NOVPUBZhou Pei, since she had chosen to activate such an indiscriminate secret technique at this moment, naturally had a certain degree of confidence.
After all, this secret technique was actively cast by her, and she could exert a degree of control to minimize the impact and damage on herself.
Tiny sparks of fire dispersed in all directions; the many Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators who intended to come to her aid also sensed the danger and no longer dared to approach even slightly, instead retreating rapidly backwards.
Staring at the ferocious figure so close at hand, Zhou Pei looked panicked, but her beautiful eyes shone with malice.
"Explode!"
With the sound of her voice, the inconspicuous sparks suddenly brightened, and in the sky, in the blink of an eye, there appeared many mini suns.
A searing, destructive aura swept through the place with the rise of the mini suns, twisting the Void itself. The thunderous rumblings were continuous, deafening to all who heard it.
"Junior Sister Zhou!"
Chu Yun, not far away, looked at the immense light and the chaotic flow of spirit force, his expression showing worry.
But soon enough, his gaze steadied.
Since Junior Sister Zhou had made this choice, he could only trust her.
However, the next moment, his complexion drastically changed.
For within that visually incomprehensible chaos, a breath of life suddenly faded away.
And that breath was none other than Zhou Pei's, who had been his constant companion!
The breath belonging to Lu Ye, however, showed no change whatsoever!
Chu Yun's eyelids twitched, his heart instantly overwhelmed by immense grief. He didn't want to believe it and had not seen what exactly had happened, but the only certainty was that Junior Sister Zhou had fallen!
Chu Yun was not the only one who sensed this; not far away, Xia Liang and Tan Sheng also changed expression simultaneously.
As the afterglow of the mini suns dissipated, the dazzling light converged, and a blurry figure gradually appeared in everyone's sight. Considering the height, considering the build, if not Lu Ye, who else could it be?
There he stood, amidst the raging inferno, still and unmoved as a mountain, his figure distorted like a demon in the scorching air.
Another figure suddenly plummeted silently from mid-air to the ground; it was Zhou Pei. As far as the eye could see, Zhou Pei's eyes were bulging, as if she had seen something incredibly unbelievable just before her death, and her chest was stained with blood—the clear sign of a blade having pierced her heart, resulting in instant death!
Almost as soon as Chu Yun instinctively looked toward Zhou Pei's corpse, a fiery red light suddenly shot out from that twisted space and struck directly at Chu Yun.
Immediately coming back to his senses, Chu Yun looked up and saw the fiery red light was actually a spirit force long whip. The other end of the whip was firmly grasped in Lu Ye's hand.
What is this...
Chu Yun was shocked, instinctively feeling that this must be some exotic treasure, but it also appeared to be some type of magic or spell...
With no time to ponder, and sensing the might of this whip, he moved to retreat.
But the long whip, like a spirit snake, lashed out at him from the air and upon a twist, bound him tightly.
Normally, Chu Yun, as a Cloud River Level 9 cultivator, wouldn't be so careless, but the shock of Zhou Pei's death was too great, coupled with the fact that he didn't expect Lu Ye to be able to use such a bizarre technique, he was caught off guard and fell for the ploy.
The moment he was bound, a huge pulling force came from the other end of the whip, and no matter how Chu Yun struggled, he could not break free. He was uncontrollably dragged over.
What was even more horrifying was that the long whip not only restricted his physical body, but it also suppressed his spirit force to some extent, leaving him without the strength to resist.
In a trance, Lu Ye's cold face had already come into his field of vision, immediately followed by a flash of a bright blade.
All was silent in heaven and earth!
Chu Yun stood before Lu Ye, silently watching him.
Xia Liang and Tan Sheng did not act rashly either, but their eyes were filled with dread.
The other Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators, most still recovering from the chaos, weren't quite clear about what had just happened.
Only now did the residual might of the Prairie Burning Explosion Burial Secret Technique that Zhou Pei had used before her death slowly fade away, the twisted space regained tranquility, and the figures of Lu Ye and Chu Yun, so close at hand, became clearly visible.
"What magic is this?" Chu Yun suddenly asked.
At this point, he finally confirmed that the fiery red long whip that bound him was a technique, not the power of some exotic treasure.
He had seen Lu Ye's information and knew that Lu Ye, a combat cultivator who wielded a blade, not only had profound accomplishments in Array Path but also cultivated some magic and spells.
But the information had never mentioned such a technique, and as far as he knew, the Nine Provinces cultivation world seemed to have no such bizarre technique.
As someone who had personally experienced the power of this technique, he naturally felt its strength. This technique could bind enemies effectively, but it could also kill.
"Mental-lashing Whip!"
Lu Ye answered flatly.
This technique did not come from the Talent Tree, nor was it one he had cultivated; it was from Qin Zhao, who had once stirred a storm in the Soaring Dragon World.
Toward the end of his journey in the Soaring Dragon World, he glimpsed the Origin Power of the Soaring Dragon World. In it, he saw countless stars, some bright, some dim, each a mark left by powerful beings who had once lived in the Soaring Dragon World, a testament that they had once lived and existed there.
Lu Ye probed into one of the marks, having an extremely mystical experience. In that experience, he possessed Qin Zhao's body, was born with him, entered the same sect, cultivated together, fell into despair together, rose again together, and dominated all directions together...
Although only a short two days had passed afterward, the time Lu Ye had spent in that dream-like experience was certainly more than just two days.
Important moments in Qin Zhao's life were imprinted in his heart, and he experienced Qin Zhao's cultivation as if it were his own. One could say that during the time he accompanied Qin Zhao in growth, whatever Qin Zhao had comprehended, he could fully accept.
The residual Origin Power of the Soaring Dragon World was in itself an undeveloped colossal treasure!
As a magic cultivator, the varieties and intricacies of magic and spells that Qin Zhao could cast were naturally diverse and profound.
The Mental-lashing Whip was a Dao technique created by Qin Zhao himself and was also his most skillful one. Thus, even without having cultivated it himself, Lu Ye was able to cast it with ease at the moment.
Of course, confined by his cultivation level, he couldn't unleash the full power of this Dao technique. But to deal with cultivators of the same realm, it was more than enough.
The world only knew that Lu Ye was highly accomplished in the Array Path, but no one knew that, on the path of magic cultivation, he had gone further than other magic cultivators of the same realm. If he truly wished, the magic and spells he could cast were absolutely incomparable to those of the same level.
"Incredible!"
Chu Yun praised, and as a magic cultivator who had personally experienced the power of this Dao technique, he naturally discerned its subtlety. Such a Dao technique, if cultivated to a profound level, could be almost inescapable once activated.
He nodded slightly.
But with that simple motion, his head had already fallen off, and blood gushed out from the neck, the cut clean and even.
It turned out that Lu Ye had already beheaded him with a single stroke!
Fear reigned in all directions!
Dead!
Two Level 9 magic cultivators from Cloud River had died just like that!
How Zhou Pei died, they hadn't seen clearly, because during the Prairie Burning Explosion Burial, the scene was too chaotic, with both Lu Ye and Zhou Pei swept up in it.
How Chu Yun died, however, they did see a glimmer of the truth.
But precisely because of this, they found it somewhat unbelievable.
At Level 9, Chu Yun represented the limit of what Cloud River battlefield could accommodate. Someone of his stature could command wind and rain wherever he went and was not someone people would dare to provoke casually. 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓅𝓾𝒷.𝒸ℴ𝓂
But in that brief moment just now, two strong Level 9 magic cultivators of Cloud River were slain right under their eyes.
And with them, more than a dozen cultivators from Level 7-8 realms also perished!
How long had it been?
Since Lu Ye lashed out, it had been no more than ten breaths of time.
"Cloud River Level 8!"
Xia Liang's pupils shrank to the size of needle points, disbelievingly staring at Lu Ye, who stood tall in the sky.
He had previously speculated that Lu Ye had obtained an opportunity in that secret realm and had hidden away in the Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union for a month to improve his cultivation. Therefore, he boldly guessed that Lu Ye was now at Cloud River Level 7.
This was already a great overestimate of Lu Ye's speed of growth.
After all, when he entered the Hundred Arrays Pagoda, he was at Cloud River Level 5, and his cultivation increased by one level upon coming out of the pagoda.
How much time had passed for him to ascend again to the limit?
But Level 8... How could such an absurd thing happen? Was Heaven's Augury too partial to this guy?
When he was at Level 5, Lu Ye was able to assassinate those at Level 8, and even had a record of slaying Huo Liaoyuan, a Level 9 combatant, on the combat arena.
As a Level 6, he managed to escape unscathed from the joint attack of four Level 9 cultivators.
Xia Liang felt that if Lu Ye was promoted to Level 7, he might not even be his match. If Lu Ye was at Level 8... he dared not contemplate it.
What common cultivators dreamed of, defeating opponents above their level, was about exceeding one or two minor levels. Xia Liang himself was such a person.
But Lu Ye seemed to use them as stepping stones, basing their power to defeat opponents of a higher level.
How terrifying that was.
With such a foundation and now such a cultivation level, how could ordinary cultivators be his opponent? The fact that over a dozen people died under his blade at first contact just now was the best proof.
It truly was a self-fulfilling prophecy; this was definitely the last chance to deal with Lu Ye.
Xia Liang was shocked, as was Tan Sheng, his eyelids twitching violently.
As for the other Ten Thousand Demons Ridge cultivators, startled beyond measure, they couldn't help but retreat, trying to put distance between themselves and Lu Ye, seeking a sense of security.
On the scene, Lu Ye was now surrounded by many cultivators of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge, but in terms of momentum, it was as if he alone had surrounded them instead.
"So he deliberately led us here," Tan Sheng, with a shaking mind, finally realized the problem.
There were no ambushes here, nor any formations. Lu Yiye flew here at a leisurely pace, far away from the Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union, to prevent them from escaping!
