Translator: Jon Editor : Dhael Ligerkeys The patterns of the Grand Ward glowed brighter and brighter. All of a sudden, the space around Lu Ye began to distort. His entire figure vanished out of sight in the next moment. The bizarre scene shocked everybody, and Song Zhui even took an instinctive step forward. The crowd behind him soon fell into an uproar. It was absolutely shocking for a person to disappear without a trace under the watchful eyes of the entire crowd and in broad daylight! Not to mention, the incident had happened without the help of the Divine Opportunity Column… If they had not witnessed the entire incident themselves, they would never have believed the truth. “It’s a Teleportation Ward! That’s a Teleportation Ward!” A voice among the crowd suddenly sliced through the hubbub. The voice belonged to a Ward Cultivator who once read about the method to prepare a Teleportation Ward. There was a time when he held great interest in the Teleportation Ward, so he deliberately spent some time thoroughly researching the topic. Unfortunately, he discovered that his mediocre talent in the Way of Wards would never allow him to construct a complex Ward like the Teleportation Ward. The main reason was that the Void Glyphs, which acted as the core of the Teleportation Ward, were too difficult to construct. Furthermore, the cultivation world of Jiu Zhou was blessed with a gift from the Heavens known as the Divine Opportunity Column. Thanks to the existence of the Divine Opportunity Column, the usage of the Teleportation Ward was very minimal. That was why he had no choice but to give up on his pursuit after researching the topic for some time. Be that as it may, he could easily recognise the Ward Patterns of the Teleportation Ward. He could barely believe that the Ward he could never hope to construct in his entire life would be constructed by a person in the Cloud River Realm instead. [Lu Yi Ye’s attainments in the Way of Wards are probably beyond the capacity of imagination!] As soon as the Ward Cultivator’s words came out, everybody was taken aback once more. Nevertheless, they finally understood how Lu Ye had vanished into thin air in spite of their astonishment. It was the work of a Teleportation Ward! If a Divine Ocean Realm Master had been present, he might have been able to detect the direction of Lu Ye’s teleportation by perceiving the fluctuations in the spatial fluctuations via his Divine Ego. Unfortunately, the Cloud River Realm Masters had no such abilities. It would be impossible for them to track Lu Ye’s whereabouts as soon as his figure vanished from sight. Song Zhui clenched his fists tightly with a livid expression on his face, feeling as though he had been tricked by Lu Ye! In the deal that Lu Ye proposed earlier, Lu Ye promised to leave the Arcane Glade and give the Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators an opportunity to hunt him down. In return, the Thousand Demon Ridge could not destroy the Arcane Glade. Otherwise, he would return to the Spirit Creek Battlefield and destroy the Outposts belonging to their respective Sects. Song Zhui originally assumed that Lu Ye would fly out of the Arcane Glade. In his mind, he would charge forward and launch his offensive as soon as Lu Ye stepped out of the Arcane Glade. After all, it was impossible for a Fifth Order Cloud River Realm Master to outrun him. Contrary to his expectations, Lu Ye had departed via teleportation. Who could say where he had been teleported to? Just as Song Zhui was seething in rage, the Ward Cultivator who spoke earlier opened his mouth once more. “Senior Brother Song, Lu Yi Ye shouldn’t be too far away. His cultivation is not that high, so the teleportation range of the Teleportation Ward should be limited. He can only travel a distance of one hundred to one hundred and fifty kilometers at most!” Song Zhui’s expression brightened at those words. “Are you certain?” “I’m certain!” The Ward Cultivator gave a firm confirmation. Song Zhui’s eyes shone with hope again. Then, he immediately issued an order. “Spread out and search for Lu Yi Ye! Immediately raise the signal as soon as you find him!” One hundred to one hundred and fifty kilometers was nothing to Cloud River Realm cultivators. Even if they lost his whereabouts for the time being, it would not be difficult for them to find him with so many people scattered in various directions. Following his command, the hundreds of Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators outside the Arcane Glade immediately dispersed and disappeared in all directions. The current situation was undoubtedly a godsend opportunity for the Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators. All the cultivators who flocked here were in the Sixth Order Realm and above, so they were very confident that they could slaughter Lu Ye as long as they found him! Under Song Zhui’s command previously, the reward for killing Lu Ye would be shared equally among everybody. It was different now. How could they allow the opportunity to slip through their fingers now that they had the chance to monopolize the reward for themselves? They immediately became extremely excited and motivated, almost as though they had been given a shot of liquid courage. Inside the Arcane Glade, Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan watched the Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators scrambling away without paying any attention to them. The situation left a complicated expression on their faces. Feng Yuechan suddenly took out the Control Gem that controlled the Grand Wards inside the Arcane Glade and showed a look of realization. “Junior Brother Lu has been planning for this all along.” The Grand Wards within the Arcane Glade had been constructed by Lu Ye himself, so the Grand Ward’s Control Gem had always been under his control. However, Lu Ye had visited Feng Yuechan yesterday and handed the Grand Ward’s Control Gem. He even returned the small umbrella Spirit Artifact that he had borrowed from her in the past. At the time, Feng Yuechan was puzzled over the reason why Lu Ye had given her the Grand Ward’s Control Gem. Looking back at the situation, she realized that Lu Ye had never intended to escape back to Jiu Zhou in the first place. It made sense when she considered the situation. Although he had been cultivating peacefully in the Arcane Glade, he was constantly approached by people who attempted to provoke and persecute him in various ways. Under such circumstances, how could he remain here? During his time in the Carnage Colosseum, he had been forced to return to Jiu Zhou once. He was clearly reluctant to repeat the same mistakes as before. Therefore, he had chosen to leave the Arcane Glade and prepared himself for a battle against the Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators. “Senior Brother, I’m sure Junior Brother Lu is confident in himself since he chose to take such action.” Feng Yuechan turned to look at Li Baxian and attempted to comfort him. Li Baxian sighed. In the end, he was useless. If he had been in the Ninth Order Cloud River Realm, then he could have easily killed all the people who came knocking on their doors. Lu Ye would not have to suffer such grievances either. After musing over his thoughts, Li Baxian turned to look at Ju Jia. He originally assumed that Ju Jia would be uneasy once Lu Ye departed. In the worst case, Ju Jia might even try to follow after Lu Ye. Who could have known that he would simply stand there quietly as though nothing special had happened? Then, Ju Jia turned around and entered his wooden hut to continue cultivating quietly. Lu Ye had talked to him yesterday and asked him to wait here. It was just like how Lu Ye had asked him to wait in place back then. In the end, he had waited for two months. Now that Lu Ye had asked him to wait again, then he should simply trust Lu Ye and wait. There was no need to overthink the situation. It was enough as long as he followed Lu Ye’s instructions. “Let’s focus on our cultivation,” Li Baxian said. Lu Ye had taken a huge risk in order to protect the Primus-level Arcane Glade. Although he was bound to have his own considerations, a large part of his reasoning was most likely so that he could provide a good cultivation environment for them. Lu Ye was gone, and there was nothing Li Baxian could do to help. The only thing Li Baxian could do in return was cultivate hard and improve his cultivation as soon as possible. If they ever encountered a similar situation in the future, he refused to remain as powerless as he had been today! Feng Yuechan operated the Grand Ward’s Control Gem to activate the Grand Defensive Ward and the Concealment Ward in the Arcane Glade. It did not take long before the huge Arcane Glade disappeared from view. Meanwhile, Lu Ye’s figure abruptly emerged inside a cave that was located over one hundred kilometers away from the Ameliorate Arcane Glade. Although he had teleported over one hundred kilometers away from the Ameliorate Arcane Glade with the help of the Teleportation Ward, the Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators would surely search the surroundings for traces of his whereabouts. In that case, there was only one thing he needed to do right now. He had to stay as far away from the Ameliorate Valley as possible. In fact, the best option would be to leave the Grand Wilds Peak. This was not a difficult task for him. After all, he had both the Concealment Glyph and the Conceal Presence Glyph which gave him the skills of a Ghost Cultivator even though he was a Combat Cultivator. There might be many Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators searching the surroundings, but it would not be easy for them to discover his whereabouts. Walking out of the cave, Lu Ye was about to set off on his journey when he froze in surprise. A man with a weak aura and a pale complexion was standing not far from him. Moreover, the man wearing a black cat’s mask was turning to look in his direction at this moment. Their gazes met. Lifting his hand, he grabbed the hilt of the with a contemplative expression. [Isn’t that the Ghost Cultivator who managed to approach within sixty meters of me? I can’t believe he ran here in such a short time, much less bumped into me by accident! What a small world indeed…] In any case, he did not know the name or the origins of the Ghost Cultivator. All he knew was that his opponent was in the Ninth Order Realm. Beneath the black cat’s mask, Ying Wuji showed a surprised expression. He was confused as to why Lu Ye had appeared in front of him. For a moment, he even wondered whether the other party was simply an individual who looked similar to Lu Ye. Nevertheless, the tiger crouching on Lu Ye’s shoulder was an eye-catching symbol of identification. It would not make sense for a person who resembled Lu Ye in appearance to also carry an identical Spirit Beast with him. This person was none other than Lu Ye himself! The reason for Lu Ye’s sudden appearance did not matter. In Ying Wuji’s opinion, Lu Ye had practically been served to him on a silver platter! They only exchanged glances for a brief moment before they both leapt into action at the same time. The two figures whipped up gusts of wind with their rapid movements, and they crashed into each other with great force. At some point in time, two daggers appeared in Ying Wuji’s hands. The blades were eight centimeters longer than ordinary daggers. Moreover, the entire blade was pitch-black. The appearance of these daggers resembled the Inviolable Saber in color. Be that as it may, the color of the Inviolable Saber came from the addition of certain materials by the woman who called herself Master Yu when she was upgrading the Inviolable Saber. On the other hand, the color of the two daggers was the result of deliberate design. As a Ghost Cultivator, it was absolutely necessary for Ying Wuji to remain completely silent during an assassination. The black blades of his daggers would undoubtedly reduce the risk of exposure. One of his daggers blocked the downward slash of the Inviolable Saber. At the same time, the other dagger stabbed toward Lu Ye’s throat. There was a difference of four Minor Realms between their respective cultivations. He did not understand the reason why Lu Ye had boldly charged forward to attack him, but he could almost foresee the scene where he killed Lu Ye in one blow. If he had known that Huo Liaoyuan had the same thoughts before his death, he would not have been so relaxed against Lu Ye. An overpowering force suddenly struck from ahead. Under the black cat’s mask, Ying Wuji’s expression immediately changed drastically. He abruptly felt as though he was not facing a Fifth Order Realm Master at that moment. On the contrary, he was confronting an enemy who was evenly matched against him! His figure involuntarily leaned back from the impact, and the dagger stabbing toward Lu Ye’s throat missed its aim. He hurriedly stabilized his figure, but Lu Ye’s second strike was already slashing down at him. In a fight between cultivators, especially in close-combat fights, a situation would often arise where a careless mistake resulted in utter defeat. At this moment, Ying Wuji was paying the price for his carelessness. When the second blade came slashing down on him, the force behind the blow was even heavier than the first strike. His arm that was holding his dagger went numb from the impact, and his body leaned back once more. In fact, he was even forced to take several steps back to stabilize himself. The second slash was immediately followed by the third and the fourth… The sound of metal clashing against metal rang out continuously. With every clash of the blades, he was forced to take several steps back. Although he originally used only one dagger to parry the attacks, he was now using both daggers to defend himself. Moreover, both his arms had gone numb. At this point, he could barely keep up with the attacks. His heart sank in despair. If he had been at his peak, he would not have fallen to such a dire state. Unfortunately, he had been wounded by several Explosive Wards when he infiltrated the Arcane Glade back then. Afterwards, he was forced to activate a Secret Technique to escape the crisis. In his current condition, he was practically at the end of his strength. He could barely even draw out half of his true strength! Under normal circumstances, half of his strength would have been more than enough to deal with a Fifth Order Realm Master. However… Was he really facing the strength that a Fifth Order Realm Master could display?