Sage of Humanity

The Nine Stars Sect had been utterly defeated, with only Dong Shuye, the sole match for Wang Yeang, having gone off to pursue the mountain tiger. Once their base's protective array was breached, there was no one who could stop Wang Yeang's slaughter.

Cao Ye faintly sensed a conspiratorial aura about the situation, but he no longer had the Cultivation Technique to give it much thought. Activating his spirit force, he yelled, "Everyone, prepare to evacuate!"

The disciples, already panicky and scattered across various key locations assisting in defense, heard Cao Ye's shout and immediately rushed towards the great hall. There, the Nine Stars Sect's Heaven's Augury Pillar was located. By using the pillar, they could return to the Nine Provinces, and only then might they escape this disaster.

"Crack…" The sound of the protective array shattering spread, and a swath of phosphorescence seeped from the outskirts of the Nine Stars Sect's location, spreading like fireflies in the night. Xiaozhu's body, suspended in the air, went limp and plummeted towards the ground, but Wang Yeang, having been prepared, caught her in his arms.

His other hand drew the longsword from his waist, pointing it forward, "Kill!"

…

In the woods, Lu Ye fled in distress, his arms badly mutilated and his chest scorched.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

The Level 7 cultivation of Dong Shuye was not something he could contend with. Had it not been for the Defense Spirit Runes, he would have died at the first spell Dong Shuye cast.

Lu Ye had thought that fleeing into the dense mountains would increase his chances of survival, but the thick jungle did not conceal his figure at all. Dong Shuye pursued him relentlessly, casting spell after spell, toppling trees as thick as several men embraced.

He had been separated from Amber. During Dong Shuye's second attack, the powerful impact had thrown him off the tiger's back, and that was where his scorched chest had come from. Lu Ye did not know the extent of Amber's injuries but was certain they were severe, as the ground quickly reddened with blood under her as she fell.

Lu Ye didn't even have time to check Amber's injuries; he felt that he might not escape this time, so he made a split decision and fled in different directions from Amber. Staying together would mean death for both of them.

If his fate was sealed, at least Amber might have a chance to live.

That feeling of imminent danger became clearer and clearer. Fortunately, Dong Shuye did not continue to glide through the sky, as the trees here were tall and the canopy thick. Flying would make it easy to lose sight of Lu Ye.

Even so, the speed granted by Dong Shuye's Level 7 cultivation was not something Lu Ye could shake.

Only 30% of his spirit force remained inside him. The Defense Spirit Runes, which could barely block one of Dong Shuye's spells, could only be activated one more time.

There was no chance left.

Lu Ye raised his blood-soaked right hand and gripped the long knife at his waist.

Although his life had been brief and less than spectacular, even in death, he would face his enemy!

Suddenly, the sound of rushing water hit his ears, booming loudly. Lu Ye initially didn't pay it much attention until he realized where it was coming from. He immediately changed direction and dashed towards it.

From behind, Dong Shuye, who was in hot pursuit, saw Lu Ye's figure from afar, his eyes blazing with anger.

It truly frustrated him that personally pursuing a Level 3 cultivator had taken this long without success, making it hard for him to accept and only strengthening his resolve to slay Lu Ye.

Seeing Lu Ye change direction and hearing that thunderous noise, Dong Shuye couldn't be more aware of the cunning trick Lu Ye was planning.

"Kid, you can't escape. Just give up and die to spare yourself the agony!" Dong Shuye roared angrily. As spirit force surged around him, he shot up into the sky.

In midair, he spotted a huge waterfall cascading downward. Under the blazing sun, the spray formed a rainbow of colors. Within that rainbow, Lu Ye soared upward, already leaping toward the bottom of the waterfall.

"Where do you think you're going!" Dong Shuye bellowed. In haste, he launched a Golden Arc Slash at Lu Ye. Coming from him, a Level 7 magic cultivator, the Golden Arc Slash was far more powerful than that performed by Luo Ji, a Level 2 cultivator, almost three feet in length.

The crescent-shaped slash whizzed through the air. However, because they were both moving quickly, the strike missed its mark slightly, slicing past Lu Ye's back.

Lu Ye's protective spirit force was as fragile as paper, and blood spurted out, causing his face to twitch in pain.

In that moment, he had almost no time to activate his Defense Spirit Runes. Had that Golden Arc Slash hit his trunk, he would have been sliced in half immediately.

His body rapidly plummeted downward and, moments later, crashed heavily into the pond below. Lu Ye instantly dived deeper, seeking to hide himself.

Simultaneously, Dong Shuye's figure drifted down from above the waterfall, hovering over the pond. Without a word, he began to unleash multiple Golden Arc Slashes at the spot where Lu Ye had fallen into the water.

Compared to other magic and spells, the Golden Arc Slash undoubtedly had stronger penetrative power. Although the water flow impeded the spell's might, there was no better plan at the moment, unless Dong Shuye was willing to dive into the water to search for Lu Ye's trail.

With each Golden Arc Slash, the water surface was cleaved apart, dense blood emerged from beneath, even some pieces of internal organs floated up.

Seeing this, Dong Shuye quickly checked his battlefield marking.

He had lost ten points of merit...

This made Dong Shuye wince in pain.

The Spirit Stream battlefield was a strange place—it seemed to be controlled by a mysterious force that managed the cultivators' merits. Killing an enemy above one's level would double the merit earned, but killing someone three or more minor levels below one's own would deduct a significant amount of merit.

This mysterious force seemed to encourage cultivators to fight opponents above their level and penalize those who bullied the weak.

This was also why not many very strong cultivators were seen in the outer circle of the battlefield; merit was crucial for any cultivator, and to gain merit, one had to kill enemies not much weaker than oneself.

For cultivators at the Level 6-7, there wasn't much benefit to be had in the outer circle. Although they wouldn't completely leave the outer circle, they would choose locations closer to the inner circle for their trials.

As a Level 7 cultivator, Dong Shuye would earn merit for killing someone at Level 4, but killing a Level 3 would deduct ten points, and killing a Level 2 would deduct twenty points.

Ten points of merit was not a lot, but it was not little either. For Dong Shuye, killing a cultivator of the same level earned him only seven points of merit. If it were not for a strict order from the elders in his sect, he wouldn't have personally come to chase after Lu Ye.

Fortunately, it was all over now...

He looked again at his battlefield marking. When he had checked his merit earlier, he had noticed that someone had sent him a message.

When he saw the content of the message, his face suddenly changed dramatically.