We're So Pitiful

Lu Ye cultivated tirelessly in the cave. He swallowed Spirit Nurturing Pills one after another; when one spiritual aperture filled, he broke through the Aperture Barrier of the next. When he was tired, he slept. When he was hungry, he ate.

The days passed without ripples, even somewhat dull and flavorless, but as Lu Ye felt the Spiritual Power within him steadily accumulate, he knew this was the process of growing stronger.

Before reaching the Spirit Stream Realm, he had maintained a pace of Opening One Aperture every three days, consuming roughly six Spirit Nurturing Pills each time.

Now that he had entered the Spirit Stream Realm, he could still maintain the pace of Opening One Aperture every three days. However, the consumption had increased; opening each aperture required roughly eight or nine Spirit Nurturing Pills.

The reason he could still maintain this pace was that his cultivation had improved, making his efficiency in refining Spiritual Pills somewhat faster than before.

Previously, a single Spirit Nurturing Pill took half a day to refine completely, so he could only refine two in a day. But now, if he concentrated hard enough, he could refine around three.

Thus, although the consumption was greater, he could still maintain his aperture-opening speed.

In the blink of an eye, half a month passed, and the last Spirit Nurturing Pill was depleted.

Lu Ye examined his cultivation. He was still at the Spirit Stream First Layer, but he had already opened Fifteen Apertures. The Spiritual Power in the fifteenth aperture had yet to fill completely.

Only the final three apertures remained before the Spirit Stream Second Layer! If he could advance to the Spirit Stream Second Layer, his strength would surely rise dramatically. For now, though his reserves of Spiritual Power had increased considerably, the few newly opened spiritual apertures had not yet formed a system and could not provide Lu Ye much help in battle.

He still had ore that could be exchanged for Spirit Stones. With his previous experience in mind, he planned to head down the mountain to the Heaven's Mystery Merchant Guild again.

He strolled out of the cave. The sun was high outside, but the canopy in this forest was dense. Only scattered rays of light slipped through the thick leaves, forming patches of light on the ground.

Lu Ye narrowed his eyes slightly. After a moment, once they had adjusted, he started forward.

He had not gone far when he suddenly heard some unusual movement nearby. He frowned faintly and quietly made his way toward the sound.

A moment later, he hid behind a large tree and looked ahead.

In that direction, three cultivators stood as if facing a great enemy. Every one of them looked as though their parents had died, their expressions tense. One female cultivator was on the verge of tears.

Not far from the three cultivators, a robust, snow-white tiger paced back and forth. Its amber tiger eyes occasionally swept toward them, exuding immense pressure.

As it paced, its jaws opened and closed. "Open your Storage Bags and throw them on the ground, then get out of here. Otherwise, this king would not mind eating you!"

Lu Ye's eyelid twitched. He had heard that dignified, aged voice once before, but it had ultimately been proven to be the work of the Accomplice Spirit named Yiyi.

The three cultivators were clearly terrified. One of them tremblingly removed the Storage Bag from his waist, opened its Restriction Lock, and threw it onto the ground. Looking fearfully at the tiger, he pleaded, "Please calm your anger, Great King. We had no intention of offending you. Everything is here; please spare us."

The tiger glanced at the Storage Bag on the ground and let out a roar. "Scram!"

That man immediately turned and ran without looking back.

With him taking the lead, the other two cultivators hastily threw down their Storage Bags as well and fled for their lives.

Only after confirming that all three cultivators had run far away did the tiger slowly pace forward. Yet before it could reach the bags, someone burst out of nowhere and snatched all three Storage Bags into his hand.

The tiger jumped backward in fright. Then a tiny figure floated out from its head, staring dumbfoundedly at Lu Ye. "Those are ours!"

Lu Ye held the Storage Bags and gave them a cursory inspection, his brow furrowing.

He discovered that the contents of these Storage Bags were pitifully scarce. Each person only had a few Spirit Nurturing Pills, some herbs, and various miscellaneous daily necessities. As for Spirit Stones, there was not even a shadow of one.

Cursing them as poor wretches inwardly, Lu Ye took out the Spirit Nurturing Pills and divided them into two portions. He kept one portion for himself and tossed the other to Yiyi. "Those who see it get a share!"

Yiyi was stunned by his move. She bared her teeth and claws as she pounced at him. "Give them back!"

Clang! His longsword left its sheath. Lu Ye looked at Yiyi as she lunged before him and smiled without saying a word.

Yiyi's figure froze before the longsword. She gritted her teeth in fury and began cursing him, her little mouth as though smeared with honey.

"Should I call those three people back?"

Yiyi immediately shrank her neck and retreated unwillingly. She knew the Spiritual Pills in Lu Ye's hands could not be recovered. She could sense that Lu Ye was far stronger than he had been over a month ago. If they truly fought, Big Tiger would be no match for him.

Yet having their things snatched away filled her with endless grievance, and she muttered words such as shameless and despicable under her breath.

"Let me ask you something," Lu Ye said.

"I won't tell you anything, no matter what you ask!" Yiyi said through gritted teeth.

"If you answer well, I'll give these things back to you." Lu Ye waved the stolen goods in his hand. They were only a few Spirit Nurturing Pills; he did not care much about them.

"Heh!" Yiyi gave a disdainful laugh, looking as though she regarded wealth as dung. She climbed onto Big Tiger's head, sat up straight, and tilted her chin up. "Ask!"

"I saw many Demon Cultivators in the market town below the mountain. They did not seem all that impressive. Why are those people so afraid of you?"

This was something Lu Ye found difficult to understand. Those Demon Cultivators were certainly stronger than Big Tiger. Logically speaking, cultivators accustomed to seeing Demon Cultivators should not have been so terrified of an untransformed Monster Beast that a few threatening words left them utterly panic-stricken.

"You don't understand this." Yiyi became pleased with herself. "Transformed Demon Cultivators and Monster Beasts that have not transformed are different..."

After her explanation, Lu Ye finally understood. Not every Monster Beast chose to transform. It might be due to intelligence, their own choice, or perhaps an inheritance in their bloodline. In any case, a considerable number of Monster Beasts retained their original forms.

When this type of Monster Beast was weak, it could not speak. But once its strength reached a certain level, it could speak human language.

In other words, any Monster Beast capable of human speech was equivalent to a powerful expert! As for exactly how powerful, at the very least, it was not something these low-level cultivators of the outer region could provoke.

That was why the combination of Big Tiger and Yiyi was so intimidating. Many cultivators who entered this area had suffered because of it.

"So that's how it is!" Lu Ye understood. He felt that he had learned a little more common knowledge about the Cultivation World.

He raised his hand and tossed the stolen goods over, then turned and headed out of the mountain.

Yiyi checked them over and, after confirming there was no problem, called after Lu Ye's retreating back, "Are you leaving?"

"None of your damn business!" Lu Ye's voice drifted back from afar.

"Despicable!" Yiyi muttered. She turned and hugged Big Tiger's head, saying mournfully, "Amber, we're so pitiful!"

"Wuu-ow..."