Chapter 857, A Terrifying Truth

Translator: Jon

Translation Checker: Silavin

“Who’s responsible for patrolling this area?” Yuan Chou swept a glance over them.

A Cloud River Realm Master emerged from the crowd and cupped his fists. “It’s me, Martial Uncle.”

“You have to be more meticulous from now on. Such an incident must not happen again.”

“Yes,” replied the cultivator, but he seemed to have something to say.

Yuan Chou frowned. “What’s wrong?”

The cultivator replied, “Martial Uncle, I’m very careful with every examination, especially under the water. I would never dare be negligent. I just examined the water yesterday and found no anomaly.”

“Stop arguing,” Yuan Chou chided him. “Water Mutants are good at hiding, so it’s only normal that you’ve failed to spot one. Since the Mutant appeared here and damaged the embankment, it’s your fault. Could someone drop a Mutant here to harm the commoners under our protection? If not for the disciple from Crimson Blood Sect, the city around 50 kilometres away from here would’ve been destroyed, and several ten thousand people would’ve…”

He suddenly caught himself and looked meditatively in the direction Lu Ye had left.

Lu Ye was a Ninth-Order Cloud River Realm Master, and it was apparent that he was heading to Grand Sky City.

[Has he accepted an order from Grand Sky City and is now going there to report for duty?]

As far as Yuan Chou was concerned, once an order was issued, the cultivator had to go to Grand Sky City in a short time. If the person was late, the consequences would be dreadful. The Watch in every Zhou was like an army. Orders were to be obeyed and laws were to be upheld. If Lu Ye couldn’t make it to Grand Sky City in time, no one could save him.

Yuan Chou didn’t mean it when he said someone might’ve dropped a Mutant there, but what if that was indeed the case?

It was too coincidental. The flash flood happened as soon as Lu Ye arrived. When he came to the source of the flood, he must’ve gotten into a fight with the Water Mutant as well.

Although the Water Mutant was dead, Yuan Chou could tell it was a Champion-class being, which could cause a Cloud River Realm Master some trouble but wouldn’t kill him.

“Senior Brother?” a cultivator from Clear Spring Sect called out, wondering what was on Yuan Chou’s mind.

“I’m fine.” Yuan Chou pulled himself together and stopped thinking about it. Some things were better not explored further. The more he thought about it, the more terrified he felt. He hoped he was just overthinking things.

After leaving the river, Lu Ye continued with his journey.

From dawn to dusk, he never got any rest. It wasn’t until the latter half of the night that he stopped in his tracks. He found a spot in the forest and built a Ward around him before getting some rest.

Around two hours later, just as he was ready to continue with his journey, he suddenly heard the sound of something breaking through the air. It seemed that someone was passing by.

With the help of Moonlight, he lifted his gaze and saw a man in black clothes flying past.

The man looked anxious and seemed to be in a hurry. It was as though danger was approaching from behind him.

The Spiritual Power exuding from this person showed that he was a Real Lake Realm Master.

The danger was indeed coming from behind. As soon as Lu Ye caught sight of the man in black, he heard someone else shouting from a distance, “Where do you think you’re going?”

Following that, a Sword Cry was heard as a Sword Light charged forward.

Since the man in black was running for his life, he initially decided to ignore Lu Ye. However, when he sensed the relentless murderous intent from behind, he gritted his teeth and suddenly landed near Lu Ye.

A surprised Lu Ye had no idea what was going on. He was just getting some rest there, but now, it seemed that he was involved in a battle.

This was Grand Sky Coalition’s territory. If both cultivators were on the same side, they shouldn’t be fighting intensely even if they held some grudges against each other.

Therefore, Lu Ye instantly realised that one of them must be from Thousand Demon Ridge.

Bing Zhou was the place where the two sides fought for power. It was common for both parties to infiltrate each other’s territories, create panic, and kill the young, brilliant cultivators.

It wasn’t surprising to come across someone from Thousand Demon Ridge there. Lu Ye only felt unlucky to come across such an incident.

The person running after the man in black was apparently a Sword Cultivator, and he seemed to hail from the Northern Profound Sword Clan. Also, considering what the man in black was trying to do, it was obvious which one was from Grand Sky Coalition and which one was from Thousand Demon Ridge.

The man in black knew that he couldn’t get rid of the Sword Cultivator, so he decided to make use of Lu Ye to threaten his opponent.

At any rate, if two Real Lake Realm Masters contended with each other there, a Cloud River Realm Master like Lu Ye would be dragged into the battle. By then, the person from Grand Sky Coalition would be restricted in many ways.

It could even be said that the man in black was trying to hold Lu Ye captive.

Apparently, it was all the black-clothed man’s wishful thinking. Any other Cloud River Realm Master would’ve run away in such a situation.

However, Lu Ye had built a Defensive Ward around him, and to save some time, he had even used some ward keystones. That made his Defensive Ward pretty sturdy.

The man in black descended from the sky and activated his power, ready to hold Lu Ye captive. Although he was injured by the Sword Cultivator, he was a Real Lake Realm Master, after all. It wouldn’t be hard for him to capture a Cloud River Realm Master.

Nevertheless, he was shocked to see that the young man only looked at him in silence. It was as though the latter was too stunned to react.

As their eyes met, the man in black realised the other party wasn’t flustered one bit. The young man was so calm and collected that it was as though he had no regard for him at all.

The man in black instinctively felt that something was off, but it was too late for him to back down. The Sword Cultivator behind him was coming for him. If he couldn’t capture the young man, he would be doomed.

Even if he managed to hold the young man captive, he wasn’t even sure if the Sword Cultivator would be restrained.

As the distance between them shortened, the man in black soon reached Lu Ye as he reached for his neck.

Then, Lu Ye suddenly lifted his leg and stomped his foot on the ground. As his Spiritual Power surged, a dome-shaped light screen appeared out of nowhere and covered him.

“Defensive Ward!” The man in black was shocked, not expecting the young man to be a Ward Cultivator. Only a Ward Cultivator would build a Ward around himself when getting some rest in the wilderness.

However, it wasn’t likely that a Defensive Ward built by a Cloud River Realm Master would be robust enough.

The man in black suddenly turned his hand over and held a knife. He infused his power into the weapon and activated all the enchantments before striking the light screen with it.

Unlike what he had imagined, the light screen didn’t shatter. Only a dent was formed, but the light screen was soon restored to its original state.

“No way!” The man in black was flabbergasted. Although he was injured and didn’t fully activate his power earlier, he had the confidence to shatter a Defensive Ward built by a Cloud River Realm Master.

In fact, the moment he struck the light screen, he realised how sturdy the Defensive Ward was.

Even if he fully activated his power, he would need three strikes to break the Ward.

Finally, he understood why the young man was so calm. Apparently, the young man had strong confidence in the Ward he had built.

It was laughable that the man in black thought he could easily capture the young man.

Knowing that he couldn’t achieve his goal, he looked resentfully at Lu Ye as though trying to make sure he would never forget his face. Then, he was ready to flee.

“Go to Hell!” When the growl was heard, a dazzling Sword Light descended and engulfed the man in black.

A glint radiated from the sword as Spiritual Powers surged. Both parties got into an intense fight.

The Sword Cultivator was obviously more powerful. Also, since the man in black was wounded, he naturally wasn’t a match for the other party.

If not for the fact that the Sword Cultivator was worried the repercussions would impact Lu Ye, he would’ve destroyed his opponent long ago.

Upon that realisation, Lu Ye said, “Don’t worry about me, Senior Brother. I can bear the repercussions.”

The Sword Cultivator nodded. “Alright. Be careful, then.”

Following that, his attacks intensified. The man in black was forced to move backwards as he secretly cursed at Lu Ye.

Around 30 breaths of time later, a shriek was heard as the Sword Light retracted. The man in black collapsed to the ground, blood streaming from his wounds.

The Sword Cultivator kept his weapon and took the black-clothed man’s Storage Bag. Then, he took out a token from the other party’s clothes and nodded in satisfaction before keeping it.

Only then did he explain to Lu Ye, “This crook from Thousand Demon Ridge snuck into our territory with some malicious intentions. I discovered him and ran after him. I’m sorry that you had to go through this shocking experience.”

“You’ve done a great job in protecting our territory, Senior Brother.” Lu Ye cupped his fists.

The Sword Cultivator nodded. “Although it’s Grand Sky Coalition’s territory, some crooks from Thousand Demon Ridge will still sneak into here from time to time. Since you’re on your own, you have to be careful. You’d better go to a nearby city instead of spending the night in the wilderness.”

He didn’t have the intention of having a long talk with Lu Ye, nor did he want to protect the other party. It was common for cultivators to sleep in the wilderness, so he only gave Lu Ye some general advice before leaving in a hurry.

“Am I on my own? Well, I don’t think so.” Lu Ye kept the Ward Flags and ward keystones before shooting into the sky.

Jiu Zhou was a lively place. Lu Ye had only gotten some training on the two major Battlefields, so he had rarely come into contact with cultivators from Jiu Zhou.

It was his first time leaving Crimson Blood Sect, and it felt like he had ventured into a new world.

At the break of dawn, Lu Ye estimated that he was already halfway through his journey. Considering his current speed, he would be able to reach Grand Sky City by evening.

When he passed by a Spirit Peak, he suddenly stopped and wrapped his palm around the hilt.

Amber, which was crouching on his shoulder, instantly stood up and growled.

Just then, from somewhere on the Spirit Peak, a ray of light charged right at Lu Ye.

The power of the attack was astonishing. It was apparently a spell cast by a Real Lake Realm Master.

Lu Ye immediately tried to dodge the attack, but the Real Lake Realm Master had precise control over his Spiritual Power. Wherever Lu Ye went, the spell relentlessly ran after him. The gap between them soon shortened.

Sensing the spell’s power, Lu Ye realised that he couldn’t avoid the attack. He gritted his teeth and stopped in mid-air before raising both hands. As his Spiritual Power surged, a huge Protection Glyph appeared in front of him.

At the same time, a figure carrying a powerful aura emerged from a distance and dashed towards the Spirit Peak.

Detecting the familiar aura, Lu Ye let out a breath. He knew that his speculation was right.

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