Sage of Humanity

About fifty miles north of the Righteous Blood Sect's encampment lay a valley, within which was a massive pit—a veritable insect cave.

Like the situation near the Righteous Blood Sect, not a single blade of grass grew in this valley. Even several layers of soil had been scraped away, the dry green hues of insect blood were visible everywhere, along with some uncollected limbs and flesh remnants.

On a nearby mountaintop, hundreds of Righteous Blood Sect cultivators lay in ambush, each of them feeling nervous and uneasy.

Half a day ago, they had been merrily accumulating merit inside the insect hive with relative ease, only to be suddenly brought to this place by Hua Ci. Soon after, Lu Ye joined them. Clearly, there was something afoot.

The cultivators faintly discerned the intentions of their Governor and Deputy Governor, and to say they were not nervous would be a lie, for the only large-scale action they had participated in before was the recently handled Insect Plague.

Thankfully, with previous experience, the squads had gained some cooperative experience. They had dealt with the Insect Plague before, so why fear the current situation?

A mountain breeze swept by, and the cultivators remained silent and still.

Lu Ye secretly glanced into the valley and frowned, "Why haven't they come out yet?"

Prior to his departure, the Sky Fiend Hall seemed to be showing signs of faltering. Logically, they should have emerged by now, unless they had managed to stabilize their array.

If that was the case, then a proactive strike was needed—to backstab them fervently while they were still in fierce battle with the Insect Race, wiping out the Sky Fiend Hall cultivators underground and dealing with their Insect Plague in one fell swoop.

However, such a maneuver was not without significant risk; battling in those somewhat cramped underground tunnels could easily lead to heavy casualties.

Therefore, Lu Ye preferred to wait for the Sky Fiend Hall forces to retreat. Spring upon them by surprise, and as long as they blocked that cave entrance, the Righteous Blood Sect could coordinate with the Insect Plague to strike from both sides, slaughtering the Sky Fiend Hall cultivators within the cave.

"We need to be more careful next time, Hua Ci. We can't just focus on the forefront and ignore the rear," said Lu Ye with a sigh, realizing that the Sky Fiend Hall had left a few cultivators at the entrance of the cave. This way, they could investigate any anomalies promptly and signal the others.

On the contrary, when the Insect Plague arrived, every cultivator of the Righteous Blood Sect rushed out, leaving their encampment deserted. The same happened when they had first entered the insect cave; nobody stayed outside to keep watch.

Hua Ci glanced at him resentfully and said, "I have a kind of mushroom."

"That's reassuring," Lu Ye replied, feeling greatly relieved.

The battlefield marking suddenly stirred, and Lu Ye quickly checked it, his eyebrows lifting, "They're here!"

The message came from Yiyi. Ever since the sect master had accepted Yiyi as a disciple of the Righteous Blood Sect, she had received her own battlefield marking.

As a Spiritual Body, she could, if she so desired, turn from tangible to intangible and move unnoticed, making her most suitable for espionage in such circumstances.

Lu Ye had previously brought her here and sent her underground to scout. After a long and anxious wait, Yiyi's message finally arrived.

He leaped to his feet, mounted the White Tiger, and pulled Hua Ci up with him, calling out in a low voice, "Let's go!"

Amber broke into a sprint, racing down towards the foot of the mountain, with the wind whipping past, blowing through Hua Ci's hair.

Behind them, hundreds of Righteous Blood Sect cultivators followed in a cacophony, not shouting or cheering, yet the momentum of hundreds moving together was still immensely powerful.

Many of these cultivators had suffered oppression from the nearby Ten Thousand Demons Ridge powers, with many friends dying as a result. To them, the nearby Sky Fiend Hall and Phong Clan were loathed to the bone. Even if they hadn't suffered directly, innate factional opposition ensured they felt no sympathy.

When they reached the middle of the mountainside, Lu Ye suddenly crouched on the tiger's back and shouted into Hua Ci's ear, "I'll go ahead first!"

Their numbers made a large and conspicuous force, easily spotted by the Sky Fiend Hall cultivators loitering at the mouth of the cave. To prevent them from sending any messages, those guarding the entrance needed to be eliminated first.

Spirit force ignited, and a pair of fiery red wings unfurled behind him. Lu Ye transformed into a red streak and flew towards the cave entrance.

The five Sky Fiend Hall cultivators guarding the opening seemed somewhat panicked, not because they had detected the Righteous Blood Sect's approach, but because communication with their brethren inside revealed that the situation was dire. They learned that their sect members were retreating and about to make their way out.

"How could this happen?" a fair-faced man muttered, bewildered, "This shouldn't be possible!"

The Sky Fiend Hall had dealt with numerous Insect Plagues and accumulated a wealth of combat experience. Although losses were common, they generally handled the situation well. But being forced to retreat by the Insect Plague was a first for them.

"According to Senior Brother Liu, the Insect Plague suddenly intensified, causing this unexpected turn," another said.

"Thud..."

One of them knelt down, tears streaming down his face as he murmured softly, "Junior Sister Sun is dead..." Then his head banged against the ground forcefully, "Junior Sister Sun is dead!"

"Pull yourself together, Junior Brother Guo, it's not just Junior Sister Sun who's dead!"

"If Junior Sister Sun is dead, what's the point of living!" Junior Brother Guo abruptly stood, his eyes bloodshot as he rushed toward the cave, "I'll kill those damned bugs!"

Someone beside him quickly grabbed him around the waist, "Don't act rashly. Senior Brother He Meng is already leading the retreat. Our job is to assist them!"

"What's that?" Someone suddenly exclaimed.

Others followed the direction of his gaze, only to see a fiery red light swiftly sweeping toward them, reaching their proximity in the blink of an eye.

As the light converged, a figure was revealed; for a moment, several people were stunned because the fire-red Liu Guang turned out to be a pair of spirit force wings on the newcomer's back.

What followed was a chilling scene. The newcomer held a streak of Liu Guang in his hand, which, like a butterfly piercing through flowers, sliced through their bodies, sending blood spattering everywhere. Each and every disciple from the Sky Fiend Hall fell to the ground.

The wings on Lu Ye's back dispersed, and he landed with a thud as the handle-less dagger flew back into his hand.

Fortunately, no messages had been sent out.

He approached the entrance of the insect cave and peered down to see nothing but darkness. Bending down, he pressed his ear to the ground and faintly heard rumbling sounds growing from distant to near. Frowning, he turned back to see that it was his own cultivators approaching.

Mounted on Amber, Hua Ci was the first to arrive, quickly planting mushrooms nearby. Although these mushrooms might not be of much use, it was better to be safe than sorry.

A moment later, cultivators from the Righteous Blood Sect arrived. Their eyes fell on Lu Ye, filled with excitement, tension, and a hint of bewilderment. They couldn't understand how the situation had developed to this point.

"Circle around! Whoever comes up, take them down!"

Following Lu Ye's command, everyone spread out, surrounding the massive insect cave from inside out.

"Physique cultivators and combat cultivators move to the front, protect the magic cultivators. Don't rush to act; wait for my command before you do anything. And remember, don't fall down there; if you do, you won't survive!"

No sooner had they made preparations than Yiyi emerged from the ground nearby, astonishing many who had never seen her demonstrate such a skill.

"They're coming!" Yiyi stood beside Lu Ye and called out softly.

Rumbling sounds came from below the insect cave, accompanied by noises of combat. It was the cultivators from the Sky Fiend Hall escaping through the tunnels.

"Get up there, quick!" Someone below roared. "Move faster!"

The ropes dangling around the insect cave suddenly tensed, and along with the jerking of the ropes, figures quickly climbed upward.

For cultivators, the ascent of tens of zhang was rather swift.

The first cultivator reached the top of the cave and anxiously called out, "Quick, give me a hand."

As he spoke, he extended his hand.

No one helped him. When the cultivator looked up, he saw he was surrounded by people standing high above, looking down on him.

Do we have so many people waiting up top? The cultivator couldn't help but wonder. Also, why had he never seen these people before, and why were they all raising their Spiritual Artifacts?

Spirit force surged, and a fire dragon, its dragon scales almost visible, roared and danced around them. With the fall of the command "Attack," magic and spells, along with Spirit Talisman's might, began to burst forth. Those without spells or Spirit Talismans raised their Spiritual Artifacts and struck at the enemies climbing to the cave's entrance.

Screams rang out instantly as one cultivator after another fell down, bodies cascading back into the darkness, not sparing even those who were still climbing.

The sudden calamity caused panic among the Sky Fiend Hall cultivators, who were clueless about what was happening above. Soon enough, someone shouted, "It's the people from the Haotian Alliance!"

The only ones capable of ambushing them here would be from the Haotian Alliance, not that it was clear which sect they were from. At this time, almost every sect was dealing with the Insect Plague. Who would have time to lay an ambush?

This piece of news spread rapidly, and the surviving Sky Fiend Hall cultivators despaired.

With the Haotian Alliance waiting in ambush above and a large number of the Insect Race pursuing them below, caught in a pincer attack, how could there be any way out?

In a passage near the cave's entrance, a combat cultivator wielding a long spear fought desperately. This man was the Governor of the Sky Fiend Hall, He Meng, a Level 7 cultivator with more than one hundred and thirty orifice-openings.

Earlier, the Insect Plague had intensified unexpectedly, throwing the Sky Fiend Hall's original plans into disarray. With no other choice, he had ordered his fellow cultivators to fight while retreating. Although they had paid a price, they had managed to safely withdraw to the cave entrance.

As long as they could exit and hold the cave's entrance, then recuperate, the Sky Fiend Hall could fight again. The sect had dealt with countless Insect Plagues before.

But the spiritual force fluctuations and screams of terror behind him alerted He Meng that something was wrong. He hurriedly asked loudly and soon received a response.

There was an ambush by members of the Haotian Alliance above the cave entrance?

Which power was behind this ruthless act? Didn't they have their own Insect Plagues to deal with?

Even though he found the situation unfathomable, He Meng quickly realized that this predicament was nothing short of disastrous.

Caught between a rock and a hard place, what chance did the Sky Fiend Hall have of a favorable outcome?