Chapter 108: Healing and Cultivation

Familiar surroundings, a familiar situation. However, compared to last time, Lu Ye was only bedridden for three days before he could get up and move around.

Wounds caused by sharp weapons were undoubtedly easier to recover from. Coupled with Hua Ci, the medical cultivator's daily care, he felt he would fully recover in no time.

He hadn't been idle these past few days. In conjunction with Hua Ci's treatment, he took several healing pills to accelerate his recovery, and also refined some Minor Rejuvenation Pills to replenish his spiritual power.

Several more days passed, and his injuries improved further.

Under the moonlight, Lu Ye was practicing his blade techniques. Not far away, under a large tree, Amber lay resting, occasionally letting out a wide yawn. Yi Yi leaned against Amber's soft belly, sitting with her arms wrapped around her knees, seemingly lost in thought.

After a long while, she sighed and whispered to Amber, "Amber, we're so useless."

Her sentiment stemmed from the realization that ever since they left Qingyun Mountain with Lu Ye, their ability to contribute had been very limited. It was difficult for the two of them to get involved in the battles Lu Ye participated in.

This was true whether they were facing Dong Shuye's pursuit previously or during the life-and-death struggle with Senior Brother Zhou.

Ultimately, their strength was simply too lacking.

Amber's greatest role was carrying Lu Ye on their journeys, while hers was to keep watch while Lu Ye rested.

This left Yi Yi feeling a sense of powerlessness. If she and Amber could have helped Lu Ye earlier, he wouldn't have been so severely injured.

"We need to get stronger," Yi Yi told Amber again. "Do you understand?"

Amber opened its mouth wide and gave a soft growl.

"Then it's settled!" Yi Yi nodded emphatically.

When the moon reached its zenith and Lu Ye sheathed his blade, Yi Yi jogged over, looking up at him. "Lu Ye, Lu Ye!"

"Hm?"

"Could you give us more spiritual pills?" Yi Yi asked somewhat sheepishly.

"What do you need spiritual pills for?" Lu Ye asked, puzzled.

"To feed Amber. That way, you won't have to worry about it when you're busy; I can feed it myself."

"That's fine." Lu Ye naturally wouldn't refuse such a small request. He immediately took out a storage bag and put several bottles of spiritual pills inside.

Yi Yi happily ran back with the storage bag. She even found a sturdy rope and tied it around Amber's neck so the pills could be accessed at any time.

She pulled out a Spirit Nourishment Pill from the storage bag and popped it into Amber's mouth. "Eat up, eat more, get stronger!"

Under the constant agitation and impact of spiritual power, the spiritual aperture's barrier gradually loosened and then broke open, allowing spiritual power to flow steadily into the new aperture.

The forty-sixth aperture opened!

When he set off from Yingshan to find Amber, he had already opened thirty-seven apertures. During the days he spent searching for Amber, he also cultivated at night. The dual boost from the Gluttonous Meal and the Spirit Gathering spiritual lines made his aperture-opening speed very fast. By the time he found Amber, he had opened forty-one apertures.

Twelve days had passed since he returned to Yingshan. Aside from the first few days when Lu Ye didn't cultivate, he hadn't wasted the remaining time. Recovering from his injuries didn't hinder his aperture opening; in fact, he even had more time to cultivate.

By today, he had opened forty-six apertures.

Under normal circumstances, the minimum requirement for opening apertures at the fourth layer of the Spiritual Creek realm is forty-five apertures. Of course, this is assuming one only cultivates a single technique.

However, because Lu Ye first cultivated the Yellow-grade Golden Cicada Transcendent Art and then an auxiliary technique like Gluttonous Meal, these two techniques share two non-overlapping apertures with the Red Lotus Soaring Heaven Art he currently cultivates. Therefore, if he wants to advance to the fourth layer of the Spiritual Creek realm, he needs to open two more apertures.

In other words, with just one more aperture opened, Lu Ye could advance to the fourth layer of the Spiritual Creek realm and simultaneously convert the circulation route of his spiritual power into that of the Red Lotus Soaring Heaven Art.

The two non-overlapping apertures weren't useless. Lu Ye had studied the subsequent apertures of the Red Lotus Soaring Heaven Art and knew that those two apertures were included in the circulation route of the fifth layer. So when he advanced to the fifth layer, he would have two fewer apertures to open.

In the nine-layered Spiritual Creek realm, the fourth and seventh layers are each a watershed. This is because for the first three layers, one only needs to open nine apertures to advance, but for the fourth layer, a minimum of eighteen apertures are required.

The difference of a full doubling of apertures means that once spiritual power flows through them to form a minor circulation cycle, the improvement it brings to a cultivator is also significant.

Normally, a cultivator at the fourth layer wouldn't need much effort to kill one at the third layer. Only someone like Lu Ye, who can activate spiritual lines to fight, can bridge the power gap caused by differences in cultivation layers.

Only one more aperture to go; at Lu Ye's current cultivation speed, it wouldn't take more than two days.

However, today's cultivation session had been quite long. Although consuming spiritual pills had few hidden dangers, cultivation was ultimately a monotonous affair, and prolonged meditation could lead to stagnation of qi and blood.

He opened his eyes, checked his spiritual pills, and sighed softly.

The cost of rapid strength growth was the immense consumption of spiritual pills. He now needed about fourteen or fifteen spiritual pills for each aperture he opened. Adding Hua Ci's consultation fees and the pills given to Amber and Yi Yi, his once abundant supply of spiritual pills was dwindling.

After advancing to the fourth layer, he would have to visit the Heavenly Secret Merchant Alliance again. He only had six pieces of prime magnetic ore left that he could sell...

"Lu Ye, Lu Ye," Yi Yi, who had been waiting nearby, came closer.

"What is it?" Lu Ye looked up at her.

Yi Yi asked, "Will we be staying here?" These past few days, she had gradually become acquainted with Ruan Lingyu, and the two girls' relationship had grown closer.

From Ruan Lingyu, she learned about Lu Ye's previous experiences here and also that he had specifically returned to find her and Amber, which touched her deeply. Having shared hardships and faced life and death together, their relationship had undoubtedly become much closer.

"Do you want to stay here?"

Yi Yi tilted her head, thinking. "Lingyu is very kind, Senior Sister Hua Ci is also very kind, and everyone else is nice. It would be nice if we could stay here, but it's up to you."

"It doesn't have to be up to me. If you want to stay, you can. These people are indeed good."

"Oh, then I won't stay," Yi Yi said, looking up at him and smiling. "Since we started this journey together, let's continue it together. We'll go with you."

Lu Ye raised his hand and patted her head.

Yi Yi immediately looked annoyed. "Why do you always pat my head? You make me feel like a child!"

Lu Ye grabbed her head and rubbed it vigorously.

"You're infuriating!" Yi Yi finally escaped his grasp, stomped her foot, and ran off.

Soon, her joyful laughter with Ruan Lingyu could be heard from next door.