Sage of Humanity-Chapter 783 - 781

Atop Nameless Peak, the crowd either sat or stood, the atmosphere quiet; even those from the Ten Thousand Demons Ridge group felt no desire to converse.

As for whether they were secretly communicating through battlefield markings, that remained unknown.

After all, such actions left no trace whatsoever.

Even though suspicions abounded in their hearts, everyone maintained an outward calm, everyone except Ying Wuji, who felt incredibly uneasy.

Being a ghost cultivator, he could only unleash his full strength in the shadows, thus being exposed in this overt manner gave him the unsettling sensation of being stripped naked.

Especially since everyone present was incredibly powerful, and he was the weakest among them…

Trying to mask his unease, he leaned against a large tree, fidgeting with his curved Spiritual Artifact. The artifact, as if infused with life, flipped uncertainly through his fingers, tracing graceful arcs.

As time passed, at a certain moment, everyone suddenly sensed something and looked up in unison toward a certain direction.

Someone else was coming!

In that direction, a stream of light was rapidly approaching. Through the light, one could vaguely see a basket-shaped Flying Spirit Artifact with a graceful figure sitting inside it.

In the Nine Provinces, there were various styles of Flying Spirit Artifacts, with the most common being the sleekly designed spirit arks. Although these basket-shaped ones were less common, they were not rare and were particularly favored by some female cultivators.

Thus, seeing this basket-shaped artifact, everyone knew a female cultivator was approaching.

They then observed the spirit force vibrations she was emitting.

It was just a Cloud River Level 7...

She must be passing by, and everyone immediately lost interest, withdrawing their gazes.

Only Lu Ye, beneath his mask, stared intently at the approaching stream of light.

His heart was fraught with doubts.

Why is she here?

Is she involved too?

That doesn't make sense!

But upon reflection, he realized that among those gathered at the peak, there were physique cultivators, magic cultivators, combat cultivators, and ghost cultivators from the five major sects of the Nine Provinces, indeed missing one sect.

But why her of all people?

As ripples emerged in his heart, Lu Ye managed to keep his expression unchanged.

In an instant, the basket had flown above the spirit mountaintop, the light scattering to reveal a plump figure seated upon it.

Upon looking down, the new arrival was momentarily startled, clearly not expecting so many people to be gathered here, and all seemingly very powerful.

Almost instinctively, she considered fleeing with her artifact.

In a remote area like this, the best strategy is to distance oneself quickly from such a situation, as there's no telling what these people were doing here or whether they were good or bad.

However, her fleeting panic subsided upon spotting Lu Ye's figure.

So, he's here too!

Was he also drawn here by some feeling?

That must be it; otherwise, it's too much of a coincidence.

Her heart fluttered slightly, considering they had only parted two days ago, and she had secretly hustled here half a day after his departure, without any communication in the meantime.

It seems, then, not only had she kept secrets from him, but he had also hidden things from her.

It's an understandable matter, their secrets were not deliberate but rather a vague premonition, impossible to voice.

As many thoughts passed through her mind, the newcomer already maneuvered the flower basket to land on the mountaintop.

In a moment, a pair of doubtful eyes turned toward her, the same thought occurring to everyone there.

This Level 7 female cultivator… is she also involved?

Isn't her cultivation level a bit too low? While Lu Yiye is just a Cloud River Level 8, he is the top of Cloud River, stronger than everyone else present.

What basis does this female cultivator have?

It can't be that her strength matches the others here, can it?

As the female cultivator landed on the mountaintop, she graciously bowed: "Junior Sister Hua pays her respects to all Fellow Daoists!"

Hua Ci…

Those present, whether from Ten Thousand Demons Ridge or the Haotian Alliance, racked their brains for a memory of this name but had no recall; they were sure they had never heard of her before.

On the Spirit Stream battlefield, although Hua Ci had dominated the Spirit Stream Ranking for nearly a year after Lu Ye left, that was purely a matter concerning the Spirit Stream Realm. Unlike Lu Ye, she hadn't stirred up any significant trouble elsewhere, so she didn't draw much attention.

Perhaps some sect elders had heard the name Hua Ci from their junior disciples, knowing this healing cultivator possessed some remarkable abilities, but Cloud River cultivators, not involved in sect management and focused on their hard cultivation, wouldn't pay attention to Spirit Stream battlefield affairs.

To them, Hua Ci was completely an unknown, a stranger whose faction and sect origins were unclear.

Lui Qing frowned: "Junior Sister, why have you come here?"

He didn't ask directly because he was unsure of Hua Ci's reasons for being there.

With a gentle smile, Hua Ci didn't answer but instead asked, "Then senior brother, why are you here?"

Lui Qing nodded, understanding dawning on him as he exchanged a glance with Yang Yuan standing beside him, both feeling somewhat incredulous.

This female cultivator, just like them, had followed that slight premonition to arrive here!

Lan Ziyi looked Hua Ci up and down, contemplating, "Is Junior Sister Hua a healing cultivator?"

Hua Ci responded with a smile, "Sister has sharp eyes, I am indeed a healing cultivator."

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of almost everyone present became grave.

According to their original guess, Heaven's Augury had gone to great lengths to gather them here to jointly tackle some trouble, a trouble that only Cloud River Realm cultivators could handle, and it was sure to be perilous.

Thinking back to the previous Cloud River competition, it was possible that this competition was held to address this very issue, otherwise it would not have included the top six ranked individuals.

Now that a healing cultivator had arrived...

It undoubtedly indicated one thing, the issue they needed to solve was likely more dangerous than imagined, hence a healing cultivator was present to tend to their injuries.

Everyone felt heavy-hearted, only Ying Wuji was cheering inside.

At last, he was no longer the weakest one!

Looking at Hua Ci again, he found this healing cultivator quite pleasing to the eyes, just looking at her could brighten one's mood, and being selected by Heaven's Augury, her healing skills must be far from poor.

However, having said that, a Level 7 cultivation was still considered too low. In their respective sects, there were healing cultivators of Level 8 and Level 9, and those weren't chosen, yet this Hua Ci was selected.

No one knew the standards used by Heaven's Augury in choosing people.

A few simple questions and answers at the mountaintop plunged them back into silence; Hua Ci's beautiful eyes swept around the circle, her gaze not resting on Lu Ye, nor did Lu Ye intend to greet her.

Both tacitly treated each other as strangers.

At this moment, given the strange circumstances, concealing their relationship might yield some unexpected results.

Shortly thereafter, Hua Ci walked towards Lan Ziyi.

Among all those present, only she and Lan Ziyi were female cultivators; logically and emotionally, she should seek refuge with Lan Ziyi.

Therefore, no one was surprised by Hua Ci's choice.

Lan Ziyi did not refuse.

She could feel that this affair might be very troublesome and dangerous. Since Heaven's Augury had selected Hua Ci as the healing cultivator for such a team, there must be something unique about her. She would definitely need her help in the future, so her attitude towards Hua Ci was quite warm, although they had just met, they could chat back and forth.

No sooner had this settled when another stream of light streaked from a different direction, the light was earthy yellow, solid and substantial, giving off a unyielding feel. As the stream of light drew closer, an unstoppable aura rapidly approached, as if even if there were thousands of troops in front, the figure within the light could still charge boldly.

Another one arrived!

Everyone immediately perked up and looked towards the stream of light, but before they could get a clear view, the light had already reached them.

The light seemed not to notice the many powerful presences on the peak, or perhaps even if it did notice, it disregarded them, and descended directly.

With a booming sound, the air was swept up, and dust flew into the air.

Everyone frowned, each stimulating their spirit force to clear the clouds of dust around them; when they finally took a clear look, they were all startled.

In the midst of the field, a figure stood tall like a tower, his body swirling with surging blood Qi, half of his garment in tatters, revealing a firm chest and slightly bulging muscles.

All over his body, there was an indescribable sense of power.

Yang Yuan, who came from Jingkong Mountain, was especially struck.

With one glance, he noticed that the newcomer was also a physique cultivator, and from the opponent's physique and the bursting blood Qi, he seemed not at all inferior to himself.

Yet, the spirit force fluctuations emanating from the other's body were clearly only of Level 7!

Another Level 7!

Beneath the mask, Lu Ye's eyes twitched violently.

It was one thing for Hua Ci to suddenly run over here, being a healing cultivator with mysterious and unpredictable methods, he could understand why Heaven's Augury selected her.

But...

Why...

had Giant Armor come too!

Lu Ye really wanted to lift his mask and ask him to his face.

Is this what you meant by 'stay still to harness movement, come out for a walk'?

Giant Armor, this guy, had indeed changed, having his own little secrets!

In the field, as Giant Armor landed, he sensed the many powerful presences around him, as well as two familiar auras.

Almost without needing to look, he knew they were Lu Ye and Hua Ci!

He didn't expect to encounter them here, feeling a surge of joy, he was about to grin at Lu Ye, but saw Lu Ye sitting still, not lifting his head, acting as if he didn't recognize him.

Turning his head to look at Hua Ci, she was standing with a female cultivator he didn't recognize.

In that instant, a spark of understanding flashed in Giant Armor's mind, and he vaguely realized something.

Giant Armor wasn't stupid; he just thought simply and was too lazy to consider complex matters, but this didn't mean he couldn't sense the strangeness of the current situation.

So in just a moment, he figured out something.

Lu Ye and Hua Ci were currently pretending not to know each other, and he mustn't let the cat out of the bag!

After a brief hesitation, he ferociously expelled the turbid air from his body, two visible streams of air gushing out of his nostrils and impacting in all directions, he muttered gruffly, "Giant Armor has arrived!"