Sage of Humanity

The Nine Stars Sect and Xuanmen's base of operations were close neighbors, and given their different allegiances, friction was inevitable. It could be said that over the years, their brains had all but turned to those of dogs, and their deep-seated hatred was absolutely irreconcilable.

Despite the Nine Stars Sect being an 8th grade sect, one grade higher than Xuanmen, at the Spirit Stream Realm level, Xuanmen had the upper hand. Hence, over the years, the 8th grade Nine Stars Sect had suffered many losses at the hands of the 9th grade Xuanmen.

In particular, this Wang Yeang, as one of the most extreme among combat cultivators, his martial prowess was beyond question. In the entire Nine Stars Sect, only Dong Shuye, who stayed behind to guard their base, could cross swords with him.

Cao Ye admitted to himself that he was no match for him.

Behind Wang Yeang followed a young girl who was not very old. With her hair done up in twin buns, her figure was graceful and she looked pure and cute. She followed closely behind Wang Yeang, looking for all the world like his maidservant.

And indeed, that was exactly the case. Wang Yeang was born into a wealthy common family, and this girl had grown up with him from a young age as his slave. When Wang Yeang joined Xuanmen, he brought his maidservant with him, and surprisingly, both of them possessed exceptional cultivation aptitude and talent.

Now, they were both Xuanmen disciples, nominally senior brother and sister, but in reality, master and servant.

Acting as if they had not seen Cao Ye and the others, the master and servant pair walked straight to the edge of the battlefield. Wang Yeang looked around and, with a raise of his eyebrow, expressed surprise, "Who killed your Young Master?"

So that explained why the Nine Stars Sect was lively tonight—it turned out such a big incident had occurred.

He had also received a message, which had prompted him to come out and investigate. Otherwise, being at Spirit Stream Level 7, he would not have left the sect's base without a good reason.

Cao Ye stared intently at him, trying not to miss any shift in expression on his face, yet he saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"I told Dong Shuye before to keep an eye on that trash, but he wouldn't listen. And now, look, someone has chopped him down." Wang Yeang wore a gleeful expression as he turned to look at Cao Ye, "Do you know who did it?"

Cao Ye didn't want to answer, but he had to, "A young man with a White Tiger."

Wang Yeang stroked his chin. "Never heard of him. An independent cultivator? Or a disciple out from a big sect to gain experience?" After thinking for a bit, he shook his head, "Forget it, it's none of my business anyway."

"Run!" Cao Ye shouted fiercely all of a sudden, and at the same time, the ground beneath his feet exploded as he shot away into the distance.

"Hehe..." Wang Yeang chuckled lightly, his longsword ringing as it came out of its sheath. A streak of sword light, like a whip, slashed towards Cao Ye.

At the same moment, the seemingly harmless young girl following behind him had spirit force surging all over her body. With a lift of her hand, magic and spells were ready, as her delicate fingers pointed towards those three Nine Stars Sect disciples.

Moments later, Wang Yeang, who had been in pursuit of Cao Ye, returned with the same nonchalant expression.

"Young Master, one got away." Xiaozhu approached to report the results of the battle. In front of Wang Yeang, she was the obedient and cute maidservant, but to the disciples of the Nine Stars Sect, she was a formidable cultivator at Spirit Stream Level 6.

The three Nine Stars Sect disciples were generally at Level 3-4, no match for her. But they were smart and scattered in different directions. Xiaozhu only managed to kill two, and by the time she pursued the last one, they had vanished without a trace.

"Let them run," Wang Yeang responded nonchalantly. With Cao Ye also having escaped, he couldn't help but remark, "Physique cultivators are indeed tough."

"And remember to call me senior brother!" Wang Yeang lightly knocked on Xiaozhu's head.

Xiaozhu immediately covered her head with her hands, pouting.

"How many people do we have that can be deployed?" Wang Yeang asked another question.

"Less than three hundred," Xiaozhu replied. "But if we include those independent cultivators, there are about five hundred people."

"And at Level 5 Realm?"

"Only six."

"Tsk..." Wang Yeang curled his lip, "A bunch of dogs, they all ran out to scrape up the benefits, leaving me here alone to guard an empty sect, it's too much."

The number of cultivators in the Spirit Stream Realm of Xuanmen naturally far exceeded three hundred.

But these people couldn't all stay near their base of operations, for if they did, no one would gain any benefits. The cultivators would spread out to explore and travel, especially those above Level 5 Realm, who practically never operated in the outer circle because the gains there were too minimal. After growing to Level 5 Realm, they would choose to enter areas closer to the inner circle.

Correspondingly, the low-level disciples of the medium and big sects would venture into Xuanmen territory for experience, receiving some protection from Xuanmen while also accepting a certain degree of mobilization.

Not just Xuanmen, all the big sects in the outer circle acted this way. On the Spirit Stream battlefield, the connections between the various sects were very close, and the interactions between their disciples were extremely frequent.

However, for this reason, the cultivators of Level 5 Realm that Xuanmen could deploy were only a mere six... Among these six, two had only recently advanced to Level 5 Realm and hadn't had the chance to leave yet, while the remaining four were all those who were over forty and had little room for improvement in their cultivation.

Within the Spirit Stream Realm, the age range of cultivators was vast, from young cultivators who hadn't practiced for long like Lu Ye, to old slickers who have cultivated for decades. Without exception, their cultivation aptitude was very low, and their cultivation was hard-earned over time.

"Young Master is thinking..." Xiaozhu looked at Wang Yeang.

Wang Yeang bared a grin, "Send the message out, the hunt has begun! Stir up the little ones! Also, keep an eye on that boy with the White Tiger. Report back the moment there's news!"

"Oh!"

...

At the Nine Stars Sect base, Dong Shuye looked at Cao Ye, who was covered in wounds, and frowned, "What happened?"

Cao Ye's mouth twitched slightly, "Ran into that maniac Wang Yeang!"

Hearing the name Wang Yeang, Dong Shuye also couldn't help but have his face twitch. After a pause, he said, "Which means the news has spread?"

Cao Ye let out a sigh, "With the commotion we caused, it's impossible to hide."

"Do you think the death of the Young Master has anything to do with Xuanmen?"

Recalling Wang Yeang's expression, Cao Ye shook his head, "Not likely. Wang Yeang sensed activity on our side and came out to investigate. He also looked surprised when he saw the Young Master's body. Besides, with his pride, if the Young Master really was killed by Xuanmen, he wouldn't deny it. Instead, he would flaunt it."

Dong Shuye nodded slightly, "That's true." Deep-seated hatred like theirs, if they really had killed the Young Master, there would be nothing secretive about it.

"I have sent messages to lock down the area within about 30 miles. Whoever killed the Young Master should not be of high cultivation. They won't be able to leave the area quickly. The moment they show themselves, they'll have no chance of escape."

"I'm just worried Xuanmen might interfere," Dong Shuye frowned.

"Xuanmen making a move is certain, but the death of the Young Master must be explained to the elders of our sect, otherwise you and I will be unable to report back on our duties."

Dong Shuye exhaled, "I must stay at the base and can't leave. Everything outside is up to you."

"You can rest assured, Senior Brother," Cao Ye nodded. Although he was injured by Wang Yeang, the wounds were only superficial. Given the quality of his physique, he could recover considerably after a night's rest.

"Also, there's the issue of the Young Master's body..." Dong Shuye suddenly remembered another matter.

Cao Ye braced himself, "Tomorrow I will bring the Young Master's body back." He prayed that Wang Yeang wouldn't take away the Young Master's body. Given that person's character, he probably wouldn't do something so unscrupulous.