Sage of Humanity

Chapter 185 Chess Sea

Seeing Lu Ye charging towards himself, the magic cultivator no longer cared about Hua Ci, and the golden light in his hand changed direction, blasting towards Lu Ye.

As he charged, Lu Ye's figure flitted and swayed, seemingly narrowly avoiding the opponent's spells in dangerously close calls, but in reality, he was doing so with ease.

His eyes could see the rapidly wind-like traces of the spells, and his movements could keep up with the commands of his thoughts. As such, unless it was a spell with a wide coverage area or one that was extremely fast, it was very difficult for them to hit him.

Three breaths later, the magic cultivator's eyes were brimming with horror, because the fellow charging at him had perfectly dodged every single spell he cast!

He hastily retreated while the spirit force around his body surged wildly. A large ball of golden light rapidly gathered in front of his chest, bearing the look of a highly powerful spell being prepared.

Just then, a streak of emerald green shot through the air like an arrow from the side, striking the magic cultivator, whose entire attention was absorbed by Lu Ye. He was completely unprepared for this attack, and was struck so hard that he stumbled, his hastily gathered spirit force dissipating.

Hua Ci had made her move.

Indeed, she was a healing cultivator, but that did not mean she lacked the ability to fight. As an independent cultivator, lacking the ability to fight would have seen her dead long ago.

In addition to being a healing cultivator, she was also a magic cultivator, albeit one who didn't possess many spells, and those she knew were not particularly powerful.

This emerald green spell did not carry much killing power, but its effect was incredibly pronounced.

The Level 7 magic cultivator's spell preparation was interrupted. Seeing Lu Ye already closing the distance, he was forced, in his panic, to once again launch the same golden light towards Lu Ye.

Lu Ye's figure shifted, easily dodging the attack, and the Boulder Mountain Saber came slicing down, its bright blade flashing.

The golden light that had accumulated around the magic cultivator's body shattered explosively. A wretched scream filled the air as a huge wound was sliced across his chest, and he staggered backwards.

Like a bone-burrowing maggot, Lu Ye relentlessly followed up with a thrust, its blade now even sharper with the enhancement of sharpness spirit runes.

This strike pierced through the heart and out the back.

The magic cultivator grasped the blade with his hand, his eyes filled with a flabbergasted expression. It was only now that he finally understood that his companion had not died due to negligence, but because the enemy was too strong.

Lu Ye withdrew the saber, and along with severed limbs, blood sprayed into the air. The magic cultivator's body wobbled in place for a moment before collapsing to the ground, blood gushing beneath him, eyes wide open, meeting his demise without closing them.

Once Lu Ye closed the distance, it took only two strikes to slay a Level 7 magic cultivator, which was much simpler than killing a combat cultivator. But don't think that magic cultivators are easy to kill. At the same level of cultivation, it's very difficult for a combat cultivator to get close to a magic cultivator. Lu Ye had learned this the hard way when his own cultivation was not very high.

But now, it was almost impossible for a magic cultivator of the same level to hurt him, not to mention the consequences of letting him get close.

Two red lights flew out one after another, landing on the back of Lu Ye's hand.

He looked down and confirmed that his personal merit had increased by twenty-eight points. There were additional items in the mark—upon closer inspection, he realized it was the boost from the Heaven's Augury Pillar.

Every sect that entered here would stake a boost worth five hundred merit points. By killing them, one could seize this stake. As long as Lu Ye survived and returned to the Righteous Blood Sect, he could choose to place these seized boosts into his own sect's Heaven's Augury Pillar, enhancing the spiritual energy of his station, or exchange them for an equivalent amount of sect merit.

Sect merit differed from personal merit, but there was a certain degree of conversion between the two.

Therefore, every Spirit Stream Defense Battle had been a grand event for the Nine Provinces sects throughout the years. Due to the balance provided by the Heaven's Augury, both big sects and minor sects were eager to participate in such grand occasions.

"Are you alright?" Lu Ye turned his head to look at Hua Ci. He saw no obvious injuries, though she appeared a bit disheveled.

Hua Ci shook her head. Although her cultivation was one level lower than the Level 7 magic cultivator, it wouldn't have been easy for him to kill her. The Spiritual Artifact given to her by her Second Senior Sister greatly enhanced her defensive power.

After collecting the spoils of battle, they started to survey the surrounding terrain.

Moments later, standing at the highest point, they looked around and discovered that it was a small island. It was not large, being only about the size of a plaza. The island's vegetation was plentiful, but it was surrounded by sea on all sides.

With such a confined geography, it was impossible for others to be hiding here. In other words, besides themselves, there were only the two previously killed Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators on this island.

The island was rich in spiritual energy, comparable to the wilds of the Spirit Stream battlefield, which was convenient for cultivation and recovery after combat.

"Chess Sea!" breathed out Lu Ye, determining the location of this Spirit Stream Defense Battle.

Each Spirit Stream Defense Battle took place in a different small space. According to incomplete statistics by the big sects of the Nine Provinces, the Spirit Stream Defense Battle had manifested in thirty-four different small spaces to date, including forests, deserts, marshes, plains, and oceans.

Chess Sea was one of the most famous of these spaces, as the small islands scattered across the unknown seas were like chess pieces on a chessboard.

The key thing was that these islands were not fixed; they drifted continuously in the sea. Over time, they would merge with other islands, and small islands would become medium-sized islands, which would then become large islands.

Eventually, all the islands would merge into one, forming a large mass of land.

This was an incredibly magical place, but it wasn't the friendliest for cultivators participating in the Spirit Stream Defense Battle.

Because if it were any other terrain, cultivators who were no longer able to fight could choose to flee to the periphery, finding a suitable place to hide and wait for the Spirit Stream Defense Battle to end.

But the Chess Sea was different, the continual fusion of small islands was destined to cause collisions between cultivators of different camps, leading to skirmishes.

Moreover, the vast sea within the Chess Sea harbored various dangers, including fierce and massive sea demon beasts, so hiding in the sea was also not an option.

Furthermore, one could not recklessly fly before those small islands had finished fusing, because flying above the sea consumed an enormous amount of spirit force, possibly exhausting all of one's spirit force before traveling very far.

Therefore, within the Chess Sea, even those from the Core Circle, such as the Governors, had no way of taking the initiative to attack; everyone could only obediently wait for their islands to merge with others.

If one were to rank the death and injury rates of the Spirit Stream Defense Battle by different small spaces, then the Chess Sea would definitely be in the top three.

Lu Ye had no idea what other cultivators would think upon learning this place was the Chess Sea, but when he exchanged glances with Hua Ci, they both saw the excitement in each other's eyes.

"I'm going to plant mushrooms," Hua Ci said so, and then happily made her way toward the center of the island.

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Since Lu Ye and Hua Ci were to participate in the Spirit Stream Defense Battle together, they naturally had some understanding of each other and were clear about each other's methods of killing enemies and self-preservation.

Hua Ci's methods of killing were not many, and it was difficult for her to kill powerful enemies in a very short time like Lu Ye; however, if given enough time and space to set up, she could play a role far exceeding that of a Level 6 cultivator.

Planting mushrooms was her most powerful method.

Previously at Mount Ying, those cultivators from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge had unknowingly been mushroomed by Hua Ci; if Lu Ye had arrived a few days later, when Hua Ci was fully prepared, she would have had the ability to kill those three Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators herself, and even make them die without realizing it.

However, because of Lu Ye's arrival, Hua Ci could only launch an incomplete technique in haste; still, it caused great disturbance to the mind of the Level 7 cultivator.

After learning about Hua Ci's abilities, Lu Ye was secretly shocked; who would have thought that a healing cultivator, with a mission to save the world and heal the injured, would have such bizarre methods.

This also made him reevaluate and understand the character of a healing cultivator, especially independent cultivators like Hua Ci, who might appear gentle and benevolent on the surface but could possess the ability to slaughter cities and wipe out nations.

It could be said that a small space like the Chess Sea was extremely friendly to cultivators like Hua Ci and was the most suitable place for her to exhibit her abilities.

This was Lu Ye's luck, for he had no idea that the location of this Spirit Stream Defense Battle would be the Chess Sea before coming in.

Hua Ci was busy, not just planting mushrooms but also gathering medicinal herbs.

The Chess Sea was a place where spiritual energy was extremely rich, suitable for the growth of medicinal herbs, and cultivators could earn an income just by gathering medicinal herbs here, even if they did not kill any enemies.

Lu Ye was on guard by her side, the island was only so large, and one could see the end at a glance, so it was not difficult to keep watch.

But he could indeed feel that the island was drifting at a not-so-slow speed in one direction, and he was curious about how this island could be floating on the sea, as it was not a ship, and it couldn't possibly be empty below.

The battlefield marking suddenly reacted, and upon checking, Lu Ye found a message from his Fourth Senior Brother, Li Baxian. As the Deputy Governor of the Loyal Heart Sect, Li Baxian naturally also came to participate in the Spirit Stream Defense Battle and was now in the Chess Sea, definitely in the most central area.

In the message, Li Baxian informed him of various intelligence about the Chess Sea and ended with a warning, "Little Junior Brother, act according to your capabilities, and do not try to show off your strength."

Lu Ye replied with a thank you.

With Hua Ci having set up everything properly and nothing else to do, Lu Ye simply switched his Cultivation Technique and began his cultivation practice.

Before merging with another island, there would be no danger here.

Two hours later, Hua Ci suddenly called out to him.

Lu Ye stopped cultivating, leaped to the highest point, and stood beside Hua Ci, looking in the direction she pointed. In their field of view, a small black dot was moving toward them.

Another small island was drifting over, or rather, the two islands were attracting each other and moving closer.

The distance was still a bit far, and it was temporarily impossible to see the situation on it clearly, nor could they tell if there were any enemies on it.

The sea breeze howled, filling their mouths and noses with the salty taste.

Lu Ye silently estimated, at this rate, it would not take more than one hour for the two islands to collide.

Lu Ye thought for a moment, put the Boulder Mountain Saber, which was hanging at his waist, into the storage sack, and stood shoulder to shoulder with Hua Ci.

Once the two islands got close enough, they suddenly sped up, as if some force was pulling them toward each other.

At this distance, Lu Ye could also see the situation on the opposite island; likewise, there were two people standing at a high place, looking over at their side.