Chapter 243, Baiting

According to the intel provided by the Hao brother and sister, there were definitely more than one Ninth-Order cultivator guarding the key location that was the ore vein. In total, there were three or four of them since the ore vein was big enough that a single Ninth-Order cultivator could not secure the entire area. They also expected to be chased immediately after they exposed themselves.

So far, it looked like things were progressing as planned. Hao Ren had managed to lure two Ninth-Order cultivators toward them, and their job was to take out both enemies!

The pursuers looked incredibly conspicuous under the night sky. They were more or less moving toward Lu Ye’s location in a straight line.

Hao Ren burst out of a bush when the enemies were still 1.5 kilometers away from the ambush site. Lu Ye could not help but be impressed by the ghost cultivator’s speed. It was one thing to outrun a normal cultivator, and another to outrun two cultivators who were one minor realm above your level, not to mention that they were also flying on Spirit Artifacts.

That said, he noticed that there were bizarre patterns growing over Hao Ren’s neck. It was the same pattern he saw on Lan Yudie. His face also looked a little pale and dusty. If he wasn’t mistaken, the ghost cultivator had boosted his speed using some sort of secret technique.

Hao Ren gave Lu Ye a quick nod before moving to the agreed upon location and vanishing into thin air once more.

As if on cue, a pair of cultivators soared over the trees right in front of Lu Ye. One of them fired a beam of Spiritual Light—a flying weapon—straight at him.

Lu Ye eyed his attacker for a bit. If he wasn’t mistaken, the guy’s skill with his flying weapon was even weaker than his, and the Spiritual Light surrounding his body looked fairly murky. He must have consumed a considerable amount of Spirit Pills during his cultivation. Despite being at the same cultivation level, he was much weaker compared to Yuan Guang.

“He’s not the ghost cultivator!” The mage cultivator who stayed his hand said suddenly.

The flying weapon bent slightly and brushed past Lu Ye’s face with centimeters to spare. The wind was enough to cause his cheeks to sting. Lu Ye hadn’t moved from the start until the end, acting as if he was stunned by his close brush with death.

In fact, he hadn’t moved because he was confident he could dodge or block the attack. Since it wasn’t going to connect, there was no need to move even a muscle.

The attacker was probably a combat cultivator. It was because he was flying on a saber.

When flying on a Spirit Artifact, cultivators had the choice to fly on Spiritual Artifacts that were specifically made for flying or their favorite weapon. There was a huge difference between the two.

Spirit Artifacts that were specialized for flying obviously offered a better experience overall. They offered bigger space, faster speed, and a smoother flight. The drawback was that it cost more Spiritual Power.

The combat cultivator before him was obviously flying using his favorite weapon. The experience was nowhere as pleasant as the former, but it used a lot less Spiritual Power.

Moreover, some weapons weren’t suited for flying. Swords and sabers were generally the way to go, and it was commonly accepted that swords made for pretty cool flying weapons. On the other hand, no one would fly on spiked clubs unless their goal was to make themselves look as tacky as possible.

In the end though, wealth was the biggest factor behind the decision to acquire a specialized flying Spirit Artifact or not.

It was the same principle as choosing a flying weapon. Some cultivators’ Spirit Artifacts could function at both melee and long range. 

There was no such thing as a cultivator with low expenses. The Spirit Pills and Spirit Stones one used to cultivate alone was a huge burden on one’s wallet, not to mention that each cultivation realm came with its own additional costs.

Low level cultivators had to purchase Spirit Talisman Papers to make up for their own deficiencies.

Seventh-Order cultivators had to purchase flying weapons for use in combat.

Eighth-Order cultivators might want to purchase flying Spirit Artifacts if their weapon wasn’t suited for flying, and Ninth-Order cultivators with the potential to grow further would definitely want to purchase a Heaven Grade cultivation technique…

At the Spirit Creek Realm level, most cultivators led a destitute life. Accumulating wealth could be a challenge greater than cultivating itself.

Specialized flying Spirit Artifacts weren’t cheap either. The cheapest ones cost around two to three hundred Spirit Stones, while the expensive ones could cost thousands or even tens of thousands of Spirit Stones. As with all things, the better the quality, the pricier it was.

Lu Ye might not be able to fly on a Spirit Artifact just yet, he had educated himself on the basics as a matter of course. That was why he could tell that the combat cultivator was one hundred percent a pauper. As a result, his interest in the man vanished like a candle in the wind. Killing him would not earn him anything but a workout.

The spell cultivator was a different story though. The small boat he was riding looked incredibly well made and possibly valuable.

The two cultivators looked down on the “dumbstruck” Lu Ye from the sky. The combat cultivator asked, “Have you seen an Eighth-Order ghost cultivator?”

Lu Ye did not say anything. He was wondering how he should bring his enemies down to his level. The traps they had laid beforehand only worked on the ground.

The combat cultivator grew impatient after the silence lengthened. He asked again, “Which faction do you belong to?”

Lu Ye still did not give him an answer.

“You can die then!” The combat cultivator hmphed coldly. A cultivator who could not tell you their faction could only be an enemy, so there was no reason to hold back. The Spirit Artifact he was holding shivered, and killing intent burst out of his body.

Lu Ye grabbed an item from his Storage Bag and tossed it on the ground in front of him.

“Hoh?” The combat cultivator’s eyes lit up before he pounced toward it like a hawk. It was because it was a flying Spirit Artifact.

To a combat cultivator who was so poor that he could only fly on his saber, the flying Spirit Artifact was a most attractive offer. He did not suspect that it was a trap because they were a pair of Ninth-Order cultivators, and Lu Ye was just a lone Seventh-Order cultivator. He believed that Lu Ye was offering up the item to bargain for his life.

The flying Spirit Artifact belonged to Yuan Guang. Lu Ye had found it after unlocking his Storage Bag. It so happened that it was the perfect bait to use right now.

The combat cultivator caught the flying spirit Artifact in the blink of an eye and examined it closely. However, his joy was quickly replaced by confusion. It was because he felt like he had seen it before.

In fact, he had. He and Yuan Guang were both Ninth-Order cultivators in the Sky Pillar Sect, so of course they were acquainted with each other. Not only had he seen the flying Spirit Artifact before, he had even ridden it with Yuan Guang in the past.

Lu Ye gave him no time to make sense of his confusion though. His surroundings suddenly distorted into the image of a stone forest. The next second, both the stone forest and the combat cultivator vanished into thin air.

The spell cultivator was shocked to say the least, but the worst day of his life was just beginning. Two Spiritual Lights zipped toward him with every intention to cut his body in half…

The spell cultivator was a cautious one. Despite being two minor realms above the Seventh-Order cultivator, he never moved within a hundred meters of him for fear that he would attempt to surprise him with his flying weapons. He had learned his lesson the hard way in the past, and he wasn’t keen on experiencing it a second time.

One hundred meters was beyond the absolute range of a Seventh-Order cultivator’s flying weapon. There was no chance the enemy could hit him.

He was wrong. The flying Spirit Artifact beneath his feet suddenly shuddered violently as if it had been struck by something. He was going to retaliate against Lu Ye, but the unexpected disturbance had interrupted his spell and forced him to focus on stabilizing his flying Spirit Artifact. He had to. If he fell, he would be half-dead even if he survived the fall. He was no body tempering cultivator after all.

His mind was in total havoc right now. Who said that the absolute range of a Seventh-Order cultivator’s flying weapon was a hundred meters again? Forget a hundred meters, this was easily a hundred and fifteen meters!

The attack wasn’t over yet though. He had just stabilized his flying Spirit Artifact when something struck it and violently shook it once more. In fact, it was even worse than the first time. It was Lu Ye’s Fire Dragon technique!

A massive fire dragon slammed into the flying Spirit Artifact and knocked it over completely.

The spell cultivator let out a cry of surprise as he fell from the sky. The pair of Spiritual Lights immediately went in for the kill but were unable to deal any damage to him as a terrifically thick Spiritual Power Shield had abruptly appeared on the spell cultivator’s body; a lifesaving technique every spell cultivator knew!

The flying weapons struck the spell cultivator again and again, bowling him over and making him see stars. It didn’t matter though. So long as the Spiritual Power Shield remained active, they would not be able to threaten his life.

Lu Ye’s desire to construct Glyphs on his flying weapons grew even more after seeing this. They simply weren’t powerful enough without Sharp Edge.

The spell cultivator’s Spiritual Power Shield was pretty strong, but Lu Ye could’ve shredded it in three to five strikes if he had used the Inviolable. If he enhanced the weapon with two Sharp Edges, he might even be able to shred it in a single hit.

It might look like he was trouncing his opponent right now, but the attacks were no more than scratches to his opponent.

That was what Lu Ye thought, but the spell cultivator was really in a full blown panic right now. Not only was he falling from the sky, he realized that the Seventh-Order cultivator was, against all odds, controlling two flying weapons at the same time. As a result of their attack, he was rapidly losing Spiritual Power like a burst dam!

He borrowed some momentum from the impact and steadied himself. Then, he hurriedly cast a Float spell.

The spell allowed the caster to float in the air for a short time. Dong Shuye had used it before he took a Fire Quail to the face.

Spell cultivators normally did not use flying weapons not because they couldn’t learn, but because it was unnecessary. Their spells could already smite their enemies from long range, and manipulating flying weapons required them to split their focus. As if that wasn’t bad enough, it might not necessarily have better range than their spells. That was why telekinesis was a situational technique at best to a spell cultivator.

When a spell cultivator had reached the Seventh-Order, they could cultivate more powerful spells such as Lu Ye’s Fire Dragon. Most spell cultivators experienced a massive power boost after they reached the Seventh-Order.

The Ninth-Order cultivator let out a huge sigh of relief after casting the Float spell. Although the Seventh-Order cultivator had given him quite the panic, he was ultimately able to stabilize the situation. All he needed to do now was to rise back into the air and distance himself from the Seventh-Order cultivator. Once he had regained control of his flying Spirit Artifact, he would be able to attack the enemy with impunity, and the battle would be under his control once more!

He had never been humiliated this badly in his life, much less at the hands of a Seventh-Order cultivator. He was going to teach him the rage of a Ninth-Order spell cultivator!

He channeled his Spiritual Power and shot up into the air. After he had returned to his flying Spirit Artifact, he looked down and…

‘Huh? Where did the bastard go?’

He was too panicked to pay much attention to the Seventh-Order cultivator earlier. Before he knew it, the guy was gone like he never existed.

Suddenly, he felt a surge of Spiritual Power above him. The spell cultivator looked up and felt fear tingling his scalp.