Chapter 1427: Lawlessness Bears Too Much

After Zhou Yuchuan's three-person team flew far away, Lu Ye turned to Xiaodai and the others. "Find a place to hide nearby!"

Xiaodai was stunned. "Don't you need our help?" She had thought this would be a joint operation, believing that forming a formation would offer stronger protection. Lu Ye shook his head. "The Xuanwu Formation can't withstand a starship's attack!"

This had already been confirmed earlier, so he had no intention of involving Xiaodai and her companions.

Half a month later, a dust-covered Lu Ye appeared before a canyon. Compared to the awkwardness of riding the big tiger on his journey before, he was undoubtedly much more at ease now. On the first day of riding the big tiger, he was so jolted that he felt like he was falling apart. The insides of his thighs were raw and bloody from chafing, and in that state, cultivation was impossible.

By now, he had achieved his initial goal: cultivating by taking pills while riding the big tiger. Though less efficient than normal cultivation, it was certainly better than wasting time.

Over the past half-month, he had opened three more Spirit Apertures. He was now a cultivator with twenty-five open apertures, just two apertures short of the third level of the Spirit Creek Realm!

At this rate, in another six or seven days, he would be able to fully master the Golden Cicada Roaming Art.

Not only had his own strength grown, but the big tiger had also visibly grown stronger.

The snake meat in his storage bag had been completely consumed by him and the big tiger, with eighty percent of it going to the tiger. That snake meat was extremely beneficial to demonic beasts like the big tiger, not to mention that Lu Ye also gave it two Spirit Nourishing Pills every day.

In just half a month, the big tiger's body seemed to have grown by a full circle, becoming even more magnificent.

Lu Ye couldn't precisely gauge the big tiger's current strength, but he estimated that even if he were to fight the tiger without the aid of spirit talismans and spirit patterns, he wouldn't gain much of an advantage.

Moreover, Yiyi was the big tiger's familiar spirit, and as the big tiger grew stronger, she would also grow stronger.

Therefore, while the average strength of the group—one person, one tiger, and one spirit—was not particularly high, the power they could unleash if they combined forces was not to be underestimated.

This increased Lu Ye's ability to navigate the Spirit Creek Battlefield. He increasingly felt that bringing the big tiger and Yiyi along had been a wise decision.

Along the way, Lu Ye passed through a neutral market town. In that town, Lu Ye rested for a night, sold two pieces of Prime Magnetic Ore, and acquired some spirit stones.

He now had over two hundred spirit stones in his possession.

He still needed a bit more, but by the time he reached the next branch of the Heavenly Secret Trading Alliance, it should be enough.

Leaping down from the tiger's back, Lu Ye surveyed the canyon ahead and took out a detailed map to compare.

This was a place called Rift Sky Gorge. The terrain was treacherous, with sheer cliffs rising thousands of feet on both sides. According to the map, to the left of Rift Sky Gorge was the Nine Stars Sect's stronghold, affiliated with the Myriad Devil Ridge, while to the right was the Xuan Gate's stronghold, affiliated with the Vast Heaven Alliance.

Rift Sky Gorge was situated in the middle ground between these two strongholds, leaning slightly closer to the Nine Stars Sect's side.

Neither sect was of high rank: Xuan Gate was Rank Nine, and Nine Stars Sect was Rank Eight. Such ranks were common in the outer regions of the battlefield. Furthermore, Lu Ye's planned route was an arc, almost hugging the battlefield's edge. Thus, although he had traversed through the territories of several sects along the way, all were of Rank Eight or Nine. He would not rashly enter the strongholds of higher-ranked sects, even if they belonged to the Vast Heaven Alliance. The Sect Master's final warning before entering the Spirit Creek Battlefield still echoed in his ears. He dared not casually reveal his identity as a disciple of the Jade Blood Sect, though he didn't know what the consequences of such a revelation might be.

As dusk approached, Lu Ye decided not to enter the canyon now. Having traveled all day, it wouldn't be too late to rest for the night and proceed tomorrow.

"Yiyi!" Lu Ye called out.

"Got it," Yiyi's voice replied, and she immediately floated out from the big tiger's head, drifting away into the distance.

She was going to scout the surrounding area.

Over the past few days of traveling together, they had developed a certain understanding. Before each rest, Yiyi would be responsible for scouting the surroundings to prevent hidden dangers.

As a spirit body, she was formless and traceless, making her very convenient for this task. Several times, thanks to her, they had avoided potential crises in advance.

However, she had a symbiotic relationship with the big tiger, so she couldn't move too far away from it. According to Yiyi, she was fine within ten li, but beyond that, she would face problems.

Lu Ye then began searching for a suitable place to camp nearby.

Having wandered outdoors for over half a month, he was already quite familiar with this process. A suitable campsite needed to offer easy access and exit, be sufficiently hidden, and ideally provide shelter from wind and rain. After searching for a while, Lu Ye led the big tiger to an area of scattered rocks. Although this spot wasn't ideal, there was no better place nearby. Judging by today's weather, it didn't look like rain was coming, so making do for one night would be fine.

Lu Ye took out pre-prepared firewood from his storage bag and lit it. He then took out a large piece of beast meat and roasted it over the fire, and tossed an even larger piece to the big tiger. The big tiger pounced on it and began to devour it ravenously.

Watching the big tiger's ferocious eating, Lu Ye felt a little worried. He had initially thought that the Spirit Nourishing Pills he had saved would be more than enough to last him until he reached the third level of the Spirit Creek Realm. But now, it seemed barely sufficient.

The big tiger consumed two Spirit Nourishing Pills daily. He himself needed about eleven or twelve pills to open one aperture. Currently, he only had a little over thirty Spirit Nourishing Pills left.

By the time he opened his twenty-seventh aperture, these Spirit Nourishing Pills would likely be depleted.

Furthermore, he had a faint feeling that as the big tiger's strength increased, its consumption of Spirit Nourishing Pills would also grow.

It was a cause for worry! However, this was a necessary price for traveling with the big tiger and Yiyi. At the very least, he could still cultivate while traveling, saving a significant amount of time.

For a low-level cultivator like him, early cultivation time was precious.

The beast meat roasting over the bonfire dripped fat, making sizzling sounds. The big tiger, currently eating raw meat, suddenly lifted its head and looked in one direction, emitting a low growl from its throat.

Immediately, it darted out, rushing towards that direction.

Lu Ye was startled at first, then realized what was happening: Something had happened to Yiyi!

Yiyi was the tiger's familiar spirit, and they shared an extremely close connection. Therefore, the big tiger could sense any incident involving Yiyi.

The big tiger was very fast. Even with Lu Ye channeling spiritual power into his legs, he could only trail behind, eating dust. In his haste, he could only shout, "Amber, don't be impulsive!" He still didn't know what had happened to Yiyi, and rushing in blindly like this was not a good strategy.

The big tiger, showing remarkable intelligence, slowed down slightly. Once Lu Ye caught up and swung himself onto its back, the big tiger then accelerated.

A short while later, a cluster of firelight came into view from behind a large rock.

Several cultivators were gathered there, having lit a bonfire. It seemed they were preparing to camp for the night. In front of them was an inverted bell-shaped object. Spiritual light flowed over the large bell, and complex, mystical patterns converged into a design that slowly rotated around it.

Faint sounds of impact could be heard from inside the bell.

Yiyi was trapped inside!

Seeing this, Lu Ye immediately understood what was happening. Yiyi was a spirit body; ordinary methods couldn't possibly trap her. That large bell was clearly a spirit artifact! Fortunately, thanks to Lu Ye's earlier warning, the big tiger was now able to suppress its animalistic urges, and didn't pounce immediately.

Lu Ye channeled spiritual power into his eyes to observe the spiritual light emanating from the cultivators.

There were four cultivators: one at the second level of the Spirit Creek Realm, two at the third, and one at the fourth!