Translator: Jon Editor : Dhael Ligerkeys As night fell, darkness shrouded the sky. A new moon graced the sky, and stars twinkled brightly in the night sky. Under the night sky, several cultivators were surrounding a Blue-Eyed Porcupine in a mountain field located approximately two hundred and fifty kilometers away from the Ameliorate Valley. The Grand Wilds Peak was filled with various dangers, but there were also many opportunities lurking in the Grand Wilds Peak at the same time. These opportunities, which included rare Spirit Beasts, rare medicinal herbs, and rare ores that were hard to find elsewhere, were extremely attractive to the cultivators. Cultivators were generally a greedy bunch constantly hungry for profit. That was because the process of cultivation ultimately consumed large amounts of cultivation resources. Unfortunately, the monthly stipend provided by their respective Sects was often not enough to satisfy their cultivation needs. In this aspect, both the major Sects and minor Sects were similar. It was not that the Sects were deliberately being stingy. On the contrary, this method was used to encourage the disciples to earn more cultivation resources through their own means. This method was also a form of training meant to sharpen the skills of the disciples. After all, their cultivation would be nothing more than mere decoration if they only focused on their cultivation level and remained ignorant of battle tactics. Only Lu Ye was not subjected to any restrictions when obtaining cultivation resources from the Sect’s treasure vault. The mountain of cultivation resources accumulated in the Sect’s treasure vault was stolen from the Thousand Demon Ridge by him, so they belonged to him in the first place. Although Shui Yuan was nominally in charge of distributing the cultivation resources within the Sect, how could she make things difficult for him in regard to such a trivial matter? The Crimson Blood Sect could not be said to be impoverished before Lu Ye’s arrival, but they did not have many cultivation resources to spare either. The lack of cultivation resources had even affected Shui Yuan’s cultivation. Otherwise, she could have advanced into the Divine Ocean Realm a long time ago with her aptitude. Why else would she delay her progress for so long? It was all thanks to Lu Ye’s various actions that the cultivation resources accumulated inside the Crimson Blood Sect’s treasure vault were now practically immeasurable. The Blue-Eyed Porcupine was a common Spirit Beast that could be found throughout the Grand Wilds Peak. Despite being a commonly found Spirit Beast, the Blue-Eyed Porcupine was extremely valuable. Its flesh was extremely tender. More importantly, the flesh had a certain effect on body tempering as long-term consumption would improve and increase vitality. Not to mention, a Champion-class Spirit Beast would possess a Mutant Core in their bodies. The stronger the Blue-Eyed Porcupine, the more valuable the Blue-Eyed Porcupine. Judging by the fluctuations of its Spirit Essence, the Blue-Eyed Porcupine that these cultivators were hunting was a Champion-class Spirit Beast equivalent to an Eighth Order Cloud River Realm Master in strength. On the other hand, the cultivators joining forces against the Blue-Eyed Porcupine were mainly in the Sixth Order and the Seventh Order Realm. The tough-bodied Body-tempering Cultivator was in charge of drawing the Blue-Eyed Porcupine’s attention. Meanwhile, the Combat Cultivator, the Spell Cultivator, and the Ghost Cultivator were in charge of attacking whenever the opportunity arose. The situation was completely within their control. The battle had been ongoing for a while. At this moment, the Blue-Eyed Porcupine was covered in wounds. The trickling blood stained its entire body bright red. Although it constantly growled and roared in defiance, nothing could change the fact that its actions were simply the struggles of a cornered beast. Every attempt to break free from the besiegement and escape would result in a violent barrage of attacks that pushed it back once more. If nothing unexpected occurred, it would not take long before these cultivators successfully defeated this Spirit Beast. Their search for Lu Ye had turned out to be fruitless, but they encountered a fairly valuable Spirit Beast by chance instead. It was only natural for them to decide to hunt the Spirit Beast since the opportunity had presented itself. Such incidents did not happen only to these Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators. Similar situations could be found across the Grand Wilds Peak at this moment. They were focused on dealing with the Spirit Beast in front of them. After all, they did not expect to find a figure secretly approaching them in the darkness. It was not until they heard a strange sound that was accompanied by a short but bone-chilling scream that they realized that something was wrong. Turning to look in that direction, they saw the Combat Cultivator in their group falling to his knees while clutching at his chest. In addition, there was a man who had appeared without their knowledge. He was standing behind the Combat Cultivator and pulling out a long blade from his body. When everybody turned to look in that direction, the man suddenly charged toward the Spell Cultivator nearby with lightning speed. The Spell Cultivator was casting a Spell Technique at the time. Upon seeing the man rushing toward him, he hurriedly stopped casting the Spell Technique and retreated backwards in his panic while frantically summoning his Spiritual Power to protect himself. The figure appeared before him in the blink of an eye, and the strong sense of oppression that came from the front practically caused him to suffocate. He instinctively summoned his Spiritual Power. A wave of air erupted around him, creating a mighty repulsive force that swept out in all directions. He was initially surprised that the figure which appeared out of nowhere had vanished out of sight. Then, he caught a glimpse of a flickering Saber Light slashing down on him from the corner of his eyes. His Spiritual Power Shield lasted less than two seconds before shattering to pieces. The last thing he felt was a slight pain spreading across his body, but the pain soon became so clear and intense that he screamed in agony. A moment later, the dazzling Saber Light flashed past and the screams stopped abruptly. “Lu Yi Ye!” An exclamation rang out. It was the Ghost Cultivator who cried out. His heart was filled with a mixture of horror and terror. In just the short span of two seconds, their four-man team had been reduced to two. The confusion that filled him practically overpowered the grief in his heart over the loss of his companions. [Isn’t Lu Yi Ye a Combat Cultivator? But, the way he appeared so silently just now was clearly something that only Ghost Cultivators could achieve. Did he also cultivate in the Way of Ghost!? I’ve never heard of such a thing…] Despite his astonishment and horror, he instinctively lunged forward at Lu Ye. There was no other reason. He was in the Seventh Order Realm while Lu Ye was only in the Fifth Order Realm. Besides, he believed that the other party only managed to slaughter his companions by relying on a sneak attack which caught them by surprise. Now that Lu Ye’s presence had been revealed, there was no reason for him to let the opportunity slip through his fingers. After all, he would obtain the bounty on Lu Ye’s head if he succeeded in slaying him. How could the value of a mere Blue-Eyed Porcupine even compare with the bounty on Lu Ye’s head? The bounty would be worth countless Blue-Eyed Porcupines! He could almost see a scene of the future where he rose to great prominence thanks to the huge bounty he received. However, the excitement and exhilaration that filled his heart were replaced by a sense of overwhelming trepidation three seconds later. Following the clash of Spirit Artifacts, sparks flew in all directions. The Seventh Order Realm Ghost Cultivator was gradually being pushed back with an expression of pure disbelief on his face. He could barely believe that he was being suppressed by a mere Fifth Order Realm Combat Cultivator in a direct confrontation… To be more accurate, he was not just being suppressed. He was completely crushed in a one-sided massacre. The other party’s strength, speed, and response rate were far superior to his own. Five seconds later, the arms of the Ghost Cultivator had gone numb from the impact. His Spiritual Power was also dwindling at a rapid pace due to the impacts of their confrontation. Another two seconds passed. A head suddenly flew into the sky and a headless corpse collapsed to the ground. Afterwards, Lu Ye immediately spun around and charged toward the Body-tempering Cultivator. The eyes of the Body-tempering Cultivator widened at the sight. Even though he was heartbroken over the deaths of his companions, he was even more horrified by the power that Lu Ye displayed earlier. A Fifth Order Realm Master had managed to kill three of his companions in such a short time. If he had not witnessed the entire incident with his own eyes, he would never have believed the truth. He had wanted to provide support as soon as Lu Ye killed the Spell Cultivator earlier, but the wounded Blue-Eyed Porcupine seemed to have gone crazy from the pain and continuously charged at him. As a result, he could not get away from the Blue-Eyed Porcupine to help his companions. It had been easy to defeat the Champion-class Spirit Beast that was equivalent to an Eight Order Cloud River Realm Master with the combined forces of four people, but he could barely hold his own against the Spirit Beast now that he was the only person remaining. He was certain that the fangs of the Blue-Eyed Porcupine would leave several holes in his body if he ignored the attacks of the Spirit Beast. Therefore, it did not take long for the gravity of the situation to sink into him when he watched the Ghost Cultivator die at the hands of Lu Ye… The death of the Seventh Order Body-tempering Cultivator was decided when Lu Ye joined the battle. Seeming to know that Lu Ye was not an enemy, the Blue-Eyed Porcupine concentrated its full attention on the Body-tempering Cultivator and completely ignored Lu Ye. The Body-tempering Cultivator’s Spiritual Power Shield crumbled. At that moment, he allowed the Blue-Eyed Porcupine to pierce two gaping holes in his abdomen and blocked Lu Ye’s slashing blow with the Shield Spirit Artifact in his hand. Then, he immediately summoned his Spiritual Power and released a shrill whistle! Song Zhui had mentioned that they should sound an alarm to alert the others as soon as they discovered Lu Ye’s whereabouts. It was not until his life was flashing in front of his eyes that he finally recalled those words. Even if he was bound to suffer a tragic death, he refused to allow Lu Ye to escape unscathed. The whistle stopped abruptly with the downward slash of the Inviolable Saber. On the other hand, Lu Ye did not bother to spend any time picking up the spoils of his battle. He simply plunged back into the darkness and disappeared out of sight once more. Likewise, the bloody Blue-Eyed Porcupine turned and fled in another direction. A short while later, a group rushed over after hearing the sound of the whistle. The only thing that greeted them was the scene of several corpses strewn across the ground. There were messy traces of battle covering the ground, and the strong smell of blood permeated the air. … At another location, three cultivators were meditating quietly to recuperate from an intense battle earlier in which they hunted a Spirit Beast. There was a Spell Cultivator who dabbled in the Way of Wards among the three of them. Before they entered the meditative state, he had constructed several simple Alarm Wards in their surroundings. These Alarm Wards would warn them if a Spirit Beast approached them. That was why the three of them dared to meditate with peace of mind in such a dangerous place. Unfortunately, these simple Alarm Wards could not carry out their function when Lu Ye infiltrated the area. Lu Ye was a Ward Cultivator. Hence, his attainments in the Way of Wards were much higher than the Spell Cultivator. Even without activating the Insight Glyph, he could detect the traces of various Wards with his naked eye. The opponent’s ability to construct Wards was simply unrefined to him. He approached his targets and assaulted them without warning. The battle started abruptly and ended just as quickly… Ten seconds later, Lu Ye collected his spoils of war and left the scene. Only three dead bodies were left lying on the ground in his wake. … An unusual flower fragrance permeated the air. A random cultivator, who found this place by following the fragrance, immediately noticed purple flowers growing between the gaps of a rock. There were five petals on each flower, and each petal seemed to contain odd patterns. There almost seemed to be open eyes growing on top of the petals at first glance. The cultivator who was attracted by the fragrance might not know much about medicinal herbs, but he was a qualified cultivator. It was only natural for him to have an eye for various natural treasures. He immediately realized that the purple flower was a rare medicinal herb and informed his companions. Excitedly taking out the tools for collecting medicinal herbs, he stepped forward to collect the purple flower. However, a pitch-black saber suddenly struck him from the side when he reached out his hand. There was no time for him to react, and the blade slashed from his waist directly to his heart. The blade was pulled out of his chest, causing a stream of blood to gush out violently. Meanwhile, his companions screamed and instinctively launched a counterattack only to be met with a storm of Blade Lights. … A figure sped across the sky. Judging by the fluctuations of his Spiritual Power, he was an eight Order Realm Cultivator. Even though night had fallen across the land, he had not given up on his search for Lu Ye. That was because he knew that unexpected things were bound to happen if they kept wasting time. The more time passed, the harder it would become for them to locate Lu Ye’s whereabouts. At the same time, he also had to be wary of the other Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators. His strength as an Eight Order Realm Master was the base of his confidence to act alone. Various people had invited him to join their party earlier, but he had rejected all the advances. After all, he would have to share the bounty with others if he joined a group. How could that compare to monopolizing the bounty for himself?