Lu Ye's sense of unease intensified; if the starship pursuing them was like a reaper bent on claiming his life, then the Lightning Pool ahead was like a tiger's den!

Things were indeed not as simple as they seemed. Zhou Yuchuan's squad evidently intended to eliminate both him and the starship.

When they discussed forming an alliance earlier, Lu Ye had already anticipated this possibility.

He wasn't foolish; he naturally understood that if they adhered to the plan, he, as the bait leading the starship, would be in the most perilous position.

If he were familiar with Zhou Yuchuan and the others, they might have made arrangements to ensure his safety.

But he didn't know them at all; this was merely a temporary collaboration with the goal of taking down the starship, so why would Zhou Yuchuan and the others care about his life or death?

In fact, from their perspective, getting rid of Lu Ye along with the starship could eliminate a strong enemy in one fell swoop—killing two birds with one stone.

When Zhou Yuchuan and the others didn't mention this at the time, Lu Ye didn't ask either. Some things didn't need to be asked; he never relied on the mercy of others for his own safety!

A tremendous crisis loomed both ahead and behind him simultaneously.

The outer area of the dead star no longer had meteorites to hide behind; Lu Ye's figure was fully exposed to the starship's attack. Atop the ship's cannon, a light began to glow.

At the same time, within the Lightning Pool on the barren mountaintop below, arcs of lightning began to crackle.

Almost simultaneously, the terrifying powers ahead and behind him erupted suddenly.

A bright and dazzling beam of light hit the area where Lu Ye was located, and in the blink of an eye, his figure vanished without a trace, as if he had evaporated completely.

In the Constellation Palace's Hall 935, Chu Shen's face turned pale, and he couldn't help but utter a curse, "Despicable bastards, if I ever meet those three again, they'll pay for this!"

The big shot was gone!

To him, this was a bolt from the blue. Honestly, not many people had earned his admiration as he grew up, since he himself was a genius. Even with Sun Blaze as a backing, and unlimited cultivation resources, he couldn't have advanced to the Constellation at his age.

People like him had high standards. Ordinary cultivators, even ones like Moon Jade, couldn't earn his admiration without his approval. Moon Jade may have higher cultivation, but that didn't necessarily make her superior.

Fa Wuzun was the first person he genuinely respected. Calling him the big shot was truly heartfelt, and following Fa Wuzun to glorious victories was a fantastic feeling.

If his luck hadn't been so bad to get eliminated early, he could've followed the big shot and basked in glory.

But this great figure, praised to the skies and with seemingly limitless potential, had died like this!

Chu Shen's heart ached, grieved, and chilled...

He felt that the morality in today's cultivation world was too terrible, with no trust between people at all.

Another point was that the big shot had promised him that after this Melee Battle Meet ended, he'd give him that array disc. Now that the big shot was dead, the array disc was probably out of reach too.

While Chu Shen was both disheartened and furious, the cultivators focused on Lu Ye mostly sighed with regret. They had witnessed how Fa Wuzun's squad had conquered supposedly formidable squads despite their apparent weakness. After this battle, they were expected to earn widespread fame, but who would've thought such a prodigious individual would die prematurely?

While they thought Zhou Yuchuan's squad's actions were dishonorable, cultivation was fraught with risks everywhere. They only blamed Fa Wuzun for not being cautious enough.

On the contrary, the major factions that intended to purchase array discs from Fa Wuzun's squad felt some regret, but it didn't concern them much. Fa Wuzun was dead, but the array disc had always been held by a woman in the squad. They only needed to find her when the Melee Battle Meet concluded.

They were just thankful Fa Wuzun had foresight and didn't take those four women with him; otherwise, the array disc might have been destroyed.

In the Constellation Palace, everyone was consumed by their own thoughts. Just as Lu Ye's figure disappeared, a thick lightning column surged upward from the mountaintop below like a violent Thunder Dragon, twisting and turning towards the starship.

The cultivators aboard the starship were still lost in the satisfaction of avenging their fallen comrades, only to face a crisis in the blink of an eye.

A cultivator deftly activated the starship's defenses, enveloping the entire vessel in a curtain of light at a critical moment.

The Thunder Dragon crashed into it, but instead of the expected destructive force, it exploded instantly, transforming into slithering lightning serpents that enveloped the starship.

The protective shield surrounding the starship, seemingly unbreakable, began to melt swiftly like snow under the scorching sun, under the influence of the lightning serpents.

The lightning serpents continued to writhe, and in mere moments, every array and treasure aboard the starship failed, leaving the once-mighty vessel plunging from the sky like a wingless bird.

Several figures scrambled out in disarray, among them the late-stage combat cultivator who had previously fought with Lu Ye.

Below, on the barren mountain, Zhou Yuchuan's squad, including two men with ashen faces, clearly exhibited signs of excessive exhaustion.

The short spear's treasure power was immense, naturally demanding considerable energy to wield. Even with pre-arranged Formation assistance, it had drained their spirit force almost entirely.

"How did they arrive so quickly!" The man who had previously argued with Lu Ye spoke.

The plan had succeeded, but not completely, because in their plan, it was not just about disabling the opponent's starship; they intended to eliminate the starship along with the cultivators operating it.

But the plan couldn't keep up with the changes. They didn't expect Lu Ye to arrive so quickly, causing their setup to be insufficient.

This resulted in the opponent's starship being incapacitated, yet the personnel remained unharmed. In contrast, two of their own had almost completely lost combat capability, with only the woman in their team maintaining her peak condition.

It wasn't because the woman was stronger, but because Zhou Yuchuan had not allowed her to partake in unleashing the short spear's power, allowing her to maintain her combat strength.

This was the result of Zhou Yuchuan's carefulness. It's undeniable that it was an extremely wise decision; otherwise, the three of them would just be lambs waiting to be slaughtered now.

"Recover!" Zhou Yuchuan commanded in a low voice, then turned to the woman, "Xiaoru, it's up to you!"

The woman, with a cool expression, said nothing and swiftly stepped in front of the two men, looking up at the sky.

In that direction, several figures emerged from the starship, with the leading cultivator, a Late Stage combat cultivator, coldly scrutinizing Zhou Yuchuan and the other two.

At this point, they realized they had fallen into Lu Ye's deception. Killing for treasures was false; the real intention was to provoke them into this place to disable their starship!

For them, it wasn't surprising that treasure could appear in this Melee Battle Meet battlefield that could restrain starships. They had been cautious and prepared, but some things can't be avoided by mere vigilance. In such a situation earlier, apart from chasing Lu Ye to death, they had no other choice.

Therefore, they felt that Zhou Yuchuan's trio and Lu Ye, along with the Ghost Cultivator who had previously killed and removed hearts, were all in cahoots!

Fortunately, two of them had already been killed by them one after another; now, all they had to do was deal with these three.

If Zhou Yuchuan's trio was intact, they naturally wouldn't be their match, but at this moment, Zhou Yuchuan's group had only one person left with any fighting capability!

The cultivators emerging from the starship saw the situation on that side at a glance. Without any hesitation, they charged towards Zhou Yuchuan and his companions, led by that Late Stage combat cultivator.

The female cultivator named Xiaoru's expression became solemn. She raised her hand, and two spirit treasures hovered on her sides; one looked like a palm-leaf fan, the other was a copper ring, on which flames blazed fiercely.

Seeing the enemy charging furiously, the female cultivator immediately unleashed the power of her spirit treasures. In an instant, the flames on the copper ring blazed fiercely, and a series of fire rings filled the sky to meet the enemy. She grasped the palm-leaf fan and waved it vigorously, unleashing an invisible wind.

The wind fueled the fire, causing the flying fire rings to expand suddenly, and the flames became ferocious, forming an extremely tight defense.

The attacking enemies wanted to break through, but momentarily they couldn't, realizing that this female cultivator wasn't just any Constellation Late Stage; she must be a formidable figure listed on the Cumulated Points Ranking.

This made the squad, led by the Late Stage combat cultivator, both anxious and excited. Anxious because if they couldn't break through the opponent's offensive quickly, the other two companions of the female cultivator might recover, making the situation more unfavorable.

Excited because they hadn't really faced an opponent from the Cumulated Points Ranking before. If they could eliminate her, it would give them bragging rights in the future.

If they were truly familiar with one another, they might have taken some risks with bold tactics, but they were just a temporary team without tight coordination, so they could only take a steady and secure approach.

The female cultivator, although impressive, couldn't hold off alone. Even if the opponents lacked coordination, their numbers were still a factor here.

Gradually, the situation became disadvantageous for Xiaoru.

And just as the battle reached a fever pitch, Zhou Yuchuan, who was seizing every moment to sit and recover, suddenly opened his eyes with a sense of something.

In the next moment, his eyes widened, and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.

In that direction, someone was walking leisurely, hand resting on a long blade.

Half of his clothes were stained red with blood, obviously from a previous injury, but judging by his aura now, there was no major issue.

Zhou Yuchuan was stunned, "You..."

He wanted to ask, weren't you supposed to be dead? But the person appeared just fine here, clearly having somehow evaded the disaster.

The companion beside Zhou Yuchuan also opened his eyes and immediately sensed the trouble upon seeing Lu Ye.

They had previously harbored ill intentions towards Lu Ye's squad, and now the person was alive, appearing here clearly not to have a friendly chat.

With Lu Ye's sudden appearance, even the team combating Xiaoru involuntarily paused.

Then they witnessed a baffling scene.

Lu Ye's figure suddenly moved like a swift rabbit, charging at Zhou Yuchuan and his companions with fierce momentum, as if there was some enormous hatred between them.

Weren't they... supposed to be on the same side?