translator: ahad
Proofreading: shaheer
Humanity’s Great Sage – Chapter 1026: Holy Land Summons
Jin De immediately put on a deeply moved expression. “The Heavenly Venerable is too kind. Jin De is overwhelmed with gratitude. The past is the past, and the future is the future. From this day forward, should the Heavenly Venerable have any command, Jin De will never refuse.”
This was a declaration of allegiance.
Wen Yufeng was quite satisfied with his attitude. He glanced at Lu Ye and Dao Thirteen behind him. “I hear these are the gifts you prepared for me?”
“Yes,” Jin De nodded, stepping aside to reveal them. “These two Blood Slaves—their cultivation is not low. I selected them with great care.”
“Oh?” Wen Yufeng smiled faintly, though he did not pay them much mind. After all, in his view, no matter how carefully Jin De selected, he could hardly find any truly fine blood food. It was Dao Thirteen’s abundant vitality that piqued his interest somewhat. “Since you say so, their cultivation must certainly not be low. What are their levels?”
Jin De then spoke. “The Heavenly Venerable wishes to see your cultivation. Will you not demonstrate?”
The instant his words fell, Lu Ye and Dao Thirteen made their move. As the pressure of the Divine Ocean Realm erupted outward, the smile on Wen Yufeng’s face abruptly froze.
In his estimation, the two Blood Slaves before him were at most at the Cloud River Realm. If that were the case, they would indeed be a fine gift.
But he had never, ever imagined that Dao Thirteen would actually be at the Divine Ocean Realm. Moreover, the intensity of this pressure even gave him a sense of heart palpitations. In an instant, even his breathing grew labored.
Before he could even react, Dao Thirteen’s divine sense had already blasted forth.
Wen Yufeng felt as though he had been struck by an invisible sledgehammer. His head snapped back violently, a look of agony surfacing on his face.
At the same moment, Lu Ye brought out the Holy Blood Jade.
Wen Yufeng, who had instinctively been about to resist, was even more horrified. He felt his entire bloodline come under suppression, and the power he had frantically tried to muster instantly dissipated.
However, when Lan Qiyue had given Lu Ye the Holy Blood Jade, she had told him that, limited by her own cultivation, the Holy Blood Jade’s power might not pose much of a deterrent to Divine Ocean Realm Blood Race members.
Now it seemed this was indeed the case. The moment the Holy Blood Jade appeared, it did suppress Wen Yufeng for a split second, but he quickly forced his way free of it.
Yet in that split-second window, Dao Thirteen had already strode forward in great strides. One hand clamped down on Wen Yufeng’s mouth to prevent him from crying out. The other hand shot out, seized Wen Yufeng’s shoulder, hoisted him high, and brutally smashed him to the ground.
With a thunderous boom, the entire bedchamber shook. Even though Wen Yufeng had broken through to the Divine Ocean Realm, this single slam left him dizzy and disoriented.
And it was not over yet. From beginning to end, Dao Thirteen’s divine sense had been surging ceaselessly, transforming into invisible impacts that battered against Wen Yufeng’s soul, crashing into him until his head spun and his soul quaked.
Wen Yufeng’s body bounced once against the ground before Dao Thirteen half-knelt on top of him, pinning him down. For a moment, he could not move at all.
Lu Ye stepped forward swiftly, raised his hand, and pointed at Wen Yufeng’s forehead. His divine sense surged.
A moment later, looking somewhat weary, Lu Ye shot a glance at Dao Thirteen. Only then did Dao Thirteen release the restrained Wen Yufeng.
Wen Yufeng scrambled to his feet in a sorry state, staggering and shaking his head, clearly still not recovered from the sudden turn of events moments ago.
Lu Ye was also gently shaking his head.
It had still been somewhat forced.
For Lu Ye, killing Wen Yufeng would have been simple. Dao Thirteen’s cultivation was far higher than Wen Yufeng’s; even ten Wen Yufengs could not have been his match.
But enslaving Wen Yufeng with the Soul Control Glyph was not so simple.
The main issue was that Wen Yufeng had consciously resisted. So even with Dao Thirteen constantly bombarding Wen Yufeng with divine sense attacks, this time had only barely succeeded.
Lu Ye felt all the more fortunate. Back when Dao Thirteen had followed him into the Blood Refining World, he had been in a comatose state. Moreover, Lu Ye had happened to possess the Soul-Destroying Sword, which specifically targeted the soul. Otherwise, it would have been fundamentally impossible to implant the Soul Control Glyph in Dao Thirteen’s soul.
Slowly regaining his senses, Wen Yufeng looked at Lu Ye, unsure for a moment how to address him. With the Soul Control Glyph implanted in his soul, Wen Yufeng could naturally feel Lu Ye’s absolute control over him.
Jin De, standing to the side, introduced him: “This is the Holy Envoy.”
Wen Yufeng hurriedly saluted. “Greetings, Holy Envoy.”
Lu Ye nodded slightly.
Just then, the Blood Race member who had led Jin De over earlier came rushing in, his expression alarmed and uncertain. “Heavenly Venerable, what has happened?”
Although the scuffle just now had been brief, the fluctuations of combat had still spread. This Blood Race member had sensed the anomaly and come to investigate.
Wen Yufeng waved his hand dismissively. “It’s nothing. You may withdraw.”
That Blood Race member acknowledged the order and retreated, still somewhat suspicious.
“I will be staying here for the next two days. Whenever guests arrive, you will bring them to this place,” Lu Ye instructed.
“Yes!”
“Furthermore, no harm is to come to the humans here. Those human women outside—wherever you captured them from, after this matter is concluded, send them back.”
“Yes,” Wen Yufeng acknowledged once more.
The Blood Food Grand Ceremony was bustling and lively. Wen Yufeng had sent out invitations long ago. As the ceremony drew near, guests arrived in an endless stream.
Those Blessed Land Masters who came to offer congratulations were led to Wen Yufeng’s bedchamber, and a short while later, they departed.
Over the course of two days, about thirty Blessed Land Masters came.
On the day of the ceremony itself, the arriving guests gradually dwindled. All those who were meant to come had already arrived.
Wen Yufeng made his appearance and shared in the revelry with the many honored guests.
However, what the many Blood Race members of Yellow Vault Blessed Land found strange was that their own Heavenly Venerable had never once given the order to prepare the blood food. In fact, when they sought his instructions, the Heavenly Venerable had harshly reprimanded them, informing them that without his command, no one was to harm those blood foods.
The various anomalies left the Blood Race of Yellow Vault Blessed Land utterly baffled, but since the Heavenly Venerable had given the order, they dared not disobey.
It was not until the ceremony concluded that the captured blood foods remained safe and unharmed. Even during the ceremony, Wen Yufeng had announced that, henceforth, Blood Race members within his governed territory were forbidden from wantonly harming humans—a decree that drew unanimous approval from the many Blessed Land Masters who had come to offer congratulations.
The Blood Race members of Yellow Vault Blessed Land were completely at a loss, unable to fathom what had become of this world…
And at this very moment, Lu Ye had already led Dao Thirteen and Yu Lingfeng a thousand li away.
A single Blood Food Grand Ceremony had allowed him to enslave one Divine Ocean Realm Heavenly Venerable and nearly thirty Real Lake Realm Blessed Land Masters. The harvest was greater than the previous two months combined.
And under his orders, within the territories governed by these Blood Race members in the future, humans would barely be able to have a safe living environment.
But this was ultimately a method that treated the symptoms, not the root cause.
In the short term, the territories under those Blood Race members would be safe. But there was no guarantee they would remain alive forever. Once they died, there would be no one to carry out Lu Ye’s orders. Moreover, the Blood Race members under their command might not necessarily be willing to obey these orders. If some acted in secret, those Blessed Land Masters might not even be aware.
Continuing south.
In recent days, Lu Ye’s cultivation had progressed very slowly, mainly due to the scarcity of cultivation resources. Although he had intermittently harvested some Blood Crystals, it was still not enough to reach the ninth order of the Real Lake Realm.
The journey was fairly smooth.
In the blink of an eye, another two months passed. The journey south had covered roughly seventy percent of the distance. Only the final thirty percent remained to reach the Divine Watch Sea.
At a Blood Race Blessed Land, Lu Ye brought Dao Thirteen and Yu Lingfeng to rest for a spell.
Throughout this journey, the group would occasionally stop and rest somewhere for a while. After all, traveling continuously was exhausting.
Just as they were resting, a voice full of vigor suddenly rang out: “Where is the Blessed Land Master of this place?”
Lu Ye raised his brow slightly. Sweeping the area with his divine sense, he detected an unfamiliar Blood Race figure within the Blessed Land. That Blood Race member possessed the cultivation of the Real Lake Realm Ninth Order, equal to the local Blessed Land Master.
The local Blessed Land Master hurriedly emerged to greet him, calling out loudly: “I am the Blessed Land Master. May I ask, honored guest, you are…”
The unfamiliar Blood Race member declared in a ringing voice: “By order of the Starlight Moon Holy Venerable, you are commanded to assemble your local troops within three days and to arrive at the Starlight Moon Holy Land within ten days to muster!”
The Blood Race Blessed Land Master immediately responded with trepidation: “I obey the order!”
Having delivered the order, the unfamiliar Blood Race member swiftly flew away.
Lu Ye furrowed his brow and signaled to Yu Lingfeng beside him with a glance. “Call him here.”
Yu Lingfeng acknowledged the order and left.
A short while later, Yu Lingfeng led the Blood Race Blessed Land Master inside.
“My Lord,” the Blessed Land Master saluted.
Lu Ye spoke: “What is Starlight Moon Holy Land assembling troops for?”
The Blood Race Blessed Land Master explained: “Naturally, to march against the Divine Watch Sea. My Lord may not be aware, but nearly every few years, the Holy Race launches a large-scale operation against the Jade Blood Holy Land in the Divine Watch Sea. Calculating the time, it is about due, which is why Starlight Moon Holy Land is taking this action.”
Lu Ye frowned. “The Jade Blood Holy Land is the human power in the Divine Watch Sea?”
“Yes.”
Lu Ye was slightly taken aback. This name was quite a coincidence.
He himself came from the Crimson Blood Sect. He had not expected that in this Blood Refining World, there would also be a power with “Jade Blood” in its name—and it was the sole human power.
He felt a faint sense of affinity.
“This Starlight Moon Holy Land—is there a Holy Seed presiding over it?” Lu Ye asked.
Here in the Blood Refining World, the Blood Race’s gathering places were generally divided into three tiers: Cave Dwellings, Blessed Lands, and Grotto Heavens.
But in truth, above the Grotto Heavens, there was yet another transcendent existence: the Holy Lands, where Holy Seeds presided.
If Thousand Streams Blessed Land could continue to grow and expand, when Lan Qiyue broke through to the Divine Ocean Realm, it could become the Thousand Streams Holy Land.
But looking across the entire Blood Refining World, the number of Holy Seeds was few, so the number of Holy Lands was also few.
This place was still two months’ travel from the Divine Watch Sea, yet Starlight Moon Holy Land’s troop summons had already reached this far, showing the massive scale of the Blood Race’s mobilization.
Lu Ye had originally planned to simply travel straight to the Divine Watch Sea. But if the Blood Race was going to march against the Jade Blood Holy Land, then rushing over so rashly would be inappropriate. The journey would inevitably be fraught with many dangers and obstacles.
Although Dao Thirteen was at the Divine Ocean Realm, in this Blood Refining World, there were Blood Race members whose cultivation was higher than his and whose strength surpassed his. The reason they had not encountered any during this period was that Lu Ye had deliberately avoided places guarded by powerful Blood Race members.
Now, with the Blood Race mustering troops on a massive scale, the road ahead would certainly not be peaceful. Rash action could very likely lead them to run into an opponent they could not match.
With this thought, Lu Ye made up his mind and spoke: “Since Starlight Moon Holy Land has ordered you to muster, then muster. Count us in as well.”
“Yes,” the Blood Race Blessed Land Master responded.
Under the current circumstances, rather than rashly hurrying forward with Dao Thirteen, it would be better to move together with the Blood Race’s great army. It would provide some cover, and once they reached the Divine Watch Sea, they could act according to the situation.
(End of Chapter)