Beside the dying embers of a campfire, Leaf Gray ate heartily, consuming a large snake. The snake was a full zhang long and as thick as an arm, its meat fine, white, and tender, leaving a fragrant taste in the mouth.

Half a month had passed since his spirit pills were exhausted. Naturally, his progress during this period couldn't compare to before, but it was slightly better than he had estimated. Judging by the current rate, he could break through the barrier of the ninth spiritual aperture in another month.

The reason for this progress was mainly due to one thing he discovered.

That was, the efficiency of refining essence into qi was faster than drawing in spiritual energy.

Where does the essence come from? Without Vermillion Dawn Pills, the only way was to eat!

He had noticed something when eating the wolf meat earlier. Later, after hunting and killing some other beasts, he found that the meat from creatures native to the Spirit Creek Battlefield was very nourishing. The larger the beast, the more obvious this effect was.

He wasn't proficient at drawing in spiritual energy; perhaps due to his low innate talent, he found it very difficult to guide spiritual energy into his body. But things eaten and entering his stomach were different. As long as he could digest them, they could supplement his qi and blood power. By then refining his own qi and blood power into spiritual power, he could still achieve the effect of enhancing his strength.

So, in this half month, the nearby beasts suffered. Originally, after opening his apertures, Leaf Gray had a huge appetite. Now, specializing in the path of refining essence into qi, he ate even more.

This actually resulted in the area within several li of the mountain cave being cleared of beasts. Leaf Gray had searched for quite a while today before finding this large snake.

Halfway through his meal, the cave entrance darkened, and a pungent wind blew towards him.

Leaf Gray looked up and saw a massive figure standing at the cave entrance, a low growl emanating from there.

Leaf Gray quickly stood up, drew the long sword from his storage bag, holding the sword in one hand and pinching a Fire Snake Talisman in the other, secretly channeling spiritual power.

He had lived here for a month without encountering other cultivators or any powerful wild beasts. He originally thought this was a peaceful place, but unexpectedly, he was disturbed today by an uninvited guest.

Leaf Gray had anticipated such a situation, so although startled, he wasn't flustered, and quickly made the correct response.

The mountain cave was narrow. If the other party dared to charge in, the Fire Snake Talisman in his hand could give them a nasty surprise. If the Fire Snake Talisman wasn't enough, he had other spirit talismans. Failing that, he could slap a Vajra Talisman on himself, and the long sword in his hand wasn't just for show.

Only then did Leaf Gray clearly see what the uninvited guest was: it was actually a large tiger.

Its body was covered in snow-white fur, spotless, with a large 'King' character on its forehead. Its two amber tiger eyes were soul-stirring.

When Leaf Gray's eyes met the tiger's pupils, his spirit actually wavered momentarily. He knew then that he had encountered a formidable fierce creature.

He had killed many beasts during this time, some larger than this tiger, but never had any beast given him such a sense of pressure.

One must know, he was now a cultivator with eight opened apertures.

This wasn't an ordinary wild beast; this was probably a demon beast with some cultivation!

Demon beasts were different from wild beasts; demon beasts knew how to cultivate. It was said that if some demon beasts opened certain key spiritual apertures, they could take human form.

This was the origin of the saying passed down throughout The Novem Lands: 'Demons cannot transform without opening apertures; humans cannot cultivate without opening apertures.'

Many sects also enrolled some demon disciple disciples because most demon cultivators had strong, sturdy bodies, making them naturally good candidates for the body refinement path.

Leaf Gray currently didn't know much about the cultivation world of The Novem Lands, so he naturally wasn't aware of this information.

He only knew that his current situation was somewhat troublesome. Trapped inside the mountain cave with the great tiger blocking the entrance, unless he fought his way out, there was simply no way out.

But he didn't know the strength of this great tiger.

During the standoff, the great tiger roared at him, making Leaf Gray even more tense; he nearly activated the Fire Snake Talisman in his hand!

"Brat, was it you killing everywhere?" A voice like muffled thunder sounded within the cave, shaking the surrounding rocks loose.

Leaf Gray couldn't help but freeze for a moment, looking at the great tiger with immense surprise.

"It is this Great King speaking, you ignorant brat!" As if seeing Leaf Gray's confusion, the great tiger spoke again.

Leaf Gray's heart sank. This was bad. He seemed to have underestimated the great tiger's strength. This creature could already speak human language. He didn't know its cultivation level, but it seemed much more powerful than him.

"This Great King is asking you a question, why aren't you speaking?" The great tiger's temper wasn't great; it shouted again, its throat emitting a threatening growl.

Blessing or curse, what must come cannot be avoided. Leaf Gray could only brace himself and flatly deny it: "It wasn't me!"

The great tiger raised a paw and angrily slammed the ground; the earth seemed to shake. "If it wasn't you, then who? Within thirty li radius, you're the only human!" It paced back and forth at the cave entrance, but its tiger eyes remained fixed on Leaf Gray. "This is this Great King's territory. Without this Great King's permission, you dare wantonly slaughter this king's food? It seems you don't want to live!"

Leaf Gray's scalp went numb, feeling acutely that life and death hung by a thread.

However, he understood why the great tiger had sought him out. This area was its territory, and those beasts he killed were the food within its domain. Over the past half month, Leaf Gray had killed quite a lot, drawing the great tiger's attention, which then followed some clues to find him.

"Speak, how do you want to resolve this matter?" the great tiger said again.

By now, Leaf Gray was actually less panicked than before. Although it was strange for a demon beast to be negotiating terms with him here, it was better than the other party silently attacking.

He frowned and said, "They're already eaten. How do you want to resolve it?"

The great tiger stared fixedly at him and said, "Hand over your spirit pills, and let this matter rest. If you dare utter a single 'no', today this place will be your burial ground!"

"I have no spirit pills left," Leaf Gray shook his head. If he had spirit pills, why would he need to kill beasts for meat?

The great tiger said, "Spirit stones will do too!"

"I have no spirit stones either."

The Sect Master simply hadn't prepared any spirit stones for him, perhaps thinking Leaf Gray couldn't use them yet?

"You don't have this, you don't have that. I think you want to die!" The great tiger was clearly growing impatient.

Leaf Gray sighed. "I truly have none!"

"Then what do you have in your storage bag?" the great tiger demanded.

"Some spirit talismans, and a bottle of healing pills," Leaf Gray replied truthfully.

"What a pauper!" The great tiger couldn't help but sneer. "Give me the healing pills, and this matter is settled."

"What do you need healing pills for?" Leaf Gray's expression was somewhat strange.

"None of your business! Give them to me, quickly!"

"Fine..." Leaf Gray responded reluctantly. He took out the bottle of healing pills from his storage bag, paused thoughtfully for a moment, and slowly placed it on the ground.

"Throw it over!" the great tiger ordered.

Leaf Gray looked at it. "Why don't you come and get it yourself?"

"I said throw it over!" Leaf Gray's attitude undoubtedly angered the great tiger; it roared furiously.

"Alright then." Leaf Gray lifted a foot and kicked the bottle on the ground forward. Simultaneously, he activated the Fire Snake Talisman in his hand. With a surge of his spiritual energy, the talisman transformed into a red light, shooting towards the great tiger like a fiery snake.

That wasn't all; he stomped his foot, his body moving like thunder or lightning, charging forward with his sword raised.