Translator: TheBrokenPen Editor : Dhael Ligerkeys While the unlikely couple of Tang Wu and Han Zhe Yue were locked against each other in what seemed like a relationship—or rather, a duel—of intense fervor, more and more Cultivators of Orders Eighth and Ninth were beginning to pop out of the woodwork. That left Lu Ye genuinely shocked and awed at the sheer number of powerful champions that he never knew existed. Whenever an enemy Eighth- or Ninth-Order appeared to assail him, a Grand Sky Coalition Cultivator of similar rank and power would appear to intercept. But that was not all. As he made steady progress, he encountered parties from both sides waging battles both furious and bloody. These were all Cultivators from the inner ring areas of the Battlefield. Some clearly knew each other while some appeared to be strangers. But being on opposing sides, they had no love for each other, and hence needed no further reason to start hurling spells or swinging their weapons at each other. The war was turning out to be a feast of champions. Battles between various factions in the Spirit Creek Battlefield were common but were usually confined to minor skirmishes without many losses. But since the fall of the behemoth that was the Crimson Blood Sect of old, the Battlefield has not seen war of such widespread magnitude for decades. Beyond any doubt, the name of the Crimson Blood Sect must be taboo—a subject of such sensitivity that could easily strike a nerve—especially with the older generations of the Thousand Demon Ridge Cultivators. They could not enter the Battlefield, but that did not prevent them from giving strict orders to their juniors and students to hunt down Lu Ye at whatever cost. At whatever the cost, the Crimson Blood Sect acolyte whose name was Lu Ye must be put to death! The Crimson Blood Sect must never be allowed to escape the fate of going defunct! That, plus the rich rewards promised by all Thousand Demon Ridge sects and orders, was enough to make almost every Cultivator of their side rally towards Lu Ye’s position. Anyone who could win the triumph and glory of slaying Lu Ye would win an entire lifetime’s worth of rewards and riches. Lu Ye had just made it through another fierce battle. Droplets of blood dripped off the tip of his weapon as he shoved another healing pill into his mouth. Still panting from the exertion, he allowed Yi Yi to help dress his wounds, surrounded by the dead bodies of the enemies he felled, before he got up Amber’s back again to press on. With Cultivators from both sides engaging each other as soon as they entered the fray, Lu Ye was fortunate enough to be able to make it thus far without getting into much fighting. But it was not so much his luck as the concerted effort of the entirety of the Grand Sky Coalition trying to keep him alive. But without Lan Yudie’s detection ability, there was zero way for him to fully avoid running into enemy Cultivators and some fighting would ensue. If there were any Seventh-Orders amongst the enemies he stumbled into, he would just rely on Amber’s speed and pace to escape. But if the enemy were all low-tier Cultivators and their numbers were low, Lu Ye would just stay and fight. He was beginning to lose count of the number of times he had been waylaid by enemies and the shapes and sizes they came in were beginning to outstrip his imaginations. Amber needed rest and so did he. But the last thing they dared to try was to find somewhere to rest. With their tracks now all but completely exposed, a pause could very well see him being surrounded by all sides—something that he knew he would never be able to escape unscathed. There was no way to be sure whether he’d able to walk into the sunset triumphantly at the end of this episode, but Lu Ye was nowhere near giving up just yet. At the same time, the impurities in his Spiritual Powers were starting to become more significant to the point where it was slowly affecting his fighting. But he needed to heal and for that, he had to swallow Spirit Pills. There really was no other way. Meanwhile, in the province of Bing Zhou in the real world of Jiu Zhou, where the Grand Sky Coalition ruled supreme. It was also the land where the standard of the great and majestic behemoth that was the Crimson Blood Sect of old once made its name, although the unfortunate events that occurred after that were what caused the Sect to suffer a devastating blow. Since that day, the respect and fear that the Sect commanded as the pride of the Grand Sky Coalition had long been extinguished and the Sect, now a merely a lowly Tier-Nine order, teetered on the edge of being defunct. For decades, dust and grime swathed the floors of the seemingly dilapidated structures that sat atop the crests of the hills that belonged within the grounds of the Crimson Blood Sect stronghold. The boisterous merriment long gone from its halls was every bit the semblance of the youthful exuberance lost from a man in his twilight years if not an elderly decrepit now on the brink of succumbing to old age. Of all constructed structures that belonged to the Sect, almost every single one of them looked as if it could collapse any moment, save for one: the main audience hall of the Sect where a rufous-red standard hung from a post, fluttering and snapping in the wuthering winds. The red was blood from the Crimson Blood Sect acolytes who shed their blood on the battlefield through the generations. A yellow-gold flame-like motif was embroidered on the long field of red, signifying the order’s mission and purpose to eradicate all evil. It was this same standard which the mere sight of struck fear into every single Thousand Demon Ridge Cultivator whenever it was unfurled during battle. Few could recognize this standard now, least of all the younger-generation Cultivators. But even among those old enough to remember, few could care less. Such was how the Sect had waned. Grand Master of the Crimson Blood Sect Tang Yifeng was sitting on his chair in the main audience hall, looking grim and morose. If Lu Ye could see him now, he would find he looked so much older and frailer since they last separated months before. A petite young woman was bowing at his feet, her head bumping on the floors just inches away from her mentor’s feet. “Please, Teacher! Save him please!” “His survival is now in the hands of Fate, I’m afraid,” said Tang Yifeng glumly. “There’s nothing I can do.” As a Divine Ocean Realm champion, he was forbidden entry into the Battlefield and despite the perils that Lu Ye was now facing, there really was nothing he could do. “He’s done nothing wrong! What he’s enduring now was only because he joined us! You brought him in, Teacher! So if you’re thinking of leaving him out there to fend for himself, that hardly seems fair!” “And you think I don’t know? But what am I to do? My hands are tied!” Tang Yifeng responded bitterly. “I’ve called in some favors and have ascertained Lu Ye’s position. He’s very near to the Turbulent Watch outpost there. Back when they were in danger of being annihilated, it was the Crimson Blood Sect who rushed to their aid. Reforge our alliance with them, Teacher! That way, Lu Ye could go straight to the Turbulent Watch outpost and use their Divine Opportunity Column to come back! That would save him!” In the Sect’s golden days, it shared alliances with many other militant sects and orders nearby, although many of them had cut off ties since the fateful day the mishap occurred. Out of his own bitterness and resentment, Tang Yifeng himself severed ties with the Sect’s remaining allies and chose to bring the entire order into a period of pseudo-reclusion. An alliance between two separate militant sects or orders could only be forged upon a sacred and unbreakable oath sworn by the Grand Masters of both parties. That way, both parties could provide aid and refuge to each other in times of need and peril. With that, acolytes from both sides could use each others’ Divine Opportunity Column besides other means of convenience by paying a small toll of Contribution Points. This allowed for orders with acolytes to move easily around the Battlefield without being too exposed to danger. Weaker acolytes who wish to roam and train in the outer circles of the Battlefield could rely on any allied outposts nearby for protection and conveyance while stronger acolytes of outposts situated in the outer circles of the Battlefield could likewise travel into the inner ring areas of the Battlefield safely and more efficiently. Turbulent Watch was a Tier-Seven order and one of the militant orders that belonged in Bing Zhou. They were once an ally of the Crimson Blood Sect and its present existence was arguably all thanks to its ties with the Sect. Turbulent Watch was just a fledgling Tier-Nine order with just a handful of Cloud River Realm Cultivators when the Crimson Blood Sect was at the height of its power and influence. The Watchmen now boasted several Real Lake Realm champions amongst its number, making Tier-Six a very real and serious aspiration for the Watchmen in this year’s Coalition assessment. If the Crimson Blood Sect could renew ties with the Watchmen, then Lu Ye could just ride to their outpost in the Battlefield where he could use their Divine Opportunity Column to escape to safety. This could be Lu Ye’s only chance, for he still had a long way to go to reach the Crimson Blood Sect outpost. The Grand Sky Coalition could field every Cultivator to protect Lu Ye and nothing they did could completely guarantee his safety. “I could do that, but that would place the Turbulent Watchmen in the crosshairs of our enemy. If anything happens to them, that would be on me! This is not fair to them either!” Tang Yifeng had thought of this idea a long time ago, but if word got out that the Watchmen were trying to help too—No, word would most definitely get out. Nothing of this scale could ever be kept a secret—that would make the Turbulent Watch outpost there the prime target of all other Thousand Demon Ridge Cultivators as well. Turbulent Watch would never be able to survive such an onslaught. Knowing this, Tang Yifeng could not bring himself to ask others for help. Doing so would only be subjecting the lives of the Watchmen as sacrifices on the altar of his own acolytes’ safety. The young woman did not get up. Somberly, she argued, “Be that as it may, Teacher, please do that, or the life of your newest student and my junior would be undoubtedly forfeit. If fairness is what you’re concerned about, then what about fairness for him? He’s just a Fifth-Order now caught in the middle of a fearsome war with his very survival as the stake. How is this fair at all when he’s suffering the brunt of what his forebears did? How is this his burden to bear?” “If we’re going to become defunct, then so be it. We’ve seen this coming decades ago and we’re ready for it, whether we like it or not… you took him in, Teacher… I was happy when I heard you took in a new student. For years, I have been praying for something like this to happen. I have not seen him yet, and I don’t know what he’s like. But nothing changes the fact that he’s your student and my junior and I will not have him die before I even get to meet him!” She slowly got up, her eyes swirling with grit and determination. “Wait a minute!” Tang Yifeng gasped when he realized what she was going to do. “You took him in, Old Man! So if you’re not going to rescue him, I’ll go!” she hissed. All of a sudden, her aura and her presence had changed. She stormed away, grumbling loudly enough for his benefit, “I might just as well die with Lu Ye so you’ll grow old alone! You’ll die a lonely and a remorseful man!” “Wait, Shui Yuan!” Tang Yifeng called urgently. As a Ninth-Order Real Lake Realm champion, forcing entry into the Spirit Creek Battlefield was not only dangerous; it was suicide. No one in the Real Lake Realm could enter the Spirit Creek Realm. Forcing an entry would not only cost a huge amount of Contribution Points but also be limited to the levels of the Spirit Creek Realm. But while it was possible for Real Lake Realm Cultivators to enter the Battlefield, the same could not be said for champions of the Divine Ocean Realm. It was just unequivocally impossible. Therefore, it was very, very rare—so rare that it bordered on impossible—for Real Lake Realm Cultivators to force an entry into the Spirit Creek Battlefield. They could be defeated and even killed by Cultivators who were only de facto Spirit Creek Realm Cultivators if they weren’t careful. Hence when Shui Yuan made her decision, she really was going to risk everything to save Lu Ye. Tang Yifeng threw himself before her to stop her from doing anything foolish. “You cannot go!” he snarled. That earned him a glare from his student. The steadfast resolve she embodied belied her lithe frame and her stern gaze permeated with strength. “I’m going and nothing you do will stop me! Now get out of my way or I’ll shove you so hard that you’ll fall and hurt yourself!” “You ill-bred whelp!” Tang Yifeng glowered, “I should have kicked you out the door a long time ago!” “Just like what you did to my other juniors?” That somehow struck a chord and the mood turned palpably tense and awkward. Tang Yifeng fell silent and for one moment, he looked older and more weathered than he was. “Oh, very well!” he groaned after exhaling gravely, “I’ll go and beg if it means I’ll have to lose face! To Turbulent Watch it is!”