Chapter 859: The Excited Jin Dabao
A loud roar resounded before the scarlet throne landed. Below, a berserk ferocious beast with a brutal aura opened its mouth and sent a strong wind towards the throne. The wind felt strong enough to blow the vast sea into the air.
"Pu ci!"
The four small golden sabers merged into one, turning back into the purple talisman. Xiao Chen thrust his hand out, and the talisman flashed forward, instantly breaking the strong wind.
When the throne landed, Xiao Chen withdrew the talisman. A twenty-meter-tall, hundred-meter-long ferocious beast lay on the ground, split into two.
Jin Dabao's eyes opened wide as he exclaimed, "This is a ferocious beast that is equal to a Martial Sage. You actually instkilled it in one move."
As Jin Dabao spoke, he did not stop moving. With a hand on his butt, he jumped off the scarlet clouds and started to search the corpse quickly.
Soon, he found a black-spotted inner core and broke out in loud laughter. Then, he paced around excitedly, exclaiming, "This is a Martial-Sage-level inner core containing Immortal Qi. We earned big! Even if another hole appears on this Fat Lord's butt, it would still be worth it!"
Right after Jin Dabao spoke, the Longevity Tree with heavy red fruits thrust a branch out at him like a spear, moving extraordinarily fast.
Having just obtained the inner core, Jin Dabao forgot where he was. He carelessly walked into the attacking range of the Longevity Tree. It looked like he would not be able to dodge in time and would get skewered by this tree branch.
Electric light flared under Xiao Chen's feet. In the time it took for a spark to fly, his figure quickly flashed over and dragged Jin Dabao back.
Xiao Chen went and returned so fast that he ripped open streaks of pitch-black spatial tears.
The fatty, who just narrowly escaped death, breathed out heavily in relief. He carefully put away that black-spotted inner core and said to Xiao Chen, "Brother, fortunately, you are very fast. Otherwise, I would not have escaped intact."
The fatty spoke not realizing that another hole with blood spurting out of it had appeared on the right cheek of his butt.
Sometimes, when one suffered extreme pain, one became numb to it.
A sad expression appeared on Xiao Chen's face as he wondered if Jin Dabao had lapsed into such a state.
The grading of Spirit Trees was also divided into Sage Grade, King Grade, Emperor Grade, and Immortal Grade. The divisions were similar to Secret Treasures. The main purpose for grading was to ease transactions between cultivators and the appraisal of treasures.
The Lunar Cassia Tree was a Sage Grade Spirit Tree. The Longevity Tree was one grade higher—a King Grade Spirit Tree. Because of its special ability to increase a person's lifespan, it easily ranked among the top three King Grade Spirit Trees.
No matter what cultivation realm or race one was, the first time one consumed a Longevity Fruit, one's lifespan would increase by a hundred years.
With one hundred years, one might be able to make a breakthrough and advance further on the path of cultivation. The value of such an item was easy to imagine. Even in the Kunlun Realm, it was a top-notch treasure.
Xiao Chen carefully counted the heavy red fruits on the Longevity Tree. There were only twenty of them. This tree bore fruit only once a millennium. Such a number was very low.
Intoxicating red Spiritual Energy wafted out from the Longevity Fruits. Jin Dabao's eyes opened wide as he stared at them.
However, he no longer dared to mess around. Clearly, this Longevity Tree had gained intelligence. Since the Longevity Fruit was not yet ripe, the tree would naturally not let anyone near.
As Xiao Chen looked at the soon-to-mature Longevity Fruits, he entered deep thought. Before the fruits were ripe, the Longevity Tree would not let anyone near.
Jin Dabao's rear end was an excellent example of what would happen.
Everyone could only wait for it to mature, and the Longevity Fruit would automatically fall off. How many would fall off depended on luck.
It was hard to predict. Sometimes, the Longevity Tree would drop only one or two before it burrowed into the ground and ran somewhere.
Naturally, this was not the result that Xiao Chen sought. Since he was already here, he had to get all twenty of the Longevity Fruits.
Xiao Chen pushed off the ground, and his figure flashed towards the Longevity Tree.
The calm and peaceful tree instantly sprang into action. Long, slender tree branches extended out without end, thrusting through space towards Xiao Chen quickly.
Electric light flared below Xiao Chen's feet. In this instant, he executed Thunder Dragon Steps to its limits. He was so fast that he did not even leave behind an afterimage. Then, he tried to get close to the Longevity Tree from various angles.
"Ka ca!"
After a while, Xiao Chen broke off a branch and retreated safely. He now had a rough understanding of this Longevity Tree's strength.
This Longevity Tree had indeed gained intelligence but only relatively recently. Its cultivation was not deep enough. While its attacks were very fast, there were no tricks behind them.
After one became familiar with the Longevity Tree's patterns, one would be able to dodge its attacks easily.
Xiao Chen looked around and saw some mutated ferocious beasts keeping an eye on this place. However, they did not dare to get near him.
The Lunar Shadow Saber appeared in Xiao Chen's hand. Although these ferocious beasts did not dare to behave impudently before him, he did not intend to let them off.
After about seven to eight minutes, Xiao Chen had chased away all the ferocious beasts in the surroundings. Those that could not flee fast enough died to his saber.
By the time Xiao Chen returned, the Longevity Fruits were still not fully mature. It looked like he got here too early. He could not help but frown.
The group of cultivators from the Great Jin Nation could arrive while he waited.
Earlier, when Xiao Chen flew by in the sky, he had seen the group from the Great Jin Nation's Royal Court. The group was very strong and included three old men of unknown age and frighteningly deep cultivation.
These old men were already at the peak of grandmaster-level Martial Sage. Even though Xiao Chen did not fear them, he was worried that they might end up hindering him when the Longevity Fruit ripened.
If things did not go well, Xiao Chen might end up without a single Longevity Fruit, resulting in a great loss.
He frowned and thought for a long time. Then he remembered that there were still two unused Rank 3 Spirit Veins in the Immortal Spirit Ring. He could not help but consider using them.
What are you planning?! Don't even think of touching those two Rank 3 Spirit Vein's origins. If you use those now, you will have no savings left!
Ao Jiao was like a tiny housekeeper, strictly hoarding the Rank 3 Spirit Vein's origins in the Immortal Spirit Ring.
Xiao Chen smiled somewhat bitterly. He knew that Ao Jiao enjoyed caring for the plants in the Immortal Spirit Ring. Holding back the Spirit Vein's origins was for his own good as well. However, he had no choice but to use them now.
After negotiating for a long time, he finally got Ao Jiao to agree to his taking out one Rank 3 Spirit Vein's origin.
He waved his hand, and the Rank 3 Spirit Vein's origin silently flew above the Longevity Tree. After a while, a heavy spiritual rain sprinkled down.
The Longevity Tree happily absorbed this spiritual rain, and the skin of the Longevity Fruits slowly thinned, growing extremely swiftly.
The fatty smiled, feeling some heartache. He said, "Brother Xiao Chen, you are really a spendthrift. A Rank 3 Spirit Vein's origin is even more valuable than the Longevity Fruit."
Xiao Chen smiled without replying. In the Sky Dome Realm, the Rank 3 Spirit Vein's origin was indeed more valuable than the Longevity Fruit. However, it was different in the Kunlun Realm.
If he could obtain all twenty Longevity Fruits before the Spirit Tree burrowed into the ground, he would earn a lot on this trip.
Xiao Chen's calm eyes revealed a somewhat fervent gaze as boundless anticipation filled him.
He would also not let the seven-colored Auspicious Signs that appeared when the Longevity Fruits matured go to waste. He would collect all of them without missing out on a single one and give Liu Ruyue a pleasant surprise.
On the road to the Longevity Tree, Ying Yue led the people of the Great Qin Nation in killing the ferocious beasts in the way.
The ferocious beasts here were not easy to deal with, carrying as they did the bloodlines of Immortal Beasts. With her strength as a half-Sage, she could not simply move about without fear.
Fortunately, they had a senior with them who was a peak Superior Grade Martial Sage. Although he rarely made a move, he alleviated a huge amount of pressure.
Aside from the old senior who was nearing the end of his lifespan, the other people in the group were no strangers to Xiao Chen. Of course, there were Ying Yue, Feng Feixue, and Liu Ruyue.
As for the two remaining people, they were people Xiao Chen had not seen for many years. One was his elder half-brother, Xiao Jian. The other was a person who once took the lead in kneeling and pleading on his behalf, his cousin Xiao Yulan.
Back in the past, the two had gone to the Heavenly Qin School in the Imperial Capital on the strength of Feng Feixue's recommendation. After that, they gained the appreciation of the princess and joined the Imperial Dragon Legion. Now, they had become Ying Yue's trusted aides.
Ying Yue held the Grand Imperial Spear, which gave off a bright light, as she battled a ferocious beast as strong as a half-Sage by herself. After killing it with relative ease, she looked up at the sky doubtfully.
When Ying Yue retracted her gaze, she discovered that Liu Ruyue was also frowning as Liu Ruyue looked away from the sky as well.
The others all had their doubts too. All of them felt a familiar gaze sweeping over them from the sky just a moment ago.
Only the old man with the depleted lifespan did not sense anything. When he saw everyone's strange expressions, he said, "Don't overthink. No one in the Sky Dome Realm would dare to travel through the spatial storm in the sky unless they are tired of living."
Seeing that the strongest senior among them said this, the others did not dare to voice their opinions.
Only Liu Ruyue remained confused. That feeling from earlier simply felt too familiar. It was just a flash, but she definitely felt it.
Ying Yue collected her thoughts and said, "Let's go. The Great Jin Nation's group has already gotten far ahead of us."
She led the others onwards, continuing to kill ferocious beasts as they advanced. After putting in a lot of effort, they finally could see the top of the Longevity Tree when they looked up.
They could not help but feel very gratified. Aside from the Great Jin Nation's group, they were the fastest. As long as they put in some more effort, they would be able to obtain some of the seven-colored Auspicious Signs and would not return empty-handed.
Just one seven-colored Auspicious Sign would increase their cultivation rapidly and significantly. If they were lucky and got a few, they might be able to make a breakthrough.
"Haha! It is as I expected. The group following close behind us is yours, Princess Ying Yue."
Before the smiles on their faces faded, three Great Jin Nation princes appeared in front of them. Likewise, the Great Jin Nation party also included a Superior Grade Martial Sage.
The three grandmaster-level Martial Sage old men were not with them. Those old men must have gone ahead.
When Ying Yue and the others saw these people appear, their expressions changed. The Great Jin Nation's party clearly wanted to delay them and monopolize all the Longevity Fruits and seven-colored Auspicious Signs.
The person who spoke was the Great Jin Nation's First Prince—Yi Qin. He was already at peak Superior Grade Martial Monarch at such a young age. His talent was just slightly weaker than Ying Yue's.
Ying Yue's pretty face turned frosty as she said coldly, "Yi Qin, you had best not go overboard. Nothing good will come of your scheming and playing petty tricks like this."