Translator: Truth Editor : Dhael Ligerkeys As his consciousness blurred, the Thousand Demon Ridge cultivator finally realized that Lu Ye was Heaven Eight as well. They were technically at the same cultivation level, and yet he had failed to block even a single attack. Just how sharp and powerful was his saber to shatter even a Middle Grade Golden Body Talisman Paper in one strike? It just didn’t make… any… sense… As the Thousand Demon Ridge cultivator’s head went flying, and his headless corpse fell toward the ground while spewing blood from the neck, a flying weapon shot out of Lu Ye’s Weapon Holder and sailed across his waist. When it returned, a Storage Bag was hanging off the tip of the blade. Lu Ye had killed the man and robbed his Storage Bag in one fell swoop. This was just the beginning though. More people started coming toward him from every direction while shouting, “Lu Yi Ye has appeared!” “Lu Yi Ye is here!” Lu Ye squinted a little as he kept the Inviolable pointed toward the ground and stared at the Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators closing in on him. Then, he charged toward them with a surge of Spiritual Power. He was Heaven Seven when he had broken through the defense line and entered the Thousand Demon Ridge. Now, he was Heaven Eight. He wanted to know if he could singlehandedly break out of the encirclement! The Thousand Demon Ridge had kept him pinned down for over two months. Of course he had to repay the favor. It didn’t matter even if they were too much for him. He could simply drop back into the forest if the danger grew unmanageable. They could be millions, and they still wouldn’t be able to do anything against him. The group he was charging toward were only made up of five cultivators. They immediately fired their flying weapons at him from multiple angles. Lu Ye nimbly dodged all the attacks he could dodge and blocked those he could with the Inviolable. The distance between them was being shortened by the second. The group of five looked increasingly serious as Lu Ye grew closer and closer. They scattered in every direction before they could enter his attack range—or so they thought. Lu Ye’s nine flying weapons shot out of the Weapon Holder in unison and flew toward the group of five, their speed and power far exceeding anything they had tried to attack him with. An instant later, blood spewed from broken bodies, and bloodcurdling screams filled the air. Three of them fell uncontrollably toward the deadly forest beneath their feet, and the remaining two were injured as well. While this was happening, Lu Ye was already pouncing toward what was probably a—judging from the amount of vitality coursing around his body—body-tempering cultivator. He tried bringing his Shield Spirit Artifact down on Lu Ye, but a single slash was all it took to widen his eyes like saucers and send him flying uncontrollably through the air. The body-tempering cultivator could hardly believe what was happening. [How is he a combat cultivator? He’s even stronger than I am!] That was all he managed to think before a fiery red blast covered his vision. He saw the beautiful figure of a Fire Phoenix before he was engulfed in flames. It was Lu Ye’s Fire Phoenix Technique. He had first obtained the spell technique from the Red Lotus Sky Mnemonic. After he had picked up the Glyph: Fire Phoenix, the spell had become much more powerful than before. Not only was the spell shaped exactly like the Fire Phoenix, it looked so detailed that one could see even the contours of its feathers. It looked like a mini version of the all-destroying bird he had conjured that day. The Fire Phoenix Technique easily burned through his vitality and protective Spiritual Power, causing him to scream in pain. He too fell into the forest like his three companions. Lu Ye turned to look at the last Thousand Demon Ridge cultivator of the five, but the man had already escaped far, far away. Lu Ye did not give chase, not just because it would be a waste of energy, but also because there was a massive hole in the man’s stomach that was leaking blood and innards by the second. It was unlikely he would survive even if he managed to get to a medicine cultivator in time. The Spirit Boat took off like a beam of light once more while his nine flying weapons flew back into his Weapon Holder. Meanwhile, the news that Lu Yi Ye had finally shown himself was spreading in every direction like wildfire. Countless Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators were leaping onto the flying Spirit Artifacts and making a beeline for his location. They had waited two Heavens-damned months for the bastard to show himself. Now was the time to throw everything they had against him and wipe him out once and for all! From a bird’s eye view, one would see countless auras taking to the sky from all around the Myriad Poison Forest and converging on Lu Ye’s location. Above Myriad Poison Forest, Lu Ye was flying almost without pause while fighting against group after group of Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators. Wherever he went, bodies kept falling toward the ground while dragging long trails of blood. A while later, a massive number of auras suddenly emerged from the horizon. It had to be the thousand Demon Ridge’s main force. At a glance, he counted almost a thousand people stretching from the left all the way to the right. Although Lu Ye was a Heaven Eight cultivator right now, there was no way he could fight this many enemies alone, not unless he used his Fire Phoenix once more. However, he had to assume that his enemies were ready for it after the massive damage he dealt to them the first time. The distance between the one man and one army of cultivators swiftly shortened. He could hear them yelling at him and calling for his death. When they were about six hundred meters away from each other, Lu Ye abruptly swooped upward! At first glance, it looked like he was trying to avoid the main force and kill his way through a weak spot in their defense. Realizing this, the main force immediately reacted by climbing to a higher altitude as well. Those on the ground saw countless auras dragging colorful tails of light behind them and climbing higher and higher into the sky until finally, they passed through the clouds and became completely invisible. No one knew how high the sky of Jiu Zhou or the Spirit Creek Battlefield was because no one had ever flown beyond the boundary. Even the Divine Ocean Realm cultivators could not go beyond a certain limit. It wasn’t because they physically could not fly that high, but because the Judgment of the Heavens awaited all who flew past the limit. The higher they flew, the deadlier the lightning would become until finally, even a Divine Ocean Realm cultivator would not be able to survive the punishment. It was rumored that those who managed to overcome the Judgment of the Heavens would be able to break through the Divine Ocean Realm and achieve the cultivation level beyond. It was why countless Divine Ocean Realm cultivators had done just that after they had reached the absolute pinnacle of their abilities. Unfortunately, as far as they were aware, no one had ever succeeded. Naturally, a Spirit Creek Realm cultivator could not fly higher than a Divine Ocean Realm cultivator. In fact, the higher Lu Ye went, the more he felt himself slow down as if an invisible pressure was preventing from going further. Finally, he reached a level where he physically could not fly higher even if he pushed with all his might Moreover, he could sense a hint of danger lurking in the clouds above his head. If he wasn’t mistaken, his senses were warning him about the legendary Judgment of the Heavens. He looked back at the main force and saw dozens of cultivators speeding toward him at high speed. They were moving faster than expected, and he could even hear the singing of swords from their auras. His acute perception made him feel as if someone was poking his skin with multiple swords. His senses were correct. The group of dozens were all sword cultivators! In Jiu Zhou, there was no cultivator faction that was superior to these sword maniacs in terms of killing power and telekinesis speed. Both sword cultivators and ghost cultivators that naturally possessed the power to kill opponents above their cultivation level, but the reasons they were successful weren’t the same. Ghost cultivators could kill those who were stronger than them because of their concealment and assassination skills. Sword cultivators could overcome the gap because they had poured all their heart and soul into the Way of Killing. Their single-mindedness was why they were able to carve out a place in Jiu Zhou. Unfortunately, it was also why their total number was the lowest of all cultivator factions. They were even rarer than medicine cultivators because the requirements one must meet to become sword cultivator was no joke. Take the Northern Profound Sword Clan for example. They were a Tier-One sect in Bing Zhou, and yet they did not even have a thousand members. This would be an impossible sight for any other Tier-One sect belonging to a different cultivation faction. Despite this, the entire Jiu Zhou would quake in their boots if eight hundred sword cultivators were to descend from Heavenstone one day. It was because it meant that the entire sect was mobilizing for whatever reason! Of course, sword cultivators weren’t exclusive to the Grand Sky Coalition. The Thousand Demon Ridge owned many sword cultivators as well. The dozens flying toward Lu Ye right now were a culmination of various sects, and one could even say they were the true main force of the main force. When Lu Ye first entered the Core Circle, his pursuers had been made fully aware of his ridiculous telekinesis speed. Since then, they realized that the only ones who might catch up to the bastard were sword cultivators. The dozens of sword cultivators did not disappoint either. Not only were they flying way faster than their comrades, even Lu Ye had to admit that he was a tad slower than them. Although Lu Ye wanted to test their mettle very much, he was neither crazy nor stupid. Sword cultivators were infamous for their devotion to the killing arts, and he knew there was no chance he would be able to defeat dozens of them alone. If they managed to catch up to him, then he was going to suffer some serious injuries at the very least. That was why he did a sharp turn and nosedived the moment he reached the top. The dozens of sword cultivators were surprised to see him zooming toward the ground even faster than when he ascended. It was true that Lu Ye was slower than these sword cultivators, but that was without using Windwalk. The Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators immediately realized they had been hoodwinked when they saw this. In their attempt to pursue Lu Ye, what was a tight mix of cultivators of all strengths and skills had unwittingly separated into several tiers. Generally speaking, the ones at the top were the strongest, the ones at the middle were so-so, and the ones at the bottom were the weakest of them all. In less than ten breaths, Lu Ye was less than seventy meters away from the poisonous fog. There was a flash, and the Spirit Boat abruptly made another sharp turn and flew parallel to the ground. The Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators at this location were mostly Heavenly Seven cultivators. There weren’t even many Heaven Eight cultivators in the mix. They attacked the moment they saw Lu Ye flying toward them. The entire sky was filled with flying weapons and spells. Combat in the air and on the ground were two different things entirely. Not only did the act of flying itself take mental energy to maintain, there was far more space to maneuver when fighting in the air. This was why those with great mental strength held far more advantage than those who didn’t in the air. Lu Ye darted swiftly around the incoming storm. He got away from the area with the densest amount of projectiles, dodged as many spells and flying weapons as he could, and parried the rest by swinging the Inviolable repeatedly. Finally, he collided with the enemy’s formation. His Weapon Holder buzzed as nine flying weapons scattered in every direction. Together, they weaved a storm of death and destruction.