Humanity’s Great Sage

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Each day was spent reading or cultivating, then some time would occasionally be taken out in order to enter the Rift of Illusions to hone himself, familiarizing himself with the might of the Inviolable after its upgrade. Life was peaceful.

Such a life was highly coveted by many cultivators in the Cloud River Realm. Having a stable cultivation environment meant not needing to travel around and face too many dangers, allowing for a smooth advancement in cultivation.

Lu Ye was also content with such a life.

Although he had been on the go since he started cultivating, he wouldn’t refuse such a peaceful life if it weren’t for his unavoidable circumstances.

While cultivating in Arcane Glade couldn’t compare to obtaining Amulets, it had the advantage of stability. In terms of overall efficiency, it might even be faster than going around everywhere in search of Amulets, especially since they weren’t exactly things that one would come upon just because they set their minds on searching for it. It also depended on luck.

On the third evening since the wolf pack disappeared, the sun had just set when Lu Ye, who was reading and cultivating, suddenly looked up and saw a dense group of figures outside the Grand Ward of the Arcane Glade.

The wolf pack had returned.

The imposing pack leader was covered in blood, and the other Wolf Mutants also had signs of injury, indicating that they had just experienced a great battle.

However, what surprised Lu Ye was that the wolf pack had grown in size.

Originally, this wolf pack consisted of just over a hundred Wolf Mutants, but now, they had returned with more than two hundred, including some young wolf cubs that obviously weren’t fully grown.

Under the leadership of the pack leader, the wolf pack stopped outside the Grand Ward and waited quietly.

Lu Ye waved the Ward Flag and opened a gap in the Ward. Only then did the wolf pack pour into the Arcane Glade and look for suitable places to rest while the injured Wolf Mutants silently licked their wounds.

The pack leader led some Wolf Mutants straight to Lu Ye. Under its guidance, the Wolf Mutants approached and spat out Mutant Cores they kept in their mouths.

Lu Ye had already obtained more than a dozen Mutant Cores from the wolf pack previously, and he had no idea what the wolf pack had gone out to do. Not only did the pack increase in size, they also brought back nearly 50 Mutant Cores.

This was clearly the wolf pack’s show of gratitude and also the reward for Lu Ye’s Tattoos.

It was a great deal!

The materials Lu Ye bought from the Vault of Providence cost only a little over a thousand Contribution Points, but the value of these Mutant Cores was worth more than that. He could even get as much as ten thousand if he were to sell them off to the Vault of Providence.

Since the wolf pack knew to show gratitude, Lu Ye naturally wouldn’t be stingy either. He immediately spent some Contribution Points to buy some Healing Pills from the Vault of Providence and distributed them to the injured Wolf Mutants together with Yi Yi.

After all, the future safety of the Arcane Glade would depend on this wolf pack. The reason Lu Ye chose to establish the Arcane Glade in Ameliorate Valley was so that he could leverage the strength of the wolf pack for protection.

If it weren’t for this wolf pack, he would never have set the Arcane Glade here. Although this place was hidden, it was also quite risky. If a powerful Spirit Beast attacked, he and Li Baxian alone might not be able to withstand it.

Many of the new Wolf Mutants were somewhat resistant to being approached by Lu Ye, but under the intimidation of the pack leader, they could only obediently take the Healing Pills.

Spirit Beasts were very tenacious. As long as their injuries weren’t too severe and they weren’t instantly killed, there was generally no harm to their lives.

After two or three days, the wolf pack had mostly recovered.

The pack leader led its newly arrived members to see Lu Ye and to enlist his help in Tattooing Glyphs for them. Lu Ye naturally wouldn’t refuse as improving the strength of the wolf pack also meant increasing the Arcane Glade’s defenses.

Meanwhile, 15 kilometers away from Ameliorate Valley, Tan Sheng and his two companions were seated cross-legged in a cave, recuperating.

Even if all three of them were in the Ninth Order, they appeared somewhat disheveled at the moment. They had been searching for Lu Ye’s whereabouts in the vicinity for days, but unfortunately, the compass they had was far less effective than a Tracking Disc. They could only roughly determine Lu Ye’s location but were unable to pinpoint it accurately.

During their search, they occasionally encountered powerful Spirit Beasts, which led them into fierce battles.

Just two hours ago, the three of them had joined forces to kill a Spirit Beast that was on par with a Ninth Order Cloud River Realm cultivator.

Though it wasn’t without some gains, their main goal was still Lu Ye. No matter how many Spirit Beasts they killed, none of it meant anything if they couldn’t find Lu Ye.

“Yi Ye should be nearby. Let’s rest for tonight and continue searching in the southeastern direction tomorrow,” Tan Sheng suggested.

Neither Wei Que nor Xia Liang had any objections. Even though they hadn’t found any trace of Lu Ye yet, they could surmise that Lu Ye hadn’t left this area based on the clues they found. So, as long as they continued searching, they would eventually find him.

“We have already thoroughly searched within this 50-kilometer radius several times, but we still haven’t found anything. Yi Ye is proficient in Wards, so if he really did set up his Arcane Glade here, he would have set up many Grand Wards as well. During tomorrow’s search, we mustn’t overlook anything remotely suspicious,” Wei Que added.

“Naturally it should be so,” Tan Sheng nodded. “However, his Teleportation Ward is going to be troublesome for us. Even if we did find him, we might not be able to kill him if he has set up the Ward in advance.”

Inside the Carnage Colosseum, Tan Sheng had been pursuing Lu Ye’s trail with the Tracking Disc, but his movements were unpredictable, sometimes appearing in front, sometimes behind, teleporting one to two hundred kilometers in an instant.

At that time, Tan Sheng didn’t know what was happening and even suspected that there was something wrong with the Tracking Disc.

Until the Carnage Colosseum closed, he racked his mind and asked around for information. Finally, he arrived at the conjecture that Yi Ye might be able to set up Teleportation Wards! That was why he could instantly teleport one to two hundred kilometers at a time, making it impossible to chase him down.

When he reached this conclusion, he was genuinely surprised as Teleportation Wards were not something that ordinary Wardmages could set up. Even a Real Lake Realm Ward cultivator would find it challenging to set up Teleportation Wards, let alone Lu Ye, who was only in the Cloud River Realm.

However, apart from Teleportation Wards, there was no other way to explain the strange situations he encountered.

After putting his heart together with Wei Que and Xia Liang and discussing this matter, he became even more certain about that conjecture.

Because Wei Que had also pursued Lu Ye before, and even though Lu Ye clearly entered a cave, he seemed to disappear without a trace when he went in to search. There were only remnants of a shattered Ward on the ground as if something had been destroyed.

Later, the three of them carefully investigated the places where Lu Ye had appeared in the Carnage Colosseum and eventually found a Teleportation Ward that  Lu Ye left behind, confirming their conjecture about his use of them.

Xia Liang said, “I asked some of the elders in the Sect about Teleportation Wards. There’s no need to worry too much. Even if Yi Ye can set them up, the coverage range of the Teleportation Wards he can create with his cultivation level won’t be too large, and they have to be able to echo with each other in order to work. With Spirit Beasts rampant in the Grand Wilds Peak, he definitely wouldn’t dare to randomly set up the Wards outside lest they be destroyed by passing Spirit Beasts. Instead of worrying about the Teleportation Wards, I’m more concerned about whether he has summoned the Divine Opportunity Column in the Arcane Glade.”

As soon as that possibility was aired out, Tan Sheng and Wei Que fell silent.

If it were anyone else, summoning the Divine Opportunity Column might be unlikely as it was a costly endeavor, but for Yi Ye, it was entirely possible.

That guy was rich! He had recently obtained tens of millions of Contribution Points worth of resources from Thousand Demon Ridge, so definitely had a lot of Contribution Points at his disposal and could summon a Divine Opportunity Column at any time.

It was this exact method that he used to escape in the Carnage Colosseum before.

“Last time, he had the Golden Body Token protecting him so no one could stop him. If not for that, he wouldn’t have been able to escape then. So, it shouldn’t be a big problem,” Tan Sheng said, perhaps trying to reassure himself. After a pause, he continued, “Even if he has already summoned a Divine Opportunity Column and escaped realizing that the situation is unfavorable for him, at the very least, we can seize his Arcane Glade, and it wouldn’t be a complete loss. In any case, let’s first find his whereabouts! Even if he has summoned a Divine Opportunity Column, and we can’t kill him this time, there will always be next time!”

Their conversation came to an end and they quietly recovered their strength.

At dawn the next day, they set off again and continued their search in the southeastern direction.

Moments later, in the sky above Ameliorate Valley, three streaks of light passed by, Tan Sheng and his companions respectively. They scanned their surroundings, but due to the Concealment Ward’s effects, all they saw was a beautifully scenic valley without anything particularly noteworthy.

Of course, the main reason was that none of the three of them were proficient in the Way of Wards. Otherwise, they may have been able to discern some clues.

Just as they were about to pass by, Xia Liang suddenly halted and focused his gaze downwards.

In the previously empty valley below, a wolf-like Spirit Beast had appeared at some point in time. Judging from its appearance, it was a young wolf cub that had yet to fully grow up.

Sensing Xia Liang’s unusual behavior, Tan Sheng and Wei Que also quickly stopped their movements.

“Xia Liang?” Tan Sheng looked over in confusion.

Xia Liang remained silent, concentrating his vision as he continued to observe.

At that moment, a distortion occurred in the empty space not far from the young wolf cub, causing a visible ripple. Following that, an imposing Wolf Mutant materialized out of thin air, walked up to the wolf cub, and grabbed it by its neck. Then, ignoring the cub’s struggles, it carried the cub away.

Another ripple appeared, and the Wolf Mutant vanished again.

“A Concealment Ward!” Tan Sheng exclaimed, a hint of excitement appearing in his eyes.

Both Xia Liang and Wei Que grew excited as well.

Wei Que said, “This Concealment Ward has to be Yi Ye’s doing, no doubt about it. This is where he’s set up his Arcane Glade!”

This truly was like wearing down iron shoes to find nothing, only to then chance upon it effortlessly.

They had been searching for Lu Ye’s whereabouts in the vicinity, but they had never been able to find him, yet they never expected that a fortuitous coincidence would allow them to discover the traces of a Grand Ward.

Lu Ye himself had no idea that his Ward had been exposed because of a playful young wolf cub. Mainly, he had no knowledge that Tan Sheng and his companions had still been searching for his trail to begin with.

Previously, when he was being tracked with the Tracking Disc, he could sense their presence to some extent when they got close, but this time, he was completely oblivious to their presence.

The severely limited version of the Tracking Disc was far inferior to the genuine one, but that also meant that Lu Ye couldn’t sense it, so it had its pros and cons.

After confirming the possibility that this was where Lu Ye was hiding, the three of them no longer hesitated. Xia Liang drew his saber, Wei Que’s Spell Techniques surged, and Tan Sheng also brought out his own Spirit Artifact.

The three Ninth Order Cloud River Realm experts simultaneously launched their attacks towards the valley below.

Violent Spell Techniques surged, and massive blade lights swept through the area.

Tan Sheng’s angry roar echoed through the sky, “Yi Ye, come out and meet your death!”

With his roar, a deafening boom resounded. At the outskirts of the Arcane Glade, a solid barrier suddenly materialized, ripples spreading across its surface as it blocked the incoming attack.

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