While the cavern burned, the group of Evolved Jing masters were sitting nonchalantly outside the cave without a care in the world. When they became thirsty from waiting, someone would bring them a drink. When they became hungry, a star chef would immediately whip up a meal on the spot.
The Evolved Jing masters had all gathered into small groups to chat, and Bei Feng was also invited by Daoist Danxia to sit with them.
What kind of position must one hold to even have the chance to meet with such a circle of people? Before the appearance of the Myriad Heavens Fis.h.i.+ng System, Bei Feng did not even know that there were so many influential and powerful martial experts in the glamorous present-day cities!
Daoist Danxia"s group was rather small and only had a few people sitting in a circle.
There was the middle-aged man with his ancient sword on his back, the foster son of the current Qingfeng Gang"s leader.
There was also a skinny old man with numerous strange patterns on his wrinkled face. From his appearance, he looked like the typical bad guy. This old fellow also had an impressive background. He was the sect master of the Five Poisons Sect!
The last person was a tall and muscular old geezer with arms thick enough for racing horses to run on! He was a dual cultivator from the famed Tiger Elephant Sect!
The people from Nie family had originally intended to pull Bei Feng over to their side. But seeing that he was already sitting with Daoist Danxia"s group, it didn"t seem very appropriate to interrupt them.
Although the Nie family was very powerful, it still depended on whom they were being compared to! At the very least, none of the people in Daoist Danxia"s group were people they could afford to offend!
"Fellow Daoist, you are a dual cultivator, right?" Daoist Danxia did not talk down to Bei Feng just because the latter was younger. Instead, his tone was as if he was talking with an equal.
The other three people did not seem surprised by this at all. The martial path had always viewed strength as the determining factor for authority, and never demanded respect based on age! Suppose there was a 10-year-old youth with a Xiantian cultivation standing in front of them right now—Daoist Danxia and the rest would still respectfully address him as "senior"!
"I suppose you can call it that way... the more I trained, the more I came to understand the immense potential the human body holds within it! These pitiable achievements of mine are really not worth much of a mention."
Bei Feng heaved a heartfelt sigh. Those were his true thoughts. As his training progressed to more advanced levels, he realized that the human body was akin to a small universe, possessing unlimited potential!
"Haha, Fellow Daoist, you"re really undervaluing yourself too much. If the few of us were all born a few hundred years earlier, which one of us would not be a formidable figure in our own regions, with great power in our hands? It"s only because of modern-day weapons that we are forced to behave in such a restrained manner, acting cautiously wherever we go!"
The sect master of Tiger Elephant Sect laughed aloud. His words contained a trace of hatred towards all modern-day weapons!
The middle-aged man with a sword on his back, called Lan Lin, was a man of few words. But even he could not stop himself from shaking his head with a bitter sigh. "The appearance of modern weapons is a fortune for all the common folks under the heaven. Yet, at the same time, it is a great misfortune for us!"
The five men quickly familiarized themselves with each other as they talked. Each of them was an expert of their own region, and they had very different experiences and understandings towards the martial dao. This one topic quickly led to more discussions, and the amount of things to talk about also became endless.
Of course, Bei Feng spent the majority of the time listening while Daoist Danxia and the rest talked. He would only occasionally open his mouth, but his personal understandings and words were also very profound, usually managing to get to the heart of the issue in one stroke!
Night fell, and the five also got up and bowed slightly towards each other with respect. This act of courtesy was not for anything other than to convey their sincere grat.i.tude and respect for the new understanding and knowledge they had obtained from each other. Each of their eyes held a bit of regret towards the fact that they had not met each other earlier.
After an entire day, the raging inferno underground had also burned out. The Evolved Jing experts prepared themselves and walked towards the large cavern.
Even though the fire was already gone, the air inside the cavern was still filled with intense heat waves. A regular person would probably suffer a heat stroke if they stayed in this cavern for more than half an hour, and die from dehydration after just one hour!
The people who had come down were all martial pract.i.tioners, so they still had a great degree of control over their bodies. This amount of heat was still within the realms which they could endure.
The ground had been burnt so intensely that it had turned completely black, and small flames still burned at random spots on the ground. The vast forest of trees was completely destroyed, and a large portion of the cavern was covered with the charred remains of the once tall trees.
The body of the Half Teng Snake had also been burnt beyond all recognition. Even more unlucky was the fact that one of the bombs had somehow been blasted all the way to the carca.s.s of the large snake before exploding. Most of its body was directly incinerated by the intense heat, leaving only the snake head and a bit of its neck still intact. This valuable beast was obviously unfit for consumption now.
This sight left many martial pract.i.tioners with a deep pain in their chests. The body of this extraordinary snake was not inferior to precious herbs like thousand year ginsengs, but everything was wasted just like that!
Bei Feng"s group of five had formed into a small team, and without even sparing a glance at the Half Teng Snake, they directly charged towards the lake!
Those who dared to block them were all swept aside by this small team with ease!
On the island, the Primordial Heavenly Tree appeared to be motionless. This mystical little tree which looked to be extremely powerful earlier was now completely silent. Some of its leaves even looked slightly yellowed.
From the looks of it, this Primordial Heavenly Tree had suffered quite a grievous injury after having the majority of its roots burned off. If not for the huge lake around it acting as a natural barrier against the fire, the tree itself would have been destroyed too!
"Fellow Daoists, the five of us will take one fruit each. As for this Primordial Heavenly Tree, we will split it equally between ourselves too. Any objections?" Daoist Danxia looked at the crowd and said.
Lin Lan had the same zombie expression on his face as he muttered a single word, "Good!"
"That"s fine!"
The old geezer from Tiger Elephant Sect also nodded his head in agreement.
The crowd naturally did not have any objections. There was exactly 28 fruits on the tree, coinciding with the number of experts left. Even if Bei Feng"s group took 5, there was still enough for everyone.
"Ding! Grade 4 treasure obtained, Teng Dragon Fruit! (A special fruit produced by a tree grown on a natural dragon vein terrain formation. Contains a trace of pure dragon Qi! Snakes that consume it over a long period of time can revert their bloodline back to their dragon ancestors". Humans will gain a great amount of strength after consumption!) Experience gained: 0!"
Bei Feng squeezed the small fruit curiously in his hands as he read the System notification.
The gigantic snake they had just slain had been guarding the Primordial Heavenly Tree for uncountable centuries. To grow from a regular small black snake to its current size, the credit could be traced back completely to this Teng Dragon Fruit!
It took 300 years for the Primordial Heavenly Tree to produce just these 28 fruits. Originally, the Half Teng Snake was preparing to use the fruits to complete its evolution. But in the end, the Teng Dragon Fruits which it had guarded so painstakingly while waiting for them to ripen had become someone else"s gift.
Everyone accepted the proposal gladly. Each person only dared to take one. They were all smart people, and naturally knew when to advance and when to back off.
There was only so many fruits after all. With Daoist Danxia and the team"s strength, no one would say anything if they took away 5 fruits. But if they tried to h.o.a.rd all the fruits for themselves, everyone would definitely team up and kick them out first!
All the fruits were swiftly collected and set aside. The many experts around the island were all watching silently as they watched the five men begin to divide the spoils.
Daoist Danxia infused his energy into the Vast Sun Disk and swung it towards the trunk of the Primordial Heavenly Tree with all his might!
"Dang!"
Even the exceedingly sharp Vast Sun Disk was only able to chop through a tenth of the trunk!
It took twenty full swings before the ancient tree finally fell down!
The trunk of this Primordial Heavenly Tree was only as thick as an adult"s thigh, but its stump was filled with countless growth rings! Its longevity was probably measured by millenniums!
Daoist Danxia did not stop here. He carefully dug into the tree trunk—until the tree"s core which was only as thick as a chicken"s egg was retrieved!
This was actually the most valuable part of the Primordial Heavenly Tree! The tree"s core contained the purest energy from the entire tree. If worn on the body, the energy within the wood could be slowly absorbed with time! It had the effects of improving cultivation speed, healing hidden injuries and so on!
Danxia Zi placed the two meter long tree"s core on the ground and carefully cut it into 5 pieces. The length of each piece was exactly the same!
"Ding! Grade 5 treasure discovered, Dragon Blood Tree"s Core! (10 years to grow to 1 cun, 100 years to reach 1 chi, 1000 years to reach 2 chi, 3000 years to reach 1 zhang! [1] Just carrying it around will strengthen the body over time and prolong life! If swallowed in powder form, it can help concentrate and calm the mind. Can also be burned as incense to aid in cultivation!) Experience gained: 0!"
The System reported in a monotone voice the moment Bei Feng received the section of wood.
[1] TL/N: Cun - Length: 3 ⅓ cm
Chi - Length: 33 ⅓ cm = 10 Cun
Zhang - Length: 3 ⅓ meters = 10 Chi