Sage of Humanity-Chapter 458 456: Special Privileges

In the spirit ground, six shadows were each banded together and fighting ferociously, with Lu Ye and the burly man undoubtedly engaged in the most violent clash.

Being a physique cultivator and at the Cloud River Level 5 realm, and having advanced through more than 300 orifices initially, the burly man's strength far surpassed that of Cultivator Sun, not just by a little. Even after Lu Ye ambushed him and cut off one of his arms, following up with more than a dozen slashes from Lu Ye's sabers, he didn't die immediately and still had some power to resist.

Ignoring his injuries, he sacrificed his spirit artifact big shield by grabbing it with his remaining hand and kept defending against Lu Ye's long saber, occasionally counterattacking.

When saber and shield clashed, a huge force collided, spirit force surged, and blood Qi boiled.

The night invited more dreams. Seeing that regular slashes weren't effective against the man, Lu Ye decided not to drag out the fight any longer.

With a slash, the locked combatants suddenly split apart; Lu Ye stepped back two paces, positioned his long saber horizontally in front of him, and assumed a starting stance, as blood Qi began to gather in his right arm.

Spotting this, the burly man's heart sounded an alarm. He hurriedly rushed forward, his tower-like body merging with the big shield as he fiercely charged at Lu Ye.

Lu Ye leaped high into the air, his right arm, clenching the saber, suddenly swelling as he descended upon his opponent with an eagle's strike.

Single Flash!

A layer of blood-red mist steamed from his right arm, already gathered with blood Qi.

Repeated Slashing!

When the first slash fell, the burly man's pupils immediately dilated. A wild force bore down from above, striking his spirit artifact big shield, and though he was a physique cultivator, he was cut down to size.

Before he could adjust his stance, Lu Ye's second slash had already descended.

The burly man collapsed to his knees; the spirit artifact big shield also uncontrollably smashed into the ground with such force that it cracked the ground like a spider web.

The third slash fell, and the big shield lit up brightly.

With the fourth slash, the dazzling light suddenly dimmed.

By the fifth slash, accompanied by the loud sound of crashing, the mid-grade spirit artifact big shield with eighteen restrictions burst into pieces, and Lu Ye's saber, sharp and heavy, continued its path through the collapsed shield, cleaving from the left shoulder of the burly man to his right lower abdomen.

The rich blood Qi and protective spirit force were no match for the ferocious slash, which cut through him as if through tofu, leaving the burly man diagonally cleaved in two.

A look of shock and disbelief filled the burly man's eyes, as he fixedly stared at the youth before him. His lips quivered, as if he wanted to say something, but nothing came out.

Lu Ye maintained the position of his last slash, his right arm trembling violently, pain from torn flesh assailing him.

Back in the Spirit Stream Realm, using Repeated Slashing in his Single Flash state allowed him only three strikes; now in the Cloud River Level 5 realm, he could deliver five. This wasn't his limit; if necessary, he could strike once more.

However, each use of this saber technique left significant aftereffects, so Lu Ye generally avoided it unless absolutely necessary.

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Three breaths later, Lu Ye stood up and glanced at the other two battlefields. One scene in particular shocked him; Amber was currently confronting Ruan Qingzhu, baring its giant maw and roaring at her. Ruan Qingzhu's seven orifices bled, and her complexion was pale, indicating that she had been severely wounded.

Had Yiyi taken action? But Lu Ye hadn't felt any fluctuations of magic and spells, and there were no signs of Yiyi's presence.

Amber alone couldn't have inflicted such damage on a Cloud River Level 4 cultivator.

What was going on? He was puzzled for the moment.

Having no time to think further, in another battlefield, Shen Xiaomao was struggling to defend against Junior Brother Cheng, faint traces of blood visible on her body—signs that her previously dressed wounds had reopened.

Initially, Junior Brother Cheng had the upper hand, but the tragic death of the burly man and Ruan Qingzhu's defeat threw him into disarray. Seeing Lu Ye turning his attention toward him, how could Junior Brother Cheng dare to linger any longer? He immediately feinted, forcing Shen Xiaomao to retreat, then attempted to shoot up into the sky.

But he was too late. The supplies box at Lu Ye's side buzzed, nine spirit artifacts shot out, blocking the space for the man's escape as Lu Ye himself charged with his saber in hand.

Junior Brother Cheng's strength was barely passable to begin with, quite equal to the previously slain Cultivator Sun. He might have managed against a severely injured Shen Xiaomao, but now facing both her and Lu Ye, he stood no chance.

Even the hope of escape was a luxury.

Moments later, Junior Brother Cheng too lay in a pool of blood, his body twitching a few times before going still.

Only then did Lu Ye turn and walk toward Ruan Qingzhu.

Seeing him approach, Ruan Qingzhu, who was propped up against a courtyard wall, became frantic. Instinctively, she attempted to flee, but her injuries seemed serious, and she struggled briefly, unable to rise.

Shen Xiaomao, covered in blood, followed suit, and the two of them, one on each side, looked down upon their former ally from a vantage point.

Ruan Qingzhu still had that pitiable look, her eyes brimming with tears as she gazed at Shen Xiaomao and softly whimpered, "Sister..."

"Don't call me that; you don't deserve it," Shen Xiaomao said coldly. Had she not possessed some skills three days ago, she would have been killed by those people; now, she harbored no sympathy.

Ruan Qingzhu smiled: "Alright then, I won't call you sister anymore. We miscalculated this time, but what of it? We've signed the Heaven's Augury Pact, you can't injure me, nor can you kill me. You still have to let me go, don't you?"

Shen Xiaomao clenched her teeth in resentment.

Lu Ye lowered his head to check his battlefield marking, receiving a message from Yiyi, who was hidden in the shadows.

After reading the message, Lu Ye finally understood why Ruan Qingzhu was in such a state.

The woman had suffered a backlash from the Heaven's Augury Pact!

Indeed, the non-aggression clause in the Heaven's Augury Pact signed by the three of them meant that Amber, as Lu Ye's pet beast, was also covered by this clause. Therefore, when Amber leaped out to stop Ruan Qingzhu and she struck at it, she immediately suffered a backlash from Heaven's Augury.

The backlash seemed quite severe; otherwise, it wouldn't have rendered a Cloud River Level 4 capable fighter powerless to even flee.

Just with Amber's strength, how could it have beaten Ruan Qingzhu to such an extent? It turned out to be the retaliation from Heaven's Augury...

It seemed that having Amber confront Ruan Qingzhu had been a wise decision indeed.

However, what puzzled Lu Ye was why Amber had not suffered any backlash...

The constraints of the Heaven's Augury Pact should have been mutual. If Ruan Qingzhu suffered backlash for attacking Amber, the latter should have faced the same fate. Yet it seemed that only Ruan Qingzhu was the one affected.

After sending a message to Yiyi to inquire about this, Lu Ye raised an eyebrow at her response.

"If the two of you have no further advice, then I shall take my leave," Ruan Qingzhu, with an air of confidence, spoke as she attempted to stand up. Though the backlash was severe, the rest had allowed her to recover some strength.

Approaching, Lu Ye's Boulder Mountain Saber thundered out of its sheath, and a fiery red saber light flashed by.

"Don't!" Shen Xiaomao cried out.

Having spent much more time on the Cloud River battlefield than Lu Ye, she knew well the terror of Heaven's Augury's backlash. Essentially, since signing that pact, the three of them could no longer harm each other.

However, Lu Ye's saber strike was incredibly fast, and by the time she shouted, he had already shaken the blood off the saber and sheathed it.

In front of him, Ruan Qingzhu's eyes widened in terror, her body, which had just stood up, stiffened, and she brought her hands to her neck, as blood seeped through her fingers.

She looked at Lu Ye incredulously, never imagining that under the constraints of the Heaven's Augury Pact, this Ye Liu would dare to strike her with such a decisive blow!

With such a strike, her death was certain, but could this Ye Liu survive?

"I... I'll be waiting for you on the road to Hell!" Ruan Qingzhu said before she collapsed straight down, her body severed.

Shen Xiaomao still looked at Lu Ye with fright, worried that he might have come to harm, but after a long while, there was no sign that Lu Ye had suffered any backlash.

This left Shen Xiaomao stunned, hesitatingly she asked, "You... you're alright?"

It didn't make sense. She wrote the terms on the Heaven's Augury Pact, where it was clearly stipulated that those who signed could not harm each other. How could Ye Liu kill Ruan Qingzhu without suffering from Heaven's Augury's retaliation?

Yet, the young man standing beside her was indeed unharmed.

Lu Ye had dared to make that saber strike only after asking Yiyi.

Since Yiyi had been hiding in the dark, she saw everything clearly; during the confrontation between Amber and Ruan Qingzhu, only the latter had suffered a backlash, with Amber unaffected.

If Amber attacking Ruan Qingzhu did not trigger a backlash, then Lu Ye felt that he, as her master, would likely not suffer one either.

As for why... Lu Ye wasn't certain, but he had a feeling it was related to the Heaven's Augury Bestowment.

Regardless, Ruan Qingzhu had already committed an act detrimental to the shared interests of the three. Although she had never directly attacked Shen Xiaomao or Lu Ye from beginning to end, her fellow sect members acted with malice from the moment they entered this spirit ground.

If she was unkind, she couldn't blame others for being unrighteous.

Others might indeed have had no good solution for dealing with Ruan Qingzhu and would have had to let her go, but Lu Ye, who had received a special favor from Heaven's Augury, might enjoy some special treatment in the face of the fair and impartial Heaven's Augury.

"Ye Liu, are you really okay?" Shen Xiaomao continued to check on Lu Ye's condition.

"Tired," said Lu Ye as he walked over to a nearby rock, sat down, and placed the Boulder Mountain Saber beside him.

Though today's battle was brief, using the Single Flash state combined with his Repeated Slashing Saber Technique placed a great strain on him; his right arm was now swollen, and he would need a couple of days to recover.

This was essentially Lu Ye's first real battle since entering the Cloud River battlefield. Reflecting on the combat with his enemies, he realized that with his current foundation and strength, he could easily kill those in the Level 4-5 realm.

If anyone underestimated him because of his Cloud River Level 2 cultivation, they would surely pay the price.

He had long heard that the power disparity within the Cloud River realm was significant, and now it seemed even more apparent.

In his battle with the burly man, he hadn't actually needed to use his trump card. He just wanted to avoid protracted conflict and choose a quick resolution.

"Ye Liu, if you feel uncomfortable anywhere, you must tell me without hiding it," Shen Xiaomao warned once again, still concerned.

Lu Ye glanced at her, "Take good care of yourself first."