Sage of Humanity

Before his strength was substantial enough, even cultivators of Level 8 or Level 9 would not engage in fights in the air— the risk was too great, and battling while controlling Flying Spirit Artifacts made it difficult to fully exhibit one's strength.

If someone carelessly destroyed one's Flying Spirit Artifact, they might even plummet from the high skies and die…

This wasn't a joke; such incidents had indeed occurred, and not just once.
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This situation only improved after a cultivator switched to cultivation with a Heaven Rank technique. By then, a cultivator's control over their spirit force would greatly enhance, satisfying the dual needs of weapon control-flying and combat.

The one who flew past in the air was a Level 9 cultivator; this was evident from his spirit light.

Although Hao Ren and his sister Hao Qing were both at Level 8, they did not wish to provoke such an opponent and thus concealed themselves as much as possible. Fortunately, by observing the trajectory of the person's flight, it seemed he was just passing by accidentally and not targeting this specific area.

This allowed them to breathe a sigh of relief. As long as Lu Ye was careful on his side, they should not be exposed amidst this remote and forested mountain range.

Since the other party daringly flew over the Sky Supporting Sect's territory, it was likely a cultivator from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge, and if not a member, then certainly someone related to the Sky Supporting Sect.

Exposure would certainly lead to a grand battle.

—Zing…

The sound was not very loud, but the sharp ringing noise that arose was powerful, resembling the instant motion of drawing a longsword from its sheath.

Hao Ren and Hao Qing exchanged glances, a bad feeling arising in their minds.

Looking towards the direction of the passing fleeing light, that party had also heard the noise and was quickly descending.

As the fleeing light descended, the figure standing on the Flying Spirit Artifact slowly became visible.

With a brief glance, Hao Ren's expression grew solemn; he recognized the person—it was a cultivator from the Sky Supporting Sect named Yuan Guang.

Yuan Guang was recognizable because he had been the Deputy Governor of the previous Sky Supporting Sect's stronghold, but the last Spirit Stream Defense Battle saw Ten Thousand Demons Ridge suffer a significant loss which led to many governors and deputy governors from the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge being held accountable and then removed from their posts.

Governors of 5th-6th grade powers were mostly Level 9 cultivators, as that level of cultivation was deemed sufficient. Only in 4th grade sects, because the territory bordered the Core Circle, would the governors be those cultivators who had switched to Heaven Rank techniques.

Yuan Guang was a formidable character who definitely possessed a Heaven Rank technique but had not yet switched his cultivation technique due to an insufficient number of opened orifices.

However, the number of his opened orifices was definitely more than two hundred.

Hao Ren did not understand where Lu Yiye found such confidence to provoke such a strong adversary; that drawing of the sword just now was clearly deliberate.

At this moment, next to the Purple Cloud Flower, Lu Ye sat calmly, quietly watching Yuan Guang who was descending.

He did not attack immediately as he was unsure of the other's alignment.

But soon, Lu Ye was certain.

Because when Yuan Guang saw the four corpses lying in a pool of blood, his expression turned very ugly, his face even twitched slightly. He asked in a deep tone, "Did you kill these people?"

—Boom…

No sooner had Yuan Guang spoken, than Lu Ye had already pounced in front of him, a saber slashing downward.

As expected of a Level 9 cultivator, his reaction was extremely fast; he wielded a longsword in front of himself, blocking Lu Ye's attack.

At such close range, eye to eye, Yuan Guang roared furiously, "You're seeking death!" He was also secretly shocked by the speed and strength of this Level 7 cultivator, feeling a numbness in his hand from catching the saber with a cultivation two levels higher than his opponent's.

Is this a combat cultivator or a physique cultivator? Even a Level 9 physique cultivator wouldn't have such strength, right?

He scrutinized his opponent as if seeing Lu Ye's features clearly for the first time.

"Yiyi!"

As Lu Ye cried out lowly, the Boulder Mountain Saber suddenly burst forth with blinding brilliance, as if a sun had risen upon the blade.

Yuan Guang, having not anticipated this turn of events, was instantly blinded by the dazzling light, momentarily unable to see! Unruffled, he hurriedly retreating backed, but then an invisible force suddenly descended from the sky, heavy as a mountain, involuntarily making him crouch lower.

The transition of Sun Blaze and Hefty Weight spirit runes caught him entirely off-guard.

The battle methods of a battle runes master were indeed cunning and unpredictable. The spirit runes that Lu Ye currently mastered were not many, yet he was already managing to bring about some remarkable effects through their transformation.

It was hard to imagine how difficult it would be to deal with those well-known battle runes masters whose wide array of techniques were virtually indefensible, often leaving their foes clueless about how they died.

This surprise had greatly shocked Yuan Guang. He slapped the storage sack at his waist and as a stream of light flew out, his spirit force surged, disregarding any loss to himself, his longsword cleaving forward repeatedly with more flashes of sword light.

A dizzy sensation arose. When his vision finally cleared, Yuan Guang was shocked to find himself in a completely changed environment. What was once a lush, overgrown mountain had now transformed into a rugged stoneland.

This is...

"An array diagram?" Yuan Guang exclaimed.

Meanwhile, noticing the commotion and rushing to support, the Hao siblings also widened their eyes as they looked at the spiritual artifact in front of Yiyi.

"Array diagram?"

An so-called array diagram is crafted by a highly skilled array cultivator working hand in hand with a spirit force cultivator; the array cultivator sets up the array, while the spirit force cultivator refines the diagram. This process might also require the help of a strong spirit runes master. The refinement is complex and consumes very precious materials.

In the past, Hao Ren had only heard of the existence of array diagrams but had never seen one, as they were simply not objects that Spirit Stream Realm cultivators could possess.

Not to speak of them, even the entire Silver Light Island didn't possess a single array diagram. However, today, he had seen one in the hands of a Spirit Stream Level 6 cultivator and truly had his eyes opened.

His heart was shocked. The Righteous Blood Sect, indeed, even in decline, proved mightier than many, possessing even an array diagram, and they even entrusted it to a Spirit Stream Realm cultivator to use, without fearing it would be lost.

In fact, he was mistaken. This array diagram was not an object from the Righteous Blood Sect.

The Righteous Blood Sect did not have any array diagrams...

This was Madam Yun's object.

Knowing that Lu Ye was to enter the inner circle, Madam Yun was quite worried about his safety, especially since Lu Ye had caused such a stir at Golden Light Peak and it was very likely to attract targeting from the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge side.

She had already designated Lu Ye as her direct successor, and as a top-notch spirit runes master, how could she not prepare good things for Lu Ye?

Thus, she gave this precious Nine Worlds map to Lu Ye. This object's value exceeded that of a spiritual artifact and could already be classified as a spirit treasure.

Other than this Nine Worlds map, there was another item, but that thing was useless in combat.

Considering Lu Ye's insufficient cultivation, Madam Yun had sealed ninety percent of this spirit treasure's power, leaving only ten percent, otherwise neither Lu Ye nor Yiyi, with their cultivation levels, could hope to activate this Nine Worlds map.

But even with only ten percent of the spirit treasure's power, Yiyi couldn't fully unleash it, yet it was enough for self-protection.

Yiyi didn't understand formations, and Lu Ye was only slightly knowledgeable about them, but it didn't matter. The Nine Worlds map is an array diagram, but it also is a spirit treasure. There's no need for Yiyi to understand any array formation; she just needs to pour her spirit force into it to exhibit some of the Nine Worlds map's potential.

The reason it's called the Nine Worlds map is because this array diagram contains nine different terrains in mini spaces, which when triggered, can draw people into the array diagram. Eight of these mini spaces are sealed, leaving only one with a chaotic rocky terrain available for use.

This is an actual existing terrain. When refining the Nine Worlds map, Madam Yun found such a terrain in the Nine Provinces, used her powerful path of spirit runes to peel it off, and then refined it into the Nine Worlds map. The other eight terrain mini spaces were formed in the same way.

Right now, the Nine Worlds map floated in front of Yiyi. Her spirit force surged, continuously pouring inside.

From an outsider's perspective, this Nine Worlds map looked like an ink splash landscape painting with a chaotic rocky terrain depicted, where pillars of varying heights stood boldly; the ground was covered with yellow sand, exuding a desolate artistic conception.

And at a certain position within the painting, two small figures were confronting each other, one of whose demeanor and figure clearly bore a resemblance to Lu Ye.

And another figure, greatly resembling Yuan Guang.

"An Inner Array Diagram!"

Hao Ren gulped down some saliva.

Array diagrams are divided into outer array diagrams and inner array diagrams. If an outer array diagram is set up, the area it covers will have layers upon layers of formations. If an enemy steps inside, it will activate the power of the formations, injuring or even killing the enemy, making it the prime choice for setting an ambush.

An inner array diagram, like this Nine Worlds map, pulls the enemy into the array diagram to activate the formations inside and eliminate them.

Each array method has its own roles; as for which one is more precious, that's difficult to compare. Overall, looking across the entire Nine Provinces, array diagrams are few because refining them is so troublesome.

The most famous is an array diagram called the Mountain and River Map, which is the sect-guarding treasure of a 1st grade sect in Tianzhou. It has sealed rivers and mountains refined by a Divine Sea Realm strong cultivator inside it, each capable of unleashing powerful abilities to eliminate enemies, with incredibly terrifying power.

This map was accumulated bit by bit over thousands of years by that sect, not the work of a single generation.

The Nine Worlds map was refined alone by Madam Yun. Naturally, its power couldn't compare with the legendary Mountain and River Map, but even if it could only exert a tiny bit of its power, it was enough for Lu Ye and Yiyi to use at the moment.

In the array diagram, the figures representing Lu Ye and Yuan Guang had already begun to clash, and faint spirit force fluctuations transmitted from the inside of the array diagram. To an onlooker watching the scene on the painting, it seemed like two ink figures were fighting, which was quite comical. However, the combat within the array diagram was extremely perilous.

"We siblings can help," Hao Ren collected his thoughts and quickly spoke; he finally understood why Lu Ye had actively provoked a passing Level 9 cultivator—because he had this trump card.

As long as he and his sister entered the array diagram, it would be three against one—Yuan Guang would undoubtedly die!

He thought this was Lu Ye's plan, but Yiyi shook her head. "Lu Ye hasn't asked for help, it's not necessary yet, thank you both."

Hao Ren said no more and peered into the array diagram.