Chapter 40 : Chapter 40
Chapter 40: The Blood Spirit Fruit Tree, Traces of a Demonic Beast
One of the herb gatherers stared blankly ahead, muttering, “We’re rich, we’re rich! Brother Jin, we’ve struck it rich!”
“Heavens, am I dreaming?”
“I’ve never seen so many medicinal herbs in my life.”
Even the usually steady Brother Jin revealed a look of astonishment.
Delighted, he patted A-Liang on the shoulder and praised him, “Brat, you’ve rendered a great service!”
A-Liang grinned.
“Don’t rush to start digging yet. This is a naturally formed medicinal field. Judging by my many years of experience gathering herbs, there must be something truly valuable hidden in this medicinal field.”
Brother Jin spoke with absolute certainty.
At those words, greed immediately filled everyone’s faces.
If even Brother Jin called it something truly valuable, just how much money would it be worth?
“Follow me.”
Brother Jin waved his hand.
The group carefully made their way through the medicinal field, afraid of trampling this treasure that heaven itself had bestowed upon them.
After advancing several hundred meters, they reached a vast natural cavern. Inside, growing atop the enormous remains of some giant creature, stood a wondrous fruit tree.
Its branches were lush and flourishing, and each leaf seemed carved from green jade, giving off a faint sheen, as though every last one of them contained endless vitality and spirituality.
As for the blood-red fruits hanging from its branches, they were clear and crystalline like gemstones, radiating a dazzling crimson light.
It was as though they had gathered together all the essence of heaven and earth.
A strange fragrance drifted from them. Whenever the breeze stirred, waves of sweet aroma spread through the air, intoxicating anyone who smelled it.
“This... this... this is a Blood Spirit Fruit!”
Brother Jin could hardly believe his own eyes. He nearly bit his tongue off in shock.
“A Blood Spirit Fruit? What is that? Why have we never heard of it?”
One of the older herb gatherers asked in confusion.
He had gathered herbs for half his life, yet this was the first time he had ever heard of the Blood Spirit Fruit, and also the first time he had ever seen it.
“That’s because it’s no longer an ordinary herb. It’s a heavenly treasure!”
Brother Jin said, his eyes burning with fervor.
GASP!
“A heavenly treasure!”
“To think that in this old man’s lifetime, I would actually be lucky enough to see a heavenly treasure. Even if I died now, I could die without regret.”
The others exclaimed in wonder one after another.
“Brother Jin really is knowledgeable. You even recognized a treasure like this.”
Brother Jin shook his head and said modestly, “If I hadn’t happened to flip through an ancient text before, I wouldn’t have recognized it either.”
“This Blood Spirit Fruit Tree has extremely harsh growth requirements.”
“It must grow atop the bones of a great demon, drawing in the essence of its flesh and blood.”
“Only after five hundred years does the tree mature. As for the Blood Spirit Fruits it bears, they flower once every ten years, fruit us once every ten years, and only fully ripen once every ten years after that.”
“If a Qi-Blood Realm cultivator consumes one, it can improve his cultivation. If a Physical Body Realm cultivator consumes one, it can increase the chances of breaking through a realm!”
After listening to Brother Jin’s description of the Blood Spirit Fruit Tree, the herb gatherers were left completely dumbfounded.
“So all of you must keep your mouths shut. If news of this Blood Spirit Fruit Tree gets out, then we’ll probably face total annihilation.”
Still uneasy, Brother Jin gave them a stern warning.
“Brother Jin, don’t worry. We’ve followed you for so many years. You should know what kind of people we are.”
The herb gatherers all thumped their chests in promise.
“Then, Brother Jin... what if we eat the Blood Spirit Fruit ourselves?”
The young herb gatherer A-Liang stared at the crimson fruit with undisguised greed.
Brother Jin let out a cold laugh and slapped him on the head in annoyance. “With our Body Tempering Realm cultivation, if we ate a Blood Spirit Fruit, we’d explode and die on the spot.”
Imagining that scene, A-Liang shivered.
“Then I’m not eating it, I’m not eating it.”
“Enough. Don’t waste any more time. Hurry up and pick the fruits!”
“According to the ancient text, heavenly treasures like this are usually guarded by powerful demonic beasts. If that beast comes back, we’ll be dead for sure.”
The others nodded and rushed into the cavern in a swarm.
Yet the moment they neared it and saw that mountain-like skeleton before them,
they all felt an overwhelmingly powerful pressure descend upon them, making it difficult even to take another step.
“Even in death, its might remains. As expected of a legendary great demon. It’s been dead for so many years, yet it still carries such terrifying presence. If it had been alive, one breath from it probably would’ve been enough to wipe us all out.”
Brother Jin said in horror.
“You lot stay here and wait. I’ll go pick them.”
With that, he gritted his teeth and walked inside.
Every step felt incomparably heavy.
And just as he was about to touch the Blood Spirit Fruit—
HISSS!
A chilling, ear-piercing hiss echoed out from the depths of the cavern, and the air instantly filled with a cold and dangerous aura.
Brother Jin froze.
His expression stiffened as he looked toward the depths of the cavern, and his face turned deathly pale in an instant.
There, deep within the darkness, a pair of scarlet eyes as large as bronze bells were staring fixedly at him.
Cold sweat ran down his face, and a dreadful premonition rose in his heart.
Suddenly, the cavern began to tremble, as though an earth dragon had turned over.
No, it wasn’t an earth dragon turning over!
Brother Jin was horrified. It was that mysterious creature hidden within the cavern—it had moved.
Brother Jin retreated again and again, and the mysterious creature lunged after him.
When it finally emerged fully from the darkness, everyone was stunned.
It was an enormous serpent dozens of zhang long.
Its entire body was dark red, covered in hard scales like armor, while its crimson eyes shone with chilling killing intent.
“These lowly monkeys actually dare steal its things.”
The red serpent, clearly possessed of considerable intelligence, flicked its tongue and instantly locked onto the herb gatherers.
“It’s a demonic beast! Run!”
Brother Jin roared in terror.
The stunned crowd snapped back to themselves as if waking from a dream and began fleeing with a speed they had never shown in their lives.
The serpent’s body soared into the air like a streak of red lightning as it pounced toward the herb gatherers.
Two of them failed to dodge in time and were smashed unconscious on the spot by the serpent before being swallowed whole.
After devouring the two men, the serpent’s ferocity only grew more fearsome.
HISSS!
It launched into pursuit once again.
In his panic, one of the herb gatherers tripped over a dead vine and fell to the ground. He cried out in horror, “Save me!”
But at a moment like this, who still had the leisure to care about him?
The serpent was already upon him.
Within his pupils, the serpent’s form expanded without end.
Hearing the cry for help behind him, A-Liang instinctively turned his head—and saw a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.
The fallen herb gatherer had already been swallowed by the serpent, with only two legs still sticking out, twitching wildly.
A-Liang felt his scalp go numb.
In that fleeting instant, the serpent, having already devoured three people, charged up behind them once more.
A few breaths later, two more herb gatherers were swallowed by the serpent.
At last, Brother Jin and A-Liang reached the narrow valley passage.
They had only just entered it when the serpent caught up behind them.
Its enormous body slammed heavily into the mountain wall. The impact sent violent tremors through the earth, while rocks tumbled down and trees shook rustling all around.
Its body was simply too huge to pass through the narrow passage.
As it watched the two monkeys escape, thick unwillingness shone in the serpent’s scarlet eyes.
Slowly, it withdrew.
The fruits that would make it stronger were about to fully ripen.
It had to guard them well.