At the Spirit Creek Realm level, each advancement to a new layer realm meant an additional minor cyclical system would form within the body.

Leaf Gray was now at the third layer of the Spirit Creek Realm, with twenty-seven opened apertures. With nine apertures forming one cycle, he now had three minor cyclical systems within his body. Spiritual power flowed through them like streams, murmuring incessantly.

What surprised Leaf Gray was that after achieving the third layer of the Spirit Creek Realm, he distinctly felt a certain resonance between these three spiritual power cyclical systems—something that hadn't occurred when he reached the first or second layers.

This resonance caused the flow speed of his internal spiritual power to increase somewhat.

Now, he could be considered to have cultivated the Cicada's Transcendent Metamorphosis, obtained from Manager Miller, to a perfected state. If he connected the twenty-seven opened apertures within his body in a specific sequence, the formed pattern resembled a mysterious cicada.

The name Cicada's Transcendent Metamorphosis likely originated from this.

Each cycle of spiritual power flow was like the breathing of this mysterious cicada. The three spiritual power cyclical systems appeared independent but could actually influence each other...

In theory, with an increase of one layer realm, Leaf Gray's strength should improve by just over thirty percent. But he felt his strength had increased by more than that, roughly by about half. He understood intuitively; this was the benefit brought by cultivating a complete set of techniques to perfection.

If he had his current cultivation level during the battle against Daniel Rivera, Leaf Gray certainly wouldn't have paid such a high price and might even have been able to capture him unscathed.

In terms of offensive power, he had the Sharpness Spirit Pattern. Even at the second layer of Spirit Creek Realm, a fourth-layer expert like Daniel Rivera couldn't withstand it.

In terms of defensive power, he had the Defense Spirit Pattern, which Daniel Rivera couldn't break through.

His offensive and defensive capabilities already exceeded the standards of his current cultivation level. What he truly lacked was nothing more than practical combat experience and technical proficiency. However, such experience could only be gradually accumulated through direct, personal engagement in real battles.

As for skill... along the way, he spent at least two hours every day practicing with his blade. The time was still short, and he wouldn't dare claim to have superb sword skills now, but at the very least, his grip on the blade was steadier than at the beginning, and his strikes were faster.

After all, he had killed a few people, slowly familiarizing himself with the feeling of his long blade breaking through an enemy's protective spiritual power and cutting into their flesh. Remembering this feeling deeply, forming it into an instinct, would naturally evolve into superior skill.

Cultivation couldn't continue for now; he only had a few spirit pills left in his possession, and he lacked suitable cultivation techniques.

His injuries had fully healed. After thinking for a moment, Leaf Gray stood up.

A short while later, he gathered Evie and the big tiger and exited the tunnel where they had hidden for several days.

According to the information Evie relayed, over the past few days, The Arcaneum Gate and The Ennead Star Sect had been fighting intensely within the Rift Sky Gorge, with small-scale battles breaking out frequently, causing casualties on both sides.

Leaf Gray silently gave a thumbs-up to The Arcaneum Gate in his heart.

This was exactly the situation he hoped to see, and the reason he could hide for so long.

He had previously thought that The Arcaneum Gate and The Ennead Star Sect couldn't coexist peacefully. Once The Ennead Star Sect made any major moves, The Arcaneum Gate was bound to respond. Now, it seemed he had underestimated the deep-seated hatred between sects brought about by factional opposition.

The whole incident started with Leaf Gray killing four disciples led by the young master of The Ennead Star Sect, which triggered a large-scale search for Leaf Gray's whereabouts by The Ennead Star Sect. But while he, the main person involved, was silently recuperating, the matter had evolved into a melee between the Spirit Creek Realm cultivators of the two major sects.

He originally intended to stir the waters, but now it seemed there was no need for such trouble.

The situation was favorable for him, but it was unrealistic for Leaf Gray to simply walk away. He didn't know how many personnel these two sects had deployed within the Rift Sky Gorge. Now trapped within, to extricate himself, he must leverage strength—borrow the strength of The Arcaneum Gate.

Having formed a plan, he sent Evie ahead to scout the path and check the situation. He and the big tiger stealthily advanced, maintaining a distance of about thirty zhang behind Evie.

In a ten-zhang-wide gorge path, seven cultivators were engaged in a chaotic battle. One side had three people, the other four. Looking at the situation, the side with fewer members actually held the advantage, primarily because the average cultivation level of the three was higher—one at the fourth layer of Spirit Creek Realm, and two at the third layer.

In contrast, the side with four people had two at the third layer and two at the second layer of Spirit Creek Realm. One of the third-layer cultivators had a bloody arm, clearly already injured.

Fights among low-level cultivators primarily involved close-quarters combat, rarely utilizing the power of spells. This was because their cultivation level wasn't high enough for powerful spells, casting spells required time making them easy to interrupt, and even if successfully cast, accuracy was an issue.

With this style of combat, the side with higher cultivation and stronger weapons naturally held the advantage.

Among the group of four, the leader was a burly man. He held a large blade, blocking in front of the others, retreating while shouting, "You all go!"

He seemed quite intent on staying behind to cover the retreat.

The other three showed grief-stricken expressions but did not abandon him to escape. Instead, they fought alongside the burly man, fighting while retreating.

But this was merely a temporary relief; once the burly man fell, all four would perish here.

The fourth-layer expert on the opposing side clearly knew this too. So even if he had the chance to kill the burly man, he didn't strike directly. Instead, he continuously inflicted cuts on the burly man, making him look increasingly miserable.

Not far behind these four, hidden within a pile of rubble, Leaf Gray and the big tiger concealed their forms, peering through the gaps in the stones.

He had originally been troubled about how to distinguish between the cultivators of The Arcaneum Gate and The Ennead Star Sect, as he couldn't just go up and ask for their identities.

But upon witnessing the conflict between these two groups, he realized he had overthought it. The cultivators of The Arcaneum Gate and The Ennead Star Sect were easy to distinguish because the backs of their hands glowed with different colors of light.

Leaf Gray was quite surprised, unsure why this was the case.

He didn't know that during his previous fights and encounters, his battlefield mark hadn't shown any activity.

Unbeknownst to him, this was all the work of Andrew Scott. The Arcaneum Gate and The Ennead Star Sect had been fighting over this territory for many years. However, because The Arcaneum Gate had more and stronger Spirit Creek Realm cultivators, they always held the advantage. This led to The Ennead Star Sect's Spirit Creek Realm cultivators maintaining a low profile in this area. Previously, it was difficult for The Arcaneum Gate members to hunt their opponents.

This time, with the young master of The Ennead Star Sect killed and almost all their Spirit Creek Realm members pouring out, it presented an opportunity for The Arcaneum Gate.

An opportunity to hunt down and kill the disciples of The Ennead Star Sect on a large scale.

Therefore, Andrew Scott didn't care about the incident's origin. He only saw a prime opportunity to heavily damage The Ennead Star Sect. For this, he didn't hesitate to spend some resources and, using the Providentia pillar at their outpost, declared war on The Ennead Star Sect.

The Ennead Star Sect had the right to refuse such a declaration of war. But this time, they needed to capture the murderer of their young master—how could they refuse?

Donald Jimenez had no choice but to grit his teeth and accept, while inwardly cursing Andrew Scott's ancestors through eighteen generations.

During such a declared war period, whenever cultivators from both sides engaged in combat, the backs of their hands would glow with different colors, clearly indicating their allegiance.

It's important to know that both sides had many rogue cultivators, whose faces were unfamiliar to many disciples of the two sects. With the battlefield mark, mistaken identity could be avoided, and it quickly identified who was an enemy and who was a trustworthy companion.