The battle began in earnest.
Lu Ye came to a halt, quietly observing Drunken Sword Daoist and Lin Chuyue perform.
Their strength was truly formidable.
Even among Heaven-Earth Realm cultivators, they stood at the very peak.
The sword technique Drunken Sword Daoist cultivated bore traces of the Invincible Sword Scripture, yet diverged greatly from its Dao. His path was a fusion of alcohol and swordsmanship, forging a Dao entirely his own.
Someone like that—as long as he didn’t die prematurely—was almost guaranteed to become a powerhouse in the future.
As for Lin Chuyue’s cultivation method, Lu Ye had never seen anything quite like it. It somewhat resembled the Jade Soul True Body, but it was hard to be certain.
Both of them had forged their own unique paths.
Lu Ye had to admit—the Heavenly Gate really did have an eye for talent.
The Dark God Cult had nine Heaven-Earth Realm cultivators in total, and yet the two of them were pushing them back with overwhelming force. How fierce!
Still, they couldn’t block everyone.
Lu Ye’s hands were itching.
“Hold back the Heaven-Earth Realm. Anyone that slips through—leave them to me!”
He’d been killing with formations for so long that his Stone Sword was practically rusting. It was time to let it taste some fresh blood again.
What came his way were all at the Samsara Realm.
Whether that was on purpose or just coincidence—who knew?
Didn’t matter.
With a long howl, Lu Ye activated the Heavenly Venerable Fist, blasting open a bloody path with a single strike.
The Stone Sword gave a resonant hum.
It had been far too long since it had tasted blood.
The last time was... half a month ago. An excruciating drought for a murder-hungry sword.
The Ten Thousand Souls Banner had been gorged, stuffed full.
Sword-light lit up the skies. Lu Ye charged into the crowd, his figure shifting and flickering like a phantom. He slipped through them like a knife through butter. His swordplay was unpredictable, always striking where it hurt the most.
Kill. Kill. Kill!
Limbs flew, blood sprayed.
One pair of blood-red eyes after another dimmed. Mangled corpses fell one after the next.
The Ten Thousand Souls Banner swirled through the air.
A single scream—
In that instant, everyone froze in place. Sword-light exploded like a storm.
The enemy was cut down like wheat beneath a scythe.
The strong were sliced in two.
The weak were blown to bits.
Lu Ye immersed himself entirely in the slaughter, mind clear, no distractions.
The Stone Sword hummed joyfully—it was thrilled.
It was no longer a sword that needed to be wiped clean with a rag after each kill.
The three of them fought their own battles.
Even so, waves of enemies continued to pour in.
Lu Ye was having the time of his life, killing to his heart’s content.
“Watch out!”
Suddenly, Lin Chuyue shouted.
Because at that moment, the source of all darkness was being forcibly expelled from every other cultivator’s Dao, condensing into a single droplet—a bead of black water—hurtling straight toward Lu Ye.
It was too fast.
Not even two Heaven-Earth cultivators could intercept it.
Lu Ye’s pupils reflected the bead’s oncoming form. A chill ran down his spine.
Danger!!!
Too fast!
That black droplet was moving faster than even the Heaven-Demon Blood Transformation Escape.
He had no time to dodge—no time to counter with full power.
Boom!
A bolt of black tribulation lightning appeared out of nowhere.
It struck the black bead with terrifying force, annihilating it instantly.
Ding! “See that? That source °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° of darkness is nasty. All it wants is to kill people like us. Next time we run into It, let’s gather everything we’ve got and blast the bastard!”
Ding...
Ding! “No more dinging!”
Lu Ye: ...
They really had time for jokes, huh?
The killing continued.
Lin Chuyue’s face had gone pale—she’d been genuinely frightened. That black droplet was lethal.
Even she would’ve died in one hit.
Yet the moment it charged toward Lu Ye, a bolt of black tribulation lightning just... shattered it?
What the hell?!
Boom!
In her brief moment of distraction, one Heaven-Earth Realm cultivator broke free from Lin Chuyue’s entanglement and charged straight at Lu Ye.
“Don’t space out!”
Drunken Sword Daoist’s voice rang out like thunder.
“Oh, oh...” Lin Chuyue snapped back to attention.
What was going on? No—forget Lu Ye for a second—where did that black tribulation lightning come from? Normally, that stuff didn’t show up until the Seventh Heaven!
Why was it appearing now?
Drunken Sword Daoist made his move. A sword left his hand, chasing after the Heaven-Earth cultivator.
“Let me get a hit in!” Lu Ye roared.
With unrestrained excitement, he dashed forward.
Endless sword-light wove together, forming a supreme sword intent that surged toward the Heaven-Earth cultivator.
Wherever it passed, bodies exploded into blood mist.
Roar!
The Heaven-Earth expert let out a furious bellow.
His demonic saber hacked toward the incoming sword-light with ferocious might.
Blade against blade.
The instant they collided—
Boom!
The sword-light shattered inch by inch. The saber-light, carrying the power of heaven and earth, came crashing down.
With one blow, Lu Ye’s body erupted in a shower of blood mist. The Stone Sword bent and screamed in protest.
But it didn’t break!
Even so, the Fragrance of Enlightenment burst from him in waves.
More figures pounced immediately.
Lu Ye turned into a streak of bloodlight and fled.
No good, no good. He’d miscalculated his strength. Trying to self-detonate now was way too risky. Just in that split second, three or four Samsara cultivators had swarmed in to devour him.
He’d gone all in just now.
It was another painful reminder—he still wasn’t strong enough to beat a Heaven-Earth Realm head-on.
Even Samsara Realm cultivators were tough to kill. He’d been fighting to his heart’s content, sure—but in truth, he’d only taken down one Samsara-level enemy.
His cultivation base was still too low.
Still, Lu Ye wasn’t disappointed. There was plenty of room left to grow!
The bloodlight circled once around Lin Chuyue. The Heaven-Earth cultivator chasing him got pulled back again.
Drunken Sword Daoist had already killed one Heaven-Earth Realm opponent. These enemies lacked strong self-awareness, which made them easier to finish.
Once one fell, the pressure would ease considerably.
Lu Ye lent a hand—he sent the Human Emperor Banner hurtling into the battlefield.
Chu Ling and Jiang Die burst forth, instantly merging into the bodies of two Heaven-Earth cultivators. Their souls began detaching from their bodies.
Drunken Sword Daoist wasn’t about to waste such a golden opportunity. He struck fast and shattered both of their physical forms.
The two dominant soul-spirits turned into purple mist—thick fog that wove into countless chains, dragging the two Heaven-Earth souls toward the Human Emperor Banner.
More wandering spirits poured out of the void—some of them Heaven-Earth level. A mass of ghostly souls surged forward and pulled the two souls into the Banner.
Lin Chuyue’s eyelids twitched.
She’d seen Ten Thousand Souls Banners before—but never one that gave off purple mist.
Where the hell was Lu Ye getting these freakish things from?
Seriously—what else was he hiding on that body of his?
She was so, so curious.
The battle raged on.
The Ten Thousand Souls Banner, under Lu Ye’s control, began harvesting souls in bulk. Purple mist billowed like a storm.
Lu Ye continued wielding the Stone Sword, slicing down cultivators below the Samsara Realm.
It was a full-scale war, loud and brutal.
Finally, nearly an hour later, the chaos began to subside.
All three of them were utterly exhausted.
Fighting directly just wasn’t as efficient as using formation arrays.
But damn, it had been fun.
Looking at the mountains of corpses and seas of blood—An Li’s backup plan had to be crushed now, right?
And just after the Dark God Cult was annihilated—
The Heavenly Dao sigils on all three of their foreheads began to glow.
The Heavenly Dao descended, its purest essence pouring into their bodies. Lu Ye began breaking through on the spot. Mountains of spirit stones materialized out of thin air.
Ding! “More! Pour in more! If you don’t, I’ll call you stingy and laugh at you!”
The System fanned the flames without a shred of shame.
The Heavenly Dao hesitated—then applied a bit more force.
Boom!
Lu Ye’s body inflated like a balloon...
