Chapter 31: Eight Orifices

A gust of wind rose across the Nine Provinces.

For a minor cultivator who had only opened three apertures, these items were undoubtedly a huge fortune.

The ores and spirit talismans were not immediately useful. To improve his cultivation, he would rely on the Spirit Nourishing Pills and Qi Blood Pills.

Lu Ye packed the ores and most of the spirit pills and talismans into the storage bag given to him by the Sect Master, keeping it close to his body. He then divided the remaining items into two portions, placing them in Manager Yang’s and Zhou Cheng’s storage bags. One portion he tied to his waist for easy access, and the other he hid in his chest as a backup.

Afterward, he changed into a clean set of clothes. His old clothes were tattered and still stained with blood from his fight with Manager Yang. Had he not found fresh clothing, he would have discarded them long ago.

With new clothes came a new outlook, and Lu Ye immediately felt refreshed.

Once everything was ready, he took out a Spirit Nourishing Pill, put it in his mouth, swallowed it, and began to refine its medicinal effects.

A warm current quickly formed in his lower abdomen as the pill's energy dissolved, transforming into Lu Ye's spiritual power and flowing into his spiritual apertures.

His previously less than full spiritual apertures gradually became replete.

However, Lu Ye soon noticed something strange: there were unique presences around him. These presences were invisible and intangible but omnipresent. He could only perceive them when he quieted his mind.

This reminded him of when he sat on the round array disc during his talent assessment.

Was this... spiritual energy?

Absorbing spiritual energy was one of the main methods of cultivation for cultivators. Spirit stones could be depleted, and too many spirit pills were not advisable due to the accumulation of pill toxins. Refining essence into qi was inefficient, so cultivators often absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

Spiritual energy was ubiquitous in the world, differing only in density.

However, since Lu Ye had opened his apertures, he had only felt the presence of spiritual energy during his talent assessment, and that was due to the spirit stones on the array disc vaporizing spiritual power.

Other than that, he had never sensed any trace of spiritual energy—until now!

Why had he suddenly become aware of spiritual energy? It certainly wasn't due to his cultivation increasing; there wasn't much difference between opening one aperture and three.

So, could it be that the spiritual energy here was dense enough for him to perceive it?

Lu Ye quietly sensed his surroundings, discovering that the density of the spiritual energy here was only slightly less than the environment during his assessment, but far superior to the Evil Moon Valley or the outside world.

Was this an environment unique to the Spirit Creek Battlefield? If so, it seemed much more advantageous for cultivators to train here.

Lu Ye vaguely understood the significance of the Spirit Creek Battlefield to cultivators.

In fact, his guess was correct. The spiritual energy in the Spirit Creek Battlefield was indeed much denser than outside. This was just the battlefield wilderness. If Lu Ye could go to the outposts of the major sects, he would find that the spiritual energy there would only be denser. The higher the rank of the sect, the greater the spiritual energy concentration, and the faster a cultivator's progress.

This was also why, over the years, new sects had sprung up like mushrooms after rain. After establishing a sect, one could obtain a Heavenly Secret Pillar and then possess a sect's outpost in the Spirit Creek Battlefield. Cultivating in an outpost was far more efficient than doing so outside.

Moreover, the outposts of major sects in the battlefield were not just for cultivation. They could also be used to cultivate spiritual plants and herbs or for other purposes.

It could be said that each sect's outpost in the battlefield was its most crucial foundation.

Currently, Lu Ye didn't know much about the situation on the battlefield; he was just curious after discovering the spiritual energy around him.

However, he did not absorb spiritual energy to cultivate, as that method was inefficient.

Among the various cultivation methods for cultivators, consuming pills was undoubtedly the most efficient.

One day later, Lu Ye's three apertures were once again full. He paused briefly, took out the wolf meat he had cut earlier, roasted it, and ate it quickly.

The wolf meat was not tasty; even roasted, it had a strong gamey smell. But Lu Ye knew that improving his strength was the priority, so he was unwilling to waste time hunting.

He cultivated almost non-stop, swallowing Spirit Nourishing Pills one after another.

Half a day later, the barrier of his fourth aperture broke. Three days later, his fourth aperture was full.

Three more days later, his fifth aperture was full.

Another three days later, his sixth aperture was full.

The consumption of a large number of Qi Blood Pills and Spirit Nourishing Pills allowed Lu Ye to open his spiritual apertures one by one.

By the time all the Spirit Nourishing Pills and Qi Blood Pills were consumed, Lu Ye had opened eight apertures, and only half a month had passed!

In half a month, he had opened five apertures consecutively, maintaining a pace of roughly one aperture every three days. Including the initial three, Lu Ye was now an eight-aperture cultivator, just one step away from the Spirit Creek First Stage!

Such a cultivation speed was astonishing. Lu Ye wasn't sure how fast others cultivated, but it was certainly not as fast as his.

This was because he had consumed far too many spirit pills in the past half month.

By now, he had finally confirmed one thing: his pill-based cultivation truly had no significant hidden dangers. His spiritual power remained as pure as ever, without the spiritual energy becoming murky or pill toxins accumulating, as the Sect Master had previously warned.

Both the Qi Blood Pills and Spirit Nourishing Pills were exhausted, but the barrier of the ninth aperture had not yet broken, which frustrated Lu Ye.

He tried to cultivate by absorbing spiritual energy, but frustratingly found that this method was extremely inefficient. He had great difficulty drawing the external spiritual energy of heaven and earth into his body.

Of course, it wasn't completely ineffective. Lu Ye estimated that if he cultivated here for three to five months, he might have a chance to break through the spiritual aperture barrier of the ninth aperture.

Three to five months was too long, with too many variables. Lu Ye needed to reach the Spirit Creek Realm as quickly as possible to barely qualify for survival on the battlefield!

He secretly regretted that the Sect Master hadn't prepared more spirit pills for him.

He had misunderstood the situation. Normally, for beginners like Lu Ye, taking one Spirit Nourishing Pill every three to five days was the correct cultivation method. As cultivation increased, the frequency of taking pills could be appropriately increased.

The Sect Master had prepared twenty pills for him at once, which, combined with what he already had, should have been enough for a long time of cultivation, not to mention the Qi Blood Pills.

Who could have known he would consume pills like candy, exhausting all of them in just half a month?

No one in this world cultivated this way. For cultivators, absorbing spiritual energy or using spirit stones was the orthodox and safe method of cultivation.