Pursuit

After a day of rest, Lu Ye felt the fatigue from days of cultivation swept away. It was time to advance toward Spirit Stream Tier Three!

He did not rush to take a Spiritual Pill. Instead, he first circulated his Spiritual Power to locate the Nineteenth Aperture.

Now that he was at Spirit Stream Second Layer, his Spiritual Power was far stronger and more abundant than it had been two months ago, making it much easier for him to locate his Spiritual Apertures.

In less than the time it took to burn an incense stick, he found the Nineteenth Aperture.

Only then did he take a Spirit Nurturing Pill and swallow it, refining its medicinal power and guiding his Spiritual Power to strike at the Aperture Barrier of the Nineteenth Aperture.

Three days later, after using nearly eleven Spirit Nurturing Pills, the Nineteenth Aperture was full.

This result was within his expectations.

Before reaching the Spirit Stream Realm, he had opened roughly one aperture every three days, consuming six Spiritual Pills each time.

After reaching Spirit Stream First Layer, the frequency at which he opened apertures had not changed much, but the number of Spiritual Pills consumed had increased to around eight or nine per aperture.

Now that he was at Spirit Stream Second Layer, the consumption had risen again, reaching eleven pills. The time required still had not changed much, mainly because his higher cultivation had also improved his efficiency in refining Spiritual Pills.

By the looks of it, the higher his cultivation realm became, the more Spiritual Pills he would need to open apertures in the future.

He still had twenty Spiritual Pills left. That should be enough to open another two apertures.

Lu Ye silently calculated. At a rate of one aperture every three days, opening all 360 Apertures would take him a full one thousand and eighty days!

The result made him click his tongue inwardly. He did not know how other cultivators cultivated, but his own cultivation speed should not have been slow. Yet even so, reaching Spirit Stream Tier Nine would take nearly three years.

Over the following days, Lu Ye never left his cave. Only after using up his last Spiritual Pill did he walk out.

The result was much as he had expected. His apertures had reached the Twenty-First Aperture, but it was not yet full.

To cultivate up to the Twenty-Seventh Aperture, he would need at least another seventy Spirit Nurturing Pills. Of the ores in his possession, only Primordial Magnetic Ore remained. He had sold all the other odds and ends of ore to the Heaven's Mystery Merchant Guild during his previous two transactions.

This time, he would have to sell two pieces of Primordial Magnetic Ore to buy seventy Spiritual Pills.

Half a day later, Lu Ye entered the Heaven's Mystery Merchant Guild. When he emerged again, his Storage Bag held eighty-one Spirit Nurturing Pills and several Spirit Stones.

A slender figure stood by the window on the second floor of the Merchant Guild, watching his departing back. The woman hesitated for a long while before sighing. She raised a hand and tapped the back of it, where a mark immediately appeared. Unlike the blue Battlefield Mark on Lu Ye's hand, the mark on hers was yellow.

She softly spoke a few words to the mark, and it vanished from sight.

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, she walked out of the Merchant Guild. Acquaintances greeted her along the way, and she answered each with a smile.

Within Green Cloud Mountain, Lu Ye raced toward his cave. He did not know whether it was merely his imagination, but ever since leaving Green Cloud Market, he had felt that something was off.

Yet he could not say exactly what was wrong.

Until, after circling through the forest several times, he suddenly spotted a figure appearing nearby. However, before he could get a clear look, the figure vanished again.

Am I being watched? Lu Ye immediately became alert.

He was always exceedingly careful whenever he entered or left the market, especially on the return journey. Nothing had happened on his previous two trips, but this time, some unknown cultivator had inexplicably set their sights on him. It left him puzzled, uncertain whether this person was specifically after him or had merely encountered him by chance.

If it was the latter, then so be it. But if it was the former, there was much to ponder.

Fortunately, the other party was not particularly fast. With Lu Ye going all out, it would be difficult for that person to catch up to him. From this, it seemed the other party's cultivation was not very high either.

That was not difficult to understand. Cultivators active in the Outer Circle of the battlefield generally could not have high cultivation.

Just as he was thinking this, Spiritual Power suddenly surged behind him. A chill followed close after. Lu Ye turned his head and saw an Ice Spike tearing through the air, reaching him in the blink of an eye.

Lu Ye was greatly alarmed. He hurriedly turned around and drew his sword in a slash. As he activated his Spiritual Power, the longsword split the Ice Spike apart, scattering icy fragments across his face.

Thrown off balance by the Ice Spike's impact, Lu Ye staggered backward several steps. He used the momentum to roll, only then managing to regain his footing, utterly disheveled.

Yet by the time he rose, the ambusher had already pounced close. It was a man several years older than Lu Ye, fair-skinned and beardless, with two fist-sized earrings hanging from his ears, giving him a distinctly exotic air.

The weapon in his hand resembled both a saber and a sword. It was longer than an ordinary sword, yet only half as wide as a normal saber blade. It looked somewhat like the legendary Embroidered Spring Saber.

Taking advantage of Lu Ye's just having risen, the fair-skinned male cultivator brought his saber down in a chop.

Caught off guard, Lu Ye had no time to activate the Sharpness Spirit Pattern to empower his longsword. He could only raise his sword to block.

Clang! Sparks flew everywhere. Lu Ye's tiger's mouth went numb, and the longsword in his hand nearly flew away. The blow forced his body downward, and he nearly dropped to his knees.

"Oh?" The fair-skinned man looked somewhat surprised. He had not expected Lu Ye to block his prepared strike.

Just as he was taken aback, Lu Ye's longsword had already knocked aside his weapon and stabbed toward his chest.

The fair-skinned man remained unruffled. His long saber trembled lightly a few times. Before Lu Ye could even understand what had happened, pain flared in his arm. The sword he had thrust out lost all force, allowing the other man to evade it with ease.

The missed thrust caused Lu Ye to pitch forward. A streak of Saber Light filled his vision, and a chill ran through his entire body as the scent of death rushed straight at him.

Clang... The long saber struck Lu Ye's chest, but instead of the sensation of cutting flesh, it sent Lu Ye flying.

Looking again, a layer of golden light covered Lu Ye's body. It was this golden light that had protected him and spared him the misfortune of severe injury. Realizing he was no match for his opponent, he had hastily taken out a defensive Spirit Talisman and slapped it onto himself.

"Golden Body Talisman?" The fair-skinned man's eyes reddened. It was not because he envied Lu Ye for having a Spirit Talisman, but because that talisman should have been his spoils of war. Watching Lu Ye waste it so freely pained his heart.

However, this confirmed that the information he had received was correct. This Rogue Cultivator at Spirit Stream Second Layer was indeed wealthy. Otherwise, how could he have a Spirit Talisman to use? One had to know that any Spirit Talisman was worth more than ten or twenty Spirit Stones. Fights between low-level cultivators rarely involved Spirit Talismans; most people simply could not afford them, at most keeping one or two for emergencies.

Watching the golden light enveloping Lu Ye, the fair-skinned man drifted back several yards. He held his saber in one hand and formed a seal with the other. As a mocking smile curled at his lips, visible Spiritual Power gathered at his fingertips.