Sage of Humanity-Chapter 581 - 579: Forbidden Land

After several days, Lu Ye had figured out the situation in Fox Fairy Valley, but he still had no clue as to how he could safely take Li Baxian away.

Unless the Psyche Secret Technique of the Fox Demon was broken, Li Baxian would never willingly follow him, and killing the Fox Demon was nothing but a pipe dream. Besides the first encounter in the Fox Demon's sleeping chamber upon arrival, Lu Ye had not seen her again in these past few days. The creature had always stayed inside her private chambers, never showing herself.

Moreover, even if she did reveal herself, with Lu Ye's current strength, he would not be capable of killing her since she was protected by many cultivators.

However, there was a piece of good news from Feng Yuechan.

The wolf pack in the spirit ground had grown in numbers. Initially, the pack only had a little over a hundred members, but later on, no one knew how they had gathered more of their kind. By the time Tan Sheng and others penetrated the spirit ground, the pack had already expanded to over two hundred members. Just a day before, the pack brought back another group of their kin, ballooning their numbers to over three hundred.

In Lu Ye's plan, the task of killing the Fox Demon could only be carried out with the help of the wolf pack. Therefore, the growth of the pack was favorable to him.

He just had to wait for the right opportunity.

Given the large number of cultivators in Fox Fairy Valley, coupled with their reliance on formations, even a pack of more than three hundred wolves wouldn't stand a chance. If the pack could grow to five hundred, perhaps a forceful assault on Fox Fairy Valley might be attempted, but three hundred was still too few.

He could only continue to wait for the right moment.

On the second day of learning saber skills from Xia Liang, Zhou Yuntian came looking for him, conveying the Fox Demon's decree that henceforth, in matters related to the formations in Fox Fairy Valley, Lu Ye would take the lead with Xie Yunhan assisting.

Since it was a command from the Fox Demon, Lu Ye had no reason to refuse. He accepted the order immediately, finally confirming that Zhou Yuntian's preferential treatment towards him the day before was indeed due to his performance in the Array Path.

Xie Yunhan must have spoken highly of him.

In reality, who took the lead and who assisted on a daily basis made little difference, as the formations of Fox Fairy Valley had been maintained for many years. In the previous few days, both Lu Ye and Xie Yunhan had been meticulously maintaining and adjusting them. Now, what they needed to do was not much, only to walk around and inspect the operation of the formations in Fox Fairy Valley three times a day—in the morning, afternoon, and evening.

The change from leader to assistant was just a nominal shift, allowing Lu Ye to gain more attention and a higher status within Fox Fairy Valley.

Most of the time, Lu Ye was engaged in practicing saber skills with Xia Liang. He had never paid much attention before, but since he started learning this skill with Xia, he realized his own foundation was very poor.

Since the beginning of his cultivation journey, almost everything had been self-taught, particularly with saber skills; no one had systematically and completely taught him. The only help he got was the saber cultivation experience entrusted to him by his third senior brother on the Spirit Stream battlefield, which allowed him to learn the Blood Moving Technique.

However, this was merely a secret technique that all combat cultivators needed to practice, and it had no use in foundation improvement.

The careful guidance of Xia Liang would undoubtedly make up for Lu Ye's shortcomings.

Lu Ye treasured such an opportunity.

How to exert force, how to breathe, and how to change moves all required special attention. Previously, Lu Ye just swung his saber by instinct. Now, with Xia Liang's direction, he was having revelations that greatly enhanced his basic saber skills every day.

More than once, Xia had praised Lu Ye's talent for saber skills, even stating that had Lu Ye joined the Mad Saber Sect, he would have surely mastered its essence.

Time flew by, and several days passed.

One morning of those days, as usual, Lu Ye and Xie Yunhan inspected various formations throughout Fox Fairy Valley. After spending almost half a Shichen, they had checked all formations and ensured everything was functioning well.

Just as Lu Ye was about to go back and practice saber skills with Xia, Xie Yunhan suddenly spoke up, "Little brother, there's another place we need to inspect today."

Lu Ye was puzzled, "Another place?"

The places for routine inspections were always the same, and over these past few days, he had become thoroughly familiar with them, certain that no locations had been overlooked. So where did this additional place come from?

"It's the forbidden land of Fox Fairy Valley, which we only need to inspect once every half month. On normal days, no one is allowed to approach," Xie Yunhan clarified.

"Forbidden land?" Lu Ye's interest was instantly piqued; he had no idea that such a place existed within Fox Fairy Valley.

But since it was forbidden, it was only natural that he, a newcomer, wasn't aware of it.

Following Xie Yunhan in a certain direction, they headed towards the very depths of Fox Fairy Valley, where a big array emerged, enveloping the area ahead.

"This is the place," Xie Yunhan pointed to the array ahead, "No one is allowed to approach here, but by the Venerable One's order, I am to check it every half month. From now on, this task will be your responsibility."

Lu Ye examined the formation ahead; it was a concealing big array on the surface, with likely another protective array operating inside. However, because of the concealing array, it was impossible to see the situation within.

The array's span wasn't too large, just about a radius of ten or so zhang in a circular shape.

"What's inside?" Lu Ye inquired.

Xie Yunhan shook his head, "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Lu Ye was surprised.

"The forbidden land was already there when I joined Fox Fairy Valley. Normally, I just maintain the formations, and I've never been inside... Little brother, the Venerable One prohibits anyone from entering there. In the future, you only need to come and check once every half month," explained Xie.

"I understand," Lu Ye replied.

Thereafter, they acted separately, verifying the operation of the array, and confirming the array was undamaged before quickly leaving.

"Little brother, would you like to have a drink at my place?" Xie Yunhan invited.

"I will come to bother you later, big brother. I need to go practice saber skills with Brother Xia first."

Xie Yunhan let out a chuckle, "Then I'll wait for you."

"Fellow Daoist Lu!"

A voice suddenly came from not far away, and Lu Ye turned his head to look, only to see Zhou Yuntian over there watching him with a smile, looking as though he had been waiting specifically for him.

Xie Yunhan said, "Brother Zhou is looking for you, it must be for some matter, you go ahead first."

Lu Ye nodded, parted ways with Xie Yunhan, and walked toward Zhou Yuntian.

Upon approaching, he clasped his fists in greeting, "Fellow Daoist Zhou."

Zhou Yuntian said with concern, "These past few days have been hard on you, the Venerable One is very pleased with your performance."

Lu Ye immediately showed a delighted expression, and said, "Serving the Venerable One is the duty of us subordinates."

"Hmm," Zhou Yuntian nodded slightly, "Fellow Daoist Lu is right to think so, everything we have is bestowed by the Venerable One, protecting the Venerable One is our greatest mission!"

A look of fanaticism spread across his face, as if the Venerable One were to command him to die, he would not even frown.

Seeing this made Lu Ye's heart chill, and he changed the subject, "Does Fellow Daoist Zhou need something from me?"

"Oh." Zhou Yuntian came back to his senses, "When I met with the Venerable One the other day, I remember Fellow Daoist Lu saying you were proficient in the Path of Spirit Runes, as well as the Array Path and the Rune Tattoo Path?"

"Strictly speaking, I am a spirit runes master, and I have only dabbled a little in the Array Path and the Rune Tattoo Path."

"Only dabbled a little, yet Fellow Daoist Lu has such high attainment in the Array Path, what about the Rune Tattoo Path then?"

"The Rune Tattoo Path is something I have only begun to cultivate not long ago, it's incomparable to the Array Path."

"Can you perform rune tattoos?"

"I can, but I can only tattoo three types of rune tattoos."

"Which three?"

"The attack type Sharpness, the defense type Defense, and the auxiliary type Move-Like-The-Wind."

Zhou Yuntian's eyes lit up as he asked eagerly, "What about the success rate?"

"Generally speaking, the probability of failure is very small." He had previously practiced on a pack of wolves, failing seldomly. And even if it failed, it wouldn't matter, as after some time, once the tattoo site healed, one could simply re-tattoo it, causing no significant damage to the carrier of the tattoo.

"Very good, very good!" Zhou Yuntian was overjoyed, "Fellow Daoist Lu, could you demonstrate for me?"

"Naturally, I can, who needs the rune tattoo?" Lu Ye had plenty of tattoo materials in hand, enough for use.

"Tattoo on me," Zhou Yuntian said.

"Then, Fellow Daoist Zhou, please follow me." After saying this, Lu Ye led the way.

They quickly returned to his own loft, where he took out various materials for tattooing and gave Zhou Yuntian an introduction. This time he asked, "Which rune tattoo does Fellow Daoist Zhou want?"

Zhou Yuntian pondered briefly before saying, "The Defense one."

The Sharpness rune tattoo was not suitable to be tattooed on a person, unlike with the demon wolves. After all, cultivators usually have Spiritual Artifacts for battle, and nobody would scratch or bite people with their hands or mouth. The rune tattoos used on cultivators were either Defense or Move-Like-The-Wind.

One enabled the cultivator to have a stronger means of defense, and the other allowed a cultivator to run faster.

All things considered, Defense was the most suitable choice, and it was not strange for Zhou Yuntian to make that choice.

"Then where does Fellow Daoist Zhou wish to tattoo it?" Lu Ye asked again.

Zhou Yuntian stretched out his hand and tore open the clothes on his chest, pointing at his heart, "Here!"

A perfectly normal choice, with a Defense Spirit Rune guarding the vital area of the heart, it was likely to save lives at critical moments.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, please lie down," Lu Ye gestured with his hand.

Zhou Yuntian then lay on Lu Ye's bed, opening his clothes.

Lu Ye picked up the tattoo needle, dipped it in the material for the Defense rune tattoo, and lifted his hand to tattoo Zhou Yuntian's chest.

As the needle descended, Zhou Yuntian's expression was visibly tense, but he quickly relaxed.

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One needle after another, a triangular earthy-yellow mark gradually appeared on Zhou Yuntian's chest, within which complex lines were interwoven and fitted together, giving one the sensation of an impregnable fortress just by looking at it.

A Defense rune tattoo was no great challenge for Lu Ye.

In less than the time taken for one incense stick's burn, Lu Ye finished and said, "Fellow Daoist Zhou, it's done."

Zhou Yuntian sat up, looked down at the mark on his chest, and slightly urged his spirit force into it. Immediately, a triangular barrier emerged on his chest, clinging closely to his skin, visibly tougher by countless folds than his own protective spirit force.

Zhou Yuntian was overjoyed and couldn't help but praise, "Fellow Daoist Lu is truly remarkable, being able to tattoo rune tattoos in the Cloud River Realm is an unprecedented feat in my life."

Lu Ye responded, "Fellow Daoist Zhou flatters me, my skills aren't refined, these tattoos are of a temporary nature, they can be used only a limited number of times. I'm glad you're satisfied."

"Satisfied, extremely satisfied," Zhou Yuntian laughed and nodded, looking at Lu Ye, he felt more than ever like he had found a treasure.