Sage of Humanity

Independent cultivators, lacking a foundation and the protection of elders or sects, face constant dangers in the Spirit Stream battlefield; hence, many of them band together for safety, forming small groups.

On the Nine Provinces continent, many of the emerging sects started as such small groups.

In this area, centered around a healing cultivator named Hua Ci, more than a dozen independent cultivators have gathered to form a small group called the Independent Wanderers Society.

Ruan Lingyu was a naïve young girl. With some investigation, Lu Ye had figured out the general strength of the cultivators in the Independent Wanderers Society.

Hua Ci had the highest cultivation level, at the Level 5 realm, under her were two at Level 4, and the rest were mostly cultivators of Level 2-3, totaling eleven people. However, since Lu Ye had been healing in his room recently, aside from Hua Ci and Ruan Lingyu, he had only met another cultivator at Level 4.

Such small groups are countless throughout the Spirit Stream battlefield and naturally, cannot compare to real sects.

Lu Ye had participated in the declaration of war between Xuanmen and the Nine Stars Sect. Though both sects were only 8th and 9th grade, each had deployed thousands of members. The Independent Wanderers Society, if thrown into the mix, wouldn't even make a splash.

Over the past few days, Lu Ye's spirit force had fully recovered, and he had even begun his cultivation practices again. Currently at Spirit Stream Level 3, with thirty orifices filled, to open a new orifice, he would need at least fifteen Spirit-Nurturing Pills; however, with the assistance of Spirit Energy Gathering Spirit Runes, this consumption would be somewhat lessened.

When he came out of Sky-Splitting Gorge, he had nearly three hundred and fifty elixir pills in hand, which he thought would be more than enough to reach Spirit Stream Level 4 and have some to spare. But now, it seemed somewhat insufficient.

Mainly because he needed to pay Hua Ci five elixir pills a day as a medical fee, and his injuries would not heal within a month without her care.

This was already with Hua Ci's meticulous care; without her healing methods, the recovery would take even longer.

During this time, he used the ten-part map to find out his location and discovered he was about thirty miles away from the waterfall, which meant, he had drifted this far after being unconscious.

Yiyi and Amber had been separated from him earlier. He wanted to search for them, as Amber had been injured, and in the midst of the chaos, Lu Ye hadn't even had time to assess its injuries. Fortunately, Dong Shuye's target was only him and he didn't bother with Amber.

Provided Amber wasn't fatally wounded and had Yiyi by its side, there likely wasn't any serious problem.

Heal, then find Amber! That was Lu Ye's plan.

Under the cover of night, Lu Ye, bare-chested, was swinging his saber in the open space in front of the bamboo building. The injury had disrupted his saber practice for the past few days, but since he felt a bit better today, Lu Ye was becoming a bit impatient.

From a window of the bamboo building, Ruan Lingyu watched him silently, her hands propping up her chin, not understanding what was so fascinating about the flashes of saber light and shadow. Clearly injured, he should have been resting, yet he insisted on going out and exerting himself.

But she couldn't dissuade him and had to let him be.

Suddenly, her eyes lit up and she raised her hand to greet, "Sister Hua Ci!"

Not far away, the figure of Hua Ci appeared, followed by a robust man who was the Level 4 cultivator called Kong Niu that Lu Ye had seen before.

According to Ruan Lingyu, the reason Hua Ci was out early and returned late every day was that she went to the nearby marketplace to heal the wounds and illnesses of other independent cultivators, thereby earning materials for cultivation.

The struggles among independent cultivators were fierce, often resulting in injuries. While minor injuries could be treated with healing pills, severe ones required the attention of a healing cultivator. Without a sect to rely on, seeking the help of fellow independent healing cultivators was the only option.

Thus, Sister Hua Ci now had business to conduct, which perhaps was the greatest benefit of becoming a healing cultivator; they often did not need to engage in battle to obtain sufficient cultivation resources.

Under the moonlight, Hua Ci leisurely walked up not far in front of Lu Ye and turned back to tell Kong Niu to rest first, after which Kong Niu left.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Within the small group of the Independent Wanderers Society, Hua Ci was undoubtedly respected and loved by everyone, and her commands were followed by all.

What Ruan Lingyu had told Lu Ye earlier that everyone had been saved by Sister Hua Ci was no exaggeration but the truth. Essentially, everyone in this small group had been saved by Hua Ci's medical interventions, bringing these people back from the brink of death through her efforts alone.

These people had all owed their lives to Hua Ci, and after being saved, either impressed by her charisma or for other reasons, chose to stay here.

Lu Ye sheathed his saber, his body emanating waves of heat. Although blood was seeping from his wound, such movement of his muscles made him feel completely relieved.

Moreover, he wasn't sure if it was because he had felt death up close, but he felt that his saber skills seemed to have improved—though this needed a test to be certain.

"Tsk… I thought I'd make more elixir pills, but why is he recovering so fast?"

A soft muttering came from Hua Ci's side.

Lu Ye couldn't help but twitch the corner of his eye, "What did you say?"

After several days of interaction, the unfamiliarity had vanished, and Lu Ye was gradually discovering the true nature of this beauty—she was a complete miser. After each healing session, her first act was to ask Lu Ye for elixir pills, behaving as if she feared Lu Ye would renege on the agreement.

Just yesterday, she even sold Lu Ye a particularly bitter medicinal solution, after which Lu Ye felt his face turning green, and the bitterness was something he simply couldn't suppress. As a result, she prepared another type of medicinal solution that was supposed to ease it, costing him four elixir pills after consuming two large bowls of the concoction.

At that moment, Lu Ye somewhat doubted whether this woman was deceiving him…

However, judging from the recovery of his injuries today, she indeed hadn't lied; the medicine from yesterday was more effective than any before it.

Hua Ci revealed her uniquely intoxicating smile, her voice still as soft and refreshing as water, her eyes wide open as she blatantly lied, "I said you're recovering very quickly."

Lu Ye pointed at his ear with his hand, signaling to her that he wasn't yet deaf.

Hua Ci, as if she hadn't seen it, held her hands elegantly in front of her belly, "That being the case, we shall start the formal treatment tonight."

"Formal treatment?" Lu Ye was startled, "Then before…"

"Before was just the preparation stage. Did you think your injuries would heal so easily?" Hua Ci said seriously, "A doctor harbors the concern of a parent. Rest assured, I will take good care of you and make sure you have no complications!"

Lu Ye looked bewildered, the only thought emerging in his mind being, is this woman about to play me again?

"Go take a bath first, I'll get ready and come find you soon!"