12: Chapter 12 Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Fruit

Jiang Lan logged out of the [qixian continent] game, took off his helmet, and glanced at the time on his phone.

[May 9, 3088, 01:00].

Unknowingly, he had already played until one in the morning. Jiang Lan ordered takeout on his phone; as usual, it was [lao gan ma fried rice] and [grilled cold noodles].

Funds were tight now, so every penny had to be spent wisely. The main idea was to save where he should and spend where he must—like riding a bicycle to a bar!

In his past life's memories, the [Player Exchange] would open one month after the server launch.

By pouring all his money into cultivation and equipment now to rapidly increase his strength, he would be able to sell the equipment, Cultivation Techniques, Medicinal Pills, Magical Artifacts, and Talismans dropped in the game for RMB on the [Player Exchange].

In his past life's memories, a High Grade Qi Refining equipment piece could sell for hundreds of thousands of RMB!

If it had hidden attribute bonuses, its value could increase by more than tenfold!

There were also high-quality [foundation establishment pills], which could cost over a hundred thousand RMB per pill!

This was one of the more ethical aspects of the game: essentially, high-tier weapons, equipment, Materials, Cultivation Techniques, and Medicinal Pills could only be dropped in-game, while the mall only sold low-tier Materials and items.

Consequently, in his past life, players who became millionaires or even billionaires overnight were everywhere!

Moreover, Jiang Lan himself possessed the [void cauldron] Immortal Artifact, which allowed him to enhance the dropped Materials before putting them up for sale!

Enhancing just a few Materials could easily net him billions!

Then, by putting that money back into the game to keep topping up, wouldn't he surely become a god?

While Jiang Lan was busy thinking about how to spend those billions in the future, he chewed fiercely on his lao gan ma fried rice!

After finishing his takeout, Jiang Lan went straight to sleep, because the next day, there was a beautiful woman he had longed for in his past life that he needed to save!

Jiang Lan had fallen asleep, but the [qixian continent] game continued.

Time in the [qixian continent] game was perfectly synchronized with real life; it was now 2:00 AM.

Most Cultivators in the Secret Realm had carved out simple Immortal Caves within the [Ancient Desolate Secret Realm], beginning to meditate and rest to pass their first night in the Secret Realm.

However, the deep night of the [Ancient Desolate Secret Realm] was not peaceful!

Deep within the Secret Realm, a hundred-zhang-tall [Giant Strength Divine Ape] and a several-dozen-zhang-tall [Thousand-Year Immortal Fox] were fighting over a mature [ten thousand year spirit fruit]!

Normally, the [Thousand-Year Immortal Fox] did not excel at direct confrontation; against a [Giant Strength Divine Ape], it could be said to have no chance of winning at all.

But there was no choice; its child, the [Nine-Tailed Ice Fox], hadn't eaten for a month. If it couldn't find a [spirit fruit] soon, its child might actually starve to death!

Yes, even Divine Beasts can starve to death!

After a Divine Beast is born, it needs to constantly consume heaven and earth spirit fruits, and its appetite grows as it ages!

If they don't eat for a long time, Divine Beasts will starve to death!

This was also why Divine Beasts were extremely rare in the game.

spirit fruits were scarce to begin with; even if there were more Divine Beasts, most would starve to death. The number of Divine Beasts that could survive was very few!

Although both the [Giant Strength Divine Ape] and the [Thousand-Year Immortal Fox] were at the [Early Stage Golden Core Realm], the [Giant Strength Divine Ape] had every advantage in size, strength, and muscle!

The [Giant Strength Divine Ape]'s muscles tensed as its feet suddenly exerted force, turning it into a streak of light that left several afterimages in the night. Its iron fist, dozens of zhang wide, tore through the air, creating wisps of white smoke from friction as it smashed toward the [Thousand-Year Immortal Fox]'s head!

Crack!

Accompanied by the crisp sound of shattering bones, the [Thousand-Year Immortal Fox]'s head was smashed like a watermelon by the [Giant Strength Divine Ape]'s punch!

Warm blood splattered all over the [Giant Strength Divine Ape]'s face, and the metallic scent of blood instantly filled the air!

The [Thousand-Year Immortal Fox]'s charm techniques were superb, but against the absolute power of the [Giant Strength Divine Ape], they were completely useless!

As Divine Beasts of the same rank, it simply didn't fall for those charm techniques!

The headless corpse of the [Thousand-Year Immortal Fox] actually turned into blood mist, gradually dissipating into the night!

The [Giant Strength Divine Ape]'s brows furrowed into a deep frown, instantly sensing something was wrong!

The [Thousand-Year Immortal Fox] was a Divine Beast after all; no matter how miserably it died, it couldn't possibly turn into blood mist—at least a corpse would remain!

There was only one explanation: the [Giant Strength Divine Ape] had been caught in an illusion!

From the moment the [Giant Strength Divine Ape] charged at the [Thousand-Year Immortal Fox] with its iron fist, it had been under the illusion!

The [Giant Strength Divine Ape]'s punch just now hadn't hit anything at all!

The [Giant Strength Divine Ape] hurriedly turned around, but it was too late!

A blast of ice-blue Spiritual Qi erupted from the [Thousand-Year Immortal Fox]'s mouth, transforming into a hundred-zhang-long ice Dragon that soared into the sky and charged at the [Giant Strength Divine Ape]!

With the crisp sound of ice clashing, the [Giant Strength Divine Ape] was frozen within a thick layer of ice, looking like a frozen Ancient Divine Beast!

The [Thousand-Year Immortal Fox] took the opportunity to snatch the [ten thousand year spirit fruit] in its mouth.

Its feet suddenly exerted force as it turned into a white streak of light, leaving behind several white afterimages as it sprinted toward its cave!

Just as it neared the entrance, the [Thousand-Year Immortal Fox] forcefully spat the [ten thousand year spirit fruit] toward the cave, but it was pinned to the ground by the [Giant Strength Divine Ape]'s sharp claws, which were like the scythe of a death god!

The [Giant Strength Divine Ape]'s eyes bulged, filled with worm-like protruding blood vessels, and the veins on its head throbbed. Clearly, it was furious after being toyed with by the illusion!

The [Giant Strength Divine Ape]'s scythe-like claws grabbed the [Thousand-Year Immortal Fox]'s head and tore it violently!

Rip!

The [Thousand-Year Immortal Fox] was actually torn in half right down the middle!

Warm blood instantly sprayed onto the cold ground, painting a splash of vivid red like a blood-colored rose blooming in this frigid night!

The [Thousand-Year Immortal Fox] was dead!

In truth, the [Thousand-Year Immortal Fox] never intended to leave alive; even if it died, it wanted to secure the [ten thousand year spirit fruit] for its child so that the child could survive!

This was motherly love!

Women are weak, but mothers are strong!

Tragically, at the very last moment before the [ten thousand year spirit fruit] could roll into the cave, it was snatched back by a massive ape paw!

Yes!

In the end, the [ten thousand year spirit fruit] did not fall into the hands of the [Nine-Tailed Ice Fox]!

That night, the [Ancient Desolate Secret Realm] lost one [Thousand-Year Immortal Fox] and gained one orphaned [Nine-Tailed Ice Fox].

A palm-sized Little Ice Fox, its whole body emitting wisps of cold air, was now on the verge of death from hunger.

This palm-sized Little Ice Fox was the [Nine-Tailed Ice Fox] that had just become an orphan.

In its dazed state, it followed the scent of Spiritual Qi and found the cultivation site of a Silver-haired Cultivator!

That's right!

This incredibly handsome Silver-haired Cultivator with sixteen-pack abs was none other than Jiang Lan!

The cave he was in was actually the [Thousand-Year Immortal Fox]'s cave!

The [qixian continent] game map showed terrain, Cultivators, and Spirit Beasts, but it did not show Divine Beasts!

The reason Jiang Lan chose this cave for offline AFK cultivation was that there were no Cultivators, Spirit Beasts, or even NPCs around, making it extremely safe!

But he had indeed overlooked the existence of Divine Beasts!

If the [Thousand-Year Immortal Fox] hadn't gone out to forage for its child, or if it had returned alive...

Then Jiang Lan would have had only one ending: being torn apart by the [Thousand-Year Immortal Fox] and fed to its child, the [Nine-Tailed Ice Fox].

One must know that a Cultivator with the [Ancient Desolate Sacred Body] and [Five Spirit Roots] was a great supplement even for a Divine Beast!

Yes, this game was just that explosive!

In his past life, many players would log in only to see a gray screen, staring blankly at their character's corpse on the ground and the Spirit Treasures, Talismans, and Spirit Stones scattered everywhere!

Then they would create a new account, top up again, and start Cultivating all over!

The palm-sized [Nine-Tailed Ice Fox] staggered into the Supreme Spirit Gathering Formation and plunged straight into Jiang Lan's arms.