Sage of Humanity

As his consciousness began to blur, the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivator realized that Lu Ye had reached the 8th Heaven level of cultivation.

As a fellow 8th Heaven cultivator, he couldn't even take a single strike from his opponent.

Why was the opponent's saber so sharp? Its power was so formidable that even a mid-grade Golden Body Talisman couldn't withstand it... It was baffling!

Blood spurted from his neck, his head flew off, and the headless corpse tottered before falling down. A light streaked out from the supplies box at Lu Ye's waist, lightly circling around the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivator's waist to retrieve a storage sack before returning.

Killing and looting treasures, done in one fell swoop.

More figures rushed over from all directions, accompanied by waves of shouting.

"Lu Yiye has come out!"

"Lu Yiye is here!"

Suspended in mid-air, Lu Ye's eyelids drooped slightly as he held the Boulder Mountain Saber with its tip pointing diagonally at the ground. He watched as a group of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators rapidly closed in on him. With a light tap of his foot, powered by spirit force, he became a flash of light, darting forward.

When he previously broke into the Ten Thousand Poisons Forest, he was at the 7th Heaven level of cultivation. Now, having advanced even further, his strength greatly increased, he was eager to see if he could break through the encirclement on his own.

Having been trapped here by so many people from the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge for over two months, it was only natural for Lu Ye to return the favor.

Even if he couldn't break free, it wouldn't matter, as the Ten Thousand Poisons Forest was right beneath him. All he needed to do was to dive in there, and no matter how many cultivators from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge came, they couldn't do anything to him.

There were only five cultivators blocking the way ahead. When they saw Lu Ye approaching, they each summoned their controlled weapons and bombarded him. The lights from the controlled weapons zigzagged and intertwined, extremely agile.

With the spirit ark beneath his feet, Lu Ye dodged the incoming attacks with ease, using the Boulder Mountain Saber to block those he couldn't avoid. The distance between them quickly narrowed.

The expressions on the faces of the five ahead gradually turned serious.

Before Lu Ye could actually get close, they quickly scattered.

However, as soon as they made a move, nine rays of light had already shot out from Lu Ye's supplies box, hitting the five with unerring precision. The speed and lethality of the nine rays far exceeded the methods used by the five.

The moment the sizzling sounds of tearing through the air began, blood splattered, and screams rang out. Three of the dispersed five fell into the poison forest below, and the remaining two were injured.

Lu Ye had already reached one of them. The man looked like a physique cultivator, with robust and vigorous blood Qi, and a big shield spirit artifact on his arm, which he swung down at Lu Ye.

The Boulder Mountain Saber chopped down, and at the moment it clashed with the shield, the physique cultivator's eyes bulged in horror, feeling an overwhelming force sweep him off his feet and send him flying.

Shocked and bewildered, he thought, is this guy a combat cultivator? His physical strength is even greater than mine!

Before he could recover his senses, a scorching force was already upon him, and the image of a splendid Vermillion Bird appeared in his field of vision.

It was the Fire Phoenix Technique cast by Lu Ye.

This technique, stemming from the Red Lotus Soaring to Sky Technique, had its power greatly enhanced after Lu Ye acquired the Fire Phoenix Spirit Runes. The Vermillion Bird image created by the Fire Phoenix Technique he now employed was so detailed, even the feathers were clearly distinguishable, resembling a miniature version of the devastating Fire Phoenix Spirit Runes.

The Fire Phoenix Technique hit the physique cultivator, engulfing him in scorching flames that pierced through his blood Qi and protective spirit force. The physique cultivator screamed in terror and followed in the footsteps of his three companions.

Lu Ye then turned his head, and the last Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivator was seen clutching his abdomen, blood trailing behind him as he fled.

He didn't pursue the kill; the man was severely injured, and whether he would live was uncertain. Chasing him would only be a waste of time.

The spirit ark once again transformed into a streak of light, speeding off into the distance, as the nine controlled weapons flew back under Lu Ye's command, entering the supplies box at his waist.

Lu Yiye had revealed himself!

This news spread rapidly in all directions. Ahead of Lu Ye's path, Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators continued to take to the skies with their controlled weapons, converging towards him.

Having waited for two months, they finally forced him out. Now, those from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge aimed to use all their might to slay him and eliminate future troubles!

In an instant, a vast expanse of dazzling lights filled the sky, converging in the direction Lu Ye was heading.

Above the Ten Thousand Poisons Forest, Lu Ye dashed like the wind, hardly pausing his swift movement. He clashed with groups of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators who patrolled the airspace of the forest.

Along the way, bodies continuously plummeted to the ground below, blood staining the sky.

Shortly thereafter, a vast expanse of shimmering lights came into view—it was the main force of the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge, nearly a thousand strong, dense and numerous, filling the horizon.

Even now that Lu Ye had ascended to the 8th Heaven level, and his strength increased drastically, he could not possibly withstand so many Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators by himself, unless he reconstructed the Fire Phoenix Spirit Runes.

However, having already suffered a great loss at his hands two months ago, how could Ten Thousand Demons Ridge not be prepared for this?

As the distance between them rapidly closed, the shouting from the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge side began to reach his ears, with many arrogantly calling for Lu Ye to come forth and meet his death.

When they were about two hundred zhang apart, Lu Ye's figure suddenly surged diagonally upward!

It seemed he was trying to avoid the large force of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge by escaping through the less defended higher altitudes.

Realizing this, the cultivators from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge quickly reacted and changed direction, also aiming to cut him off diagonally above.

Standing on the ground and looking up, one could see numerous strands of light dragging long trails, rushing towards the sky, flying higher and higher; soon, the leading strands of light had passed through the clouds and out of sight.

Just how high the skies of the Spirit Stream battlefield or the Nine Provinces actually were, nobody could really say, as to this day, no one has ever flown out; even the strong cultivators of the Divine Sea Realm have a limit to how high they can fly through air.

This limit, however, is not due to their own limitations, but rather the ninefold Divine Lightning that looms above. Once you reach a certain altitude, it draws down ninefold Divine Lightning, and the higher you fly, the more powerful it becomes, until even the great cultivators of the Divine Sea Realm can no longer bear it.

There are rumors claiming that breaking through the pressure of the ninefold Divine Lightning can take Divine Sea Realm cultivators to a higher level. Thus, throughout history, many strong cultivators of the Divine Sea Realm who have reached the limit of their cultivation challenge the ninefold Divine Lightning, but so far, none have succeeded.

Naturally, cultivators at the Spirit Stream Realm level can't fly as high as those in the Divine Sea Realm.

At this moment, Lu Ye had a clear sensation—the higher he went, the more an invisible pressure weighed upon his body, slowing down his weapon control-flying speed until he couldn't fly any higher.

Beyond, almost within the veils of mystery, there was even a faint sense of danger and, if he was not mistaken, that would be the crisis brought by the legendary ninefold Divine Lightning.

Turning his head, he saw dozens of streaks of light furiously closing in on him, their speed unimaginable; and amid those streaks, the clear sounds of swords ringing began to arise. His keen senses gave Lu Ye the feeling of being targeted by sharp swords, causing his skin to tingle with pain.

Each one of those dozens of streaks of light was the figure of a sword cultivator!

In the Nine Provinces, in terms of killing power and speed of weapon control, none could outmatch these 'Sword Madmen'. Sword cultivators and Ghost cultivators were both naturally adept at fighting above their level. Sword cultivators, compared to the elusive and assassination-skilled Ghost cultivators, achieve their cross-level combat capabilities because they focus all their cultivation on the path of slaughter.

It is because of this single-minded focus that they can 'Break Sword through the Nine Provinces'.

And for that reason, among all the martial sects, there are fewer sword cultivators than any other, even less than healing cultivators; like the Beixuan Sword Sect, a 1st grade sect in Bingzhou, from top to bottom, barely numbers a thousand people, an unimaginable contrast to any other 1st grade sect in the Nine Provinces.

But when eight hundred sword cultivators descend from Mount Tian, it's a matter grave enough to shake the entirety of the Nine Provinces—it signifies that Beixuan Sword Sect has emptied its nest!

The Haotian Alliance has sword cultivators, and naturally, so does Ten Thousand Demons Ridge. These dozens of sword cultivators who have now gathered from various forces are the main pursuit force and hope in hunting down Lu Ye.

When Lu Ye first entered the Core Circle, the cultivators of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge had a taste of his weapon control-flying speed, so to keep up with him in terms of speed, only the sword cultivators would suffice, other cultivators of different sects were simply not in the same league.

These dozens of sword cultivators did not disappoint; indeed, they were much faster than everyone else, even faster than Lu Ye.

Lu Ye might have been curious to test the mettle of these sword cultivators, but he was not ill in the head—he couldn't possibly confront the killing-famed dozens of sword cultivators by himself. If he got entangled with these sword cultivators, he was destined to end badly.

Thus, as he reached his highest point, Lu Ye quickly fell back. In a flash and to the bewildered eyes of those dozens of sword cultivators preparing to close in, Lu Ye flew downward faster than before.

Ordinarily, Lu Ye might not outpace these sword cultivators, but he had Move-Like-The-Wind Spirit Runes ready to enhance his speed at any moment...

Seeing Lu Ye's actions, the multitudes of cultivators from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge immediately sensed something was awry!

At this instant, due to the chase, the originally tight formation of the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators had become clearly stratified, the strongest at the top, the middle in strength at the center, and below, the slowest in weapon control-flying, were the weakest.

In less than a mere ten breaths' time, Lu Ye plunged downwards like a meteor falling from the sky, now only thirty zhang away from the poison barrier below. The spirit ark beneath his feet flashed with light, the Move-Like-The-Wind Spirit Runes constantly activated, turning into a streak of light that abruptly changed course and charged forward.

At this location, the majority of the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators were of 7th Heaven level, with only a few of the 8th Heaven level.

As Lu Ye swept toward them, numerous cultivators made their move. In an instant, a vast array of lights and magic and spells bombed towards where Lu Ye was.

Combat through air with weapon control is different from fighting on the ground. Not to mention the mental exhaustion and restriction of weapon control-flying for the cultivators, fighting in the air offers more space and flexibility to maneuver. Those with strong mental power undoubtedly hold a significant advantage in aerial combat.

Like a swift swooping and weaving through a raging storm, Lu Ye's form was elusive, avoiding the most concentrated areas of attack. He dodged past various incoming magic and spells, his Boulder Mountain Saber constantly waving to deflect more random attacks, as he broke into the enemy formation.

The supplies box hummed as nine weapons flew out, turning into nine trails of light, bringing a storm of death and the breath of destruction.