Sage of Humanity-Chapter 599 - 597: Sacred Universe Spirit Ground
The spirit ground remained untouched, after all, it was deep within the Great Wilderness Mountain. Even if a cultivator happened to pass by nearby, the formations set up by Lu Ye were enough to conceal everything, making it unlikely for anyone to notice anything amiss.
The Great Array Jade Cluster was activated, and the group entered one after another, greeted by a beautiful scenery. On the soft emerald grass lay many wolf pups frolicking and playing. There weren't many adult demon wolves left guarding the spirit ground, only about a dozen or so. Sensing the disturbance, they all looked over, but upon recognizing that it was Lu Ye and the others returning, they lost interest and ignored them.
It was four to six hours later that the entire wolf pack finally returned.
As the demon wolves could not travel through air, their speed was much slower than that of Lu Ye and the others.
At this very moment, Lu Ye stood in front of the Heaven's Augury Pillar, his consciousness connected to the Heaven's Augury treasure vault, purchasing a large amount of materials.
Now that the location of the spirit ground had been exposed, Tan Sheng and Xia Liang would certainly not let things rest, and it was foreseeable that it wouldn't be long before cultivators from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge would come to attack. Having decided to stay within the spirit ground for the time being, it was necessary to set up the required formations, especially the teleportation arrays... Although the spirit ground had a Heaven's Augury Pillar that allowed everyone to return to the Nine Provinces at any time, having a few teleportation arrays set up wouldn't be a bad thing either.
After purchasing the materials, Lu Ye started refining array banners.
He had just refined a large number of array banners at Fox Fairy Valley not too long ago, but they had all been consumed, resulting in assisting the Fox Demon in killing the Berserk Giant Ape.
Not many days had passed before he began refining array banners once more, but the feeling was completely different; it was simpler now.
This wasn't just a result of the improvement in his Level 3 cultivation, but also because his consciousness had grown stronger, allowing for more precise control over the spirit force.
What had taken him the time to refine two array banners a few days ago, now allowed him to refine three, greatly increasing efficiency.
Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan were responsible for scouting suitable locations to set up the teleportation arrays around the area. Giant Armor couldn't be of much help; not causing any trouble was good enough, and he had been in a state of cultivation since returning.
While the several individuals were busy here, in another valley less than three thousand Li from Great Reversal Valley, a big array enveloped the area, with cultivators constantly coming and going.
This place was the Sacred Universe Spirit Ground, and even on the ten-part map sold by the Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union, this spirit ground was marked.
The Sacred Universe Spirit Ground had been around in the Cloud River battlefield for over twenty years and was one of the relatively well-known spirit grounds in the vicinity.
Compared to the spirit ground inhabited by Lu Ye and the others, the Sacred Universe Spirit Ground was undoubtedly a large-scale spirit ground. Over the twenty years of development, the spirit ground had continuously expanded, and now housed hundreds of cultivators. Looking across the Cloud River battlefield, there weren't many with a scale greater than that of the Sacred Universe Spirit Ground.
What was particularly noteworthy was that a few years ago, Sacred Universe Spirit Ground had advanced from a Class B to a Class A spirit ground.
The grade of a spirit ground can be upgraded, and its scale expanded, simply by merging with more spring spirits. Take Lu Ye's spirit ground for example, a Class A spirit ground is indeed the highest quality of spirit ground, but if Lu Ye could obtain more spring spirits of different qualities and integrate them into the Spiritual Spring, then the quality of the spirit ground might not improve, but the scale certainly could. The higher the quality of the merged spring spirits, the larger the expansion would be, allowing accommodation for more cultivators for cultivation.
Essentially, this was how the large spirit grounds in the Cloud River battlefield had developed, step by step.
Many sects possess their dedicated spirit grounds, passed down from one generation of cultivators to the next.
This has an incredibly far-reaching significance for the development of sects; once their cultivators ascend to the Cloud River Realm, they can cultivate in the spirit ground in peace.
However, for many cultivators, cultivating in a spirit ground is safe but also a shackle. Being too safe and lacking in struggle, one loses their cutting edge.
Thus, even the sects with spirit ground heritage don't confine their cultivators solely within their spirit grounds; they often venture out for experience and training.
Sacred Universe Spirit Ground is not the ancestral spirit ground of any one sect, but two sects.
One is the Sacred Fire Order, and the other is Universe Sect.
Both sects are part of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge and are located in Youzhou, having longstanding relations with each other. Naturally, their disciples would assist each other when in the Cloud River battlefield.
Now in the Sacred Universe Spirit Ground, two Level 9 cultivators lead over a hundred people; one is Huo Liaoyuan of the Sacred Fire Order, and the other is Tu Guanxiong of the Universe Sect.
A spirit ground with over a hundred people and two Level 9 cultivators is a rather small ratio. It is not that both major sects only have two Cloud River Level 9 cultivators; being 4th-5th grade sects, how could they possibly have only two Cloud River Level 9 cultivators?
It's just that Cloud River Realm cultivators do not always remain in the Cloud River battlefield, especially after reaching a higher level of cultivation, they spend most of their time in the Nine Provinces. Advancing in cultivation is secondary; tempering oneself is more important.
It's unlikely for them to stay in the spirit ground year-round unless they need to oversee it and take care of their junior brothers and sisters.
Even such overseeing is performed on a rotating basis, a three-month term at a time, and when the time is up, other Cloud River Level 9 cultivators would come to replace them.
In a secret chamber, Huo Liaoyuan was cultivating when the battlefield marking suddenly stirred, but he did not check it immediately and continued to sit quietly.
It was only after one incense stick's time that he slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of turbid air.
Touching the battlefield marking, he checked it briefly and his expression shifted slightly. This message came from a junior brother wandering and honing their skills in the Cloud River battlefield. The content of the information piqued his interest.
After a moment of thought, he sent out a message and hurriedly got up.
He walked out of the secret room and directly to the front of another house. Before he could knock, the door opened on its own, revealing a figure—it was Tu Guanxiong, another Level 9 cultivator from the spirit ground.
As Huo Liaoyuan entered, Tu Guanxiong asked, "Senior Brother Huo, is the news reliable?"
"It's from Nan Cheng who transmitted it from the outside, whether it's credible or not can't be determined," Huo Liaoyuan replied.
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Upon recalling briefly, Tu Guanxiong remembered who "Nan Cheng" in his words was. There were more than just the two of them as Level 9 cultivators from the two sects, and obviously, there were more than merely a hundred cultivators from the Cloud River Realm.
However, the spirit ground could only accommodate a hundred cultivators for cultivation, so many more disciples were scattered across the Cloud River battlefield, seeking their own opportunities.
"Where did he get the news from?" Tu Guanxiong asked again.
Huo Liaoyuan said, "Someone transmitted it to him, and the person who got this information also heard it from somewhere else. The message has been passed around multiple times, so it's impossible to determine its source now."
"How credible does Senior Brother Huo think this message is?"
"Until I see it with my own eyes, any news is hard to believe. However, since it concerns that Lu Yiye, it's worth investigating. What makes me curious is that the intelligence in the message is too detailed."
The information he had received was not just about Lu Ye's current location, but also the various forces within the spirit ground, including the cultivations of people like Li Baxian and the numerous packs of wolves.
"Senior Brother Huo suspects that…?" Tu Guanxiong mused thoughtfully.
"If I'm not mistaken, someone must have suffered a big loss at the hands of that Lu Yiye and now has no hope for revenge, so they want to use us to kill him!" he paused, "Nearly three hundred demon wolves, that Lu Yiye isn't from the beast-taming faction, how could he command them?"
Even if he was from the beast-taming faction, he wouldn't possibly be able to control so many demon wolves.
"If that's really the case, we might not be able to handle it," Tu Guanxiong worried, but he knew about the grudges between the Sacred Fire Order and the Righteous Blood Sect, and that it was Lu Yiye carrying a hefty bounty, so he was also clear that Huo Liaoyuan must be tempted; otherwise, he wouldn't have come to discuss this matter with him.
Not to mention Huo Liaoyuan, even he himself was tempted. Since the last incident in the hunting grounds, Lu Yiye had extorted a vast amount of resources from the major sects of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge at the Spirit Stream battlefield, and the bounty on him from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge had thus increased significantly.
In recent days, countless people had been searching for Lu Yiye's whereabouts in the Cloud River battlefield, to no avail. No one knew where he was. Now that there was an exact location, who could remain unmoved? If this news were to spread, it would probably only be a few days before that place would be crowded with people.
The one who secretly leaked the information chose not to disseminate it but sent it with precision to the Sacred Fire Order, clearly not giving up hope.
"The number of demon wolves is indeed substantial, but as long as we plan carefully, it's not impossible to kill Lu Yiye."
Some time ago, Lu Yiye had only reached Level 3 cultivation, and even after receiving the reward from the Kills Ranking, his cultivation level could not have changed drastically. Fighting such an enemy, as long as they found an opportunity, they could surely kill him in one strike—why bother entangling with a pack of wolves?
"Regardless, let's send someone to check it out. We have to make sure the news is reliable, and as for someone wanting to profit from the fisherman's fortune…" Huo Liaoyuan's eyes flashed coldly, "They'll also have to see if they have the capability to snatch food from a tiger's mouth!"
The person acting so sneakily was clearly alone and weak. With the entire strength of the spirit ground on their side, what was there to fear?
"I understand," Tu Guanxiong responded, and immediately transmitted a message.
Investigating such news naturally required the work of a ghost cultivator, and since ninety-nine percent of the disciples from the Sacred Fire Order were magic cultivators and it was difficult to find a ghost cultivator, they had to rely on someone from the Universe Sect.
Soon after, a short, lean man stepped in: "Senior Brother Tu, Senior Brother Huo."
Tu Guanxiong said, "Yean Gui, there's a place I need you to check out."
The ghost cultivator named Yean Gui said, "Please instruct me, Senior Brother."
"Great Reversal Valley!"
Yean Gui took out the ten-part map, checked it briefly, and located the position of Great Reversal Valley, raising an eyebrow, "This place is deep into the Great Wilderness Mountain. What's there, Senior Brothers?"
"You'll know once you get there," Tu Guanxiong didn't elaborate, not wanting to give his junior brother a preconceived notion, "Remember, investigate carefully and be aware of your safety. There... might be danger."
Yean Gui was unconcerned: "Don't worry, Senior Brother, I will be careful."
Although his cultivation was not very high, he was at least at Level 7 of the Cloud River Realm and, as a ghost cultivator, was most adept at the Path of Concealment. For him, gathering intelligence was but a trivial matter.
"Report back immediately if you discover anything."
"Yes!" Yean Gui took the order and left the room, controlled his weapon, and soared into the sky.
