Sage of Humanity

Soul-Destroying Divine Lightning was a punishment descended by Heaven's Augury, with no means to evade it; therefore, Lu Ye wanted to know how Second Senior Sister had managed to withstand the Soul-Destroying Divine Lightning. If he could handle this issue, then he would be able to do as he pleased in the Spirit Stream battlefield.

Shui Yuan shook her head, "I can't resist it, I can only endure it."

After a pause, she continued, "My situation is unique, and you should have some understanding of it." She raised her hand to cover her chest, "Since birth, I have had another self within me, the Weh Ying you've met before, although usually, she rarely appears, only emerging when I lose control of my emotions."

Lu Ye nodded his head.

Initially, when he first arrived at the Righteous Blood Sect, he was unaware of this fact. Upon meeting Shui Yuan, he even thought the First Senior Sister and Second Senior Sister looked alike, only that the Second Senior Sister seemed like a smaller version of the First Senior Sister.

At that time, he thought the two senior sisters were blood-related siblings.

But over the years, through various clues, Lu Ye had deduced some things.

Therefore, when Shui Yuan spoke about it herself, he was not surprised.

"She is very special and has strong endurance, so even though she killed some people in the Spirit Stream battlefield, the Soul-Destroying Divine Lightning doesn't affect her much. Of course, she has her limits too. Once those are surpassed, she can't bear it," continued Shui Yuan, "Previously she had acted twice in the Spirit Stream battlefield, each time falling into a deep sleep immediately upon her return, and the Soul-Destroying Divine Lightning targets her, so it doesn't affect me."

The two occasions when Weh Ying acted, one was at the Golden Light Peak, and the other was after Lu Ye was poisoned by the Tianyan Sect.

"The more you kill after forcibly entering the Spirit Stream battlefield, the more powerful the Soul-Destroying Divine Lightning becomes, and accordingly, the longer it lasts; so, junior brother, if you enter the Spirit Stream battlefield, it's best not to kill too many people. Though I haven't experienced the potency of the Soul-Destroying Divine Lightning, it's definitely not something to be trifled with, a single mistake could greatly harm your psyche, and that would complicate matters."

"Is there no other solution?" Lu Ye asked, somewhat unconvinced.

Shui Yuan shook her head, "It's Heaven's Augury's punishment."

"Understood," he replied.

Seeing his expression, Shui Yuan knew Lu Ye was reluctant, and was certain he would enter the Spirit Stream battlefield. She promptly advised, "Whatever you decide to do, you must protect yourself at all costs. Don't take unnecessary risks."

After leaving Shui Yuan, Lu Ye felt frustrated.

If he could not kill too many people in the Spirit Stream battlefield, then his actions would certainly be restricted. Perhaps... he could bring Little Gray along?

At that time, he could focus on breaking the arrays, letting Little Gray do the killing, but it was uncertain whether Little Gray was at the residence.

The last time he left the Spirit Stream battlefield, he had set Little Gray free. Little Gray had always been loyal, guarding an empty residence all these years, simply because of the last instructions from the deceased First Senior Brother.

No matter what, he would enter the Spirit Stream battlefield first and if things didn't work out, then he would try to kill fewer people.

As he entered Heaven's Augury Hall and placed his hand on the Heaven's Augury Pillar, Lu Ye connected his mind to it.

After some investigation, indeed, he could no longer enter the Cloud River battlefield; it seemed he would have to wait until a month had passed.

The Spirit Stream battlefield was accessible, but based on the feedback from the Heaven's Augury Pillar, with his current cultivation, entering the Spirit Stream battlefield would deduct five hundred points of merit.

Not too many.

With a thought, Lu Ye vanished, and in the next instant, he appeared within the Righteous Blood Sect's residence.

A sudden force descended, and Lu Ye felt his spirit force greatly suppressed, the continuous flow of spirit force within his body also stopped, and the cultivation he had at the Cloud River Level 3 quickly diminished, with all his spirit force stagnating within his spiritual orifice.

He understood that this was Heaven's Augury's suppression.

Any cultivator with a cultivation higher than the Spirit Stream Realm entering this place would face such suppression, restoring the cultivator's cultivation to its highest level when at the Spirit Stream Realm.

He slightly attempted to mobilize the spirit force in his spiritual orifice, following the pathway of the Great Sun Glazed Glass Method he practiced, flowing through his spiritual orifice.

Soon, the suppressed spirit force began to circulate, and his cultivation slowly restored.

Level 1...

Level 2...

Level 3...

All the way to the 9th Heaven level.

As he regained his strength there, disciples nearby noticed him, and one exclaimed, "Is that Fifth Senior Brother?"

Almost doubting his eyes, since the Fifth Senior Brother had long been promoted and left the Spirit Stream battlefield, how could he suddenly reappear at the residence?

After rubbing his eyes and confirming he had not seen wrong, it was indeed their own Fifth Senior Brother.

Upon hearing the shout, others also looked in his direction, and soon, greetings filled the air.

Soon the news of Lu Ye's appearance spread throughout the residence.

Shortly thereafter, at the spirit mountaintop where Little Gray lived, Lu Ye looked at the empty eagle's nest, somewhat helpless; it seemed Little Gray was not in the residence, which jeopardized his plan of taking Little Gray along for killing.

Someone piloting a Flying Spirit Artifact slowly flew over and landed beside Lu Ye, respectfully saluting, "Greetings, Fifth Senior Brother."

Lu Ye turned his head and saw that the newcomer seemed familiar, likely one of the cultivators who had joined the Righteous Blood Sect early on, but he could not recall the person's name at the moment.

"You are called... "

"Tao Zhengyu, currently the Governor stationed here."

The Governors and Deputy Governors of the Righteous Blood Sect's station had changed several times. The main reason was the abundance of cultivation materials nowadays, the rich nature's spiritual energy within the station, and the fast pace of the disciples' cultivation. Situated at the outermost circle of the battlefield, once a cultivator reached Level 8, they would have to leave, meaning neither the Governor nor the Deputy Governor could hold their positions for long.

These positions were not as enduring as those within the inner circle and Core Circle, where the term of service for Governors and Deputy Governors could be longer.

Lu Ye nodded, then asked, "What about Little Gray?"

"Not sure, it rarely stays at the station now, sometimes it comes back, but it usually can't stay long before it leaves again."

As Tao Zhengyu answered, he carefully observed any changes in expression, not knowing why Lu Ye had suddenly appeared at the Spirit Stream battlefield. He reflected on everything he had done since he had taken over as Governor, it seemed he hadn't made any mistakes. Cautiously, he asked, "Fifth Brother, do you have any business here this time?"

"Hmm, a little matter."

Lu Ye replied casually, then stood still, lost in thought.

Without a sight of Little Gray, it was not feasible to go looking for it now. Without Little Gray, he couldn't kill too many people, and without being able to kill, the sects of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge wouldn't fear him much.

How should he recover his lost 100,000 merit points and the Golden Body Token? Or should he just break the arrays to vent his anger?

With his current mastery in Array Path, the big arrays of the sects' stations in Ten Thousand Demons Ridge couldn't stop him at all. If it was just to break arrays to vent anger without significant benefits, it seemed somewhat meaningless, plunging Lu Ye into a dilemma.

Indeed, some things did not go as smoothly as one would hope; there were always many twists and turns.

Since Lu Ye didn't speak, Tao Zhengyu could only stand by, feeling quite pressured.

After a while, Lu Ye finally spoke, "Forget it, come with me. Let's see if we can glean anything from this."

Regardless, once he made a move, it was sure to alarm all the sects of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge. Lu Ye the Sect Destroyer's return, who wouldn't fear him?

Given that he couldn't kill too many people, Lu Ye estimated that at most, he could target only one or two sects. Bringing his own station's Governor was perfect to plunder the blessings from others' Heaven's Augury Pillars—it wouldn't do to return completely empty-handed.

He summoned his Flying Spirit Artifact, took Tao Zhengyu, and soared into the sky.

Tao Zhengyu was completely confused and didn't know what Lu Ye was planning to do, nor did he dare to ask too many questions, so he simply followed silently.

The journey was calm and uneventful.

Moving from the outermost circle into the Core Circle was a long journey. If Lu Ye could utilize his cultivation from the Cloud River Level 3, it wouldn't take more than a few days, but now he could only exert the power of 9th Heaven, which doubled the travel time.

Fortunately, his current Flying Spirit Artifact was a mid-grade spirit artifact, which was faster than a low-grade spirit artifact. However, its only flaw was that it consumed more of his spirit force.

With little rest along the way, Tao Zhengyu truly experienced the terrifying depth of his Fifth Senior Brother. Normally, cultivators cannot replenish their spirit force during extended flights. Except for resting half an hour every day, his Fifth Senior Brother spent the rest of the time traveling.

In just four days, they made it to the Core Circle.

Lu Ye took out a ten-part map of the Spirit Stream battlefield and surveyed it, weighing between New Moon Sect and Yunyang Sect.

New Moon Sect was the sect where Tan Sheng was located, which Lu Ye had confirmed previously during a casual conversation with Li Baxian. Yunyang Sect, on the other hand, was Wei Que's sect.

Both sects were in the Core Circle and were not unfamiliar to Lu Ye, as he had previously collected protection money from them. Even though he hadn't interacted much with them, he had heard of them nonetheless.

Since he could only effectively target one or two sects, he naturally needed to choose carefully.

He finally decided to strike at New Moon Sect!

The reason he had gotten trapped in the hunting grounds, forced to use the Golden Body Token and spend 100,000 merit points to call upon the Heaven's Augury Pillar, was all because of Tan Sheng, who had used a tracking disc.

One could say the root cause of him being chased and blocked was on Tan Sheng.

Since there was a clearly identifiable debtor for his losses, it was only natural to reclaim them from New Moon Sect.

After flying half a day more, they finally arrived ten miles outside the New Moon Sect's station.

Lu Ye lowered the Flying Spirit Artifact and grabbed Amber, handing it to Tao Zhengyu, "Wait here."

Tao Zhengyu took Amber and obediently stood in place.

Lu Ye then charged directly towards the New Moon Sect's station. The confrontation was inevitable with the cultivators of New Moon Sect; bringing a Level 7 Tao Zhengyu was not very convenient, so leaving him here, with Amber and Yiyi to protect him, meant safety wasn't a concern.

Within the blink of an eye, Lu Ye had covered the ten miles.

Over New Moon Sect's station, the protective array's light screen covered it like an inverted bowl.

The light screen was not very thick, showing that the protective array's power wasn't fully activated. Normally, there was no reason to always be thinking about attacking someone else's station.

Except for Righteous Blood Sect's Lu Yiye, of course!

Back when he was at the Spirit Stream battlefield, he had thrown the entire battlefield into chaos. Now that he had ascended to Cloud River, the sects of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge thought they could finally have some peaceful days.

Yet, to everyone's dismay, less than three months later, that plague had returned!