Translator: Asuka
Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys
Half a month later, a dusty Lu Ye appeared in front of a canyon. He was undoubtedly much more composed now compared to the miserable state he was in when he first rode on the tiger during the journey.
On the first day of riding the tiger, he had barely prevented himself from falling off from the jostling. Moreover, the inner part of his thighs had been rubbed raw by the friction. They were bruised and bloody as a result. At the time, he had been in no state to cultivate at all.
However, he had since accomplished his original expectations to cultivate by consuming Spirit Pills while riding on the tiger during his travels. Although his efficiency was lower than if he cultivated under normal circumstances, it was still better than wasting his time away doing nothing.
Over the past half a month, he had unlocked another 3 Spiritual Points and was now a 25 Spiritual Point cultivator. That meant that he was only two Spiritual Points away from the Third-Order Spirit Creek Realm! At this rate, it would only take another six or seven days before he cultivated the Golden Liberation Technique to perfection.
On another note, he was not the only one who grew in strength. The tiger had also gotten noticeably stronger.
Lu Ye and the tiger had both finished eating all the snake meat in his Storage Bag. Almost 80% of it had gone into the tiger’s stomach. That snake meat had been extremely beneficial to a Spirit Beast like the tiger. In addition, Lu Ye would also feed it two Spirit Restoring Pills every single day. Therefore, the tiger had experienced a significant increase in size in just half a month. It was becoming more and more majestic.
Lu Ye had no way to determine how strong the tiger was now. Based on his estimation, he would not have much of an advantage if he fought against the tiger without the support of various Spirit Talisman Papers and Spiritual Patterns.
On the other hand, Yi Yi was a Ghost Spirit tied to the tiger. Her strength would increase as the tiger became stronger and stronger.
All in all, the average strength of the group consisting of a Human, a tiger, and a Spirit might not be that great. However, the power they could exert if they worked together was not something that should be underestimated. This ultimately increased Lu Ye’s capital to travel across the Spirit Creek Battlefield, which reinforced his belief that his decision to bring the tiger and Yi Yi along with him back then was a wise decision indeed.
Along their journey, Lu Ye passed through another neutral city. He stayed in the city for a night and sold two Yuan Metal ores in exchange for some Spirit Stones. At this point, he had more than 200 Spirit Stones in his possession. [I’m still a little short, but I should have enough after my visit to the next Divine Trade Association’s branch office.]
Jumping off the tiger’s back, he studied the canyon in front of him and took out his 10-point map for reference. This was a place called the Split Sky Gorge. The terrain was steep and treacherous. Moreover, it was surrounded by a cliff wall that soared thousands of metres into the sky on both sides. The map indicated that the base of Nine Star Clan, which was affiliated with the Thousand Demon Ridge, was located to the left of the Split Sky Gorge while the base of Mystic Sect, which was affiliated with the Grand Sky Coalition, was located to the right of the Split Sky Gorge. The Split Sky Gorge was located between these two bases, but it was slightly closer to Nine Star Clan.
Both Sects were not ranked high. Mystic Sect was in the Ninth Tier while Nine Star Clan was in the Eight Tier. Such Tiers were the norm in the Outer Circle of the battlefield. Since the route Lu Ye charted was curved in an arc, he was practically travelling along the edges of the battlefield. That was why all the Sects, whose territories they had passed through during their travels, were only in the Eight Tier or the Ninth Tier.
Needless to say, he would not rashly enter the territories of Sects in higher Tiers. Not even if those Sects were affiliated with the Grand Sky Coalition. Since entering the Spirit Creek Battlefield, the Sect Master’s final warning continued to echo in his ears. He did not dare to reveal his identity as a disciple of the Crimson Blood Sect even though he had no idea what kind of consequences he would face if his identity was exposed. .𝘯𝘵
It was getting late. He had no plans to enter the canyon yet. Having travelled the whole day today, it was not too late to enter the canyon tomorrow after getting a good night’s rest. He called out, “Yi Yi!”
“Got it.” Yi Yi’s voice sounded. Immediately after that, she floated out of the tiger’s head and drifted into the distance. She had gone to check out the surrounding environment.
After travelling together for so many days, they had reached some form of tacit understanding whereby Yi Yi would be responsible for investigating their surroundings to avoid any hidden dangers. She was a Spirit, so she was capable of coming and going without a trace. It made doing something like this very convenient for her. There had been several occasions where they managed to avoid various hidden dangers in advance because of her.
It was just that she was in a symbiotic relationship with the tiger, so she could not stray too far away from the tiger. According to her, it was no problem if it was within a distance of 5 kilometres. However, she would rapidly weaken when separated from the tiger by more than a distance of 5 kilometres. If such a situation were to continue for too long, she would most likely dissipate into nothing as a result.
Meanwhile, Lu Ye would search for a suitable shelter nearby. After wandering in the wilds for more than half a month, he had long gotten used to this task. A suitable shelter should have an accessible means of entry and retreat. Secondly, it should be fairly hidden. And lastly, it should shelter them from the elements.
After searching for a while, he led the tiger to a spot between a patch of rocks. This location was not the best, but there was no better place nearby. Looking at the weather today, it did not look like it was going to rain. It should be fine for a night.
Then, he took out the firewood in his Storage Bag that he prepared beforehand and lit a fire. Next, he took out a large piece of beast meat and roasted it over the fire. After that, he took out an even larger piece of meat and tossed it to the tiger. The tiger pounced on the meat and began devouring it with relish.
Watching the tiger feasting away with a ferocious appearance, he couldn’t help feeling a little worried. He originally thought that the Spirit Restoring Pills he had saved up would be more than enough for his use until he advanced into the Third-Order Spirit Creek Realm. Unfortunately, it would seem that it was just barely enough.
The tiger consumed two Spirit Restoring Pills a day. On the other hand, he required around 11 or 12 Spirit Restoring Pills to unlock each Spiritual Point. Seeing as he only had slightly more than 30 Spirit Restoring Pills left on hand, he would probably run out of Spirit Restoring Pills once he unlocked his 27th Spiritual Point. Furthermore, he had the vague feeling that the tiger’s consumption of Spirit Restoring Pills would gradually increase as its strength increased.
[This is so worrying! But, this is the price I have to pay for bringing the tiger and Yi Yi along with me on my travels. At the very least, I can now continue cultivating while on the road. That has saved me a lot of time.] For a low-level cultivator like him, the early stage of cultivation was very precious.
The beast meat roasting by the bonfire dripped oil onto the flames, causing a crackling sound. All of a sudden, the tiger that was happily munching on its meal of raw meat raised its head and turned toward a certain direction. A low growl came out of its throat. Immediately after that, it abruptly jumped to its feet and rushed in that direction
Lu Ye was stunned for a moment before he immediately came back to his senses: Something had happened to Yi Yi! Yi Yi was the Ghost Spirit transformed by the tiger, so they had a very close connection with each other. For that reason, the tiger would be able to notice if anything had happened to Yi Yi.
The tiger’s speed was extremely fast. Even if he poured all his Spiritual Power into his legs, he would still be left behind by the tiger. Thus, he could only shout desperately, “Amber, don’t be impulsive!”
.
Seeing as he had no idea what had happened to Yi Yi, rushing headlong into the situation without preparations was not a good idea. The tiger was wise enough to slow down slightly after hearing his shout. Once he caught up to the tiger, he swung himself up on the tiger’s back and the tiger took off once more.
A short while later, a ball of fire came into view behind a huge boulder. There were several cultivators gathered around a bonfire. It looked like they were planning to spend the night here. In front of these cultivators was something that looked like a huge upside-down bell. Aura flowed around the huge bell. Various complicated and intricate lines converged together to form a pattern that slowly revolved around the huge bell.
A muffled banging was coming from within the huge bell. Yi Yi was trapped inside!
When Lu Ye saw this scene, he immediately understood the current situation. Yi Yi was a Spirit, so it was impossible to trap her with normal means. That could only mean that the huge bell was a Spirit Artefact!
Fortunately, the tiger was able to suppress its animalistic instinct after hearing his warning and did not rush out immediately.
Gathering his Spiritual Power to his eyes, he observed the aura surrounding the cultivators. There were a total of four cultivators. One was in the Second-Order Spirit Creek Realm, two were in the Third-Order Spirit Creek Realm, and the last one was in the Fourth-Order Spirit Creek Realm!