CH 254

“Since we achieved total victory this time, the sect is sure to reward us handsomely. Brother Luo intends to hold a celebratory feast that will serve as a welcoming feast for you as well,” Qi Shi said. “Before he left, he asked me to ask you if you are okay with showing your face. After all, you are the reason this battle has gone as well as it did.”

Lu Ye figured out his meaning immediately.

Most Silverlight Island cultivators were unaware of Lu Ye’s role in the Outpost’s occupation. They thought that Sky Pillar Sect was just unlucky enough to catch the Great Serpent’s ire.

However, those who knew the truth knew that Lu Ye was the one who lured the Great Serpent to the Sky Pillar Sect’s Outpost. He was also the reason why the creature had only attacked the Sky Pillar Sect’s forces during the final stage of the battle.

One could almost say that Lu Ye had single handedly taken down the Outpost. Out of everyone present, he was the one who deserved to attend the celebratory feast the most.

However, revealing his role in the occupation would also expose the fact that Lu Ye was the one who, to a certain extent, controlled the Great Serpent. Lu Yi Ye of the Crimson Blood Sect was already an infamous name in the Thousand Demon Ridge. Revealing the truth would surely inconvenience him.

Luo Fu and Qi Shi did not want to take his credit. In fact, they had already reported the whole truth to the headquarters. On the other hand, they had to respect Lu Ye’s own wishes.

It showed that they had given much thought to the matter.

Lu Ye did not think that Luo Fu was capable of such high-level thinking—he didn’t have the right personality for it—so the consideration had probably come from Qi Shi. This was the reason he had paid him a visit.

“The combined efforts of the Silverlight Island and the fortuitous attack of the Great Serpent is the reason Sky Pillar Sect has fallen. My role in this matter really isn’t as profound as it seems.”

Qi Shi nodded knowingly. “Your wish is my command.”

The prolegate left after chatting with Lu Ye a while longer.

Yi Yi closed the door and ran upstairs excitedly. She had wanted to tally their rewards since they were brought in.

Even with Lu Ye’s speed, it was going to take him at least two to three days to fully unlock the two hundred Storage Bags he had received from Silverlight Island. Some of the Storage Bags weren’t locked though. They were filled with all sorts of strange plants and Spirit Artifacts.

He had no doubt that the plants had been plundered from the Sky Pillar Sect’s Outpost. As for the Spirit Artifacts, they became ownerless after their original owners were dead, so it was up to the finders to do whatever they wanted with them.

Lu Ye only needed once glance to know that Luo Fu had split the booty exactly as he said he would.

“We’re rich!” Yi Yi chirped excitedly. She had never seen so many Storage Bags in one place.

Lu Ye grabbed one of them and began opening their Restriction Locks. Every time he opened one, Yi Yi would tally its contents and store them in separate Storage Bags according to their categories.

Some of the Storage Bags contained unimaginable riches, and some had more dust than there were items. Overall, they added up to a sizable amount of wealth.

As the sun fell, the clamor outside their building grew louder and louder. It sounded like a ton of cultivators had gathered in one place. When Yi Yi poked her head out of the window, she saw that a lot of Silverlight cultivators were gathering at the Sanctum of Providence and setting down tables and chairs. The place had also been decorated with so many lights that it looked as bright as day.

A while later, the fragrant scent of food came through the window. It was the Silverlight Island cultivators preparing their celebratory feast. They had been enemies with the Sky Pillar Sect for over a century, but never had they won such a crushing victory until now. Their excitement was more than understandable.

The smell of food jolted Amber awake from its slumber. It stared at Lu Ye with a hungry look on its face.

It was at this moment the Hao brother and sister came over with a group of people. They set up a table on the first floor and filled it with all kinds of delicious food. They even brought in a huge chunk of freshly hunted meat for Amber.

A moment later, Luo Fu’s elated voice boomed all the way from the Sanctum of Providence. The man was giving a speech, and the gist of it was that everyone had done well today, that they had lived up the sect’s expectations, that they should work hard to replicate this victory and so on and so forth. After several rounds of applause and cheers, the celebratory feast officially began.

A while later, Luo Fu and Qi Shi showed up at Lu Ye’s place.

“I’m so sorry, Brother Yi Ye.”

Luo Fu had apologized the second he met Lu Ye. The young man was the biggest contributor of the occupation, and yet he couldn’t even participate in their celebratory feast openly. He felt quite ashamed to put it mildly.

Of course, he felt a tad better after listening to Qi Shi’s analysis and learning of Lu Ye’s decision. He also realized that he hadn’t thought things as deeply as he should. Although it seemed like they weren’t giving Lu Ye the credit he deserved, it was the best option available to them.

“It’s okay.”

Lu Ye invited them to the house smilingly. A few minutes later, the drinking began. Yi Yi was watching Lu Ye worriedly because the young man had not had a drop of alcohol until now. Courtesy to Li Baxian, alcohol was strictly forbidden within the sect by Shui Yuan. Even the Sect Master had to indulge in his vice in secret when he could not hold it any longer. Naturally, Yi Yi had no idea if Lu Ye could hold his alcohol.

The good news was that Lu Ye looked perfectly fine after a few rounds. He was a Seventh-Order cultivator after all. It would be embarrassing if he went under the table so quickly.

While they were eating, Luo Fu mentioned that he would like to form an alliance with the Crimson Blood Sect of his own accord. Naturally, Lu Ye was more than happy to accept it. It was the main reason he had come to their Outpost.

Since they were both Legates, they had formed the contract on the spot. Now, Crimson Blood Sect disciples could visit Silverlight Island’s Outpost to train and even pay some Contribution Points to teleport back to the Crimson Blood Sect’s Outpost directly.

“Brother Lu, I heard a rumor saying that the two Thousand Demon Ridge forces bordering your Outpost have already been broken. Is it true?”

The incident was extremely well known in the Outer Circle, but the Silverlight Island was both an Inner Circle sect and a little too far away from the Crimson Blood Sect’s Outpost. Therefore, Luo Fu and the others had heard of the news but did not put much stock in it. In fact, Inner Circle sects normally paid little attention to Outer Circle business, just like how Core Circle sects paid little attention to Inner Circle business. It wasn’t because they looked down on the others, but because they had their own Circle, allies and enemies to worry about. Few people had the time and energy to constantly look beyond their Circle.

“It is true.”

“Is it because of the insectoid attack?”

“Mhm. A sect called the Redoubt of Wrath failed to handle their insectoid attack properly and caused an outbreak. It was so bad that it even affected their ally, Clan Feng. So, we took the opportunity to ambush and slay many of our enemies.”

“I see!” Luo Fu nodded. “Does that mean that the Crimson Blood Sect is a very safe space right now?”

“It sounds like you have a request to make, Brother Luo.” Lu Ye shot him a look.

Luo Fu sighed. “It’s like this. A daughter of our esteemed Elder has been cultivating in our Outpost for a while. She is now a Third-Order cultivator. As you’re aware, cultivating in the Inner Circle ensures a speedy progress, but that also means she is sorely lacking in worldly experience. A cultivator who hasn’t seen blood is not a cultivator after all.

“Now, I’m not saying that my junior sister is unwilling to venture into the Outer Circle. In fact, she’s been harassing me day and night to let her go, so much so that the mere sight of her is enough to give me a headache these days. You might ask me why I didn’t just send her away. That’s because my Elder is a doting parent. He is terrified for his daughter’s safety and would strangle me if I sent her away, and something bad were to happen to her.

“But now, an opportunity has presented itself. Do you think it’s okay if I send my junior sister to the Crimson Blood Sect? It should be pretty safe right now, right?”

“Yes. I don’t think anyone would dare to attack our Outpost for the foreseeable future.”

In fact, only a suicidal person would try to attack the Outpost. Gray, a Spirit Beast on the same level as the Great Serpent, is guarding it. The Great Serpent had nearly breached the Sky Pillar Sect’s Grand Defensive Ward single handedly, and Gray was in no way inferior to it.

“That’s wonderful. I will speak with my Elder and see if he’s amenable.”

Luo Fu and Qi Shi stayed a while longer before taking their leave. They were the Legate and the prolegate after all. Since they had drunk the wine, sated their appetite, and settled both casual and serious business, it was time to return to the celebratory feast. It would be remiss of them to spend all their time with Lu Ye and neglect their own junior brothers and sisters.

Lu Ye looked thoughtful as he saw Luo Fu and Qi Shi off. A while later, he shook his head with a wry smile on his face.

“What’s amusing you?” Yi Yi asked in puzzlement.

“It’s nothing.”

“If it’s nothing, then surely you can tell me about it?” Yi Yi pleaded in a cute voice while shaking his hand back and forth.

“I’d already formed an alliance with Luo Fu, so he didn’t need to notify me about sending his junior sister to our Outpost. Instead, he asked me how our Outpost is doing and even explained her circumstances to me. He’s trying to tell me that his junior sister is an exalted member of Silverlight Island, and that the Crimson Blood Sect should pay extra care.”

“Is that so? But why can’t he just come out with it? What if you’re too block-headed to understand his meaning?”

Lu Ye grabbed her cheeks and squeezed. “You’re the block-headed one. Also, sometimes the circuitous route produces better results.”

‘Hmm, she’s really starting to feel like a real person.”

Yi Yi slapped his hand away and pouted.

Overall, Luo Fu’s request was not a difficult one to accept. If they treated the junior sister and anyone else they sent to the Outpost well, then Silverlight Island would be honor bound to reciprocate their kindness. This was how the world worked.

Meanwhile, Luo Fu and Qi Shi were walking side by side when Qi Shi said, “Brother Luo, I feel that Brother Lu is extremely versed in using the strength of another to achieve his objectives.”

“What do you mean?”

“When he was in the Outer Circle, he had exploited the insectoid attack to cripple both the Redoubt of Wrath and Clan Feng. Today, he used the Great Serpent to cripple the Sky Pillar Sect.”

Surprise flashed across Luo Fu’s features. It was clear he hadn’t made the connection until Qi Shi had mentioned it. “You mean to say that Lu Ye has toppled three Thousand Demon Ridge factions to date?”

“There’s more. Brother Lu claims that they were able to ambush the Redoubt of Wrath and Clan Feng because the former had failed to handle their insectoid attack properly, which leads to an outbreak that affects both sects. In reality, we both know that it’s quite easy for an Outer Circle sect to handle an insectoid attack. Assuming the sect in question wasn’t completely in shambles, the worst that could happen is unnecessary casualties. There’s just no way they could fail so hard that an outbreak occurs.”

“Are you saying…”

“I suspect that our Brother Lu is the true mastermind behind the Redoubt of Wrath’s so-called failure to contain their insectoid attack. Of course, I wouldn’t know how he did it exactly, just like those not in the know would never guess that he was the one who lured the Great Serpent to the Sky Pillar Sect.”

Luo Fu mulled over his aide’s words and realized he was probably right. Although insectoid attacks were a natural disaster, any sect could deal with it unless they were beyond unlucky, or if someone was actively sabotaging their efforts.

“What a monster!” Luo Fu clicked his tongue while looking clearly impressed. “Looks like Thousand Demon Ridge is going to suffer a lot more pain from now on.”

Qi Shi agreed. “Yeah. Thank goodness he is one of us.”

Luo Fu guffawed. “This is a cause for celebration. We shall drink until we drop, Brother Qi!”

“I’m being serious here, Brother Luo,” Qi Shi said with a helpless sigh as Luo Fu dragged him toward the square. Soon, they were surrounded by cultivators holding wine jars.