Sage of Humanity-Chapter 1787 - 1785: Allow Me to Explain 12

Lately, especially as the next Black Abyss Battle draws near, the cultivators of the Red Talisman Society have been under growing pressure.

At this time, Lu Ye's sudden appearance undoubtedly boosts the morale of the Red Talisman Society. His appearance reassures them that Mount Fangcun has not abandoned them!

Morale may be intangible, but it often plays an extremely vital role. Lu Ye's arrival signifies Mount Fangcun's stance, and Hu Dequan immediately understood that Mount Fangcun is still making efforts; the cultivators sent here are not without backup.

"Fellow Daoist, which section of Mount Fangcun do you come from?" Hu Dequan asked, "Who's your Dao companion?"

Although the power of the red talisman that Lu Ye deployed felt familiar and close to him, there were still matters that needed clarification.

"The Eastern Section," replied Lu Ye, "As for my Dao companion... Su Yuqing!"

"Who?" Hu Dequan was momentarily stunned, almost thinking he had misheard.

Lu Ye repeated once more.

Hu Dequan's expression turned peculiar. He scrutinized Lu Ye for a moment before hesitatingly saying, "Fellow Daoist, this is not something to joke about."

He certainly knew of Su Yuqing, one of the three Sun Blaze of the Eastern Section! Lu Ye, a mere Moon Jade Mid-Stage, how could he possibly become her Dao companion?

"This is no joke," Lu Ye replied solemnly.

Hu Dequan felt somewhat disoriented, instinctively reluctant to believe it, but he knew Lu Ye wouldn't make light of such matters.

But if this were true...

He too was sent by Mount Fangcun of the Eastern Section. His Dao companion was a female cultivator from Cloud Sea Peak, a disciple of Chen Xuanhai.

Chen Xuanhai was of the same caliber as Su Yuqing, and he had to address Su Yuqing as Master Uncle when with his Dao companion. If Lu Ye truly was Su Yuqing's Dao companion, did that mean...

The young man before him, whose cultivation didn't match his own, was also a Master Uncle?

"Fellow Daoist, you are truly... admirable!" Hu Dequan struggled for a while, unable to fully express his complex feelings. It was hard to imagine someone like Su Yuqing choosing such a young man as her Dao companion. As for the title Master Uncle... he could never bring himself to say it, nor would he discuss his Dao companion with Lu Ye.

After clearing his throat, Hu Dequan shifted the conversation, "Fellow Daoist, did you come here specifically to find us?"

Lu Ye nodded, "Someone hinted that there are two major forces in this domain, one being the Red Talisman Society. I guessed it might've been founded by our people, so I came to try my luck."

"That's indeed the case," Hu Dequan responded, then called out, "Fellow Daoist, come with me. I'll introduce you to the others. They'll surely be delighted to know you're here."

The matter of being a Master Uncle couldn't just be his burden alone; it was only fair if everyone shared in it... Already Hu Dequan could imagine what expressions those guys would have when they heard that Su Yuqing's Dao companion was here.

Due to the constant threat of ambushes by cultivators of Sacred Blood Summit, Hu Dequan suppressed his mana fluctuations as they proceeded.

Along the way, he asked, "Fellow Daoist, you haven't been contaminated by the Blood Rain, right?"

"No," Lu Ye replied, having already been informed by Xiang Yin of the Red Talisman Society's stance on recruitment. He naturally knew how to respond.

Moreover, unlike Xiang Yin and others, if Lu Ye didn't activate the Blood Race secret techniques, he was no different from a normal human. Xiang Yin and the others couldn't hide it even without activating the techniques. If Lu Ye activated his saintliness, they would still be suppressed because they bore the traits of the Blood Race.

"That's a relief!" Hu Dequan sighed, not that he genuinely trusted Lu Ye entirely, but considering he'd only just arrived, the likelihood of Blood Rain contamination was low, "The saintliness contained in the Blood Rain seeps everywhere, and anyone contaminated would be in great trouble."

Chatting casually, they continued walking.

After half a day, they arrived in an underground cave. As Lu Ye looked around, he noticed that it seemed long abandoned, devoid of any signs of life.

He looked at Hu Dequan in confusion, who explained, "Fellow Daoist, let's wait here for a moment. Fellow Daoist Meng Xu and Fellow Daoist Yang Ling will be here shortly."

Lu Ye had already noticed on their way here that Hu Dequan transmitted a message using an audio talisman. Meng Xu and Yang Ling were who he had called over to meet them here.

Surveying the cave's environment, Lu Ye blinked and nodded, "Alright!"

Saying this, he casually found a spot to sit cross-legged.

After waiting a bit, footsteps sounded from outside, followed by a loud voice, "More brothers joining us?"

Another voice quickly followed, "Keep it down, or you'll attract the enemy."

The loud voice sneered, "I'm already hiding here. If I still manage to lure them over, I'll twist my own head off."

As they spoke, two men entered from outside, one fat and one thin.

Their gazes swept past the familiar Hu Dequan and landed on Lu Ye, their eyes lighting up as if spotting a treasure.

Standing up, Hu Dequan introduced, "Brother Meng, Brother Yang, this is Fellow Daoist Lu Ye from the Eastern Section."

He then introduced the two to Lu Ye. The loud-mouthed Yang Ling was the fat one, and the thin one was Meng Xu. Along with Hu Dequan, all three were Moon Jade Late-Stage!

After all, they were sent by the Dwarf Race to seek Mount Fangcun's core, so their strength wouldn't be low.

If Lu Ye hadn't been insistent, Su Yuqing also wanted him to wait until the Moon Jade Late Stage before asking him to help search.

Yang Ling laughed out loud: "We're a family, I'm just sent from the east side, who is your Dao companion? I stayed at Mount Fangcun for a while, maybe I know them."

Hu Dequan secretly chuckled beside them.

When Lu Ye reported Su Yuqing's name, Yang Ling's expression suddenly stiffened, and he turned to look at Hu Dequan, with a face that said, "Is this kid joking with me?"

Hu Dequan shrugged, his reaction when he heard this news wasn't much better than Yang Ling's.

Meng Xu also realized the severity of the problem. Previously, everyone here called each other brothers, living joyfully and freely, but suddenly a Master Uncle comes up, who could handle that?

Meng Xu didn't even bother to say which part of Mount Fangcun he was sent from, afraid of making himself uncomfortable.

After an awkward moment, Yang Ling scratched his head: "Let's forget about it, no matter where we came from, we're all brothers sharing hardships and joys here anyway!"

"That's right, that's right!" Hu Dequan and Meng Xu expressed their deep agreement.

With one sentence, they moved past the topic, Yang Ling's expression became serious: "Brother Lu, although some matters can be basically determined, there are still procedures to go through to join the Red Talisman Society, please don't mind."

Lu Ye nodded: "No problem, how should I proceed?" He had mentally prepared for this, knowing that joining the Red Talisman Society wouldn't be that simple.

If it were really that easy, the Red Talisman Society wouldn't have remained so pure over the years.

"First, please exhibit your red talisman," Yang Ling began.

Although Hu Dequan had experienced the power of Lu Ye's red talisman, Yang Ling and Meng Xu hadn't.

Lu Ye immediately activated the power of the red talisman, allowing Yang Ling and Meng Xu to focus on experiencing it.

A moment later, both nodded, signifying no problem.

Yang Ling then spoke again: "Brother Meng also needs to test if you have been contaminated with saintliness. If not, then from now on, you will be a member of the Red Talisman Society."

With his words, Meng Xu suddenly reached out to take a sphere-like object and directly tossed it to Lu Ye: "This is something I've spent years refining, I ask Brother Lu to drop some blood on it."

Lu Ye looked at the sphere-like item in his hand and nodded readily: "No problem!"

He was actually a bit puzzled before as to how the Red Talisman Society differentiated whether cultivators were contaminated with saintliness. Now he understood, they had specialized artifacts for testing.

The Red Talisman Society has been fighting against the Sacred Blood Summit in the Core World for so many years, so naturally, they have some unique methods.

He didn't know what the result of using this item to test would be, although when refining the Sacred Blood, the Talent Tree had burned away all harmful things and didn't affect him daily, he ultimately had refined some things belonging to the Blood Race.

Normal methods couldn't detect anything abnormal, but with such a blood test, he couldn't be sure what the outcome would be.

In fact, when Hu Dequan brought him here, he already had some guesses.

If Hu Dequan really trusted him completely, he should be at the Red Talisman Society's stronghold now, not being brought here.

The reason for being here indicated that Hu Dequan clearly had precautions.

In this environment, with three Moon Jade Late Stage cultivators gathered, if Lu Ye's test showed any issue, escaping would be difficult—Lu Ye even suspected the entrance had been warded by the later arrivals Yang Ling and Meng Xu.

But regardless, this test was unavoidable; if he could successfully join the Red Talisman Society, their capital to oppose the Sacred Blood Summit would greatly increase.

As for confessing upfront... It probably wouldn't work, given the Red Talisman Society's standards for recruiting people; if he confessed, the only result would be being excluded.

So he could only gamble.

Drawing the Boulder Mountain Saber, he lightly sliced his hand, and droplets of blood dripped onto the spherical artifact.

Yang Ling's voice came: "No need to be too nervous, Brother Hu said you've only been here a few days. As long as you haven't been contaminated by the Blood Rain, there shouldn't be a problem."

As he finished speaking, the originally pitch-black sphere suddenly emitted a bright red light, growing increasingly bright until the entire cave was flooded with red.

Lu Ye looked up to see Yang Ling's expression turning extremely solemn, saw Meng Xu's face filled with regret and pain, and clearly sensed Hu Dequan behind him radiating hostility!

At some point, the three Moon Jade cultivators had positioned themselves in three directions, encircling him in the center.

Lu Ye let out a sigh.

He raised his hand and tossed the spherical artifact to Yang Ling, speaking: "Could the three of you allow me to explain a bit?"

Yang Ling's expression was somber: "There's no need to explain, I know you're not intentionally contaminated with saintliness, but the Blood Rain is all-encompassing, and you didn't know when you first arrived..." Saying this, he couldn't help but curse: "Our actions were too slow, Fellow Daoist, if you want to blame anyone, blame us!"

If their information had been more timely and actions faster, they could have found Lu Ye as soon as he arrived and avoided the current situation.