Sage of Humanity

Fortunately, before this, Li Baxian had already promised Yanh Xing to give him a chance to settle grievances after this matter was resolved!

This was also the reason Yanh Xing could sit here calmly.

The gazes of the many Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators held mockery mixed with eagerness as they looked at the man standing on Golden Light Peak—a Level 5 cultivator was like a living treasure vault!

If they could kill him, the rewards they would gain would be inexhaustible.

Almost the moment Lu Ye shouted out his challenge, a burly man jumped out: "I'll do it!"

Though this guy was only at Level 5, he was clearly a physique cultivator. Relying on his thick skin and robust body, he wanted to test Lu Ye's abilities and also held onto a stroke of luck that if he could kill Lu Ye, he would become rich overnight!

"Righteous Blood Sect, Lu Ye!" Lu Ye spoke.

"White Wolf City, Shi Lei!" After saying this, he reached into his storage sack to pull out his defensive spirit artifact. With the defensive spirit artifact, he would be invincible; however, as he barely reached into his storage sack, his face changed drastically, because Lu Ye was rushing towards him with extreme speed.

In just a few steps, Lu Ye had charged up to him. This physique cultivator named Shi Lei had only just pulled out his defensive spirit artifact—an artifact shaped like a small shield. He hurried back while simultaneously pouring spirit force into the artifact.

The long blade was unsheathed, red spirit forces clung to it, and a flash of brilliance passed by.

Shi Lei stood there, his eyes filled with terror as he looked at Lu Ye, a line of blood appearing at his throat. The line quickly widened, and then a fountain of blood gushed forth, his head flying up high under the impact of the fresh blood.

Behind the headless corpse, many of the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators looked on in shock at the scene, stunned beyond belief.

Despite what Han Zheyue had said earlier about Lu Ye being able to kill across levels, the speed at which he had slain a cultivator with the same cultivation was still astonishing. After all, that was a thick-skinned physique cultivator, and the combatants had barely finished stating their names before the duel ended.

"Foolish!" A strong cultivator from the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge, listed on the Spirit Stream Ranking, scoffed coldly. He was speaking about that person named Shi Lei, who knew how tough his opponent was yet still underestimated him. Without proper preparation before entering combat, only then trying to retrieve a defensive spirit artifact—it was destined that such a person would achieve nothing.

Even if he didn't die today, he would eventually meet his end.

On the other side, the Haotian Alliance camp burst into cheers after a brief moment of surprise, with Li Baxian shouting the loudest, and Weh Ying's tense face also relaxed a bit.

Lu Ye collected Shi Lei's small shield and storage sack, turned around, and tossed them out. Weh Ying caught them; these were his spoils of war, his first!

Killing the enemy and collecting spoils of war was a wonderful tradition that should never be abandoned, no matter when.

The first battle was a loss for Ten Thousand Demons Ridge. Many cultivators felt they had lost face, but most knew this was just the beginning. They were facing Lu Ye with successive challenges, with each sect having a turn to fight. They could fail, they could die, but there would always be someone else with the chance to succeed.

Lu Ye, however, could not afford a single defeat; if he failed once, he was doomed.

With a three-day time limit, there would be at least dozens of battles or even more. How could a Level 5 cultivator withstand that?

"Next!" Lu Ye retreated in front of his own camp and lightly shook the blood from his blade.

After a brief discussion amongst the managers of the various big sects of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge, another person stepped forward—a woman of decent looks and a full figure. The key was that the woman was scantily clad, attracting many gazes the moment she appeared.

With just one look, Weh Ying's face darkened: "Flirty vixen!"

Li Baxian also frowned, worried that faced with such a beauty, it would be difficult for a young man full of vigor to mercilessly kill her. It had to be said that Ten Thousand Demons Ridge's second choice was quite targeted.

Turning his head to look at Lu Ye, he saw that Lu Ye was calm as he again announced his affiliation: "Righteous Blood Sect, Lu Ye!"

The woman glanced at the corpse not far away, shrank her neck as if frightened, and with a seemingly timid expression that was pitiable, responded to Lu Ye's voice with a delicate tone: "Fenghua Courtyard, Choo Xue!"

With a loud bang, mud and stones flew up from the ground. Lu Ye had already pounced towards her, moving with incredible speed.

"Don't be hasty, junior brother!" the delicate Choo Xue spoke softly, but her action was extremely ruthless. With a raise of her hand, a burning Fireball emerged, followed by a pale green Wind Blade.
Explore stories on empire

The key was that as the woman made her move, her thin clothes hardly concealed anything, giving the many spectators a feast for their eyes.

"Shameless hussy!" Weh Ying was about to explode with anger, wishing she could rip off the head of that wretched woman!

"No good!" Li Baxian's face changed.

In the arena, Lu Ye raised his blade towards the Fireball. This Fireball was inferior even to the one used by Dong Shuye; he wasn't afraid of it.

However, before he could hit the Fireball, the Wind Blade trailing behind it suddenly exploded. A smug smile appeared on Choo Xue's face as she whispered to herself, "I got him!"

Wild winds rose, fueling the fire, and the Fireball suddenly turned into a mass of Raging Flames. Its power surged far more than threefold, descending onto Lu Ye's head.

As a Level 6 magic cultivator, Choo Xue didn't underestimate Lu Ye, who had one level less cultivation than her—after all, the corpse of the previous physique cultivator was right by her feet. Hence, her first attack was her trump card, intending to eliminate Lu Ye in one fell swoop.

However, her smile had barely blossomed on her face when it froze solid; amidst the roaring flames, Lu Ye burst forth, his already swift speed suddenly surging even more.

Chu Xue's face drained of color, and she quickly spurred her magic and spells in defense.

But it was already too late. Lu Ye advanced, slicing off one of the arms she had raised and cleaved through the spirit force barrier in front of her, following through with a slash across her abdomen.

A piercing scream sounded as the disrobed woman stumbled backward, tears blurring her vision, with the last thing she saw being a flash of the bright blade.

In front of the woman's body, Lu Ye stood somewhat disheveled; he had taken a bit of a disadvantage in that last exchange, but fortunately, when he sensed something was wrong, he quickly activated his protective charm to block, which prevented him from suffering severe damage, though some of his hair and clothing were singed.

This time he didn't return to his original position but stood at the forefront of the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge camp, slowly lifting his long knife: "Next!"

The tip of the knife seemed to be pointing at every Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivator...

Behind him, the Haotian Alliance cultivators fell silent, many wearing bittersweet smiles. This lad from the Righteous Blood Sect was perhaps too arrogant, but the scene before them... truly was invigorating.

"Well killed!" Weh Ying's eyes curved into crescents; her little junior brother's ruthless display evidently matched her taste perfectly. Whatever snow-white, full, and toned legs there might have been—before the face of the faction, they were but a pile of rotting flesh!

The corner of Li Baxian's eye twitched: "Why does he act just like the third brother? And they both use knives too!" He suddenly felt a touch of madness, "Why a knife, of all things!"

The third fight began swiftly.

According to the terms agreed upon in the Heaven's Augury Pact, after each fight, Lu Ye had the option to rest for the duration of one incense stick, but since he didn't choose to do so, the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge side naturally wasn't going to give him any time to catch his breath.

On the arena, Lu Ye was almost chasing the Level 6 cultivator as he hacked away, and in just a short amount of time, he had his opponent on the ropes with no power to fight back.

Seeing this, the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators secretly rejoiced; it was fortunate that they had known in advance that the lad from the Righteous Blood Sect could kill beyond his level. Otherwise, had they agreed to his initial proposal, perhaps no Level 5 would have dared to step forward to their death.

Even a Level 6 was no match for him, what more a Level 5?

The knife gleamed, blood sprayed, and Lu Ye pressed forward, about to deliver a killing blow, when his opponent suddenly cried out, "I admit defeat!"

Lu Ye's long knife stopped just before the other's throat, the sharp edge nicking the skin, blood trickling out.

"I admit defeat!" the man hastily retreated, touching his neck with a look of after-fright.

Moments ago, had he been just a fraction of a second slower, he would have certainly been beheaded. Admitting defeat was humiliating, sure, but it was much better than losing his life.

Lu Ye sheathed his knife and did not pursue a relentless slaughter—not that he didn't want to, but because the Heaven's Augury Pact stipulated that the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge side had the opportunity to admit defeat.

This chance was solely granted to the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge; Lu Ye didn't have it. If he lost, it meant death!

One could say that the fight was unfair from the very start.

But then, where in the world is there so much fairness?

The man withdrew dispiritedly, reflecting on the brief skirmish and couldn't help but shiver; he had never encountered such an aggressively offensive Level 5. During their fight, he'd even intermittently felt like he was the one with lower cultivation.

"Another one!" Lu Ye looked ahead.

Someone stepped out, and the fourth fight began!

In the Haotian Alliance camp, several strong individuals from the Spirit Stream Ranking gathered around Li Baxian, one frowning, "While it's good to break the enemy's spirit, this method consumes too much. I'm afraid he won't last very long."

"Indeed, and while his fighting is fierce, his moves lack finesse. Facing an enemy with superior skills could be troublesome," another added.

As strong contenders on the Spirit Stream Ranking, their insights were exceptionally keen. Although Lu Ye had only fought three bouts, they had already spotted the disadvantage: Lu Ye was fighting too ferociously.

If Lu Ye were facing a small number of enemies, such ferocity would be the best approach, often scaring his adversaries. But he faced too many, and steady, systematic fighting was the correct path to follow. Moreover, with those powerful individuals from the Spirit Stream Ranking present, the enemy wouldn't be intimidated, no matter how savage Lu Ye was—they would face him regardless.

Moreover, Lu Ye's attacks indeed lacked finesse. Each slash was aimed to kill—as convenient for killing as possible, that's how he swung his blade.

This was his approach to combat, developed over numerous battles, as no one had ever taught him how to wield a knife.

While such a method was fierce, it also left him open to taking advantage of it, making it easy for someone to seize the opportunity.