“Smells amazing!”
A cultivator caught a whiff of that scent—and in just that instant, he felt his mouth flood with saliva.
An urge from the deepest part of all living beings seized his mind in a flash.
His consciousness went blank.
And in that blankness, only one thought remained:
“So fragrant! So fragrant! I want to eat! I want to eat! I want to eat!”
That was the only thought.
Everyone who smelled that scent—regardless of gender, age, or race—completely lost their minds in that moment. They couldn’t resist that primal instinct of all living creatures.
They had to eat the thing producing that smell.
No matter what it was.
All at once, a massive crowd surged toward Lu Ye’s shattered remains.
Just then, a formation around his broken body suddenly activated.
It was a formation Lu Ye had set up before transcending his tribulation.
But that formation wasn’t meant to resist the heavenly tribulation.
It was meant to stop these deranged maniacs.
BOOM!
In a blink, countless silhouettes slammed into the formation barrier, their eyes brimming with a terrifying, mindless greed as they bashed against it.
The crowd swelled.
Because of the madness of those behind them, some of the weaker cultivators in front were literally crushed to death—squeezed into paste.
Blood splattered across the barrier, staining Lu Ye’s view in red.
Madness.
Complete madness.
Lu Ye’s body was in the process of reforming. His physical form had been destroyed once, and the Scent of the Dao had been released with it.
Watching so many living beings lose their minds over that scent, Lu Ye couldn’t help but sigh softly.
This fragrance was simply too lethal for any living creature.
His shattered body was temporarily restored.
To recover to perfect condition, he estimated he’d need at least three days.
After all, he had been blown apart thoroughly.
But even after his body reformed, the Scent of the Dao continued to radiate without end, driving the crowd around him into sheer madness.
A massive surge of power erupted from Lu Ye’s body.
BOOM!
Countless figures were blasted flying in every direction. Seizing the moment, Lu Ye took off at speed.
Everyone, now little more than zombies immune to pain, immediately scrambled back to their feet and charged after him.
But clearly—they couldn’t match Lu Ye’s speed.
Only when his figure completely vanished from sight—
Did the fragrance begin to fade.
And only then did the crowd start to regain their senses.
“Huh? That smell... What was that smell? I was about to die from craving whatever was producing it!”
“Was it Lu Ye’s scent? Why do I feel like... if I just ate one bite of Lu Ye’s flesh, I’d be able to attain the Dao and ascend on the spot?”
“I feel the same way. Even if I had to give up my Dao Path, I’d still do it for just one bite...”
At that moment, no one was thinking about how terrifyingly powerful Lu Ye was.
They were still drowning in the memory of that fragrance. Even though their rational minds had returned, every corner of their hearts still screamed the same thing:
I must taste Lu Ye.
This... was the terror of the Scent of the Dao.
As long as one caught a whiff of it, rational thought was no longer their own. Instinct took over completely.
And all they could dream of was that ultimate, peerless perfection.
Lu Ye sprinted for 100,000 li nonstop.
Only then did he stop in a barren, deserted place.
Originally, the scent radius was just one meter around his body. But after this soul-level outburst—and with his body even stronger, now nearing the Fifth Tribulation threshold—
That scent now spread across a hundred meters.
It was terrifying.
From now on, no one could come within a hundred meters of him?
“Fucking lunatic yandere...”
Lu Ye couldn’t help but curse.
That damned yandere was way too extreme. Everyone else schemed to torture Lu Ye in twisted ways—
Only she, even when poisoning him, used a poison designed to keep everyone else away.
This was Yin Qingcheng’s truest intention:
She wanted Lu Ye to belong entirely to her, utterly and exclusively. She wouldn’t even allow another living being to appear around him.
Since there was no one here, Lu Ye simply began recovering.
Vital energy surged from within.
Three days would be more than enough to return to peak condition.
Destiny Realm.
To understand fate—to know karma.
If your karma was good, Heaven would send you aid. If your karma was evil, disaster would come uninvited.
Some believed the more karma, the better. If karma was abundant, support would be strong—many hands make light work.
Others believed that karma should be minimized. If you accumulated too much, no matter how cautiously you developed, calamity would strike from nowhere.
In his past life, Lu Ye followed the Dao of Protection, so he had taken the path of heavy karma.
Strength in numbers!
But in the end, that hadn’t worked out so well.
After all, this world wasn’t a Human Emperor Banner.
The Human Emperor Banner did make numbers into power.
But in this life, he could choose the path of light karma.
His Dao was the Path of Seeking—what need did he have for family, love, or friendship?
None was best.
Three days passed in a flash.
Lu Ye’s body recovered—he was back at full strength.
He looked up.
And released his Heaven-Masking Art and Dao-Masking Art.
The summoning force of ascension descended from the heavens.
“Senior Brother!”
Yue Hongling came sprinting toward him, shouting his name.
“Senior Brother, wait for me! I’m almost ready to ascend—please wait for me!”
“Don’t forget me! I’m Yue Hongling—your junior sister, your Dao companion!”
“Senior Brother! Senior Brother!”
...
“Young Master! Please take care of yourself! Ling’er will train hard—one day, I’ll become the strongest sword in your hand!”
Stone sword???
“Young Master, I was wrong! I really know I was wrong!”
...
“Brother Lu Ye... I know I was wrong too. Oh, and my Dao of Emotion has grown even stronger! I really, truly love you so much!”
...
“Husband, husband, husband...”
...
Lu Ye’s figure rose higher and higher into the sky.
He looked down—at the four tiny specks below him, as small as dust motes.
His brow remained ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ utterly calm.
From this moment on, you’ve all been left far behind. And in time, even my silhouette will vanish from your eyes.
Third Heaven.
The Jiang Clan had already received advance notice.
At this moment, three Jiang Clan Elders stood smiling warmly by the Ascension Pool, awaiting Lu Ye’s arrival.
“The Patriarch gave orders—we are to treat him with courtesy. This Lu Ye is unfathomably strong. The Jiang Clan has no reason to provoke such a powerhouse. If the Patriarch weren’t in seclusion, he might’ve come personally.”
“It’s just a shame Jiang Die has gone missing. If she were here to help with reconciliation, it would work even better.”
“But what if... he refuses to give us face?”
“Huh? No way, right? The Jiang Clan’s this huge family—if we take the initiative to reconcile, why would he refuse?”
“I said what if! Just in case!”
“If he does refuse—well, what else is there to say? We were already enemies. If he won’t reconcile, then we stay enemies. Even if he’s in the Destiny Realm and can battle above his level, can he really endure a full-force karma assault?”
“So you’re saying we strike?”
“The Patriarch said no striking...”
“Whether we strike or not... depends on whether he knows how to respect our goodwill.”
