Sage of Humanity

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The tiger sat in the mountain forest, its majesty awe-inspiring. In front of the big tiger, two figures stood stiff as boards.

Just as the fair-faced man was at a loss, he heard Lu Ye say, "Great Tiger King, please quell your anger. I understand the rules; I will follow your rules, so please spare my life!"

As he spoke, he took off his storage sack from around his waist, feigned activating the spirit force, and tossed down the storage sack. Not only that, but he also threw away the longsword in his hand.

The big tiger looked at him and hummed softly, "Since you understand the rules, I can spare your life."

"Thank you, Great Tiger King!"

The big tiger then turned its gaze to the fair-faced cultivator, "What about you, boy? Do you wish to die or to live?"

"I want to live!" blurted out the fair-faced cultivator, his face a portrait of agony as he unbuckled his storage sack in the manner of Lu Ye, unlocked the restriction lock, and threw it onto the ground before him.

He had heard some rumors in the marketplace before, saying that there was a demon beast in Qingyun Mountain that could speak human language. Many cultivators had encountered it, but the beast generally did not take human lives; it was only interested in elixir pills and Spirit Stones. As long as the cultivators were willing to pay a price, they could escape from the tiger's jaws.

He never expected that by merely following Lu Ye into the mountains, he would actually encounter this demon beast. Indeed, this was utter misfortune.

The big tiger was quite satisfied with their actions and spoke again, "Don't try any tricks. If I find out you haven't unlocked the restriction lock, hmph!" The threat was self-evident.

"Unlocked!" Lu Ye and the fair-faced cultivator said in unison. Moreover, Lu Ye pointed at the fair-faced cultivator, "Great King, he hasn't thrown away his weapon yet. He might be planning to harm you!"

The fair-faced cultivator was stunned, cursing Lu Ye to high heaven in his heart.

The big tiger was also visibly taken aback, but quickly turned its head towards the fair-faced cultivator, a threatening growl coming from its throat.

Clang...

The fair-faced cultivator decisively threw down his long knife, his heart bleeding in pain! His long knife was a Spiritual Artifact. Although it was of a low grade, it was still a Spiritual Artifact. The concept for a low-level cultivator of having or not having a Spiritual Artifact was completely different—one could say that a Spiritual Artifact could increase his strength by ten percent!

But at this moment, survival was the priority. Angering such a demon beast would surely lead to a bad end. Compared to his own life, external possessions could be discarded.

"Great King, if there are no further orders, then we shall take our leave," Lu Ye said.

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"Scram," the big tiger roared indifferently.

Lu Ye and the fair-faced cultivator both retreated slowly, not showing their backs to the big tiger. Such caution was a normal response when facing a threat. Anyone would keep their guard up.

However, after retreating a few meters, the fair-faced cultivator was shocked to find that Lu Ye suddenly dashed forward, snatching up the longsword that lay on the ground, and pounced toward him with the ferocity of thunder.

The fair-faced cultivator was horrified, not having anticipated such an outrageous move from Lu Ye at all. With the big tiger nearby, shouldn't they be prioritizing their own lives? How could he have such audacity?

He had no time to think further. Almost the instant Lu Ye made a move, he also lunged forward, reaching his own weapon in a few steps, grabbed it, and channeled spirit force into the long knife, making the blade shimmer with light.

The force of the attack hit him head-on, and the fair-faced cultivator had no time to think; his long knife met the strike.

With a clang, the fair-faced cultivator, not yet fully upright, was forced down, kneeling on the ground.

One was fully prepared, the other caught off guard, and Lu Ye had the upper hand in this clash.

The fair-faced cultivator looked up sharply, catching a glimpse of Lu Ye's calm and indifferent eyes, and in that moment, he faintly sensed something.

But there was no time for him to think it over, as Lu Ye was already thrusting his sword forward.

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The fair-skinned cultivator hastily activated his protective spirit force around his body while simultaneously slashing his sword towards Lu Ye. However, to his surprise, his protective spirit force did not have any effect and the longsword pierced directly through his chest, exiting through his back.

Lu Ye kicked out again, sending the fair-skinned man flying, the longsword pulling out a string of blood from the chest as it went.

In the blink of an eye, victory and defeat between the two had been determined. Lu Ye was not sure whether his opponent was dead and did not rashly approach. Instead, he took out an attack Spirit Talisman from his storage sack, holding it in his hand, ready for any sudden needs.

If the opponent dared to stand up, he would immediately activate the talisman.

However, glancing over, the fair-skinned man's body on the ground convulsed a few times and then went still, which suggested that Lu Ye's sword strike had hit a vital spot.

The fights between cultivators are this perilous, often determining life and death in a very short span of time.

The ground was stained red with blood, the pungent smell of blood permeating the air. Lu Ye took deep breaths to calm his racing heart.

A speck of red light suddenly shot out from the direction of the fair-skinned cultivator's corpse and embedded into the back of Lu Ye's hand.

"What the…?" Yiyi emerged above Big Tiger's head, looking somewhat at a loss as she watched Lu Ye.

Just now, Lu Ye had suddenly charged over to her and said urgently, "Help me rob."

Right after that, the fair-skinned cultivator chased after him. Yiyi then understood what Lu Ye had encountered. She and Big Tiger had put on a show, which was something both of them were skilled at. Besides, they got the chance to rob some good stuff; why not do it?

But... wasn't it supposed to be a robbery?

How did it turn into a killing?

Yiyi slowly realized that it was she and Big Tiger who were supposed to be robbing, while from the beginning to the end, Lu Ye had intended to kill, merely using their momentum.

"You deceived me?" Yiyi glared at Lu Ye in anger.

Lu Ye glanced at her, criticizing, "You overacted!"

"What?" Yiyi was utterly confused.

Before Lu Ye could say more, a faint noise suddenly came from not far away. He hesitated for just a moment, then burst into action, calling out as he did, "Your secret's been exposed; there are others nearby. If you don't want to die, hurry over here!"

Yiyi felt like crying but had no tears, feeling trapped aboard a ship of thieves and unable to disembark. After exchanging a look with Big Tiger, Yiyi gritted her teeth, "Follow him!"

Big Tiger roared and sprinted on all fours.

Within the jungle, a seductively shaped female cultivator with a face full of panic and confusion fled for her life. She felt as if she had made a colossal mistake.

But could she really be blamed? She just wanted to live a bit better, tired of ingratiating herself with those disgusting customers. They were all independent cultivators; why should she have to spend her days and nights trying to please others? If this job had gone smoothly, she would have had much easier days ahead of her.

Yet, no matter what, she had not anticipated that the person she hired would fail.

Since leaving Heaven's Augury Mercantile Union, she had been tracking the person using the hidden markers they left all the way to this point. She thought they would be dividing the spoils by now, but what she witnessed was the independent cultivator named Lu Ye killing the man she had hired. In a state of panic and confusion, she had exposed herself and was now being pursued.

She didn't want to die! She was still young, with many good days ahead of her. How could she die in a place like this?

Yet the sound of pursuit behind her was getting closer and closer. She knew that her chances of escape were slim.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om