Translator: Truth Editor : Dhael Ligerkeys Lu Ye was still thinking when he received another message. This time, it was from his second senior sister. It stated, “Pay the Blue Emperor City’s Outpost a visit if you’re free.” Lu Ye hurriedly responded, “Why’s that?” “Someone would like to meet you.” Lu Ye was a bit confused. If he remembered correctly, the Blue Emperor City was a Tier-Two Sect in Bing Zhou. It was almost as strong as some Tier-One Sects and more or less in the same position as the Devoted Ones right now. The problem was that Lu Ye had never interacted with a member of the Blue Emperor City before, so he wasn’t sure why she was asking him to go to their Outpost. He didn’t try to ask for more information. Shui Yuan would’ve told him everything if she wanted. “Got it.” Lu Ye responded before checking his 10-point map. He discovered that the Blue Emperor City’s Outpost wasn’t too far away from his current location. At his current speed, he should reach it in less than half a day. However… he looked back at the auras still hounding him like past memories. The Thousand Demon Ridge wasn’t going to give up pursuing him any time soon. It would be remiss of him to fly to the Blue Emperor City like this. First things first, he had to find a way to shake off his tail. There were several ways Lu Ye could do this, but the most obvious answer was Soar. If he activated the Glyph for a prolonged period of time, then not even a sword cultivator could catch up to him. He was going to do just that when suddenly, Yi Yi let out a cry of surprise from behind him. Before he could react, he felt his Spiritual Power seizing inside his body, and his flying Spirit Artifact ceasing to function. They started falling uncontrollably toward the ground. On his shoulder, Amber’s eyes widened as it gripped his shirt firmly to avoid being shaken off by the sudden momentum. Lu Ye did not panic despite the completely unexpected situation. He immediately checked his surroundings but did not detect an ambush. In fact, his pursuers were also screaming and falling toward the ground just like him. It would be a very amusing sight if he wasn’t in the same situation himself. [Is it Aerial Lock?] If there was an Aerial Lock effect in this area, then it would explain why they had suddenly lost control of their flying Spirit Artifacts. However, his Spiritual Power was restricted as well. Aerial Lock would not be able to do this. [Is it Spirit Lock then?] That didn’t seem quite right either. It felt like this entire region was under the effect, and he did not know of any ward that could affect such a large area. It was at this moment he abruptly regained control of his Spiritual Power once more. He hurriedly circulated it and flew back into the air. It was then that Yi Yi cried out, “Lu Ye, I think the Yuan Metal Storm is upon us!” Lu Ye instinctively knew that she was right. Back at the Inner Circle, after he had conquered one to two hundred Thousand Demon Ridge Outposts with the Grand Sky Coalition, he had heard a little about the Three Banes of Spirit Creek. The Three Banes of Spirit Creek referred to the Judgement of Heavens, the Yuan Metal Storm, and the One Leaf. The Judgement of Heavens was an obvious one. Thunder rarely echoed in the Spirit Creek Battlefield, but when it did, it usually meant that an insectoid attack was coming. It was easily the busiest time of a cultivator’s life. Every cultivator no matter the sect or faction must focus on dealing with the insectoid attack near their Outpost with all their might. The Yuan Metal Storm was even more unpredictable than the Judgment of Heavens. Every few years to a decade or so, a natural disaster cultivators named as the Yuan Metal Storm would happen. Lu Ye wasn’t unfamiliar with Yuan Metal forcefields. In fact, it was thanks to it that he was able to slay Manager Yang as a mortal and embark on his cultivation journey. The Yuan Metal force field in the mines wasn’t powerful. In fact, it was positively weak since it was generated by a pitiful amount of Yuan Metal. Even so, Manager Yang had been unable to channel even a sliver of Spiritual Power. That was why he had succumbed to Lu Ye in the end. What would happen if that same force field was thousands or even tens of thousands of times stronger? And what would happen if it engulfed the entire Spirit Creek Battlefield? This was why people called it the Yuan Metal Storm. Every time this happened, the entire Spirit Creek Battlefield would be engulfed in an unshakeable force field. Every World Spiritual Qi in the air would be frozen solid, and even the Spiritual Power in a cultivator’s body would be completely unusable. During this period, the only power a cultivator could rely on during this time was their body! As cultivators strongly relied on Spiritual Power for combat, the natural disaster was undoubtedly the bane of their existence—but only some of them. Body-tempering cultivators loved the Yuan Metal Storm, and combat cultivators fared pretty well during such times as well. On the other hand, spell cultivators and ghost cultivators… could only quake in fear in their Outposts. The one silver lining regarding the Yuan Metal Storm was that it did not hit the Spirit Creek Battlefield immediately and without warning. At the beginning, it would happen sporadically as if warning the cultivators of its imminent arrival. Shortly after that, it would engulf the entire Spirit Creek Battlefield. Lu Ye was thankful that the natural disaster wasn’t completely without warning. Otherwise, countless cultivators would have fallen to their deaths. As for the One Leaf, Lu Ye wasn’t even going to entertain the thought. It was obvious that the Thousand Demon Ridge was slandering him… When his friends had told him about it, he merely chuckled and pushed it to the back of his mind as soon as he was able. Apparitions were especially sensitive toward Yuan Metal force fields. That was why Yi Yi had realized the truth sooner than him. “Return to Amber’s body now,” Lu Ye hurriedly said. The worst thing the Yuan Metal Storm could do to a cultivator was to shackle their Spiritual Power, but to an apparition like Yi Yi, it might kill her outright if she did not hide in Amber’s body. “Yeah!” Yi Yi immediately disappeared into Amber’s body. “Amber, manifest your true form!” Amber growled in response before leaping down Lu Ye’s back and occupying Yi Yi’s spot. There was a burst of mutant energy, and it transformed back into a massive tiger once more. While this was happening, Lu Ye lowered their altitude until they were less than seventeen meters away from the ground. This way, they wouldn’t fall to their deaths even if the Yuan Metal Storm were to happen in earnest. To a cultivator, there was no death more tragic than a fall from great height. Almost as soon as he was done adjusting his altitude, Lu Ye once again felt an invisible energy shackling the Spiritual Power inside his body. Both him and Amber immediately crashed to the ground. Right after they climbed back to their feet, the tightness abruptly vanished, and he was able to fly his Spirit Boat once more. This would happen a couple more times before the Yuan Metal force field finally engulfed the entire Spirit Creek Battlefield. At that moment, all cultivators lost control of their Spiritual Power, and even the World Spiritual Qi in the air was frozen solid. Not only that, every Outpost’s Grand Ward had come undone as well. Right now, the only thing the cultivators could still use was their Battlefield Imprint. Not even the Yuan Metal Storm could affect an object of the Heavens. The moment the Yuan Metal Storm had erupted in full force, Lu Ye immediately climbed onto Amber’s back and rode it to the distance. The Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators behind him could only watch as he left them in the dust. More than ever, Lu Ye wanted to thank his past self for being wise enough to bring Amber with him. He did not even want to imagine what would happen if he had to outrun his enemies on his own two feet. Meanwhile, the Thousand Demon Ridge was experiencing an epiphany: now was the time to kill Lu Yi Ye! Ever since the bastard had become a Heaven Eight cultivator, their ability to suppress him had become weaker than ever before. He had only become stronger after he received the reward of the Scroll of Supremacy. If they tried to swarm him with numbers, he would just outfly them. If they tried to assassinate him, he would just annihilate his assassins. That was why he was able to escape their judgment for so long. But now, everyone’s Spiritual Power was shackled, and they could only rely on their bodies to fight. If they could trap Lu Yi Ye in a disadvantageous terrain, then they should be able to overwhelm him with just dozens of bodies! However, the Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators were quickly met with a new problem: Lu Yi Ye had a mount! A mount that could attack one’s Divine Soul with its roar no less! Mounts were very popular among low level cultivators because they made travel easier and functioned as a capable partner in combat. However, Tamed Beasts became far less common after they reached the Eighth Order. Few Tamed Beasts could travel faster than a cultivator could fly on their flying Spirit Artifacts, and even their fighting strength became wanting after the cultivator had grown to a certain point. Natural selection was taking its course so to speak. If the Thousand Demon Ridge wished to kill Lu Yi Ye before the Yuan Metal Storm was over, they would need to acquire a lot of mounts. Moreover, the mount must be able to catch up with his white tiger at the very least. Thankfully, there was such a thing as the Beast Tamer faction. The cultivators of this faction specialized in fighting together with their Tamed Beasts. In fact, their strength was entirely dependent on the strength of their Spirit Beasts. Once, Lu Ye had fought such a cultivator on the Scroll of Supremacy. The man had brought a whopping four Spirit Beasts onto the battlefield. But of course, Lu Ye had killed them all and even kept the Spirit Beasts’ bodies as food. For once, the Beast Tamers became one of the most popular factions in the Spirit Creek Battlefield. Even Mutant Cultivator sects had chipped in their flying Spirit Beasts to aid the cause. Their job was to search high and low for Lu Ye at his last discovered location. No matter what happened, they had to slay Lu Yi Ye before the Yuan Metal Storm passed! Meanwhile, Lu Ye had finally arrived at the Blue Emperor City’s Outpost. What should’ve been a three-quarter-day journey had been prolonged to a two-day journey. This was after Amber had become much stronger and faster too. Otherwise, it would’ve taken him four to five days to reach the Outpost. Both man and mount looked dusted and dirty when they arrived at the Outpost’s entrance. There was no Grand Ward surrounding the Outpost because of the Yuan Metal Storm, and every cultivator had been summoned back to the Outpost to guard it. After all, no one knew if the enemy would choose to attack them during this time. Lu Ye was spotted almost immediately by a Blue Emperor City cultivator. It wasn’t long before someone met him outside the Outpost and asked cordially, “Are you Fellow Cultivator Yi Ye of the Crimson Blood Sect?” “I am.” The cultivator immediately made a welcoming gesture. “Please come in, Fellow Cultivator Yi Ye!”