Half an hour later, Leaf Gray got up and set off towards the direction of the Jade Market. Behind him, Evie floated in mid-air, seeing him off enthusiastically.

To Evie and Big Tiger, Leaf Gray was an uninvited guest who had intruded into their territory. He had killed too many roaming beasts these past days, already affecting the stability of this area. The reason they had previously troubled Leaf Gray was also because of this.

If Leaf Gray continued to stay, perhaps soon all the food in this area would be hunted clean. By then, they would have to find another place to survive. But this mountain range contained too many demonic beasts; rashly entering another's territory meant facing unknown dangers.

So, after realizing that sending Leaf Gray away was a good thing, Evie cooperated obediently. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been so compliant.

Of course, before Leaf Gray departed, he warned them: if he couldn't successfully find the Jade Market, or if they had provided any incorrect information, he would be back.

To this, Evie patted her flat chest and guaranteed that everything she had said earlier was absolutely true.

Moving forward, Leaf Gray recalled the various pieces of information Evie had revealed.

Not just information about the Jade Market, Leaf Gray had later asked her many things about the Spirit Creek Battlefield. Having finally encountered someone here he could communicate with and also control, he naturally wanted to make the most of it.

Evie also held nothing back, telling all she knew!

Although the jade slip given to him by the Sect Master recorded some information about the Spirit Creek Battlefield, the situation at that time was too urgent, and the Sect Master didn't know where Leaf Gray would appear after entering the battlefield. Thus, the information left behind wasn't detailed.

On the contrary, the intelligence obtained from Evie was more suitable for Leaf Gray's current situation.

According to Evie, the entire Spirit Creek Battlefield is a circular area, extremely vast in size, as large as an entire province. It can be divided into three major regions.

The outermost Outer Ring, the middle Inner Ring, and the innermost Core Ring.

The deeper one goes inward, the higher the concentration of Heaven and Earth spiritual energy. Furthermore, in some special areas, there are unique productions, such as rare mineral veins and precious spirit fruits. These are cultivation resources that cultivators would fight desperately for.

The various major sects of The Novem Lands all have their own strongholds in the Spirit Creek Battlefield. The higher the sect's grade, the closer their stronghold is to the center.

For example, the first, second, and third-grade sects from various provinces have their strongholds in the Core Ring. Fourth to sixth-grade strongholds are generally scattered throughout the Inner Ring area. As for seventh to ninth-grade sect strongholds, they can only occupy the Outer Ring. Of course, the number of sect forces at this level is also the largest, so the Outer Ring is the most extensive area by land.

The good news is that Leaf Gray's current location is in the Outer Ring. Neither the spiritual energy concentration nor the resource production here matches the other two rings, so it's unlikely he'll encounter particularly powerful Spirit Creek Realm experts.

But the bad news is he doesn't know the specific location of The Vermilion Guild's stronghold. The Vermilion Guild is a ninth-grade sect, so its stronghold is naturally also in the Outer Ring. If he's lucky, he and The Vermilion Guild's stronghold won't be too far apart. But if luck isn't on his side, and he and The Vermilion Guild's stronghold are located on opposite ends of the diameter of the Spirit Creek Battlefield's circle, then if he follows the war imprint, he would inevitably have to traverse the entire Spirit Creek Battlefield, breaking into the Inner Ring and Core Ring.

With his Spirit Creek First Layer cultivation, he barely has some means of self-preservation in the Outer Ring. But if he breaks into the Inner Ring or Core Ring, he certainly won't meet a good end. The Spirit Creek Realm experts there are surely as numerous as clouds, and strong.

The best method now is to take an arced route, following the Outer Ring forward. This way, he can avoid encountering overly powerful enemies.

In The Novem Lands, the two factions, The Firmament Palace and The Ophidian Covenant, are constantly at war. Sects rise and fall one after another. It can be said that the cultivators of The Novem Lands grow up amidst war and slaughter. Basically, disciples of major sects, regardless of which faction they belong to, as long as they achieve the Spirit Creek Realm, are thrown into the Spirit Creek Battlefield for tempering.

But the difference in strength between Spirit Creek First Layer and Ninth Layer is immense. Even disciples of those first-grade sects don't have a significant advantage when their cultivation isn't high. So, the Core Ring and Inner Ring aren't suitable for cultivators with lower cultivation to temper themselves.

This gave rise to a tradition.

All sects send their disciples with lower cultivation to the Outer Ring, letting them temper themselves here, like sifting sand in a great wave.

As for the method of sending them here, naturally, it relies on the Providentia Pillars.

The Providentia Pillars possess various functions, one of which is targeted teleportation.

The large and medium-sized sects in the Core Ring and Inner Ring, after paying a certain price, can use the Providentia Pillars to send their disciples with lower cultivation to the strongholds of those friendly smaller sects, allowing them to gain experience in the Outer Ring.

In return, these large and medium-sized sects will, at appropriate times, protect the safety of these smaller sects, such as when their strongholds are attacked.

Therefore, the connections between sects across The Novem Lands are very close. Often, a major sect protects several dozen or even more smaller sects underneath it, and a smaller sect also maintains good relations with several major sects.

Digesting this information, Leaf Gray gained a clear understanding of his current situation.

He had to admit his luck was indeed good enough. The location where the Sect Master sent him into the Spirit Creek Battlefield was the Outer Ring, which gave him the capital to continue surviving.

As for that Jade Market... there's actually more than one. The entire Jade Mountain is very large. There are several Markets at the foot of the mountain, all called Jade Market.

The marketplaces gather cultivators from all over The Novem Lands, a mixed bag including both those from The Firmament Palace and The Ophidian Covenant.

The markets are ownerless, spontaneous gathering places for cultivators, serving as places for trade and rest.

So, generally, the markets are relatively safe because acting rashly here can easily trigger large-scale fights between cultivators from both sides.

There have been several such precedents in the past, where conflicts between one or two individuals escalated into chaotic battles involving hundreds or even thousands, resulting in countless casualties. Since then, anyone daring to act within a market would instantly be besieged and killed by nearby cultivators.

This counts as an unwritten rule, basically followed by all cultivators who enter the markets.

Of course, if one has the ability to silently resolve others without being detected, then one can act recklessly.

But the cultivators in the Outer Ring aren't highly cultivated; who could have such capability?

This was undoubtedly good news for Leaf Gray. At the Spirit Creek First Layer realm, he just barely qualifies to enter the Spirit Creek Battlefield. It wouldn't be wrong to say he's among the lowest cultivation group in the entire battlefield; he wouldn't have an advantage in a fight with anyone.

Following the clues given by Evie, Leaf Gray first crossed a small river, then passed through a forest of strange rocks. Reaching the foot of the mountain, an area spanning several miles, dotted with various buildings, appeared in his view.

The Jade Market had arrived!