Another wave of powerful cultivators fell.
It wasn’t until Lu Ye made his move that those without higher clearance were shocked to the core—Lu Ye had already reached the Unity Realm...
Unity Realm!!!
Everyone in the Third Heaven had witnessed his ascension.
How long had it even been?
And he had already reached Unity Realm?
What did this mean?
No one could possibly cultivate this quickly. Since ancient times, through endless generations, no one had ever cultivated at such a pace.
And yet Lu Ye had done just that.
There seemed to be only one truth.
That was...
“He really is a reincarnated powerhouse...”
“He must have left himself a treasure to grow rapidly!”
“I truly see a chance to become supreme in him!”
“But now he’s already grown.”
Regret filled countless hearts.
If only they had realized earlier, they would’ve done everything in their power to break through the formation of the Three-Valley Deadlands and capture Lu Ye before he had matured.
Force him to reveal his secrets!
But it wasn’t too late even now!
He was only in the Unity Realm. Without the Three-Valley Deadlands formation, so what if he was Unity Realm?
There were many powerful cultivators in the Third Heaven.
There were at least several hundred Unity Realm cultivators. If all of them joined forces to hunt Lu Ye, even if he wasn’t killed by force, he could be exhausted to death!
A supreme cultivator reborn.
And had left himself a treasure trove of cultivation.
What would happen if someone else took his place?
For heavenly prodigies, this wasn’t that tempting. But for those with mediocre talent or who had run out of potential, this was irresistible.
This was a world of the strong devouring the weak.
A world of competing for the Dao.
Among ten thousand cultivators, perhaps only one or two would be content with mediocrity.
Everyone else—who didn’t harbor ambition?
News of Lu Ye reaching Unity Realm spread and fermented at lightning speed.
If people had still been skeptical or on the fence before, now, with Lu Ye’s absurd rate of growth, everyone’s envy ignited.
At this moment, Lu Ye had become a walking pinnacle of opportunity—a humanoid treasure trove—a chance to attain the Dao.
This allure rivaled even that of the Fragrance of Ascension.
“Dead? All dead?”
Another report came in.
The second wave sent to kill Lu Ye had already been wiped out. Some hadn’t even attacked—just stood nearby watching—yet were still slain by Lu Ye.
“A demon! He’s a damn demon!”
“He has the Ten-Thousand Soul Banner! Even though it’s turned golden and emits noble purple qi, looking all righteous, I’m telling you—I’m not mistaken! That’s definitely the Ten-Thousand Soul Banner!”
“He’s probably the reincarnation of a Demon Lord. If we don’t kill him while he’s still weak, he’ll definitely bathe ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) the world in blood!”
“That’s right! All those emperors and supremes who turned demonic—same story! No one killed them while they were weak, and once they ascended, they all went on killing frenzies!”
If Lu Ye heard this, he would probably burst out laughing.
So you all tried to kill someone while they were weak.
Then failed.
And when they grew strong and fought back—you say they turned into a demon?
Ridiculous. But sadly, that was reality.
More and more people began flocking to hunt Lu Ye like mad.
Lu Ye sighed inwardly. In his past life, he had walked the Dao of Protection—basically a good-guy path.
You could say that in his previous life, he had friends all across the world. Some were genuine. Some just took advantage of his protection and leached off him under the guise of friendship.
But without a doubt, he had never become what he was now.
Now, countless people cursed his name.
Now, everyone treated him as a demon.
Back in the Second Heaven, people had known that Lu Ye was hunted down by the Jiang Clan and the Eternal Teachings Sect. That wasn’t really on him—it was retaliation against his enemies.
But now it was different.
Lu Ye had become a villain.
A complete villain.
No one talked about the hordes that came to kill him.
They only talked about how Lu Ye had killed too many people.
His very presence carried that maddening aura that drove others to lose reason.
Clearly, his heart was steeped in killing intent, yet he still tried to act like the victim. It was revolting!
Across the entire Third Heaven...
There were curses against Lu Ye everywhere.
That hostility intensified in the blink of an eye.
Lu Ye kept killing as he sank into thought.
Bai Qiulan was still here. She hadn’t left. Her gaze remained fixed on him, filled with concern.
And more and more people who came now bore growing hatred toward him.
So all of this had been orchestrated by Chu Ling from behind the scenes.
The system couldn’t track Chu Ling’s whereabouts, but Lu Ye understood why.
The Source of Darkness and the Heavenly Dao were beings of equal standing.
You could say, the Heavenly Dao ruled this world.
And the Source of Darkness... could also rule it.
It always grew silently, undetected by the Heavenly Dao, until it became so vast that the Heavenly Dao could no longer erase it.
So the Source of Darkness was especially adept at avoiding the Heavenly Dao’s detection.
Since the system was useless, he’d have to rely on his own methods to investigate.
Blood gathered—
Forming special runes, and one by one, threads of karmic cause and effect appeared.
Previously, Lu Ye had very little karma.
But after this period of relentless slaughter, the amount of karmic threads around him was terrifying.
The people he killed had their own loved ones, their own connections.
From the moment he began killing, Lu Ye had become karmically entangled with all those people—and their loved ones.
Blood flowed along the countless karmic threads and began to converge.
Just as the convergence was taking shape, a new wave of enemies appeared across the mountains.
Lu Ye paid them no mind. The Human Emperor Banner erupted in a surge of purple radiance.
In an instant, a massive Ten-Thousand Soul Devouring Heaven Formation unfolded.
Its core was Jiang Die.
The crowd charged at Lu Ye, rushing straight into the formation, clashing with countless resentful spirits.
Lu Ye watched as the blood gradually began flowing toward one specific karmic thread.
“Found it!”
Lu Ye threw a punch.
A blank passage opened in the fabric of the world.
The blood mist split to either side. Lu Ye’s figure shot forward with a booming roar.
The Ten-Thousand Soul Banner vanished along with him.
“Chase him!”
“He’s reached his limit! Don’t let him escape!”
“Kill!”
One cultivator after another took to the skies, launching after Lu Ye.
At this moment, Lu Ye had truly become the enemy of the entire world.
And Lu Ye—had eyes only for that single karmic thread connecting him to Chu Ling.
Boom!
The clouds split apart.
Lu Ye streaked forward at full speed.
The karmic thread now showed its endpoint.
Hmm?
No Chu Ling?
Not only was Chu Ling absent—what lay ahead was a massive ambush.
Dozens of Unity Realm cultivators, as if they had long anticipated his arrival, waited silently in hiding.
“So you’ve gotten smarter.”
Lu Ye looked at the demonic sword suspended among the crowd, his face lighting up with excitement.
Good.
Good.
Woman—you’ve completely awakened my killing intent.
Lu Ye gripped the stone sword in his hand and looked at the countless powerful figures suspended in the air before him.
“Come!”
