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Translator: Truth
Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys
In the Arcane Glade, Lu Ye was sitting casually on a rock with the Inviolable by his side, a book in his hand, and a Spirit Pill in the process of getting crushed between his teeth.
The Spiritual Qi in the Arcane Glade had completely stabilized. According to Kitty Shen, it was “just” an above average Tertius-level Arcane Glade. This stunned Lu Ye because its Spiritual Qi was between three to four times better than a Core Circle Outpost’s. How good would a Secundus-level Arcane Glade be? A Primus one?
It was no wonder Cloud River Realm cultivators coveted Arcane Glades as much as they did. As most cultivated via breathing Spiritual Qi, an excellent cultivation environment was critical to their growth.
Kitty Shen was much more experienced and knowledgeable than Lu Ye in terms of surviving in the Cloud River Battlefield. He was able to pick up much general knowledge from her including the way to determine an Arcane Glade’s level.
According to her, the Spiritual Qi of Quartius-level Arcane Glade was about two times richer than a Core Circle Outpost’s, three times for a Tertius-level Arcane Glade, four times for a Secundus-level Arcane Glade, and five times for a Primus-level Arcane Glade.
Going by this standard, Kitty Shen was correct to call this Arcane Glade an above average Tertius-level Arcane Glade.
On a related note, the reason he was cultivating outside his accommodation instead of inside was because he was hoping to encounter a lucky fellow cultivator or two!
Lu Ye and Kitty Shen were the only two cultivators occupying the Arcane Glade right now. Lu Ye was at the First-Order Cloud River Realm, and Kitty Shen at the Fifth-Order Cloud River Realm. Although Lu Ye had laid down a massive number of wards around the Arcane Glade, their defense was still relatively weak, all things considered. They would need more manpower if they wished to truly secure this location.
In this regard, both Lu Ye and Kitty Shen were in full agreement.
Generally speaking, a small Arcane Glade like this could accommodate between three to five people. Lu Ye had already invited Ju Jia, but they could use another one or two cultivators.
Due to the Sacred Pact they had signed, neither of them could privately invite a friend to join them. Therefore, they could only wait and hope that a suitable candidate or two would stumble upon their location.
According to Kitty Shen, the quality of their Arcane Glade was neither too good nor too bad, so they shouldn’t need to worry about being attacked by powerful Cloud River Realm cultivators. The truly strong ones would rather target a Secundus or Primus-level Arcane Glade, and an above average Tertius-level Arcane Glade was perfect for Fourth to Fifth Order Cloud River Realm cultivators.
It was a good thing that the quality of their Arcane Glade was so-so. If it was a Primus-level Arcane Glade, then it would most likely draw the attention of an Eighth or Ninth-Order elite. They were almost certainly going to lose their Arcane Glade if that happened.
Lu Ye did not know there were so many things one should consider when occupying an Arcane Glade until Kitty Shen had kindly enlightened him.
Unfortunately, their location was fairly remote. Despite waiting outside for a full twenty four hours, not a soul had passed through their area. The next day, it was Kitty Shen’s turn to wait outside.
Lu Ye had just entered the Cloud River Battlefield, so growing his cultivation was, of course, among his highest priorities. Skill without strength was weak, and he would like to be able to protect himself as soon as possible.
That was why he spent the past few days cultivating non-stop. His Spiritual Power grew at a visible rate thanks to the massive amount of Vital Spirit Pills he ate and the rich Spiritual Qi of the Arcane Glade.
A Cloud River Realm cultivator’s cultivation goal was to grow their river of Spiritual Power. Every time it reached a certain threshold, his cultivation level would increase by one minor realm. This would continue until the river had filled up his entire body and transformed into a lake. When that happened, he would have reached the Real Lake Realm.
He was in the middle of cultivating when he suddenly heard Kitty Shen conversing with an unfamiliar voice outside. He immediately set down his book and listened in silence.
A moment later, Kitty Shen called out to him, “Come out, Fellow Cultivator Ye! A client’s waiting for you!”
Lu Ye grimaced at the terrible joke—it was a line that was commonly heard in a brothel—but rose to his feet. When he stepped outside, he saw Kitty Shen waiting for him and another woman standing outside the ward.
The woman had a tear mole and a fragile, sympathetic appearance. Kitty Shen introduced her warmly, “Our long wait has finally borne fruit, Fellow Cultivator Ye! Her name is—”
“Ruan Qingzhu,” said the unfamiliar woman while giving him an elegant bow. Even her voice was sweet and gentle. Her personality and behavior were the complete opposite of Kitty Shen’s.
“That’s right,” Kitty Shen said with a nod. “I’ve asked Ruan all the necessary questions, Fellow Cultivator Ye. She is willing to join us, and she is a Fourth-Order Cloud River Realm cultivator. She is exactly who we need.”
Ruan Qingzhu held her hands in front of her chest and bowed again. “If you are willing to accept me, this one swears to cooperate with you to the best of my abilities.”
Lu Ye examined her for a moment before nodding. He then opened a gap in the defensive ward with the Control Jade. Finally, he handed her the Sacred Pact he and Kitty Shen had signed and said, “Take a look. If it looks alright with you, then please sign it right away.”
Ruan Qingzhu accepted the pact and read it carefully. A while later, she replied smilingly, “It is acceptable.”
She then bit her finger and pressed her fingerprint on the Sacred Pact.
After Lu Ye had put away the Sacred Pact, Kitty Shen declared while rubbing her palms, “And now there are three. A friend of Fellow Cultivator Ye will be joining us soon, so we can only accept one more person into our little group. Personally, I think we can loosen our requirements a little for this last person, if only to make our lives a little easier. What do you both think?”
“Sure.” Lu Ye did not have an opinion regarding this.
Ruan Qingzhu was a newcomer. In this case, the only position she was allowed to take was a yes man’s, so she replied smilingly, “Whatever you say, sis.”
Kitty Shen beamed. “It’s decided then. The Cloud River Battlefield is vast, so it would not be an exaggeration to say that fate has brought us together. I hope our time together will be a harmonious one, and I shall be depending on you two in the coming days.”
Ruan Qingzhu replied with a soft giggle. “I’m the one who should say that, sis.”
Lu Ye did not say anything. In fact, he was already walking back to his house.
Kitty Shen said to Ruan Qingzhu, “Fellow Cultivator Ye’s a bit reserved, but he’s not a bad person. You’ll find out eventually.”
“Of course.”
“Since you’ve just arrived, allow me to help you in tidying your new house. Where would you like to stay? This one’s my house, by the way.”
“I’d like to be your neighbor then, sis.”
“I’m very happy to hear that!”
In the building, Lu Ye frowned deeply while listening to their conversation. As he thought, women are strange creatures. He just couldn’t fathom how they could behave like fast friends when it had only been a couple of minutes since they met one another.
And so Ruan Qingzhu joined their little group. A Fourth-Order Cloud River Realm cultivator was a good addition to their Arcane Glade. With the three of them and Lu Ye’s wards, it would take a massive group or a handful of powerful cultivators to drive them out. An ordinary group of five would not be able to threaten them in the slightest.
The days passed slowly. Lu Ye was so engrossed with cultivation that he went through his stock of Vital Spirit Pills at a tremendous rate.
At some point, he realized that he hadn’t brought enough Vital Spirit Pills with him. It was because the Cloud River Battlefield was a vastly different place from what he had imagined. In the Spirit Creek Battlefield, prey would automatically flock to him and supply him with their cultivation resources. Here though, he hadn’t even killed a single person. It was why he didn’t have quite enough Vital Spirit Pills.
He cultivated mainly by consuming Spirit Pills. Without them, his progress would slow tremendously.
He took out his 10-point map and checked his location for a bit. There was a Divine Trade Association hotspot about four hundred kilometers away from their Arcane Glade, which wasn’t too far considering his current speed. It should take him only a quarter of a day to make a round trip.
The next day, he stepped outside and stood in front of Kitty Shen’s house. He then knocked on the door once.
Kitty Shen opened the door and asked him curiously, “What’s the matter, Fellow Cultivator Ye?”
“I’d like to head out for a bit.”
“Sure!” Kitty Shen nodded. “Come back soon.”
Lu Ye passed her the Control Jade and said, “Be careful.”
“Don’t worry! We’ll keep the Arcane Glade safe while you’re gone!” Kitty Shen declared with a slap to the chest. Her breasts shook so wonderfully that Lu Ye “accidentally” glanced at them a second longer.
All good things must end, however. He summoned his Spirit Boat and took to the sky.
Next door, Ruan Qingzhu poked her head out of her door and asked curiously, “Where is Fellow Cultivator Ye going?”
Kitty Shen shook her head. “He said he’s heading out for a bit. I didn’t ask why. He’s an adult. He’s old enough to take care of himself, dontcha agree?”
Ruan Qingzhu giggled softly in response.
Lu Ye flew toward the Divine Trade Association hotspot in a straight line. He hadn’t made a breakthrough yet, but he was close. He could feel his river reaching some sort of threshold. It just needed one final push.
Of course, it was just a breakthrough to the Second-Order. His cultivation level would still be among the lowest in the entire Cloud River Battlefield.
That said, all great things have small beginnings. He just needed to scale the peaks one step at a time.
Lu Ye stepped into a building after arriving at his destination. He sought out a manager and spent a large amount of Spirit Stones to purchase Vital Spirit Pills. He saved some of them in case he needed them for other things in the future.
He hadn’t brought too many Spirit Stones from his headquarters either. He would have to find a way to gather more cultivation resources once he used up this batch of Spirit Pills as well.
He was just about to leave when the manager said, “There will be an Amulet auction tonight, and one of the Amulets being auctioned is a Purple Amulet. Do stay behind if you’re interested, dear customer.”
Lu Ye was interested, of course. Amulets were ridiculously good at boosting one’s cultivation. He had been hoping to re-live the sensation ever since he had used the Green and Purple Amulets.
Unfortunately, Amulets did not rain from the Heavens all the time. He not encountered such an event yet.
The currency used to bid for the Amulets was Contribution Points. He had over seventy thousand Contribution Points right now, and he was fairly sure that only a handful of people in the entire Cloud River Battlefield had more Contribution Points than him, if at all. That was why he wasn’t afraid to go into this auction at all.
He had wanted to experience an Amulet auction since the day he entered the Cloud River Battlefield. Unfortunately, he had missed the previous auction by two days.
Now that he was given the chance to catch up with lost opportunities, he did not hesitate to seize it with both hands.
He messaged Kitty Shen and told her that he would be heading back later than expected. Kitty Shen acknowledged the message before advising him to take care of himself, don’t trust strangers easily, and so on. It made him feel a bit of warmth in this unfamiliar world.
