Translator: Truth Editor : Dhael Ligerkeys There was also the possibility that Thousand Demon Ridge had always passed out the bone fragments in the Battle Royale of the Legates. They just weren’t useful in most instances because the selected battlefield wasn’t Chess Sea. The bone fragment was not a Spirit Material. Therefore, it drew little to no attention even when it fell into the hands of a Grand Sky Coalition cultivator. So far, Thousand Demon Ridge’s preparations had given them a massive advantage over their opponents practically since the start of the battle royale. His senior brother was in great danger right now. There was no way Thousand Demon Ridge would be satisfied with just killing some insignificant Seventh or Eighth-Order cultivators with this scheme. Lu Ye had no doubt that their true aim was the Legates and prolegates in the Core Circle. These talented cultivators were expected to become the pillar of their sects in the future. If they were all killed in the battle royale, it would be wishful thinking to say that a rupture would happen in the Spirit Creek Realm level, but Grand Sky Coalition would definitely be missing a tremendous amount of future pillars in the next few decades. Thousand Demon Ridge was playing the long game here! Even if the effects of the bone fragments were leaked, Thousand Demon Ridge still had nothing to lose. The movement of the Chess Islands was fully automated, so the participants could only passively wait for the islands to merge with one another and lead them to enemies, allies, or no one at all. Until the Chess Islands had merged into one giant continent, it was unlikely that anyone—not even a champion like Li Baxian—would attempt to fly across the sea and escape to another island either. It simply cost too much Spiritual Power to do so. Lu Ye himself could attest to that. Naturally, the upper hand was firmly in Thousand Demon Ridge’s grasp right now. Everyone looked stunned after Lu Ye shared the information he had learned from Li Baxian with them. None of them was expecting the bone fragments to have such a major effect in this battle royale. “My senior brother wants me to throw away these bone fragments as soon as possible. Otherwise, they would continuously pull us toward Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators who also possess a bone fragment,” Lu Ye said while playing with the bone fragments in his hand. He did not look like he was planning to throw them away, however. “What do you think we should do, Lu Ye?” Lan Yudie looked at him. “What do you guys think we should do?” Lu Ye deflected the question to everyone else. One of the two Grand Sky Coalition cultivators they rescued earlier spoke up, “Brother Li is unaware of our circumstances, so it’s only natural for him to ask Lu Ye to throw the bone fragments away. However, there are six of us here, and we have Sister Hua Ci’s medicine skills and mushroom traps on our side. As long as the enemy count isn’t higher than ten, I do not believe there is any group we cannot defeat. Therefore, assuming that the bone fragments truly work as Brother Li claimed, I believe we should keep them instead of throwing them away. I believe we should use them to get to as many Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators as possible and kill them all!” The man looked around after he finished giving his answer. His sect mate agreed as a matter of course. Lan Yudie and Gao Tai also nodded after exchanging a glance with each other. When everyone turned to look at Lu Ye, he smiled and said, “Since we are all of the same opinion here, then let’s all carry one bone fragment each. I wonder if the effectiveness of the bone fragments will increase if we collect more of them? Well, better safe than sorry.” He proceeded to give away three of the four bone fragments he was holding. Coincidentally, each sect got exactly one bone fragment. With that done, Lu Ye said solemnly, “A lot of Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators must have met up with each other at this point, and I’m sure Grand Sky Coalition has suffered a lot of damage. The only thing we can do to stop this is to kill as many enemies as possible. Only then will we have the strength and numbers to fight against Thousand Demon Ridge when all of the Chess Islands have merged!” Lan Yudie nodded. “Lu Ye is right.” A sense of mission and honor suddenly seized Gao Tai. “Does that mean it’s up to us to save the Grand Sky Coalition now?” The two cultivators from another sect also turned serious. Lu Ye broke out a chuckle. “It’s not that serious. Some of our allies will have to meet up with one another eventually. Anyway, all we need to do is do our best.” Everyone nodded, but their shoulders felt heavier than ever before. “If there isn’t anything else, I’ll be returning to my watch. Please focus on recovering your strength, my friends,” Lu Ye said before dashing back to the highest point of the island. Two hours later, Lu Ye saw a new island on the horizon. He immediately sounded the alarm and roused his allies from their rest. Despite their best efforts, they were unable to determine what was happening on the incoming island, much less the allegiance of the cultivators occupying it. Regardless, everyone was ready to fight at a moment’s notice. While waiting for the island to arrive, they held a quick meeting and churned out a new plan to bait the enemy into their trap. It was decided that Lan Yudie and Gao Tao would act as bait and lure the enemies into the island. Everyone else would remain at the back of the island If the newcomers belonged to Grand Sky Coalition, then they would welcome them with open arms as a matter of course. But if they came from Thousand Demon Ridge, then Lan Yudie and Gao Tai would lure them toward their main force as best they could. Once the enemy had passed through Hua Ci’s mushroom zone, it was simply a matter of killing the enemy and reacting to the situation as they saw fit. The reason Gao Tai was chosen to be the bait was because he was a body tempering cultivator. Body tempering cultivators were naturally sturdy and they could survive most attacks that would have killed a cultivator from another cultivation faction. With Hua Ci in the backline, he would recover as long as he didn’t die on the spot or took fatal wounds. In short, Gao Tai would be acting as the enemy’s punching bag. Lan Yudie’s role was even simpler. She was to act as the beautiful damsel in distress. Between a sweaty mess of a man and a beautiful, sexy woman whose clothes were covered in blood stains, it did not take a genius to know who the cultivators of Thousand Demon Ridge would chase. The plan was proposed by Lu Ye and approved by everyone. Lan Yudie was the only one who was shooting Lu Ye an unfriendly look, and not without a good reason. They put the plan into action immediately after the planning stage was over. While Lan Yudie and Gao Tai remained on the high ground, everyone else retreated to the back of the island and waited for the signal. A while later, the two islands collided with a boom, and the ground shook like an earthquake. Lu Ye focused his senses and waited for something to happen, and soon he felt fluctuations of Spiritual Power and heard the sounds of spells whistling through the air. After that, it didn’t take long before he received a message from Lan Yudie. “There are five enemies in total!” Five enemies meant that there were at least three hostile sects on the new island. There were only five probably because one of them could have died in an earlier battle. While Thousand Demon Ridge’s scheme was devious, there was no way they would not sustain any casualties even if the battle royale ended with their victory. No one from Thousand Demon Ridge or Grand Sky Coalition was a weak-willed person. In a hopeless situation, they were all capable of sacrificing themselves to drag the enemy down with them. But of course, this determination did not amount to much after Hua Ci’s mushrooms had weakened them. Rumbling noises came from the front non-stop. It wasn’t long before Lu Ye saw Lan Yudie and Gao Tai fleeing in their direction in a hurry. They had split up so they wouldn’t slow each other down. The pursuers were pretty cautious. While making sure that their prey did not escape their sight, they constantly checked their surroundings to ensure they weren’t ambushed. Too bad for them, their fate was sealed from the moment they set foot on this island. Hua Ci could not say that her mushrooms were spread across the entire island, but she had trapped every key area in the island. Unless the enemy cultivators remained in the air the entire time, they would inevitably inhale some spores. An “I knew it” expression appeared on the pursuers’ faces when they saw Lu Ye’s group. When they noticed that Lu Ye and Hua Ci were only Sixth-Order though, they immediately let out a sigh of relief. While they were outnumbered six to five, Lu Ye and Hua Ci were the only ones who seemed perfectly unharmed. Everyone else was clearly injured to a certain degree. The Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators were still wondering if they should launch an assault when they discovered that Lu Ye’s group was already rushing toward them. They had no choice but to engage the enemy in battle. Spirit Artifacts clashed against one another both in the air and on the ground. Halos of Spiritual Power erupted all over the place. Because Lu Ye’s group had left one person behind to guard Hua Ci, and Lu Ye himself was only Sixth-Order and incapable of telekinesis, the tide swung drastically in the Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators’ favor right from the get go. However, just when they thought that this would be an easy victory, the tables were turned all of a sudden. Their Spiritual Power suddenly became slow and unsteady to the point where their very Spiritual Artifacts weren’t functioning properly. The sudden loss of power allowed Lu Ye’s group to strike three Spirit Artifacts out of the air and Lu Ye to run up to a Thousand Demon Ridge cultivator without resistance. The stunned man retreated in shock, but was unable to stop the saber flying straight at him. Blood splattered everywhere, and screams rang out one after another. Twenty breaths later, the battle was over. Lu Ye shook off the blood on the blade and returned his saber to its sheath before calling out to Gao Tai, “Brother Gao, come check out the other island with me, will you?” “Of course!” The body tempering cultivator agreed without hesitation and joined up with him shortly. Although it seemed highly unlikely that the enemy would leave someone behind on the island, it was still a non-zero chance. It would be terrible if they lost someone because they were careless. The rest of the group stayed behind to clean up the battlefield. Speaking of which, the group was still giving Hua Ci all the loot and amusing her greatly. The medicine cultivator felt bad taking it, but the group wouldn’t accept even a small share no matter how hard she tried to change their minds. It was because they knew that Hua Ci was the reason the battle had gone as easily as it did. Without her, they could have lost someone even though they outnumbered the enemy. Instead, they suffered no injuries and barely lost any Spiritual Power at all. In this world, who didn’t enjoy a completely one-sided battle? It also affirmed their determination to protect Hua Ci at all costs. Hua Ci could not help but wonder how many Storage Bags she would accumulate when this battle royale was said and done. On the other side, after going through the island with a fine-tooth comb and confirming that there were no hidden Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators, Lu Ye and Gao Tai returned to their island. A short while later, Lan Yudie accompanied Hua Ci to the other island to make the necessary arrangements. With this latest expansion, it was no longer possible for Hua Ci to trap every inch of the island. It took a lot of Spiritual Power and effort to grow the mushrooms. That was why she had no choice but to grow them in certain key locations only. The good news was that Lu Ye’s Gathering Spirit did wonders to recover her Spiritual Power. Every time she finished a setup, all she needed to do was meditate for a bit and return to full strength. Not only that, the World Spiritual Qi in the island grew richer and richer with every expansion. Right now, it was almost twice as rich as the Spiritual Qi in the Crimson Blood Sect. Hua Ci was busy growing her mushrooms, but Lu Ye wasn’t idle either. He decided to construct a bigger Gathering Spirits at their resting spot that cost sixty percent of his Spiritual Power. Everyone was stunned by his handiwork. It was only now that they realized that Hua Ci and Lu Ye were a pair of treasures. Hua Ci could heal people and weaken the enemy with her mushrooms. Lu Ye could easily construct a Gathering Spirits that sped up everyone’s recovery and lessened their qualms regarding energy consumption during battle. Was Crimson Blood Sect a sect of gods or something?