Finally, it was clear why the seemingly youngest of them, Li Taibai, could become the leader of the group of Constellations; he indeed possessed such strength.

Especially his eerie ability to suddenly catch up; to this day, Zhao Tianmu did not know how he did it.

He harbored some doubts; people with such abilities were generally nurtured by top domains, which contradicted his previous deduction.

Clearing the distractions from his mind, Zhao Tianmu clearly sensed that in the moment Li Taibai and he were entangled, the group of Constellation Early Stage cultivators was rapidly approaching, and would reach the battlefield in no time.

He repeatedly tried to shake off Lu Ye's entanglement and escape with the one-armed woman, but would Lu Ye ever give him such a chance?

Lu Ye relied on the backup he had left earlier, finally managing to hold onto him, intending to delay until reinforcements arrived and then launch a collective assault.

Only in this way could Zhao Tianmu be completely kept here, even if it meant paying a price.

Only ten more breaths, and his plan would be accomplished!

Yet, at this moment, Zhao Tianmu suddenly spoke: "Junior Sister Sun, I will definitely come back to save you!"

The one-armed woman surnamed Sun's expression changed from astonishment to terror, evidently realizing what her senior brother intended, and quickly shouted, "No!"

As the words fell, she was suddenly pushed towards Lu Ye by Zhao Tianmu.

Under her terrified gaze, Lu Ye's blade slashed down. She had been bound by the Immortal Binding Rope and never got the chance to break free—how could she defend herself now? Initially thinking she would escape to safety under her senior brother's lead, who'd have thought he'd use her as a scapegoat to live?

The blade light was chilling; Junior Sister Sun closed her eyes.

The fierce killing intent halted above her head, followed by someone grabbing her hair and forcefully tossing her aside.

Lu Ye had not expected Zhao Tianmu to be so despicable and shameless; knowing he couldn't escape, he threw the Junior Sister he had painstakingly rescued.

The slash could have killed the one-armed woman, but in the moment just before success, he changed his mind, sparing her life.

Looking up, without the burden, Zhao Tianmu enacted some wonderful method, transforming into a stream of light and speeding away faster than before, covering hundreds to thousands of miles in the blink of an eye.

Lu Ye dared not hesitate; he quickly activated the Blood Escape Technique, causing a drop of Essence Blood in his body to explode, turning into blood light and chasing after him.

The backup he had left behind was hidden on the one-armed woman, and now that she was abandoned, it could no longer be used.

With his own speed, he couldn't catch up to Zhao Tianmu; only the Blood Race's Blood Escape Technique offered a slim hope.

The fleeing Zhao Tianmu, obviously aware, cursed Li Taibai for going too far. If not for the prior encounter, he'd stop and teach him a lesson. But knowing Li Taibai could rival the Constellation Late Stage, how dare he linger?

Seeing himself unable to shake off Lu Ye, he made a bold decision, retrieving a starboat, and leaping onto it, immediately channeling spirit force into it.

Seeing this from afar, Lu Ye was anxious, urging the Blood Escape Technique even harder, hoping to intercept before the starboat's speed kicked in.

However, Zhao Tianmu had clearly made calculations, knowing that at Lu Ye's current speed, he couldn't be stopped.

The starboat's speed increased under his propulsion, gradually disappearing from sight.

In the stellar space, Lu Ye halted, the blood light around him faded, and he looked somber.

In the end, Zhao Tianmu still got away!

Though he could also activate a starboat to continue the chase, it was largely meaningless; intercepting an enemy in stellar space without letting them flee on a starboat was almost hopeless.

After waiting at the spot for a long time, Feng Wujiang and others finally arrived.

Seeing Lu Ye's figure at a glance, they knew the enemy had fled, and each felt heavy-hearted.

The one-armed woman surnamed Sun was now held in Nian Yuexian's grip, her face pale and trembling. Sensing Lu Ye's gaze, she quickly lowered her head.

Just moments ago, she was still venomously clamoring to kill Lu Ye's whole family, yet in the blink of an eye, she fell into his hands again.

Lu Ye's ruthless and merciless nature terrified her; she had no idea what fate awaited her.

"Prepare to meet the enemy," Feng Wujiang said.

Zhao Tianmu had escaped; if he wanted to save his Junior Sister, he would surely not return alone, so the next time Zhao Tianmu came, it'd definitely be with many reinforcements.

Moreover, having suffered such a loss this time, they'd surely try to regain their ground.

Currently, with the enemy's domain unknown and strength uncertain, all Nine Provinces could do was limited; the worst-case scenario would be Zhao Tianmu leading a group of powerful fighters, leaving Nine Provinces unable to resist.

"Should we give up the Unparalleled Continent?" someone proposed.

Zhao Tianmu knew the location of the Unparalleled Continent. If he brought strong fighters, Nine Provinces might not withstand them. Abandoning the Unparalleled Continent could avoid a direct confrontation with unknown formidable opponents.

"It's a method, but not foolproof," Jian Guhong shook his head, "the Unparalleled Continent is only a little over a year's journey from Nine Provinces, just a month by starboat. Their domain shouldn't be weak; abandoning the Unparalleled Continent, they'd certainly search around, and if they found Nine Provinces..."

The situation would only worsen, so if there were truly to be a battle with the unknown domain, the Unparalleled Continent would be the best battlefield. Abandoning it might instead court disaster.

"Yiye, what do you say?" Jian Guhong looked up at Lu Ye.

In terms of knowledge and experience with stellar space, no one could compare with Lu Ye, so even though everyone was older than him, they naturally regarded him as their backbone.

Earlier when Zhao Tianmu asked who was in charge, the silence of the crowd was their best response.

Lu Ye looked at everyone, decisively saying, "Call for reinforcements! If the enemy doesn't come, let them be; but if they really come, we'll kill them with no chance of return!"

Currently, there are only ten Constellation Early Stage cultivators here, a number still too few, requiring more manpower!

There are now quite a few Nine Provinces Constellations, and bringing some over here could strengthen our defensive forces.

From another perspective, even if the enemy doesn't come, the Unparalleled Continent, as an important training ground for the Nine Provinces cultivators, needs more Constellations to be stationed here.

Last time Mong Jie, being alone, almost got hunted down by foreign Constellations. If there had been enough Constellations back then, the enemy wouldn't have been able to penetrate deep into the Unparalleled Continent. In the stellar space, we could intercept them.

"Senior Sister Nian, I need your help." Lu Ye turned to Nian Yuexian, handing the Silver Fish to her.

Nian Yuexian nodded and immediately set off with the Silver Fish towards the Nine Provinces.

"We also need more intelligence!" Lu Ye watched Nian Yuexian leave, then turned to fix his gaze on the one-armed woman.

The woman shrank back, trying to make herself inconspicuous.

But Lu Ye grabbed her, casually taking back a weapon control device he left behind earlier from her.

"Let's discuss this after we return!"

Two hours later, at the Jiuwu Grand Hall.

This grand hall was built by the Nine Provinces cultivators, and deep underground lies the passage connecting the Nine Provinces. It's called Jiuwu Grand Hall mainly due to the homophony of Nine Provinces and Unparalleled in their domains.

Above Liyuan in Bingzhou of the Nine Provinces, there is another grander Jiuwu Grand Hall.

This place is considered a transit station between the two domains.

On ordinary days, this place is bustling with Nine Provinces cultivators coming and going, but at this moment, there are only a few people inside, as everyone else has been cleared out.

Outside the hall, it's crowded with True Lake and Divine Sea cultivators from the Nine Provinces. Earlier, strong enemies descended, ransacking and slaughtering Nine Provinces cultivators, causing many to suffer. Now, with our Constellations arriving, they repelled the enemies and even captured one alive, who is being questioned inside.

These True Lake and Divine Sea cultivators from the Nine Provinces are eager to know where these enemies came from and what they intend to do.

More Nine Provinces cultivators, upon receiving the news, came out from their hiding places and headed here, resulting in an increasing gathering of people.

Inside the hall, Lu Ye sat upright, with the Sun-named woman quietly kneeling before him. To her left and right, Nine Provinces Constellations stood silently, causing her pressure to feel like a mountain, her body trembling occasionally.

Especially as Lu Ye leaned slightly forward, speaking in a calm voice continuously, the pressure he exerted was the greatest.

Lu Ye was inquiring about the situation of the domain she belonged to.

This was also the reason he spared her life in the first place!

Through the questions and answers, Lu Ye gradually grasped the situation of the domain where she came from.

The woman was named Sun Ying, originating from a large domain called Qingli Dao World.

Although it is also a large domain like the Nine Provinces, its foundation is much more robust. The Qingli Dao World has no Sun Blaze cultivators, which is good news.

Because if they had Sun Blaze Realm experts, once they attacked, Nine Provinces here would be unable to resist.

The bad news is that they have Moon Jade!

And they have three Moon Jades!

Below the Moon Jade, the number of Constellations is not much more than the Nine Provinces, maybe even slightly fewer, only around five to six hundred people, but the quality of their Constellations is high, not only at the Early Stage but also many mid-stage and Late Stage ones...

The reason why the number of Qingli Dao World's Constellations is fewer than that of the Nine Provinces is mainly because their size isn't large, and their population base isn't as vast as the Nine Provinces.

Such a large domain isn't particularly strong when looking at the stellar space, but it's also not weak, making it something the current Nine Provinces cannot compare to.

The worse news is that the sect Sun Ying came from has a Moon Jade Realm!

The cultivation world structure of Qingli Dao World is similar to that of the Nine Provinces, with numerous sects. The three Moon Jades belong to the three top sects, and Sun Ying's sect has one of them. Moreover, this woman has some bloodline relation with that Moon Jade, being one of its descendants.

If not for such a connection, there would be no need to worry much. In stellar space, it's common for cultivators to fight and kill upon encounter. If killed, it's due to lacking strength and luck. Avenge if you have the ability; if not, endure the disgrace until you have the ability to avenge.

But with Sun Ying having such a relation, Nine Provinces here must consider whether that Moon Jade will come personally to rescue Sun Ying and avenge the disciples who died under her wing, which is very likely to happen.

A single Moon Jade is something the current strength of Nine Provinces can't contend with.