837: Chapter 837 [Tracing the Earth's Ley Lines] is like having a cheat code!

Ye Chen carried the little bear on his shoulder and walked on the ice field for about another half hour.

Along the way, [Earth Vein Tracking] was like having a radar turned on, capturing all the Earth Vein fluctuations within a radius of hundreds of meters.

As a result, he managed to dig out three more tokens from under snowdrifts and inside ice crevices without much effort.

The numbers were twenty-three, sixty-one, and eighty-nine, respectively.

"Tsk, who exactly set the rules for this round?"

Ye Chen stuffed the third token into his pocket and couldn't help but mutter, "Hiding them so carelessly, it's clearly just handing out freebies."

The little bear lay on his shoulder, letting out two "woo-woo" sounds, as if agreeing.

Ye Chen tilted his head and glanced at it: "You think so too, right?"

The little bear blinked its small, jet-black eyes and nudged its head further into the crook of his neck.

Ye Chen chuckled, said nothing more, and continued walking forward.

For the next half day, he traversed the ice field at almost a leisurely walking pace.

[Earth Vein Tracking], this kind of large-scale perception method, was practically a dimensional strike when used to search for iron tokens buried under the ice.

While ordinary contestants were still searching inch by inch through the snow, wishing they could break open every lump of ice to take a look, Ye Chen was like he was just strolling through the streets; he would take two steps, lower his head, reach down, and pull out a token from some inconspicuous corner.

By the evening of that day, his pockets were already stuffed with twenty-three tokens.

"Enough, enough. Any more and it'll weigh down my belt."

Ye Chen patted his pocket and found a spot at the base of a wind-sheltered ice cliff to sit down.

Although it was still daytime because it was the polar day, Ye Chen still needed to rest and eat something.

The little bear jumped down from his shoulder and was just about to curl up at his feet...

Suddenly!

Its ears stood straight up, and its nose twitched slightly toward the southeast.

It looked... as if it were listening to something.

Ye Chen opened his eyes: "What's wrong?"

The little bear didn't respond to Ye Chen; instead, it stood up, ran a few steps toward the southeast with its short little legs, and then turned back and barked at him.

The meaning couldn't be clearer... Follow me.

Ye Chen raised an eyebrow and rose to follow: "Fine, lead the way."

The little bear turned and ran.

Its four short legs moved rapidly on the snow, and its round body rolled across the ice like a white snowball.

Ye Chen followed behind at a leisurely pace; he was curious to see where this little thing was taking him.

The man and the bear ran on the ice field for about ten minutes.

The terrain ahead gradually changed, and the flat ice surface began to show undulating ice hills and crevices.

The little bear stopped in front of a huge ice rock and used its paws to scrape away the snow at the base of the rock.

Ye Chen walked closer and noticed a narrow gap between the ice rock and the ground.

The gap was about half a person wide, extending diagonally downward, dark inside, and it was impossible to see how deep it was.

The little bear had already crawled inside first and turned back to bark at him.

Ye Chen crouched down and reached out to probe the entrance of the gap.

A wave of warm air surged up from the depths of the gap, carrying a sweet scent.

Ye Chen's brows moved slightly.

The scent was faint, but the moment it entered his nostrils, the true energy within his body spontaneously circulated, as if its strings had been gently plucked by something.

"Interesting."

He didn't hesitate, turned sideways, and crawled into the fissure.

After the fissure extended diagonally downward for nearly ten meters, the space suddenly opened up.

It was a natural ice cave with a dome about three or four zhang high, and the walls were covered with thick layers of ice.

In the very center of the ice cave grew a low plant.

The plant was only about half a foot tall, with a slender stem, pale golden leaves, and a thumb-sized fruit at the top.

The fruit was entirely bright red, like a ruby frozen in amber.

The little bear crouched beside the plant, looking up, its two little eyes filled with longing, drool almost dripping onto the ground.

Ye Chen stepped closer and leaned down to examine the fruit.

A torrent of information from [Houtu Inheritance] unfolded silently in his sea of consciousness. After a few breaths, his expression tightened slightly.

Crimson Flame Vermilion Fruit.

A legendary spirit fruit that could only possibly be nurtured in the depths of extremely cold lands. It contained extremely pure fire-attribute heaven and earth spiritual energy and was a supreme treasure for cultivators practicing fire-attribute techniques, enough to trigger a war of contention.

Even if one didn't practice fire-attribute techniques, consuming it directly could significantly improve one's physique and temper the meridians.

And this kind of thing had already gone extinct several hundred years ago.

Ye Chen crouched down and reached out a finger to gently touch the fruit; the surface was warm and felt soft.

He withdrew his hand, turned his head to look at the little bear, and couldn't help but smile.

"You brought me here to treasure hunt?"

The little bear let out two "woo-woo" sounds, scraped its paws on the ground a few times, then looked up at the Crimson Flame Vermilion Fruit, and then at Ye Chen.

The look in its eyes clearly said... I want to eat it.

Ye Chen pondered for a moment.

To be honest... a spirit fruit of this level was useless for him to eat.

Because... the power of [Houtu Inheritance] was unimaginable.

But if he took it out to trade, it would be enough to make those big families in the Kunlun Ruins fight tooth and nail for it.

However, since the little bear led him to find it, it naturally had to be given to it.

"Fine."

Ye Chen reached out, picked the Crimson Flame Vermilion Fruit, held it in his palm, and brought it to the little bear's mouth. "Since you led me to find it, it belongs to you."

The little bear was stunned for a moment, as if it hadn't expected him to be so straightforward.

The next second, it lunged forward, opened its mouth, and swallowed the Vermilion Fruit in one gulp.

Then, there was a second of silence.

The next second, the little bear's body suddenly stiffened.

A massive wave of heat exploded from within the little bear's body. Its fur instantly turned from pure white to dark red, as if a ball of fire was burning inside it.

The heat wave impacted the walls of the ice cave, causing the ice layers to emit cracking sounds.

Ye Chen reached out to shield himself, his true energy forming a barrier on his body surface to block the heat wave.

Immediately after, he narrowed his eyes slightly.

He saw the little bear curled up on the ground, its body trembling violently, and the air currents around it circulating at high speed.

Its aura climbed at a lightning-fast speed... First, second, and third-rate martial arts levels were crossed in the blink of an eye.

Yellow Realm. Xuan Realm. Earth Realm. Heaven Realm... Then, it stopped.

Heaven Realm.

A polar bear cub, after eating one fruit, directly stepped into the Heaven Realm.

Ye Chen stood there, completely dumbfounded.

"Wait... Did I just waste a spirit fruit that could make Nascent Soul old monsters fight to the death just to feed a polar bear?"

Yes! If this thing were taken outside, it would at least drive Nascent Soul old monsters crazy.

But giving it to this bear only broke through to the Heaven Realm??? What a waste! What a damn waste! Ye Chen wanted to slap himself!

The little bear climbed up from the ground and shook its head.

Then, it looked up at Ye Chen, let out a series of "woo-woo" sounds, and ran up, diving into Ye Chen's arms.

The speed was as fast as a white lightning bolt.

Ye Chen was knocked back half a step by the impact. He looked down at the white fur ball frantically rubbing against his chest, his expression indescribable.

He took a deep breath and then shook his head helplessly.

"Fine."

"I really have no eyes."

"I, Ye Chen, have traveled the jianghu for so many years, and this is the first time I've fed a Crimson Flame Vermilion Fruit to a polar bear."

"If this gets out..." He paused, looking down at the fur ball in his arms, "I'll laugh myself to death."

The little bear didn't understand what he was saying; it just tilted its head up and barked at him twice, its tail wagging like a windmill.

Ye Chen stared at it for a few seconds, but in the end, he couldn't help it, raised his hand, and rubbed its head.

"Forget it, forget it. You've already eaten it, I can't make you spit it out."

"Anyway, you're mine from now on. Since you ate my fruit, you have to work for me."

The little bear tilted its head to look at him, not knowing if it understood or not, but its tail wagged even more happily.

Ye Chen sighed, scooped it up again, carried it onto his shoulder, and turned to walk toward the exit of the fissure.

"Let's go, let's go out and continue looking for tokens."

"And by the way, let's see how fast you can run after eating the Crimson Flame Vermilion Fruit."

The little bear lay on his shoulder and let out a proud low roar.

That sound was more than ten times more vigorous than it had been a few hours ago.

However, just as Ye Chen and the little bear crawled out of the ice fissure, they saw two figures rushing over from one direction, one on the left and one on the right.

Ye Chen squinted and looked over.

He immediately recognized the person on the left as an elder of the Bai family.

At that time, Xuanyuan Huo had told him the identity of this elder on the viewing platform; it was none other than the Bai family's Great Elder, Third Elder Bai Hongyuan.

He hadn't seen the person on the right before, but judging by his attire and aura, he guessed it was someone from the Hehuan Sect.

He was a generation older than Third Elder Bai Hongyuan, but his complexion was as ruddy as if he had just drunk three catties of strong liquor.

The two stopped simultaneously about ten zhang away from him.

Third Elder Bai Hongyuan's gaze first fell on Ye Chen, and his expression changed on the spot.

But the next second, he was drawn to the white little bear on Ye Chen's shoulder.

As a result, his eyes shifted from vigilance to astonishment.

"Spiritual... Spiritual beast?"

The old man beside him also had his eyes light up.

"Third Elder Bai, this fluctuation... is the scent of a spirit fruit!"

"This little beast definitely swallowed a spirit fruit!"