translator: ahad
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Humanity’s Great Sage – Chapter 1027: Who Is She?
The Blood Race moved swiftly. After receiving the orders from above, within just two days, the Blood Race from the various Cave Dwellings under the Blessed Land’s jurisdiction had all gathered.
This was not the first time they had experienced such a thing. There were established precedents for how many troops each Cave Dwelling should contribute.
Generally speaking, each Cave Dwelling would dispatch half of its manpower, leaving the other half behind to guard the territory.
The higher-level Blessed Lands followed the same rule.
This was mainly to ensure that each territory still had Blood Race members left to stand guard, so that no matter what danger they encountered in the great battle, they would not be completely wiped out in one fell swoop.
Afterward, the assembled Blood Race would converge on the Starlight Moon Holy Land in units of their respective Blessed Lands. Once the forces were more or less fully mustered, the Starlight Moon Holy Land would assume unified command, dispatch the troops to the Divine Watch Sea, and attack the human Jade Blood Holy Land.
Two days later, Lu Ye, leading Dao Thirteen and Yu Lingfeng, blended in among a group of Blood Race and set out toward the Starlight Moon Holy Land.
The party numbered over two hundred Blood Race. Apart from that Blessed Land Master, who was at the Real Lake Realm, the rest were all at the Cloud River Realm.
This was mainly because Lu Ye had previously slaughtered a batch in that Blessed Land, killing off all the Real Lake Realm Blood Race. Now, the only Real Lake Realm Blood Race here was the one Lu Ye had implanted with the Soul Control Glyph.
Many Blood Race were quite curious about the two humans mixed into the ranks, but after a brief inquiry, upon learning that they were their own Blessed Land Master’s Blood Slaves, they lost interest.
Along the way, they encountered Blood Race contingents from other Blessed Lands, also mustering and heading toward the Starlight Moon Holy Land. When the two Blessed Land Masters met, their respective forces merged together quite harmoniously.
The contingent grew day by day. By the time they reached the Starlight Moon Holy Land, they had swelled to roughly a thousand.
The Starlight Moon Holy Land was situated atop a spirit peak, occupying a vast area. It was also the only Holy Land within a radius of several hundred thousand li that had a Holy Seed presiding over it.
The Blessed Land Masters from all directions had come in response to the summons, and now a vast number of Blood Race were stationed here.
Lu Ye raised his eyes and looked. As far as the eye could see, it was a dense mass of Blood Race figures. From the mountainside to the base of the mountain, there was hardly a place to set foot. The number was at least several hundred thousand.
Their own contingent had clearly arrived relatively late, so they could only find a spot at the foot of the mountain to temporarily settle.
No Blood Race came to receive them, nor did anyone inform them of what to do next. In any case, it was just waiting.
Blood Race contingents continued to pour in, and the army’s strength swelled unceasingly.
Lu Ye observed in secret, genuinely puzzled. Just how deep was the foundation of that Jade Blood Holy Land, that it could stand firm and unyielding under such a great tide in the Blood Refining World?
This single Starlight Moon Holy Land alone had already gathered several hundred thousand Blood Race. And according to the intelligence he had obtained from that Blood Race Blessed Land Master, there were four such massive armies among the Blood Race, each controlled by a different Blood Race Holy Land. When the time came, they would launch attacks from four directions simultaneously, exerting pressure on the Jade Blood Holy Land in the Divine Watch Sea. The Starlight Moon Holy Land was primarily responsible for the northern front, while the eastern, southern, and western directions would also have Blood Race armies of comparable strength.
In other words, in such a campaign, the Blood Race would deploy at least a million troops, among whom Divine Ocean Realm Blood Race members would surely appear in endless numbers. Could this world’s sole human power truly withstand such an onslaught?
Just what heaven-defying ability did that Jade Blood Holy Land possess, that it had repeatedly sent the Blood Race armies home in defeat?
Inside a tent, Lu Ye summoned the Blessed Land Master he had implanted with the Soul Control Glyph and questioned him.
“My Lord, you may not be aware, but the Divine Watch Sea is actually a massively enormous Blood Pool—one could even call it a Blood Sea. The Jade Blood Holy Land is situated on an archipelago at the very center of the Divine Watch Sea. It is truly easy to defend and difficult to attack. Moreover, they have numerous defensive fortifications. Often, our Blood Race armies suffer heavy casualties before they even draw near. Even if we manage to break through by sheer effort, the human powerhouses over there are not few in number. I have heard that even Holy Seeds have fallen there.”
Lu Ye listened, feeling somewhat lost in a fog.
He could naturally see that the Jade Blood Holy Land was easy to defend and hard to attack. As the sole human power in the Blood Refining World, its placement within the Divine Watch Sea was clearly chosen for the advantages of the terrain.
The Divine Watch Sea was a massive Blood Pool, or Blood Sea. If a Blood Race member carelessly fell into it, even if they didn’t die, they would shed a layer of skin. Thus, on the defensive side, the humans could often achieve twice the result with half the effort.
But this was clearly not the fundamental reason why the Jade Blood Holy Land could stand firm and unyielding.
Lu Ye could not figure it out for a moment.
This Blood Race Blessed Land Master did not know much about the Jade Blood Holy Land either. After all, he had never experienced these events before; this was his first time taking part in the Blood Race’s encirclement and suppression of the Jade Blood Holy Land.
Unable to pry out any more information, Lu Ye waved his hand and dismissed him.
The night deepened. Lu Ye stepped out of his tent and looked around. Flickering campfires dotted the mountains and plains. Under the firelight, countless Blood Race figures twisted and writhed, like a host of demons dancing in chaos.
Suddenly, the crisp ringing of bells sounded. Lu Ye sensed something amiss and turned his head to look. What he saw made him frown.
From that direction, a human woman clad in sheer gauze was strolling over. Under the thin fabric, her graceful, enchanting figure was faintly discernible. On her wrists and ankles were two small strings of bells each; the clear, crisp ringing was the sound made by her footsteps.
She was barefoot, and as the hem of her skirt fluttered, her delicate, fair toes were tantalizing. She appeared to be walking on the ground, but in truth, her feet hovered three inches above it.
The woman’s attire was somewhat unsightly. By all reasoning, such clothing should have easily stirred desire in onlookers. Yet, strangely, when Lu Ye saw her, he felt not the slightest ripple in his heart. Instead, an involuntary sense of terror arose within him.
Deep within his mind, a dragon’s roar suddenly exploded. Immediately after, a figure blurred before his eyes—Dao Thirteen had positioned himself in front of him, blocking his line of sight.
At this very moment, Dao Thirteen was like a cat with its fur standing on end, his body slightly hunched. His Divine Ocean Realm aura surged uncontrollably outward, streams of hot air puffing from his nostrils, and even his gaze had become sharp and fierce.
Lu Ye had always instructed Dao Thirteen to restrain his own aura, lest he expose the truth of his Divine Ocean Realm cultivation and make it difficult to explain to the other unsuspecting Blood Race.
But this woman’s appearance had clearly made him sense danger, hence his reaction.
“Hmm?” A soft sound escaped the woman’s nose. She glanced at Dao Thirteen with surprise, as though she had not expected to find a Divine Ocean Realm human in this place where the Blood Race army had gathered.
“What a pity,” she murmured softly again, then shifted her gaze away. No one knew what exactly she found pitiful.
At the same time, Lu Ye, shielded behind Dao Thirteen, wore an expression of shock and suspicion.
When he first laid eyes on the woman, he had assumed she was a Blood Slave brought by some Blood Race member.
Here, several hundred thousand Blood Race troops had gathered, but it was not exclusively Blood Race—there were also some human Blood Slaves with cultivation.
Humans held an extremely low status in the Blood Refining World, but because of methods like the Blood Seal, some Blood Race were quite willing to subdue Blood Slaves for their own use. After all, compared to other Blood Race members, Blood Slaves were trustworthy and could be commanded at will.
When he had arrived here earlier, he had seen some human Blood Slaves, so although he was surprised by the woman’s attire, he had not thought much of it.
Only when the dragon’s roar resounded in his mind.
The dragon’s roar was clearly triggered by the activation of the “Twin Dragons Guarding the Sea” technique. In other words, silently and imperceptibly, the woman had employed some undetectable method against his soul, which had triggered the Twin Dragons Guarding the Sea’s protective response.
Dao Thirteen’s subsequent instinctive reaction made Lu Ye even more aware that something was wrong. This woman was actually attempting to harm him.
Why?
Even more bizarrely, the woman simply left, not continuing her attack on him.
Pushing Dao Thirteen aside, Lu Ye lifted his gaze and saw that the woman continued walking forward. Wherever she passed, all the Blood Race actually rose to their feet, staring at her with infatuation, their eyes brimming with greed and covetousness.
The woman paid no heed whatsoever, merely wearing a faint smile at the corner of her lips.
Lu Ye suddenly understood. This woman was not trying to attack him specifically—or rather, it was not targeted at him. Her mysterious technique was aimed at all the Blood Race here; he had merely been caught in its periphery.
Who was she?
What was she doing?
In a flash of lightning, a possibility faintly surfaced in Lu Ye’s mind.
The thought had just turned over when he saw the woman halt her steps, then slowly rise into the air. She stopped only when she reached a height of ten zhang. The bells on her wrists and ankles stirred without wind, their crisp, ringing sounds spreading outward.
Though the sound was light, it was extremely penetrating.
In Lu Ye’s mind, the dragon’s roar sounded once more. Dao Thirteen also hunched low, emitting a beast-like growl from his throat. Usually, he only reacted this way when facing danger.
A light, giggling laugh rang out, as clear and pleasing as the ringing bells, yet it brought a sensation that made one’s hair stand on end.
The woman formed hand seals with her hands, raising them before her chest, and spoke softly: “A thousand trees, ten thousand trees, pear blossoms bloom!”
Tiny points of starlight suddenly drifted out from the surface of her body, dazzling like a sky full of stars. Those countless specks of light instantly spread out, covering an area of a thousand zhang in radius.
In that very instant, Lu Ye’s skin stung fiercely, and an intense sense of alarm exploded in his heart.
“Dao Thirteen!” he shouted urgently.
Dao Thirteen immediately spun around and threw himself onto Lu Ye, knocking him to the ground and shielding him with his own stocky body.
Almost at the exact moment Dao Thirteen covered Lu Ye, those tiny, unremarkable points of starlight suddenly blossomed, like one pure white pear flower after another.
Close on their heels came violent rumbles and explosions.
Within a thousand zhang of the woman, every single Blood Race member who had heard the ringing of the bells perished, their faces frozen in dazed stupors.
Under the brilliance of the light, this area was as bright as day, yet all the Blood Race were turning to ash and vanishing without a trace.
In Lu Ye’s perception, the auras of Yu Lingfeng and that Real Lake Realm Blessed Land Master, whom he had implanted with the Soul Control Glyph, also vanished completely.
The violent noise made Lu Ye’s eardrums ache. Sensing the power of this inexplicable spell, he was inwardly horrified.
Such a technique was beyond what an ordinary Divine Ocean Realm cultivator could unleash. At the very least, Lu Ye had never seen such a move. And the aura that the mysterious woman had displayed in that instant was so overwhelmingly powerful that Lu Ye found it hard to believe.
Even the Sect Master seemed unable to compare with this woman!
Ceaseless explosions rang out from nearby, accompanied by the crisp ringing of bells. It was obvious the woman was on a killing spree.
(End of Chapter)