Chapter 73: Mountain Tiger

A moment later, Lu Ye collected the spoils and departed, leaving two mangled corpses behind.

Even a Fourth-Level Spirit Creek Realm cultivator couldn't withstand three strikes from Lu Ye, let alone a Third-Level one. Once Lu Ye gained the initiative, their doom was sealed.

This time, Lu Ye specifically paid attention: for each person killed, his merit points increased by three. Two people meant six points, bringing his current total to sixty-two!

As night fell, Lu Ye sought refuge in a mountain tunnel to rest, while Yiyi and Da Hu, as usual, monitored both ends to prevent any unnoticed intrusions.

Throughout the day, he had fought three battles with considerable gains. He didn't keep any of the spoils; instead, he traded them all with Xuanmen cultivators for spirit pills, acquiring over twenty pills, eighty percent of which were Spirit Nourishing Pills.

Compared to these spoils, Lu Ye felt his greatest gain was the experience of fighting against others. Since entering the Spirit Creek Battlefield, although he had participated in several battles, those encounters were spaced out over long periods, unlike this time, where he engaged in continuous combat within a single day.

Such high-intensity combat not only allowed him to quickly identify his shortcomings but also greatly enriched his combat skills.

Training in isolation was naturally inferior to genuine life-and-death combat, which forged experience in blood and injuries.

He sustained some injuries, but none were severe.

Lu Ye first ate some dried meat to alleviate his hunger. Once he was full, he began consuming spirit pills to replenish his spiritual power.

He frequently used the Sharpness and Defense Spirit Patterns in combat. While these two spirit patterns could achieve effects beyond Lu Ye's cultivation level, their drawback was obvious: they consumed a great deal of spiritual power.

If Lu Ye wanted to ensure his combat effectiveness in subsequent actions, he would inevitably need to keep his spiritual power sufficiently abundant.

Now at the Third Level of the Spirit Creek Realm, his efficiency in refining medicinal power had improved again. Lu Ye didn't yet know the cost of opening further spirit apertures, but based on previous patterns, while the cost for each subsequent aperture would increase, his cultivation efficiency would also improve proportionally. Therefore, the additional time needed for each new aperture wouldn't be excessive, possibly even staying consistent.

The night passed without incident. The Crackling Canyon was silent, with no sounds of battle between Xuanmen and Nine Star Sect cultivators. As everyone's cultivation level was still low, they almost unanimously chose to find a place to rest by night to replenish the energy expended during the day. True combat only occurred during daylight hours.

By daybreak, Lu Ye, leading Da Hu and Yiyi, emerged from the tunnel and embarked on his hunting journey.

For several consecutive days, Lu Ye spent his time in continuous combat, fighting anywhere from one or two to three or four battles. The spirit pills in his possession gradually increased, and his merit points steadily grew.

He finally understood the calculation method for merit points. Through his observations, the number of cultivation levels of a slain cultivator corresponded to the number of merit points received, serving as the base value.

For instance, if he killed a Second-Level Spirit Creek Realm cultivator, he would gain two merit points; a Third-Level one would yield three points, and so on.

However, if he killed an enemy of a higher cultivation level, for each level surpassed, the merit points gained would increase by an additional base value.

As a Third-Level cultivator, if Lu Ye killed another Third-Level cultivator, he would only get three merit points. But if he killed a Fourth-Level cultivator, he would receive eight merit points.

And previously, when he was at the Second Level and killed a Fourth-Level cultivator, surpassing two minor levels, he received twelve merit points.

He quickly calculated and found that it corresponded with the merit points he had previously gained from killing enemies. It seemed this calculation method was correct.

After several days of combat, he gradually became accustomed to the feeling of fighting enemies in life-or-death battles. Although his cultivation level hadn't increased further, his combat skills had significantly improved, which increased his efficiency in slaying enemies.

Over these few days, Lu Ye also tried to see if he could exit the Crackling Canyon but found it to be unlikely.

He didn't know how many personnel Xuanmen and the Nine Star Sect had deployed in the Crackling Canyon area, but according to his and Yiyi's observations, the combined Spirit Creek Realm cultivators deployed by both sides numbered nearly a thousand!

A thousand cultivators scattered across this vast labyrinth could encounter enemies at any time. After passing through the labyrinth, the terrain ahead abruptly narrowed, eventually converging into a single canyon path through the Crackling Canyon. This was the only way to exit, and the Nine Star Sect had stationed a large number of people at its mouth. If he dared to show his face, he would surely meet a bad end.

It was better for him to hide in the labyrinth and kill enemies.

After several days of taking action, Lu Ye's whereabouts had been exposed. He distinctly felt the Nine Star Sect intensifying its search for him. The most obvious sign was that the cultivator teams he now encountered had increased in size.

Initially, the small teams he encountered were typically three or four people, but now, each team had at least five or six, with some even numbering over a dozen.

Lu Ye could grit his teeth and handle a team of three or four, but he didn't dare to attack a group of five or six. As for teams of over a dozen, he avoided them as much as possible.

After suffering several losses, the Xuanmen cultivators also made corresponding adjustments, increasing the size of their teams to counter the Nine Star Sect.

In the canyon labyrinth, a battle was erupting. This was a sizable engagement involving nearly twenty cultivators, about ten on each side, several of whom were at the Fourth Level of the Spirit Creek Realm. However, from the outcome, neither side had gained an advantage, and both sustained casualties.

As the battle raged, a tiger's roar rang out, causing both warring factions to stiffen their expressions.

Someone excitedly shouted, "The Mountain-Crossing Tiger is here!"

It was a Xuanmen cultivator.

Lu Ye, rapidly charging towards the battlefield atop the tiger, frowned upon hearing this. He didn't know how he had acquired the title "Mountain-Crossing Tiger," finding it a bit too unpleasant.

However, considering that neither warring faction knew his name yet, Lu Ye could only reluctantly accept this title.

Lu Ye charged in from behind the Xuanmen team. Hearing the tiger's roar, the Xuanmen cultivators instinctively cleared a path. Da Hu leaped into the fray, directly tackling a Third-Level Spirit Creek Realm cultivator to the ground.

Meanwhile, Lu Ye, who had been on his back, had already darted out. His long saber drawn, a flash of brilliant blade light accompanied his slash directly at a Fourth-Level Spirit Creek Realm cultivator.

Battling this cultivator was a Fourth-Level Xuanmen practitioner. This individual had a baby face and looked harmless. Upon seeing Lu Ye swoop in, he couldn't help but exclaim, "Don't steal my kill!"

He already had the upper hand; given enough time, he could take down his opponent.

It was no wonder he shouted this. Primarily because the name "Mountain-Crossing Tiger" had become widely known among Xuanmen cultivators in recent days. Rumor had it that this individual never took spoils after killing someone, only asking for some spirit pills from the Xuanmen cultivators. Another point was that this person was always elusive and liked to snatch kills.

Sometimes, his actions saved Xuanmen disciples from dire situations, and many, having been saved, were filled with gratitude.

Yet, sometimes, even when Xuanmen cultivators clearly had the upper hand, he would still appear and launch a surprise attack, snatching the merit points they were about to claim.

Xuanmen cultivators, therefore, had a love-hate relationship with this individual.