Translator: Truth Editor : Dhael Ligerkeys All islands in the Chess Sea were pretty small at the beginning. At most, they were as big as a public square. Over time, they grew bigger by attracting other islands and merging with them. The bigger the island, the greater the enemy’s strength and numbers might be. It was because such an island would have gone through multiple mergings and battles already. Of course, there were always exceptions to the rule. For example, Lu Ye and Hua Ci had managed to amass quite the island despite being Sixth-Order cultivators only. Suddenly, Lu Ye noticed something unusual. He could see flashes of spells from time to time and hear the sounds of fighting. The commotion only grew more obvious as the islands moved closer and closer to each other. The fact that there was combat could only mean that cultivators from both Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators and Grand Sky Coalition were present on that island. It was impossible to tell who had the upper hand from where they stood though. Judging from how fierce the battle was, it was clear that neither party was aware that an island was fast approaching their direction. Lu Ye considered his options for a moment before saying to Hua Ci, “I’m going to fly over and check things out. You stay here.” “Be careful.” He channeled his Spiritual Power, and a pair of fiery wings came to life behind his back. He then flew toward the other island. The second he crossed over to the sea surface, Lu Ye immediately sensed his Spiritual Power pouring out of his body like someone had drilled a hole in it. It was as bad as maintaining a Protection that covered his entire body. Although he had been warned about this before, he couldn’t help but feel surprised by how much Spiritual Power he was losing anyway. No wonder flying—or rather flying over the sea surface—was something to be avoided unless one had a specific purpose in their mind. He wondered why the energy consumption was so terrible over the sea surface, but that wasn’t a question that was going to be answered anytime soon, so he pushed it to the back of his mind. The good news was that the two islands were already fairly close to each other. It only took him a couple of breaths to land on the other island and withdraw his wings. After that, he suppressed the presence of his Spiritual Power as best he could and carefully sneaked his way toward the sounds of combat. He didn’t have much time though. The two islands could collide into each other at any moment. When that happened, the combatants would take notice for sure. Luckily, the island wasn’t so huge that it would take him too long to reach the battlefield without being detected. A short while later, Lu Ye saw five Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators attacking two Grand Sky Coalition cultivators. Not only that, there were three dead bodies on the ground. It was clearly a fierce battle. The Thousand Demon Ridge party of five was made up of two spell cultivators, one body tempering cultivator, one combat cultivator and one ghost cultivator. The two Grand Sky Coalition cultivators were a man and a woman who were covered in blood and wounds. They weren’t going to last much longer. This was a two versus five, so of course they were no match for their opponents. The reason they managed to last until now was because the man was a resilient body tempering cultivator with a powerful physique and overflowing vitality. He also wielded a Shield Spirit Artifact that made it even harder for the Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators to punch through his defenses. Of course, one of the reasons the battle had dragged on for so long was because the Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators wanted to play it safe. Why take unnecessary risks when the battle was already won? Animals were most dangerous when they were injured and cornered, much less cultivators with one last trick or two up their sleeves. One of their companions had perished precisely because they had ignored the age-old adage. At the beginning, this was a six-versus-four battle instead of five-versus-two. After they had taken out the first Grand Sky Coalition cultivator, one of their companions grew impatient and tried to end the battle as quickly as possible. Instead, they were dragged to the grave by their prey. Right now, all they needed to do was to trap their prey until the body tempering cultivator’s shield was destroyed. The battle was as good as over after that. The three melee-ranged cultivators kept encircling and harassing the enemy while their spell cultivators launched spell after spell from a safe distance. Already, the Spiritual Light on the Shield Spirit Artifact was so dim that it could falter at any moment. The two Grand Sky Coalition cultivators looked grim-faced and determined. It was because they knew that their chance of surviving this was next to zero. The thought of begging for mercy never crossed their minds because they knew it would be useless. All it would earn them was more humiliation especially for female cultivator. It did not take a genius to know what would happen if the woman fell into the enemy’s hands alive. That was why they weren’t aiming to win. They were aiming for the opportunity to drag an enemy down to the grave with them. And it came. There was a terrible boom, and the ground suddenly shook like an earthquake. The two islands had finally collided with one another. No one was able to stay steady on their feet. The five Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators blanched at the same time. They had encountered the Grand Sky Coalition’s island less than two hours ago. No one was expecting another island so soon. “Watch out!” Someone cried out in warning, but it was too late. The instant the islands had collided, the two Grand Sky Coalition cultivators rushed toward the combat cultivator at the same time. The body tempering cultivator let out a furious roar and brought his shield to bear, covering for the beautiful woman behind him. The determination and ruthlessness in their eyes were so that the combat cultivator could not help but panic a little. “Ah!” A bloodcurdling scream cut through the air, but it hadn’t come from the combat cultivator. It left all the combatants in shock and confusion. The Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators spun toward the direction of the scream and found one of their spell cultivators convulsing on his feet, the tip of a blade poking out of his chest. Behind him stood a man they had never seen before. [What the hell just happened? How did he show up this quickly?] From the moment the islands collided, they already knew that a new party might interfere with their battle. If the newcomers belonged to Thousand Demon Ridge, then it was a happy ending as a matter of course. If they belonged to Grand Sky Coalition, then the situation might become a little dicey. Either way, they were prepared to deal with the situation. What they weren’t prepared to deal with, was their spell cultivator dying practically the second the islands had collided! What was going on here? Had the man been hiding on the island all this time? There was no time to think. Charging with wanton abandon, the two Grand Sky Coalition cultivators had managed to make their way to the combat cultivator and were doing their best to drag him to the grave with them, self-preservation be damned. Unfortunately, they failed because their injuries were just too severe. The combat cultivator only took a hit before his body tempering companion came to his rescue. For a time, the four cultivators danced the dance of death with each other. The ghost cultivator wasn’t doing nothing either. His presence suddenly became much harder to detect as he cut in from the flank and pushed the two Grand Sky Coalition cultivators to the edge. At the same time, Lu Ye charged toward the second spell cultivator while shouting, “Hang in there!” The shield-wielding body tempering cultivator did not react to his shout, but the female cultivator wielding a pair of daggers did. Astonishment spread across her features because that voice felt familiar for some reason. But of course, this was no time to be distracted. Purple patterns crept all over her pale neck and dyed her pupils purple. The way they slithered all over her face made her look both demonic and beautiful. Ghost cultivators excelled at assassinations, so head-on battles like this one was not her strong point. It wasn’t like she had a choice though. The only thing she could do now was to bring her full power to bear. Back on Lu Ye’s side. The young man was rapidly closing the distance between himself and the spell cultivator while dodging every spell that was flying in his direction. It was such an unbelievable sight that a bit of panic had crept onto the spell cultivator’s features. He had never seen such a nimble combat cultivator in his life. When Lu Ye was almost right on top of him, the spell cultivator gritted his teeth and channeled his Spiritual Power. The next second, a powerful repulsive force erupted from his body. The surprise attack caused Lu Ye to stumble on his feet. Not about to let the golden opportunity slip by, the spell cultivator hurriedly ran toward his companions. Unfortunately, he only managed a few steps when he felt a surge of hot energy flying toward him from the flank. He looked back and saw a big ass Fire Bird flying straight toward him. He hurriedly summoned a Spiritual Power Shield in front of himself. Boom! The Fire Bird crashed into the shield and caused a tremendous explosion. By the time he had recovered his footing, Lu Ye was already on top of him. The Inviolable swung upward and sent the spell cultivator’s forearm flying. Lu Ye then brought it back down and put a good amount of holes in the spell cultivator’s body. The poor guy’s scream could be heard throughout the island. Boom! Seconds before his death, the spell cultivator cast one last spell that struck Lu Ye squarely in the chest. Despite Protection, the spell was still powerful enough to send him flying through the air. When Lu Ye clambered back to his feet, he was just in time to see the spell cultivator falling forward on his knees. A dot of red light floated toward him at the same time. Lu Ye turned sideways and spat out a mouthful of blood. This was why he had sworn to kill any spell cultivator that annoyed him! The battle wasn’t over yet though. He ran straight toward the two Grand Sky Coalition cultivators. Maybe it was because Lu Ye’s appearance gave them hope, or maybe it was because their plan to drag their enemy to the grave had failed. Right now, the duo were doing their best to retreat in Lu Ye’s direction. It was a close thing. Their injuries were so severe that they were leaving bloody footprints with every step they took, not to mention that this was still a two-versus-three. The three Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators were also doing their utmost to overwhelm them before Lu Ye could reach them. But they did it. They managed to hold out until Lu Ye reached them. When the battle was joined, the female cultivator finally recognized their savior. Her feelings were mixed. This was the last place she had expected to see him again. “Go!” Lu Ye yelled while blocking an attack with the Inviolable. They were still at a disadvantage even though their numbers had equalized. While Lu Ye was sure he could survive the three enemy cultivators, the two Grand Sky Coalition cultivators would die if they continued fighting any longer. The duo looked hesitant, but Lu Ye shouted again, “GO!” This time, they obeyed his order and made their escape. The pressure on Lu Ye increased dramatically. Not even he could withstand the assault of three Seventh-Order cultivators for long. A Protection the size of a table appeared in front of Lu Ye at the cost of a tremendous amount of Spiritual Power. The trio kept attacking and putting cracks on the Glyph, but the young man simply injected more Spiritual Power into it and restored it anew. He only managed to hold on for another three breaths though. By the time he reached his limit, his internal organs felt like they were vibrating, and blood threatened to spill out of his mouth. He dished out a horizontal slash at the same time as he canceled Protection. While the trio backed away from the attack, he immediately turned tail and ran. Lu Ye was at least thirty meters away by the time the three cultivators noticed that he was escaping. Although they were shocked by his speed, they did not forget to employ telekinesis and launch their Spirit Artifacts at Lu Ye. Sensing the killing intent behind him, Lu Ye immediately activated Transient Wings and took to the sky. He did not activate Protection because he knew it wouldn’t be enough to block the attacks. Even if it was, the resulting impact would still grievously wound him. Silavin: Happy New Year! I know. Kinda belated. Was too busy to change the scheduling. This week, We’ll have 12 Chapters! Enjoy!