Translator: Truth Editor : Dhael Ligerkeys A moment later, the group sat down around a massive wooden stump. The top of the wooden stump was perfectly flat and smooth, which made it suitable as a dining table. A wide range of dishes were laid out on the table. Every taste, scent and color a person might desire from their food was accounted for. Ju Jia had never acted courteous around food, and he never would. He buried his face in food the second he took a seat. Lu Ye sampled some of the dishes before raising his eyebrows in surprise. “Holy shit. Your cooking skill is on par with Sister Shui’s.” Li Baxian chuckled. “It’s all I study whenever I’m bored and free.” Feng Yuechan snorted. “Are you aware that your senior brother is really a very lazy man, Junior Brother Lu? For starters, he wouldn’t have cooked today if you hadn’t shown up. In fact, it usually takes a lot of prodding and threatening to get him to do anything.” “Come now. You can embarrass me when my junior brother isn’t around, can’t you?” pleaded Li Baxian while putting her favorite food on her plate. “Thank you, senior brother!” Feng Yuechan beamed at him. Li Baxian sighed. Unable to muster the energy to correct the way she addressed her for the umpteenth time, he looked at Lu Ye and asked, “How are your injuries?” “I’m fine. I believe I have Senior Sister Feng to thank for this, but no one went overboard during the battle.” “I’m happy to hear that. Let’s drink a bit, shall we?” Li Baxian produced a few jars of fine liquor from his Storage Bag as he said this. There wasn’t much conversation flowing at the dining table. It was mostly Li Baxian and Lu Ye talking about everything and nothing. When dinner was over, Ju Jia blanked out on his seat while rubbing his full tummy, and Feng Yuechan took Yi Yi and Feng Yue away to clean the dishes. As for Lu Ye and Li Baxian, they were sitting on a protrusion at the edge of Eagle Beak Cliff enjoying a jar of liquor each. One of them was standing, and the other sitting. Both were basking in the dying rays of the sun. “Now that you have entered the Core Circle, what are your plans for the future, junior brother?” “I’ll be going to the Three Sages School’s Outpost.” “The Three Sages School?” “The Sect Master kidnapped their top fifty recruits when he was visiting their recruitment ceremony. Three Sages School’s sect master was so angry that he chased after the Sect Master all the way to the headquarters and even fought him…” Lu Ye gave him a brief summary of the story. Li Baxian’s eyes twitched when he heard this. “Heavens, the old man really went all out this time. It will be decades before he recovers his reputation, if ever. He really is determined to develop the Crimson Blood Sect properly this time.” “The compensation from the Thousand Demon Ridge arrived a while ago, so the disciples do not need to worry about cultivation expenses for a while. With enough talent, the sect should only grow more and more prosperous. Say, have you ever thought about returning to the Crimson Blood Sect, senior brother?” Li Baxian smiled. “What had you heard?” “Enough to know that you do not deserve such treatment.” Li Baxian patted Lu Ye on the shoulder before sitting beside him. “Fairness isn’t a common thing in this world, junior brother. Plus, you have only heard your second senior sister’s side of the story. She is looking at the situation from my perspective, so of course she can only see the injustices the others have done unto me.” He gulped down a mouthful of liquor before continuing, “Back then, the Devoted Ones took me in even though the entire world wanted the Crimson Blood Sect dead. That alone forbids me from abandoning the Devoted Ones and dishonoring their name, you understand? Of course, I’m aware that the Devoted Ones are no longer who they were before, but so what? They may disappoint me, but I must not disappoint myself.” “I don’t mean to bring up bad memories but the battle that cost your Spiritual Point… did the Devoted Ones have something to do with it?” “I’ve investigated it before, and as far as I’m aware there is no direct link. Ultimately, it was my own hubris that led to my downfall. I was so young and prideful back then. Not only did I think myself better than all of them, I wanted to charge my audience every time I made an appearance. After all, I am so brilliant that the mere sight of me should enlighten them, no?” It was such an unexpected statement that Lu Ye nearly spat out his liquor in laughter. “I do hope that you will remember my mistake and not repeat it, junior brother.” Lu Ye turned serious and nodded. “I won’t.” “There is always a taller mountain, and the Cultivation World in particular is overflowing with talent. Never think that you are invincible. Your first senior brother was one of, if not the most talented cultivator of his time, and yet his story still ended in death and disgrace. Poor Sister-In-Law and Yuechan…” “Speaking of her…” “Sister-In-Law is a wonderful woman. You will get the chance to meet her someday.” “It’s not that. Does she know that you and Senior Sister Feng are… you know…” Lu Ye made googly eyes and hand gestures at Li Baxian to make his meaning impossibly clear. “My debt to Sister-In-Law is as heavy as a mountain, not to mention that she is like a mother to me.” “I know, I know. She’s why Senior Sister Feng and you became childhood friends, am I right?” Lu Ye’s grin widened. “…” Li Baxian rolled his eyes before he suddenly slapped his thigh in realization. “Oh, I’ve figured it out!” “Figured out, what?” “I figured out why the Three Sages School wants you to go to their Outpost.” “Really? Tell me.” Lu Ye still hadn’t figured out why. In his opinion, if the Three Sages School wasn’t doing well, then inviting him to fix the situation was like pouring fuel on the fire. It would only worsen their situation. Li Baxian chuckled. “You’ll know when you reach the Three Sages School. I wonder if they will change their mind then?” Lu Ye was even more confused, but Li Baxian refused to elaborate any further. Nighttime arrived, and Feng Yuechan brought many fresh Spirit Fruits to the table with Yi Yi. They had all been grown in the Devoted Ones’ own plantation zone. The two brothers continued to chat about everything as they savored the Spirit Fruits and their delicious liquor. The next morning, when the sun gradually rose from the horizon, Li Baxian dropped his empty jar on the ground, turned to Lu Ye and declared in high spirits, “I’ll be waiting for you in the Cloud River Battlefield, junior brother!” Lu Ye let out a long sigh of relief. This was the reason he had come all the way to meet his fourth senior brother. He rose to his feet and said cheekily, “You better run faster, senior brother. It’ll be embarrassing if I caught up to you too soon.” “Don’t worry. I’ll be sure to give you a run for your money!” The duo exchanged a final smile with one another. A short while later, Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan personally escorted Lu Ye’s group out of the Devoted Ones’ Outpost. After that, Lu Ye summoned his Spirit Boat and flew Ju Jia and Feng Yue into the sky. Li Baxian did not stop watching them until they had completely vanished from view. “I’m heading out, Yuechan.” “Where are you going, senior brother?” “The Raving Bladesmen!” It was time to settle some grudges once and for all. A beam of light punched into the sky before speeding down a different direction. Suddenly, Lu Ye received a message from Feng Yuechan. It said, “Thank you, Junior Brother Lu.” Lu Ye smiled. He did not respond to the message. “Lu Ye.” Yi Yi appeared out of Amber’s body and landed in front of him. She asked curiously, “Why did we come to the Devoted Ones’ Outpost?” “To visit our fourth senior brother, of course.” “That can’t be right.” Yi Yi shook her head. “Brother Li had just returned to the sect a month ago, and… if you really just came to visit him, you wouldn’t have fought against the Devoted Ones cultivators and strained your relationship with them on purpose. I’m sure you had something in mind.” Behind Lu Ye, Feng Yue’s ears had straightened up in attention as well. She too believed that Lu Ye had come with an anterior motive, though she couldn’t possibly figure out what that might be. “What do you think is my reason for coming here then?” Lu Ye threw the question back to her. Yi Yi tilted her head. “If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking you, would I?” Lu Ye considered his answer for a moment before replying, “Brother Li’s Spiritual Point was repaired a while ago, but he hasn’t ascended to the Cloud River Realm.” “Didn’t you tell me that he needed some time to adapt to his repaired Spiritual Point?” “Since when do you need time to adapt to a single Spiritual Point, even if it was one that has been damaged for a long time? Plus, Brother Li has been stuck on the Spirit Creek Realm for over a decade. He’s long since reached the peak a Spirit Creek Realm cultivator could attain. The reason he hasn’t ascended yet was because he was worried for my safety.” Lu Yi Ye of the Crimson Blood Sect was the number one enemy of countless Thousand Demon Ridge sects right now. At his current strength, he was untouchable in the Inner Circle and Outer Circle, but he had to enter the Core Circle eventually. Here in the Core Circle, there were countless cultivators who had switched to a Heaven-Grade cultivation technique. Once the news of his arrival had spread, he would face an endless wave of attacks for sure. The reason Li Baxian hadn’t ascended to the Cloud River Realm was simple. He was worried that Lu Ye might not be able to handle the pressure with just him and his group, which was why he chose to stay and act as his strongest shield. Lu Ye had figured this out when he had messaged his fourth senior brother and asked him when he was ascending to the Cloud River Realm. That was why he had visited the Devoted Ones’ Outpost. He wanted to persuade his fourth senior brother to change his mind face to face. He just didn’t expect that the Devoted Ones’ cultivators wouldn’t even carry a message to his fourth senior brother, much less allow him into their Outpost. An action was worth more than a thousand words. So, he used the Devoted Ones’ malice towards him to his advantage and fought them. He wanted to show his senior brother that he was capable of defending himself. Later, Feng Yuechan manipulated her Heaven Nine cultivators into challenging Lu Ye into a duel, proving that the young man was capable of defeating multiple Heaven Nine cultivators even after he had been worn down by the previous battle. Both of them were sure that his fourth senior brother would be convinced of his ability to protect himself after witnessing this. Yi Yi exclaimed in realization after listening to Lu Ye’s explanation, “I see! But… I didn’t hear either of you bring this matter up at all.” “Some things need not be said to be understood.” Lu Ye knew Li Baxian had made up his mind when he declared, “I’ll be waiting for you in the Cloud River Battlefield!” “I don’t want to interrupt, but er…” Feng Yue suddenly interrupted from behind, “I noticed a few auras following us for a while now. I think… I think the enemy has found us.” Lu Ye glanced in a certain direction coldly. As she said, a few auras had been trailing him from afar. He immediately turned the Spirit Boat around and flew toward them. Normally, fliers strove to avoid one another for many reasons. However, these people continued to fly toward them until finally, one of them exclaimed in excitement, “It really is the Vanquisher of Sects!” The atmosphere in the Thousand Demon Ridge had been grim and bloodthirsty ever since they suffered that unprecedented humiliation in the Inner Circle. They were all waiting for Lu Ye to enter the Core Circle so they could teach him a lesson he would never forget. That day had come sooner than expected. Lu Ye’s life was worth a lot of money right now because many top-tier sects had put up a bounty for his head. Suffice to say, his killer would get to enjoy more than a lifetime’s worth of wealth and fame. It was why these Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators were so excited after confirming that the person they were trailing was indeed the infamous Lu Ye Yi. However, the man had just finished his sentence when he abruptly discovered that several flying weapons were flying straight toward him. Despite his best attempts to dodge the surprise attack, he was struck in his vitals and killed without any resistance whatsoever. Blood burst out of his wounds as he fell head first toward the ground. Yi Yi flew out and swiped the Storage Bag on his waist. She then took his flying Spirit Artifact as well. When she looked up, it was like the sky was raining blood. Lu Ye had killed all of their pursuers. The last Thousand Demon Ridge cultivator to fall in particular had died with his eyes wide open. He never figured out how the Vanquisher of Sects had killed him, a Heaven Eight cultivator, with just his flying weapons before his consciousness disappeared completely.