Chapter 614: Escape
It was a normal occurrence in the Cloud River Battlefield. Many of the Arcane Glades constantly changed hands, and only the larger-scale Arcane Glade with a larger population could maintain their independent status in the Cloud River Battlefield and be passed down from generation to generation.
“Little Junior Brother, what are your plans?” Li Baxian asked.
“There are two options.” Lu Ye raised two fingers. “We can retrieve the Wisp of Sanctification and escape back to Jiu Zhou now. After leaving the Cloud River Battlefield and returning to Jiu Zhou, we will need to wait for one month before we can enter the Cloud River Battlefield again. The earlier we leave, the earlier we can return.”
Li Baxian burst into laughter. Lu Ye’s statement sounded as though he was merely leaving the house early so that he could come home early.
“Or, we don’t leave Jiu Zhou. We will immediately begin relocating to a more hidden place. No matter what we choose, we will only have a Secundus-level Arcane Glade in the end.”
Every time the Wisp of Sanctification was retrieved, the Wisp of Sanctification would drop by one whole level. Although there was only one grade difference between the Primus-level and the Secundus-level, the density of the World Spiritual Qi in the Arcane Glade was completely different.
“What about the second option?”
“We’ll watch how things unfold! The situation might not be as bad as we think. If the situation really reaches the point where we have to escape to Jiu Zhou, we can rely on the Divine Opportunity Column to retreat at any time.”Li Baxian nodded slightly. It was just as he expected. In this situation, they only had two options to choose from. They could either leave immediately or wait until the situation worsened to a certain degree before leaving. In any case, this particular Arcane Glade could not be protected.
It was truly a pity. After all, a Primus-level Arcane Glade was extremely rare. They only managed to cultivate in the Arcane Glade for a few months, not to mention they also spent more than a month in the Fox Immortal Valley during that period…
“Let’s wait a little longer. It might be as you said, Little Junior Brother. The situation might not be that bad,” Li Baxian suggested.
“Then, let’s wait a little longer.”
Thanks to the Divine Opportunity Column, they could leave the Arcane Glade at any time. Therefore, their safety was guaranteed.
It only took a short discussion for Lu Ye and Li Baxian to decide on the foundation of their plan. Feng Yuechan and Ju Jia remained silent during the discussion. Whenever Li Baxian spoke, Feng Yuechan would simply listen quietly. She would never interrupt him. As for Ju Jia… He had always been a taciturn man who rarely spoke in the first place.
“But, before that…” Lu Ye glanced at Ju Jia. “The wolf pack must leave.”
They could escape back to Jiu Zhou via the Divine Opportunity Column, but the wolf pack could not. If the situation worsened to the point where they had to leave, the wolf pack would inevitably become the target for the invaders to vent their frustrations. The wolf pack would definitely suffer a tragic fate if that were to happen.
Although the wolf pack’s presence would guarantee the safety of the Arcane Glade, the Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators would definitely strike with overwhelming force if they were serious about taking action. The wolf pack might be able to stop the advance of the Sacred Universe Arcane Glade cultivators, but they would not be able to stop the imminent crisis.
“I’ll leave this matter to you. Instruct the wolf pack to leave the Arcane Glade within three days.”
Ju Jia gloomily agreed. “Okay.”
After a brief discussion, the four of them finally dispersed and went about their respective businesses.
Lu Ye had no reason to worry about how Ju Jia was going to make the wolf pack leave. The wolf pack only remained in the Arcane Glade because they were attracted by Ju Jia. Besides, the leader of the wolf pack had extremely high intelligence. After the previous battle, it had not failed to notice some concerning signs. As long as it was not stupid, it would know that leaving in advance was the only method to keep the wolf pack safe.
On the other hand, Lu Ye began to refine a large number of Ward Flags. Many of the Wards had been destroyed when the Sacred Universe Arcane Glade cultivators invaded the Arcane Glade. Naturally, these Wards had to be remade and replenished.
Now that his strength and heritage had improved significantly, his speed of refining Ward Flags also increased sharply. He expended a large number of resources and produced many Ward Flags in exchange. Then, he remade the damaged Grand Wards and added more Wards throughout the Arcane Glade.
The wolf pack followed their leader and departed the Arcane Glade, but they did not go very far. They simply went deeper into the Grand Wilds Peak by two hundred kilometers, evidently prepared to return to the Arcane Glade at any time.
Time flew by in a blink of an eye. A few days later, Lu Ye flew above the Arcane Glade to check on the many Wards he prepared… With so many Wards, there should be enough to defend the Arcane Glade.
Although he previously told Li Baxian that they only had two options, the truth was that they had a third option. It was just that he had no intention to reveal the third option to Li Baxian. He was not trying to keep secrets from Li Baxian. Rather, Li Baxian would never agree with him even if he voiced the third option.
Nonetheless, it would be possible to defend and protect the Arcane Glade if they could successfully implement the third option. Then, Li Baxian, Feng Yuechan, and Ju Jia would be able to cultivate in the Arcane Glade with peace of mind.
When all was said and done, he simply thought that it was a pity for a Primus-level Arcane Glade to be abandoned or downgraded.
The large number of Wards he prepared was not meant to repel their invaders. If the situation was as bad as he predicted, then it was meaningless no matter how many Wards he prepared in the Arcane Glade. He was simply preparing these Wards so that the Arcane Glade had additional capital to protect itself.
A cursory examination revealed numerous Grand Wards layered on top of each other. They covered the entire Arcane Glade and provided a solid layer of defense.
He suddenly received a message through the Battlefield Imprint. Lowering his head, he checked the message. The identity of the sender was very unexpected indeed. It was Kitty Shen!
He did not know her real name. The name ‘Kitty Shen’ sounded fake, just like the name ‘Ye Six’.
In any case, they parted ways after they lost the Tertius-level Arcane Glade. He did not know where she went, and they had not contacted each other recently. Therefore, he was surprised to see a message from her. The contents of the message were also very astonishing.
‘Hurry up and escape! Very many people are heading in your direction! Very many! Very many!’
It was a short and simple message, but she had repeated the words ‘very many’ thrice. The number must be extremely large indeed.
Judging by the contents of the message, the location of the Arcane Glade had been exposed completely. Numerous Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators were probably rushing here at this very moment. In fact, there might already be some lurking nearby…
Nevertheless, the message Kitty Shen sent to him at this juncture contained a lot of hidden information.
First of all, how did she know that many people were coming? The exposure of the Arcane Glade’s location would only be circulated among the Thousand Demon Ridge. Hence, it was impossible for Grand Sky Coalition cultivators to learn about the information…
Even Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan had not received any warning. Their network of connections was much wider than Lu Ye’s. If the Grand Sky Coalition cultivators knew about this information, a message would have been sent to warn them in advance. It was just that they had not received any news at the moment.
On the contrary, Kitty Shen was the one who sent a warning to Lu Ye. The fact that she was privy to this information was problematic in itself.
At any rate, she must have known that Ye Six was Lu Yi Ye of the Crimson Blood Sect for a long time now. Lu Ye’s pictures were spread everywhere in the Thousand Demon Ridge, so it was only natural for many cultivators to be familiar with his pictures.
Lu Ye did not know the reason that motivated Kitty Shen to send him a warning. Nevertheless, he could sense that her actions had stemmed from kind intentions.
It might be that they had cultivated together in the same Arcane Glade. Or, it was because they experienced various life-and-death situations together in the Myriad Beast Domain’s Hidden Realms. Or, it was because she once followed him to the Vault of Providence and obtained great benefits from selling items there…
In any case, she did not seem to be evil since she willingly sent him a warning at such a critical time.
When Lu Ye first entered the cultivation world, he once believed that all the people in the Thousand Demon Ridge were heinous and evil. He also believed that the Grand Sky Coalition represented righteousness and the Thousand Demon Ridge represented evil. However, as he gradually came to understand the situation in the cultivation world of Jiu Zhou, he discovered that there was no distinct concept of good and evil in this world. There were only two opposing factions.
He responded with a simple message. ‘Got it. Thanks!’
Kitty Shen did not respond. She had sent the message to Lu Ye as soon as she received the news, and that was already pushing the limits of what she could do for him. It would only condemn her conscience if she was asked to reveal further information. After all, the Sect she belonged to was blackmailed by Lu Ye in the past… even if he did not know which Sect she came from.
After returning to the wooden hut, Lu Ye fell into deep thought. The situation was ultimately heading in the worst direction, but there was no helping it. As the saying went, ‘Many things in life often fail to work out according to one’s wishes’.
A strange feeling suddenly washed over him. He hurriedly opened the Spirit Beast Bag. Then, a snow-white figure immediately leapt out from the Spirit Beast Bag and shook its body vigorously for a moment. It was Amber, who had been slumbering for some time!
Amber had finally woken up!
“Lu Ye!” Yi Yi gave a cheerful cry and flashed out from within Amber’s body. Throwing herself into his arms without hesitation, she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her head in his chest. Her black hair scattered across his body.
His hand which was raised in mid-air froze for a moment.
He had known her for a long time, and they were generally inseparable from each other. Be that as it may, she rarely acted so intimately around him, let alone hugged him so warmly.
Slowly lowering his hand, he gently embraced her petite body and patted her lightly.
The truth was that falling into that state of silence terrified her. Although she had never told him about her fears, he could sense her apprehension toward the situation.
Whenever she fell into that state of silence, she would feel as though her entire being was surrounded by boundless darkness. Even her thoughts became extremely sluggish. Moreover, it was very hard to perceive the passage of time in that environment. The experience had always felt like a never-ending nightmare to her. She was afraid that she would never wake up from the nightmare. Then, she would never see another ray of light or the person she missed ever again.
“It’s alright now,” Lu Ye comforted her softly.
After a while, Yi Yi struggled out of his embrace. Her face was flushed bright red. Glaring at him fiercely, she stomped her feet and yelled, “Don’t you dare laugh at me!”
“I’m not!” His expression was serious. “Why would I laugh at you?”
While saying that, he raised his hand and pinched her cheek. The feeling under his fingers was smooth and delicate. It was a nice feeling.
She took a step backwards to avoid his grasp, her cheeks puffed up in anger.
“Has your cultivation improved?” he asked.
She pondered for a moment. “I’m probably on the same level as a Fifth Order Cloud River Realm Master!”
The improvement of Yi Yi’s cultivation was directly linked to Amber’s growth. In other words, she was as strong as Amber.
Their cultivation increased significantly during their time in the Fox Immortal Valley, allowing their strength to advance by a whole Minor Realm. And now, the Mutant Core of an elite-level Spirit Beast had allowed them to take another step forward. Their cultivation was now on par with his own!
He examined Amber’s condition and discovered that Yi Yi’s statement was true. The respective strengths of both the Ghost Spirit and the Spirit Beast were now equivalent to Fifth Order Cloud River Realm Masters.