Chapter 94: Siege

His aura-concealing technique was called Heaven-Masking Art (Mántiān Fǎ).

This thing worked exceptionally well. Back when he’d created it, he and the system had spent a long time simulating countless variations to perfect it.

How effective was it?

When he helped the system steal from the Heavenly Dao itself, this very technique had played a key role.

So now, using it to hide his presence? Child’s play.

Was the royal treasure vault heavily guarded?

Of course.

Layer upon layer of defensive formations, each linked to the next. Touching even one would trigger an alarm.

Lu Ye’s eyes turned a pale silver, and the world in his vision was reduced to clean, simplified lines.

In a short span of time, he unleashed one arcane technique after another, each more obscure than the last.

“Pow! Pow!”

Two hand chops struck the vault guards with pinpoint precision—laced with a trace of Primordial Morning Mist essence.

Neither guard made a sound. The searing, instantaneous pain shredded their souls in an instant. Their corpses vanished into Lu Ye’s storage ring.

With deft fingers, Lu Ye cracked the formation.

The treasury doors opened. He slipped inside.

The formation resealed itself automatically behind him.

Aside from two missing guards, nothing seemed amiss.

Lu Ye didn’t bother being picky. He just took everything. And then took more. And more.

From the first level, he swept his way through to the third—without leaking a single hint of aura.

Until he stepped into the final floor—

And came face to face with an old man with white hair and a youthful face.

Lu Ye: ...

Well, yeah. What treasure vault doesn’t have an old ancestor sitting in it?

Lu Ye could only offer him a polite smile.

"You brazen little thief!"

The old ancestor roared.

Lu Ye instantly bolted backward.

A piercing alarm screeched from the vault. Lu Ye fled at top speed. Every time he neared a formation, it opened for him automatically. Every time the ancestor approached, the formations reactivated against him.

The treasury doors opened—

And then boom!—

Shattered as the old ancestor burst through them.

But Lu Ye was already gone.

"Where is he?!"

The elder’s furious roar echoed across the imperial palace.

Lu Ye followed the escape route he’d memorized ahead of time, darting out of the palace with mere seconds to spare. If he’d waited any longer, the entire palace would have been sealed tight.

Formations were nothing to Lu Ye.

He reached the outer city wall, shattered the protective grand array, and emerged once again into view.

With one palm strike, he slapped the grand array.

Boom!

The formation quivered lightly.

Every powerhouse in the city snapped their heads toward him.

"Get him!"

Streams of light surged toward Lu Ye like a tidal wave.

Lu Ye turned and ran.

......

"What?! Lu Ye smashed the Yin-Yang Law Sect’s mountain gate?" Liu Changfeng shot to his feet on the Sect Master’s throne.

"Wasn’t he supposed to be looking for Withered Man Wood? What the hell’s he doing picking a fight with the Yin-Yang Law Sect?"

Ji Changming could only force a bitter smile.

"Who knows..."

"This is bad. It’s far too dangerous—he doesn’t understand how terrifying Loose Deities truly are. We have to act!"

"Summon all sect powerhouses at once—prepare to reinforce Lu Ye!"

"Seriously now—he’s just a young man. Why can’t he sit still for once? What’s the rush? Train for five or ten more years, and would the Yin-Yang Law Sect still be a problem?"

The powerhouses of the Grand Dao Sect had already entered full battle-readiness. At the call to gather, they quickly assembled atop Grand Dao Peak.

Bai Qiulan came too.

She was a Dao Integration cultivator—not low in realm, and definitely not weak in combat.

If it involved Lu Ye, she couldn’t just sit back and do nothing.

Liu Changfeng had just opened his mouth to speak—when another report arrived.

"What? Lu Ye robbed the Jiuli Heavenly Dynasty’s inner palace vault?!"

If it were just the Yin-Yang Law Sect, the Grand Dao Sect could still grit its teeth and go all out to protect Lu Ye.

But now he’d stirred up the Jiuli Heavenly Dynasty too?

"What? He smashed the ancestral statue of the Jie Sect and cursed them as broke as hell, saying there wasn’t a single decent treasure?!"

"What? He broke the Mountain River Pagoda Sect’s protective grand formation—because their vault defense was ‘too well guarded’?"

One after another, scouts came rushing in with updates—and the Grand Dao Sect’s entire leadership... their scalps were tingling.

No, seriously—these forces already had a grudge against him. They were just holding back from launching a direct assault on the Grand Dao Sect.

And now?

Now he went over and personally insulted every single one of them?

You—

You!

Boundless Heavenly Venerates, weren’t you just going out to look for Withered Man Wood?!

Ancestor Qingfeng couldn’t help exclaiming, "Boundless Heavenly Venerates..."

Thank the heavens this old Daoist didn’t follow along—if he had, he’d be a battered corpse by now.

"Sect Master, what do we do?"

Liu Changfeng was already numb.

He’d seen people court death before—but this?

This wasn’t courting death. This was forcing death to notice you.

The way Lu Ye was acting—if you didn’t know any better, you’d think he’d already passed his Tribulation and ascended.

The other sects had Loose Deities. Some even had Innate Spirit Treasures. And yet Lu Ye still dared to charge into their domains.

If they’d been even ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) a little weaker—he probably would’ve wiped them out altogether.

"What do we do? What else can we do? Collect every last bit of intel related to Lu Ye! Have the Heaven’s Secrets Pavilion monitor him closely!"

"Everyone must be prepared to mobilize at any time!"

"Yes!"

And it wasn’t just the Grand Dao Sect watching this unfold—now everyone was watching Lu Ye.

Unreal. Completely absurd.

These top sects and dynasties hadn’t been humiliated like this in countless years.

But Lu Ye? He didn’t just provoke one.

He provoked every single one that had ever held a grudge against him.

The entire Great Wilderness was in an uproar.

Arrogant—too arrogant.

The Heaven’s Secrets Pavilion, of course, wouldn’t miss this chance to make a killing. They locked onto the incident and turned it into a bulletin, mass-producing dispatches at lightning speed and selling them at dirt-cheap prices.

And even at those cheap prices—they were still raking in an absolute fortune.

According to the latest data, the Mountain River Pagoda Sect, the Jie Sect, the Jiuli Heavenly Dynasty, the Yin-Yang Law Sect, and the Supreme Empire—five powers in total—had dispatched eleven Loose Deities to hunt Lu Ye down.

Eleven Loose Deities.

That many Loose Deities—if the Grand Dao Sect really did try to intervene, they’d be lucky to escape with mutual destruction.

Per the Heaven’s Secrets Pavilion, the Grand Dao Sect had yet to make a move—still holding its forces in reserve.

Which meant... no reinforcements were coming. Not yet.

"Latest news! Latest news! Lu Ye has fled into the Extinguished-Buddha Desert—eleven Loose Deities have followed!"

"The Extinguished-Buddha Desert? That place is full of danger. Back when the Buddhist sect fell, countless people died there!"

"Still, they’re all top-level experts. It shouldn’t be too big a problem. The only thing is—once Lu Ye enters the desert, can the Heaven’s Secrets Pavilion still report on it in real time?"

"You saying that is insulting the Heaven’s Secrets Pavilion. The Heaven’s Secrets Mirror sees everything. There’s nowhere they can’t look."

"Sigh... Why must things turn out this way? All those are human experts—and yet they’re at each other’s throats while the foreign clans lie in wait, eager to strike. What kind of madness is this?"

"If you ask me, the moment Lu Ye entered the Extinguished-Buddha Desert, his escape path narrowed. It’s just a matter of time before they catch him. When that happens—Lu Ye’s dead for sure!"

"I disagree. Lu Ye wiped out forty-six Tribulation Stage cultivators in one go. What’s eleven Loose Deities? He’ll probably kill them with one hand behind his back."