AWB Chapter 162 Harvesting Spirit Fruits
Chapter 162 Harvesting Spirit Fruits
"In that case, I'll go with Shi Yin then."
After a moment's consideration, Cui Ying, seeing Gu Shiyin's expectant gaze, expressed her willingness to go.
“Very good, your aunt knew she hadn’t misjudged you. Although your cultivation level is not low now, more than 20 years have passed since your maternal grandfather discovered the spirit fruit tree. Who knows what changes might have occurred during that time.”
"For safety's sake, please refrain from going out unnecessarily for the time being and focus on your cultivation at home. This way, we can feel more at ease when you're out and about."
Seeing this, Madam Liu continued, quite satisfied.
Upon hearing this, Cui Ying naturally nodded in agreement.
For the next ten days, Cui Ying truly stayed indoors, spending her days either refining pills or meditating. Meanwhile, the two spirit beasts, Ta Xue and Jin Xie, spent their days fighting monsters in the Phoenix Mountains to improve themselves.
Time flies, and with half of the cultivators in Shuangling Village as witnesses, Cui Ying and Gu Shiyin finally got engaged.
The next morning, the two got ready and stepped out of the courtyard as the sun rose.
"This place is very far from that region. Even with your Dragon Horse Roller Coaster, it will take you three or four days. Please be careful along the way."
After bidding farewell to Gu Qinghong, Liu Shi, and the others at the village entrance, Cui Ying took Gu Shiyin's hand and entered the carriage. With the thud of the dragon horse's four hooves, the two of them transformed into a ball of green light and sped westward.
Along the way, except for the nights when Cui Ying would find a deserted place to rest for a few hours, the two spent the rest of their time in the roller coaster.
Fortunately, the journey was safe and sound. After traveling for four days, the Dragon Horse Roller Coaster finally arrived at the edge of a vast lake and flew into it without hesitation, walking directly on the water and continuing to speed towards the center of the lake.
“Sister Ying, this should be the lake mentioned in the journal.”
At this moment, the Dragon Horse Roller Coaster was only a few dozen feet away from the center of the lake. They could even see the grass and trees on the island being blown by the breeze.
"Ah."
Cui Ying agreed, and after glancing out the car window, she saw a pile of grayish-white rocks in the center of the island, and two or three animal shadows flashing by in the dense forest behind them.
The Dragon Horse roller coaster shuddered slightly before coming to a steady stop at the edge of the island in the middle of the lake.
"That pile of rubble is the entrance."
Upon seeing this, Gu Shiyin first took out a pale yellow talisman from his pocket and handed it to Cui Ying before following behind.
Just as the two approached the huge pile of stones, which was several meters high, Cui Ying raised her hand and threw out the talisman, which then stuck firmly into the crack in the stone. Only then did she record several spells in succession in her handbook.
After a strange fluctuation, the pile of stones in front of them vanished into thin air, replaced by a long-forgotten stone house.
Beside the stone house, there are several tall, dilapidated stone pillars with yellowed surfaces and some indistinct patterns, suggesting that they have existed for a very long time.
“Sister Aying, everything is exactly the same as the notes left by our maternal grandfather. It seems we have come to the right place.”
After seeing the low stone house, Gu Shiyin immediately compared it with a scroll resembling animal hide in his hand and said the following.
"Brother Shiyin, although the notes don't mention any dangers, nothing is absolute. Once inside, remember to stick close to me."
After glancing around, Cui Ying cautiously released the golden scorpion to scout ahead, and then arranged for Ta Xue to stay outside to keep watch before speaking.
At this moment, the two had already entered the stone house and, under the illumination of the luminous pearl, walked straight into the depths of the house along a stone staircase leading down to the ground in the corner.
The entire stone staircase was made of bluestone. When they reached a depth of more than 30 feet underground, the space in front of them suddenly opened up, and they entered a large hall with interconnected passageways.
Strangely, there was an open, broken stone door on each of the four sides of this place, and behind each stone door was a dark void, with no one knowing where it led.
"Phew~ Let's go this way."
After exhaling a breath of stale air, Gu Shiyin, who was walking behind Cui Ying, checked the animal skin scroll in his hand again and then turned left without hesitation, entering a dark passage.
But after the two had walked a short distance, another almost identical hall appeared in front of them. At the edge of the hall, there were several passageways extending to who-knows-where.
This place turned out to be a small, man-made underground maze.
Fortunately, guided by the handwritten scroll left by Gu's maternal grandfather, Gu Shiyin led Cui Ying around the left and right, and soon stood in front of a stone door that was shimmering with spiritual light.
When Cui Ying and Gu Shiyin saw the stone gate, their expressions changed slightly.
After exchanging a glance, Gu Shiyin slowly stepped forward, took a drop of blood from his fingertip, and flicked it onto the stone door. The spiritual light enveloping the stone door swirled rapidly before gradually opening, revealing a passageway just wide enough for one person to pass through.
The moment the stone door opened, a wave of intense heat surged out, startling Cui Ying and Gu Shiyin who were standing outside.
Fortunately, he was wearing the robe that Gu Qinghong had given him, which, after a flash of spiritual light, kept out the scorching heat.
After the two went inside, they discovered that it was an underground cave several acres in size, with the floor paved entirely with blue stone slabs.
All around, some pale red, crystalline stones could be vaguely seen, while in the center stood a crimson fruit tree about ten feet tall, covered with fist-sized, emerald-green fruits, numbering more than thirty.
The entire fruit tree was enveloped in a light blue light curtain, but from the dark red soil several feet below its roots, bursts of scorching heat were constantly gushing out, turning the entire cave into a giant furnace.
Just as my maternal grandfather had predicted, the time when this spiritual fruit matures will be the time when the earth fire below erupts.
Despite the protective robes, Gu Shiyin was still drenched in sweat from the intense heat. He stared at the spirit fruit tree with curiosity for a moment, then continued with some regret:
"If this tree hadn't been planted here for many years, it would have withered and turned to ash instantly without the nourishment of the earth fire. With Sister Aying's superb spiritual plant cultivation skills, we can transplant it back and, after a few decades, obtain some more Crimson Flame Fruits."
"Hehe, since Brother Shiyin wants to cultivate this spirit fruit tree at home, why don't we take some branches and leaves back and try it out?"
Unlike Gu Shiyin's regretful expression, Cui Ying smiled. With the spiritual liquid and the essence of creation earth in hand, she might actually be able to turn the rotten into the miraculous.
In the following time, Cui Ying took out a bamboo basket from her storage bag, walked a few steps to the spirit fruit tree, and reached out to a green spirit fruit.
"puff"
The Zhu Yan fruit seemed to have been ripe for a long time, and it rolled off the branch and fell into the bamboo basket below.
Seeing this, Cui Ying picked the remaining Zhu Yan fruits without any further hesitation, and in the blink of an eye, the bamboo basket was more than half full.
Seeing this, Gu Shiyin, who was not far away, immediately smiled.
Just as Cui Ying plucked the last Vermilion Flame Fruit, more than a dozen large, crimson talismans suddenly appeared on the ground where the spirit fruit tree was located.
Then, with a loud boom, a pillar of fire as thick as a water vat erupted from the soil, instantly engulfing the spirit fruit tree and turning it to ashes. At the same time, rolling flames shot out in all directions.