Sage of Humanity

At Li Baxian's residence, Lu Ye had a casual drink with him by candlelight. As Lu Ye explained in detail, Li Baxian slowly understood the various plans that Fox Fairy Valley had in store.

"So it's a hunt for that Overlord-class demon beast." Li Baxian showed a look of realization, "No wonder I've felt the atmosphere in the valley has been a bit strange lately, and Fellow Daoist Yu seems to be preoccupied."

The Fellow Daoist Yu he referred to was none other than Yu Daiwei, who had been coming to spar with Li Baxian quite frequently these days.

It was clear that Yu Daiwei had a certain fondness for Li Baxian, yet it seemed that Li Baxian didn't reciprocate her feelings and merely regarded her as a comrade-in-arms with a shared path.

"Little Junior Brother, such confidential matters must not be discussed with others before the Venerable One publicly announces them," Li Baxian warned Lu Ye again.

Lu Ye replied, "I understand. I will only discuss this with Senior Brother. When it's time to take action, please be careful, Senior Brother."

Li Baxian nodded, "I will be cautious… Little Junior Brother, do you know when the action will start?"

"It should be within these few days," Lu Ye said gravely, "I've received a message that I'll be leaving to set up the arrays tomorrow. Once the Formations are properly established, that might be the day we begin our operation."

"Then you should also take care, Junior Brother. An Overlord-class demon beast… heh, I never thought I'd have a chance to face one." He didn't seem nervous at all; in fact, he seemed somewhat eager.

The next morning, Lu Ye stepped out from his dwelling and headed straight towards the entrance of Fox Fairy Valley.

From a distance, he saw more than a dozen figures already waiting there, with Zhou Yuntian leading them.

Lu Ye walked up, greeted everyone, and Zhou Yuntian nodded, "Let's set out."

With that, he led the way, and the others followed closely behind.

Aside from Zhou Yuntian, Xie Yunhan was also present. The rest, whose strengths were not to be underestimated, were all above Level 7. Their main job was to ensure the safety of Lu Ye and Xie Yunhan.

After all, with Lu Ye at Level 4 and Xie Yunhan at Level 7, their cultivations were not particularly high. If they were to encounter any powerful demon beasts, they might not be able to withstand them. Whether or not these two array cultivators could set up sufficiently strong arrays was key to their plan. During the array setup, Zhou Yuntian and his group would have to stay close by.

Along the way, they occasionally encountered demon beasts. Despite their utmost caution, they could not avoid some altercations.

However, with the strength of the group, and several among them at Level 9, they proceeded safely despite a few close calls.

It wasn't until a day later that Zhou Yuntian, who was leading the way, stopped, took out the ten-part map, and checked their location before saying, "This is the place. Fellow Daoist Lu, Fellow Daoist Xie, you two must set up various big arrays centered on this spot as quickly as possible. As for how to set them up and what Formations to use, you two shall discuss it among yourselves. The rest of you, spread out in pairs and keep watch. Alert us promptly if there's any anomaly!"

"Understood!" Everyone responded and scattered in different directions.

Only Lu Ye, Xie Yunhan, and Zhou Yuntian remained at the original spot.

Xie Yunhan looked hopefully at Lu Ye.

In terms of proficiency in the Array Path, he was no match for Lu Ye, so in this array setup, Lu Ye was to lead, and he was to assist.

Lu Ye didn't immediately start on the Formation, but instead looked at Zhou Yuntian, "Fellow Daoist Zhou, I have a question."

"What's the question?" Zhou Yuntian asked.

Lu Ye said, "How far is that Berserk Giant Ape from here?"

"Its location isn't fixed. However, it usually only moves within its territory, which is about fifty miles from here."

"In other words, the Venerable One plans to lure the Berserk Giant Ape out of its territory and ambush it here?"

"That's right."

"Since the Berserk Giant Ape is an Overlord-class demon beast, its spiritual intelligence should not be low. How can we ensure that it comes here? The cultivators from the valley have already fought with it more than once; wouldn't it be wary?"

"If Fellow Daoist Lu is worried about this, there's no need. Indeed, that beast has high spiritual intelligence and almost human-like awareness, but it is still an Overlord-class demon beast. Considering its status in the Cloud River battlefield, even if it senses something, it won't be overly concerned. The last two times we did the same, and although there were some twists, each time we were able to draw it into the designated area."

Upon hearing this, Lu Ye nodded, "Then there should be no problem."

He silently speculated that if this was the case, then the spiritual intelligence of the Berserk Giant Ape seemed not to be very high.

He suddenly remembered the Overlord-class demon beast he had encountered on the Spirit Stream battlefield; it had already taken human form, yet it was still easily deceived. It seemed that this was an unavoidable shortcoming of demon beasts.

Having cleared the doubts in his mind, Lu Ye rose through the air and observed the terrain below. After a moment, he had a concrete plan in mind.

The many spirit runes he now mastered were well-suited for array setup.

However, if they were to deal with an Overlord-class demon beast, some of the less significant auxiliary Formations could be omitted.

To successfully kill the opponent, the primary focus must still be on the killing array.

The most powerful killing array that Lu Ye could set up right now is undoubtedly the explosion magic array. A single explosion magic array wasn't a big threat to an Overlord-class demon beast, but if enough arrays were set up, they could still play a tremendous role.

There were also spirit runes like Lightning Attracting, Fiery Flames, and Earth Spike that could be used independently as magic and spells, but if used as the core for array setup, they would become the Lightning Attracting Array, Fiery Flames Array, and Earth Spike Array. Combined with the explosion magic array, they could also yield surprising effects.

At this moment, Lu Ye and Xie Yunhan began setting up arrays together.

With each array banner consumed, an Array would take shape. To enhance the power of the Arrays, Lu Ye even placed Spirit Stones in many of them, allowing the Arrays to operate in advance and accumulate energy.

Considering that the cultivators in the valley needed to confront the Berserk Giant Ape, the arrays set up this time were mostly those that required manual control, with very few being of the trigger type.

For three whole days, Lu Ye and Xie Yunhan barely rested, setting up hundreds of Arrays within a ten-mile radius, turning the area into a land fraught with danger.

In setting up these arrays, Lu Ye used all his knowledge without holding anything back.

Although it would benefit him if the strength of Fox Fairy Valley was diminished, he had even planned for the wolves to besiege the fox demons after this great battle, the premise being that they could win the battle against the Berserk Giant Ape.

If they were to lose this battle, then his and Li Baxian's safety could not be guaranteed, so no matter what, Lu Ye didn't dare to do anything underhanded while setting up the arrays.

He didn't have a clear understanding of just how strong an Overlord-class demon beast from the Cloud River Realm was, but judging from the current situation in Fox Fairy Valley, the strength of the Berserk Giant Ape would only exceed his expectations.

And the day after all the arrays were properly set up, the fox demon led the cultivators of Fox Fairy Valley over.

All the people in Fox Fairy Valley mobilized without exception. Over eighty cultivators gathered together, with Zhou Yuntian stepping forward to report the situation here.

After listening, the fox demon looked at Lu Ye and Xie Yunhan with approval, "You two have worked hard. If we succeed this time, you two will be the main contributors!"

Lu Ye and Xie Yunhan both showed expressions of joy and excitement, saying repeatedly that serving the Venerable One was their duty. Such humble conduct undoubtedly pleased the fox demon greatly.

"Venerable One." Lu Ye spoke again, "Before we take action, I would like to take my Fellow Daoists to become familiar with the arrays in various places. This way, during the great battle, everyone will know where they can save their lives and where they can stop the enemy, potentially reducing some casualties."

The fox demon nodded, "You are considerate. Very well, do as you say!"

"Yes. Fellow Daoists, please follow me." Lu Ye said this and rose into the air, flying towards the area covered by the arrays, with a vast group of cultivators following behind him.

"Here we have a trap array. If any Fellow Daoist can't get rid of the enemy, you can come here to save your life," Lu Ye pointed to a place below and explained, and everyone silently took note.

"This area is filled with explosion magic arrays, controlled by me and Fellow Daoist Xie. Do not linger in this place, especially when being pursued by the enemy. Fellow Daoist Xie and I will activate the arrays at the appropriate time to help you kill the enemy."

"Here is the Lightning Attracting Array..."

"Over there is the Great Delusion Array..."

As Lu Ye continued to explain, the arrangement of the entire area's arrays unfolded one by one in the minds of many cultivators. Cultivators all have powerful memories, and with what they saw, they were soon able to sketch out a planning map of the array arrangements in their minds.

Zhou Yuntian's eyes sparkled as he listened on the side. He had participated in two operations against the Berserk Giant Ape before. Previously, the arrays had been set up by Xie Yunhan, but Xie Yunhan's array setups were nowhere near as comprehensive as this. They didn't provide much help to Fox Fairy Valley either.

But the various arrays set up by Lu Ye, while not necessarily intricate, were at least diverse. This gave him some added confidence in the upcoming mission.

Moreover, Lu Ye had them familiarize with the array layouts before the action, clearly considering their welfare, hoping it might indeed save lives when the time came.

An hour later, the crowd returned. Zhou Yuntian came forward, cupped his fists, and said, "Venerable One, we are ready."

A cold, murderous gleam flashed in the fox demon's seductive and misty eyes, "Move out. No matter the cost, we must kill it this time!"

"We will not disappoint you, Venerable One!" the cultivators replied in unison, their will to fight flaring up.

Lu Ye sighed inwardly. No matter whether they succeeded or not this time, these cultivators were destined to suffer heavy casualties, entranced by the fox demon, whose commands were an inviolable mission to them. Even if the fox demon ordered them to die at this moment, they would not even frown.

More than a dozen figures walked out of the crowd and under Zhou Yuntian's lead, they rose into the air and dashed in a certain direction, obviously going to lure the snake out of its hole.

This place was considered the edge of the Overlord-class demon beast's territory, so there were no traces of other demon beasts, and thus their flight didn't risk any demon beast attacks.

The others lay in wait silently.

Time kept passing.

Until a certain moment, Yu Daiwei, who had been standing beside the fox demon the whole time, spoke up after checking the battlefield marking transmission, "Venerable One, Fellow Daoist Zhou and the others have lured it out!"