Chapter 140, To Lay One’s Bones

Premium Suite Number Three. That was the suite Lu Ye was staying in. 

 

“Such potential…” the elderly man mused aloud. “That’s very rare.”

 

The higher one’s potential was, the more Spiritual Qi one could assimilate. The Divine Trade Association’s Premium-level suites were all, just as Lu Ye guessed, fitted with enchantments to amass Spiritual Qi and that explained why the suites were all pullulating with such rich natural energies. But at the same time, the functioning of these enchantments required the sustenance of Spirit Stones. 

 

The more the enchantments functioned, the more Spirit Stones would be depleted. 

 

The elderly overseer had seen his fair share of gifted Cultivators. Cultivators whose potential could easily engender an excess cost of three to four Spirit Stones to upkeep the enchantments visited the Divine Trade Association branches on a regular basis, but the elderly overseer could have sworn that he could count with one hand the number of Fourth-Order Cultivators who could do the same. 

 

“Should we evict him?” asked the steward. 

 

“Can we? He’s a paying patron, not a pest, and nothing in the deal stated that he needs to pay us anything for the Spirit Stones. We’re doing business, my dear, so we need to be fair to all our patrons. We do not make decisions based on our whims and fancies.”

 

“Understood, sir.”

 

“Off you go then,” the elderly man waved her away. 

The female steward politely took her leave and walked away. 

 

Leaving the aged overseer in his chair, pondering quietly on his own while he shook his head. 

 

[A student or acolyte from one of the greater militant orders on a trip of pilgrimage, I suppose, although few ever venture so far to the outer peripherals of the Battlefield… But he might not survive though… with that Sixth-Order Cultivator trying to hunt him down… Pity…]

 

On the sixth day of their stay, Lu Ye was taking a short break from training when Amber padded up to him and nudged him with his muzzle. 

 

“What does Amber want?” Lu Ye peered at Yi Yi quizzically. 

 

Yi Yi communicated with the tiger before she said to Lu Ye, “He wants that dragon scale you showed him last time.”

 

A dawning look spread upon Lu Ye’s face. He quickly took out the dragon scale and held it out for Amber, who came closer and inhaled a long drag of air, drawing in a thin red, bloody line from within the dragon scale. The oversized tiger staggered unsteadily as if he was drunk. Like the last time, he tottered around, swaying off-balance until he crashed to the ground, unconscious while his entire body pulsed with a crimson glow. The unknown substance must be enriching his physical constitution again, like the last time. 

 

Lu Ye wasn’t at all interested in emulating Amber. The substance inside the dragon scale looked like it packed quite a punch that not even a Spirit Beast as strong as Amber could withstand its effects. If anything, Lu Ye was afraid that effects might do him more harm than good. 

 

Nevertheless, there was no denying the good that the substance had done. Amber had gained much physically since his last enrichment and Lu Ye was anxious to see what other benefits Amber could glean this time. 

 

Meanwhile, Lu Ye would carry on with the pace of his meditation. 

 

One by one, Spiritual Points in him unlocked piecemeal. 

 

By the fifteenth day of Lu Ye’s stay, the barrier of the sixty-third Spiritual Point was showing signs of giving way after his unflagging and relentless attempts of weakening it. But just before the barrier came down, Lu Ye stopped abruptly. 

 

He got to his feet and examined himself. Everything appeared fine. He felt strong and his vigor replenished. His sixty-third Spiritual Point was just on the verge of being unlocked and it was time to set his plan into motion. 

 

He went downstairs and found a steward and made a purchase of several Talismans. 

 

That would bring his present amount of Spirit Stones down to just two to three hundred plus. He had spent the most on his accommodations—a whopping a hundred and fifty Spirit Stones—but it was worth it. The extraordinary efficiency because of the enchantments inside the suite turned what he initially thought as a twenty-day plan to reach the Fifth-Order into just fifteen days. The amount of time saved was especially valuable to him. 

 

He checked his stores of Spiritual Pills and found that there were just a few shy of a hundred. It did not take long for him to make up his mind before spending another two hundred Spirit Stones on Spiritual Pills, leaving just the last thirty or so Spirit Stones as reserves. 

 

With everything ready, Lu Ye clambered onto Amber’s back and they left the Divine Trade Association branch together. 

 

As soon as they were outside, a pair of piercing keen eyes homed in on them. As expected, Dong Shu Ye was there, waiting for them! Apparently, he had been there the whole time!

 

Lu Ye’s eyes met Dong Shu Ye’s. The former looked as if he had seen a ghost and that pleased Dong Shu Ye immensely, who gobbled down the last piece of meat jerky he was holding hungrily, absolutely on tenterhooks to exact his vengeance. 

[AT LONG LAST!]

 

There was no longer any need to think. Lu Ye immediately slapped a Move-With-The-Wind Talisman on Amber who identified the best direction to run and he bolted. 

 

Dong Shu Ye shot up into the sky and glided after them. 

 

Down on the ground, at the shop where Dong Shu Ye had been maintaining his half-month-long vigil, the proprietor of the store was only too happy to see Dong Shu Ye leaving that he was practically in tears of joy. For half a month, Dong Shu Ye’s threatening presence had turned his roaring business down into the gutters that barely any of his regulars wanted to come again. Hardly anyone would enjoy visiting when a dangerous-looking Sixth-Order Cultivator lurked outside like a robber waiting to jump on any unsuspecting prey that happened to pass by. 

 

The proprietor could not afford to antagonize Dong Shu Ye—not when he was only a Third-Order independent Cultivator.

 

[AT LONG LAST! FINALLY! THAT CROOK AND HIS PLAGUE-LIKE MIASMA ARE GONE!] The proprietor reminisced how he had endured the past fifteen days with frustration and agony, and tears once again streamed down his face. 

 

Amber’s speed was manifestly faster than before. 

 

And it was all because of the enrichment last night. Coupled with the effects of the Move-With-The-Wind Tasliman, Dong Shu Ye was having difficulty keeping up with Amber and this infuriated him. 

 

But Dong Shu Ye wasn’t a fool either. He stuffed a Spirit Pill into his mouth to restore his Spiritual Powers while he grasped a Spirit Stone in each of his hands, absorbing the Spiritual Qi from the Stones while he maintained his pursuit. 

 

It was like the last time. The chase included numerous forays into hidden corners of the wilderness where both sides would stop for a break. Amber’s speed was gradually lessening with the effects of the Talismans wearing off and he needed rest badly. Fortunately for them, Dong Shu Ye was having the very same predicament. Even with his constant ingestion of Spiritual Pills and the assimilation of Spiritual Qi through the Stones he grasped, they were just not fast enough against the rapid depletion of his Spiritual Powers. 

 

As if they were reading each other’s minds, they would stop at regular intervals before Lu Ye and Amber continued their hasty absconding and Dong Shu Ye would have to get up quickly to keep up with them. 

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The pursuit lasted a day and finally, Dong Shu Ye found himself staring at the yawning entrance of a cave, frowning with hesitation. 

 

He could have sworn that he positively saw Lu Ye and that white tiger of his bounding into the cave and that puzzled him. 

 

Running into a cave was tantamount to putting himself into a corner, making Lu Ye’s choice to do so very odd and bizarre to Dong Shu Ye. 

 

But there was one other possibility: that the cave had another exit somewhere. This cave could be part of a system that led to somewhere else and Lu Ye was thinking of using it as cover to escape, therefore nullifying Dong Shu Ye’s aerial advantage.

 

Realizing this, Dong Shu Ye knew that he couldn’t dawdle anymore. He needed to keep up or he might lose them. But he knew that he needed to be careful. This might be Lu Ye trying to set up an ambush for him. He smacked a Golden Body Talisman on himself before stepping inside. That way, he would still have enough time to react if Lu Ye really was skulking about in the darkness inside. 

 

To his surprise, the cave was damp and cold. But he was even more amazed to find that this was not a trap. Lu Ye was gone. 

 

As he ventured deeper inside, the cave gradually widened into a larger stone passage. 

 

Until he finally walked into a cavernous rock chamber formed in the soluble rock limestone that spanned almost one-third of an acre wide and tens of meters high. Icicle-like stalactites hung from the ceiling of the cave with water dripping off their pointed tips, filling the whole chamber with the intermittent “drip-drop” noises that echoed everywhere.

 

The place was barely lit but Dong Shu Ye almost immediately spied Lu Ye in the deepest parts of the chamber, sitting cross-legged as if he was meditating with his entire self emanating a roiling effluence of Spiritual Qi!

 

By now, Dong Shu Ye was certain that Lu Ye must be up to no good. There was no other way out of this cave other than the stone passage he just came in with. All he needed to do was to seal off this exit and his quarry would be trapped in here!

 

[Finally! Finally, I caught him!] He mused with anticipation. Lu Ye could dish out whatever tricks hidden up his sleeves and nothing would trump his superior powers—or so he thought. 

 

He inhaled lightly, his face cracking into a smirk. “So, this is where you choose to lay your bones?”

 

Those words barely escaped his lips when the aura of churning Spiritual Qi coming from Lu Ye suddenly turned up several notches, becoming a huge storm of tossing natural energies while Lu Ye’s very person began to glow brilliantly. 

 

The Fifth-Order of the Spirit Creek Realm!

 

Dong Shu Ye could not believe it. Lu Ye was still very much in the Fourth-Order the last time he checked just moments ago outside. Yet here he was, ascending into the Fifth-Order right before his eyes. That could mean only one thing: Lu Ye had been intentionally delaying his ascension and had been specifically waiting for this moment!

 

[What incredible progress!] Dong Shu Ye thought with disbelief. 

 

Just two months ago, this boy was just a Third-Order Cultivator, and finding him already in the Fourth-Order fifteen days ago was already surprising enough for Dong Shu Ye. Although he quickly dismissed it, thinking that Lu Ye must have been stuck in the Third-Order for quite some time prior to their initial encounter months ago and a one-level ascension should be nothing he needed to be worried about. 

 

But now that Lu Ye had risen to the Fifth-Order right before his eyes, there was no denying just how incredible Lu Ye’s progress had been. 

 

From the Third-Order to the Fifth in just two and a half months? That was as impossible and as rare a feat as finding a unicorn.

For what it’s worth, Dong Shu Ye was rather pleased to have made the correct choice. He would never be able to exact vengeance if he allowed Lu Ye to slip by his fingers this time. Give him time and he would be far stronger and deadlier than Dong Shu Ye. The hunter would become the hunted and vice versa. 

 

While Dong Shu Ye was being taken by surprise, he sensed the signature of Spiritual Qi behind him. Without even thinking, he fired a blast in that direction. 

 

A shadow flitted past him, avoiding the blast completely, followed by an explosion at the entrance into this rock chamber which was caused by a detonation-type Talisman. That, plus the death ray Dong Shu Ye just fired, caused the structure of the cave around the entrance to cave in. Rocks and boulders smashed into one another at the entrance, keeping the passage tightly shut, closing them off from the outside world. 

 

Only then did Dong Shu Ye realize what he had done. The talisman was not intended for him, but rather, to seal off the exit to make sure no one else got in or out!

 

His spiritual senses immediately picked up another signature—one strong and robust—racing towards him. Dong Shu Ye wheeled around at once, tearing his gaze off the sealed entrance frantically to look back to the front and there was Lu Ye blitzing at him like a bull on a rampage!

 

Lu Ye no longer wore that forlorn and dismal mask that he did when he saw Dong Shu Ye outside the Divine Trade Association building yesterday. Confident and sure, he charged straight at Dong Shu Ye, avoiding an aureate energy scythe that came screaming past him with a deft twist of his body. 

 

This really was a perfect spot to lay one’s bones, but in this case, Lu Ye has every intention of laying Dong Shu Ye’s bones here for good!

 

Yi Yi was already scouting the terrain, reconnoitering for suitable spots like this rock chamber when they were running from Dong Shu Ye. 

One of Lu Ye’s chief considerations for his plan to work was Dong Shu Ye’s ability to glide in the air. The Sixth-Order Cultivator could easily take into the air and withdraw if he realized that the tables had turned him. To that end, Lu Ye needed Yi Yi to find a spot that would afford him the geographical advantage to prevent just that. 

 

That was when Yi Yi discovered this cave. A rock chamber that was neither too vast nor cramped, but narrowly fitted Lu Ye’s requirements. 

 

For this reason, Yi Yi was given the task to detonate the magical talisman to elicit the explosion that sealed off the exit. That was to prevent Dong Shu Ye from fleeing. 

 

With the cave now fully cut off from the world outside, there could only be one survivor of this showdown and that person would be walking out of here alive. 

 

Reaching the Fifth-Order created another Microcosmic Orbit system inside Lu Ye which greatly enhanced his explosiveness and speed. Now all he needed to do was to make this fight a close-quarter melee to ensure his victory!

 

Spell Cultivators were one of the deadliest brands of Cultivators skilled in different kinds of powerful and potent spells, but they were also known by another name in the world of Cultivators. 

 

Lu Ye had once heard Hua Ci mention this before during one of their little chats. If Body-tempering Cultivators were colloquially known as Tanks and Combat Cultivators were known as Berserkers, then Spell Cultivators were nothing more than a bunch of Squishies!

 

To Body-tempering and Combat Cultivators of the same rank, Spell Cultivators possessed the weakest physical strength and endurance. Their long years of rubbing their noses into tomes and scriptures to study magic and hone their spell-slinging prowess had deprived them of the time and attention to strengthen their physical bodies. 

 

Even Ghost Cultivators who spent more time in the shadows than in the light could easily best Spell Cultivators when it came to a close combat fisticuff.

 

In duels between low-tiered Cultivators, distance was a Spell Cultivator’s greatest ally. But if the distance was closed, the Spell Cultivator would find his or herself facing very difficult odds. 

 

Lu Ye was still in the Fourth-Order when he and Dong Shu Ye last fought half a month ago and he managed to get almost within thirty meters of Dong Shu Ye back then. But now that he has reached the Fifth-Order, he was absolutely certain that he could get past Dong Shu Ye’s defenses and attack him from point-blank range. 

 

Lu Ye flitted and darted about erratically while he maintained his pace, dodging one death ray after another, steadily closing the gap. In the meantime, Dong Shu Ye’s face was illuminated by the very spells he fired at his opponent and he wasn’t looking pleased at all. He looked nervous. 

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