Sage of Humanity

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Stepping into the cave and venturing deeper, Lu Ye gradually noticed something was amiss.

He had thought this was just a concealed cave that could be used for shelter and rest, but this cave seemed far too profound.

Lu Ye pondered thoughtfully as he walked to one side and observed for a while, noticing the walls of the passageway bore the marks of manmade excavation, and judging by these traces, they were quite old.

This was no ordinary cave, it was clearly a mine tunnel!

Having once been a mining slave at Evil Moon Valley, Lu Ye had spent years going in and out of mine tunnels, so there was no way he could be deceived about whether this was a mine.

Perhaps many years ago, this place contained some valuable minerals that had been mined by cultivators, leaving the mine tunnel behind.

In places like the Cloud River and Spirit Stream battlefields, there were many such sites, so this was not unusual.

Lu Ye had no particular designs on this place, as the mine had been in existence for quite some time, and even if there had once been valuable minerals, they would have long been mined clean, leaving nothing for him.

Continuing further inward for several miles, a vast mining cavern suddenly appeared before him.

This was a spacious area, even larger than the space occupied by the Great Reversal Spirit Ground, and based on the location, it was already deep within the mountain belly.

The minerals once contained here must have been of tremendous value, otherwise, they wouldn't have hollowed out such a space.

The mine was pitch black within, but that did not hinder Lu Ye's inspection.

As he surveyed the empty cavern, a vague idea suddenly surged from his heart, and as his thoughts churned, the idea became clearer and clearer.

"Lu Ye, are we going to rest here for the night?" Yiyi had already taken a tour within the mine and hadn't found anything dangerous. There were indeed some marks left by humans, suggesting that someone had discovered this place and taken rest here before.

Although the entrance to this mine was hidden, ultimately it could still be discovered by others.

"No!" Lu Ye shook his head.

"Hmm?"

"We're going to deliver another big gift to Ten Thousand Demons Ridge!"

Originally, after hunting in the deep areas of Great Wilderness Mountain for several nights and killing quite a few Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators, including those of Level 8, Lu Ye didn't have much else in mind, mainly because he lacked strength, and having ideas was useless. So, he decided to leave the Great Wilderness Mountain.

But upon seeing this mining cave, a plan irresistibly came to mind. If he could carry it out, he would definitely be able to deal a heavy blow to the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators who had been relentlessly tracking him!

Especially for cultivators like Song Zhui at Level 9, Lu Ye was no match for them in a head-on confrontation, but with proper planning, there was still a chance to kill him!

Just as Lu Ye had thought before, in a place like the Cloud River battlefield, vengeance should be sought quickly, ideally without any delay. Otherwise, once the opportunity is missed, there may never be another chance.

He turned around and headed out, his steps swift.

Although Yiyi didn't know what Lu Ye was planning to do, just by seeing his expression, she knew he must have some clever idea in mind. She didn't ask further and followed closely behind.

Lu Ye's preparations took a whole day.

During this day, the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators were still searching for him in the Great Wilderness Mountain, but all their efforts were in vain.

In one part of the Great Wilderness Mountain, some of Song Zhui's fellow cultivators were resting while Song Zhui was communicating with other cultivators, inquiring about their situation.

Moments later, Song Zhui sighed.

It had been three days, and in these three days, besides a few unlucky cultivators who had encountered demon beasts too powerful to overcome and were killed, there had been no significant losses on the side of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge.

All signs indicated that Lu Ye had indeed left the Great Wilderness Mountain.

Despite his reluctance, there was nothing he could do.

Previously, Lu Ye had voluntarily left the spirit ground, presenting them with the opportunity to hunt him down, but they were incompetent! Millions of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators and yet they hadn't even caught a glimpse of Lu Ye.

Although he didn't want to admit it, Song Zhui knew that this operation was a complete failure. The substantial bounty that should've been within easy reach had flown away right under his nose.

Now that Lu Yiye had left the Great Wilderness Mountain, he would undoubtedly be even more cautious in the future, making it difficult to find any trace of him.

As he was thinking this, a junior brother not far from him suddenly opened his eyes and tapped on his battlefield marking, indicating an incoming message.

The junior brother checked the message, and immediately, his expression changed. He looked up at Song Zhui and said, "Senior Brother, we've found Lu Yiye's whereabouts!"

Song Zhui had already given up on searching for Lu Ye, but upon hearing this, he felt a sudden ray of hope, and eagerly asked, "Where?"

"At the outer edges of the Great Wilderness Mountain, and it seems he's injured! And the injury looks quite severe!"

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"The outskirts of Great Wilderness Mountain..." Song Zhui murmured, aligning the information. There had been no more losses on the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge's side over the past three days. It seemed, then, that Lu Yiye had left the vicinity three days ago, the timing just right to reach the periphery of Great Wilderness Mountain.

"Let's talk while we move!" Song Zhui called out and immediately summoned his Flying Spiritual Artifact, shooting up into the sky.

He had some confusion. In the past few days, many powerful cultivators had been searching for Lu Ye without any success. How could Lu Ye reveal his tracks on the periphery of Great Wilderness Mountain?

While making haste to the outskirts of Great Wilderness Mountain, Song Zhui asked for the specific details.

He learned that Lu Ye's trail was discovered by coincidence. Lu Ye was resting hidden in a secluded cave when a Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators' squad intended to rest there as well, and both parties ran into each other. After recognizing Lu Ye, the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators were overjoyed and immediately engaged in a fierce battle with him.

And then Lu Ye ran away!

"Wait a second..." Song Zhui raised his hand, his face full of doubt, "Lu Yiye ran away? And those cultivators didn't die?"

"Two of them died, but Lu Yiye seemed to be seriously injured and unwilling to engage in battle, so he quickly escaped."

Before, Lu Yiye had killed every single one of the Level 6-7 cultivators as if he were slaughtering chickens. Now the cultivators in the outskirts varied greatly in strength, but he had not managed to kill them all. This indicated that his injuries must indeed be severe.

Perhaps it was because he was heavily injured that he decided to leave Great Wilderness Mountain, which would explain why there had been no casualties on the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge side these past three days.

Song Zhui didn't ponder too much about why Lu Ye would be severely injured; after all, having killed so many people, it was only natural for Lu Ye to sustain some injuries.

There were many Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators on the outskirts of Great Wilderness Mountain, ten times more than those deeper within the mountain. If Lu Ye had kept himself well-hidden, it wouldn't have been much of an issue. However, once his presence was revealed, hiding again would not be so simple.

"After encountering that squad of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators and killing two then fleeing, Lu Ye encountered several more squads in succession and clashed with them before he disappeared."

"Disappeared? How did he disappear?" Song Zhui was stunned.

"It's not clear. The person who reported the news didn't have much information, but one thing is certain: Lu Yiye hasn't left that area. Right now, that location is crowded with many searching for him."

"Speed up!" Song Zhui ordered, and their pace quickened considerably as they rushed towards the periphery of Great Wilderness Mountain.

If they had received this news here, presumably other strong cultivators from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge would get it sooner or later. When that happened, the cultivators searching for Lu Ye deeper in the mountain would surely converge on the outskirts.

If they were too slow at this point, they wouldn't even get a warm bite to eat.

Just as Song Zhui had anticipated, at this very moment, squad after squad was setting out from deep within Great Wilderness Mountain, heading to the outskirts.

At the outskirts of Great Wilderness Mountain, where Lu Ye had been recently sighted, within a radius of several dozen miles, traces of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators could be seen everywhere; each one of them was searching for Lu Ye.

Originally, because their cultivation was insufficient to venture deep into Great Wilderness Mountain, the task of slaying Lu Ye didn't concern them. But now that Lu Ye had run to the periphery and revealed his whereabouts, the opportunity had come.

Lu Yiye was seriously injured and hiding somewhere unknown. In the current situation, whoever found him first could become rich overnight.

The desire for that tremendous bounty invigorated many Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators as they searched tirelessly. Despite that, they still couldn't find any trace of him.

That was until the appearance of a five-person squad!

...

As for the task of searching for Lu Yiye's whereabouts, Spectral Shadow had a strong aversion to it. He wasn't disinterested in the hefty bounty; he just felt that becoming enemies with Lu Yiye would inevitably have dire consequences.

Not counting the covert clash on the Spirit Stream Ranking, Spectral Shadow had actually crossed paths with Lu Ye twice.

And both encounters left a deep impression.

Each involved the enormous, blazing appearance of the Four Auspicious Sacred Beasts, and each time many Ten Thousand Demons Ridge powerhouses died.

One time was outside the Ten Thousand Poisons Forest on the Spirit Stream battlefield, and the other was in the middle of the hunting grounds of the Cloud River battlefield.

Spectral Shadow was of remarkable talent, once ranked ninth on the Spirit Stream Ranking, but compared to his talent, it was his intuition that was his trump card.

This intuition bore no correlation to the strength of his mind, resembling instead an innate ability that allowed him to feel a strong premonition before danger approached. Relying on this intuition, Spectral Shadow had dodged many deadly threats.

Take this time as an example: during the search for Lu Yiye, his heart would pound erratically, unable to settle down, as if something very dangerous was about to happen.

Although he didn't want to get involved, he couldn't withstand the persuasion of his fellow sect Senior Brother and a few fellow disciples. Reluctantly, he had to move with them.

If they indeed encountered danger, with him present, at least they could avoid some risks... that's what he thought.

Now, he was a Level 3 Cloud River cultivator, which was not too slow in terms of cultivation speed, but when compared to Lu Ye, he was still far behind.

"Senior Brother Qin, why do we keep circling in this area?" A female cultivator in the squad suddenly asked. She was beautiful and had an exceptionally graceful figure. It seemed that a few fellow disciples were interested in this Senior Sister Hu, everyone except Spectral Shadow.

Women only affect the speed at which I draw my sword! Why bother pleasing women when you can happily advance in cultivation?