Sage of Humanity

Chapter 248 246 Quasi-Flood Dragon

In the mine, Lu Ye received a message from Hao Ren, "Brother Yiye, it's time to pull out!"

The surviving cultivators of the Sky Supporting Sect had been alarmed, and the news must have already reached their base. This place was only thirty miles away from the Sky Supporting Sect's base. If they didn't leave now, it would be difficult to escape once the Sky Supporting Sect sent reinforcements.

Lu Ye also knew that it was not wise to linger, so he did not seek further combat. Under Yiyi's guidance, they exited through one of the mine's openings.

The mine's exits were numerous and everywhere, mainly to facilitate escape. Mining in the Spirit Stream battlefield was not safe, and if there were fewer exits, it would be easy to be blocked. Therefore, the mines of every sect generally had many entrances and exits.

This made it easier for Lu Ye, as he did not have to retreat the same way he came.

Upon bursting out of the mine tunnel, a bird-like call was heard not far away. Lu Ye grabbed the Amber and threw it to the ground, letting it revert to its original form, mounted its back, and charged toward the source of the sound.

In no time, he had regrouped with Brother Hao and Sister Hao and they began to flee frantically.

The group had initially thought that after kicking a hornet's nest, they would certainly be pursued, and Lu Ye had already made plans: if not many people came, he would join the Hao siblings in a counterattack, but if there were a lot, he would split from the Hao siblings and continue to escape using his Wings, drawing the enemy's attention.

The speed of the Wings was very fast, typically not something that Level 9 cultivators using weapon control-flying could catch up with.

Yet, after escaping for a while, there had been no sign of pursuit from behind, much to everyone's astonishment.

An hour later, the hurried trio and one tiger stopped on a small hillside; there were no pursuers, no need to flee anymore.

Hao Ren opened his mouth and said, "Brother Yiye, we seem to have got something wrong."

"What?"

"The people from the Sky Supporting Sect probably won't come to pursue and kill us," he had communicated with Luo Fu a moment ago, and this conclusion was Luo Fu's.

"How so?"

"Look... we first killed three of their Level 9 cultivators, then broke into their mine. From the Sky Supporting Sect's perspective, there must have been a large number of cultivators who came to their disadvantage; otherwise, there's no reason for them to suffer so many casualties without even a message sent back before those three Level 9 cultivators died. With such worries, coupled with the dark night, they wouldn't dare to mobilize recklessly. Now they're most likely huddled within their base's big array."

Upon hearing this, Lu Ye realized that things might really be as Hao Ren had said.

Only they knew what was going on their end; the Sky Supporting Sect didn't. With the loss of three Level 9 cultivators guarding the mine and the mine having been captured, the Sky Supporting Sect would definitely have suspicions, and indeed, they wouldn't dare to attack recklessly in the dark.

"Bro, have you become smarter?" Hao Qing looked at Hao Ren with a face full of surprise.

Hao Ren gave her a glance and naturally didn't tell her it was Brother Luo who said so.

"But we can't let our guard down. After daybreak, the Sky Supporting Sect will definitely send people to investigate the mine. By then, they will probably be able to understand the truth."

It would be interesting to see what their reaction would be when the Sky Supporting Sect finally realized that the raid on the mine was not by a large group of people, but just a few.

Aboard the ship-shaped Flying Spirit Artifact, the leading Luo Fu ended communication with Hao Ren, his expression enigmatic...

The Sky Supporting Sect had not sent out a pursuit, and this was quite frustrating. He had mobilized all the available hands from the sect. Surely, they could not just enjoy the night scenery and then head back? His mind was choked with worries.

After the duration of one incense stick's time, Lu Ye, riding Amber, and led by the Hao siblings, arrived in front of a lake.

The night breeze swept over, causing ripples across the lake, as if even the air had become clearer.

Now certain that no one from the Sky Supporting Sect was in pursuit, everyone's mood relaxed. Earlier, when they had been killing the Sky Supporting Sect cultivators in the mine, Hao Qing had gotten a lot of blood on her, sticky and uncomfortable, so their main reason for coming here was to clean up.

Lu Ye didn't particularly care.

Hao Ren set up a bonfire and took a large piece of beast meat from his storage sack to roast over the fire, demonstrating his skill in this craft.

Lu Ye glanced toward the water's edge not far away where Hao Qing stood muttering to herself, then suddenly she threw something large into the lake with a loud splash, creating waves in the water.

Seeming to notice Lu Ye's confusion, Hao Ren explained, "They say there's a quasi-flood dragon in this lake that relishes Blood Food. However, it doesn't generally harm people, so cultivators who come here for water or to rest just need to throw some Blood Food into the lake."

"A quasi-flood dragon?"

"I've never seen it. It's probably a very long snake, I guess."

Lu Ye and Amber both remembered the tender, white snake meat, which made their stomachs growl with hunger.

Hao Ren laughed, "There are legends everywhere in the Spirit Stream battlefield. Who knows if they are true or false. As far as I know, it seems no one has ever seen that quasi-flood dragon, probably just exaggeration."

Moments later, Hao Qing came back clean, her hair still wet. The roasted beast meat was ready, and they shared the meal.

After the hectic night and the intense battle earlier, they were understandably tired. Lu Ye and the Hao siblings began to meditate and rest, with Yiyi in charge of keeping watch.

During his cultivation, Lu Ye inspected the condition of his spiritual orifice. Half a month ago, he had opened it up to one hundred and thirty-five orifices. Now he only needed to open one more orifice to reach one hundred and forty-four, at which point he would be at the Level 8 cultivation.

Higher cultivation wasn't always a good thing. For example, when he killed Yuan Guang, he received twenty-seven points of merit. If he had been at Level 8 and killed Yuan Guang, he would have received only eighteen points.

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This was one of the reasons he didn't wait to advance to Level 8 before running to the inner circle—his Level 7 cultivation might be a bit lacking, but the merit earned from defeating enemies above one's level was truly substantial.

Lu Ye then took out the storage sacks he had previously seized to unlock them.

Storage sacks can't carry too much, but thanks to Madam Yun's instruction, his lock-picking skills were growing daily, and it didn't take much time to open a storage sack.

While he was busy, Amber, who had shrunk in size, hopped onto his leg and nudged his belly with its head.

Usually, when Amber acted this way, it was for one thing.

Lu Ye understood and took out the Scale Armor. Amber leaned in and took a fierce suck, swallowing a bloodline visible to the naked eye.

As expected, Amber fell over stiffly... its body emitted a faint red glow that mingled with its natural golden demon Qi to shine brilliantly.

Ever since obtaining the Scale Armor from the Dragon Spring at Hundred Peaks Mountain, Amber would occasionally suck on it, and Lu Ye would always place it in the Spirit Gathering Array during his cultivation. But even after such a long time, the blood Qi in the Scale Armor had barely diminished.

This indicated the richness of the blood Qi contained within it.

Second Senior Sister Shui Yuan had studied the Scale Armor but couldn't identify it, only guessing that there must be some secret hidden beneath the Dragon Spring.

Lu Ye planned to revisit the Dragon Spring when his cultivation was strong enough. He vividly remembered that while undergoing the Dragon Spring Body Tempering, two gigantic blood-red pupils suddenly appeared in his mind.

Putting away the Scale Armor, Lu Ye continued to unlock the restriction lock on the storage sack.

On the lake surface, ripples appeared out of nowhere, followed by layer upon layer of silent waves spreading outward. In a short time, the ripples became dense and countless. Moments later, a solitary horn emerged from the water, with dark shadows moving underneath—it seemed that some massive creature was passing by.

"Lu Ye!"

Yiyi, who was on alert, softly called out.

Lu Ye heard the urgency in her voice; he quickly looked around and immediately locked eyes with two oily green pupils. Each slitted pupil was the size of a washbasin, distinctly visible even in the dark night.

Upon meeting that gaze, a tremendous fear and sense of danger sprang up in Lu Ye's heart...

On a closer look, he could vaguely make out some features of the owner of those eyes—a gigantic snake head with a lump of flesh that seemed to be a horn, its body covered in dense snake scales. On either side of its abdomen, there were bulges, as if something was about to grow out from there.

He couldn't see how long it was since most of its body was underwater, but it was at least as thick as a large water barrel.

As their eyes met, Lu Ye didn't dare to move. He could feel that this creature was probably on the same level as the Little Gray back at his base, both on the verge of the maximum capacity that the Spirit Stream battlefield could accommodate. Even powerhouses like Feng Yuechan and Li Baxian couldn't defeat them in single combat.

Luckily, the giant snake didn't immediately attack after appearing; instead, it just stared at Lu Ye.

Lu Ye had no idea why it was staring at him.

"Brother Hao, Brother Hao!"

Lu Ye called softly.

Hao Ren, unaware of what had occurred, replied, "What's wrong?"

"What did you say was in this lake again?"

"A quasi-flood dragon, ah!" Hao Ren suddenly cried out in terror, as he too saw the immense pair of eyes. Hao Qing, by his side, was startled,

But his reaction was quick. He swiftly pressed down on Hao Qing who was about to leap up and maintained an awkward pose—kneeling on one knee with his body bent forward.

Cold sweat slowly rolled down everyone's foreheads as the atmosphere grew heavy.

None of them dared to move, all aware that the quasi-flood dragon was not to be trifled with. Any inappropriate action could provoke it, and they might not live to see the next day's sun.

"Brother Hao, didn't you say that the thing in this lake was just an exaggerated rumor?"

Just a while ago Hao Ren had mentioned the quasi-flood dragon in the lake, and now Lu Ye had encountered it. He wasn't sure whether to feel honored or unlucky.

Hao Ren's voice trembled: "I've never seen it myself, either. My sister and I have come here several times, and it has never appeared."

"Think of something, it keeps staring at me for some reason."

"Yes, let's think of something." Hao Ren took a few deep breaths to calm his panic, "That's right, it likes blood food. Everyone must stay still. I'll get something for it to eat; maybe it's just hungry."

As he spoke, Hao Ren slowly stood up.

Meanwhile, Lu Ye's attention was at its peak, ready to soar into the sky at the slightest sign of trouble from the quasi-flood dragon.

He hadn't fled at first sight of the quasi-flood dragon, mainly because he feared provoking it, which could put Hao Ren and his sister in grave danger.

But if the quasi-flood dragon did have any ill intentions towards them, then other than flying away, he had no other choice.

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