One by one, the cultivators fell into pools of blood.
The red petals dancing through the air seemed to be holding a funeral for them.
“Amitabha…”
Shi Xin couldn’t bear to watch the slaughter before her—the blood, the severed limbs, the sheer brutality of it all. She could only close her eyes.
“Rather than shutting your eyes, wouldn’t it be better to keep them open and truly see?”
Xu Ming’s voice rang beside her.
Shi Xin opened her golden eyes and turned her head. Xu Ming was staring ahead, his gaze sweeping through the blood bodhi forest. Within his pupils, obscure and intricate Dao patterns flickered as he scanned the area.
Shi Xin couldn’t see through Xu Ming’s eyes, but she found them... strangely captivating.
“Keep watching.”
As he continued searching for the blood bodhi main fruit, Xu Ming spoke to Shi Xin.
“People often say, ‘If the eyes do not see, the heart remains undisturbed.’ But is that really true?
Just because you refuse to look, does that mean your heart is truly pure?
You cultivate Buddhism, not blind meditation.
In my opinion, only by seeing this world clearly, by understanding human nature in its entirety, can you even begin to think about transcending it.
Otherwise, the Buddhism you practice is nothing more than an illusion—like a grand palace floating in the sky, appearing majestic but collapsing at the slightest touch.
A teaching that looks pure and noble on the outside, yet holds no true substance—what use is it?”
“…”
Shi Xin lowered her head in thought.
After a long breath, she finally turned back—this time, forcing herself to watch the chaos before her.
The desperate struggle.
The betrayals.
The killing.
The greed.
But then—
“Strange... Where’s the main fruit? Why isn’t it like Elder Wang Xuan said?”
Compared to the profound words he had just spoken, Xu Ming now seemed... almost anxious.
Because despite all his searching, he still hadn’t found the blood bodhi main fruit.
“What does it look like?” Shi Xin asked.
Xu Ming was momentarily stunned. “You’re going to help me look?”
Shi Xin nodded. “Mn.”
Xu Ming thought for a moment. “I’m not exactly sure, but it should be larger than the others, more unique, with a stronger spiritual presence.”
He had never seen the blood bodhi main fruit himself. Even in the records he had studied, there had been no descriptions of its appearance.
But one thing was certain—if it was the “main fruit,” it had to be different from the rest.
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“I understand.”
Shi Xin nodded and began searching with careful attention.
By now, the mountaintop was in complete chaos, yet Xu Ming and Shi Xin moved through the madness like two unaffected streams, focused only on their task.
Whenever stray spells or attacks came near, they either dodged effortlessly or deflected them with ease.
They never joined in the fight for ordinary blood bodhi fruits, making them stand out starkly from the bloodthirsty mob around them.
Zeng Rong and his companions had been waiting, hoping Xu Ming would clash with the other cultivators so they could reap the benefits.
But Xu Ming remained unnervingly calm.
As if everything happening on this mountaintop had absolutely nothing to do with him.
Soon, even Zeng Rong and the others started feeling restless.
To cultivators, these blood bodhi fruits were as valuable as gold was to mortals.
And for rogue cultivators, who were often greedy by nature, watching others seize these precious fruits while being forced to hold back was pure agony.
Yet Zeng Rong knew—this was a muddy battlefield.
The moment he stepped in, there would be no way out.
Many had already killed to the point of madness, attacking anyone they saw with a blood bodhi fruit in hand.
Some, more rational, felt that obtaining three or four fruits was enough and had already started retreating down the mountain.
But unless their strength was overwhelming, they would almost certainly be ambushed on the way down.
As more people descended the mountain, the number of dead on the mountaintop continued to rise. Blood and fallen petals mixed together, seeping into the soil.
At that moment, at the very center of the mountaintop, a sapling slowly emerged.
Blood continuously nourished this tree, while the fallen blood bodhi fruits on the ground rotted away in less than a breath’s time.
The more people died, the more fruits decayed.
And the faster this tree grew.
Before long, many cultivators noticed it.
In less than half an hour, the sapling had grown into a towering tree, a hundred meters tall.
On its branches, nine flowers bloomed.
From these flowers, nine fruits took shape.
Their size, the density of their spiritual energy, and the brilliance of their color were all vastly superior to the ordinary blood bodhi fruits.
Especially one particular fruit—smaller than the others by a fraction, yet its surface was covered in intricate Dao patterns. The Dao rhythm and spiritual power contained within it seemed almost ready to overflow.
Even though no one had ever seen the true appearance of the blood bodhi main fruit before, in this moment, everyone knew.
This was it.
“You stay here and don’t move! I’ll grab the fruit and come right back!”
In an instant, the crowd surged toward the main fruit.
Xu Ming was no exception. He left Shi Xin with a quick instruction before charging forward.
Since the entire mountain was under a no-flight restriction due to the pocket world’s laws, the scene of so many cultivators rushing ahead looked almost comical—like a stampede for free food at a dining hall.
Except, in this race, many were more than willing to eliminate their competition along the way.
Some unfortunate ones crossed paths with Xu Ming.
With a single sword strike, they were swiftly dealt with.
Lying motionless on the ground—well, that was certainly one way to behave obediently.
The other cultivators quickly realized that Xu Ming was not someone to provoke.
His speed was overwhelming, and soon, he had left the majority of them far behind.
A few cultivators attempted to join forces against him, but Xu Ming struck back with just two slashes—erasing them from existence, body and soul.
The sheer ruthlessness of his killing left the others in cold fear, unwilling to challenge him.
Xu Ming leapt onto the towering tree, moving effortlessly between its branches.
Seeing that he was about to seize the main fruit, even those who had feared him could no longer hold back.
They attacked!
Xu Ming dodged and counterattacked in the same motion, cutting down several more before continuing toward the main fruit.
And just as his fingers brushed against it—
Two other hands reached out at the same time.