Sage of Humanity

Upon reflection, he realized he wasn't much different from Amber—both were fixated on consumption...

The spiritual energy in the inner circle was indeed rich, which Lu Ye could distinctly feel as he traveled. The deeper he ventured, the richer the nature's spiritual energy became.

Here, just having entered the inner circle, the energy was about twice as rich as the wilderness near the Righteous Blood Sect.

No wonder the big sects put all their efforts into raising their grade. The higher the grade, the better the position they held in the Spirit Stream battlefield, and the more efficient their disciples' cultivation became.

It was not just that—the Spirit Stream battlefield had many resources to offer, and the deeper one went, the richer the resources were.

Lu Ye was now in an area within the domain of the Sky Supporting Sect.

Compared with the outer circle, the radiation range of the inner circle sects' domains was undoubtedly many times larger. Take the Sky Supporting Sect, for example; its domain spanned an area with a diameter of about three to four hundred miles, which could be considered within its radiation range. Within this range, it was all Sky Supporting Sect territory.

In contrast, the Righteous Blood Sect's radiating range was only about thirty miles. Even after Lu Ye had crippled the Sky Fiend Hall and Phong Clan before he left, the Righteous Blood Sect could only dominate within a thirty-mile radius.

The main factors for this discrepancy were the number of sects and the strength of the cultivators.

The sects in the outer circle had the lowest grades and were the most numerous. So even though the outer circle was larger, the arrangement of the big sects' domains was relatively dense, and with the cultivators' cultivation not being very high, such a range was enough for activity below Level 7.

The inner circle was different, with many cultivators at Level 8-9 capable of weapon control-flying. If the activity range was too small, they could not flex their muscles. Moreover, there were far fewer sects in the inner circle than in the outer circle, making the arrangement of their domains more sparse.

But whether dense or sparse, as long as the domains of two different factions bordered each other, friction was inevitable.

After discerning the direction briefly, Lu Ye reached out to grab Amber, who was lying on his shoulder, and tossed her to the ground.

Amber landed lightly, then turned to look at Lu Ye, their eyes meeting in a baffled stare.

After a good while, Amber came to its senses. Its body shone with golden light, and its Demon Origin surged. It swiftly expanded in size, transforming from a small beast a foot long into a fierce and imposing monster in the blink of an eye.

Lu Ye mounted the tiger's back and headed toward the location of the Sky Supporting Sect's domain. Since he had come for vengeance, there was no need to be polite to others.

He didn't plan to wreak havoc in the enemy's domain since the cultivators within were always the most numerous. Going there alone would certainly not end well.

But since this area was within the range of the Sky Supporting Sect's domain, there would undoubtedly be cultivators from the Sky Supporting Sect active outside. With his current strength, he could kill most of them unless he encountered those who had switched to cultivating a Heaven Rank technique.

Even if he did encounter such cultivators, with the wings rune tattoo, he would have the means to escape.

However, he hoped he wouldn't need to use the wings spirit runes. Such runes weren't permanent; each activation would fade their luster a bit. Too much use would cause the tattoo to disappear.

His plan was simple: to roam around and slaughter any Sky Supporting Sect cultivators he encountered. Since his purpose in the inner circle was to temper himself, time was ample. Killing one or two at a time and doing so repeatedly, he could cause serious damage to the Sky Supporting Sect. Your adventure continues at My Virtual Library Empire

If they had attacked him at Golden Light Peak, they couldn't blame him for seeking revenge now.

Yiyi was still as elusive as ever, sometimes vanishing and then suddenly popping up from nowhere.

Though her dream of becoming a healing cultivator was shattered and she was forced to become a magic cultivator, she still enjoyed collecting medicinal ingredients.

With a storage sack hanging around her waist, she meticulously gathered any suspected medicinal materials she encountered and placed them into the sack. As for their value, that was another matter.

Before, she couldn't traverse through obstacles while carrying items. Her Spiritual Body was neither solid nor void and wasn't restricted in this aspect, but anything she carried couldn't pass through like she could.

However, after guidance from the sect master, she could now envelop her possessions with her powers and freely pass through obstacles. It was said to be an Escape Skill, though she couldn't carry living beings with her. Even so, it was still quite remarkable.

Lu Ye initially thought it would be easy to find a few people to chop down since this was their domain, but after riding Amber around for half a day, he had yet to see a single soul. He even began to wonder if he had gone in the wrong direction. After consulting the ten-part map, he confirmed he was on the right track.

Upon further thought, he realized he might have oversimplified the matter. The radiation range of an inner circle sect's domain wasn't small. Unlike the outer circle, where one might run into enemies out wandering, here the cultivators wouldn't meander without cause; they would rather meditate and practice cultivation to enhance their prowess.

Unless conflicts arose with neighboring forces, then they would certainly mobilize in groups.

Simply wandering aimlessly wasn't very effective. It seemed wiser to look for key resource gathering sites of the Sky Supporting Sect, such as mines or Spirit Veins. Cultivators of the Sky Supporting Sect would definitely be present at those locations to extract resources. If he could find such sites, he could kill and rob at the same time, a double win indeed.

But he didn't know where the Sky Supporting Sect's resource sites were. As he contemplated this, Yiyi suddenly appeared from nearby, "Lu Ye, Lu Ye, there are a few cultivators over there."

Having an elusive scout who roamed around was an advantage—they often brought unexpected surprises.

"Lead the way."

Yiyi jumped onto the tiger's back and began directing Amber.

The number of cultivators over there was small, only four of them, one at Level 8, two at Level 7, and one at Level 6.

In the inner circle, there were also some at Level 6, though not many. As for those at Level 5, there might also be some, but they definitely wouldn't dare to leave their stations, as that level of cultivation was too low for the inner circle. Once they encountered an enemy in the wild, death was certain.

The cultivators in the inner circle were mainly between Level 7 and Level 9, and there might also be a few who had converted to practicing a Heaven Rank technique.

Since this area was within the territory of the Sky Supporting Sect, those few cultivators highly likely belonged to the disciples of the Sky Supporting Sect.

According to Yiyi, they seemed to be guarding a spirit flower, which had buds that looked about to bloom but hadn't yet.

Yiyi had failed to become a healing cultivator, but after all, she had learned some things from Hua Ci and the Second Senior Sister. Based on her estimation, that spirit flower must be of significant value, and it needed to be harvested at a specific time, such as right after the flower fully bloomed; otherwise, its medicinal efficacy would greatly diminish.

That was why those four cultivators were guarding it; perhaps they had known about the presence of the spirit flower for a while, or they had stumbled upon it by chance. Anyway, they were now squatting there and waiting.

When the time was almost right, Lu Ye asked Amber to shrink back to the size of a small cat and crouch on his shoulder, while Yiyi traveled underground, waiting for an opportunity to act.

Soon, a faint fragrance lingered at the tip of his nose. Following the scent, Lu Ye continued for about thirty miles and immediately saw three cultivators not far ahead, watching him warily.

Behind them was the source of the fragrance: a spirit flower that hadn't fully blossomed yet. The fist-sized bud was purple, shrouded in a hazy aura.

Observing the light of their spirit, one at Level 6 and two at Level 7, just as Yiyi had said. But the one at Level 8 was nowhere to be seen.

Lu Ye looked around but couldn't find any trace of him; he had no idea where the fellow was hiding.

All three were male cultivators, one of whom, brimming with robust blood Qi, likely a physique cultivator, stepped forward and asked in a deep voice, "Fellow Daoist, where do you come from?"

The question was quite covert, its real purpose being to find out which faction Lu Ye belonged to.

Lu Ye raised his hand, and a pale blue light bloomed on the back of it.

The physique cultivator was slightly startled, and his two companions also frowned. They had never encountered someone who would readily reveal their faction, especially someone who was alone...

On the Spirit Stream battlefield, when strangers met, it was absolutely impossible to casually reveal their faction affiliations, because a conflict was inevitable if the factions differed.

Those who dared to show their marks to strangers were either arrogantly stupid or confidently fearless.

For a Level 7 Lu Ye, he did not seem to be the fearlessly confident type.

The talking physique cultivator smiled and said, "So you're a Fellow Daoist from the Haotian Alliance." Saying this, he raised his hand as if he were about to reveal his own faction affiliation.

Clang...

As the long sword was unsheathed, Lu Ye turned around and slashed with one swift cut.

Sparks flew and Spiritual Artifacts resonated; a figure that had somehow arrived behind Lu Ye, holding a dagger, staggered backward, his face filled with surprise and suspicion.

It was the Level 8 cultivator who had been hiding, a spectral cultivator!

Spectral cultivators of this sect, once they reached Level 7-8, could communicate with the Netherworld, borrow its power for practice, and master some sneaky assassination techniques. Lu Ye had seen some spectral cultivators' methods in the Chess Sea and was deeply impressed by them.

When he arrived here without seeing the Level 8 cultivator, he guessed that the other party might be a spectral cultivator; otherwise, there was no reason for his complete disappearance. Perhaps they had sensed something on his way here, and so the spectral cultivator took the opportunity to lie in ambush.

Just now, when the Level 7 physique cultivator raised his hand and was talking about being a Fellow Daoist from the Haotian Alliance and showing the posture of revealing his own faction, he was merely drawing Lu Ye's attention.

For someone completely unprepared, most of their attention would definitely be on the Physique Cultivator's hand at that moment, inevitably overlooking a threat coming from behind.

But since Lu Ye had guessed that the other party was a spectral cultivator, how could he not be prepared?

This cut forced the Level 8 spectral cultivator to retreat, which was indeed a surprise to him. But what surprised him even more was that this Level 7 cultivator, who had suddenly emerged from nowhere, lifted his sword and slashed down at him relentlessly.

The onslaught of violent attacks pressed him so heavily that he was struggling to catch his breath; with each strike powerful and weighty, he only managed to withstand three blows before his hand went numb.

What kind of monstrous strength was this?

The spectral cultivator was shocked, but not panicked, because from the corner of his eye he saw his two Level 7 companions both spur their Spiritual Artifacts into action.

Boom...

A violent surge of Spirit Force erupted, and the power of the magic and spells unfolded. An unexpected attack came from behind; a scream followed, one of the Level 7s was hit by a spell and fell to the ground, his back scorched.