Chapter 2314 - 2312: Valuable Treasure

Song Weiwei shook her head. "I'm not leaving. I can help."

Though, because of that Lover's Knot, Lu Ye had basically been snatched away from her by the blonde woman, she still felt immense gratitude toward Lu Ye. Now that Lu Ye was stepping into this matter, she naturally couldn't just sit by and watch.

They might no longer count as companions, but simple cooperation was still no problem.

Her strength was quite good, and she was a sword cultivator on top of that, so she certainly had the qualifications to help.

"Why put yourself through this?" Lu Ye sighed. He of course knew what Song Weiwei was thinking.

It was almost laughable. Back on the Baiyu Platform, when he heard Qi announce the rules of the Star Abyss Heir contention, Lu Ye had realized that all fifty-odd thousand Dao Fusion experts were enemies; even so-called companions couldn't be trusted lightly.

This was destined to be an extremely bloody and cruel contention, with no room for sentiment, filled with schemes and treachery.

Yet he hadn't expected that in such an environment, he could still make a friend.

Let's just call it friendship for now…

Song Weiwei slowly shook her head. "Everyone has their own choice. Please, Senior Brother, let me contribute."

"Since you put it that way…" Lu Ye stopped trying to dissuade her. "Then we go together!"

By the domain's edge, after Lu Ye and Song Weiwei left, the blonde woman also slipped into Concealment, vanishing without a trace.

She wasn't the only one hiding her figure. The phenomenon of an exotic treasure emerging was far too obvious; all nearby cultivators were bound to be drawn over to investigate.

Right now, there were surely many cultivators concealed in the surroundings, watching the situation.

Everyone knew that at a time like this, whoever showed themselves first would be the unlucky one.

On a piece of floating land, two figures lay quietly hidden, their eyes full of greed as they stared at the hazy glow in the distance.

Those able to travel in pairs were basically all one-male-one-female combinations.

As they watched, the female cultivator quietly sent an audio transmission: "Senior Brother, why hasn't anyone made a move to fight over that exotic treasure?"

The male cultivator replied, "The time isn't right. When an exotic treasure emerges, there's a process. That process can be long or short. At this stage, even if someone acts, the treasure hasn't fully come out yet—what can you really fight over? You'd only be exposing yourself for nothing."

He had seen the emergence of an exotic treasure once before, so he understood this point quite well. He suspected this was the work of the Will of the Star Abyss, because if there were no gestation process, then once the exotic treasure appeared it would certainly be snatched away quickly.

But now it was different. During the gestation, large numbers of Dao Fusion experts would be drawn over; under such circumstances, the clashes and slaughter would become far more frequent and far more brutal.

The female cultivator was enlightened. "So that's how it is. Then what do we do later? With our strength, I'm afraid we're not enough to compete for the exotic treasure, right?"

The fact she could say this showed she had some self-awareness, because the strength of her and her male companion truly wasn't high—they were only at the sixth and 7th Order of Dao Fusion.

The male cultivator sighed. "Of course I know that. But if we don't compete for the exotic treasure, we have no right to survive. The exotic treasure is our final hope."

So even knowing the chances were slim, they still had to gamble for their lives.

Pairs who thought this way were far from few.

Out of more than fifty thousand Dao Fusion fighters, only two would survive in the end. This was truly a case of one general's success built on thousands of bones. Regardless of cultivation level or strength, who would willingly play the stepping stone for others?

"Here's the plan. When the fighting breaks out, you…" The male cultivator seemed to have thought of a good idea and was just about to instruct his companion when his eyes suddenly bulged, his face flooding with terror. In the next instant, his entire power erupted as he shot backward at full speed.

The female cultivator's expression, stunned for a moment, suddenly turned to horror.

A stabbing pain flared in her back. Slowly lowering her head, she saw a sharp blade had already pierced through her chest. As the violent power erupted, the light in her eyes vanished in an instant.

And that male cultivator, who had sensed something wrong and tried to flee, also failed to escape his doom, because almost at the very instant he retreated, a Spectral Bewitchment-like figure appeared behind him. A dirk silently thrust into his body, easily breaking through his protective Dao force and piercing his flesh.

Three breaths. In only three breaths, the two Dao Fusion experts who had been secretly lurking here just moments ago were gone without a trace, leaving behind only two Star Abyss coins.

The two Ghost Cultivators who had struck from the shadows each took a coin. Their figures flickered, and just as they had appeared, they vanished like Spectral Bewitchment, truly coming and going without a shadow.

At the same time, on another piece of floating land not far away, Lu Ye's long blade pierced through a figure. Under the other's hateful, terrified gaze, he gave a fierce twist, shattering all vitality.

He wasn't a true Ghost Cultivator, but by relying on Concealment and Breath-concealing Dao Runes, he could get as close as possible to enemies not far weaker than himself. In this way, when he exploded into action, the opponent had no chance to resist, letting him easily finish off this male cultivator.

Seeing this, the man's female companion had no intention of fighting Lu Ye at all. With a shrill scream, she fled into the distance.

As Lu Ye withdrew his blade, he lifted his head to look forward.

The extinguishing of those two strands of vitality over there hadn't been loud, but he still sensed it clearly.

So… someone else was doing the same thing as he was?

The blonde woman wanted to guard that domain, not allowing the living beings within it to be affected by this contention. That left her only one option.

Stop every cultivator who tried to fight for the exotic treasure, not letting them come even a step closer.

Otherwise, once a great battle erupted near the domain, all the effort she had made before would be completely wasted.

But with her alone, how could she possibly hold back all the cultivators coveting the exotic treasure?

She couldn't do that, and Lu Ye couldn't just stand by and do nothing, so he could only first lessen the pressure—drag out and kill as many of the cultivators hiding nearby as possible!

Only now it seemed he wasn't the only one doing this.

Which made sense. For those cultivators whose strength was sufficient, an exotic treasure was something to fight over, but enemies were just as much something to be slaughtered. Normally, those not-so-powerful Dao Fusion cultivators hid themselves very well, making them hard to find. The emergence of an exotic treasure would draw many such Dao Fusion cultivators out, giving the stronger cultivators their chance to act.

Lu Ye had killed a male cultivator and hadn't pursued the female cultivator, yet she still couldn't escape, because just as she fled not far, a streak of sword light came slashing in from the side.

Song Weiwei had been coordinating with Lu Ye from a flank nearby; seeing this, how could she miss such a good opportunity?

By the time Lu Ye rushed over, Song Weiwei had already finished her fight; only a single Star Abyss coin remained on the spot.

Her strength was clearly much greater than the other party's; sword cultivators were always clean and efficient when killing.

Lu Ye put it away as usual, but he could feel gazes watching him and Song Weiwei from the dark. Obviously, their methods had stirred the vigilance of hidden cultivators nearby.

He didn't care. Dao Runes blessed his body as he vanished from where he stood, and Song Weiwei also darted off in one direction, quietly hiding herself away.

Time flowed on.

Within several days, centered on the domain where that four-eared lifeform was, within a million-li range across the entire spherical space, no one knew how many battles had erupted, nor how many Dao Fusion cultivators had died!

Lu Ye and Song Weiwei working together had actually only killed a small portion of them; most of the killing was those Dao Fusion cultivators slaughtering each other.

"Senior Brother, this exotic treasure coming out this time is a bit off." While lying low in one place to rest for a moment, Song Weiwei suddenly spoke.

"What do you mean?" Lu Ye looked at her.

Song Weiwei said, "I've witnessed the emergence of an exotic treasure once before. Though there's a gestation period, it's never this long. That time, from when the anomaly appeared to when the exotic treasure truly came out, it was only about half a day. But this time…"

This time, it had already been several days.

"You're saying…" Lu Ye's expression grew solemn.

"This exotic treasure might be extremely powerful—it could be a valuable treasure!" Song Weiwei said.

Lu Ye's expression grew even more grave.

If so, the situation would be even worse. Right now even he didn't know just how many Dao Fusion cultivators were lurking nearby. Once the exotic treasure truly emerged, things would inevitably devolve into chaos. And among so many Dao Fusion cultivators, there would definitely be experts. To say nothing else, just a random team-up of Peak Dao Fusion cultivators would be enough to give him a massive headache.

As they spoke, the light around them suddenly grew much brighter, as if some distant lantern had become dazzling.

Lu Ye whipped his head around.

Song Weiwei also looked toward that direction, her voice heavy: "The exotic treasure is almost fully gestated!"

Which meant the true ordeal was about to arrive.

These past few days, the many Dao Fusion cultivators had been lying low on the periphery; wasn't this the moment they'd all been waiting for? Now that the exotic treasure was about to truly appear, anyone with even a hint of desire for it would reveal themselves to fight over it.

Sure enough, almost in the very next instant after the light grew brighter, figures abruptly appeared from all directions, all surging toward the domain where it lay.

Lu Ye didn't hesitate at all. He leapt forward, charging at the two Dao Fusion cultivators closest to him.

Song Weiwei followed right behind.

In a heartbeat, the vast region that had been relatively peaceful was like a pot of oil into which a handful of salt had been thrown—utterly boiling over.

As he was darting through space, Lu Ye suddenly felt something and turned his head toward a certain direction.

He vaguely sensed that in that direction a pair of sharp eyes was observing him. Because of the distance, he couldn't see who it was, nor did he know their cultivation or strength, but just that remote gaze alone made his skin prickle…

A powerful enemy!

And one more formidable than any he'd faced before!

He had no time to think deeper. Lu Ye had already reached those two nearest Dao Fusion cultivators, Dao force surging wildly as his killing moves cascaded forth.

"Solar Flames big brother, is that combat cultivator very strong?"

In the direction Lu Ye had just sensed, on a Meteorite, two figures stood there openly, one tall, one short. Different from the other Dao Fusion cultivators, these two had never had any intention of hiding themselves; from start to finish they had just stood there in plain sight.

Yet no fool had dared come over to provoke them.

No one here was stupid. Sometimes you needed to exchange blows to see how strong a cultivator was, but sometimes you really didn't.

The tall one was a man, burly in build, with a head of golden hair that blazed like a burning flame. Even his skin was golden; he looked as if his entire body had been cast in solid gold.

The short one was a woman, petite and Linglong, with an ethereal air. Her playful expression carried a trace of cool aloofness, and her skin, soft as if it would yield to the slightest touch, shone with a hazy radiance like moonlight.

The one who had spoken just now was precisely this petite woman.