Sage of Humanity

In the darkness, Lu Ye slowly came to and immediately felt pain at the site of his wound. Beside him was the heavy breathing of Amber.

He opened his eyes and saw the environment he was in.

He was in a dark and deep corridor, where the sound of wind whined by his ears. The corridor was not dead-ended, but transparent on both sides.

Realizing this, Lu Ye immediately understood that he must still be within the Sky-Splitting Gorge.

He didn't know how long he had been unconscious, but it couldn't have been too long. Amber hadn't taken him through the Sky-Splitting Gorge; it seemed there had been an accident.

The ten-part map indicated that the Sky-Splitting Gorge was an extremely complex terrain.

Upon entering the Sky-Splitting Gorge, it began as an ordinary canyon with steep terrain on either side. But further in, the canyon was divided by isolated peaks, one path turning into two, and then those two into four, and four into eight...

In the end, there were dozens of paths within the Sky-Splitting Gorge, and these paths were not completely isolated. The bottoms of the mountains that separated them were filled with corridors that passed through to both ends, allowing one to travel between the various paths via these corridors.

The constantly splitting paths, along with the countless corridors connecting them, turned the depths of the Sky-Splitting Gorge into an enormous natural maze.

This was also why Lu Ye had chosen to travel through the Sky-Splitting Gorge. With such complex geography, it was difficult for cultivators who didn't frequent the area to find their way.

With the highly valued ten-part map in his possession, he didn't have to worry about getting lost. As long as he followed the directions on the map, he could make it through the Sky-Splitting Gorge.

He just hadn't anticipated encountering some unexpected events outside the gorge, which had led to his current predicament.

The corridor he was currently in seemed to be inside a mountain peak, which meant he was in the maze within the Sky-Splitting Gorge.

Sitting up, Lu Ye was a bit startled to find that his outer clothing had been taken off and torn into strips, which were then used to bandage his wounds. Judging by the clumsy method, it must have been the work of Yiyi. Clearly, Amber didn't have the ability to do this.

"Lu Ye, you're awake?" Yiyi floated over from the side, and exclaimed happily.

Amber also lifted its head to give him a look.

Lu Ye responded and felt the extent of his injuries. He had taken two healing pills before slipping into unconsciousness, and now there were clear signs of improvement, though it would take several more days to fully recover.

Zhang Wu had inflicted severe injuries, but the most dangerous wound on his body was the one left by the Young Master using the Spirit Talisman. At that moment, Lu Ye had promptly activated the Defense Spirit Runes; however, the results showed that the strike had pierced through the protection and left a one-inch deep wound at the position of his heart.

Zhang Wu's attacks had not been able to break through the Defense Spirit Runes, but the Spirit Talisman had. Clearly, the Spirit Talisman the Young Master sacrificed in a critical moment was extremely lethal. Without the defense, that one strike could have ended Lu Ye's life.

Assured that there was no serious issue with his injuries, save for feeling a bit weak, Lu Ye took out a set of clothing from his storage sack to put on. Then, he got out a water bladder and some food, tossed some to Big Tiger, and started eating as well.

"How long did I sleep?" Lu Ye asked while eating. Find more chapters on empire

"A day and a night," Yiyi replied softly, sitting across from him.

"What happened?"

"There are many people around, probably looking for us. We almost revealed our whereabouts several times, and now we are lost..."

Lu Ye nodded, as this was within his expectations.

After using the Young Master's injury to severely wound Zhang Wu, he had not planned to directly confront him. Such injuries would weaken Zhang Wu over time. Waiting until Zhang Wu was exhausted before looking for an opportunity to kill him was undoubtedly a better strategy.

But when he saw the red light flashing on the back of Zharng Wu's hand, he knew that his original plan was no longer feasible.

The battlefield markings on the backs of cultivators' hands not only recorded some information but could also be used for communication. At that time, Zharng Wu was obviously calling for help, so Lu Ye had to make quick work of him.

After killing Zharng Wu, his plan was to quickly cross the Sky-Splitting Gorge. Once he crossed the gorge, he would be out of the Nine Stars Sect's sphere of influence, and at that point, they would have no way to deal with him.

But now it seemed that the reaction from the Nine Stars Sect was faster than he had anticipated, with a large number of cultivators already pouring into Sky-Splitting Gorge, searching for his trace.

After all, the death of a Young Master was a major incident, so it was within reason that the Nine Stars Sect's reaction was particularly intense.

At the moment he was still safe, but the situation was definitely not good. Facing a sect alone, even an 8th grade one, was not something Lu Ye could withstand. After all, he was just a small cultivator at Spirit Stream Level 2, and it had been only three months since he entered the Spirit Stream battlefield.

He ate while lost in thought.

Relying solely on his own abilities was no longer an option. Xuanmen was near the Nine Stars Sect, and these two forces belonged to different camps. Being so close to each other, they must have some disputes and grievances.

With the Nine Stars Sect stirring up such a commotion, it was very likely that Xuanmen wouldn't turn a blind eye. If his guess was correct, Xuanmen might take some action.

In that case, Xuanmen might be able to help alleviate some of the pressure off him.

But he couldn't possibly take the initiative to seek cooperation with Xuanmen. Firstly, he couldn't reveal his identity as a disciple of the Righteous Blood Sect, and secondly, as someone at Spirit Stream Level 2, he simply didn't have the status to cooperate with them.

Of course, this was the ideal scenario. Whether Xuanmen would intervene was something Lu Ye was unclear about.

"I'm sorry!" Yiyi suddenly apologized, sensing that Lu Ye seemed a bit angry.

Lu Ye looked up at her, his words muffled: "Have you done something wrong?"

Yiyi said, "I'll be more careful next time and won't expose our tracks so easily."

Trapped inside the Mystic Spirit Bell, all she felt was an engulfing darkness without a glimpse of light until she faintly heard Lu Ye's voice, which soothed her.

Honestly, Yiyi was very surprised that Lu Ye had come to her rescue, as it had involved four cultivators, nearly all of whom were of higher cultivation than Lu Ye.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

In that situation, even if Lu Ye had abandoned her, she wouldn't have blamed him. After all, their relationship was merely one of cooperation, which hadn't lasted long, and they hadn't established much deep camaraderie. Lu Ye had no obligation to risk his safety for her.

But Lu Ye still came…

She couldn't entirely blame herself for what happened. While scouting the area, she had discovered the four Nine Stars Sect cultivators and had tried to stealthily check out the situation. Unexpectedly, they had already set up the spirit bell, trapping her inside.

But ultimately, the incident was due to her lack of care. If she hadn't approached too close, the spirit bell would not have been activated.

Latterly, when Lu Ye was seriously injured and fell unconscious, Yiyi felt even more self-reproach.

After swallowing the food in his mouth, Lu Ye said to Yiyi, "It was me who asked you to scout the surroundings. It's not your fault you were trapped, and it was right for me to rescue you. My injury is a sign of my inadequate cultivation. You don't have to feel sorry for anyone."

Yiyi looked at Lu Ye with a touched expression, feeling that he was the kindest person in the world.

Yet, Lu Ye changed the subject: "However, if you can't discipline Amber properly, I think it's better for us to part ways!"

"What about Amber… What's wrong with Amber?" Yiyi was bewildered.