Sage of Humanity

Night fell, and the sky was enveloped in darkness as a crescent moon rose, with myriad stars twinkling overhead.

Some five hundred miles from Great Reversal Valley, in a mountain wilderness, several cultivators were besieging a green-eyed porcupine.

While Great Wilderness Mountain was fraught with danger, it was rich in opportunities: rare demon beasts, precious medicinal materials, and many minerals that were difficult to find outside. All these prospects held immense attraction for cultivators.

Cultivators are a group that gravitates toward benefits, as the path of cultivation consumes vast amounts of resources. The monthly allowances given by sects to their disciples are insufficient to meet the demands of cultivation, and this is true for both minor and big sects.

It's not that the sects are stingy; rather, they use this method to encourage their disciples to obtain more cultivation materials through their own means, and also as a way to temper them.

Otherwise, if one only knows cultivation without understanding the art of combat, even high cultivation would be nothing but an empty shell.

Only Lu Ye could access the treasure vault of his sect to take cultivation materials without any restrictions... The vast resources piled up in the vault had all been plundered by him from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge, rightfully his. Although Shui Yuan nominally managed the distribution of sect resources, how could she make things difficult for him over such a trifling matter?

Before Lu Ye's appearance, the Righteous Blood Sect couldn't be said to be impoverished, yet it didn't have many resources either, and even Shui Yuan's cultivation was affected. Otherwise, with her aptitude, she could have advanced to the Divine Sea Realm long ago, instead of only just achieving it last year.

Today, through various actions taken by Lu Ye, the amount of resources stacked in the Righteous Blood Sect's treasure vault was beyond calculation.

Within Great Wilderness Mountain, the green-eyed porcupines were quite a common species of demon beast, found everywhere. Despite being common, they were valuable, their flesh extremely tender and beneficial for Body Refining. Consumed over a period, it could enhance blood Qi.

Let alone the fact that within bodies of demon generals, there lay demonic pills.

The stronger the green-eyed porcupine was, the more valuable it became.

The beast the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators were dealing with was a Demon General equivocal to a Cloud River Level 8 creature, judging by its Demon Origin fluctuations.

The cultivators, all of Level 6-7 strength, coordinated with each other, with a physique cultivator drawing the porcupine's attention while the combat, magic, and spectre cultivators looked for an opportunity to make deadly strikes, controlling the situation perfectly.

The battle had continued for a while, and the porcupine was covered in wounds, its body dyed with blood, emitting low growls. But in the end, it struggled in vain. Each time it tried to break free and flee, violent attacks thrust it back.

If nothing unexpected occurred, it would not take long for the group to defeat the demon beast.

Since their search for Lu Ye bore no fruit and they stumbled upon a demon beast of decent value, they simply decided to capture it. This was not an experience unique to these Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators; similar scenes were common throughout Great Wilderness Mountain nowadays.

While the cultivators were focused on the demon beast before them, nobody expected that in the darkness, a figure was silently closing in on them.

It was only when an unusual sound erupted, followed by a brief scream, that they were jolted with alarm.

Turning their heads, they saw a combat cultivator in their team kneeling on the ground, clutching his chest. Behind him, a figure emerged from the darkness and was withdrawing a saber from the combat cultivator's body.

As everyone turned in that direction, the figure darted toward a nearby magic cultivator with a shocking speed.

The magic cultivator, who was casting spells, became frantic upon seeing this. He hastily stopped his magic and spells, retreating at speed while rapidly channeling his protective spirit force.

In the blink of an eye, a figure appeared before the magic cultivator. The immense oppression made it nearly impossible for him to breathe. Instinctively, he activated his spirit force, blasting out a wave of air that swept outwards with a great repelling force. However, the figure that had abruptly appeared before him vanished suddenly, and at the same time, a flash of saber light streaked past his periphery.

The protective spirit force lasted less than three breaths before completely shattering. The last thing the magic cultivator felt was a trivial pain spreading within him, which quickly became clear and intense, causing him to scream in agony.

When the bright saber light flashed by, the scream was cut off abruptly.

"Lu Yiye!" Someone exclaimed in shock—it was a spectre cultivator who cried out, his heart overcome with an eerie sense of horror. In just a couple of breaths, two of their four-person team had been killed, and along with sorrow, he was filled with confusion.

Wasn't Lu Yiye a combat cultivator? Yet, the method of his ghost-like appearance seemed to belong to a spectre cultivator. Had he also been practicing the spectre cultivation methods?

He had never heard of such a thing...

Even with surprise and dismay, he instinctively lunged at Lu Yiye.

There was no other reason—it's just that he was a Level 7 cultivator, and Lu Yiye a mere Level 5. The other could kill his companions due to stealth and surprise, but now that he'd been exposed, there was certainly no reason to miss this opportunity.

If he could kill Lu Yiye, would not the rewards be far more valuable than a mere green-eyed porcupine? It would be like countless green-eyed porcupines!

He seemed to see a vision of his own future prosperity, built on the massive reward.

However, three breaths later, his excitement and agitation were completely replaced by intense shock.

Sparks flew as spiritual weapons clashed. The Level 7 spectre cultivator staggered back, disbelief plastered on his face. In a head-to-head confrontation, he was fully suppressed by a combat cultivator with only Level 5 cultivation...

It wasn't just suppression; it was outright domination.

The force behind the other's strikes, the speed, the response to changes in the fight, all far surpassed his own.

5 breaths later, the ghost cultivator's arms had become completely numb, and his spirit force was scattered to the extreme by the shocks of their confrontation.

Another two breaths, and a head flew up, its headless body falling to the ground.

Lu Ye immediately turned around and charged at the physique cultivator.

The physique cultivator's eyes were about to split open, pained by the death of his companion and more terrified by the formidable strength Lu Ye displayed. A Level 5, in such a short time, had killed three of his companions; had it not happened right before his eyes, he would never have believed it.

When Lu Ye killed the second magic cultivator, he wanted to come to help. However, the injured, pained, green-eyed porcupine was like a frenzied beast, charging at him over and over, leaving him no chance to escape.

A Demon General with a cultivation comparable to Cloud River Level 8, the four of them could have easily dealt with it together, but now that he was alone, he could barely hold his ground.

If he ignored it, the physique cultivator was sure the green-eyed porcupine's tusks would puncture several holes in him.

Watching the third ghost cultivator companion die under Lu Ye's saber, the physique cultivator realized he was in big trouble…

With Lu Ye joining the attack, the death of the Level 7 physique cultivator was certain. The green-eyed porcupine also seemed to know that Lu Ye was not an enemy; its blood-red eyes only saw the physique cultivator, disregarding Lu Ye completely.

The moment his protective spirit force collapsed, the physique cultivator let the green-eyed porcupine pierce two holes in his waist and abdomen, while his spirit artifact big shield blocked the chop of Lu Ye's long saber. Immediately after, he stirred his spirit force and let out a long howl!

Song Zhui had said before that if they found Lu Yiye, they should alert others with a howl. In this last moment of his life, he finally remembered this.

He certainly would not have a good end, but he wouldn't make it easy for Lu Ye either.

The howling stopped with the fall of the Boulder Mountain Saber's blade, and Lu Ye didn't even have time to clean up the spoils of war before he plunged into the night and quickly disappeared.

The blood-soaked green-eyed porcupine also charged in another direction, fleeing for its life.

A short while later, a team that heard the howl hurried over only to find four corpses lying on the ground, a chaotic battlefield, and the pungent smell of blood filling the air.

...

At another location, three cultivators had just gone through a battle of hunting demon beasts and were each sitting in meditation to recuperate.

Among the three, there was a magic cultivator who also practised the Array Path. Before sitting down to recuperate, he had set up a few simple warning Arrays nearby, which would alert them if any demon beasts approached.

This was why the three of them dared to meditate together peacefully.

However, when Lu Ye lurked up to them, those simple warning Arrays failed to give any warning.

He himself was an array cultivator, with much deeper knowledge in the Array Path than the magic cultivator, and even without using Insight Spirit Runes, just by looking with his eyes, he could see traces of the Formations.

In his eyes, the level of array setup by the other party was hardly presentable.

Approaching the target, suddenly bursting into action, the battle erupted abruptly and ended swiftly…

Some ten or so breaths later, when Lu Ye left the area after collecting the spoils of war, only three corpses with eyes wide open in death remained on the ground.

...

An odd fragrance drifted in the air; a cultivator followed the scent to this place and immediately saw a purple flower growing in a crevice of a rock. The flower had five petals, each with unique patterns that, at a quick glance, looked like an open eye.

The attracted cultivator was not an expert in pharmacology, but as a qualified cultivator, he had the ability to identify some rare and valuable materials.

He recognized at a glance that this purple flower was a rare medicinal material, mentioned it to his companion, and excitedly took out tools to collect the herb.

However, as he reached out, a pitch-black long saber suddenly attacked from the side. The cultivator didn't even have time to react before the saber pierced through his heart from his ribs.

As the saber was drawn out, it sprayed a gush of hot blood.

His companion instinctively launched counterattacks amidst screams, but was met with a storm of saber slashes.

...

A figure streaked across the sky, his spirit force fluctuations clearly revealing him to be a Level 8 cultivator.

Even though night had fallen, he did not give up searching for Lu Ye; he knew the longer it took and the more the night dragged on, the harder it would be to find Lu Ye's tracks. At the same time, he had to guard against being outdone by other powerful beings of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge.

His formidable Level 8 powers were the confidence for his solo venture; he had received offers to team up with others but had declined them all.

Sharing the spoils with others was never as satisfying as reaping the rewards alone.