Apertures Opened

Lu Ye did not rest for long. A sword was still lodged in his leg, and the searing pain gnawed at his nerves.

Worse, the wound was in a rather awkward spot. If it had struck somewhere vital, he would have been finished.

So after catching his breath for a moment, he began examining his injuries. He raised a hand and tore open the clothing around the wound, inspecting it carefully. Only then did the heart he had been holding in his throat settle.

The injury looked horrifying, but in truth, it was only flesh-deep.

He did not blindly pull out the sword. Once he did, he would inevitably lose a great deal of blood. If he did not handle it properly, he might pass out in short order.

First, he tore strips from his clothes and tightly bound them around the root of his thigh. Then he completely ripped away the clothing over the wound, exposing it.

His gaze then fell on Steward Yang's waist. There was a palm-sized Cloth Pouch there.

Lu Ye recognized the item. Cultivators called it a Storage Bag.

The Healing Pill Steward Yang had made him take earlier, as well as the longsword lodged in his leg, had both been taken from this Storage Bag.

A cultivator's Storage Bag generally held all of that cultivator's worldly possessions.

Lu Ye dragged Steward Yang's corpse over, removed the Storage Bag from his waist, and examined it closely in wonder.

This tiny bag seemed to contain quite a large space within it, enough to hold many things.

Having come to the Nine Provinces over a year ago, Lu Ye did not know much about cultivation itself, but he had heard plenty about things from the Cultivation World.

It seemed that every cultivator's Storage Bag had a mysterious, invisible lock. Only the cultivator themselves could open it. Even if others obtained it, they could not easily access the Storage Bag unless they had special means to break that lock.

Cultivators called such locks restrictions!

The Storage Bag in his hand looked like a Cloth Pouch, but it was actually made from some unknown beast hide. Lu Ye secretly prayed that this Storage Bag had not been locked.

Opening the mouth of the bag, Lu Ye reached one hand inside, his heart rising and falling like a ship in rough seas...

Soon, delight appeared on his face. The bag was not locked. His hand had already touched some items inside.

That made sense. When Lu Ye had suddenly risen up and attacked, Steward Yang had hastily pulled out a longsword from his Storage Bag to defend himself. At that time, with the Primordial Magnetic Field interfering with him, how could he have had the spare strength to lock his Storage Bag?

There was hope now!

Lu Ye's heart settled completely as he continuously pulled items out of the Storage Bag.

He needed Qi and Blood Pills, as well as the Healing Pills Steward Yang had given him earlier.

Once he pulled out the sword, he would inevitably lose blood. Qi and Blood Pills could replenish his Qi and Blood Power and reduce the danger. The Healing Pills were undoubtedly good things too, perfectly suited for his present situation.

Before long, a pile of miscellaneous objects had accumulated around Lu Ye...

There were bottles and jars of all kinds, plenty of food, several enormous Water Pouches, and even a few books and some toilet paper.

Lu Ye was speechless.

Still, considering that Steward Yang had come here seeking refuge, it was not unreasonable for him to bring more supplies.

He searched through the bottles and jars and soon found the Qi and Blood Pills and Healing Pills he needed.

There were plenty of Qi and Blood Pills—ten full bottles, each containing around twenty or thirty pills. There was only one bottle of Healing Pills, with seven or eight left inside.

Steward Yang had been in charge of the mine slaves' exchanges for Qi and Blood Pills, so naturally he carried many of them. This made Lu Ye overjoyed.

In the past, he had needed to save up ten contribution points to exchange for Qi and Blood Pills. In one year, he had only exchanged for thirty pills. Now, after killing one Steward Yang, he had gained two or three hundred at once.

He had struck it rich!

He took out one Qi and Blood Pill, intending to swallow it. After a moment's thought, he added two more and stuffed them into his mouth. It was not that he did not want to take more; taking too many at once simply would not help.

He then took out a Healing Pill and swallowed one.

Next, he grabbed an enormous Water Pouch, loosened its opening, took two gulps himself, then used the clean water to wash his wound.

A cool sensation spread from the wound. It tugged at his injury while bringing threads of chill, and sweat seeped across Lu Ye's forehead.

Once the wound had been cleaned, he took out another Healing Pill and set it aside for later.

Everything that needed doing had been done. He took a deep breath, gripped the hilt of the longsword with one hand, and yanked it out violently.

In that instant, Lu Ye's entire body trembled, yet he still gritted his teeth and did not cry out.

There was no time to waste. He hurriedly picked up the Healing Pill he had set aside, crushed it with his fingers, ground it into powder, and sprinkled it over the wound.

Healing Pills could be taken internally, but he did not know whether applying them externally would work. He could only give it a try.

He untied the cloth bound around the root of his thigh and wrapped the wound.

After all that frantic work, Lu Ye was nearly drenched in sweat. He lay directly on the ground, not wanting to move at all, and gradually fell asleep.

By the time he woke again, he had no idea how much time had passed. He struggled upright, leaned against the rock wall, and raised a hand to press around the wound on his thigh.

Pain shot through him, but there was no sense of inflammation.

That was a good sign. It seemed the Healing Pills he had taken and applied had worked. The most dangerous period had passed, and Lu Ye finally relaxed.

His stomach rumbled. Before encountering Steward Yang, Lu Ye had already gone more than half a day without food. He had originally planned to exchange the ore he had mined for something to eat after turning it in, but Steward Yang had forced him deep into the mine vein. Then they had fought to the death, and he had been injured in the end.

Fortunately, he had found plenty of food in Steward Yang's Storage Bag. Lu Ye took out a piece of dried beast meat and ate it bite by bite with water.

As his hunger slowly faded, Lu Ye found himself becoming interested in Steward Yang's belongings. This place was rarely visited, so there was no danger for the time being.

While eating, he began examining the things he had taken from Steward Yang's Storage Bag.

He recognized the Qi and Blood Pills and Healing Pills, but there were other medicinal pills he had never seen and did not know the use of. Some even gave off a sharp, fishy stench, clearly nothing good.

Setting those pills aside, Lu Ye casually picked up a book and opened it beneath the flickering firelight nearby. His brows immediately danced with delight.

It seemed Steward Yang was a man of temperament. This book was not only rich in content, but also lavishly illustrated. He had no idea who had drawn it, but the brushwork was truly brilliant, each figure vivid and lifelike...

With his Qi weak and body frail, it was not suitable to read such a thing. He casually tossed it aside and picked up another book. This one had words on its cover. Looking closely, he saw that it was Biography of the Sword Saint.

Lu Ye was intrigued, but after flipping through a few pages, he found that it was merely a storybook.

He set that book down and picked up the third. When he saw the words on its cover, even his heartbeat slowed by half a beat.

Golden Cicada Free and Unfettered Art!

He hurriedly opened it, his expression gradually growing excited.

This was actually a cultivation technique! Like the first book, it was illustrated and easy to understand. It appeared to be the very technique Steward Yang cultivated.

After his excitement subsided, Lu Ye realized a very practical problem.

His Spiritual Apertures had not yet opened. Even with such a cultivation technique before him, it was useless.

With a faint sigh, he put down the Golden Cicada Free and Unfettered Art.

Since he had no way to cultivate, reading more would be pointless. Over the past year, he had tried several times to open his own Spiritual Apertures, but he had never found a clue.

After being dejected for a moment, Lu Ye picked up Steward Yang's Storage Bag again. There were still some things inside that he had not taken out.

He reached inside and removed them one by one.

He found nothing else of value, though there were many rare ores, including several fist-sized pieces of Primordial Magnetic Ore.

These ores were likely Steward Yang's private stash. Lu Ye had no idea what he intended to do with them.

Having mined here for a year, Lu Ye had extracted quite a few rare minerals. Thus, he was familiar with most of these ores. Even if he did not know their names or uses, he had at least seen them before—until he pulled out a dark-red ore the size of a human head...

He had never seen this thing before, nor did he know which mine slave had mined it before it eventually fell into Steward Yang's hands.

That was rather strange. But rare things were precious. Since even Lu Ye had never seen it, this item was surely worth a great deal.

Just as Lu Ye was about to set down the ore, his mind suddenly blurred. Then a vague shadow appeared before his eyes, taking the form of a tree.

It was the Shadow Tree!

Lu Ye was greatly astonished. The Shadow Tree only appeared under one condition: he had to concentrate his attention. Even then, it did not appear every time. Sometimes it would emerge, and sometimes it would not.

Yet this time, the Shadow Tree had surfaced on its own.

As Lu Ye wondered what was happening, roots suddenly sprouted from the base of the hazy Shadow Tree and plunged into the dark-red ore in his hand.

The next moment, the ore let out a series of cracking sounds and split apart.

A point of orange-yellow light entered Lu Ye's vision, startling him. After the ore split open, a ball of fire had actually appeared inside!

Instinctively, he tried to fling the fire away. Yet it clung stubbornly to his hand, impossible to cast off.

After a brief panic, Lu Ye realized that the dark-red stone's transformation should be related to the Shadow Tree.

What was even stranger was that he did not feel burned at all.

The orange-yellow flame rapidly shrank, as though something were absorbing it. In just a few breaths, that ball of fire vanished before Lu Ye's eyes.

Just as he was marveling at it, a scorching force suddenly surged in his Dantian. That force drew upon his Qi and Blood Power, gathering it toward that spot.

An indescribable agony struck him. Lu Ye felt as though a tremendous force were churning within his lower abdomen, as if it were about to tear him apart completely.

He could not help letting out a muffled groan, and his clothes were instantly soaked with sweat.

Just when he thought he was about to die, a soft sound came from his lower abdomen. In that instant, he felt something break.

The pain quickly vanished. In Lu Ye's eyes, the entire world underwent a wondrous change.

A sense of unreality welled up in him. He felt the location of his lower abdomen, his Dantian, and clearly sensed a wondrous force gathering there.

Immense joy engulfed him...

His Spiritual Apertures had actually opened!

Seeing so many old friends from Martial Refinement come over to support me makes me very happy. I also thank everyone for your rewards and votes. A new book, a new journey—please continue to support me.

Also, to answer a question: this book will not become another "series that lasts a lifetime," because that would truly be too exhausting~