Sage of Humanity

"Lu Yiye didn't run away!" Somewhat farther away, Tan Sheng's expression perked up.

He had thought that as soon as the Sacred Universe Spirit Ground showed an overwhelmingly powerful lineup, Lu Yiye would surely use the Heaven's Augury Pillar to flee back to the Nine Provinces at the first chance. Unexpectedly, he didn't leave and at this moment stood within the spirit ground, looking up at the sky, his expression showing not the slightest hint of panic.

How odd!

However, Tan Sheng found this turn of events to his liking; if Lu Ye didn't run, then there was hope to kill him.

"It seems that he doesn't want to give up this spirit ground unless absolutely necessary," Xia Liang said indifferently.

Class A Spirit Ground, vastly valuable, even a small one is not something ordinary people could possess; anyone would be unwilling to give it up easily.

"Now there's a good show to watch," Tan Sheng said, grinning widely.

"He has hidden the Heaven's Augury Pillar." Xia Liang gazed at a certain part of the spirit ground; the last time he and Tan Sheng had come here, the Heaven's Augury Pillar was in that position, but now, looking over, the place where the Heaven's Augury Pillar had stood was now empty, clearly concealed by an array.

Hiding the Heaven's Augury Pillar was obviously to avoid revealing its presence; what on earth was Lu Yiye planning?

As if having realized something, Xia Liang was visibly moved.

If things were indeed as he suspected, then Lu Yiye's audacity was tremendous.

In midair, when the large protective array lost its effectiveness, Huo Liaoyuan's eyes also reflected the figure of Lu Ye. Despite this being their first encounter, Huo Liaoyuan recognized him instantly, his eyes burning like flames as he stared coldly at the figure below, as if looking at a dead man.

Boom, boom, boom... The ceaseless rumbling continued to spread, accompanied by the turmoil of spirit force as the cultivators of the Sacred Universe Spirit Ground struck one after another, bombarding the spirit ground's protective array.

The sight of over one hundred and fifty cultivators taking action together was spectacular. Even though their levels of cultivation differed, the array of colorful light they emitted was dazzling and resplendent, their mighty power overwhelming; the light screen of the protective array visibly dimmed at a speed visible to the naked eye, and then it began to waver as if it might collapse at any moment.

Xia Liang, who had been watching in secret from the shadows, frowned.

Something seemed not quite right.

This protective array... was far too fragile.

The last time he, Xia Liang, and Wei Que had come here, they had also attacked the protective array, but its sturdiness at that time was far greater than it was now.

Could it be because of the reconfiguration?

Before he could figure it out, the protective array suddenly shattered with a loud crash, and the scattered glimmers filled the sky, fully exposing the spirit ground to the eyes of the cultivators from the Sacred Universe Spirit Ground.

A large number of cultivators, like cats that had caught the scent of fish, lunged forward, surging into the spirit ground.

Strands of killing intent homed in on Lu Ye and others from afar, bursting forth.

At that moment, Lu Ye, who had stood motionless until now, made his move. He took out a Great Array Jade Cluster from his bosom and infused it with spirit force.

In the next instant, a layer of light cover, more dazzling and brilliant than the array from before, suddenly emerged out of nowhere and quickly enveloped the entire spirit ground.

Following one layer came a second...

However, the second layer of light that surged out seemed to be slightly different from the first, but the sudden change made it impossible for the cultivators of the Sacred Universe Spirit Ground to distinguish. Those who had not yet entered the spirit ground slammed into the light cover, stopping in their tracks, their faces showing shock and astonishment.

Protective arrays are generally set up only once in a location because the strength of an array's defense is directly linked to the stored spirit force on a normal day. Even if a second array is constructed, it can't exert much effect without a substantial amount of stored spirit force, which would only divide the power of the array.

Furthermore, if the invaders have the ability to break through the first array, they surely have the ability to break the second; thus, instead of dividing the strength and adding unnecessary risks, it's better to concentrate the power in one place.

Yet, Lu Ye's spirit ground oddly had two protective arrays, and even the power of this second array seemed to surpass the first by a wide margin.

Xia Liang's earlier suspicions were confirmed, and he couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice, "This guy... has a most malicious plan!"

Tan Sheng furrowed his brow, "Brother Xia, what did you notice?"

Xia Liang said, "The first layer of the protective array was just a ruse to feign weakness; the second one is the real protective array!"

No wonder that protective array felt so incredibly fragile just now; it was all intentional on Lu Yiye's part.

It seems the Sacred Universe Spirit Ground... is in for some bad luck!

The group of over one hundred and fifty had now been split into two by the protective array, with about seventy inside the array and slightly less than eighty outside, isolated from one another.

This sudden development surprised many cultivators. However, they quickly steadied themselves because, under the lead of Huo Liaoyuan, they had come with an absolutely crushing power, and anything the enemy did was nothing but a futile struggle.

Only Huo Liaoyuan himself, with a frown on his brow, felt an inexplicable surge of unease, as if some misfortune was about to occur.

Without his command, the cultivators outside the array once again took action and bombarded the array.

They had the ability to break through the first protective array, so naturally they could break through the second one. Although nearly half of their manpower had reduced by now, at worst it would just take some more time.

Within the big array, over seventy cultivators ignored the dense pack of demon wolves below. Their gazes were fixed on Lu Ye and the others as they flew forward in unison. Once they were at the right distance, they stimulated their spirit force and were about to make their move.

Lu Ye raised his hand to grasp an array banner and gazed up at the sky. With a gentle swing of the banner in his hand,

Sky Prohibition!

The space of the entire spirit ground seemed to twist at that moment. The next instant, those uninvited guests who had barged into the spirit ground showed expressions of shock and confusion, yelling as they plummeted from mid-air.

In that moment, everyone felt as if a mountain was pressing down on them, the weight so heavy that it left them gasping for air.

As the anomaly arose, Xia Liang and Tan Sheng, who were hiding in the dark and watching, both jerked involuntarily. They had suffered from the Great Sky Prohibition Array before, and the memory made them still feel a sense of dread.

And Huo Liaoyuan, whose eyes were bulging in anger, exclaimed in horror, "Sky Prohibition?"

How could it be the Great Sky Prohibition Array?

How could there be a Great Sky Prohibition Array!

Although he had heard that Lu Yiye of the Righteous Blood Sect was highly skilled in Array Path, he was just a cultivator at the Cloud River Realm, after all. How could he have the ability to set up a Great Sky Prohibition Array?

That kind of array is something even an ordinary cultivator at the True Lake Realm might not be able to set up.

Moreover, there was not the slightest bit of information about the Great Sky Prohibition Array in the intelligence he had obtained. Had the informer deliberately hidden this?

With many thoughts flashing through his mind, Huo Liaoyuan no longer maintained his calm composure. He transformed into a streak of fire and rushed forward, shouting, "Break the big array quickly!"

Almost half the manpower had fallen into the array, and under the Great Sky Prohibition Array, everyone was falling towards the ground. The situation was unprecedentedly dire. Before bringing people here, he had never imagined such an inconceivable event would occur.

Accompanying the fall of his words was a series of miserable shrieks.

The dazzling sword light moved through the spirit ground, and the formidable power of magic and spells began to shine forth—it was Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan striking simultaneously.

Wherever the sword light and spells passed, blood spurted, life force dissipated, and several cultivators of the Sacred Universe Spirit Ground lost their vitality before they even touched the ground.

In just an instant, five or six people had died on the spot.

Giant Armor directly charged out, leaping several meters high and smashing a punch onto the head of a wobbly Sacred Fire Order cultivator. Without uttering a sound, the cultivator's head burst open like a watermelon. Giant Armor emerged from the blood mist with his gaze already fixed on the second target, causing the cultivator to be scared out of his wits.

The wolf pack that had been still until now also sprang into action at that instant. Their agile bodies rushed forward, their snow-white fur fluttering in the wind. Some demon wolves, while in flight, opened their mouths to release crescent-shaped Wind Blades, slashing vivid red onto the bodies of the invading enemies.

However, the number of demon wolves capable of launching Wind Blade attacks was limited after all. Many more simply pounced directly, knocking down the unstable cultivators and ripping into them with biting and scratching.

The screams grew even more dense and piercing.

Outside the big array, led by Huo Liaoyuan, the faces of the cultivators of the Sacred Universe Spirit Ground turned pale as if they had fallen into an ice cellar, chilled to the bone.

They had thought they held an absolute advantage, enough to crush their enemies in battle, yet the situation unfolded in a way that was incredibly hard to accept. Watching familiar faces perish before their eyes, torn to pieces, the rage and sorrow in everyone's hearts erupted like volcanic lava.

"Run for it!" someone yelled.

The cultivators fortunate enough not to have died snapped out of their trance and fled in all directions. Some managed to reach the edge of the big array, only to find out in despair that they couldn't leave at all. A layer of thick light-screen blocked their hope of escape.

The big array had two layers, one to fend off the outside, which was the protective array, and the second to ward off the inside, which was a trap array!

From the moment these cultivators had stepped into the spirit ground, they were destined not to end well.

"Don't come here!" A cultivator who had fled to the edge of the array screamed in terror, managing to wield his Spiritual Artifact once before being overwhelmed by the silhouettes of more than a dozen demon wolves pouncing on him. The sounds of tearing flesh and blood being ripped apart were hair-raising.

Xia Liang and Tan Sheng both felt their eyelids twitch incessantly. It wasn't just the people of the Sacred Universe Spirit Ground who hadn't expected the situation to unfold like this, but even they hadn't foreseen it.

They had assumed that Lu Yiye would use the Heaven's Augury Pillar to escape back to the Nine Provinces the moment he saw the Sacred Universe Spirit Ground's attack. But as it turned out, the Sacred Universe Spirit Ground suffered heavy casualties, and from beginning to end, Lu Yiye had merely activated the Great Array Jade Cluster and waved the array banner in his hand.

The role a powerful array cultivator could play in such a situation was truly as terrifying as this.

Boom, boom, boom...

Loud explosion noises suddenly came from all over the spirit ground. It was those cultivators who had fled in panic unintentionally activating the explosion magic arrays that Lu Ye had set up.

Fire surged, spiritual force went berserk, and screams were drowned out.

In just a short period of about a dozen breaths, more than half of the cultivators in the spirit ground were dead or injured, and the rest were enveloped in a sense of utter despair.

Li Baxian, Feng Yuechan, and Giant Armor, attacking from three directions, entered an almost uninhabited domain, inflicting even greater casualties on the Sacred Universe Spirit Ground.