Translator: TheBrokenPen Editor : Dhael Ligerkeys It was not hubris. Since he left Green Cloud Mountain, Lu Ye had managed to slay Cultivators well beyond his rank with relative regularity, killing at least five Fifth-Order enemies in the Dragon Spring Conference alone. It was the Spiritual Patterns “Protection” and “Sharp Edge” that had given him enhancements to both his defense and offense, allowing him to even the odds against superior enemies. Hence, fighting against enemies beyond his rank wasn’t really fighting against enemies beyond his rank actually. At any rate, this recent encounter with Dong Shu Ye had given Lu Ye one crucial piece of information: something must have happened to Dong Shu Ye and he had now fallen to the Sixth-Order! His powers had plummeted noticeably since the last time they met two months ago. If the opponent he was fighting just now was the Dong Shu Ye from two months ago, then Lu Ye would never have felt that defeating Dong Shu Ye was possible at all, physical enrichment or not. But it was rare for a Cultivator to fall down the ranks of their cultivation and this left Lu Ye wondering if Dong Shu Ye had had some of his Spiritual Points damaged. The rankings of Cultivators in the Spirit Creek Realm were simple enough; the number of Microcosmic Orbits a Cultivator had inside his or her body denoted how far up the ladder one was. Any damaged Spiritual Points would mean a dissolution to the Orbits they were part of and the rest of the Spiritual Points would be no use at all other than just increasing the capacity of the Cultivator’s Spiritual Power reserves. [So, what really happened to Dong Shu Ye? Was it the Mystic Sect?] Lu Ye could barely profess any knowledge about how Dong Shu Ye could fall in rank, but whatever it was, it must have had something to do with the Mystic Sect invasion of the Nine Star Clan stronghold back then. If that were true, then it would be his fault, since his intrusion was what caused the all-out war between both factions to take place. That would explain Dong Shu Ye’s obsession with him. Anyone would be. Anyone in Dong Shu Ye’s shoes. In fact, it would not be far off to say that anyone in Dong Shu Ye’s position would have the utmost hatred for Lu Ye. Nevertheless, it was glad tidings to Lu Ye. He would never survive against a Seventh-Order Dong Shu Ye, never mind defeat him. The mere notion itself was unimaginable. But since he had now fallen to the Sixth-Order, this really pointed to a plausible chance of defeating him. But to do that, Lu Ye would first need to reach the Fifth-Order. He now had fifty-four Spiritual Points unlocked—nine more and he would have all the Spiritual Points he needed to reach the Fifth-Order. If he could focus all his time and effort on meditating, that would take no more than twenty days! But he could not. Being out here in the wilderness, there was no telling if Dong Shu Ye might renew his pursuit of Lu Ye or not. Without any baggage this time, Dong Shu Ye would be faster and he was out of Move-With-The-Wind Talismans, which would make fleeing from Dong Shu Ye a near-impossible task. Hence, the first order of business was to look for somewhere safe and secure. Somewhere where he could concentrate on meditating without being bothered. Now that he had a plan, Lu Ye took out his map to look for a suitable spot. He swallowed a Spirit Pill and tried to unlock his fifty-fifth Spiritual Point. And indeed, just before midnight, Dong Shu Ye came looking for him. Not wanting a fight yet, Lu Ye rode on Amber and they fled. Fortunately for them, Dong Shu Ye did not have enough time to recover, hence he was not able to glide at full speed and that gave Lu Ye the chance to give him the slip once again. But that went on and on with both sides stopping to rest before the hunt resumed until two days later, Lu Ye and Amber finally arrived at a small town where they managed to locate the local Divine Trade Association branch just in time to rush inside with Dong Shu Ye hot on their heels. The moment Dong Shu Ye stormed inside right after them made many heads turn. Even more appalling was the thick miasma of malice that radiated off Dong Shu Ye, making his eyes bloodshot, with rage and rancor. One of the stewards of the branch, a Cultivator of the Third-Order, meandered near to them and squeaked fearfully, “No fighting in the Divine Trade Association’s premises. Whatever it is between you, please take it outside.” “I want a room!” Lu Ye demanded at once. “Um…” the steward did not know what to say. Dong Shu Ye shot him a glare so scathing as if he was saying, “Give him a room and you’ll never see daylight ever again,” and it was making the steward more nervous. All of a sudden, Spiritual Power ripples so huge that they swept through the whole building and took everyone by surprise. Every head in the foyer panned towards the stairs and they saw an elderly man in his sixties descending the final flight, feigning a light cough every now and then. Despite having a crooked back that made him look frail and weak, his skin glowed with a luster brighter than even Dong Shu Ye’s in his best days. Lu Ye knew what it was. [This old man’s at least a Spirit Creek Realm Cultivator of the Eighth-Order!] And seeing him filled Lu Ye with relief. As a regular patron of the Divine Trade Association, Lu Ye understood just how rich and how powerful the trade organization was. More so, for an organization that had the intrepidity and gumption to use “Divine” in its name, it showed just how confident the organization was. The floor staff of the Divine Trade Organization might not be powerful Cultivators in their own right—at least Lu Ye had yet to meet any one of their staff who had very high rankings—but he knew that the Divine Trade Association would not enjoy such a great prestige in the Battlefield without having a few champions in their payroll. How else would the Divine Trade Association ward off potential robbers or pilferers? The Battlefield teemed with no shortage of reckless scoundrels, daring enough to try and challenge anything and many would have been coveting the riches and valuables that the Divine Trade Association hoarded in its vaults. Like how militant orders needed champions to watch their strongholds and guard their wealth, so did the Divine Trade Association. Which was why he chose to come here. The Divine Trade Association was a place to conduct business, therefore it would never allow any form of violence to take place within its walls. It was a gambit that paid off. As expected by Lu Ye, there really were champions hired to keep every branch of the Divine Trade Association safe, although they would never show themselves until the moment called for them. Dong Shu Ye was well beyond what the usual floor staff could handle when he barged in, thinking that he could kill Lu Ye then and there, and that called for the intervention of the branch’s resident champion. Meanwhile, the elderly man paced slowly towards them. Dong Shu Ye could feel his hair standing. He knew better than Lu Ye just how powerful the Divine Trade Association was, or he would have already dealt the killing blow as soon as he clapped eyes on Lu Ye. The last thing he would have wanted to do was to waste time glaring at his quarry. “Peace, gentlemen,” the old man ambled in his slow but steady approach towards them. With a jovial façade, he said, “Nothing good comes out of violence.” He stopped a few paces away from Lu Ye and Dong Shu Ye and tapped the well-polished floor with his staff. From the very spot where the staff struck the floor, a burst of Spiritual Power—a very highly-concentrated and potent burst—swept forth in waves in all directions. The corners of Lu Ye’s eyes twitched involuntarily. Surprised, he did not expect the old man to wield powers and strength comparable to those of Tang Wu. At any rate, it worked. Dong Shu Ye ceased at once the aura of malice and rage that was being emanated by him and saluted the elderly man, “My apologies for causing trouble. Please forgive me.” Lu Ye was somewhat amused by the quick shift in stance. In fact, he was enjoying every second of it—albeit quietly. “And what about you, my young friend?” the elderly man turned his attention this time to Lu Ye. “I’m here to seek accommodations.” “Why, welcome!” the elderly man beamed broadly at him, which left an even sourer taste in Dong Shu Ye’s mouth. Immediately, the elderly man barked at the steward, “Arrange a room for this young gentleman! Ten Spirit Stones a night!” “Hold it right there!” Lu Ye snapped, “Ten Spirit Stones a night?!” For one moment there, it was either the old man who had been mistaken or his ears were deceiving him. The elderly man flashed a cheery grin at him and repeated very clearly, “Ten Spirit Stones.” “Wait a minute, all of your other branches only charge one Spirit Stone a night!” Lu Ye was beginning to wonder if he had just walked into a scam. Meanwhile, Dong Shu Ye was beginning to enjoy this show. The smile faded from the elderly man’s face as his voice turned stony. “You might be welcomed here, but you’d do well to bear in mind that all Divine Trade Association outlets are places to conduct business. We are not a shelter that provides protection. Anyone who comes here with the intent of abusing our policy of having zero violence on our premises will face the consequences.” He paused for one beat as if to let that sink in before he finally asked, “Are we clear, young friend?” He was right. The elderly man owed Lu Ye nothing and there was no obligation for him to defend him from Dong Shu Ye. At the same time, he was trying to impress upon Lu Ye the truth that he could have easily tossed both Lu Ye and Dong Shu Ye out the doors so that they could settle their differences outside if he was not adhering to the Divine Trade Association’s strict policy to remain neutral towards whatever squabbles or conflicts. “Very well,” Lu Ye conceded. All that mattered was finding a safe place to get to the Fifth-Order as soon as possible. He rummaged in his Storage Bag for quite some time until he finally dug out a sack that he tossed at the steward. “I’m staying then. Ten days.” The elderly man was flabbergasted and so was Dong Shu Ye. One hundred Spirit Stones. That was definitely not what the wealth that Fourth-Order Cultivators were supposed to be able to fork out that easily. The steward cradled the sack full of Spirit Stones and peered at the elderly man, tacitly requesting instructions. The same smile as before once again formed on the wrinkled face of the elderly man. “Get this young gentleman our best and biggest suite!” “Yes, sir!” the steward responded like a soldier fresh out of boot camp, “This way please, sir!” Lu Ye and Amber followed the steward up the stairs to the next floor. “What about you, sir?” the elderly man cast a look at Dong Shu Ye. “How about a room too?” “Ten Spirit Stones a night?” asked Dong Shu Ye. “Naturally, the Divine Trade Association aspires to be fair and just to all its patrons.” “Forget it then!” Dong Shu Ye scowled. Last he checked, he was still much too sane to let himself spend ten Spirit Stones for a room. He knew where Lu Ye was so there was no need for him to be afraid of Lu Ye slipping out of his clutches this time. He paused to think, then he left the Divine Trade Association and found a shop just opposite where he stood outside, keeping a close watch on the entrance to make sure Lu Ye wouldn’t get out. In his grasp, he held a pair of Spirit Stones, absorbing the energy from within to replenish his powers. [There is no way Lu Ye could go on paying ten Spirit Stones every night! It was a spacious suite—bigger and wider than all the rooms that Lu Ye had rented before in the past and the furnishing inside was comfortable. But what truly amazed Lu Ye was how thick and rich the Spiritual Qi inside the suite was compared to the atmosphere outside. Some form of enchantment must have been conjured in the suites, something that functioned like Spiritual Pattern “Gathering Spirits” and that would be very useful to his meditation. To top it all off, the suite even came with an en-suite bathroom, suiting Lu Ye’s needs perfectly. Fatigued and weary from their long flight from Dong Shu Ye, Amber and Lu Ye first had a good meal before they took a bath. Only after that did his meditation begin. He needed to use his time here as efficiently as he could, more so, since the price of this accommodation wasn’t cheap at all. Even with his present affluence, he could ill-afford spending so profligately on a regular basis. Lu Ye first started by constructing copies of Spiritual Pattern “Gathering Spirits” all over his Spiritual Points. He instantly felt the difference. With the dense concentration of Spiritual Qi inside the suite, using “Gathering Spirits” was making his assimilation of the natural energies more potent and effective. Spiritual Points began unlocking one after another at every quarter of every hour Lu Ye maintained his meditation. [Fifty-sixth Point, then the fifty-seven, then the fifty-eighth…] Finally, when he got too tired, Lu Ye decided to take a rest. He had been sitting for so long that his legs were growing numb. To shake off the stupefaction, he decided on a change of palate and switched to training with the saber to stretch his legs. Lu Ye had been tirelessly training and cultivating his skill, strength, and powers ever since he stepped into the Battlefield. But never had he yearned to progress fast so greatly before. The thirst and the hunger for power were never this strong before. Ironically, it had nothing to do with wanting to defeat Dong Shu Ye, but rather, because of the cost of staying here. Every second he spent in this suite cost money—hard-earned money! It was Lu Ye’s fourth night in the Divine Trade Association branch when a female steward with a lithe and petite figure went up to the fifth floor. She gave the elderly man—clearly, a manager or someone with authority at the branch—the sales report of the day and before she reached halfway, the old man teetered on the brink of dozing off. The female steward ignored the elderly man’s shenanigans like she had grown accustomed to them, droning on until she reached the end of her report where she added, “There is one more thing of note, sir.” “Oh, just speak up, for Heaven’s sake.” “Our enchantments—the ones conjured for the amassment of Spiritual Qi—have been depleting three or four more Spirit Stones recently.” “And where did this problem come from?” asked the elderly man, opening his eyes, at last, feeling puzzled and intrigued. “Premium Suite Number Three.”