CH 267

Translator: Truth

Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys

Lu Ye wasn’t sure what Ju Jia and Amber saw in each other, but  the duo acted as if they were close friends or something. It was the same back at the valley despite that being their first meeting.

His impression of the short spell cultivator with a mustache was questionable at best, but Ju Jia? It was difficult to dislike such a simple and honest personality.

Lu Ye gulped down a couple Spirit Pills before feeding some to Amber. He then changed his cultivation technique and activated Gluttonous Feast. A rumble immediately started within his stomach.

“This Lost City of Xianyuan is such a dangerous place.” The short cultivator walked up to the entrance and peered through the gap between the door. “The Xianyuan City Watch is trouble enough, but this fog is just as bad. Heavens know how many people are going to die this time.”

He looked back at Lu Ye and asked smilingly, “You look like you were in a fight.”

Lu Ye definitely wasn’t looking his best right now. He had used up a lot of Spiritual Power and took some light injuries during his battle against the House of Wintry Blossoms.

“It is a bit difficult to explore such a place being just Eighth-Order and alone. Would you like to join my party, fellow cultivator? I promise you won’t regret it.”

“No thanks.”

The short cultivator chuckled. “Don’t be so hasty to turn me down. Take your time. You may yet change your mind.”

The man was smiling, but it sounded like he was threatening him. In fact, he was standing in front of the only exit in this building right now. It looked like he was checking the streets, but Heavens knew what he really meant with his action.

[I knew this guy was bad news.]

Back at the valley, Lu Ye had declined the short cultivator’s invitation to join his party because they were strangers. However, the man had failed to recruit a single helper even after the Rift of Fortune had opened. This could mean that his reputation was unsavory, or that he had done something in the past that earned his fellow cultivators’ wariness, or both. In any case, no one was willing to work with him, and probably for good reason.

Moreover, when Lu Ye had entered the building and engaged Ju Jia in battle, the body tempering cultivator had stopped immediately after spotting Amber on his shoulder. The short cultivator, on the other hand, had thrown a big ass fireball in his direction.

The guy claimed it was a mistake, but was it really? A cultivator’s eyesight was extremely powerful, not to mention the eyes of a Ninth-Order spell cultivator. Even if he wasn’t able to identify him at first glance, he should’ve seen his face during his brief exchange with Ju Jia. However, the man still decided to launch a fireball at him. That act alone put his entire character in question.

[Is he planning to kill me and loot my corpse?] Lu Ye thought to himself.

“Hahaha. I’ll come back here after you’ve made up your mind, fellow cultivator.”

The short cultivator’s smile suddenly became much friendlier as he moved away from the entrance. He then beckoned Ju Jia to his side and said, “Stop playing with our friend’s pet and come back already, Ju Jia!”

“Oh,” Ju Jia replied in an unhappy voice but lifted his ridiculously huge finger from Amber’s head. He then followed the short cultivator into one of the rooms of the building.

The short cultivator’s turned into shock and doubt after he sat down on the floor. It was because he couldn’t get a grasp of Lu Ye.

Just now, he was seconds away from attacking the young man. This wouldn’t be the first time he had killed someone from his own cultivation faction, and it wouldn’t be the last. To an independent cultivator with no one to rely on like him, Grand Sky Coalition and Thousand Demon Ridge might as well not exist. He himself was the only “faction” he could rely on.

As someone who climbed up the ladder from the lowest rung, he had figured out the true face of Cultivation World a long time ago. Simply put, it was the law of the jungle.

The reason he suddenly decided against his decision was twofold. One, he wasn’t sure if Ju Jia could go all out against the young man after his earlier restraint and inexplicable display of concern. Two, he noticed at the last moment that Lu Ye’s waist was covered in Storage Bags.

Generally speaking, most cultivators only carried a single Storage Bag on their person. Some people might carry two or three Storage Bags for categorization and convenience sake, but that was it. However, he spotted at least a dozen Storage Bags hanging off the young man’s waist, and many of them were covered in blood. That was unnatural to say the least.

This was the real reason the short cultivator had changed his mind at the last moment. As an independent cultivator who had suffered many hardships to get where he was, he knew better than anyone the folly of judging another cultivator’s strength by their cultivation level.

In this world, there existed people whose true power was not reflected by their cultivation level at all. There were also Spirit Artifacts that could conceal one’s Spiritual Power and cultivation level.

Since he couldn’t be sure of Lu Ye’s strength, he didn’t dare to carry out his plan. He had never committed to something he wasn’t completely sure about, and he wasn’t about to start now. 

One thing for certain, that Eighth-Order youngster was a formidable cultivator. There was a small chance that the youngster had stumbled upon those Storage Bags by luck and not through his own strength, but that was even less believable than his original theory. If such luck existed, he would be the richest man on the Battlefield already.

He could not deny that he was sorely tempted by the young man’s wealth though. He thought for a moment before tapping his Battlefield Imprint and sending a message to Ju Jia. 

The body tempering cultivator didn’t notice though. He was too busy eating his food.

It wasn’t until the short cultivator elbowed Ju Jia and pointed at the back of his hand that the latter realized that he had a message. He checked it briefly before shaking his head.

The short cultivator stared at Ju Jia. His question was, “Why do you like that guy’s pet so much?” to which Ju Jia had responded with the shake of his head. What did that even mean? If he wasn’t sure that the guy was simple-minded before, he was now.

“We can kidnap it if you want it, you know,” he sent another message.

This time, Ju Jia replied verbally with a shake of his head, “No.”

The short cultivator was so angry his liver hurt. If Ju Jia wasn’t as useful as he was, he would’ve abandoned him a long time ago.

Ju Jia knew he had done something wrong when he noticed the short cultivator glaring daggers at him. He scratched his head with a troubled look on his face, but he quickly returned to his carefree self after eating another piece of meat.

Outside the room, Lu Ye was still recovering his strength and unlocking the Restraining Locks of his Storage Bags. It was a hassle to carry a dozen Storage Bags on his waist, so he wanted to be done with them as soon as possible.

He had noticed the short cultivator’s hidden malice, but he didn’t pay much attention to it. If the guy was dumb enough to attack him, he didn’t mind sending him on a one-way trip to the afterlife.

It took him less than two hours to unlock all of the Storage Bags. He destroyed one in the process, but only because he didn’t want to waste too much time on the task.

He threw the empty Storage Bags after transferring all the useful stuff into his own Storage Bag. All in all, he didn’t find anything that was particularly noteworthy.

Generally speaking, most cultivators wouldn’t carry items that were too valuable in their Storage Bag. Since most cultivators had a place they called their home, they generally stored their valuables in said home—it could be an Outpost, a safe place and so on—and carried only recovery and combat items on their person.

Lu Ye was an exception to this rule because he was traveling and because he was beloved by his elders.

Amber recovered a little after digesting the Spirit Pills he gave it earlier. It still looked rather weakened, so Lu Ye allowed it to inhale some of the red essence from the dragon scale. At the same time, he messaged Yi Yi and asked her how their Ghost Spirits were doing.

She informed him that they had only fourteen Ghost Spirits left, meaning over half of them had died in combat. This meant he would need to replenish them as soon as possible. The Ghost Spirits were the reason he was able to turn the tables against the House of Wintry Blossoms. Without them, his only option was to run like hell. No matter how good he was, there was no way he could fight that many cultivators single handedly.

The House of Wintry Blossoms had suffered massive casualties during the previous engagement, but there was no way they were going to give up so easily. He was certain they would seek him out again. Whether he had an army of Ghost Spirits or not would directly affect the outcome of that battle.

The good news was that it wasn’t difficult to replenish the Ghost Spirits. The one thing this city didn’t lack was sentries. Once the fog had faded, he could head out and replenish his soldiers.

In fact, he was going to attack the House of Wintry Blossoms the moment he was ready. He would kill Chu Qing before they could fully muster their forces!

Now that he had a clear goal in mind, Lu Ye felt much more spirited.

At the same time, eight House of Wintry Blossoms cultivators were licking their wounds in another building. Chu Qing’s eyes were filled with hatred, and Ruo Yan could not stop sobbing at the side. 

It was because Qiao Yun was dead. In fact, she was dead not long after they had retreated. They had run away thinking that the Xianyuan City Watch would throw Qiao Yun and that damnable Lu Yi Ye into the dungeon after catching them, but for whatever reason things hadn’t gone the way they thought at all.

Qiao Yun was the strongest body tempering cultivator in the House of Wintry Blossoms, and not just in terms of her cultivation level. Despite being at Ninth-Order only, her constitution was comparable to that of a Heaven Grade body tempering cultivator. If her image wasn’t too unpopular, she would’ve been made the Legate of their Outpost for sure.

Qiao Yun was an essential talent to the House of Wintry Blossoms because they were critically lacking in body tempering cultivators, so much so that every loss was felt by everyone.

It was thanks to Qiao Yun that their Outpost had been nigh unassailable. Every time they clashed against the forces of Grand Sky Coalition, she was there to carry most of the pressure.

It would be an understatement to say that her passing would devastate the entire sect.

“Stop crying!” Chu Qing barked suddenly.

Ruo Yan immediately ceased her sobbing.

“The life of a cultivator is one filled with death and struggle. Perhaps you and I will meet a similar fate in the future. Rather than crying, you should focus on improving your chances of survival!”

Ruo Yan forcefully swallowed her sorrow and sniffed once.

Chu Qing patted her on the shoulder and said, “Don’t be too sad. If Qiao Yun died, then Lu Yi Ye must be dead as well. If nothing else, we were able to complete our primary objective. When the fog has faded, we will retrieve Qiao Yu’s body and put our dead brothers and sisters at peace with Lu Yi Ye’s head.”

“Mhm.” Ruo Yan nodded strongly.

Chu Qing turned away after consoling Ruo Yan. No one saw the tear sliding down her cheek.

In another building, Ji Yan of Hidden Light Sanctuary was massaging his forehead with a terrible frown on his face.

His problem was very simple: Gu Canyang had been captured by the Xianyuan City Watch, and he was languishing in the dungeon right now.

Gu Canyang was one of the unlucky bastards to have encountered the Xianyuan City Watch as soon as he landed in the city. Despite his valiant struggles, there was no way he could have escaped an entire squad on his own. He had been bound and dragged away almost immediately. A junior brother who happened to witness this scene claimed that he had looked like the end of the world was upon him…

If Gu Canyang was just an ordinary disciple, he would’ve put the guy out of his mind already. The problem was that he was their Legate, and he wasn’t a body tempering cultivator. There was a huge chance he wasn’t going to hold out until the end of the Rift.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, their sect was more or less in shambles right now. While Ji Yan had done his best to keep his people united, it was clear that his prestige could not compare to Gu Canyang’s.

Right now, the best he could do was to muster their forces and wait for the fog to fade. Then, they would try to rescue Gu Canyang from the dungeon.

He knew it was extremely unlikely they would succeed though. A ton of sentries had been posted at the dungeon as a matter of course. Many people had tried to raid the dungeon in the past, but no one had ever managed to get inside.

Worse still, this was hardly Hidden Light Sanctuary’s only problem. They had to watch out for Sunlit Mountain and the House of Wintry Blossoms as well. If either sect were to learn of their intentions, then they would interfere with their plan for sure. There was no chance Hidden Light Sanctuary could defend against both sects alone.

Ji Yan’s headache seemed to worsen when the thoughts replayed in his mind yet again. ‘Brother Gu, oh, Brother Gu. Just why are you so unlucky?’