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Translator: Truth
Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys
Lu Ye quickly regenerated his depleted Spiritual Power as the Spirit Pills melted in his stomach.
He did not use an Amulet because it was a cultivation item, not a healing item. He should use it only when he was at maximum Spiritual Power.
Besides consuming more Vital Spirit Pills, Lu Ye also constructed Gathering Spirit funnels across his body to boost his recovery speed even further.
Although Lu Ye was now a First-Order Cloud River Realm cultivator, that didn’t mean that his Spiritual Points no longer existed. That said, there would be a time where the border between his Spiritual Points and his body blurred into nothing.
It took him a quarter of a day to finally recover his strength.
Lu Ye was just about to give the Green Amulet a go and see how much it would increase his power when, suddenly, he heard a faint noise from outside. It was immediately followed by an explosion.
Someone or something had triggered his Alarm Ward. His Explosion Ward had triggered as well!
He hurriedly put away the two Amulets before rushing toward outside
A tall, imposing figure was blocking the entrance. It was a black bear who stood as tall as a tower on two feet. It was currently roaring in anger because its fur was singed, and blood could be seen seeping out of its wounds. It had clearly been injured by the Explosion Ward.
Riled into a flying rage because of the pain, it struck the walls of the entrance with its meaty paws while thick energy rolled off its body. Lu Ye only needed one glance to tell that it was a Champion-class Spirit Beast!
A cultivator’s strength could be divided by cultivation realms. The same applied to Spirit Beasts.
The counterpart of a Spirit Creek Realm cultivator was a Spirit Beast. Even a Tyrant like Beaky was still categorized as a Spirit Beast because it had reached the absolute ceiling of its current level, but not surpassed it.
The counterpart of a Cloud River Realm cultivator was called a Champion-class Spirit Beast. The black bear in front of Lu Ye was one such example.
There were plenty of brutal and powerful Champion-class Spirit Beast in the Cloud River Battlefield. Countless cultivators died to these deadly creatures every year.
The counterpart of a Real Lake Realm cultivator was a Master-class Spirit Beast, and a Divine Ocean Realm cultivator a Warlord-class Spirit Beast.
This cave was probably the black bear’s lair. Lu Ye had noticed some black fur on the ground when he came in, but he had ignored it because he needed to hide and recover his strength.
He did not think that the owner of the lair would choose now of all times to return. Worse, it was hurt by the ward he had set up earlier.
He did not want to go up against a Champion-class Spirit Beast in a cave. His speed and agility were non-existent in a cramped space like this. That was why the first thing he did after seeing it was yelling, “Yi Yi!”
Yi Yi immediately flew out of Amber and poked her hand into the Storage Bag hanging beneath Amber’s neck. She then unfurled the Nine Realms Scroll in one smooth motion and threw it over the black bear’s head.
The black bear vanished into thin air just like that. After Yi Yi gave Lu Ye and Amber a nod, the duo rushed into the Nine Realms Scroll as well.
Lu Ye and Amber appeared in a stone forest just in time to hear another furious roar. The next thing they knew, the black bear was charging toward them like a small mountain.
Amber roared back while jumping off Lu Ye’s shoulder. Once on the ground, it transformed into its true form and met the black bear head on.
Cultivation wise, the black bear was stronger than Amber because Amber wasn’t ’t a Champion-class Spirit Beast yet. In fact, the only reason it could enter the Cloud River Battlefield was because it was Lu Ye’s Tamed Beast. Anywhere Lu Ye had access to, Amber had access as well.
Looking at their size, it looked like Amber was only slightly behind the black bear. In reality, they were leagues apart from one another.
But what Amber lacked in strength, it made up for in agility. Right before the two Spirit Beasts were about to slam into one another, Amber leaped into the air and dodged the black bear’s charge. At the same time, it swiped viciously at the black bear’s back.
The swipe was vicious enough to gouge a hole in an ordinary Spirit Beast’s back, but the black bear was a Champion-class Spirit Beast. Its energy coated its skin and stopped Amber’s attack from doing much damage at all.
Not only that, the black bear rose to its feet, spun around faster than expected, and retaliated with a swipe of its own. If the hit connected, it was going to leave Amber seriously injured at best or incapacitated at worst.
It was at this moment the black bear’s movements froze as if some sort of invisible energy was holding it in place. It lasted only an instant, but it was enough for Amber to dodge out of the way.
It was Yi Yi using the power of the Nine Realms Scroll to slow down the black bear.
Yi Yi did not have full control of the Nine Realms Scroll yet, but she was now powerful enough to channel a sliver of its power. The owner of the Nine Realm Scroll possessed the power to interfere with anything within the ward scroll. This alone ensured that Lu Ye would always have the advantage when battling against a foe in the Nine Realms Scroll. The only way an enemy could neutralize this disadvantage was to break out of the ward scroll.
Lu Ye wasn’t idle when Amber was distracting the black bear. His flame-wreathed, Sharp Edge-empowered saber struck the Spirit Beast in the waist and cut right through its thick energy, leaving a deep wound behind.
Hurt, the black bear let out another angry roar and turned around to attack Lu Ye. However, Lu Ye was already backing away and holding the Inviolable protectively in front of him. The attack sent him skidding thirty meters or so across the floor!
Lu Ye had to swallow his surprise when he saw the outcome of his attack. The wound looked severe, but it was nowhere close to the bone deep wound he had imagined. The Champion-class Spirit Beast was even hardier than he expected.
Amber pounced toward the black bear a second time while Lu Ye was distracting it. This time, it chose to employ a hit-and-run tactic by slamming into the black bear’s back and knocking it off balance before biting off a chunk of flesh from its body. It then leaped away before the black bear could retaliate.
The black bear was powerful, but it was facing Amber and Lu Ye. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Yi Yi kept tripping it up using the Nine Realms Scroll’s power from time to time. The outcome of the battle was sealed from the moment it was whisked into the ward scroll.
An incense stick later, the black bear collapsed after taking one final hit from Lu Ye. There wasn’t a single part of its body that wasn’t covered in blood and gore.
Lu Ye let out a slow exhale as he stared at the black bear’s body.
If he were to judge the black bear’s strength by its cultivation level alone, then it was almost as strong as a Fifth-Order Cloud River Realm cultivator. Of course, that did not mean that the three of them combined could take out a Fifth-Order Cloud River Realm cultivator.
For starters, Yi Yi would have a much harder time catching a cultivator off guard and trapping them in the Nine Realms Scroll. On the off chance she succeeded, it still would’ve been a difficult fight as cultivators generally had way more tricks up their sleeves than this black bear.
Besides that, this black bear was obviously all brawn and no brain. Most of their tricks worked only because the black bear was too stupid to recognise them for what they were.
Anyway, the flesh and blood of a Champion-class Spirit Beast was extremely attractive to Amber. Lu Ye personally preferred a Spirit Beast’s meat over an ordinary animal’s as well. It was because a Spirit Beast’s meat was more nutritious to a cultivator. Long-term consumption could even strengthen the cultivator’s body.
Almost as soon as the battle was over, Amber was already on top of the black bear and tearing off a chunk of delicious flesh. Lu Ye also walked up to the black bear and pressed a hand to its stomach. After probing around with his Spiritual Power and locating what he was looking for, he stabbed the Inviolable into its abdomen and dug out what looked like a blood red orb.
The orb was about as big as a longan. It looked a little like a flesh orb after Lu Ye had washed the blood away.
The orb was the Mutant Core. An ordinary Spirit Beast did not have a Mutant Core. Only those who had ascended to the level of a Champion-class Spirit Beast would grow a Mutant Core in their body. It was the source and crystallization of the Spirit Beast’s strength.
Lu Ye probed the Mutant Core with his senses. He could definitely feel a rich amount of energy concentrated within the core.
Amber ambled over with a blood-soaked jaw and bumped its head against Lu Ye’s hand. It could not hide the desire in its eyes even if it wanted to.
Lu Ye smiled and tossed the Mutant Core into Amber’s mouth. The white tiger swallowed it in one gulp and let out a burp of satisfaction.
“Yi Yi!” Lu Ye called. The next second, Lu Ye, Amber and the dead bear appeared in the open space outside the cave.
Lu Ye stored the black bear’s body in his storage space to use as food in the future. He then picked up the ward flags scattered across the cave entrance before leaving.
He was going to try out the Amulets, but it was too risky to stay after the earlier explosion. They would have to find a new place to rest.
One hour later, Lu Ye arrived at a small hill. He sat down after finding a suitable spot.
Yi Yi was kneeling next to him and watching him eagerly. Amber’s eyes were filled with curiosity as well.
This would be the first time they used an Amulet. Everyone wanted to know just how effective it was at their level.
First, Lu Ye took out the Green Amulet. He had inspected it when they were at the cave. It was jade-like, warm, and shaped exactly the same as the Purple Amulet. The only thing that differentiated the two was the color.
Lu Ye did not know what was so special about the Amulet. How could it help a cultivator cultivate?
[I’ll know once I give it a try.]
The Green Amulet disintegrated when he crushed it between his fingers, but the powder did not dissipate with the wind. Instead, it flew in front of Lu Ye and formed a green hole.
The hole was only the size of a fist, but the moment it was formed, mist so thick that he could see with his naked eye began pouring out of it.
The mist poured out of the hole like it was endless. Their new hiding spot was overflowing with it in just the blink of an eye. When Lu Ye probed it with his senses, he was surprised to note that it was Spirit Mist!
Spirit Mist was rare because it took a massive amount of World Spiritual Qi to form. This one in particular felt incredibly pure.
Lu Ye was just breathing normally, and the Spirit Mist was automatically absorbed into his body and converted into Spiritual Power. The efficiency would only skyrocket when he cultivated for real.
Moreover, the Spirit Mist wasn’t affected by the elements in the slightest. The wind on the hill was pretty strong, but the Spirit Mist continued to circle around Lu Ye like it did not exist.
Yi Yi hurriedly entered a cultivation state when she saw this. Amber also opened its mouth and inhaled the Spirit Mist into itself.
As for Lu Ye, he was already building many Gathering Spirits funnels in his Spiritual Points.
Just an hour later, the Spirit Mist enveloping them vanished as if it was never there. Lu Ye checked the river of Spiritual Power running inside his body and noted that it hadn’t changed much.
At the Spirit Creek Realm level, a cultivator grew stronger by unlocking Spiritual Points and forming Microcosmic Orbits with them. Every time they added a Microcosmic Orbit, their cultivation level would jump an Order higher.
At the Cloud River Realm level, their goal became growing the size and volume of their river of Spiritual Power. Every time they reached a certain threshold, their cultivation would increase a level.
