Sage of Humanity

Chapter 245 243: Luring the Snake Out of Its Hole

According to the information provided by the siblings Hao Ren, places like the mine veins under the Sky Supporting Sect's control definitely have Level 9 cultivators as guards, and not just one—there are probably about three or four, since the mine's range is quite large, and one Level 9 cultivator can't cover it all.

Once his tracks were exposed there, it would inevitably lead to a pursuit.

Now, it seemed that the situation was almost as previously anticipated; Hao Ren had drawn over two Level 9 cultivators from there.

What needed to be done now was quite simple—figure out a way to kill those two Sky Supporting Sect cultivators!

In the night sky, those two pursuing figures were extremely noticeable, constantly closing in on the direction where Lu Ye was located.

While these two were still three miles away, Hao Ren rushed up to Lu Ye, making Lu Ye marvel at his speed; after all, he was a ghost cultivator, and his speed was truly fast!

Even the two Level 9 cultivators using weapon control-flying couldn't catch up with him.

However, at the moment, Hao Ren's neck bore some strange patterns that Lu Ye had seen before on Lann Yudie, probably the result of activating some secret technique to increase his speed.

His complexion was slightly pale, and he looked dust-covered and disheveled.

Nodding slightly to Lu Ye, Hao Ren walked to the predetermined spot and suddenly disappeared.

No sooner had he left than the figures of the two cultivators using the Flying Spirit Artifacts arrived not far in front of Lu Ye, with a surge of light speeding directly at Lu Ye—it was the glow of weapon control.

Lu Ye looked up and felt that the power of this guy's weapon control was not as good as his own, and his aura of spirit light wasn't very bright, clearly having consumed quite a few elixir pills; this Level 9 cultivator was notably weaker than Yuan Guang.

"It's not that ghost cultivator!" the magic cultivator who hadn't made a move suddenly spoke.

The light from the weapon control shifted slightly, grazing past Lu Ye's cheek and bringing a gust of wind that stung his face. Throughout, Lu Ye hadn't moved at all, as if he had been stunned.

In fact, Lu Ye was confident he could either dodge or block the strike, so he made no superfluous movements.

The one who attacked Lu Ye seemed to be a combat cultivator, as he was standing on a saber.

Cultivators flying with weapon control could choose specialized Flying Spirit Artifacts, or they could choose their own combat weapons; the two were different.

Using specialized Flying Spirit Artifacts undoubtedly offered a more comfortable flying experience because the space was larger, the speed faster, and the flight smoother, but comparatively, the energy consumed was also greater.

As with this combat cultivator using his own combat weapon for flight, the experience wasn't as good as the former, but it had the advantage of conserving spirit force.

Moreover, some combat weapons are not very suitable for flight; swords and sabers still work fine, as flying with sword control or saber control could still look elegant, but if originally using something like a Wolf Fang Club, the posture of weapon control-flying might be slightly awkward to the eye.

Choosing specialized Flying Spirit Artifacts or using one's own combat weapon ultimately depended on one's financial capability.

This was similar to when cultivators reached Level 7 and had to choose which weapon to use for combat; some cultivators' weapons were good for close combat and also for mid-range control.

Cultivators' expenses for cultivation were substantial, including the daily consumption of elixir pills and cultivational Spirit Stones—it all cost money.

At lower levels of cultivation, they would also need to buy Spirit Talismans for protection.

Upon reaching Level 7, many cultivators needed to buy weapon control artifacts.

At Level 8, they needed to purchase Flying Spirit Artifacts.

At Level 9, they needed to buy Heaven Rank techniques...

Thus, most cultivators at the Spirit Stream Realm led very hard lives, finding it difficult to accumulate wealth.

Specialized Flying Spirit Artifacts were not cheap, costing at least two to three hundred Spirit Stones. The better the Flying Spirit Artifacts, the more expensive they became, costing thousands to tens of thousands of Spirit Stones.

Although Lu Ye had not yet reached the stage of flying with weapon control, he still knew quite a bit about these things.

So, seeing the combat cultivator flying with the saber, he could tell that this guy was broke, and immediately lost much interest in him; even if he killed this person, there wouldn't be much of value in his storage sack.

On the other hand, the little boat that magic cultivator was standing on looked rather exquisite and might be worth some money.

Both were suspended in mid-air, looking down on Lu Ye, who appeared to have been scared stiff. The combat cultivator spoke in a deep voice, "Have you seen a Level 8 ghost cultivator?"

Lu Ye remained silent; he was now considering how to bring the opponent down as the other was floating in mid-air and his previously prepared traps wouldn't work.

Not receiving an answer, the combat cultivator grew impatient and asked again, "Which side are you on?"

Still, there was no reply.

"Then you can go die!" The combat cultivator snorted coldly; a cultivator who couldn't even declare his side was definitely an enemy, so he decisively prepared to strike.

While saying this, the spiritual artifact in his hand trembled slightly, brimming with killing intent.

Lu Ye extended his hand and took something out of his storage sack, tossing it onto the ground!

"Hm?" The combat cultivator's eyes lit up; even before the item hit the ground, he dove down to catch it, because what Lu Ye had thrown was a Flying Spirit Artifact.

For a combat cultivator so poor that he could only fly with sword control, a Flying Spirit Artifact was undoubtedly very appealing, especially since it was thrown by a Level 7 cultivator. In his eyes, the item was clearly the counterpart's way of bribing for his life.

The item belonged to Yuan Guang; after Lu Ye had killed him and opened his storage sack, it had become his spoils of war, and now it was put to good use.

The combat cultivator grabbed the Flying Spirit Artifact in a flash and upon closer inspection, realized it seemed familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

Of course, it was familiar; Yuan Guang and he were both Level 9 cultivators and also fellow cultivators at the Sky Supporting Sect, definitely acquainted with each other. He had seen Yuan Guang's Flying Spirit Artifact before and had even ridden it with Yuan Guang.

Before he could figure it out, the area around him twisted and transformed, suddenly revealing a scene of a chaotic stone forest. Once the stone forest disappeared, the combat cultivator vanished along with it.

This sudden change startled the magic cultivator, but something even scarier was about to happen.

The spirit force surged below, and two beams of Liu Guang shot towards him at extremely high speed, each filled with murderous intent. As they crossed each other, the two beams seemed to morph into a pair of scissors...

The magic cultivator was cautious, and even though his strength surpassed Lu Ye, he hovered thirty meters away all the same, wary of the possibility that the Level 7 cultivator might suddenly attack using weapon control; he had suffered from such a tactic before.

So after a brief shock, the magic cultivator calmed down, thinking that his usual careful caution was indeed rewarding, "I am indeed steady."

Thirty meters—beyond the reach of any Level 7 cultivator's weapon control. There was no way the opponent could harm him.

With two light sounds, the magic cultivator's Flying Spirit Artifact was violently shaken, immediately becoming unstable. As Lu Ye made his move, he spurred his spirit force, ready to use his magic spells, but the shock disrupted his concentration, interrupting the spell he was about to cast as he hurriedly stabilized his Flying Spirit Artifact.

Falling from this height, even if he didn't die, would leave him half-dead; his small stature wasn't as robust as a physique cultivator's.

His mind a mess, he thought, "Who the hell told me a Level 7 cultivator's weapon control wouldn't exceed thirty meters? This is way beyond thirty meters, at least thirty-five meters."

A surge of searing heat rushed up from below. Just as he stabilized, his Flying Spirit Artifact suffered an even more violent shock than before, this time from Lu Ye executing the Fire Dragon Technique!

Under the night sky, a huge fire dragon collided with the Flying Spirit Artifact, flipping it over directly.

Accompanied by a cry of alarm, the magic cultivator fell from mid-air. Two beams of Liu Guang wrapped around him, weaving to the left and right, but they failed to kill the magic cultivator because a considerably thick spirit force barrier suddenly emerged around his body.

This was a lifesaving magic spell that every magic cultivator cultivated!

His body swayed left and right under the impact of the two beams of Liu Guang, dizzy and disoriented, but as long as the spirit force barrier held, his life was not in danger.

Seeing this, Lu Ye felt even more that he needed to embed spirit runes on his weapon control; without the augmentation of Sharpness spirit runes, the power of weapon control just wasn't formidable enough.

The magic cultivator's spirit force barrier was indeed impressive, but if Lu Ye were to attack with a sabre—if the Boulder Mountain Saber was augmented with Sharpness, it would only take three or five slashes to break through it. If augmented with two layers of Sharpness, maybe only one or two slashes would suffice.

Unlike now, his weapon control's Liu Guang banged against the opponent's spirit force barrier making loud, impressive noises, but in reality, it was only mildly irritating for the other party.

He complained to himself, unaware that the magic cultivator was actually terrified, not just because he was falling from mid-air, but more importantly because he saw that under the attack of two weapon-controlled beams, his own spirit force was draining away like floodwaters breaching a dam!

Utilizing the impact from the weapon control, he stabilized his form and hastily used the Travel Through Air Skill.

This spell allowed one to float in the air for a short time. Dong Shuye had once performed it in front of Lu Ye, only to be disoriented by Lu Ye's fire quail hit.

Magic cultivators generally do not use weapon control to kill enemies—not because they can't, but because it's unnecessary. Their spells can hit enemies from great distances, and using weapon control also divides their attention and limits their attack range. Thus, for a magic cultivator, the Path of Weapon Control is rather superfluous.

However, once a magic cultivator reaches Level 7, they can cultivate some more powerful spells, just as Lu Ye had cultivated the Fire Dragon Technique. Hence, after reaching Level 7, a magic cultivator's strength greatly enhances too.

After executing the Travel Through Air Skill, the Level 9 magic cultivator breathed a sigh of relief. It was embarrassing to be put in such a disarray by a Level 7, but now that he had stabilized the situation, all he needed was to increase his altitude, widen the distance, and resume weapon-controlled flight to take control of this fight!

Then the Level 7 would be just a target.

Being humiliated by a Level 7 was an insult. He decided to teach the opponent a lesson, letting him know the terrifying fury a Level 9 magic cultivator could unleash when angered!

With spirit force surging, he ascended upward, stepping back onto his Flying Spirit Artifact...

Looking down, however, there was no sign of the Level 7 cultivator below.

Where did he go? In his panic, he had not specifically paid attention to the opponent's movements, and now he had no idea where the other had gone.

A sudden fluctuation of spirit force came from above his head; the magic cultivator looked up and his scalp tingled.