With the city as the centre, a radius of 1,000 kilometres around it could be considered the territory of Blue Flame Mountain Pass.
According to the ten-point map, White Jade City Pass was on the left and Clear Moon Cave Pass was on the right. Although there was some distance between the three Passes, they could help each other out at any moment and form a defence line.
The defence line of Bing Zhou Watch was formed with all these Passes.
Just like Blue Flame Mountain Pass, White Jade City Pass belonged to Great Moon Canyon while Clear Moon Cave Pass belonged to Small Moon Canyon.
Taking that into consideration, Blue Flame Mountain Pass was the rightmost defence node of Great Moon Canyon.
Under normal circumstances, the defence line that spanned 2,000 kilometres required a lot of cultivators to patrol to prevent enemies from Thousand Demon Ridge from sneaking in.
However, only Nian Yuexian and Lu Ye were in Blue Flame Mountain Pass, so they could only rely on themselves.
Now that Lu Ye was responsible for patrolling the Pass, he had to ensure that the area around the Pass was safe.
After a night’s rest, he set off with Yi Yi and Amber at the break of dawn.
He and Amber were clearly visible while Yi Yi stayed hidden. Although there were only three of them, he had a powerful perception while Yi Yi could remain invisible. If some enemies from Thousand Demon Ridge were hiding somewhere, they would be exposed.
While patrolling the area, a rhythm Lu Ye had almost forgotten about suddenly sprang back into his mind.
‘The King has asked me to patrol the mountain. I enjoy life to the fullest…’
He quickly shook his head to cast away the untimely thought.
The defence line on both sides of Blue Flame Mountain Pass spanned 2,000 kilometres, and he hadn’t included the depth of the terrain yet. He certainly couldn’t patrol the entire area in one day.
His initial plan was to inspect a radius of 100 kilometres around the area. Despite that, it still took him half a day to do so.
The biggest problem with the Pass was the lack of manpower. Lu Ye could only ensure no enemies were hiding within a radius of 100 kilometres around the area.
Moreover, before his arrival, Nian Yuexian had been guarding the place on her own. She didn’t seem like she would patrol the area, but the defence line had remained intact over the years.
Therefore, even though Lu Ye was responsible for patrolling the area, he didn’t have to be overly meticulous.
Nevertheless, as he inspected more places, he soon found something interesting.
The further he went into the defence line, the hotter the air felt.
In fact, he had already realised it the moment he arrived at this Pass previously. The environment here seemed to be more humid than in other places.
He was busy carrying out trivial tasks given to him by Nian Yuexian in the past, so he didn’t think too deeply about it. Now, he discovered something different.
Then, he thought about the location of this Pass. The word ‘Flame’ in Blue Flame Mountain seemed to indicate something.
Initially, he intended to send Nian Yuexian a message through the military token to ask about this matter. He wanted to find out if his speculation was right.
After giving it some thought, he decided against the idea.
Although Shui Yuan had assured him that Nian Yuexian didn’t have any malicious intentions, Lu Ye was fed up with the woman for abusing him as of late. As such, he didn’t want to come into contact with her for the time being.
He identified the direction and went deeper into the defence line.
He didn’t come across any obstacles or enemies from Thousand Demon Ridge. Perhaps they were hiding somewhere or none of them dared cause trouble here.
Lu Ye felt it was the former.
Although it sounded majestic that Nian Yuexian was able to protect an entire Pass on her own, there were inevitably many weak points in the defence line.
Despite the fact that Nian Yuexian was a Divine Ocean Realm Master, she couldn’t possibly scan the surroundings with her Divine Ego all the time. Lu Ye reckoned that many cultivators from Thousand Demon Ridge would sneak into the Grand Sky Coalition’s territory through this Pass.
Certainly, it was risky to do such a thing. Once they were discovered by Nian Yuexian, they would be doomed.
Anyway, risks were inevitable if they wanted to sneak into the other party’s territory, regardless of how they wanted to do it. There was never a lack of bold and powerful people who were willing to take on such a risk.
Lu Ye felt increasingly hotter, and even the air was filled with a pungent smell. Knowing that his speculation was right, he was excited.
There must be a volcanic crater somewhere in front of him.
He had a Glyph on the Tree of Glyphs that was half-activated because he didn’t have sufficient Mystic Flames and Core Flames. It had been stuck that way for quite a while.
As of late, he had been trying to look for suitable Mystic Flames and Core Flames in the Vault of Providence, but his attempt was in vain.
Much to his surprise, he discovered something in this Pass. He had been struggling to find the things he wanted, but now, they were somewhere in front of him.
However, this area was pretty close to the territory of Thousand Demon Ridge. According to his calculation, even if there was indeed a volcanic crater in front of him, it would be located in the enemy’s territory.
As such, he had to be careful with his actions. If his whereabouts were exposed in the other party’s territory, he would be doomed.
He went on to move forward for 200 kilometres. There was no longer any greenery around him, and the pungent smell in the air was even more intense. He lifted his gaze and saw a barren mountain in the distance.
Hot air billowed from the crater. It was so scorching that even the Void around it looked contorted.
Lu Ye didn’t immediately move forward. Instead, he fished out the ten-point map to identify his location. A moment later, he furrowed his brows.
It was a pretty awkward location because it was within Thousand Demon Ridge’s territory. The enemies might be patrolling nearby places. If he went over there, he could hardly conceal his whereabouts.
After some deliberation, he still decided to go there and have a look.
He was a Real Lake Realm Master now. Although he was only a First-Order Master who had recently achieved an ascension, he was significantly more powerful than in the past.
As long as his enemies weren’t too powerful, he wouldn’t fall into danger.
Also, he didn’t have to worry about coming across Divine Ocean Realm Masters, for such people usually wouldn’t leave their Passes to avoid giving the other party a chance to invade their territories.
Divine Ocean Realm Masters were like the pillars of strength for the Passes.
Even when the two sides clashed at the frontlines, rarely any Divine Ocean Realm Masters would be seen fighting each other. That was because, in their Realm, they could see things that the weaker cultivators couldn’t. Unless there was a blood feud between them, they usually wouldn’t contend with each other.