed, just traveling would waste a lot of time.

Lu Ye, bored, looked up and quickly noticed something.

Cultivators seemed to have an unspoken rule about flying: the higher their cultivation, the higher they flew.

For example, Spirit Creek Realm cultivators, using flying spirit artifacts, mostly stayed within ten zhang of the ground. Cloud River Realm cultivators were within twenty zhang, and True Lake Realm cultivators flew above twenty zhang. It was unclear how this rule was formed.

While the cultivators came and went, creating a lively atmosphere, the Command Division area was rather quiet. It seemed he was the only one waiting to report.

Lu Ye didn't think much about it. Given the current situation, he would just make the best of it.

As stars shifted and the moon moved across the sky, time passed.

Lu Ye's brows furrowed.

The deadline on the transfer order was calculated based on his reporting time. So, even though he had arrived in Haotian City within the deadline, if he couldn't report in time, he might face severe military law, perhaps even losing his head.

With this thought, Lu Ye stepped forward, approached the guarding cultivator, cupped his fists, and asked, "May I ask, Senior Brother, when will the Division Chief see me?"

The cultivator merely glanced at Lu Ye again and replied indifferently, "Wait!"

Lu Ye frowned. "Could you please inform them?"

"I said wait!" The cultivator's expression was quite impatient.

Lu Ye stared at him intently.

Inside the grand hall, the fragrant aroma of tea wafted, and a charming woman delicately sipped from her cup. She held a jade slip, examining it with concentration, a smile occasionally playing on her lips, as if she had seen something amusing.

On a chair nearby, a man in a tight suit reclined, crossing his legs, looking completely at ease.

"Your foot!" The woman spoke softly, without lifting her head. The man in the tight suit grunted, put his crossed leg down, and sat up straight. "He's already here, aren't you going to see him?"

"It's not time yet, what's the rush?"

"He's here to report. If the deadline passes, he'll be subject to military law. Aren't you afraid Shui Yuan will come after you? That girl has also advanced to the Divine Sea Realm."

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