Grinding EXP From a Demon Hunting Ship

Chapter 359: Chapter 354: City in the Forest, Golden Fruit

Meanwhile.

Within the Mist Forest Divine Kingdom, in a city nestled in the Mist Tree Sea.

This was Giant Stone City.

When the strange transformation of the Fog Forest occurred, the entire city was devoured and dragged into the Divine Kingdom.

But now, compared to what it once was...

The city had undergone an astonishing transformation!

The grand stone towers were shattered, reduced to piles of rubble.

The ornate carvings were blurred and indistinct, tangled in withered vines.

In the center of the city-state, the once-flawless white marble fountain lay in ruins. Its basin was overgrown with damp, gray-green moss.

On the city’s edge, the towering Obsidian walls that once scraped the clouds barely stood, covered in vines and creepers that formed a green barrier.

The city looked as if it had been abandoned for a century.

But the changes that had befallen its residents were even more terrifying than the decay of its buildings!

"Hiss..."

"Ugh..."

Their bodies were a sickly gray-green, their eyeballs dangling from their sockets.

Fungi sprouted all over them, making them almost one with the growths.

Their legs had completely melted away, rooting them to the ground like plants and stripping them of their ability to move.

Though they vaguely retained human features, their minds were gone, and only meaningless murmurs escaped their lips.

These beings.

They were more plants than people.

Within Giant Stone City, hundreds of thousands of Far South Continent natives had been transformed into these monstrous creatures that could only be called Fungal Living Dead!

A few of the Fungal Living Dead, whose legs had not yet dissolved, shambled through the streets of Giant Stone City, their decaying, rigid bodies creaking and groaning!

It was a bizarre and chilling scene.

Furthermore,

the movements of these Fungal Living Dead seemed to follow a specific pattern.

Whenever they neared a certain courtyard within the city, they would all, without exception, steer clear of it.

Viewed from the sky,

a perfect circle had formed with the courtyard at its center. Within this circle, there was not a single Fungal Living Dead!

"Heh..."

’So, they’ve all arrived... have they?’

Inside the courtyard.

An old man in a gray robe stood with his hands behind his back, gazing up at the sky. His cheeks and forehead were a crisscrossing web of ravines, marks left by the passage of time.

The old man’s cloudy eyes seemed to pierce through the endless mist and the sea of trees beyond the city, seeing the foreign gods who had stepped into the Divine Kingdom!

’Eternal Hunt, Wisdom... two Main God-level beings.’

’Shadow Binding, Blood Dragon... minions of the Nether Mirror.’

’Wait...’

’The Nether Mirror?!’

The old man’s tone grew heavy.

It seemed to carry a trace of bone-deep hatred, and... fear!

’He actually... came in person?’

He took a deep breath to calm himself.

"Hooo..."

’Fine. It’s time to put an end to this.’

The old man turned and walked toward the most spacious main house in the courtyard.

...

CREAK.

As the door swung open, a beam of light shone in.

Dust motes danced in the dim room, illuminated by the light.

Sensing the old man had entered,

from within the room,

"Teacher, it’s time for the story."

"I want to continue hearing the story you were telling yesterday."

a clear, young voice called out impatiently from the curtained bed.

"Alright."

The old man’s demeanor was gentle as he nodded.

He walked unhurriedly to the bedside, picked up a book, and began to read from behind the curtain.

"Last time, we were talking about..."

"Ragnarok had arrived. A great flood from the north had swallowed the entire world. Only the abode of the gods, located in Midgard upon the World Tree, was spared."

"The surviving gods gathered there."

"However, the water level continued to rise, and it was clear that one day, even the World Tree would be submerged by the flood."

"When that time came, all gods would have to enter the realm of the dead."

"At that moment, the Sun God, king of all gods who illuminated the world, stepped forward. During the long night brought by the flood, he had already fallen into twilight."

"To save the world and end the flood, a new sun was needed!"

"For this cause, he chose to sacrifice himself. He cut open his own chest and planted the golden fruit born of the World Tree inside."

"Using the Divine King’s blood as an offering."

"After four days and four nights, the Sun God died. From his chest, the Golden Fruit rose slowly, transforming into a sun that radiated a warm glow."

"This Golden Fruit became the new Sun God."

"However, this sun’s light was too faint to drive back the flood... The gods discussed anxiously, trying to solve the problem."

"The new Sun God claimed that his light was all he could muster. The other gods would have to nourish him with their own blood to make him strong enough to dispel the flood!"

"Heh..."

At this point, the old man chuckled.

"Child, if you were one of the gods, would you be willing to sacrifice yourself, to use your blood to nourish the Sun God in exchange for the flood’s retreat?"

"I..."

the child murmured, falling into thought.

After a moment’s hesitation, he spoke.

"If it were me, I think I’d be willing?"

"And what do you think? Would the gods... be willing?"

the old man continued to ask.

This time, the child thought for much longer.

After a long while, his voice was heard again.

"They would!"

"After all, if the flood destroyed the World Tree, all the gods would fall into eternal sleep."

"Compared to all the gods entering the realm of the dead, sacrificing a few is nothing."

"Heh..."

The old man gave a noncommittal chuckle and continued.

"Just as you thought, after some deliberation, five gods were chosen as offerings."

"The God of Death, in turn, used an Obsidian knife to cut open their chests, remove their hearts, and offer them to the new Sun God."

"The sun’s light immediately blazed forth."

"The flood receded, revealing the drowned lands, and the third epoch began..."

Listening to the old man’s myth,

the child seemed very happy and began to sway back and forth behind the curtain.

WHOOSH.

A slight breeze blew past.

The bed curtain swayed, revealing a gap.

Through it, one could faintly glimpse the scene within!

A corpse—entwined with numerous verdant vines, with tiny azure runes flowing ceaselessly between the patterns on its skin, exuding a powerful aura!

A god’s corpse!

This divine corpse, judging by its features, looked remarkably similar to the old man who had just been telling the myth.

It only looked much younger, like a man in his forties, in the prime of his life!

In the very center of the divine corpse’s chest was a ghastly, bloody hole over ten centimeters wide, from which a single branch was growing!

At the tip of the branch hung a heavy fruit.

It had the tender, childlike features of a Ginseng Fruit, and... its color was a brilliant, dazzling gold!

A gold as bright as the sun!

Leaving the room.

’The Golden Fruit needs to be watered with Divine Blood...’

’My blood is not enough.’

The old man looked up at the gloomy sky, muttering to himself.

’Unfortunately, the scion of the old gods is too bloodthirsty. He killed all the easily obtainable offerings... The gods here now won’t be so easy to kill...’

’The scion of the old gods isn’t strong enough yet...’

’I’ll have to give him a hand.’

The old man’s eyes narrowed slightly.