In the darkness, Leaf Gray slowly regained consciousness, immediately feeling the pain from his wounds. Nearby, there was the sound of heavy breathing; it was Amber.

He opened his eyes and saw his surroundings clearly.

He was in a dark, deep tunnel, with the sound of wind moaning past his ears. This tunnel wasn't sealed shut but was open at both ends.

Realizing this, Leaf Gray immediately understood that he should still be inside the Rift Sky Gorge.

He didn't know how long he had been unconscious, but it couldn't have been too long. Amber hadn't taken him through the Rift Sky Gorge; it seemed something unexpected had happened.

The Ten-Point Map had annotations; the Rift Sky Gorge was an extremely complex terrain.

Entering the Rift Sky Gorge, it initially appeared as an ordinary canyon, with just steep terrain on both sides. But further in, the canyon was divided by solitary peaks, one path becoming two, then two becoming four, four becoming eight...

In the end, there were dozens of paths within the Rift Sky Gorge. Moreover, these paths weren't completely isolated; the bases of the peaks separating them were riddled with tunnels running through them, allowing travel between the various paths via these tunnels.

The continuously splitting routes and the countless tunnels connecting them formed an extremely vast natural maze deep within the Rift Sky Gorge.

This was also why Leaf Gray had chosen to pass through the Rift Sky Gorge. In such complex terrain, unless one was a cultivator who frequented the area for years, it was very difficult to get one's bearings.

And he possessed the highly valuable Ten-Point Map. With the map in hand, he didn't need to worry about getting lost. As long as he followed the map's directions, he could pass through the Rift Sky Gorge.

He just hadn't anticipated encountering some sudden events outside the Rift Sky Gorge, leading to his current precarious situation.

The tunnel he was in now was likely a tunnel within one of the mountains. In other words, he was inside the maze of the Rift Sky Gorge's interior.

Sitting up, Leaf Gray was slightly startled to find his outer clothes had been taken off and torn into strips to bandage his wounds. Judging by the clumsy method, it was probably Evie's work; Amber clearly didn't have that capability.

"Leaf Gray, you're awake?" Evie floated over from the side, saying joyfully.

Amber also lifted its head and glanced at him.

Leaf Gray acknowledged, assessing his injuries. He had taken two healing pills before losing consciousness, and now his wounds showed clear signs of improvement. However, full recovery would still take a few days.

Although Daniel Rivera had severely injured him, the most dangerous wound was actually from the talisman slash attack used by that young master. At the time, Leaf Gray had promptly activated the Guarding Spirit Pattern, but the result showed that the slash had clearly broken through the Guarding defense, leaving a one-inch deep wound on his chest.

It was important to note that Daniel Rivera's attacks couldn't break through the Guarding defense, but that talisman did. The talisman the young master used in his moment of crisis clearly had immense killing power. Without the Guarding, that single strike could have taken Leaf Gray's life.

Confirming that his injuries weren't seriously problematic, just that he felt somewhat weak, Leaf Gray took out a set of clothes from his storage pouch and put them on. He also took out a water skin and some food, tossed a portion to the big tiger, and began eating himself.

"How long was I asleep?" Leaf Gray asked while eating.

"One day and one night," Evie replied softly, sitting cross-legged in front of him.

"Did anything happen?"

"There are many people around, probably looking for us. We almost exposed our tracks several times, and now we're lost..."

Leaf Gray nodded. This was within expectations.

Back then, after he used the young master to severely wound Daniel Rivera, he originally hadn't planned to confront him head-on. With such injuries, just delaying would make Daniel Rivera weaker and weaker. Waiting until Daniel Rivera was exhausted before finding an opportunity to kill him was undoubtedly a better strategy.

But when he saw the red light glowing on Daniel Rivera's hand, he knew the original plan wouldn't work.

The war imprints on the cultivators' hands not only recorded some information but could also be used for communication. Daniel Rivera was clearly calling for reinforcements at that moment, so Leaf Gray had no choice but to finish the battle quickly.

After killing Daniel Rivera, he had intended to pass through the Rift Sky Gorge as quickly as possible. As long as he crossed the Rift Sky Gorge, he would be out of The Ennead Star Sect's sphere of influence, and then The Ennead Star Sect couldn't do much to him.

But now it seemed The Ennead Star Sect's reaction was faster than he anticipated. A large number of cultivators had already poured into the Rift Sky Gorge, searching for his traces.

After all, their young master was killed; The Ennead Star Sect's intense reaction was understandable.

For now, he was relatively safe, but the situation was absolutely not good. The strength of one person against an entire sect, even if that sect was only Eighth Grade, was more than Leaf Gray could withstand. When it came down to it, he was just a minor cultivator at the Spirit Creek Second Layer, having been in the Spirit Creek Battlefield for only three months at most.

As he ate, he fell into deep thought.

Relying solely on his own ability now was not feasible. Near The Ennead Star Sect was The Arcaneum Gate. These two forces belonged to different factions and were so close; there was certainly enmity between them.

With the commotion caused by The Ennead Star Sect, The Arcaneum Gate most likely wouldn't turn a blind eye. If his guess was correct, The Arcaneum Gate might take some action.

In that case, The Arcaneum Gate might be able to share some of the pressure for him.

But he couldn't actively seek cooperation with The Arcaneum Gate. Firstly, his identity as a disciple of The Vermilion Guild couldn't be exposed. Secondly, as a mere Spirit Creek Second Layer cultivator, he simply didn't have the qualifications to cooperate with them.

Of course, this was just the most ideal scenario. Whether The Arcaneum Gate would intervene or not, Leaf Gray didn't know.

"I'm sorry!" Evie suddenly apologized, feeling that Leaf Gray seemed a bit angry.

Leaf Gray looked up at her, his words muffled by food: "Did you do something wrong?"

Evie said, "I will be more careful next time and won't expose my tracks so easily."

When she was trapped inside the Mysterious Spirit Bell, she felt only boundless darkness enveloping her, with no light to be seen. It wasn't until she faintly heard Leaf Gray's voice that she calmed down.

To be honest, Leaf Gray going to rescue her really surprised her, because there were four cultivators, and basically all of them had higher cultivation than Leaf Gray.

In that situation, even if Leaf Gray had abandoned her, she wouldn't have blamed him. After all, their relationship was just a cooperative one, and they hadn't been cooperating for long; they hadn't established any deep bond. Leaf Gray didn't need to risk his own safety for her.

But Leaf Gray still went...

Objectively speaking, it wasn't her fault. While scouting the surroundings, she discovered those four Ennead Star Sect cultivators and wanted to sneak a peek at the situation. Who knew they had set up the Mysterious Spirit Bell in advance, trapping her inside immediately.

But ultimately, this incident occurred because she wasn't careful enough. If she hadn't gotten too close, the Mysterious Spirit Bell wouldn't have been triggered.

Finally, Leaf Gray was severely injured and fell unconscious, making Evie feel even more guilty.

Swallowing the food in his mouth, Leaf Gray looked at Evie and said, "I was the one who asked you to scout the environment. You getting trapped isn't your fault. Me going to rescue you was the right thing to do. Getting injured is because my cultivation is lacking. No need to feel sorry towards anyone."

Evie looked at Leaf Gray with a moved expression, feeling that the person before her was the best person in the world.

Unexpectedly, Leaf Gray changed his tone: "However, if you can't manage to discipline Amber properly, then I think it's better for us to part ways!"

"Amber... what about Amber?" Evie was completely confused.