Sage of Humanity

Seeing the perfect opportunity, Lu Ye rushed to Dong Shuye within a few steps, his long saber, augmented with spirit force, chopped down fiercely.

As the long saber descended, a strong pushing force came from Dong Shuye's direction. It was unclear what magic and spells Dong Shuye had used, but in the face of that repelling force, Lu Ye was pushed back more than ten meters before he could finally stabilize his stance.

Looking up again, Dong Shuye had already climbed up, holding his chest with his hand. A huge wound on his right chest was clearly visible, from which blood gushed out, instantly staining his clothes red.

His face was filled with terror, for Lu Ye had nearly killed him with a single strike. During the moment his spirit force was in disarray, he had no power to resist. Fortunately, in the nick of time, he managed to regain control of himself.

Although he had narrowly avoided death, such an injury was already extremely severe.

"Ha..." Dong Shuye staggered a bit. By now, he finally understood the reason Lu Ye had lured him to this place first and then immediately sealed off the exit. This was not the burial ground that Lu Ye had chosen for himself; it was clearly chosen for him.

It was laughable that he always thought he could kill the other party with his own strength, not realizing that arrogance was the root of failure.

The enemy charged at him again, not intending to give him any time to breathe, just as he had done earlier. Moreover, by comparison, this enemy was more decisive and aggressive in combat. Since the beginning until now, he hadn't said a single word, simply continually seeking opportunities to advance and then swing his blade.

That's what a life-and-death struggle should look like, right?

Watching Lu Ye rapidly approaching, Dong Shuye took out another Golden Body Talisman from his storage sack and slapped it onto himself, knowing that this time it was more likely to be perilous, but he was unwilling to just wait for death.

Protected by the Golden Body, he raised both hands, completely disregarding the frantic consumption of his spirit force, as one after another, magic and spells were cast in quick succession.

But he had injuries on both arms, and his right chest was almost cleaved open. The massive blood loss in a short period of time made him dizzy and even breathing became difficult. In such a state, the speed of casting spells was far slower compared to the very beginning.

Amidst those magic and spells attacks, Lu Ye advanced and slashed down with his blade.

The golden light shattered. Even though Dong Shuye activated a spirit force barrier at the same time the golden light broke, it still couldn't completely block the fierce strike.

This slash started from the right shoulder and extended to the lower left abdomen, nearly gutting him open.

Before Dong Shuye had a chance to cast any more spells, Lu Ye's second blow was already on its way, and a strong resistance once again swept through, pushing him several meters away. Enjoy new tales from empire

As he steadied himself, Dong Shuye was now floating in mid-air, his spirit force boiling and burning. However, with the lesson learned, he wouldn't foolishly remain stationary. Under Lu Ye's watch, he was floating uncertainly through the air at a jogging pace.

Lu Ye raised his hand, releasing a plump bird that fluttered its wings and flew up. It didn't hit the target, which had always been a problem for Lu Ye and the reason why he didn't often use magic and spells against enemies.

The first time he had managed to hit was mainly because Dong Shuye hadn't expected Lu Ye to use spells, and the casting was fast enough that he was hit before he could react.

That moment was Dong Shuye's biggest mistake. The injury wasn't too severe, but the subsequent disarray in his spirit force brought consequences that he couldn't bear.

Their eyes met, and Dong Shuye cracked a hideous smile, pressing on his battlefield marking. The marking immediately emitted red light. Lu Ye thought something was wrong; this man might be calling for help. Immediately, he cast spells even more frequently.

Shortly after, the light from the marking on Dong Shuye's hand receded, and at the same time, the spirit light around his body suddenly dimmed and he plummeted towards the ground.

Lu Ye was somewhat confused by this situation, but quickly realized that the man had exhausted his spirit force!

In his prime, Dong Shuye obviously wouldn't run out of spirit force so soon, especially since he was a cultivator who had opened more than 108 orifices, with a reserve of spirit force twice as much as Lu Ye.

But his previous pursuit of Lu Ye consumed too much, and once inside the cave, to stop Lu Ye from approaching, he kept using persistent magic, depleting even the largest reserve of spirit force.

In contrast, Lu Ye was different. With Amber carrying him, he had always maintained a perfect state, and even managed to achieve a breakthrough to Level 1 here.

With a thud, Dong Shuye fell to the ground, feeling almost shattered.

Footsteps approached from the side; Lu Ye walked slowly with his blade in hand. He didn't believe Dong Shuye was putting on an act; falling from such a high place was no small ordeal, especially since Dong Shuye was already severely injured.

In other words, the man had truly exhausted his spirit force.

Standing in front of Dong Shuye, Lu Ye looked down at him. Blood poured from Dong Shuye's mouth and nose, and there was a rattling sound in his throat. Looking at Lu Ye, he seemed to want to say something.

Lu Ye raised his blade, gripped the hilt in reverse, and aimed at his heart. With a stab, the blade went down.

Dong Shuye's body suddenly stiffened.

"I will be waiting for you... on the road to Huang Quan!" At his last moment, Dong Shuye almost bit out these words through gritted teeth. His stiff body then relaxed, and he was silenced, his eyes wide open.

A wisp of red light drifted out and fell into Lu Ye's hand.

He looked at Dong Shuye's corpse, suddenly feeling a surreal sensation.

Two and a half months ago, he was nearly at his wit's end, being chased by this man. If not for a stroke of luck, he would have never escaped that ordeal. Yet just two and a half months later, the powerful figure that he had once looked up to had died by his blade.

It turned out that he had grown so much stronger than he had been two and a half months ago.

And furthermore...

"I haven't even used my full strength yet," Lu Ye muttered softly to himself.

Indeed, he had not given it his all—he still had the Move-Like-The-Wind Talisman unused. If that could be used to enhance Amber's speed, it could naturally do the same for him. With his current strength, if he were to use the Move-Like-The-Wind, his speed would increase by at least thirty percent.

Lu Ye had planned to wait until he had adapted to the increase in strength brought about by his advancement in cultivation before considering the use of the Move-Like-The-Wind Talisman. Otherwise, using such a talisman rashly could result in him losing control over his body, possibly ending up like he did after the Dragon Spring Body Tempering, where he crashed into a wall.

Sometimes, a sudden increase in speed is not necessarily a good thing, especially when facing a magic cultivator like Dong Shuye. In full control of himself, Lu Ye could dodge his opponent's magic and spells, but if his speed exceeded his own control, he might run smack into an incoming spell.

A mistake like that in a life-and-death battle would be terrifying.

Unfortunately, he never got the chance to use that talisman in the end.

He did not make a mistake; Dong Shuye made a significant one and was brought down by his Fire Phoenix Technique.

Yiyi poked her head out from the side, holding a Spirit Talisman and asked cautiously, "Did we win?"

Lu Ye lay sprawled on the ground, forming the shape of a spread-eagled figure, "We won!"

Yiyi had only appeared initially to block the exit with a Spirit Talisman and had not shown herself since because Lu Ye had instructed her not to act rashly. She should only use the Spirit Talisman when there was a perfect opportunity or if he was in danger. However, the battle went much more smoothly than Lu Ye had anticipated, and Yiyi never got the chance to act.

"Lu Ye, you are really amazing," Yiyi expressed her admiration sincerely.

Lu Ye forced a smile, "We can't stay here long. Feed Amber some stuff, let's rest for a bit, and we must leave quickly."

Before his death, Dong Shuye had managed to send out some information using his battlefield marking. Although Lu Ye did not know what exactly he said or to whom, it was likely that he was calling for reinforcements.

That's why they needed to leave as quickly as possible.

What Lu Ye didn't know was that, as a sect betrayer, Dong Shuye could not possibly call his former friends for help. Moreover, by that time, he had realized his doom was inevitable, and it was too late to summon anyone even if he wanted to.

He just sent out a message, and that message—went out to many people!

After feeding Amber, Yiyi went to clean up the battlefield and soon came back gleefully carrying a storage sack, "Lu Ye, Lu Ye, we've struck it rich."

Seeing her excitement, Lu Ye knew they had made a good haul.

Dong Shuye's storage sack was open, as he had been retrieving items from it during the fight and hadn't had the chance to secure it with a restriction lock.

Lu Ye was now sitting cross-legged on the ground, refining elixir pills to recover and eating, while also checking his battlefield marking.

Name: Lu Ye.

Identity: Disciple of the Righteous Blood Sect.

Cultivation: Opened the 63rd orifice.

Location: Spirit Stream battlefield.

Merit: Three hundred and ninety-seven.

When he left Hundred Peaks Mountain, his merit was three hundred and sixty-eight points; now it had increased by twenty-nine points.

After some thought, he recalled that he had killed two cultivators of Level 4 in that swamp, which accounted for eight points of merit; Dong Shuye alone had contributed a full twenty-one points of merit!

It seems that although Dong Shuye's cultivation had dropped to Level 6 for some reason, the merit gained from slaying him was still calculated based on his Level 7 cultivator status.

One thing that Lu Ye had never figured out was exactly how Dong Shuye's cultivation had fallen.

Now, it seemed unlikely he would ever find out.

In Dong Shuye's storage sack, there were quite a few Spirit Stones and elixir pills; after a count, there were one hundred and thirty-four Spirit Stones and fifty-seven elixir pills.

This was the largest haul Lu Ye had obtained from any storage sack, sufficient to compensate for the damage sustained by the Mystic Spirit Bell.

However, compared to Dong Shuye's status as a Level 7 cultivator, this wealth still seemed rather meager.

But this was Lu Ye's misconception, as he had always had plenty of resources for cultivation at hand, which was due to him constantly selling origin magnetic ore. Other cultivators did not have this foundation.

Compared to others, Dong Shuye could be considered wealthy since he had once been the governor for the Nine Stars Sect and was responsible for distributing the resources for his junior fellow disciples' cultivation. Occasionally, he could skim off the top, lining his own pockets, hence accumulating such wealth.

If it were an average Level 7 cultivator, they wouldn't possess such assets because cultivation consumes resources, and what the sects distribute monthly couldn't be saved up.

Having sorted out the spoils of war and made some repairs, Lu Ye and Yiyi moved the stones blocking the exit and followed the path they had come by to head outside.