In the cavern, Leaf Gray closed his eyes again, quietly sensing.

The Talent Tree was indeed within his Origin Spiritual Aperture. When he concentrated, he could 'see' this scene.

This was different from before. Previously, when his attention was sufficiently focused, the Talent Tree would appear as a phantom in his field of vision.

Perhaps... the Talent Tree had always been in the Origin Spiritual Aperture, but he just hadn't opened his apertures before, so he only saw the phantom in his vision?

After opening his apertures, he could perceive it more directly.

After coming to the Spirit Creek Battlefield, he had been busy improving his own cultivation, practicing diligently without pause, and hadn't paid attention to the Talent Tree's condition. It wasn't until this time, when the Talent Tree absorbed external power again, that he noticed the change.

This was a good thing. He had always had a doubt he couldn't figure out: why did taking pills for cultivation seem to have no hidden dangers for him? He suspected it had something to do with the Talent Tree, but the exact relationship was unknown.

Now that he could directly sense the presence of the Talent Tree, perhaps he could study it carefully when he had time.

'Looking' at the two leaves burning fiercely on the Talent Tree, although Leaf Gray knew those leaves were good things, he couldn't help but recall some unpleasant memories...

Suppressing the urge to investigate further, Leaf Gray walked to the snake demon's corpse, retrieved his weapon, and then chopped the snake demon's body into over a dozen sections, storing them one by one in his storage bag.

This snake demon was much stronger than the big tiger, could spit fire, and its flesh must be rich in spiritual power, making it highly nourishing to eat.

After finishing all this, Leaf Gray looked around, confirmed there was nothing left behind, and left the cavern.

About half an hour later, Leaf Gray reunited with Evie and the big tiger waiting at the cave entrance. Seeing blood on the big tiger's shoulder blade, he took out a Healing Pill and gave it to the big tiger. This wound was from being bitten by the snake demon during the earlier big fight.

Leaf Gray was also slightly injured, also on the shoulder blade, from being whipped by the snake's tail, but it wasn't serious.

A moment later, he rode on the big tiger's back, stroking its smooth fur, recalling the scene of his first encounter with the big tiger and Evie. Back then, how could he have imagined that such an imposing demon beast would one day become his mount?

It must be said, riding on the big tiger's back was a great experience, making a minor cultivator like Leaf Gray, at the second level of Lingxi, feel an uncontrollable surge of heroic spirit, as if he could command the world.

The big tiger had a robust build and a wide back, so riding it wasn't uncomfortable.

"Where to?" Evie, sitting cross-legged on the big tiger's head, turned and asked.

Leaf Gray, sensing the guidance from the war imprint on the back of his hand, pointed in a direction: "Follow this way, stick close to the mountain foot!"

"Then let's set off!" Evie waved her small hand, her mood clearly cheerful.

The big tiger let out a low roar, and its snow-white figure shot forward like an arrow. That day, many low-level cultivators preparing to train in Jade Mountain saw the figure of a youth riding a snow-white tiger swiftly passing by.

A drop of water falls into the sea, raising tiny ripples, yet those ripples will eventually stir up towering waves...

Night fell. Beneath an outward-jutting, sloping cliff, at the base, there was a recessed area—a natural shelter.

Evie, who had gone ahead to scout, stood there waving: "Leaf Gray, over here, over here!"

Under the moonlight, Leaf Gray walked with vigorous and imposing strides, step by step.

Looking at Leaf Gray's strange walking posture, Evie found it hard to watch, but ultimately couldn't hold back and burst out laughing...

Leaf Gray walked past her, glaring at her fiercely.

He had thought riding the big tiger would be a very pleasant experience. However, just on this first day, he realized he had been naive.

Mainly, the chafing on the inner sides of his thighs was almost unbearable. Leaf Gray was sure the inside of his thighs must be bloody now. And even now, he could still feel the jolting sensation of riding on the tiger's back. Along the way, forget about cultivating while riding the tiger; not being jolted unconscious was an achievement.

"You'll get used to it," Evie said, following behind him.

Entering the natural recess, Leaf Gray nodded. This place was quite good for resting.

There were traces of a burnt-out campfire inside the recess, apparently left by previous travelers.

Leaf Gray rested for a short while, then got up to gather some firewood, lit it, took out a section of the snake, skinned and gutted it, cut off a large piece of snake meat weighing about ten jin, and threw the rest to the big tiger.

The big tiger hugged the several dozen jin of snake meat and ate heartily, clearly enjoying it.

The fire flickered, the aroma gradually spread, and hot oil dripped onto the flames, making sizzling sounds.

While roasting the snake meat, Leaf Gray took out a Barrier Breaking Fruit from his storage bag and gestured with it towards Evie.

Evie looked at him puzzled.

"Two fruits, split fifty-fifty," Leaf Gray explained.

Evie shook her head. "This thing is only useful for you. Ambei and I have no use for it. You keep it."

Leaf Gray thought for a moment and asked, "Does Amber eat spirit pills?"

Evie nodded. "It eats spirit stones too."

Leaf Gray was shocked. "Spirit stones can be eaten too?"

Evie explained, "Spirit stones are condensed spiritual energy. Demon beasts can eat them. But humans can't; they can't refine them."

Leaf Gray felt he had learned something new. No wonder when Evie and the big tiger came to rob him before, they asked for spirit stones after not getting spirit pills.

"Then your share of the fruit will be converted into spirit pills..." Leaf Gray felt somewhat troubled. "But I don't know how much this fruit is worth."

Evie pursed her lips and smiled. "Just give whatever you think is fair. Amber only needs to eat two spirit pills a day now."

"That's not too much."

The snake meat was soon roasted. Leaf Gray sprinkled some salt for seasoning and began eating heartily. He suddenly looked up, saw Evie watching him eagerly, and offered the snake meat in his hand: "Do you want some?"

Evie shook her head. "I can't eat anything."

Leaf Gray continued eating.

The snake meat was indeed highly nourishing. After eating several jin, Leaf Gray felt warm all over, extremely energetic, and even the flow of his spiritual power seemed faster.

While refining essence into energy, he took his equipped knife and walked to an open space nearby. He took off his upper garment, revealing his lean and strong upper body, and began swinging and chopping seriously, one cut after another.

The previous fight with the fair-skinned cultivator made him realize his combat skills were a mess. His cultivation could be boosted by pills, but combat skills couldn't be improved that way.

Moreover, there was no one to guide him now, so Leaf Gray thought of a crude method: just continuously practice swinging and chopping. He didn't know if this would be effective, but it was the only method he could think of.

In the future, he was bound to encounter increasingly stronger enemies. In close-quarters combat, both cultivation strength and combat skills were indispensable.

Under the moonlight, the youth chopped earnestly, sweating profusely; not far away, the snow-white big tiger lay on the ground, snoring loudly, surrounded by a white glow; the black-haired girl hugged her knees, watching quietly, with the full moon hanging high in the sky as the backdrop, creating a hazy, picturesque scene.