Chapter 224, Successful Seizure

The defensive ward of the Redoubt of Wrath outpost did not last beyond an hour. As the golden sparkles of its final dregs got whisked away by the wind and dissipated in the air, the deluge of Crimson Blood Sect Cultivators poured through the first crack in the barrier they saw, charging straight into the outpost. 

The invaders themselves were incredulous. None of them had expected that the seizure of an enemy outpost would be so easy.

It was rare enough for an outer-ring-area outpost to be attacked, never mind captured. Yet here they were, after barely an hour, and the enemy outpost was theirs for the taking.

The defenders—Redoubt of Wrath prolegate Cheng Bo and the remaining hundred-or-so acolytes—were nowhere to be seen. He had led his men in a retreat to the real world of Jiu Zhou, preferring to risk his future prospects rather than jeopardize his own precious life. 

Never once a staunch believer of slogans such as “To the death” and the like, Cheng Bo liked his life and he would not even need to waver between the choices of defending the outpost with his life and saving his own hide. Dying meant losing everything, at least that was what he always believed in.

The Crimson Blood Sect force captured an empty outpost save for the insectoid horde which was beginning to overrun the place.

And Lu Ye already had a plan set in place. Chen Yu was already at the forefront, leading a band of Third-Orders and above to meet the insectoids head-on.

Those who were weaker immediately fanned out and dispersed, clearing every room and chamber they could find and sacking the outpost clean. 

Lu Ye and Hua Ci both veered somewhere else: the outpost’s Sanctum of Providence. The latter placed a hand on the Divine Opportunity Column and used her privileges as prolegate of the Crimson Blood Sect to strip away all the enhancements. 

Lu Ye was only there to make sure she was safe. He had known from Li Baxian that the process needed time and Hua Ci would be defenseless during that period, hence Lu Ye wanted to come along just in case. 

Hua Ci shut her eyes while she worked. In the meantime, Lu Ye strode and found a large chair that he sat on before he deposited a Spirit Pill into his mouth and began chewing.

Next, he tapped on his Battlefield Imprint and started to look for something. 

He had kept the marks of all ally legates and prolegates that he had the chance to fight side-by-side with during the Battle Royal of the Legates and some of the outposts of these friendlies were nearby. 

Among them was a certain order known as the Atheneum of Finality, whose outpost currently stood near the outpost of Clan Feng. 

As it turned out, the Atheneum of Finality outpost was due east of the Clan Feng outpost, which was itself also due east of the Crimson Blood Sect outpost. That would place the Clan Feng outpost right in between both Grand Sky Coalition orders. 

The scholarly-looking Ding Yushu had spoken to Lu Ye about a possible alliance during their encounter in the Battle Royal of Legates. But Lu Ye was too hard-pressed to commit to anything yet since he did not have enough manpower to raid a pantry, let alone invade the Clan Feng outpost.  

But now that the chance had presented itself, Lu Ye decided that it was time for him to hold the Atheneum of Finality legate to his promise. 

The seizure of the Redoubt of Wrath outpost had been surprisingly easy and that prompted Lu Ye to conceive the notion of taking down Clan Feng too, vanquishing both opposing factions in one fell swoop. 

His power has been seeing improvements by leaps and bounds. It would not be long before he would have to travel to the inner-ring areas of the Battlefield if he wanted to progress further. Hence if he could eliminate the threat posed by Clan Feng prior to his departure, then he could rest easy knowing that the outpost would be safe even in his absence.

Even so, whether his plan would work would first depend on the Atheneum. Clan Feng might be a Tier-Nine order but capturing its outpost wouldn’t be as easy as seizing the Redoubt of Wrath’s. 

The bulk of the latter’s force had perished due to the insectoids. 

Whereas Clan Feng’s strength was very much intact.

The caveat was apparent: Lu Ye would first need to secure the Atheneum’s support before he could attempt an invasion on the Clan Feng outpost. That would mean that a no from Ding Yushu could immediately kill the idea in its crib. 

Lu Ye found Ding Yushu’s mark and delivered a message. 

“How are things going, Ding?”

A reply came speedily enough.

“Everything’s fine at my end. We’re pressing steadily into the insectoid nest as we speak. It won’t be long before we’re done here. Do you need help, Brother Yi Ye? I can spare a few of my men.”

“It’s all good. I’m contacting you because I have a proposal.”

“A proposal?” an incredulous Ding Yushu uttered when he saw Lu Ye’s message. What proposal could Lu Ye have hatched when he should be busy dealing with his own insectoid infestation?

Lu Ye ended his lengthy conversation with Ding Yushu with a pondering look on his expression.

Outside the outpost, Chen Yu and his contingent of Cultivators were maintaining a perimeter, holding off the insectoids from inundating the outpost. 

The insectoids at the front were just the tiny and weaker ones, plus a handful of stronger ones which Chen Yu and his men could still resist for now. But they could not be expected to hold out for long. The long trail of insectoids leading from the wormhole ten miles away was hardly stopping and it would take more than just several Cultivators to fully mow them down. 

“I’m done here!”

Hua Ci’s voice broke Lu Ye’s train of thought. The look she was wearing indicated success. 

The extensive amounts of enhancements on the Divine Opportunity Column of the Redoubt of Wrath outpost showed just how glorious and historic it had been, despite being just a Tier-Eight sect. Just the affluence of Spiritual Qi in the atmosphere alone was thicker than that of the Crimson Blood Sect outpost. Lu Ye and Hua Ci might have reaped enough bounties from their participation in the Battle Royal of the Legates to improve things at their outpost, but it still didn’t come close to competing with the boon of this place. That made coming here to strip away the enhancements one of the prime objectives of capturing this fort. 

Even so, the process of stripping away enhancements from a Divine Opportunity Column was bound to incur unwanted collateral damage. Nevertheless, the gains were still huge indeed. 

Lu Ye paced towards Hua Ci and told her the new devilry he had just come up with.

Hua Ci stared at him. “Are you sure about this?”

As if taking down the Redoubt of Wrath wasn’t enough, now Lu Ye has set his sights on Clan Feng!

“There’s no harm in trying,” he shrugged, “Might as well give it a go.”

[That was what you said before. “No harm in trying”. Now look at what happened to the Redoubt of Wrath…] Hua Ci mused sardonically.

That was exactly what he said before when he was trying to downplay his motives and the Redoubt of Wrath really took the brunt of his shrewd design. 

Hua Ci began to feel somewhat sorry for the Clan Feng outpost for the calamity they were about to face.

The two Thousand Demon Ridge outposts could only blame their luck for building their outposts so close to the Crimson Blood Sect.

At the shrill signal of a whistle, the Crimson Blood Sect force withdrew from the outpost expeditiously at Hua Ci’s lead while Lu Ye, Chen Yu, and those more powerful helped to make sure everyone pulled out safely. 

Within moments, Chen Yu and the others found a chance to slip away too, leaving Lu Ye to face the insectoids alone. The latter surveyed his handiwork: a full vista of black; an endless sprawl of crawling insectoids wanting to sink their mandibles, pincers, chelicerae, or whatever mouthparts they had on his flesh.

Lu Ye unleashed his full plethora of skills. The fiery-red sparkle of his hiltless knife shot around like a deadly comet, engendering sprays of hemolymph everywhere. His Fire Dragons pummeled into masses of insectoids, releasing waves of infernos. Glowing red, Inviolable was just as deadly, cutting down every insectoid its edge found with unnerving ease. Everything Lu Ye was doing, he was certainly making sure that the insectoids could see him and only him.

Satisfied that he had done enough, at last, he unfurled his wings, and he took to the air. 

He landed almost a hundred meters away where Amber was already waiting. Lu Ye fired another Fire Dragon for good measure and the resultant trace of Spiritual Power was enough to make every insectoid look his way!

Lu Ye thrust an arm in a certain direction and Amber began speeding that way. In the meantime, Lu Ye retrieved another flask of Mystic Fruit cider and gulped down everything to restore the Spiritual Power that he had expended.

Chen Yu gazed at Lu Ye scampering off. “Wait a minute, where is he going?”

That was not the direction of the outpost!

“Nope, not yet, at any rate,” replied Hua Ci, “Now, everybody! Come with me!” She got up on her Wolf Golem and led the Crimson Blood Sect force onward.

At the same time, inside another insectoid nest deep underground, the acolytes of the Atheneum of Finality gave one final push, ending the infestation at their end with the slaughter of the remaining insectoid monsters.

That would last another two hours until Ding Yushu finally walked up to the nexus and sliced it open to retrieve the Nuclei of Life inside.