A cold glint flashed as Lu Ye charged forward with his sword again, which prompted Senior Brother Zhou to lift his sword to parry it. In the past, he would’ve stabbed his opponent’s sword-holding hand because he was confident of harming his opponent before the sword reached him. However, now, he didn’t have the guts to do so because he knew that it’d be futile. Lu Ye wouldn’t back down. Even if he would be harmed, he was determined to hack at his opponent.
Senior Brother Zhou managed to parry the attack, but he started tottering upon impact. On the other hand, Lu Ye lifted his leg and landed a kick on his opponent’s blood-soaked thigh. That was one of the injuries he had inflicted on his opponent earlier. The wound was very deep.
Following a shriek, Senior Brother Zhou staggered and fell on one knee. Nevertheless, he also managed to inflict a long cut on Lu Ye’s calf. As though feeling no pain, Lu Ye pounced on him again as a sword light radiated from his weapon and engulfed Senior Brother Zhou.
*Clang! Clang! Clang!* The sounds of weapons clashing with one another were heard. Senior Zhou managed to fend off every strike from Lu Ye. There came a moment when a crack was heard as the sword in Senior Brother Zhou’s hand broke apart. The weapon was only left with a 15-centimeter long blade.
A long sword wasn’t suitable for hacking, which was why Lu Ye’s shorter sword was at an advantage. Despite the fact that Senior Brother Zhou’s sword was of better quality, it couldn’t remain intact after a long time of clashing with another weapon. The fact that his weapon broke apart at this point was undoubtedly terrible news for Senior Brother Zhou.
Seeing as Lu Ye’s weapon was about to reach him, he knew that he had nothing else to ward off the attack. A moment later, Lu Ye was standing on the same spot with his clothes drenched in blood. His sword-holding right hand was trembling violently. His face had turned ashen from severe bleeding.
In front of him was Senior Brother Zhou, who was lying on the ground and covered in blood. His body was convulsing, and blood was still streaming out of his mouth as he coughed weakly. The golden light around his body had shattered due to Lu Ye’s attacks. The wounds on his body were so deep that his bones could be seen. The worst wound was on his neck. The strike almost decapitated him.
He wasn’t dead yet. As a Fifth-Order cultivator, he was obstinately lifeful, but he had lost the capability to resist. Lu Ye raised his sword and jabbed it into his body. The sound of a weapon penetrating flesh was heard. Following that, Senior Brother Zhou shuddered and fell silent.
It wasn’t until a red light left the back of his opponent’s hand that Lu Ye could be at ease. He had won the battle!
Right then, Lu Ye’s sword dropped onto the ground with a clang, and he started falling backwards.
“Lu Ye!” Yi Yi cried and rushed over in time to support his weight with her petite figure so that he could slowly sit down on the ground. Amber also tottered forward and approached Lu Ye before gently pushing him with its head.
At this moment, Lu Ye was panting heavily. The deep wound on his right chest made it difficult for him to breathe, and his lungs had already become numb. With difficulty, he fished out two Healing Pills from his Storage Bag and checked on himself. His condition was terrible as there were over 20 serious injuries on his body. Although Healing Pills were useful, they couldn’t heal such severe wounds.
Also, he was only left with 10 percent of Spiritual Power. Despite the fact that the battle only lasted for 15 minutes, he had consumed too much energy. Secretly, he felt fortunate that he had only activated two Spiritual Patterns to protect his vital parts. If he used one more Spiritual Pattern, he wouldn’t have lasted long enough to defeat his opponent. An anxious Yi Yi wanted to help, but she wasn’t sure what she should do.
With trembling hands, Lu Ye took out some clean clothes from his bag and said weakly, “Dress up my wounds…”
Hurriedly, Yi Yi tore the clothes into strips and dressed up his wounds. Apparently, she had never done such a thing before, so the bandages were messy, but fortunately, they were effective in stopping the bleeding.
“Take me away. We can’t stay here any longer.” Lu Ye’s voice had become weaker as though he would pass out at any moment. Although Senior Brother Zhou didn’t manage to send any message before his death, it was an intense battle, which might attract the attention of cultivators from nearby places. Moreover, many beasts roamed around this forest, so the smell of blood might draw them to this place.
Yi Yi nodded and spoke to Amber, whereupon the tiger crouched down and waited for her to get Lu Ye onto its back before getting back up. She also retrieved Lu Ye’s sword from the ground before picking up the bell and the Storage Bags of those people from Serene Cloud Mountain.
Lying on his stomach on the tiger’s back, Lu Ye was gratified upon seeing that. It was such an excellent tradition that they would never abandon any rewards from a battle.
“Lu Ye, where are we going?” Yi Yi asked.
Lu Ye pointed in a particular direction, whereupon Amber immediately dashed forward. Yi Yi had also taken a seat on the tiger’s back and supported Lu Ye’s weight to prevent him from falling. The view around them was moving backwards rapidly. Lu Ye had fallen into a groggy state as he realized that he was about to pass out. Yi Yi knew nothing about treating wounds. If he lost consciousness, the two pills he had consumed earlier might not be effective enough, and he might die.
Therefore, the most important thing for them was to look for someone to treat him. At this moment, the image of a soft-spoken woman came into his mind. Presently, it was the latter half of the night, and they were two hours away from the break of dawn. If Amber could hasten its pace, they might reach their destination in time.
“100 kilometers away. Mount Ying. Look for Hua Ci!” Lu Ye fished out a 10-point map from his bag and passed it to Yi Yi. After he finished speaking, he became unconscious.
Yi Yi had no idea who Hua Ci was, but since Lu Ye had said so, she’d definitely execute his order. As she supported Lu Ye’s weight, she took a look at the map. Upon ascertaining Mount Ying’s location, she led Amber to run in that direction.
Presently, a horse carriage was moving forward on a road as it was bound for Tassel City. The coachman was Kong Niu, and it was Hua Ci who was seated inside the carriage. They had been leading this kind of life for quite a long time. If nothing unexpected happened, she would head to Tassel City every day to treat those injured cultivators.
Inside the carriage, she had fallen into a dazed state as she was in her thoughts. Sometimes, she would put on a smile as though she had recalled something funny.
All of a sudden, she looked down at the back of her right hand because someone had sent her a message. Only those people from Rogue Wanderers’ Club could contact her. After reading the message, she leaped out of the carriage.
Noticing the noise, Kong Niu immediately tightened the reins and turned his head, only to see that Hua Ci was heading back. From a distance, she shouted, “We’re not going to the city today. You should come back too.”
“Oh,” Kong Niu replied and made the horse turn around. He didn’t ask her what was going on because everything she said was an order, and he just had to execute it. After all, his life was saved by her before.