Sage of Humanity

The Phong family's residence was now in complete chaos, as the power of the protective array was pushed to its limit.

More and more members of the Insect Race swarmed in, clinging to the barrier's surface, gnawing on the spirit force flowing within it.
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Standing within the residence and looking out, the entire field of view was occupied by the Insect Race, clinging to the barrier. Many had even crawled into mid-air. The Phong side poured a vast amount of Spirit Stones into the array, releasing all of their stored spirit force, yet they could only barely maintain the array's power.

But the size of the Insect Plague was growing ever more formidable, and at this rate, it would only be a few Shichen before the array inevitably collapsed.

Phong Yue's face was pale. Only now did she suddenly realize a problem—Infinity Heights had just sealed their own insect cave entrance when their residence was attacked by the Insect Plague, leaving hundreds of cultivators stranded outside, unable to return for support. Was this a coincidence, or had someone orchestrated all of this?

If it was a coincidence, so be it, but if someone had secretly planned all this, then it was too horrifying to contemplate.

On the other hand, within the Phong Clan's insect hive, Phong Lianju, who had received the message, was also in a panic. Without the people from Infinity Heights, they could still return to support their residence, but with the people from Infinity Heights blocking the entrance, they dared not even show their heads.

Moreover, they hadn't resolved the Insect Plague on their side yet. Caught in desperate urgency, they were at a loss for what to do.

Time slipped away bit by bit.

Six hours later, the light from the protective array at the Phong family's residence had dimmed to the extreme, on the verge of shattering at any moment. Once the array broke, the Insect Plague would be able to pour in directly. Given the current scale of the Insect Plague, the more than a hundred cultivators left to defend the Phong family's residence would not stand a chance.

Phong Yue was chilled to the bone. She had never imagined her family's residence could be breached in such a manner. Thankfully, it was only overrun by the Insect Plague, not breached by cultivators. If cultivators had broken through, the loss for the Phong family would have been enormous.

As she was thinking this, a thunderous noise suddenly came from behind the residence, followed by extreme fluctuations of spirit force.

The many cultivators of the Phong family were already scared and insecure, waiting for Phong Yue to order a withdrawal to the Nine Provinces. Suddenly faced with this unexpected situation, they were all shocked.

Nobody knew what was happening, but soon, Phong family cultivators rushed in from that direction, shouting, "Hundreds of cultivators are attacking the array!"

Phong Yue felt darkness before her eyes and nearly collapsed to the ground.

At such a critical juncture, there were hundreds of cultivators attacking their residence? Which power was this?

It was over—all over! She had just been relieved that the residence was only breached by the Insect Plague, but now it seemed the situation was not as simple as she thought.

With a loud bang, the array shattered. The Insect Race that had been pressing on the protective barrier's screen fell in droves, and more of the Insect Race flooded into the residence, their scuttling noises reaching everyone's ears.

"Quickly, fall back to the Nine Provinces!" Phong Yue issued the command through gritted teeth and then hurried towards the Heaven's Augury Hall.

By this time, many of the Phong Clan cultivators who sensed the situation was dire had already rushed towards the Heaven's Augury Hall. One after another, figures dashed into the hall, using the Heaven's Augury Pillar to retreat to the Nine Provinces. Still, those who moved swiftly were few; many cultivators had not yet had the chance to react.

By the time they arrived at the plaza in front of the hall, hundreds of cultivators came charging fiercely toward them, each emanating a killing aura, particularly the one leading them, mounted on a snowy white big tiger, swinging a long saber that sent the head of a Phong family cultivator flying high.

There was also a fiery red Liu Guang flitting about this person's side, clearly the glint of weapon control.

Phong Yue had never seen this young man before, but the spirit light on his body revealed his Level 7 cultivation. The purity of that spirit light was something Phong Yue had rarely seen in her life—not even on the bodies of Level 7 cultivators in her own sect.

She watched as this young man wreaked havoc, with a Level 6 Phong cultivator unable to block even a single strike from him.

The young man noticed her as well, and their eyes met. His eyes lit up, as if he had found something thrilling, and he pounced directly towards her from the tiger's back, the gleam of his saber flashing before Phong Yue.

The strike did not kill Phong Yue, not because she had the skill to block it, but because when Lu Ye lunged at her to kill, the woman simply ducked down, bent her knees, and neatly dropped to the ground in a kneeling position, tucking her neck like a turtle.

Lu Ye, who had calculated countless outcomes, had not anticipated this kind of response.

The Boulder Mountain Saber sliced over her head, severing a few strands of hair.

Ever since entering the Spirit Stream battlefield, many cultivators had died under Lu Ye's saber. Some had not even had the chance to react before losing their lives, others fought to the death without retreating, and some begged for mercy before dying, although there were not many of those.

Generally speaking, when opposing factions clashed, if one side was no match, there was usually no chance of survival, as pleas for mercy were futile.

But such a straightforward, immediate submission to kneeling was a first for him!

This woman was also a Level 7 cultivator, which was why Lu Ye's eyes had brightened upon seeing her. As a Level 7, she was either the Phong family's Governor or Deputy Governor. Since she was left in charge of the residence, the best items were definitely on her. As long as he killed her, it would all be his!

But the woman's reaction confused Lu Ye, and he forgot to adjust his strike in the moment.

Landing, Lu Ye looked down at the woman kneeling before him. Her face was as pale as paper, her forehead touching the ground, her hands stretched forward. Her posture pushed her close-fitting dress to outline a temptingly graceful figure.

Lu Ye raised his saber to strike. Though he had been stunned for a moment, since she was a Level 7 cultivator of the Phong family, he would naturally not be merciful. Presenting such an unguarded posture only made it easier for him to sever her head.

"I am a healing cultivator, Fellow Daoist, spare my life!"

Lu Ye's raised saber halted, and he furrowed his brow.

There was an unspoken rule on the Spirit Stream battlefield, which was that if one could avoid it, both sides would try their best to spare the life of the opposing healing cultivator.

In the past, Lu Ye was unaware of this, but now, he was the Governor stationed at the Righteous Blood Sect's base. He had frequent contact with Shui Yuan and others, gaining a lot of knowledge about the common sense on the battlefield. Shui Yuan had even made a special point to instruct him on this matter, probably because he had seen how heavy Lu Ye's killing intent could be at times.

The reason for this rule was threefold: first, because healing cultivators were rare; second, because most healing cultivators were not skilled in the art of harming others, and even those who practiced magic cultivation or other factions often did so for self-defense.

Healing cultivators spent more time saving and healing others, and in comparisons of fighting prowess among cultivators of the same level, healing cultivators were always at the bottom. Third, by sparing the life of the enemy's healing cultivator, one could also facilitate healing for one's own wounded cultivators.

Back in Evil Moon Valley, when Pang Dahai was explaining the differences between the sects to Lu Ye and Yu Xiaodie, he mentioned to Yu Xiaodie that as a healing cultivator, even if captured by Ten Thousand Demons Ridge, there was no need to worry about being killed.

For many years, as the two large factions faced each other in battle, although they wished to grind the other into the ground, this unwritten rule had always been maintained to avoid reducing the number of healing cultivators on both sides.

Healing cultivators were precious, and if too many died, finding someone to heal in the future would be troublesome.

Lu Ye now understood why this woman had knelt down so suddenly; it turned out she had the status of a healing cultivator.

His long saber came down, and with Phong Yue's cry of alarm, her arm gained a bone-deep wound, blood flowing out and staining her clothes red.

"Prove it to me!"

Phong Yue hurriedly straightened her upper body, enduring the excruciating pain as she lifted her other hand to cover the wound on her arm. A gentle, water-like spirit force began to flow.

Lu Ye couldn't help but click his tongue; she really was a healing cultivator.

"Chen Yu!"

Chen Yu, who was leading a large group of Righteous Blood Sect disciples in holding off the Insect Plague up ahead, leaped back at the call: "Here!"

"Keep an eye on this woman. If there's any anomaly, kill her!"

Chen Yu glanced down at Phong Yue and replied, "Understood!"

Lu Ye rushed forward, then turned back after two steps: "Right, confiscate her storage sack and also, ask her if there's anything valuable around here."

"Got it."

After Lu Ye had gone, Chen Yu, looking at Phong Yue kneeling on the ground, said, "Get up. You heard what was said just now. Hand over the storage sack!"

Phong Yue resignedly untied her storage sack and passed it to Chen Yu, but she didn't get up. Instead, she looked up at him pitifully, "I'm feeling a bit weak. Could you help me up?" Saying this, she stretched out a hand to Chen Yu.

The feeling of narrowly escaping death was too terrifying. The effective methods she used against men in the past had not worked in the slightest against that young man; the way he looked at her lacked the kind of light one would expect when looking at a woman.

Looking at that delicate, boneless white hand, Chen Yu's heart stirred for a moment, but after glancing at Lu Ye, who was fighting the Insect Race, he resolutely shook his head: "No, get up on your own."

Phong Yue's expression was filled with melancholy as she slowly stood up.

Chen Yu said solemnly, "Don't try any tricks, take me to anything valuable on your side, and make it quick!"

With that, he pushed the dawdling Phong Yue, and she uttered a soft cry, which nearly melted Chen Yu's resolve...

Her home had been occupied, she had been captured, and now she had to lead the enemy to her valuable possessions. Phong Yue felt bitter inside, but at least she had managed to save her life.

Inside Heaven's Augury Hall, Hua Ci withdrew his hand and said to Cao Huahong, who was waiting nearby, "Senior Brother Cao, please."

Cao Huahong laughed heartily: "Then I won't be polite!" Saying so, he placed his hand on the Heaven's Augury Pillar, greedily plundering the remaining blessings, his expression gleeful.

He was the Deputy Governor from Infinity Heights. Beforehand, Lu Ye had Ding Yushu lead a group to block the insect cave of the Phong Clan, preventing hundreds from the Phong family from returning to help their base. It had been arranged with Ding Yushu that after taking the Phong family's base, they would split the blessings of the Heaven's Augury Pillar equally.

Having exerted efforts together, it was naturally impossible for the Righteous Blood Sect to hoard all the benefits.

As the cultivators from the Righteous Blood Sect waited, Cao Huahong joined Lu Ye and the others.

Now, having just made a trip, he had gained a great deal of advantage. Such a situation was hard to find even when searching with a lantern; no wonder Senior Brother Ding held these two from the Righteous Blood Sect in high esteem. Cao Huahong had heard about the events in the Chess Sea too.

The Haotian Alliance had managed to turn defeat into victory, all thanks to the advantage accumulated by the two from Righteous Blood Sect in the early stages. Now, they had gained so much benefit from this venture as well. It seemed that in the future, it would be wise to grow closer to the Righteous Blood Sect.