Chapter 31 - Ascension Fruit
The Desolate Mountains were big, and the largest faction in the area was Baiyang Town. There were only two Ninth Draconic Stage cultivators in Baiyang Town: the Bai patriarch and Yang patriarch, which was why Long Chen was surprised to find another Ninth Draconic Stage cultivator appear.
“Xiao Xi, what about the unripe spiritual herb? What is it?”
“All spiritual herbs require a certain amount of time to grow. They can only be harvested when they are ripe. This is especially the case with higher-grade spiritual herbs. We are still too far away. If we get closer, I might be able to determine what kind of spiritual herb it is.”
It was still too early to kill Bai Shiji. Besides, Long Chen was greedy and would never miss out on a treasure.
Still, he knew how strong a Ninth Draconic Stage cultivator was, especially ones that were expert fighters. He proceeded with utmost caution.
Long Chen snuck around the shrubbery, and after climbing a few hills, he quickly arrived at a densely forested canyon. The canyon was filled with fog and the air was extremely humid. Long Chen felt suffocated the moment he arrived.
“Stop.”
He obeyed her and hid behind a large, ancient tree whose species he didn’t know. Just then, Ling Xi carefully spread her senses into the depths of the canyon. There was a large cave at the end of the canyon that was very remote. No one else was inside save for the Ninth Draconic Stage cultivator and the spiritual herb.
“I have no idea what it is, but I’m certain that it’s a Black-tier spiritual herb ...”
“Black tier?”
“It’s one rank above the Yellow tier. A Black-tier spiritual herb is extremely expensive for a place like Baiyang Town. You won’t be able to get one even if you sold off all of Baiyang Town’s assets.”
Ling Xi spoke in a relaxed manner but Long Chen’s heart was in turmoil.
He knew that there was another realm above the Draconic Realm in terms of cultivation. Lord Wolf was in the realm above him. Naturally, there were stronger beasts above the Yellow tier such as the Moon Devouring Wolf.
There were stronger realms even for artifacts, spiritual herbs, and martial techniques.
Usually, cultivators trained in a technique appropriate for their realm and fought an appropriate level of demonic beasts. But the same could not be said for spiritual herbs. The higher their realm, the better. A Black-tier spiritual herb would provide an immense benefit to a Draconic Realm cultivator!
The spiritual herb would decide the fate of the two largest families in Baiyang Town. The family that obtained the spiritual herb would leave the other in the dust.
He followed Ling Xi’s instruction and slowly got closer. When they were almost at the cave, Long Chen felt the powerful presence sitting just a stone’s throw away from him. Long Chen held his breath and didn’t dare to move.
Ling Xi sounded surprised as she whispered as softly as a mosquito’s buzz.
“To think that there’s a rare Ascension Fruit Tree here, and it even has three fruits ...
“The skin of the fruit still looks unripe. Still, it matures relatively quickly. Based on what I can see, the three Ascension Fruits will be completely ripe in eight to nine days ...”
Long Chen knew there was no need to wait around since Ling Xi had already identified the spiritual herb and given him an estimated date of its ripening.
He gingerly took a deep breath and was about to leave when the mysterious person guarding the Ascension Fruits suddenly stood. He slowly walked out of the cave.
Cold sweat covered Long Chen.
It wasn’t that the person knew about Long Chen’s presence, but Long Chen’s bad luck meant that the mysterious person had decided to stretch his legs and check the perimeter while Long Chen was there.
At this rate, he would be able to pinpoint Long Chen’s location with his Ninth Draconic Stage sense the moment he got closer.
If he discovered Long Chen at this distance, he would not be able to escape.
Long Chen made a snap decision. Before the man could discover him, he ran at full speed towards the entrance of the canyon and into the shrubbery.
“Who’s there?”
The man was startled, and he gave chase. The speed of a Ninth Draconic Stage cultivator was no joke. Long Chen felt a strong gust approaching him from the back which uprooted the shrubs and made them explode.
The strong aura slowly pressed on Long Chen. Long Chen kept changing his direction but he still failed to shake the man off.
Since he’s guarding the Ascension Fruit, he’ll want to stay close to it!
Long Chen’s mind was turning at full speed. He immediately placed his fingers into his mouth and whistled loudly.
He had guessed correctly. The man frowned the moment he heard the whistle. He saw that Long Chen was still some distance away and gave up chasing him. He glared at Long Chen and turned around.
Long Chen had turned around at the same time and saw the mysterious man’s face. He was an old man around the same age as the Yang patriarch. Even though he was old, his body was still muscular, and his eyes were still sharp!
Long Chen’s quick decision impressed Ling Xi. Not many could come up with something like this while under intense pressure.
Long Chen continued running towards the exit as he asked. “Xiao Xi, what’s the function of the Ascension Fruit?”
“It’s something that will benefit you greatly. The Ascension Fruit is an elementary level Black-tier spiritual herb. You eat it once you reach the Ninth Draconic Stage. Its medicinal properties will help you condense all of the Qi in your body into a Human Core located inside the dantian. By then, you will be in the Divine Core Realm.”
“Divine Core Realm?”
Long Chen hadn’t had any talent in cultivation before, and he was only now learning there was a realm after the Draconic Realm called the Divine Core Realm. Instead of breaking through the nine dragon veins, condensing the Human Core was the proof that one had reached the Divine Core Realm.
Long Chen appeared confused, so Ling Xi sighed as she explained, “The Divine Core Realm is separated into three major stages: Human Core, Earthly Core, and Heavenly Core. Each stage is separated into three tiers: initial, mid, and late. You can split the entire Divine Core Realm into nine different stages. Also, Lord Wolf is a cultivator at the Heavenly Core Realm.”
Long Chen hungrily absorbed the information. He was smart enough to figure out that the Draconic Realm and Divine Core Realm each had nine stages. This meant that the difference between the initial Human Core Realm and a late Heavenly Core Realm was similar to the difference between a First Draconic Stage and Ninth Draconic Stage cultivator.
This was the reason why Ling Xi had told him the Yang Patriarch couldn’t even block a single blow from Lord Wolf.
To think that Lord Wolf was already so strong at such a young age. Long Chen understood that no matter how good you were, there was always someone better.
But Long Chen was not discouraged. He had his mysterious father, and the mysterious Ling Xi who helped him a lot. The Dragon Jade Pendant and the Inherited Blood Essence, which might have come from the Ancient Bloodsoul Dragon, ensured that he would get stronger!
He was confident that he could catch up to Lord Wolf since he had all these advantages along with the overpowered Blood Transmutation technique.
The only thing on his mind was the effect of the Ascension Fruits.
“This means that the Yang family can produce three cultivators at the Divine Core Realm if they succeed in securing the tree. For a minor family like yours, that would be enough firepower to suppress everyone within fifty kilometers.”
Ling Xi’s words stoked the yearning in his heart. The Ascension Fruit was an extremely beneficial spiritual herb. The Yang patriarch would be overjoyed if he knew about it too.
Long Chen knew the Yang patriarch had been stuck at the Ninth Draconic Stage for many years. If he obtained the Ascension Fruit, his cultivation would increase tremendously, and his lifespan would be extended too. He would basically be at the very top!
“There’s still eight to nine days to go before the Ascension Fruit matures. However, we are still participating in the Demon Hunting Tournament so our priority should still be killing Bai Shiji. We can decide later if we want to tell the Yang Patriarch about the Ascension Fruit.”
Ling Xi nodded and explained further. “The Ascension Fruit will produce a sign a few hours before it matures. However, only cultivators at the Eight Draconic Stage and Ninth Draconic Stage in Baiyang Town could detect it. It will probably lead to a bloodbath. Even if you don’t inform him, the Yang patriarch will still detect the fruit’s ripening. The only difference is we would be able to make preparations before the fruit matures.”
To think that the fruit would produce a sign when it ripened. Long Chen took note before turning his gaze towards the forest. His eyes grew colder.
“I’ve wasted too much time. Bai Shiji and the rest should already be fighting a demonic beast. This is the perfect time to kill him!”
Long Chen dashed into the forest.
He had just traveled a short distance when he raised his head. He saw Lord Wolf sitting on a tree branch just above him.
“The youths from the Bai family are going to kill the three from the Yang family. You should hurry and help them.”
Long Chen's eyes grew wide with shock. He thought he had misheard.
Bai Shichen and his siblings want to kill Yang Wu and the others. What’s going on? They were still on very good terms when they entered the forest, so why are they killing each other now?
He knew that Lord Wolf would never joke with him. He would only tell the truth.
Although he didn’t care much for Yang Wu and Yang Lingyue, Long Chen was extremely worried about Yang Lingqing.
If anything happens to Yang Lingqing, I will bury you mongrels from the Bai family with her!
Lord Wolf pointed in a direction. “They are over there. Go quickly.”
Long Chen looked at him with gratitude. He left after saying his thanks, running at full speed in the direction Lord Wolf pointed.
Lord Wolf frowned as he stared at Long Chen’s back. “That’s strange, why does he have the presence of a Beast Warrior? The scent is similar to that of an Underground Blood Lizard ... No, it should be an Underground Blood Lizard King ...” Lord Wolf mumbled.
Trees and objects flew past as Long Chen ran, his heart growing more nervous with each passing second.
He didn’t know why the Bai family was being so murderous. The relationship between the Bai and Yang family had always been friendly. The bickering wasn’t a big deal, but their relationship would be ruined the moment one of them killed another.
“... Is it because both families want the right to rule Baiyang Town for the next twenty years? But the wedding is taking place right now ...”
Despite his cleverness, he still couldn’t figure it out.
Just then, he heard the faint sounds of fighting. Long Chen's eyes were cold as he leapt across the forest like a jaguar.
He exited the forest and entered an open field, where two people were fighting in the center: Yang Lingyue and Bai Shiji. They had been flirting with each other just moments ago!
Long Chen scanned the surroundings. He saw Yang Wu was already lying on the ground, his face pale as blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. Despite his injuries, he was glaring at Bai Shiji intensely. Both Bai Zhixing and Bai Shidong were suppressing the injured Yang Wu.
Bai Shiji was toying with Yang Lingyue. He could’ve easily injured Yang Lingyue numerous times but he didn’t. Instead, whenever he had a chance, he would tear off a piece of her clothing.
Yang Lingyue’s clothes were already torn to ribbons. She was almost naked at this point, and she cried pitifully, her eyes filled with despair and helplessness.
“Bai Shiji, you fucking bastard!”
She cursed with intense hatred when she saw Bai Shiji’s hands trying to tear away the cloth over her chest.
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