Sage of Humanity

After abducting Phong Yue to their base, Lu Ye had paid her no more attention. He didn't even have anyone keep an eye on her. He had thought that if this woman dared to try escaping secretly, he would break her legs; but it turned out she had no intention of running away at all. Every day she was either sitting here lost in thought or sitting there in a sorrowful daze.

In the Heaven's Augury Hall, Lu Ye sat on a large chair that originally belonged to who knows which family, but now it belonged to the Righteous Blood Sect.

Phong Yue stood in front of him with her eyes downcast, her hands folded above her abdomen.

True to being a healing cultivator, the piercing injury on her palm had almost completely healed in just a few days, and not even a scar remained.

"Why has no one come to ransom you?"

Lu Ye had been waiting for the Phong family to ransom her for the past few days.

On the Spirit Stream battlefield, it was possible to pay a certain price to ransom a captured healing cultivator back, and Phong Yue was not only a healing cultivator but also the governor of the Phong family's garrison— with such a status, her ransom should not be low.

In Lu Ye's view, Phong Yue was a big pile of Spirit Stones and elixir pills.

He had prepared to negotiate with the Phong family. However, there had been no movement from their side, which had made him somewhat impatient.

Phong Yue lowered her head, her voice quiet as a mosquito's, "The people of the Phong family must think I am dead."

"Nonsense!"

This woman was not being honest. Whether a disciple was alive or dead could be investigated by important sect figures like the Seal Envoy or the Sect Master.

Just like when Lu Ye had been lost on the Spirit Stream battlefield, although the sect master and his Second Senior Sister did not know his whereabouts, they knew he was still alive.

Because he bore the Righteous Blood Sect's mark, as long as the mark did not disappear, he was not dead.

Moreover, Phong Yue must have shared marks with other Phong family cultivators. Those familiar with her could easily ascertain her life or death by whether the marks still existed.

If Phong Yue had truly died, the mark belonging to her would have dispersed like smoke.

Lu Ye was not ignorant by any means, and he wouldn't be fooled by just a word from Phong Yue.

"Who is in charge at your Phong residence now?"

Probably some powerful figures from the inner circle or the Core Circle must have rushed back since most original cultivators of Spirit Stream Realm from Phong's side were dead, but one must still get in touch with those in charge for ransom purposes.
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Phong Yue pursed her lips and did not answer.

Lu Ye raised his hand to hold the hilt of the Boulder Mountain Saber. Accompanied by a harsh friction sound, the long saber slowly slid out of its sheath.

"It's my Third Brother, Phong Xiangyang!" Phong Yue quickly replied, aware that the young man before her was someone who truly would draw his blade over a disagreement. Though the wound on her palm had healed, just the memory of that blade caused her a deep, penetrating pain.

"Contact him and tell him if he wants to ransom you, bring out a hundred thousand Spirit Stones!"

The scale of the Righteous Blood Sect's Spirit Stream Realm had indeed grown, with monthly salaries costing thousands of Spirit Stones. They couldn't keep relying on their Second Senior Sister for funds forever. The Righteous Blood Sect had declined for so many years, and the Second Senior Sister wasn't wealthy.

Previously, there had been no real output from the Righteous Blood Sect, but now the situation was much better because two neighboring forces had been thoroughly crippled.

The whole region around thirty miles was under the Domain of the Righteous Blood Sect, and all mine veins and other outputs in the area would henceforth be the wealth of the Righteous Blood Sect, with no involvement from Sky Fiend Hall and the Phong family anymore.

The disciples also started many spirit fields within the garrison, with Hua Ci leading people planting medicinal herbs and Spirit Plants to help with family expenses.

But all of this required time to accumulate; if they could get some ransom from the Phong family that could also ease the financial strain on the Righteous Blood Sect.

"Phong family won't be able to give that much." Phong Yue stared at Lu Ye in shock. A hundred thousand Spirit Stones... he really dared to ask for that much. With his strong features, she hadn't expected him to also be so ruthless.

Well, that made sense. If this man wasn't ruthless, how could he possibly have used the Insect Plague to continuously take over the territories of two powers?

"No more nonsense, hurry up and contact!"

Coerced by Lu Ye's 'gentle persuasion', Phong Yue had no choice but to contact Phong Xiangyang.

Actually, Phong Xiangyang had already contacted Phong Yue before and knew of her current situation. He had even asked her to tell Lu Ye that he was willing to spend some Spirit Stones to ransom her back.

However, Phong Yue had never mentioned this to Lu Ye.

As for why he didn't come in person... he didn't have the guts. Every cultivator from the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge within hundreds of miles knew that one should never get anywhere within ten miles of the Righteous Blood Sect's garrison. One time, an 8th Heaven Level cultivator from the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge passed nearby controlling his weapon, and then a shadow fell… and he was gone!

So it's not that the Phong family didn't want to ransom people; there was just no suitable channel of communication, and messages to Phong Yue were often lost.

"What if I can't contact him?" Phong Yue lifted her gaze, subtly assessing Lu Ye.

Lu Ye drew the Boulder Mountain Saber and placed it at his feet, the implication clear.

Phong Yue quickly transmitted her message.

Shortly after, she softly said, "I've made contact."

"What did they say?"

Lu Ye casually asked, his palm actively channeling spirit force, intertwining strands of Yin Origin and Yang Origin, gradually forming the outline of spirit runes.

"They can provide three thousand Spirit Stones…" Phong Yue replied timidly.

The spirit rune that was almost formed suddenly collapsed because of the disruption in spirit force.

Lu Ye looked up at Phong Yue.

"Three thousand?"

"Yes."

"Then you are of no use to me."

Lu Ye was not without the intention to bargain, but his asking price was one hundred thousand, and the other party's counteroffer was three thousand. There was hardly any sincerity in such a deal; continuing to negotiate would be a waste of words.

"Kong Niu!" Lu Ye shouted at Kong Niu, who was busy doing something in front of the Heaven's Augury Pillar.

"Hmm," responded the bulky Kong Niu in a muffled voice.

"Drag this woman away and slaughter her!"

"Okay." Kong Niu strode forward, and with a gaze of terror from Phong Yue, he grasped her hair with a hand as big as a fan, turned around, and dragged her outside.

Kong Niu was a straightforward person who had only followed orders from Hua Ci before, but now he also obeyed Lu Ye.

Phong Yue was stunned until, after being dragged on the ground for a distance, she shouted, "The Phong clan redeemed me to bear the blame for losing the station, so they couldn't possibly give too many Spirit Stones."

She struggled wildly and managed to break free from Kong Niu's hold, tumbling and crawling before Lu Ye, she knelt down, looking up at him with tear-filled eyes and said, "There is infighting in the Phong clan. My faction, which originally held great power, has lost the station under my watch.

Even as a healing cultivator, if I am redeemed by the Phong family, it is a certain death for me, so they can't possibly spend too many Spirit Stones on someone bound to die; they just need someone to take the blame for this incident."

Kong Niu stood not far away, looked down at the bunch of hair in his hand, then turned around and walked back towards Phong Yue.

Lu Ye raised his hand, and the towering figure of Kong Niu stood still behind Phong Yue, casting a shadow over her.

Lu Ye lowered his head, looking down at the disheveled woman before him.

"So you're saying that I can't possibly get many Spirit Stones from the Phong family?"

"Absolutely impossible!"

Lu Ye thought of Dong Shuye, who had defected from his sect because he had lost a station. The responsibility was indeed overwhelming. Even though she was a healing cultivator and had the backing of the ruling faction before, as Phong Yue had said, she was bound to die upon being redeemed by the Phong family.

If the station was lost and countless disciples were killed or injured, how could they not punish such a failure? How would they account to the deceased cultivators and command respect in the future?

"Then what use are you?"

Lu Ye felt somewhat distressed. He had initially thought that with her role as a Governor, Phong Yue's value would definitely be high. Now it seemed he had oversimplified matters. Because she was the Governor, it led to the Phong family being unlikely to offer a high price. Paying a high price to redeem someone just to execute them was not something the Phong family's Spirit Stones would easily cover.

"I am a healing cultivator; I can switch my allegiance to the Righteous Blood Sect!" Phong Yue hastily said, apparently having already considered this option.

"You must be dreaming."

Phong Yue dared to switch allegiance to the Righteous Blood Sect to seek a slim chance of survival, but Lu Ye couldn't accept her.

He had only just conquered their station and killed hundreds of their cultivators. If he took in their Governor immediately after, what if Phong Yue harbored malice? Would Lu Ye always have to be on guard against her?

Moreover, switching sects required a lot of merit points, because forcefully erasing the markings of one's own force consumed a large number of merits... No, as the Governor of the Phong family, she had the authority to erase the marks of the sect's disciples, including her own.

The issue of loyalty to the Righteous Blood Sect could also be resolved by making Phong Yue swear an oath by Heaven's Augury.

From their few interactions, Lu Ye had begun to understand this woman's nature. When her own life was at stake, she was very pliant, as could be seen from her initial resolute kneeling.

She was a woman, but she was also a Level 7 cultivator. Kneeling in the face of life and death threats, without any resolve, she couldn't have done it.

Yet sometimes she showed great resolve. Previously, when Lu Ye had asked her to relay false information to the Phong family's cultivators to lure them out of the insect cave, Phong Yue had opted to die rather than comply.

In short, she was very self-interested but not without loyalty to her own faction.

Leaning closer, Lu Ye reached out and lifted Phong Yue's chin.

"How many merit points do you have?"

"Over four thousand..." Phong Yue knew that this moment could determine her life or death, she dared not lie about anything.

Lu Ye let go of her, stood up, and walked to the Heaven's Augury Pillar. Soon, he brought back a Heaven's Augury Pact and threw it to Phong Yue.

"Sign it!"

Phong Yue sat kneeling on the ground, examining the pact. She noticed many clauses densely packed on it, including never to harm any cultivator of the Righteous Blood Sect, not to communicate any information concerning the Righteous Blood Sect to anyone, and not to harbor any grudge against Lu Ye or his associates...

All in all, there were no fewer than twenty clauses.

Phong Yue felt dizzy trying to understand how Lu Ye could have come up with so many clauses in such a short time.

If she signed this Heaven's Augury Pact, she would pose no threat whatsoever to the Righteous Blood Sect thereafter.

"Is this a deed of sale?"

Phong Yue looked up, her eyes brimming with grievance, as things were unfolding differently from what she had expected.

"Just say whether you'll sign it or not."