Eight Apertures

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

The ores and Spirit Talismans were of no use to him for now. If he wanted to improve his cultivation, it would depend on those Spirit Nurturing Pills and Qi and Blood Pills.

Lu Ye put the ores and most of the Spiritual Pills and Spirit Talismans into the Storage Bag the Sect Master had given him, then kept it close to his body. He divided the remaining items into two portions and placed them in Steward Yang's and Zhou Cheng's Storage Bags. He tied one at his waist for easy access at any time, while hiding the other against his chest as a backup.

Afterward, he changed into a clean set of clothes. What he had been wearing before was already tattered and stained with blood after his fight with Steward Yang. Had he possessed a change of clothes, he would have thrown them away long ago.

New clothes, a new look. Lu Ye immediately felt refreshed and invigorated.

Once everything was ready, he took out a Spirit Nurturing Pill, popped it into his mouth, and began refining its medicinal potency.

A warm current soon arose in his lower abdomen. The pill's power was dispersing, transforming into Lu Ye's Spiritual Power and flowing into his Spiritual Apertures.

His Spiritual Apertures, which had not been full to begin with, gradually filled up.

However, Lu Ye soon discovered something strange. There were peculiar presences around him—unseeable and untouchable, yet everywhere. Only when Lu Ye calmed his mind could he sense them.

It reminded him of when he had sat atop that circular Formation Plate to test his aptitude.

This was... Spiritual Energy?

Drawing in and expelling Spiritual Energy was one of the primary methods of cultivation for cultivators. Spirit Stones could be depleted, Spiritual Pills should not be consumed in excessive quantities lest Pill Toxin accumulate, and Refining Essence into Qi was not particularly efficient. Thus, cultivators often cultivated by drawing in and expelling the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy.

Spiritual Energy existed everywhere between Heaven and Earth; there was merely more of it in some places and less in others.

Yet ever since Lu Ye had opened his apertures, he had only sensed the existence of Spiritual Energy during the aptitude test. Even then, it had been because the Spirit Stones on the Formation Plate had turned their Spiritual Power into mist.

Other than that, he had never sensed any trace of Spiritual Energy.

Until this moment!

Why had he suddenly sensed Spiritual Energy? It certainly was not because his cultivation had increased. Opening one aperture and opening three apertures did not differ much in that regard.

So, was it because the Spiritual Energy here was sufficiently dense for him to notice it?

Lu Ye quietly focused on sensing it and discovered that the Spiritual Energy around him was only slightly less dense than it had been during the aptitude test. Yet compared with Evil Moon Valley or the outside world, it was far, far better.

Was this an environment unique to the Spirit Stream Battlefield? If so, cultivating within the battlefield was clearly more advantageous for cultivators.

Lu Ye vaguely began to understand the significance of the Spirit Stream Battlefield to cultivators.

In truth, his guess was correct. The Spiritual Energy within the Spirit Stream Battlefield was indeed much denser than outside. This was only the wilderness of the battlefield. If Lu Ye could reach the camps of the major sects, he would find that the Spiritual Energy there was even denser. The higher a sect's grade, the greater the concentration of Spiritual Energy, and the faster its cultivators progressed.

This was also why new sects had sprung up like bamboo shoots after rain over the years. Once a sect was established, it could obtain a Heaven's Mystery Pillar and thus possess a camp belonging to its own sect within the Spirit Stream Battlefield. Cultivating within a camp was far more efficient than cultivating outside.

Moreover, the camps of the major sects on the battlefield were not solely for cultivation. They could also be used to cultivate Spirit Plants and spiritual herbs, among other things.

It could be said that every sect's camp on the battlefield was its most important foundation.

At present, Lu Ye knew little about the battlefield. Discovering the Spiritual Energy around him merely made him feel curious.

However, he did not cultivate by drawing in and expelling Spiritual Energy. That method was not very efficient.

Of the several major methods of cultivation, swallowing pills was undoubtedly the most efficient.

A day later, Lu Ye's three apertures were full again. He paused briefly, took out the wolf meat he had cut off earlier, roasted it, and wolfed it down.

Wolf meat did not taste good. Even after roasting, it carried a rank, gamey smell. But Lu Ye knew full well that increasing his strength was his priority right now, so naturally he was unwilling to waste time hunting.

He cultivated almost without pause, swallowing Spirit Nurturing Pills one after another.

Half a day later, the Aperture Barrier of his fourth aperture broke. Three days later, his four apertures were full.

Another three days later, his five apertures were full.

Three more days later, his six apertures were full.

The consumption of large quantities of Qi and Blood Pills and Spirit Nurturing Pills opened Lu Ye's Spiritual Apertures one by one.

By the time he had used up every Spirit Nurturing Pill and Qi and Blood Pill, Lu Ye had opened eight apertures, and only half a month had passed!

In half a month, he had opened five apertures, maintaining a pace of roughly one aperture every three days. Including the three apertures he had opened before, Lu Ye was now a cultivator with Eight Apertures, only one step away from the Spirit Stream First Layer!

Such cultivation speed was nothing short of astonishing. Lu Ye did not know how quickly others cultivated, but there was absolutely no way anyone could be as fast as him.

That was because, over this half month, he had consumed far too many Spiritual Pills.

At this point, he finally confirmed something: cultivating by swallowing pills truly carried no great hidden danger for him. His Spiritual Power remained as pure as ever, without the sluggishness of Spiritual Power or the accumulation of Pill Toxin that the Sect Master had mentioned.

The Qi and Blood Pills and Spirit Nurturing Pills had all been used up, yet the barrier of the Ninth Aperture had not broken. This made Lu Ye rather uncomfortable.

He tried cultivating by drawing in and expelling Spiritual Energy, only to find that its efficiency was extremely low. It was difficult for him to draw the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy from outside into his body.

Of course, it was not entirely without effect. Lu Ye estimated that if he cultivated here for three to five months, he might have a chance to break through the Aperture Barrier of the Ninth Aperture.

Three to five months was too long; there were far too many possible changes. Lu Ye had to reach the Spirit Stream Realm as quickly as possible before he could barely be qualified to survive on the battlefield!

He secretly regretted that the Sect Master had not prepared more Spiritual Pills for him.

But he had misunderstood. For a beginner like Lu Ye, taking one Spirit Nurturing Pill every three to five days was the proper way to cultivate. Only as one's cultivation grew higher could one appropriately increase the frequency of consuming Spiritual Pills.

The Sect Master had prepared twenty pills for him at once. Including those Lu Ye already possessed, they should have been enough for him to cultivate for a long time, not to mention the additional Qi and Blood Pills.

Who could have known that he swallowed pills like they were beans, using every last Spiritual Pill in only half a month?

No one in the world cultivated like this. For cultivators, drawing in and expelling Spiritual Energy or relying on Spirit Stones were the orthodox and safe methods of cultivation.