Sage of Humanity

Eighty li east of Heaven's Augury Square, within a concave valley, a gray fog rolled and surged, enshrouding the entire valley and completely obscuring any view of its landscape.

The valley wasn't large, spanning only a few li, and on the surrounding high slopes, cultivators gathered in groups of three or five, clearly having rushed over upon receiving some news.

This location was not within the territory of any power, making it masterless land. There were many such places on the battlefield, as the vast battlefield could not be seamlessly covered by the territories of the Nine Provinces sects, always leaving large gaps.

Centered around this location, there were four factions nearby—two from the Haotian Alliance and two from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge, all of which were respectable 5th-6th grade factions.

At this moment, two of those factions had arrived—Fenghua Courtyard from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge and Surreptitious Palace from Haotian Alliance.

Unlike the groups of independent cultivators that formed teams of three to five, both factions brought nearly a hundred people each, demonstrating their emphasis on the Boundless Mirage Realm.

They managed to arrive here so quickly mainly because they were close by and had received the news promptly.

The other two factions were not so lucky; even if they received the news, it would take some time for them to arrive.

At this moment, both factions were trying to recruit the nearby independent cultivators, but with little success.

The independent cultivators in the inner circle had strong individualism, unlike those in the outer circle who could be easily persuaded. Having cultivated this far mostly on their own, joining a sect faction meant inevitable large-scale conflicts with opposing forces, requiring obedience to others' commands and risking loss of control over their own life and death, which could be less preferable than operating in small teams.

The independent cultivators who truly wished to join them had already done so voluntarily; recruitment wasn't necessary.

The independent cultivators were more inclined to form teams with each other.

When Lu Ye arrived, wielding his weapon control, he saw hundreds of cultivators gathered in a messy scene.

He instantly noticed two groups of about a hundred people each on either side of the valley, standing off against each other. One group of cultivators included many female cultivators, each as beautiful as flowers, with some dressed daringly, their long legs and sleek waists peeking seductively in a manner that drew attention. Behind this group of female cultivators stood a large flag, its design resembling flower petals, with the faint scent of flowers seemingly drifting from it.

Lu Ye recognized it as the standard of Fenghua Courtyard.

Not that he had seen such a standard before; he had only seen the design on the ten-part map, where each sect's name was followed by a design representing their banners.

For example, the Righteous Blood Sect had a design with a red background and golden flames.

Opposite were cultivators without anything special, recognizing the pattern on their banner, and comparing it with the ten-part map, Lu Ye identified them as people from Surreptitious Palace.

Both major camps accounted for one faction each.

According to the ten-part map, there were four nearby factions that had the opportunity to arrive here, leaving Soaring Cloud Palace from Haotian Alliance and Illuminating Sun Mountain from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge unaccounted for; their cultivators were not yet visible and probably still en route due to the distances.

Lu Ye landed on the side belonging to Surreptitious Palace and surveyed the scene ahead intently.

The reason he had spared no expense to purchase information from the Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union after hearing about the Mirage Realm and hurried here was the term "Mirage Realm" itself, which he found somewhat concerning.

He possessed a Breath Fruit Core, through which, by spending merit, he could enter a Mirage Realm to hone his enemy-killing skills.

He didn't know if this Boundless Mirage Realm had any connection with the Mirage Realm he had entered, but looking it over couldn't hurt.

At the moment, as he looked across, Lu Ye realized something unusual.

The rolling gray fog in the valley was eerily familiar; it was the same kind of fog he had encountered upon entering the Mirage Realm.

Could they actually be connected? Though judging solely based on the gray fog was speculative, the only way to truly understand their relationship was to go inside.

As he was looking around, a young cultivator approached him, saluted with cupped hands, and said, "Fellow Daoist, I am Jik Yan from Surreptitious Palace, and I would like to invite you to explore the Boundless Mirage Realm with us. What are your thoughts?"

Lu Ye glanced at the Surreptitious Palace's group and pondered briefly.

"No need."

Joining Surreptitious Palace's group to enter the Boundless Mirage Realm would indeed be safer, but it came with more restrictions.

Jik Yan said no more, just gave Lu Ye a nod and moved past him to recruit others.

Once Jik Yan had left, a short, stout cultivator with a small mustache beside Lu Ye chuckled and said, "You were wise to refuse, Fellow Daoist. Although Surreptitious Palace has a good reputation, if you really joined them, you probably wouldn't gain much benefit. We independent cultivators aren't naturally suited to act together with those from the sects." He seemed to have had a bad experience, which colored his view of sect-trained cultivators.

Changing the subject, he said, "If you are interested, why don't we team up? In there, we can support each other. By your looks, you seem to be a combat cultivator, right? I am a magic cultivator, this big guy is a physique cultivator. I'll find a ghost cultivator, and we'll be all set. How about it?"

When he spoke, he even patted the shoulder of the person next to him, but the main reason he was able to reach his shoulder was that the man was sitting on the ground.

Lu Ye looked down, initially not paying much attention. The man sitting on the ground was broad and sturdy with vigorous blood Qi, clearly a physique cultivator, giving off a steadfast, immovable mountain-like presence just by sitting there. Upon closer inspection, he couldn't help but be moved.

The spirit force throughout the physique cultivator's body was incredibly pure and flawless. Having roamed the Spirit Stream battlefield for quite some time, Lu Ye had seen all sorts of cultivators. Without exception, even the purest spirit light on their bodies always had some flaws due to consumption of elixir pills.

He had never seen spirit light so clear that it could compare to his own, until now, and it belonged to a physique cultivator.

The physique cultivator sat on the ground, holding a piece of beast meat still dripping with blood and taking large bites of it.

Sensing Lu Ye's gaze, the physique cultivator turned his head and gave Lu Ye a simple, honest smile.

"What do you think, Fellow Daoist?" the small-mustache cultivator spoke again.

Lu Ye replied indifferently, "No need."

The small-mustache cultivator scoffed softly, "I was thinking of helping you out, Fellow Daoist. Since you're so unappreciative, forget it." Both he and his companion were Level 9 cultivators, so they did have the right to speak of mentoring someone like Lu Ye, who was at Level 8.

After saying that, he walked toward another independent cultivator who had arrived alone nearby, obviously trying to recruit more people.

"Here, eat this!" the physique cultivator sitting on the ground handed over the piece of beast meat.

Just as Lu Ye was about to refuse, Amber, who had been lying on his shoulder, suddenly jumped down, landed on the big thigh of the physique cultivator, and started gnawing on the piece of meat.

The simple and honest looking physique cultivator smiled, feeding Amber while lifting his fan-like big hand gently to stroke Amber's smooth fur.

Lu Ye's eyelids drooped slightly.

This was getting interesting.

Ever since he had brought Amber back to the Righteous Blood Sect, aside from him and Yiyi, not many people could get close to it. Even Lingyu, who got along very well with Yiyi, couldn't approach Amber. When Ruan Lingyu once wanted to try riding Amber, the creature refused to get up from where it was sunbathing on the ground, and it was only after Yiyi spoke that Amber lazily ran around Righteous Peak carrying Lingyu.

As for feeding Amber... It never ate anything given by anyone but Lu Ye and Yiyi, not even what the Second Senior Sister Shui Yuan offered.

Lu Ye had never seen Amber be so close to someone it did not know, and even to eat what the stranger offered.

With Yiyi currently hidden inside Amber, Lu Ye had no idea what was going on.

Being spiritually sensitive, Amber could discern the goodness of people's hearts. Its closeness with the physique cultivator suggested there was something about him that attracted Amber, or perhaps only those with pure hearts could truly connect with it?

Time passed, and more cultivators received the message and rushed over, but by this time, most were groups of two or three independent cultivators.

The mist in the valley swirled more intensely.

Across the valley, in the Fenghua Courtyard camp, a tall female cultivator in a short top, exposing her slim waist, was listening to a report from a man beside her.

This female cultivator was Choo Qing, the Deputy Governor of Fenghua Courtyard. A place like the Boundless Mirage Realm naturally required someone prominent to lead the team—a stationed governor or a deputy must be present.

"The group from Illuminating Sun Mountain is almost here, timing should work out," the man said, seizing the opportunity to subtly move closer to Choo Qing, delicately inhaling her scent, enamoured.

Choo Qing nodded slightly, "That's good. Is there any news from the Soaring Cloud Palace?"

"Not yet."

"Go check," Choo Qing ordered.

"Yes!" the man agreed respectfully and withdrew.

Fenghua Courtyard is a very particular power, where women generally hold a higher status than men and enjoy better treatment.

That's because the Divine Sea Realm cultivator who founded the sect originally intended to recruit only female disciples. Having been deceived and mistreated by a man, she had an inherent aversion and resistance to men, believing all men should die.

However, as the sect developed, recruiting only female disciples proved too limiting. Not to mention, there are very few female physique cultivators, as most women wish to maintain their beauty and are reluctant to become robust and burly.

Thus, after the founding ancestor died, Fenghua Courtyard changed its development policy and began to accept male disciples.

Overall, female cultivators still constitute a greater proportion, about seventy to eighty percent, in Fenghua Courtyard. Male cultivators make up only a small part, and most of them are physique cultivators who tend to front the line in dangerous situations.
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Nevertheless, in the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge, Fenghua Courtyard has a high popularity, after all, who doesn't like delicate beauties, and Fenghua Courtyard abounds with such fair-skinned, attractive female cultivators.