Translator: Asuka
Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys
In the Spirit Creek Realm, every advancement into the next Realm would add another Microcosmic Orbit Circulation System to the body. Now that Lu Ye had advanced into the Third-Order Spirit Creek Realm, he had unlocked 27 Spiritual Points. Every 9 Spiritual Points formed a Circulation System, so he currently had 3 Microcosmic Orbit Circulation Systems in his body and his Spiritual Power flowed through them like a babbling brook in a never-ending loop.
What amazed him was that he could clearly feel that all three of these Spiritual Power Circulation Systems seemed to resonate with each other after he entered the Third-Order Spirit Creek Realm. This was something that had never happened before when he first entered the First-Order Spirit Creek Realm and the Second-Order Spirit Creek Realm. The resonance between them made the Spiritual Power in his body flow a little faster than before.
At this moment, he had more or less perfected his cultivation of the Golden Liberation Technique that he received from Manager Yang. If he connected the 27 Spiritual Points that he unlocked in a specific order, the pattern formed would depict a toad lying on the ground. The name ‘Golden Liberation Technique’ which loosely translated to ‘a carefree toad’ probably came from that. Every time his Spiritual Power flowed through the Circulation System, it looked like there was a toad breathing in and out. The three Spiritual Power Circulation Systems might look independent of each other, but they actually influenced one another…
Logically speaking, his strength would usually increase by approximately 30% whenever his cultivation increased by a whole Realm. However, he could feel that his strength had skyrocketed by more than 30%. It seemed to have nearly doubled instead! The realisation struck him all of a sudden: These were the additional benefits of cultivating the cultivation technique to completion.
If he had his current cultivation when he was battling against Zhang Wu, he would not have needed to pay such a heavy price. He might even be able to defeat his opponent without getting injured.
In terms of offensive power, he had the Sharp Edge Spiritual Pattern. That was something a Fourth-Order Spirit Creek Realm Master like Zhang Wu could not block even when he was still in the Second-Order Spirit Creek Realm. In terms of defensive power, he had the Protection Spiritual Pattern. Similarly, it was also a Spiritual Pattern that Zhang Wu had not been able to penetrate. 𝚍ｎ𝚘ｖ𝚕.𝚝
Both his offence and defence were beyond the limits of his current cultivation. All that he lacked was undoubtedly the experience and the necessary skills in battle. Unfortunately, something like experience… could only be accumulated over time by personally experiencing numerous battles. As for skills… He had spent at least four hours a day practising his knife throughout his journey. It had not been long since he started, so he did not dare to say he had great knife skills. Nevertheless, he could at least hold his knife much steadier than before. His attacks also flowed more smoothly now.
He had killed a few people before, so he was slowly familiarising himself with the feeling of breaking through the defensive Spiritual Power around his enemies as well as cutting into his enemies’ flesh. He kept this feeling in his heart, turning the feeling into a form of instinct that would naturally evolve into a superb technique.
There was no way for Lu Ye to continue cultivating anymore. He only had a few more Spirit Pills in his possession, but he had yet to obtain a new and suitable cultivation technique to practise. Besides, his injuries had healed up completely. After giving it some thought, he stood up.
A short while later, he gathered Yi Yi and the tiger before walking out of the tunnel he had been hiding in for the past few days.
According to Yi Yi’s feedback, Mystic Sect and Nine Star Clan had been fighting fiercely against each other in the Split Sky Gorge over the past few days. Small skirmishes would break out from time to time, causing both sides to suffer casualties.
He quietly commended Mystic Sect in his heart. This was the exact situation he had been hoping for. It was also the reason why he managed to hide here for so long.
From the start, he had the feeling that it was impossible for Mystic Sect and Nine Star Clan to coexist peacefully. The moment there was a large commotion in Nine Star Clan, Mystic Sect would definitely respond in kind. Judging from the current situation, it would seem that he had underestimated the deep blood feud between the Sects brought upon by the confrontation between the opposing factions.
This entire incident stemmed from the fact that Lu Ye had killed the four cultivators that were led by the Young Master of Nine Star Clan, which then triggered a large-scale search for his whereabouts. However, this incident had turned into a chaotic battle between the Spirit Creek Realm Masters of the two major Sects in the time that the main culprit had been secretly recuperating from his injuries.
He originally wanted to stir the pot, but from the looks of things, there was no need for him to go to such trouble. The current situation was in his favour. Even so, it was unrealistic for him to think of leaving just like that. He did not know how many people both Sects had deployed into the Split Sky Gorge, but he was now caught right in the middle of it. He needed to borrow strength from somebody if he wanted to get out of this situation. More accurately, he needed to borrow the power of Mystic Sect.
With a plan in mind, he asked Yi Yi to move ahead of them to investigate the situation. Meanwhile, he and the tiger quietly sneaked along at a distance of around 100 metres behind her.
In a gorge that was about 35 metres wide, seven cultivators were fighting each other in an endless battle. There were three on one side and four on the other. Looking at the situation, it was obvious that the side with less people had the upper hand in the battle. The main reason was that the average cultivation of those three was higher.
Out of the three of them, one was in the Fourth-Order Spirit Creek Realm while the other two were in the Third-Order Spirit Creek Realm. On the other hand, the party of four on the opposite side was composed of two in the Third-Order Spirit Creek Realm and two in the Second-Order Spirit Creek Realm. One of the Third-Order Spirit Creek Realm Masters was bleeding profusely from his arm. It was clear that he was injured.
The battles between low-level cultivators basically revolved around close combat. There were very few who could display the full power of Spell Techniques. That was because their cultivation was too low, so the power of their Spell Techniques was weak. Not to mention, activating Spell Techniques required time and the process of activation could easily be interrupted. Moreover, accuracy was still an issue even if they managed to succeed at activating the Spell Technique. Therefore, whoever had a higher cultivation and stronger weapon would naturally hold the advantage in close combat.
Among those four people, the leader was a strong and burly man. He was holding a large knife and standing in front of the others. He shouted while retreating, “Go!”
His words implied that he was going to bring up the rear.
The other three looked sad, but they did not abandon him to escape. On the contrary, they fought beside him to retreat and fight at the same time. Unfortunately, that was nothing more than a temporary reprieve. The moment that burly man collapsed, all four of them would die in this place.
The Fourth-Order Spirit Creek Realm Master on the opposite side seemed aware of this fact. Hence, he did not take action even if he had the chance to kill the burly man. Instead, he continuously slashed away at the burly man’s body, creating more wounds on the latter’s body. It made the burly man look more and more wretched.
Lu Ye and the tiger were hiding among a pile of rocks not far behind these four people. They were observing the situation through the gaps in the rock. At first, he had been troubled over how he was supposed to distinguish between the cultivators of Mystic Sect and Nine Star Clan. It was not like he could just go up to them and ask after all.
However, he realised that he had been overthinking the moment he saw the fight between these two parties. It was very easy to distinguish between the cultivators of Mystic Sect and Nine Star Clan. That was because there were different coloured lights glowing from the backs of the hands of both parties.
He was amazed by the sight despite not understanding the reason behind that phenomenon. His Battlefield Imprint had never shown any changes before during his previous battles.
Unbeknownst to him, this was all thanks to Wang Yang. Mystic Sect and Nine Star Clan had been struggling against each other on this territory for many years. It was just that Mystic Sect had always held the upper hand in the situation due to their advantage in numbers and strength among the Spirit Creek Realm Masters. For that reason, the Spirit Creek Realm Masters of Nine Star Clan had always kept a low-profile in this area. It used to be very difficult for the people of Mystic Sect to hunt down their opponents.
However, the Young Master of Nine Star Clan had been killed. Almost all of the Spirit Creek Realm Masters within the Sect had been deployed as a result, so it was a great chance for Mystic Sect. It was the perfect opportunity for them to go on a rampage to hunt and slaughter the disciples of Nine Star Clan.
That was why Wang Yang couldn’t care less about the reason behind this incident. All he saw was a good chance for him to severely damage the Nine Star Clan. For that reason, he used the Divine Opportunity Column in his base to declare war on the Nine Star Clan, regardless of the cost.
The Nine Star Clan was well within their rights to reject such a declaration of war. But, they were trying to hunt down the person who killed their Young Master. How could they reject this declaration of war at this time? That being the case, Dong Shu Ye could only bite the bullet and accept the declaration. At the same time, he cursed Wang Yang with all his heart.
During the period when war was declared, a different coloured light would shine from the backs of the hands of cultivators from both sides the moment they confronted each other. It made their positions clear in an instant.
It had to be said that both sides had many rogue cultivators under them. The faces of these rogue cultivators were extremely unfamiliar to many of the cultivators from both Sects. Therefore, the Battlefield Imprint not only prevented either side from accidentally injuring their own allies, but it also allowed both sides to instantly determine which was their enemy and which was a trusted ally.