Sage of Humanity

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Torrential rain poured down, and lightning flashed across the sky with thunder rumbling.

Above the swamp, Amber's silhouette flashed like the wind, both it and Lu Ye covered in a faint layer of spirit light. Although it couldn't completely block the rainwater, it at least allowed them to see more clearly and prevented their vision from being obscured by the rain.

Behind them, Dong Shuye relentlessly pursued, the distance between them rapidly closing. He was like a leech that had caught the scent of blood, stubbornly latching onto Lu Ye's trail.

The gap closed not because Amber was slower, but rather because the swamp was particularly unfriendly to it. It had just stepped into a quagmire; if not for its swift speed, it would have struggled to escape. Additionally, the terrain affected their speed, allowing the distance to narrow.

The power of the Move-Like-The-Wind Talisman gradually exhausted, and just as Lu Ye was about to take out another one to use, a fluctuation of spirit force came from ahead. As two figures leapt into the air, a large net fell from above, flashing with spirit light—clearly a Spiritual Artifact.

Moreover, it was a Spiritual Artifact designed specifically for capturing demon beasts!

In this swamp, there were many demon beasts similar to crocodiles, half-wild and half-domesticated, which were part of the industry owned by the Young Master's family. Therefore, family members often came here to hunt, selling their catches for a high price.

These two cultivators were originally here to hunt crocodiles, but upon receiving Dong Shuye's message, they immediately laid an ambush, fortuitously intercepting Amber in its flight.

As the net descended, Amber was leaping over a pond, with no solid ground to leverage for evasion. It was caught firmly by the net and plummeted downward.

They did it! Both cultivators were overjoyed. The big tiger was the demon beast the Young Master wanted. Capturing it this time would surely earn them a reward from the matriarch.

While they were thinking this, a figure suddenly pounced from below the thick curtain of rain, and a blade shone brightly.

It was Lu Ye who had already jumped off Amber's back when the net approached, using the broad expanse of its back as a stepping stone to launch an attack on one of the cultivators.

If he couldn't slice through the spirit net, even he would be ensnared, which would prevent him from fighting effectively. Hence, the safest course of action was to separate from Amber. He couldn't allow himself to also get trapped, no matter what.

His attack came with overwhelming momentum. The targeted cultivator, being of the Level 4 realm himself, was not thrown into disorder. Dong Shuye had already informed them of this, so with equal cultivation levels, he was not afraid of Lu Ye. Moreover, he had an accomplice by his side and Dong Shuye was quickly joining the pursuit.

All he needed to do was delay him briefly...

But his thoughts were interrupted. With a loud clang, his hastily raised weapon to meet the blade was sent flying, his right hand trembling uncontrollably, and his body staggered backward under an enormous sweeping force.

Such strength? The Level 4 cultivator was shocked; he had only felt such power from Level 5 physique cultivators in his own clan.

Before he could take any action, another bright blade light flickered down.

Blood mixed with the rain and splattered. The man stumbled, then fell headlong into the mire.

Lu Ye struck down a cultivator of his own level with two blows and immediately turned to attack the second person. That man had just been about to offer assistance when he witnessed the gruesome death of his fellow clansman, causing his resolve to falter. Unsure whether to retreat or attack, as he hesitated, Lu Ye was already upon him, his long blade creating a swirl of blade light.

The sound of metal clinking echoed as the man parried Lu Ye's three strikes, but he couldn't withstand the fourth. After undergoing the Dragon Spring Body Tempering, both the speed and strength of Lu Ye's strikes had greatly increased. Although his cultivation hadn't improved much, his overall strength had indeed become stronger since his time at Hundred Peaks Mountain.

The fourth strike landed on the man's chest; that was the result of him taking a quick step back. Otherwise, the blade would have decapitated him.

The protective spirit force was useless; as the blade passed, the spirit light shattered, and his chest burst open.

Lu Ye kicked out, sending him flying away, an abrupt scream from his mouth silenced shortly after impact.

Two flickers of red light approached from both sides; Lu Ye took a few steps toward the trapped Amber, hurriedly lifted the spirit net off, and was about to leave when it was already too late.

With a thunderous crash, as mud and water splashed around, a figure filled with killing intent stood twenty feet away, his eyes fiery as he looked at Lu Ye.

Even the rain couldn't damper the hatred in his eyes.

Dong Shuye had arrived!

Lu Ye gripped his long knife tightly.

Trying to escape from a magic cultivator at such close quarters was undoubtedly unwise. If he wanted to survive now, he had no choice but to fight.

The disparity between the Level 4 and Level 7 realms was akin to three minor levels; the difference in spiritual orifices amounted to around fifty to sixty. Dong Shuye's spiritual orifices were at least twice as numerous as Lu Ye's.

Dong Shuye was also holding a commoner; Lu Ye only glanced briefly, then paid no more attention. Although it was strange for Dong Shuye to pursue with a commoner in tow, now was not the time to think about such matters.

"So cold..." The Young Master hugged his arms, shivering from the cold yet still fixated on Amber. He shouted at Lu Ye, "Hey kid over there, I said I wanted to buy your big tiger, but Old Dong insists on snatching it. Don't blame me if you die."

He ran behind Dong Shuye a few feet away and yelled, "Old Dong, kill him! I'm here to back you up!"

He knew that, as a mere commoner, he could not aid Dong Shuye, so he ran away before the fight began to avoid hindering Dong Shuye.

Whose young master is this? Upon hearing his self-title, Lu Ye had a strange expression.

He remembered the Young Master of Nine Stars Sect...

Young master, Young Master, they were both people of similar status; the difference was that the one he slaughtered last time was a cultivator, this one was a mortal.

Why was there always some young master or Young Master causing trouble for him?

"How do you want to die?" Dong Shuye looked at Lu Ye in front of him and grinned viciously.

Lu Ye remained silent, simply squinting his eyes at what was ahead.

Twenty zhang was too far, and it would be difficult to succeed if the opponent was on guard. Lu Ye let out a light breath, gripped the long knife in his hand, and stomped his foot. A circular splash zone immediately appeared on the ground as he lunged towards Dong Shuye.

Amber didn't charge forward; under Yiyi's command, she quietly retreated and disappeared into the curtain of rain.

Dong Shuye's brow furrowed slightly, vaguely feeling that Lu Ye's burst of power at Level 4 was somewhat unusual, seemingly exceeding the scope of what one at Level 4 should possess.

However, that was it. As a former Level 7 magic cultivator, there was no way he would allow Lu Ye to get close that easily.

He didn't even think about moving; with a raise of his hand, a crescent-shaped Golden Arc Slash was launched at Lu Ye. He didn't use fire-type techniques like last time because the timing wasn't right. In this ghostly weather, invoking a fire-type technique would only invite ridicule.

The Golden Arc Slash was incredibly fast—it had barely formed before it was already slashing toward Lu Ye.

Spirit force gathered in Lu Ye's eyes. He originally intended to discern the fall point of the Golden Arc Slash, and then activate Defense Spirit Runes to withstand it.

However, as his attention became highly focused, everything around him seemed to slow down a lot...

He could vaguely make out the trajectory of the Golden Arc Slash coming towards him and had a feeling he could dodge it. Following that sensation, he lowered his body, and a fierce wind immediately passed over his head. The powerful slash pushed the rainwater aside, creating a vacuum and several strands of cut hair fluttered in the air.

He had dodged it!

But the second Golden Arc Slash was already on its way. Lu Ye raised his knife to counter; spirit force exploded, shattering the Golden Arc Slash. Lu Ye's figure staggered back slightly, and his palms tingled faintly.

The third strike was already coming. Dong Shuye was determined to kill Lu Ye here and now, so he spared no mercy with each attack.

Lu Ye drew back his steps, standing straight, chest out and stomach in, and clearly saw the Golden Arc Slash graze past the tip of his nose.

A realization dawned on him; the benefits of Dragon Spring Body Tempering were not limited to simply making his physique stronger and his knife strikes more powerful and swift, but it also significantly quickened his reactions, allowing his eyes to catch things they couldn't before.

That's why it felt like the entire world had slowed down.

This unexpected discovery made Lu Ye more confident in his plan.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

He was originally planning to rely on the Defense Spirit Runes to withstand the opponent's attacks, but using Defense would mean not being able to absorb some of the impact, which was highly likely to cause internal injuries.

Under the cover of the rain, Lu Ye's shadow constantly closed in on Dong Shuye, dodging and slicing through the successive Golden Arc Slashes that were thrown at him, using Defense to block when he couldn't dodge or counter in time.

Occasionally, he would be forced back, but overall, he was closing in on Dong Shuye with difficulty.

Dong Shuye frowned; if someone had told him before that a Level 4 cultivator could advance while withstanding his magical attacks, he would have thought the person was sick.

Although he currently only had the realm of Level 6, he had the foundation of Level 7. It's just that some spiritual orifices couldn't form a Minor Circumambulation cycle anymore, so his strength had indeed decreased a lot.

Yet, to a Level 4, he could kill with just a few casual techniques!

But now, this supposedly impossible event was taking place right before his eyes, and the one achieving this was the person he hated the most in his life.

Dong Shuye was completely enraged. With the surge of spirit force, a current gathered in front of him, and a long spear made of spirit force slowly took shape, turning into a streak of golden light that shot towards Lu Ye in an instant.

Lu Ye felt a sense of crisis. This attack was too fast; he couldn't dodge it at all, and it was immensely powerful. Ordinary Defense Spirit Runes probably couldn't stop it!

In the blink of an eye, a basin-sized Defense Spirit Rune appeared in front of him, robust and flickering with spirit light.

With a boom, the spirit force spear hit the Spirit Rune, and Lu Ye was almost blown away by the rebounding force. He bent his body, lowering his center of gravity, but still, he couldn't stop sliding backward.

Moments later, the spirit force spear and Defense Spirit Rune dissipated together. Dong Shuye launched another technique towards Lu Ye, who rushed forward hurriedly, taking advantage of the gap in the opponent's technique to close the distance between them.