The chaos finally ended four hours later. The great tree has left that thicket, looking just like a mountain and flying away - disappearing into the depths of Bronze Mountain.
“Sigh, what a shame, a 10,000 years fruit…” Shyflower didn’t care about her torn shorts, only the fruit.
“Let’s go back, I’m sure there are other spirit fruits there. In the past, that demon spirit protected them and killed all intruders. Now, I’m sure maybe some fruits are left with that thing gone.” Feiyun suggested.
That forest was quite terrifying but the spirit fruits were too tempting.
“Even the top experts have been tempted by those fruits but all died here, if we can get just one… we’ll be so rich!” Second Boss was the first to run back, even faster than his escaping speed earlier.
Little Demoness blinked twice before sitting on Whitey. Her speed wasn’t slower than Second Boss at all.
They knew that this was a big chance for them to get the fruits in what’s left of that thicket. Others have tried before but because of that demon spirit, only their bones remained.
There weren’t that many of them but each was very precious. They might not be 10,000 years old but probably not too far off. Just getting one alone could improve one’s cultivation by a mile.
Ye Siwan could no longer maintain her cool image and went all out, flying as fast as a meteor. She knew that this was a great fortune not available to even Enlightened Beings. She needed to take advantage of it.
Shyflower was all the way in the back. Her cultivation was impeccable, just not her speed. Thus, she kept on cursing while trying to catch up.
Her anxiousness was understandable since these guys were all wily people. They would take everything, not leaving a single sc.r.a.p behind for her.
Feiyun was naturally the first to get there after using his Swift Samsara to the limit.
This forest was completely destroyed with cracks spanning for tens of miles. This destruction caused by the demon spirit was truly shocking and transformed the landscape. Cliffs became abysses; mountains turned into valleys.
Feiyun glanced around and saw a broken spirit tree hanging on a cliff. It still had one milky-white fruit hanging on a branch.
Because the roots of this tree have been severed by the demon spirit, it lost its life force and this particular fruit was losing its energy.
“This is an 8,000 year Sacred Typha Fruit.” Feiyun became excited and quickly put it into his spatial stone.
It was very close to being 10,000 years, certainly wanted by all including Enlightened Beings.
He pondered for a bit before taking the broken tree too. It must have great spirituality to be able to bear a fruit like this. It should be a good material for cultivation pills.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t find the roots. They must have been destroyed by the demon spirit to his disappointment.
With the roots, he could have saved this spirit tree again. It was good enough to become the defining tree of a sect. Several thousand years later, it might be able to bear a single fruit again.
This fruit required 10,000 years to mature. If it was 2,000 more years older, Feiyun wouldn’t have been able to catch it. It would be on the same level as that demon fruit earlier with its own consciousness, capable of flying away.
Feiyun was the first here so he took the most precious one. He started looking for a second one.
Second Boss and Little Demoness were the next to arrive then Ye Siwan. All were excited to look for fruits.
“Haha! I got a 5,000 year Spirit Vermillion Fruit, I’m rich! Wait… it’s missing a bit… that’s fine, whatever, I’m sure even First Boss will salivate after seeing it.” Second Boss tossed away a ma.s.sive boulder to find a damaged fruit underneath. He trembled excitedly as a result.
This damaged fruit still had an incredible amount of medicinal affinity, only having lost 10 to 20% at best. It was still an incredible treasure.
“A 4,000 year Black Dragon Fruit.” Little Demoness dug out a s.h.i.+ny fruit from the mud next to a collapsed cliff.
It looked just like a dragon and was as thick as her arm. The dragon head and scales have taken form. The scales and skin seemed damaged but it was still glowing just like a coiling dragon carved from black jade.
Her mouth became wide open like a rabbit successfully pilfering a turnip. She quickly took it out and wiped away the dirt before discretely putting it away.
Second Boss glanced towards her direction from afar. Her expression became unnatural as she waved her sleeves: “So unlucky, didn’t find anything!”
With that, she ran around looking for more treasures.
This area used to be the territory of a demon spirit. It was probably a powerful tree demon before turning into this spirit form. It grew up here for generations so the forest received its power and produced more spirit trees.
Its presence stopped all intruders from taking the spirit fruits. Even Enlightened Beings have been killed before. That’s why there were so many rare and old spirit fruits available.
In Jin, a 5,000-year-old spirit gra.s.s and older was peerless. The Grand Tutor gathered precious herbs for several centuries and only had ten or so at this level. He considered them his babies.
A spirit fruit was even rarer in comparison. After all, spirit gra.s.s just needed time to grow. However, only very few trees could produce spirit fruits. A few hundred years old fruits were precious enough, let alone the ones found here.
Mount Potala had a spirit tree that can produce three fruits every three thousand years. That’s their maturity date - 3,000 years. They were known as the most precious fruits in Jin.
The royal sacred ground also had two spirit trees with 2,000-year-old fruits. Only Jin Emperors were qualified to eat one after their coronation to improve their cultivation.
However, the group was finding older fruits right now. Other cultivators would go crazy after finding out. Old geezers would demand it from them in order to live longer.
Of course, some of these fruits have been damaged to some level after being buried beneath boulders or mud. A few were smashed completely, no longer possessing any spirituality and medicinal property.
The demon spirit was furious during its rampage and destroyed many fruits with its chaotic energy, not even leaving the seeds behind - truly a waste.
Ye Siwan was lucky. She found two damaged fruits - one at 3,000 years and the other at 4,000 years.
She also found a surviving spirit fruit towering at seventy-meters. It looked quite tough with spirit lights flowing on the barks. Eight people couldn’t encircle it while holding hands. Branches and roots intertwined like dragons, br.i.m.m.i.n.g with spirit energy. Alas, it was also damaged with many broken branches.
“A 4,000-year-old spirit fruit, more precious than the one on Mount Potala. If I can bring it back, the spirit energy in the sect will be even richer. It’ll become our spirit root and will strengthen us for ages to come.” She stood below the tree as leaves fluttered around her, still shrouded in mist - a scene from a painting.
Suddenly, a black-robed old man came from the horizon riding a ma.s.sive lizard. His aura was as lofty as a black sun.
“A spirit tree capable of producing 4,000-year-old fruits? A supreme spirit root indeed…” He happily said.
This was an ancestor from Dark Realm named Ximen Sude. He heard the explosions earlier and came running looking for treasure. Sure enough, he saw the tree and Ye Siwan.
“This spirit tree is mine.” His old and profound eyes lit up. He pointed his black staff at her and shot out a black lightning bolt, successfully injuring her.