Sage of Humanity

By the remnants of a fire that had burned out, Lu Ye was feasting heartily on a big snake. It was over ten feet long and thick as an arm. The snake meat was fine, white, and tender, leaving a lingering fragrance on his lips.

It had been half a month since his supply of elixir pills was exhausted. Naturally, his progress in cultivation wasn't as good as before, but it was a bit better than he had expected. According to his current pace, he would be able to break through the barrier of the 9th Spiritual Orifice in another month.

The reason for this progress was a discovery he had made.

That was, the efficiency of his Essence Refinement-Qi Conversion was slightly faster than that of absorbing Spiritual Energy.

Where does the essence come from? Without blood Qi pills, the only option was to eat!

He had noticed this while eating wolf meat earlier, and after hunting and killing other beasts, he found that the meat from the creatures of the Spirit Stream battlefield was very nourishing. The larger and fiercer the beast, the more noticeable this was.

He was not adept at absorbing Spiritual Energy, perhaps due to his low innate talent. It was difficult for him to guide Spiritual Energy into his body, but it was different with the things he ate. As long as he could digest them, it would enhance his blood Qi energy. Then, he could refine his blood Qi energy into spirit force, achieving the same effect of strengthening his power.

Thus, in the past half month, the nearby beasts had suffered. As soon as Lu Ye opened his 8th orifice, his appetite increased greatly, and now that he was focused on the path of Essence Refinement-Qi Conversion, he ate even more.

This actually led to a radius of several miles around the cave where no beasts could be seen. Today, Lu Ye had searched for quite a while before finding this big snake.

Halfway through his meal, the entrance of the cave darkened as a pungent wind hit him in the face.

Lu Ye raised his head to see a huge silhouette standing at the cave entrance, accompanied by a low growl.

Lu Ye quickly got up and took a Longsword from his storage sack. With the sword in one hand and a Fire Serpent Talisman in the other, he silently stimulated his spirit force.

He had been living here for a month without running into other cultivators or encountering any powerful beasts. He had thought it was a peaceful place, but unexpectedly, an unwelcome visitor disrupted his day today.

Lu Ye had anticipated such situations, so he was surprised but not panicked, and he quickly made the correct response.

The cave was narrow. If the enemy dared to charge at him, the Fire Serpent Talisman in his hand could give them a hard time. If the Fire Serpent Talisman wasn't enough, he had other Spirit Talismans. If all else failed, he could slap a Vajra Talisman on himself, and the Longsword in his hand wasn't just for show.

Only then did Lu Ye get a clear look at the unwelcome visitor—it was, astonishingly, a big tiger.

Its whole body was covered in snow-white fur, spotless, with a large "king" character on its forehead, and its two amber eyes were soul-stirring.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

As Lu Ye's eyes met those tiger eyes, his spirit involuntarily blurred for a moment, aware that he had encountered an incredibly fierce creature.

During this time, he had killed many beasts, some even larger than this tiger, but none had ever given him the oppressive feeling that this big tiger did.

One should know he was now a cultivator who had opened his 8th orifice.

This was no ordinary beast; it was a demon beast with some cultivation!

There was a difference between demon beasts and common beasts; demon beasts understood how to cultivate. It was rumored that if certain key spiritual orifices opened, a demon beast could transform into human form.

This was the origin of the adage circulating in the Nine Provinces that without opening an orifice, a demon cannot transform, and without opening an orifice, a human cannot cultivate.

Many sects also included demon cultivator disciples because most demon cultivators were naturally strong and made excellent candidates for the path of physique cultivators.

As of now, Lu Ye's understanding of the Nine Provinces cultivation world was limited, so he didn't know this information.

He only knew that his current situation was a bit troublesome. Stuck in the cave with the big tiger blocking the entrance, there was no way out unless he fought his way through.

But he didn't know the strength of the big tiger.

During the stand-off, the big tiger let out a roar at him, making Lu Ye even more nervous and nearly triggering the Fire Serpent Talisman in his hand!

"Boy, is it you who's been slaughtering all around?" a voice like rolling thunder echoed in the cave, causing the surrounding rocks to rattle and fall.

Lu Ye couldn't help but pause for a second, looking at the big tiger with astonished disbelief.

"It is I, the great king, who is speaking, you odd-smelling brat who marvels at the mundane!" Seeing Lu Ye's confusion, the big tiger spoke again.

Lu Ye's heart sank to the bottom, and he got a chill, realizing that he might have underestimated the strength of the big tiger. This creature could already articulate human speech, and who knows how high its cultivation was, but it seemed to be much more powerful than himself.

"The great king is asking you a question, why don't you speak?" The big tiger's temper wasn't very good, and it let out another roar, with a threatening growl emanating from its throat.

If it's not a blessing then it's a disaster that can't be avoided, Lu Ye could only brace himself and feigned ignorance: "It wasn't me!"

The big tiger lifted its paw and angrily slapped the ground; the earth seemed to shake a bit. "If it wasn't you then who could it be—in this thirty-mile radius, you are the only human!" It paced back and forth at the entrance of the cave, its tiger pupils still fixed on Lu Ye: "This is the great king's territory.

Without my permission, you dared to wantonly slaughter my food, it looks like you don't want to live!"

Lu Ye's scalp tingled, feeling life and death hanging by a thread.

But he did understand why the big tiger had come knocking on his door—the area was its territory, and the animals he had killed were food within its domain. Lu Ye had killed quite a few over the past half-month, which caught the attention of the big tiger that followed some clues here.

"Speak up, how do you want to solve this matter?" the big tiger said again.

By this point, Lu Ye wasn't as panicked as before. Although it was rather odd to be negotiating with a demon beast here, it was still better than it attacking him without a word.

He frowned and said, "They've all been eaten, how do you want to resolve this?"

The big tiger stared at him, then demanded, "Hand over your elixir pills, and we'll let this matter rest. If you dare to utter a word of refusal, this place shall be your grave today!"

"I don't have any elixir pills left," Lu Ye shook his head. If he had elixir pills, why would he need to kill beasts for their meat?

The big tiger said, "Spirit Stones will do."

"I don't have any Spirit Stones either."

The sect master hadn't prepared any Spirit Stones for him, perhaps thinking that Lu Ye didn't need them right now?

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

Lu Ye sighed, "I really don't have any!"

"Then what's inside your storage sack?" the big tiger demanded.

"Some Spirit Talismans and a bottle of healing pills," Lu Ye replied truthfully.

"What a pauper!" the big tiger couldn't help but sneer, "Give me the healing pills, and we'll call it even."

"What do you want with the healing pills?" Lu Ye's expression was somewhat puzzled.

"That's none of your business. Just give them to me!"

"Alright…" Lu Ye reluctantly agreed, taking a bottle of healing pills from his storage sack and after a moment of hesitation, he slowly placed it on the ground.

"Throw it over!" the big tiger ordered.

Lu Ye looked at it: "Why don't you come and get it yourself?"

"I told you to throw it over!" Lu Ye's response undoubtedly angered the big tiger, which roared fiercely.

"Fine." Lu Ye lifted his foot and kicked the bottle on the ground towards the tiger while simultaneously activating the Fire Serpent Talisman in his hand. As the spirit force surged within him, the talisman turned into a streak of red light, like a fire serpent attacking the big tiger.

That wasn't all. He pressed his foot to the ground, his figure swiftly moving like lightning, sword in hand, charging into battle.