Translator: Asuka
Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys
Inside the karst cave, Lu Ye closed his eyes again and quietly perceived something.
The Skill Tree was indeed located in his Source Spiritual Point. He could ‘see’ this whenever he focused his mind. This was not the same as before. In the past, the Skill Tree had always appeared in his field of vision as a phantom whenever he concentrated.
[Perhaps… the Skill Tree has always been in my Source Spiritual Point. It might be that I was not Enlightened at the time, so all I saw was the phantom reflected in my field of vision. Perhaps I gained the ability to sense the Skill Tree more intuitively after achieving Enlightenment.]
After entering the Spirit Creek Battlefield, he had been busy improving his cultivation. He underwent intense cultivation and stopped paying attention to the state of the Skill Tree, so it wasn’t until the Skill Tree absorbed another external power that he noticed these changes.
This was a good thing. There had always been a question in his heart that remained a mystery until today. It was related to how he could cultivate by consuming Spirit Pills without experiencing any side effects. He had guessed that it was related to the Skill Tree, but he did not know the exact relationship between these two factors. Now that he could intuitively sense the existence of the Skill Tree, he might be able to study it carefully when he had the time.
He ‘looked’ at the two burning leaves on the Skill Tree. Despite knowing that those leaves were very beneficial to him, he couldn’t help recalling some unpleasant memories at the sight…
Suppressing his desire to investigate the leaves, he walked over to the Snake Demon corpse, tugged his weapon out of it, and chopped it into 10 parts before storing them into his Storage Bag. The Snake Demon was much stronger than the tiger. It also had the ability to spit fire. Therefore, the snake meat was sure to contain rich Spiritual Power. Eating it would greatly nourish him.
After he finished his task, he looked around and confirmed that he had not missed out on anything. Only then did he finally leave the karst cave.
More than an hour later, Lu Ye met up with Yi Yi and the tiger who were waiting at the entrance of the cave. Seeing that there was blood on the tiger’s shoulder blades, he took out a Healing Pill and gave it to the tiger. This was the bite injury the tiger received from the Snake Demon during the previous battle.
He himself had also sustained some light injuries around his shoulder blades from the time the snake’s tail whipped him, but his injuries were nothing serious.
A short while later, he rode on the tiger’s back and reached out to stroke its soft fur. He recalled the first time he met Yi Yi and the tiger. At the time, he would never have imagined that there would come a day when the majestic and imposing tiger would become his mount. He had to admit that riding on the tiger’s back was a nice experience. It gave a Second-Order Spirit Creek Realm Master like him an air of kingly arrogance. Besides, the tiger had a sturdy body and a spacious back. It was not uncomfortable to ride.
“Where to?” Yi Yi sat cross-legged on top of the tiger’s head and turned around to ask.
Following the guidance he got from the Battlefield Imprint on the back of his hand, he pointed in a direction. “That way! Go along the foot of the mountain!”
“Let’s go then!” She waved her small hand. It was obvious that she was in a very good mood. ．𝚌ｏｍ
The tiger let out a low roar in response. Then, a snow-white figure shot forward like a sharp arrow. On that day, many low-level cultivators preparing to enter Green Cloud Mountain for training saw the figure of a young man leisurely riding past them on a snow-white tiger.
Drops of water fell into the sea, causing small ripples. Even so, those ripples would eventually set off large waves…
When night fell, they arrived beneath a cliff that protruded and sloped outward. There was a depression at the bottom of the cliff that formed into a natural shelter. Yi Yi, who had gone ahead to check out the situation, stood there beckoning at Lu Ye. “Lu Ye, this way! This way!”
Lu Ye strode over with awe-inspiring majesty under the moonlight, steadily making his way over to her, step by step.
Looking at his strange walking posture, she could barely keep a straight face while looking at him. In the end, she could not hold back and burst out laughing…
He walked past her and glared at her fiercely. At first, he thought that riding a tiger would be a pleasurable experience. However, the first day of his travels immediately taught him how naive he was. The main reason was that the friction had chafed his thighs so badly that it was unbearable. He was certain that his inner thighs were currently a bloody mess. Furthermore, he could still remember the bumpy feeling of riding on the tiger’s back. Forget about cultivating while riding, it was a miracle he didn’t fall off during the journey.
“You’ll get used to it,” she called out from behind him.
Walking into the natural depression, he nodded in satisfaction. This was a great place to rest. There were traces of a bonfire that had burnt out inside the depression. It appeared to have been left by the travellers before them.
He rested for a while before he got up to gather some firewood and started a fire. Then, he took out a section of the snake’s body, peeled the skin, cleaned out the innards, and sliced off a chunk of snake meat that was approximately 10 kilograms. As for the rest, he tossed them to the tiger. The tiger held several kilograms of snake meat between its paws and feasted on the meat, enjoying itself immensely.
The fire danced; a fragrance gradually permeated the air; hot oil splattered on the fire and made crackling sounds. While roasting the snake meat, Lu Ye took out one of the Barrier Penetrating Fruits from his Storage Bag and motioned to Yi Yi.
Yi Yi looked at him suspiciously.
“There were two fruits. I’m splitting it equally between us,” he explained.
She shook her head in response. “This is only useful for you. Both Amber and I are unable to use it. You can keep it for yourself.”
He mulled over it for a bit before asking, “Does Amber eat Spirit Pills?”
She nodded. “It also eats Spirit Stones.”
He was shocked to hear that. “It can also eat Spirit Stones!?”
She explained, “Spirit Stones are the condensation of Spiritual Qi. All Spirit Beasts can consume them. Only Humans can’t since they can’t refine the Spirit Stones.”
He learned a lot from their conversation. No wonder Yi Yi and the tiger began asking for Spirit Stones when they failed to get Spirit Pills from him during their attempt to rob him back then.
“Then… your share of the fruit will be converted into Spirit Pills…” He looked a little embarrassed. “But, I don’t know how much these fruits are worth.”
She pursed her lips into a smile. “Just give whatever you like. Currently, Amber only needs two Spirit Pills a day.”
“That’s not much.”
The snake meat was soon cooked. He sprinkled some salt to taste and began wolfing it down. All of a sudden, he raised his head and glanced at her. She was staring at him wistfully. Thus, he handed the snake meat in his hand to her. “Do you want some?”
She shook her head. “I can’t eat.”
Afterward, he continued to eat. The snake meat was truly very nourishing. After wolfing down several kilograms of the snake meat, he felt warmth spreading throughout his body. He was filled with energy. Even the flow of his Spiritual Power seemed to be faster.
While refining his vitality into Qi, he took out his knife and walked over to the open space beside them. He took off his shirt, revealing his supple upper body. Then, he began making chopping motions in the air with a serious expression.
His previous battle with the fair-skinned man had shown him that his combat skills were a mess. He could improve his cultivation by consuming Spirit Pills, but Spirit Pills were useless for things like combat skills.
Seeing as there was nobody who could teach him, he could only think of a simple idea. And, that was to keep slashing and chopping away methodically. He did not know if this method would work, but it was the only idea he could come up with. In the future, he would surely meet more and more powerful enemies. If he were to fight them personally, both his cultivation and combat skills would be indispensable.
Under the moonlight, the young man earnestly slashed away with sweat dripping down his back. Not far away, a snow-white tiger lay on the ground and slept soundly with a hazy white light lingering around its body. A black-haired girl sat with her arms around her knees, watching the young man quietly. With the full moon hanging high in the sky as the background, it made a beautiful picture.