58: Chapter 58 Immortal Willow Upgrade Quest

In the midst of the mountains and forests, within a dim thicket.

The Tang Family's affairs had been settled, and the hunting grounds now belonged to Zhenxiu Restaurant. Ye Jing had waited a long time before returning to the mountains to once again investigate that mysterious Immortal Cave belonging to an Immortal.

He brought Hei Feng with him, specifically letting them dig away the soil from the cave. As the dirt, mixed with gravel, was bit by bit cleared away by the hounds,

the cave reappeared before Ye Jing's eyes.

He walked into the cave, carrying tools like hooks in his hands.

Upon entering the cave, Ye Jing saw that the crimson blood fruits inside were growing vibrantly, showing no signs of withering after all this time, and a fruity fragrance wafted out.

This caused Hei Feng and the other hounds to salivate with greed at the sight of the fruit. Ye Jing laughed and said, "Don't be greedy, I'll stew some Mountain Delicacy Chicken for you when we get back!"

Ye Jing reached in with long scissors, snipped off a crimson blood fruit, then hooked it over and held it in his hand. It was about the size of a fist and felt very warm to the touch.

This fruit could replenish Qi and blood, and even provide the legendary Spiritual Qi. After hesitating for a moment, Ye Jing took a bite.

With just that one bite, Ye Jing's eyes suddenly widened. He felt as if his internal organs were soaking in warm water, and his entire body was filled with power. This wasn't Qi and blood, but a gentler power flowing through his body, seemingly searching for something and then continuously filling it.

Ye Jing stood up instantly, his face flushed red as if his whole body was about to explode.

His eyes turned blood-red as he looked at a nearby tree and threw a punch. That tree, half a meter thick, was instantly shattered by his blow.

Only then did Ye Jing realize that this crimson blood fruit was extremely nourishing—perhaps even a bit too much.

He immediately got a nosebleed, and stars danced before his eyes.

Ye Jing wiped his nosebleed and saw that his 'little brother,' which had been dormant for many years, had stood up at attention.

This fruit really has some kick!

To be this potent after just one small bite was truly impressive.

Seeing Hei Feng's eager expression, Ye Jing fed the fruit to him. Hei Feng opened his large mouth and swallowed the red fruit whole.

There was no adverse reaction; instead, a faint blood-red light emanated from his body, as if he had been replenished with Spiritual Qi.

It seemed that because Hei Feng was a Essence Spirit, the fruit didn't affect him as intensely.

Ye Jing sighed; he still didn't want to act rashly, but being able to harvest such a powerful fruit meant the trip wasn't in vain.

At that moment, Hei Feng suddenly let out a howl, looking at the cave with eyes full of longing.

Seeing this, Ye Jing thought he wanted to eat more spiritual fruit, so he said helplessly, "Hei Feng, let's leave these fruits here for now. I can't break through that strange Magical Artifact."

"Awoo! Awoo~!" Hei Feng continued to bark at the Magical Artifact, then bit Ye Jing's hand and dragged him to one side.

Ye Jing was somewhat confused until he looked up and saw a tiny crack appearing at the edge of the Formation. Hei Feng was staring at this crack, urgently pawing at the ground.

"There's actually a crack here?" Ye Jing was greatly surprised, seeing Hei Feng looking at him with an anxious expression.

Having tamed these animals, Ye Jing understood their meaning to some extent. What Hei Feng was interested in wasn't the fruit inside, but the Formation. Thus, he said, "Do whatever you want to do!"

Upon receiving the order, Hei Feng immediately let out an excited howl, pounced onto the Formation, and bit down on the crack in the barrier.

Under Ye Jing's astonished gaze, Hei Feng was actually devouring the barrier that had troubled Ye Jing for so long. He let out another howl and continued eating, his entire body surrounded by golden light.

Ye Jing immediately used the Immortal Willow to investigate.

"Low-level Black Dog Essence Spirit. Skill: Devour."

Ye Jing was incredibly shocked to see this skill. He had thought 'Devour' just meant eating meat and the like; he hadn't expected it could even devour Magical Artifacts used by Immortals!

With the barrier gone, Hei Feng ran inside but didn't touch the spiritual fruits. Instead, he waited obediently in the cave for Ye Jing to approach.

Seeing that he was fine, Ye Jing entered as well.

The skeletal remains on the ground were covered in tattered clothes, but the broken golden shards still glowed with light.

Ye Jing carefully used an iron hook to flip through the tattered clothes on the remains, and a small cloth bag fell out.

He tested it a few times and found no danger, so he picked it up to take a look.

He saw that the cloth bag was tied tightly and glowed with a white fluorescent light. Ye Jing used all his strength but couldn't pull it open.

Ye Jing had no choice but to give up. It seemed he couldn't open this tiny bag; perhaps an Immortal's Spell still remained on it.

When he looked at the golden light shards, a line of ancient text appeared on them.

"Golden Light Bowl Fragment, defensive Spiritual Artifact, can be collected."

Seeing the prompt that it could be collected, Ye Jing immediately began the process. He wanted to see what this so-called 'collection' by the Immortal Willow was actually for.

After agreeing to collect it, Ye Jing suddenly felt his consciousness arrive in that world of Chaos.

The Immortal Willow had grown another inch, its five willow branches swaying slowly. The fragments of the Magical Artifact slowly flew to the side of the Immortal Willow.

They then formed a golden bowl. To Ye Jing's surprise, the fragments of this Magical Artifact were actually slowly being restored, while the surrounding branches and leaves emitted a faint green light.

The display above read: "Harvested low-grade Spiritual Artifact. To enable Family descendants to step onto the Immortal Path, you may immediately use five hundred Immortal Light to upgrade the Immortal Willow Cave and catalyze the Family's Spiritual Vein."

"Upgrade the Immortal Willow?!" Ye Jing was shocked. This Immortal Willow had been inside him for a long time, and besides generating Immortal Light based on Family development, enlightening plants, and taming animals, it could actually be upgraded.

Ye Jing immediately asked, "What effects will the Immortal Willow have after upgrading?"

Ancient golden patterns appeared above the Immortal Willow: "Spiritual fields will appear to grow Spiritual Plants, and it can provide Cultivation Aptitude for the Family Head to step onto the Immortal Path!"

Seeing this text, Ye Jing's breathing suddenly became ragged with excitement, completely unable to believe it.

His entire attention was captured by the phrase "provide Cultivation Aptitude to step onto the Immortal Path."

One must know that when he first came to this world, his goal was to go to an Immortal Sect to Cultivate the Dao! But unfortunately, he had no Spiritual Root and couldn't even cross the threshold of an Immortal Sect.

Now that the Immortal Willow could give him Cultivation Aptitude, how could Ye Jing not be overjoyed?

"That is to say... I can practice Cultivation?!"

He wept tears of joy. Thinking of himself as Ye Jing, over eighty years old—originally, being able to lead his Family to a good life was already a blessing from heaven, let alone being able to walk the path of Cultivation.

After his excitement passed, Ye Jing began to seriously look at the conditions for the Immortal Willow's upgrade.

Five hundred points of Immortal Light could be obtained if Ye Jing worked harder to earn money and develop the Family business, but the requirement for a Family descendant to step onto the Immortal Path was not simple.

As far as he knew, Immortal Sects only recruited Disciples once every few decades, and it hadn't been long since their last recruitment.

Ye Jing's Family couldn't wait decades. He feared whether his martial arts-trained body could survive that long even with the support of Immortal Light. Even if he could hold out until then, it would be hard for the Family's descendants to wait.

If the Immortal Sects were hard to wait for, then who in the mortal world would have a Cultivation method that could teach someone the basics?

Thinking of this, Ye Jing smiled bitterly. This was truly a case of the heavens not being cooperative.

It gave him hope, yet brought a massive challenge.