Translator: TheBrokenPen Editor : Dhael Ligerkeys Scribbles of TheBrokenPen: I’ve taken the liberty to change the translation of the term “ 妖 ”. The former translation used the term “demon”, which I don’t believe is correct. Similar to “y ō kai” in Japanese, “ 妖 s” are not the literal demon in the Western sense of the word but are instead spirits and entities. Their behavior can range from malevolent or mischievous to benevolent to humans. Therefore, I’m using “mutants” instead. A quarter of an hour was just such a short time for a break. Lu Ye got up and marched into the ring where his next round of the duel would begin. The next challenger the Thousand Demon Ridge side fielded was another big and brawny figure. The bare-chested man appeared proud to show off his chest hair but what was more disturbing to Lu Ye was the pair of horns on his head. A Mutant! Tall, hulking, strong of vigor, and rich in energy. Such were the physical advantages of Mutants, making them ideal Body-tempering Cultivator materials. Many sects and orders loved recruiting Mutants because of their unique physical potential. And this Mutant wielded a round buckler the size of a basin. The radiance of the weapon was enough for Lu Ye to know that it must be a very remarkable Spiritual Artifact. The purpose was evident enough. The Thousand Demon Ridge side must have decided that since Lu Ye, as a Fifth-Order who has speed and strength that outstripped even Sixth-Orders, could easily outpace and overpower any Sixth-Order Combat Cultivators, sending anymore would do nothing to help turn the tables. The one rank advantage just wasn’t enough and the death of the Combat Cultivators earlier was proof of that. With Combat Cultivators out of the question and Ghost Cultivators numbering a pitiful few, that remained the Body-tempering and Spell Cultivators as the only viable options left. Lu Ye had incredible offensive capabilities, hence the Thousand Demon Ridge side decided to counter this by fielding a challenger with good defense. Seeing how adept he was, the enemy side had realized by now that it would take more than a few rounds to defeat him. All they needed to do now was whittle down his strength and endurance until he became ripe for the plucking. “Lu Ye of the Crimson Blood Sect!” Lu Ye announced himself as politely as ever. The Mutant hesitated. Yet despite his reluctance to announce his name, he appeared to be afraid of Lu Ye. Sourly, he responded, “Niu Meng of Mount Tyrantine!” As soon as he finished, Niu Meng quickly raised his buckler and injected his Spiritual Power into it to activate the buckler’s special ability: an energy barrier-like projection from all sides of the buckler for as wide as 3 meters wide, effectively increasing its range. But that was not all. Niu Meng summoned his spiritual vigor and conjured a second layer over his original protective aura before lowering his stance to a defensive position. This was a tactic devised by Niu Meng’s senior before he entered the ring. The Mutant was very gifted in defense, but he lacked the speed to make any offense viable. Hence his first course of action the moment he stepped inside was to quickly erect a defensive position and hold for as long as he could for Lu Ye to tire out. Niu Meng did everything as he was bidden to, down to a tee. But the onslaught that he thought would be raining down on him did not come. He looked up and peered through the energy shield projection of his buckler and saw Lu Ye standing where he was, gazing at him quietly instead of charging forward to attack him like everyone thought he would. Niu Meng scratched his head. With a puzzled and confused look at his seniors who were all watching the fight, he tacitly indicated that he needed a solution. But all he received in return were dubious and nonplussed stares; none of them knew what to do as well. The sudden change in Lu Ye’s disposition from being tremendously aggressive to being reticently reserved was definitely not something they had foreseen! Another Mutant Cultivator yelled at Niu Meng. “Blitz at him since he’s not coming for you!” Stalling was a tactic that would undoubtedly work in Lu Ye’s favor. The terms in the Sacred Pact were clear: the duel would end in three days, whether the Thousand Demon Ridge side had fielded all their challengers or not. To that end, time was of the essence, especially for them. In fact, they would have wanted the duels to go on without allowing Lu Ye any chance for respite, but fortunately, Li Baxian was sharp and adamant enough to insist on a period of rest for him after every round. “Oh, all right!” Niu Meng responded loudly. Using his Spiritual Artifact as a battering ram, Niu Meng rushed as quickly as he could toward Lu Ye. He was not fast by usual standards but seeing his girth and size storming forward was definitely intimidating enough like a huge mammoth rumbling in motion. This was the first time Lu Ye had encountered an opponent that set up his or her defense first. But that was also why he did not charge at the Mutant in the first place. He was still looking around, looking for weaknesses that he could exploit, although he seemed to have found none. But his enemy was coming and he needed to act. As the distance between them closed faster and faster, Niu Meng waited until the right moment before he suddenly screeched to a fleeting halt where he suddenly pushed forward with all his might again. Immediately, the energy projection around his buckler grew even larger that for one brief second, Lu Ye had the impression of a gargantuan wall chasing after him! He could take the hit and still survive with barely any fractures, but the impact would still discombobulate him for minutes. His quick reflexes allowed him to quickly leap up into the air, gliding just over Niu Meng’s head where Lu Ye furiously brought his weapon down on the Mutant’s head from mid-air. Niu Meng swiftly raised his buckler and deflected the blow. But before he could turn around, he heard the scream of another blow heading towards him. The glint of steel flashed dangerously near. The sharp edge of the saber easily penetrated his protective auras and the Mutant registered the sensation of pain coming from his back. He quickly turned around, his fist barreling forward. Only, Lu Ye was already gone, and the blow caught nothing but thin air. In just a split-second exchange, all Niu Meng got was a slash wound on his back. “Gosh, that hurts!” the Mutant snarled, his nostrils flaring with rage. His eyes were a scarlet shade and the pain was dulling his clarity, filling his already-slow mind with rage that Niu Meng was consumed only by the blind frenzy to reduce his opponent into a pulp! If Mutants made good material for Body-tempering Cultivators, then on the flip side, they were not meant to be Spell Cultivators that require higher intelligence and wit. The level of intelligence of a Mutant was reliant on his or her rank and the comparative lack of intelligence often left Mutants susceptible to their animalistic and bestial pangs which could only be fully suppressed once they reached the Cloud River Realm. Incensed by fury, Niu Meng groped after Lu Ye. The pair of hands so large that they were the size of a barrel came so near that Lu Ye’s vision was obscured. Lu Ye deftly ducked and skittered past him from under his armpit where he found Niu Meng’s back completely exposed, allowing Lu Ye to deliver another slash at the same spot on the Mutant’s back. Niu Meng stumbled forward with blood gushing out his back and dripping on the ground in a wide puddle of blood. He spun around, eager to recollect himself and get back into battle when a deep and manifestly irate voice resounded from his back. “We yield!” He looked and saw that it was one of his seniors, an Eighth-Order who could no longer bear to watch. The latter knew that his Mutant junior had practically lost the fight. Even before he finished, he was already disengaging himself from the mob and dragged Niu Meng back into the crowd by the horns on his head. Niu Meng could only obediently comply with a confused look on his face. Lu Ye had made no attempt to really slay Niu Meng, having something of a soft spot for the slow-witted Mutant. At the same time, he was genuinely impressed by how sturdy a Mutant’s physical endurance was. Even after two blows, Niu Meng was still very much alive. The two blows were similarly imbued with Glyph: Sharp Edge and that would have been enough to cleave any Sixth-Orders into halves. Niu Meng might be badly injured, but his condition was nevertheless stable, to say the least. Lu Ye made a mental note, reminding himself to double or even triple his attacks the next time he faced a Mutant opponent. “Do you need a break, Brother?” a concerned Li Baxian asked. “Nope,” Lu Ye shook his head, not taking his eyes off the Thousand Demon Ridge side. Another beefy Body-tempering Cultivator stepped into the ring. Only this time, all it took was just twenty seconds and the Cultivator was lying in a pool of his own blood with more flowing out of a gaping wound on his throat like a spring, his body twitching post-mortem. Without Niu Meng’s inherent physical endurance, this poor fellow could hold his ground for so long before Lu Ye ultimately sent him to see his maker. More rounds ensued, and unless Lu Ye was fast enough to express his wish for a break, the Thousand Demon Ridge side would quickly send in another challenger in so as to prevent him from getting his much-needed rest. If the Thousand Demon Ridge side thought that they could wear out Lu Ye using Body-tempering Cultivators, they began to realize after a few rounds that the idea might be a good one, but it wasn’t working at all, for no Body-tempering Cultivators were able to withstand Lu Ye’s blows. Whatever weapon he was using appeared to be extraordinarily sharp and dangerous! All that heightened physical endurance and enhanced brute strength meant nothing at all to Lu Ye’s saber. Finally, when Lu Ye cut down another Body-tempering Cultivator’s defensive Spirit Artifact, the fact was truly affirmed. Defensive Spirit Artifacts—even low-tiered ones—were Spirit Artifacts that should be able to withstand a greater amount of abuse than other Spirit Artifact types. That anyone could destroy one in just three blows really was too ludicrous for words if not seen with one’s own eyes. That prompted the Thousand Demon Ridge side to send in a string of Spell Cultivators. That turned out to be a major blunder for the enemy champions failed to account for the fact that due to the size of the ring, their Spell Cultivators could at most put just six to seven meters between Lu Ye and them. That was a distance that Lu Ye could effortlessly cover in the span of just three seconds, and with the battles turned into close-quarters ones, only one fate awaited Spell Cultivators who failed to keep a Combat Cultivator like Lu Ye at bay: death. Night bore down on Goldentip and the Grand Sky Coalition side was having a chat over some drinks and music in joyous merriment. In contrast, the Thousand Demon Ridge side looked absolutely glum and sullen with the same pall of despondence and despair as a funeral. For the past hour, Lu Ye had been waiting in the ring and no one stepped in to accept his challenge! The reason was simple enough. Lu Ye’s tally for the day had risen up to more than a dozen. Even the best of the Sixth-Orders could barely last thirty seconds under his wrath. Most, if not all, of the rounds were decided with just a few blows. Yield quickly enough, they might be able to escape with just a few cuts or a maimed limb at most whereas the slower ones never got to walk out of the ring alive. Everyone on the Thousand Demon Ridge side was completely terrified of Lu Ye! No one dared to step into the ring. Whether Lu Ye was a walking treasure trove or not. It was also noted that with every victory, Lu Ye was changing . The radiation of his pumping adrenaline and his aura congealed around him—the intangible taking on corporeal forms—like a halo or a mantle of confidence, stature, and majesty intensifying and concentrating all around him that right at that moment, Lu Ye looked every bit the semblance of a triumphant and indomitable hero! “You know, Li? If your fellow student here manages to survive this day, he’ll be a great figure one day,” one of the champions beside Li Baxian said to him. Li Baxian was only too pleased to hear that. He chuckled facetiously, “Well, he’s not my fellow student for nothing.” “You know what I’m talking about, Li.” Li Baxian’s eyes gleamed with reticence. He knew exactly what the allied champion was referring to, but he did not want to respond. He could see where this conversation was leading to. “The Aureole of Invincibility, the Gift of Providence!” a voice answered what Li Baxian did not want to. It was another Grand Sky Coalition champion who was nearby and who had overheard the conversation. He too knew what was going on with Lu Ye. Li Baxian could only manage a smile. “It’s too premature to talk about that, my friends.” “He already has the makings of it, I daresay,” said the colleague, shaking his head gently. The Gift of Providence. With the Battlefield all within the circle of Heaven’s influence and power, it was said that he who received the Aureole of Invincibility would enjoy the Gift of Fortune in the form of some sort of enhancement, be it power or physical. Meanwhile, the Aureole of Invincibility was a concept and also a belief that required one to be victorious in war. Once a Cultivator managed to remain undefeatable in battle, the accumulated momentum would enable him to invoke the power of Heavens to beseech for the Gift of Providence. Countless Cultivators had roamed the realm of the Spirit Creek Battlefield, but few have enjoyed the Gift of Providence. The last time the Gift of Providence was bestowed, that was decades ago. And the receiver of the Gift was Feng Wujiang. But coincidentally, Feng Wujiang was, at that time, an acolyte of the Crimson Blood Sect.