Sage of Humanity

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In the valley, Jiang Liuzi's blood ran cold as he looked at the figure pouncing towards him, feeling as if he were facing an unleashed ancient ferocious beast, an indescribable pressure that almost left him breathless.

This guy... is actually a combat cultivator! It was only at this moment that Jiang Liuzi truly confirmed Lu Ye's school, realizing that all the previous displays were nothing but means to deceive him!

Truly treacherous!

He vigorously shook the longsword in his hand, dispersing the miscellaneous thoughts in his mind, and the sword light became piercingly cold, as blossoming sword flowers began to unfold.

The Boulder Mountain Saber was covered with fiery-red spirit force, an inch of saber light enveloping it added sharpness, and with slashes and stabs, the saber light flickered, extinguishing the blooming sword flowers one by one.

Amid continuous sharp sounds, sparks flew in all directions, and Jiang Liuzi couldn't help but retreat, a deep, bone-visible gash now on his chest – an injury he received when he was caught off guard by Lu Ye's slash.

Having already fought a fierce battle and suffered heavy losses, Jiang Liuzi was no longer the calm and composed figure he had been before, and even his breathing became somewhat disordered.

Every strike from his opponent felt unblockable to him; the ferocious strength and lightning-fast speed were not something a Cloud River Level 3 cultivator should possess. Based purely on the outburst of power, he almost believed his opponent was a physique cultivator who specialized in physical strength.

Only a physique cultivator could possess such immense power.

And that swift speed of the saber was something even he, as a sword cultivator, could only dream of matching.

What made Jiang Liuzi even more distressed was that from time to time, a trace of spirit light would flash on the opponent's longsword. Sometimes it struck down as light as a feather, other times as heavy as a mountain, leaving him utterly unable to defend properly.

Even as he kept retreating, he couldn't diminish the storm-like onslaught of attacks, and within barely ten breaths, his body had accumulated several deep, bone-revealing wounds, the most severe of which was a penetrating wound. Normally, such an injury wouldn't be a big deal if it wasn't at a critical spot, but Jiang Liuzi distinctly felt that when the opponent's longsword stabbed into his body, something burst inside of him – these were extremely sharp spikes that pierced through his organs!

His strength rapidly drained away, and multiple images began to appear before Jiang Liuzi's eyes, but even in such a dire situation, he clenched his teeth and persisted.

He was a sword cultivator, an unbending sword cultivator. To make him utter the words "I concede" would be worse than letting him die in battle here!

He only regretted how naively he treated the skillful display of magic and spells by his opponent, mistaking him for a magic cultivator. If he hadn't trusted his judgment too much and been caught off guard by Lu Ye's deceptive attack, his situation might not have been so difficult.

He had encountered the treacherous kind before, but never someone as cunning as this one. Primarily because everything this fox-faced man had done up until now resembled that of a magic cultivator too closely, anyone would find it hard to believe his true identity was that of a combat cultivator.

Which combat cultivator can cast so many spells, and with such swift casting...

Now looking at that slanted-eyed fox, his cunning expression seemed to contain endless mockery. Jiang Liuzi's chest felt suffocated, and unable to contain it any longer, a mouthful of fresh blood surged forth from his lips.

Jiang Liuzi bit down hard, his spirit force crazily poured into the longsword in his hand, causing it to suddenly radiate brilliant spirit light.

On the other side, Lu Ye sensed his opponent's intentions. Clearly, he meant to put all his effort into this one attack. Lu Ye didn't know what trump card the opponent was about to play, but with the upper hand now, he naturally had no fear.

His blood Qi surged around his body, intertwining more deeply with his Amber blood Qi, and began to gather in his right arm.

Before he could execute his own saber skills, however, his brow furrowed, and suddenly he leaped backward, retreating more than ten yards.

Jiang Liuzi, who had been ready to unleash his killing move, saw his earth-shattering sword flash blocked by a raised hand from a figure.

It was none other than that young man from Cloud River Level 9. Even as a Level 9, he was forced back several steps as he blocked Jiang Liuzi's attack and spirit force surged in his body.

Then he turned around, looked at Lu Ye, and frowned, "Concede!"

Previously, Xia Qianqian had conceded on behalf of their combat cultivator, and now he stepped out to concede for Jiang Liuzi, which didn't break the rules, especially since he knew that, had he not intervened, Jiang Liuzi might have truly died here.

Sword cultivators all had this sort of temperament; if Lu Ye's cultivation had been a notch higher than Jiang Liuzi's or on the same level, it wouldn't have mattered. But the key point was that Lu Ye's cultivation was two minor levels below Jiang Liuzi's, making it hard for him to compromise willingly.

He wouldn't let himself tarnish his Sword Heart.

After uttering those words, a thud sounded from behind him. The young man turned his head to see that Jiang Liuzi had collapsed on the ground, covered with fresh blood, evidently his last sword strike had exhausted all his energy.

"You are good!" The young man looked at Lu Ye again, his face full of confusion.

A Cloud River Level 3 cultivator managed to overcome Jiang Liuzi, who was two levels higher, through tricks and cunning, which also demonstrated the opponent's formidable strength.

Who is this kid?

To have such a strong foundation, he surely couldn't be an unknown person. And judging from his Level 3 cultivation, he probably hadn't been at the Cloud River battlefield for more than half a year, or maybe even shorter.

So if someone really wanted to investigate this kid's identity, it wouldn't be difficult; all that was needed was to send a message asking if there had been any prodigious individuals at the Spirit Stream battlefield in the past half a year.

The young man flew away carrying the unconscious Jiang Liuzi, while Lu Ye still stood in the same place.

To put it fairly, he had the advantage in the battle against Jiang Liuzi. Not to mention the fact that Jiang Liuzi had previously used up some spirit force, the most crucial factor was his own feigned role as a magic cultivator that let him get close enough for that decisive strike.

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Whoever stood in Jiang Liuzi's position would likely not have been able to withstand the premeditated slash from his opponent.

"Single Flash" erupted with great momentum—only strong enough protection could have defended against it.

As a sword cultivator, his defenses naturally weren't that strong.

Of course, even without these tricks, Lu Ye felt confident he could defeat Jiang Liuzi in a direct confrontation. The opponent was indeed not weak, but he was hardly inferior.

It just wouldn't have been as easy.

From atop the spirit mountaintop, the Level 4 female magic cultivator's mouth formed a perfect O, unable to close for a long time.

When she realized that Lu Ye was a magic cultivator, she worried greatly since sword cultivators strongly suppressed magic cultivators. Once a sword cultivator closed in, a magic cultivator hardly stood a chance at winning.

She had been anxiously watching the whole time, until Jiang Liuzi lunged at Lu Ye. Then she saw him miraculously pull out a saber and—like the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves—defeated Jiang Liuzi completely, totally disrupting the flow of the battle. The female magic cultivator was so emotionally stirred by the turn of events that she still hadn't snapped back to reality.

"Senior Sister, is he a combat cultivator?" she asked, somewhat belatedly.

"Sort of," Xia Qianqian wasn't sure how to categorize Lu Ye's sect, as he seemed quite complicated.

"He's really amazing!" the female magic cultivator's beautiful eyes sparkled with admiration, wondering where her senior sister had found such a formidable helper.

The strength Jiang Liuzi had demonstrated made her look up to him as if to a high mountain, but now she saw that there was a mountain even higher.

Indeed, this world always had many geniuses, each shining brightly, making an ordinary cultivator like her feel inferior.

On a spirit mountaintop opposite, a young man and another youth finished checking Jiang Liuzi's injuries. The young man said, "Don't be careless, there's something strange about this guy!"

At this point, he even began to wonder if Lu Ye was wearing a Spiritual Artifact that concealed his cultivation. Otherwise, how could a Cloud River Level 3 possibly be this strong?

The youth, who bore some resemblance to Jiang Liuzi but looked even more sinister, nodded when he heard this. "He's as good as dead!"

As Jiang Liuzi's brother, seeing his own sibling seriously injured and unconscious, he was naturally furious and silently vowed to kill that fox-face to show him the ferocity of he and his brother.

In terms of direct combat ability, he wasn't as good as Jiang Liuzi. However, if it concerned the art of assassination, three Jiang Liuzis combined couldn't compare to him—because he was a ghost cultivator!

His figure darted out, flying straight toward the valley.

Lu Ye looked up, eyeing his approaching opponent. However, soon the enemy concealed his figure and disappeared without a trace.

A ghost cultivator, huh!

Underneath the mask, Lu Ye wore a peculiar expression.

Of all the sects, his favorite were the ghost cultivators. They always relied on their ability to commune with the Netherworld to sneak up on their enemies and then strike suddenly.

But to Lu Ye, the ghost cultivator's Concealment Technique was basically non-existent.

Imagine a confident ghost cultivator silently approaching the enemy, and before they could attack, the enemy strikes first—how terrifying that would be!

Without their stealthy assassination techniques, a ghost cultivator of the same level was much weaker than a combat cultivator in a head-on fight!

So, seeing his opponent disappear, Lu Ye immediately layered the Insight Spirit Runes into his eyes while his figure sprang forward to meet the challenge directly.

The scenery around him drastically changed. Under the Insight Spirit Runes, a variety of colors flowed and changed in his field of vision. When Lu Ye first activated the Insight Spirit Runes, he had been quite unaccustomed to it. But now, he was fully adapted to this peculiar sight.

Jiang Chengzi, who had concealed his figure, had not expected Lu Ye to dare to take the initiative against a ghost cultivator and was surprised, yet he admired Lu Ye's courage.

Normally, cultivators preferred to remain still against ghost cultivators, like the way Jiang Liuzi had defeated Lu Ye's ghost cultivator earlier using the same method.

Those who dared to take the initiative were mostly hoping to get lucky and break through the ghost cultivator's Concealment Technique. Since a ghost cultivator wouldn't move too far immediately after hiding, as long as the attack range was large enough, it was very possible to reveal the ghost cultivator.

Jiang Chengzi had met such enemies before, but without exception, he had given them a harsh lesson. So, he thought that the individual with the fox-face mask had the same idea.

What surprised him, however, was that although his opponent rushed over, there was no sign of attacking. Holding the longsword simply in hand, surrounded by 9th Dao weapon control swirls, he directly lunged towards the area where Jiang Chengzi was hidden.

Jiang Chengzi frowned and hurriedly shifted his position.

The weapon control's Liu Guang burst forth, aiming in all directions, and Jiang Chengzi's concealed figure suddenly appeared. He blocked a stream of Liu Guang with a dagger in hand, inwardly crying out: How could this man's luck be so good!