Translator: TheBrokenPen Editor : Dhael Ligerkeys After nine months, the name “Lu Yi Ye of the Crimson Blood Sect” had once again become a household name. Unlike the Battle of Goldentip, Lu Ye’s notoriety this time had stirred up a never-before-seen ruckus. The Battle of Goldentip started all because of the impending assessment of all sects and orders in the real world of Jiu Zhou where the Crimson Blood Sect was in danger of becoming defunct—something many in the Thousand Demon Ridge would have given anything to see. The situation ultimately boiled up into complete anarchy where Cultivators from the central and inner rings regions of the Battlefield congregated in the outer ring area to hunt Lu Ye down. It was through the tireless assistance of the Crimson Blood Sect’s allies that Lu Ye managed to escape death again and again before he was finally trapped at the top of Goldentip. Therefore, to resolve a stalemate that would unequivocally end with everyone’s death, he challenged representatives of the Thousand Demon Ridge to single combat with every champion—Thousand Demon Ridge and Grand Sky Coalition alike—and Heaven acting as witnesses. Forty-three rounds of single combat—Lu Ye won every single round, making the whole debacle a humiliating affair for the Thousand Demon Ridge side. No one could dispute his deadliness after that; a Fifth-Order who had killed enemies more powerful than him. The display of his prowess and his acumen was enough to impress the whole world. Nevertheless, the real champions could hardly care about the outcome of the Battle of Goldentip. Unless Lu Ye grew any closer to threatening them, none of them would ever bat an eyelid at him. The world had seen enough of prodigies and few ever live long enough to reach old age. But this time, Lu Ye’s name once again reached everyone’s notice—not because of his prowess in battle, but rather because of his quaint ability which was a very potent security threat to literally every enemy outpost in the Spirit Creek Battlefield. The first report of this came from the House of Wintry Blossoms. Eyewitness reports claimed that Lu Yi Ye of the Crimson Blood Sect was able to infiltrate their outpost using some unknown trick to slip through the outpost’s defensive ward. After entering the outpost, he had managed to seize control of their jade tablet and wrested control of the outpost’s defenses. That was what caused the outpost to fall. That sent the whole Battlefield—plus the real world of Jiu Zhou—into another bout of unrest. Every single Cultivator—strong or weak, powerful or ordinary—all gawked with disbelief when they heard the story. [A Spirit Creek Realm Cultivator who could penetrate the defenses of an outpost’s magical ward?] While the feat wasn’t unheard of, no one could believe that a lowly Cultivator had managed to replicate what others far more skilled and powerful than him in the mastery of Glyphs could do. Many at first thought that the House of Wintry Blossoms survivors were exaggerating. Some believed that it was the legate who was trying to shift the blame. But when more news arrived—this time from the Sunlit Mountain not far away from the House of Wintry Blossoms outpost, everyone realized that they were wrong. Sunlit Mountain had lost its outpost too! And that was not even a day after the House of Wintry Blossom outpost was captured. A Sunlit Mountain survivor testified that Lu Ye had a strange and unknown method that allowed him to open a hole in the shield of a fully operating magical shield. That was also what allowed Lu Ye to storm into the outpost with ten Body tempering Cultivators, culminating in the death of the Sunlit Mountain legate and the jade tablet being taken. One account claimed that Lu Ye could infiltrate an outpost’s defenses unnoticed, while the other argued that Lu Ye practically blasted a hole right through their shield. Yet despite the discrepancies, one thing was clear and undisputed, despite being just an Eighth-Order, Lu Yi Ye either possessed great mastery in the magic of Glyphs or he was immensely skilled at defeating ward magic. On account of him alone, two Thousand Demon Ridge orders had lost their outposts. The men of both the Hidden Light Sanctuary and Lofty Plume Court might have been with Lu Ye during the two invasions, but no one bothered to mention them at all. Word of the invasions spread in small ripples at first. But in barely a day, all around the Battlefield and the real world of Jiu Zhou, people could not stop talking about him. For if what happened was just like what the rumor mill was speculating, then the implications would be devastating. Outposts in the Spirit Creek Battlefield depended on their defensive wards to keep their acolytes safe from any attacks. Like how the common folk would keep their doors barred and bolted, Cultivators relied on defensive wards to give them peace of mind. Yet, out of nowhere, there was someone who could walk through doors like a wraith. He could even open a hole in it and come inside. Then he would steal, plunder, and even kill. Anyone would go hysterical. If the outcome of the Battle of Goldentip had shown the tip of the iceberg of what Lu Ye would grow to become, then the fall of the House of Wintry Blossoms and Sunlit Mountain was the catalyst of the panic and fear the Thousand Demon Ridge side had whenever his name was invoked. Even Divine Ocean Realm Cultivators would not dare to discount Lu Ye anymore. With outposts everywhere in the Spirit Creek Battlefield and how Cultivators relied on defensive wards to keep their refuge safe, Lu Ye had now become the biggest threat to each and every enemy outpost everywhere. If outposts became no longer secure, then their existence would become obsolete and all Thousand Demon Ridge Cultivators would be deprived of safe shelter. Without a viable defensive ward, all outposts would be exposed to invasion. Just when the entire Battlefield was buzzing with rumors of Lu Ye’s unbelievable prowess, more beans about him were spilled. A few months ago during the insectoid attacks, the outposts of two Thousand Demon Ridge factions nearest to the Crimson Blood Sect outpost—Clan Feng and the Redoubt of Wrath—were also attacked. The former suffered the biggest losses with every Spirit Creek Realm member in its ranks almost extinct. While some might attribute the collapse of their stronghold to the insectoid attacks, everyone who was not a fool could recognize Lu Ye’s handiwork in this. Both Clan Feng and the Redoubt of Wrath had never endured such ignoble humiliation before. That would make the total number of Thousand Demon Ridge orders severely crippled by Lu Ye four—first the Redoubt of Wrath and Clan Feng, then there was the House of Wintry Blossoms and Sunlit Mountain. All four orders were brought to heel within the span of a few months. No one had ever done something like this since the early days of the Spirit Creek Battlefield. The legate and prolegate of Silverlight Island, Luo Fu and Qi Shi were sitting face-to-face within the vastness of their outpost. Qi Shi had predicted that a number of Thousand Demon Ridge orders might find themselves in trouble when Lu Ye left a little more than two months ago. Not even he himself knew that his prophetic words would come true; after barely a couple of months, not one, but two Thousand Demon Ridge orders were lost. If only the Thousand Demon Ridge coalition knew that the fall of the Sky Pillar Sect outpost, too, was Lu Ye’s handiwork, albeit with the help of the giant serpent that single handedly brought down the shield of the outpost’s defensive ward. That would mean that Lu Ye had been the cause of the destruction of a total of five Thousand Demon Ridge outposts. But what everyone was certain about, was that Lu Ye was not yet in possession of the ability to defeat magical wards two months ago, or he would have long been seen to employ it. “To think that he’s only just an Eighth-Order,” Qi Shi murmured all of a sudden. “What do you mean, brother?” Luo Fu glanced at his deputy. “Lu Ye should be free to roam around the inner ring area of the Battlefield so long as he’s not yet achieved the Heaven Seven Realm. Even if he does, he did not have to immediately leave the inner ring area yet, no? Judging from the rate of his progress, surely that would mean at least a year or two?”