Translator: TheBrokenPen Editor : Dhael Ligerkeys Still, the answer to the puzzle remained elusive for Shui Yuan flatly dodged the question. Whatever her reasons were, Lu Ye felt that she was holding back the answer from him. But since she refused to tell him now, Lu Ye did nothing to pry. He kept himself submerged in the giant tub filled with Shui Yuan’s painstakingly concocted potion and his wounds healed quickly. Lu Ye only got out of the tub completely refreshed and invigorated when the sun was about to set. Amber trotted up to him and nudged him with his big furry head. The recent days at the main stronghold of the Sect had seen Amber growing beefier with all the comfort and good rest, not to mention the mounds of Spirit Pills to feast on and the occasional inhalation of the red substance from Lu Ye’s dragon scale. It really was paradise for him. On the other hand, Yi Yi… He had not seen her lately. She had been spending a lot of time with Tang Yifeng. She had been with Shui Yuan all the time, at first, before telling him that she was learning how to be a Medical Cultivator. Her reason was simple enough. She had witnessed how frequently Lu Ye was injured during their journey. But Lu Ye would one day fight again and, at that time, he could be hurt once more. That prompted Yi Yi to opt to be a Medical Cultivator. She might not be useful in battle, but she could at least keep him alive. But for the past few days, she had been missing, leaving Lu Ye puzzled and confused, although he could only chalk it up to some early-stage difficulties. Next, he heard about how Tang Yifeng had taken her under his wing. Was she thinking of becoming a Spell Cultivator now? Lu Ye knew that his mentor Tang Yifeng was a Spell Cultivator and one of the best in the land too. Lu Ye retrieved his dragon scale and allowed Amber another sniff. The big burly tiger took one draft and shuddered. Stiffened, he crashed to the ground with a loud thud with his blood churning like choppy waters. Shui Yuan was rather unperturbed by this. Lu Ye had explained to her before about the dragon scale and its provenance. In fact, she had borrowed it for closer observation, and finally, at the end, she concluded that the substance in the scale really did have the ability to enrich one’s physical properties and all he needed to do was to have precise control of his ability and it would be safe. There must be some sort of secret prowling beneath the Dragon Spring, Shui Yuan later told him. There might be treasures that Lu Ye might be able to access if he was strong and powerful enough to explore the Dragon Spring himself one day. That was a notion that Lu Ye would gladly entertain. He had not forgotten how Han Zhe Yue of the Tai Luo Clan exposed to the entire world the secrets about his Glyphs, and what happened after that nearly killed him. That was a debt that Lu Ye vowed to collect one day. Ignoring Amber’s spasmodic fits as if it was having a stroke, Lu Ye headed straight for the Sanctum of Providence. He traveled back to the outpost and jabbed a hand at his Battlefield Imprint the moment he reappeared at the Sanctum there to deliver a message. A reply came back quickly enough. “I’m afraid that there’s few that match your requirements, Lu Ye. I’ve been asking around, but not many are keen to go on such a perilous quest. I have two though, but one of them’s a Fifth-Order and the other’s a Fourth-Order. Still, I don’t think you’ll want to enter the tournament with dead weight instead of a partner.” Lu Ye had asked Chen Yu to be on the lookout for any possible candidates that he could partner with to join the Battle Royal of the Legates. However, it would appear that the search remained fruitless. Most if not all Cultivators in the Spirit Creek Battlefield knew about the Battle Royal of the Legates. But with most of the independents that clustered at the Crimson Blood Sect outposts being low-tiered independents aside from Chen Yu, Lu Ye was in a situation where he could count himself lucky if he could find enough Sixth-Orders to make a quadruple. Those that he managed to find did not look convincing enough; needless to say, a bunch of cowards that Lu Ye could barely rely on. As Sixth-Orders, they could have long ventured into the inner ring areas of the Battlefield to further challenge themselves to climb greater heights. That they chose to stay here only showed how severely they lacked in both fortitude and mettle. To say nothing of the Battle Royal of the Legates where deaths and injuries were as common as the very dirt they stepped on. The same went for Chen Yu. Not unlike the others, he too possessed the ability to try his luck in the inner ring areas of the Battlefield. But Lu Ye saw this coming a long way ahead. As disappointed as he might be, he knew all along to not place any faith in any independents saying yes. [ I guess that leaves me no choice then… ] Lu Ye mused quietly. He stepped out of the Sanctum and dug inside his Storage Bag until he yanked out a fish the length of a yardstick by the tail. Red from head to tail, the fish glistened with such luminescence like a slab of crimson jade. It was a Blood Sturgeon. Li Baxian had caught a lot of this fish and most of them had been eaten. Those that managed to be spared from the dinner table—for now—were given to Lu Ye. The silhouette of something large shadowed him from overhead before it landed just before Lu Ye, eliciting a huge burst of wind slamming into Lu Ye’s face with such force that it felt like a slap to him. It was Beaky the giant eagle. The giant eagle lowered its head and gave Lu Ye a playful nip before scooping up the Blood Sturgeon, throwing his head up to swallow the fish down in just one gulp. Since Li Baxian told him about how Beaky loved Blood Sturgeon, Lu Ye had been bringing him some every now and then. But with his size and girth, a Blood Sturgeon or two wasn’t anywhere near enough. The one-meter-long fish looked just like a tiny worm for Beaky. Still, that quelled Beaky’s love for that unique species of fish not one bit at all. In fact, feeding him the fish has helped to make Lu Ye closer to the gigantic avian predator. For decades it had guarded the outpost alone. Neither snow, rain, heat, or gloom of night had kept Beaky from maintaining a steadfast watch over the Crimson Blood Sect’s only, albeit abandoned, presence here in the Battlefield until Lu Ye’s appearance, which added colors back to its humdrum monotony. With one fish down into its belly, Beaky peered at Lu Ye, tilting its head with anticipation gleaming in its round bulbous eyes. Lu Ye pulled out another Blood Sturgeon. This time, he tossed it up into the air and Beaky caught it with his beak deftly. He looked at Beaky and said, “Beaky. Can you give me a ride?” The giant predator gave him a judging look before he craned down and caught Lu Ye by the collar of his shirt with his hooked beak and flung Lu Ye up on its wide and feathery back. That was not amusing at all for Lu Ye, who scowled, “Just nod next time. I can climb up myself, you know. I’m not a five-year-old that needs help climbing up your back!” Ignoring the jibe, Beaky unfurled its wings. The winds howled and tossed. Then came the sensation of weightlessness that assailed him without notice. Before Lu Ye even knew it, they were already flying. Lu Ye laid down prone on the eagle’s back, channeling his power to keep himself enveloped in a shroud of energy that kept him protected from the winds. From the front, Beaky let loose a shrill screech as if it was asking for directions. Lu Ye quickly extracted his map and found his destination, then he gave Beaky a bearing. The behemothic bird quickly maneuvered and veered to where Lu Ye pointed him. In the meantime, Lu Ye delivered a message to Shui Yuan using his Battlefield Imprint. A reply came swiftly enough: [ Safe travels! Come back early! ] Riding on Beaky’s back, Lu Ye learned the full definition of “breakneck speed”. Even Tang Wu’s magical flying conveyance couldn’t hope to match Beaky’s speed. As a flying Spirit Beast of such age and power, it was not that much of a surprise to Lu Ye. Still, that made him wonder if Beaky had power and strength comparable to a Ninth-Order Cultivator trained in a Heaven-grade cultivation discipline. Perhaps it was because of the magical laws that governed the Battlefield that Beaky could grow no further. On the other hand, Lu Ye was envious of how suave and smart Li Baxian was when he rode on his magical conveyance. If only he could grow faster. He had not yet reached the stage of cultivation where he could operate his own magical conveyance yet. Most Seventh-Order Cultivators learned how to manipulate objects using Telekinesis. But only those who rose up to the Eighth or Ninth-Grade could have enough Spirit Power to operate a magical conveyance and sustain it long enough for travel. Reaching the Ninth-Order would mean that one could learn Heaven-grade cultivation disciplines. By switching to Heaven-grade disciplines, one would finally be qualified enough to try breaking out of the spheres of the Spirit Creek Realm to enter the Cloud River Realm. Reaching the Cloud River Realm would also mean one would be able to fly unassisted. Which was something so far ahead for Lu Ye. Meanwhile, Beaky was not only fast; the gigantic avian had enough strength to fly for long hours without rest. They traveled for one day and one night before they finally landed to rest. There was no need for Lu Ye to worry about food. Beaky circled around to forage for food and came back with lots to spare, both for himself and Lu Ye. If there was any nuisance to riding Beaky, that would be the constant need to maintain an energy shroud to prevent being frozen or knocked off Beaky’s back because of the whiplash of the winds raging around him in flight. But it was safer flying in the air. With few Cultivators in the outer ring areas being able to fly, the ride turned out to be smooth sailing all the way. Five days had passed by the time Lu Ye arrived at his destination with the sun almost completely set. They had arrived at Mount Ying, as indicated by his map. If he wanted to join the Battle Royal of the Legates, then he would need help. But since the independents at the outpost weren’t dependable enough, the only one that came to mind was Hua Ci. When they last met, Hua Ci was a Fifth-Order Medical Cultivator, so Lu Ye expected that she might be a Sixth-Order by now. That would qualify her for the tournament. Plus, the fact that she was a Medical Cultivator would make her a valuable asset since she could provide healing if and when he got hurt. Then again, Lu Ye was prepared for the eventuality that she might decline. A carnival of blood and death might not be a well-disposed healer’s idea of fun. Still, Lu Ye needed to try. Additionally, there was another reason for his revisiting Mount Ying. Twice, Hua Ci and the independents here had saved his life. Life for the independents here wasn’t safe at all and he thought that if he could convince Hua Ci and the independents here to move to the Crimson Blood Sect outpost, then he could at least provide them safer pastures. He had long thought of this. But without any knowledge about the Sect himself, he wasn’t in the position to make such a promise. A miniature cyclone buffeted the bamboo-constructed buildings around the empty expanse where Beaky landed with a grace that belied his gargantuan girth, causing people to frantically evacuate the buildings in fear of collapse. Panicky and terrified stares came from all sides, centering on the stranger and his behemothic avian mount. Lu Ye immediately caught sight of Hua Ci, Ruan Lingyu, and the ever-so-brawny Kong Niu, plus a few other faces that he could not recognize… [ Has the Rogue Wanderers’ Club recruited new members? ] Lu Ye mused. But what was slightly disturbing was the fact that the newcomers were all powerful Cultivators: a Seventh-Order, a Sixth-Order, and… “Your name please, friend?” the Seventh-Order called loudly, at the same time, quietly channeling his power, Lu Ye did not fail to note. As Lu Ye panned his gaze in Hua Ci’s direction, the smile on his face evaporated. There was an unmistakable laceration on her fair and slender neck that could have been caused by a sharp object. He quickly realized that it was not a light on either, although the angle and position did not quite suggest that she was attacked. If anything, it rather indicated that Hua Ci did it herself… [ Did you just try to kill yourself, woman?! ] Lu Ye’s face creased with disbelief. Just then, Hua Ci’s hand shot up, forming a hand seal. Immediately, grayish waves of smog burst from her, rolling in all directions around her. Ruan Lingyu squealed loudly, “Kill them, Lu Yi Ye! They’re Thousand Demon Ridge!” With a loud bang, Kong Niu stomped into the ground and launched himself at a Fifth-Order like a battering ram. They locked each other in a furious melee. But the skirmish only just broke out when the enemy Cultivator began showing signs of faltering; tiny objects were blooming inside his mouth like poisonous mushrooms, causing a much-needed distraction for Kong Niu.