“Take him here,” Chu Ruoyu ordered.
The people from the five major Families breathed a sigh of relief. Someone took the initiative to leave and execute his order.
The courtyard fell silent. Although many powerful cultivators from the five major Families had gathered there, Wei Wuguang and the rest were trapped in the Ward, and their lives were in Lu Ye’s hands. As such, they wouldn’t dare make a rash move.
As they kept exchanging glances, it showed that they were not as calm as they appeared. There were certainly some ideas in their minds.
The five major Families had been in control of Silver Snake Valley for over 1,000 years. They were the overlords there, and no one had the guts to resist them. They had never been treated dismissively before, but now, their powerful cultivators had been captured, and their lives were not in their control.
Although Lu Ye had held back his power when capturing them, he had humiliated the five Families.
Nevertheless, those from the five Families were wary of his ruthlessness. As such, no one dared say anything lest he was infuriated and went on to harm their Family members.
An hour wasn’t needed. Barely several minutes later, Ying Wuji, who had been tied up in Spirit Artifacts that looked like ropes, was brought to this place. It was apparent that he had suffered a lot. Not only was his clothes tattered, but his face was also bruised.
It wasn’t surprising, though. Since those from Silver Snake Valley wanted to glean information from him, they had to torment him.
Nonetheless, cultivators from Jiu Zhou were obstinate people, especially for a core disciple like Ying Wuji who came from a top Sect. Although he and Lu Ye were on opposing sides, he wouldn’t betray him at this point.
Therefore, even though he was tortured, those from Silver Snake Valley were unable to glean any information from him.
Ying Wuji was soon brought to the courtyard. When he saw Lu Ye seated there, his tears threatened to stream down his face, for he was moved.
He initially thought that he was doomed, and he had never hoped Lu Ye would save him. After all, they were on opposing sides in Jiu Zhou, and he had tried killing Lu Ye before. Lu Ye had a valid reason not to save him.
The fact that Ying Wuji was captured had nothing to do with Lu Ye. It was just that he wasn’t powerful and vigilant enough.
Much to his surprise, Lu Ye had come to save him, and the situation in the courtyard showed that he was fighting the entire Silver Snake Valley on his own.
“Are you alright?” Lu Ye glanced at him.
“Don’t you see I’m alive and kicking?” Ying Wuji grinned.
Lu Ye nodded and raised his hand as the Spiritual Power around the Ward rolled. The next moment, the badly injured Long You exclaimed as an invisible force threw him out of there.
A cultivator from the Long Family was dexterous enough to leap into the air and catch Long You. After some examination, he realised that even though Long You was badly injured, the latter wasn’t at risk of losing his life. Only then did he nod at the patriarch of the Long Family.
“Release him.” Lu Ye glanced at Chu Ruoyu.
Chu Ruoyu frowned. “Do you mean that you’re trading one person for one person?”
“One life for one life. Isn’t it fair?” Lu Ye rose to his feet with his palm around the hilt.
As that happened, the cultivators in the courtyard tensed up instantly.
They had felt nothing when he was seated there, but when he got to his feet, they felt as if an immense pressure was mounting on them. It was as though the person before their eyes wasn’t a Human but an ancient ominous beast. All of them were flabbergasted.
“Or you don’t have to do that.” As Lu Ye spoke, the weapon holder at his waist buzzed. Three Telekinetic Artifacts shot out and reached the heads of Wei Wuguang and the others. Although he appeared impassive, everyone could feel his murderous intent.
No one doubted that if Chu Ruoyu dared say no, the captives in the courtyard would lose their lives.
“Calm down, Little Friend!”
“Don’t do that!”
These people exclaimed, worried that Lu Ye would kill the captives.
Chu Ruoyu looked icily at Lu Ye, but he was crestfallen deep within. He was old and shrewd, but upon entering this courtyard, he was led around by the nose. Naturally, he was incensed. Although they had surrounded the entire place, the situation wasn’t in their favour.
The young man was ruthless and resolute. He had left behind three holes in Chu Anhe’s body just because his demand wasn’t satisfied. If Chu Ruoyu was the reason the powerful cultivators from the major Families lost their lives there, he would have to step down from his position as the Lord of the Hidden Realm.
“Release him!” Chu Ruoyu waved his hand.
As Spiritual Powers surged, the Spirit Artifacts that bound Ying Wuji were retracted. He immediately ran to Lu Ye and spat out the blood in his mouth. Feeling secure and confident, he asked, “Where’s my stuff?”
Just like Lu Ye, he had his own Storage Sphere, so there were not many things in his Storage Bag. Nevertheless, he wouldn’t want to give them his things.
“Give it back to him!” Chu Ruoyu ordered.
Someone then took off a Storage Bag from his waist and tossed it at Ying Wuji. He took a look and lifted his head. “Where’s the transmission stone?”
Chu Ruoyu raised his hand and threw the transmission stone at him.
“That’s more like it.” Ying Wuji snorted.
Suddenly, a thud was heard. Lu Ye pressed his Inviolable Saber against the ground and placed his hands around the hilt. “Now we can talk about other topics.”
Chu Ruoyu appeared vigilant. “What do you want to talk about?”
“I want to know how to contact or find the other two Hidden Realms. Additionally, we want to leave this place.”
Upon hearing that, Chu Ruoyu furrowed his brows, and the other cultivators in the courtyard were puzzled.
“Aren’t you from one of the Hidden Realms?” someone asked.
They had speculated that Lu Ye and Ying Wuji either came from Mount Sumeru or Purple Star Palace, but that didn’t seem to be the case now. If they were from one of the two Hidden Realms, they wouldn’t have asked them for such information.
However, if brilliant cultivators like them were not from one of the two Hidden Realms, where were they from? Could the bases in the outside world nurture such talented people? That was inconceivable.
Even Chu Ruoyu found it unbelievable. Nevertheless, there wasn’t a need for the other party to lie to them.
As many thoughts turned over in his mind, he said grimly, “You’re making things difficult for us, Little Friend. The three Hidden Realms are secretive as they wander around the Void. Even the people in this Hidden Realm will have to arrive at a specific time and location if they want to return. The door will only open after special artifacts are activated. There’s no way we can find the locations of the other two Hidden Realms. If we can, they’ll never be at ease.”
“What about the way to contact them?”
Chu Ruoyu replied, “The representatives from the three Hidden Realms will only come into contact if they chance upon each other in the outside world. There isn’t a way for the Hidden Realms to contact each other. As such, we can’t help you with it.”
He didn’t tell him the truth, though. The three Hidden Realms had agreed early on that they would send some people to meet up in a secretive place every year to exchange information and discuss important matters.