Sage of Humanity-Chapter 303 - 301 Zhao Li

No cultivator from the Spirit Stream Realm had ever been as celebrated as Lu Ye; after Fenghua Courtyard and Illuminating Sun Mountain had their bases breached, Lu Ye instantly became the apple of every big sect’s eye. Achieving such an accomplishment at Spirit Stream Level 8 was unprecedented.

Who wouldn’t want to breach their neighboring base’s big array and then subdue their long-standing neighbors on the ground? Unfortunately, there had been no means to break the arrays until now.

Now there was!

All the big sects of the Haotian Alliance naturally flocked to him.

Gu Canyang raised his hand again in a pacifying gesture, "Gentlemen, please calm down and listen to what I have to say."

As the crowd’s attention turned to him, Gu Canyang said, "You have all come from afar, and it would be remiss of me today if I did not provide a proper explanation. I mentioned earlier that taking over the Fenghua Courtyard and Illuminating Sun Mountain bases involved a great deal of luck—it is true, not a fabrication. What you do not know is that we managed to take over the Fenghua Courtyard mainly because Madam Moon Charm never imagined someone could infiltrate the base undetected..."

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As Gu Canyang explained, the crowd’s mood gradually stabilized, and during this moment, Wey Li promptly had tea served.

Following this, Gu Canyang began discussing the situation regarding the taking over of Illuminating Sun Mountain’s base.

A moment later, when he finished, Gu Canyang said, "The methods Brother Yiye used to take over these two bases were different, but indeed, they cannot be used again. You are all wise, and I believe you understand this point."

The previously vociferous governors and deputy governors all fell into contemplation; if conditions were indeed as Gu Canyang had described, then these methods could not be replicated.

The fall of Fenghua Courtyard was due to Moon Charm’s negligence.

It wasn’t fair to say she was careless, as this situation would have caught anyone unprepared. Previously, no one had ever managed to sneak into an enemy sect’s big array quietly, and even if they did, facing a governor like Moon Charm, they wouldn’t necessarily have a chance to seize the Great Array Jade Cluster.

Lu Ye managed it—within two strikes, not only did he sever one of Moon Charm’s arms, he also seized the moment to snatch the Great Array Jade Cluster, allowing the forces from Surreptitious Palace and Soaring Cloud Palace to break through the protective array and enter the base.

As for the situation at Illuminating Sun Mountain, there’s even less to say. After Moon Charm sent out the message, Illuminating Sun Mountain was on high alert against Lu Ye, leaving him no chance to infiltrate and forcing him to change his method of breaking the array.

The ultimate success was also due to the scant number of cultivators left in Illuminating Sun Mountain—just over a hundred, whom Lu Ye, along with ten physique cultivators, overwhelmed in their assault.

If there had been even a few dozen more cultivators stationed at Illuminating Sun Mountain, the situation would have been entirely different. Then, even if Lu Ye could lead the likes of Giant Armor into the fray, he would have only been surrounded and killed.

This intelligence was not a secret; surely the side from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge had already understood the situation through Fenghua Courtyard and Illuminating Sun Mountain. Thus, with targeted arrangements such as setting up alerting Arrays within the bases or dispatching more cultivators to remain, Lu Ye’s methods would become useless.

There was a long silence in the great hall.

After a substantial pause, the governor with the surname Niu finally said, "So you’re saying that we came here for nothing?"

Gu Canyang said, "Brother Yiye mentioned that when his cultivation and Array Path skills improve further in the future, there might still be things he can do, but for now, he indeed has no means."

Although everyone was somewhat disappointed, they also knew that Gu Canyang was speaking the truth.

While Lu Ye’s methods were brilliant, they were also easy to anticipate and defend against—as long as enough manpower remained at the bases, even his unique ability to destroy arrays would be useless.

"That might actually be a good thing," said one lean cultivator suddenly.

"What do you mean by that, Brother Zhao?"

Cultivator Zhao said, "Originally, with Fellow Daoist Ye possessing such abilities, he would have been greatly feared by the side of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge. If he wished to operate in the Spirit Stream battlefield in the future, he would likely face many targeted attempts. But now, seeing that his methods can be easily defended against, the threat he poses to Ten Thousand Demons Ridge has greatly reduced, thus making Fellow Daoist Ye’s situation safer."

Upon hearing this, everyone thought his reasoning was sound.

Had Lu Ye’s methods been truly indefensible, Ten Thousand Demons Ridge would undoubtedly be extremely anxious, possibly acting as they did before, disregarding rules and attacking willfully, and if that were to attract the attention of the Level 8 cultivators from the Core Circle on the Spirit Stream Ranking, Lu Ye certainly wouldn’t be able to withstand them.

Now it was different; Ten Thousand Demons Ridge would still have fears, but they were unlikely to act recklessly.

"Both the Surreptitious Palace and Soaring Cloud Palace really got lucky!" some remarked enviously, lamenting that Lu Yiye hadn’t visited their sect headquarters before. If he had, then Surreptitious Palace and Soaring Cloud Palace wouldn’t have had the advantage.

"Your concession is accepted, your concession is accepted!" Gu Canyang laughed heartily. Upon reflection, Surreptitious Palace really was fortunate. If not for Lu Ye, he and Jik Yan and others would have already died in Xianyuan City, and none of the subsequent developments would have happened.

Since the previous methods of breaking the arrays couldn’t be repeated, there was no further reason for everyone to stay, and they began to take their leave one after another.

Gu Canyang and Wey Li, of course, saw them off warmly.

It wasn’t until every governor and deputy governor had departed that Gu Canyang finally let out a slight sigh of relief.

Returning to the great hall, he sat opposite Wey Li to discuss the next steps.

With the bases of Fenghua Courtyard and Illuminating Sun Mountain breached, the former still had roughly three hundred cultivators alive, but the latter was in worse shape, with only about two hundred. And both groups would certainly need to rebuild their bases.

Surreptitious Palace and Soaring Cloud Palace could hardly agree to that; fully eliminating these two enemy sect forces was impossible, but continuing to suppress them, preventing them from recovering their vital energy too soon, was feasible, as long as Surreptitious Palace and Soaring Cloud Palace worked together to maintain the pressure on these two bases from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge. This would make it very difficult for them to turn the tide.

With this development, the Surreptitious Palace and the Soaring Cloud Palace could arbitrarily develop themselves and even pull some manpower to cooperate with nearby Haotian Alliance sects to attack more forces from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge.

However, exactly how to proceed would need to be adapted according to the situation, and conclusions could not be hastily made.

While they were in the midst of discussing, Gu Canyang suddenly felt something, checked his own battlefield marking, and then sent out a message.

"Zhao Li has come back," Gu Canyang looked at Wey Li. "Hasn’t he given up yet?"

The Zhao Li he mentioned was one of the governors who had left not long ago, returning for reasons unknown.

Wey Li pondered briefly and said, "Brother Zhao is meticulous in his thoughts. We have already said everything that needed to be said; I don’t think he would trouble us anymore."

"Then why has he come back?"

"Remember, Brother Zhao’s backing is the Tianyan Sect, which stands on its own in the Nine Provinces."

Gu Canyang thought for a moment, then realized, "I see, this guy is cunning. He said nothing when there were many people around, now he sneaks back by himself. He probably wants to hog it all."

Wey Li smiled wryly, "Maybe, maybe not, but if Brother Zhao speaks up, Brother Yiye might not refuse."

At that point, he closed his mouth, as he had already sensed Zhao Li’s presence.

"Brother Gu, Brother Wey," Zhao Li stepped in.

Gu Canyang pretended to be casual, "Brother Zhao, did you leave something behind?"

Zhao Li smiled, "Not at all, I just forgot to mention something to Brother Gu earlier and thought of it only halfway back." His expression turned solemn, "Earlier, I said that after things were cleared up with Ten Thousand Demons Ridge, Fellow Daoist Yiye’s situation would be relatively safer. But I thought about it carefully, and that was just one possibility."

"There’s another possibility?"

"Another possibility, of course, is that Ten Thousand Demons Ridge would put all its effort and disregard rules and face to target Fellow Daoist Yiye," Zhao Li said seriously. "Fellow Daoist Yiye, now a cultivator of Spirit Stream Level 8, already possesses such capabilities. Although it’s simple to prepare defenses now, as his cultivation and mastery of the Array Path deepen, it’ll become harder to guard against. Ten Thousand Demons Ridge might want to nip problems in the bud. If so, not only is Fellow Daoist Yiye’s situation worrisome, but the Surreptitious Palace’s situation could be perilous as well."

Gu Canyang was startled, surprised that it had somehow come around to involve the Surreptitious Palace.

"Fellow Daoist Yiye is currently residing in the Surreptitious Palace, which is not a secret. Ten Thousand Demons Ridge must also be aware of this. If they want to eradicate Fellow Daoist Yiye completely, then surely in the next few days, they will gather troops from their nearby residences and come to attack the Surreptitious Palace’s residence!"

Gu Canyang’s expression grew somber, "Brother Zhao, how likely do you think this is?"

Zhao Li slowly shook his head, "Hard to say, this is just my speculation. That’s why I am thinking of staying here for a while to observe, rather than returning to my residence immediately. This way, if Ten Thousand Demons Ridge really takes big action, Tianyan Sect can also come to help in time. Of course, if nothing happens, it just proves I was wrong and that would be nothing but a false alarm."

"Then thanks to you, Brother Zhao."

"It’s my duty. However, I think what Brother Gu needs to do now is to quickly inform the Soaring Cloud Palace and the nearby Alliance Sects to be ready to come to the rescue at any time. After all, they are closer."

"You make a good point." Gu Canyang nodded solemnly.

"Then I’ll take my leave." Zhao Li clasped his hands together and bowed.

"Junior Brother Wey, please show Brother Zhao to the guest quarters," Gu Canyang turned to look at Wey Li.

Wey Li nodded and led Zhao Li to the area where guests resided.

A moment later, Wey Li returned, finding Gu Canyang seated in a chair, deep in thought. Wey Li walked to the side, poured himself a cup of tea, and took a sip before saying, "What are you thinking about, Senior Brother?"

"I’m thinking about Zhao Li. He twisted and turned so much he nearly got me caught up in it."

"Huh?" Wey Li looked at him, not understanding.

Gu Canyang smiled slightly, "If I’m not mistaken, did he specifically request to be neighbors with Brother Yiye?"

The guest quarters area wasn’t small, consisting of separate pavilions. Currently, only Lu Ye stayed there with Giant Armor. It was Wey Li’s job to sort accommodation; however, if a guest specifically requested something, Wey Li wouldn’t refuse.

"Right," Wey Li responded, "On the way, Brother Zhao asked about Brother Yiye’s residence and chose the pavilion next to him."

Gu Canyang gritted his teeth, "Just as I thought."

"You mean..."

"Can’t you see? This guy came back to poach people."

Wey Li was not a fool, just overwhelmed with trivial matters today that left him somewhat confused. His realization came immediately after Gu Canyang enlightened him, "So, what Brother Zhao previously said... was he exaggerating the danger?"