102: Chapter 102 Classic of Mountains and Seas?

"As expected, this is how source fruit is used..." you murmured softly.

In the qingling notes, Master Qingling's handwriting became extremely heavy, even revealing a profound sense of helplessness and envy.

"Heaven and Earth source fruit are miraculous items that seize the creation of Heaven and Earth. Only by consuming source fruit can a Cultivator condense their Dao foundation. source fruit are divided into five Ranks by quality: First Rank Supreme, Second Rank Overlord, Third Rank Divine Ability, Fourth Rank Vicious Beast, and Fifth Rank Essence Spirit."

"The Rank of the source fruit directly determines the upper limit of strength after Foundation Establishment. For every Rank difference, the foundation of Spiritual Qi differs by twenty to fifty percent. This fluctuating range depends on the compatibility between the Cultivator's Physique and the source fruit."

"What is especially Heaven-Defying is that if one can consume a Third Rank or higher source fruit for Foundation Establishment, not only will their Spiritual Qi be as vast as the sea, but there is also a very high probability of Awakening the 'embryonic form of a Divine Ability' corresponding to that source fruit during the Foundation Establishment Stage! Their combat power will far exceed those of the same Rank, and they can be considered to have taken a half-step into the Purple Mansion Realm!"

Master Qingling's handwriting paused heavily here, the ink smudged.

"However, source fruit of Third Rank and above are all born in forbidden lands, or are tightly monopolized by top-tier Sects and ancient families that have lasted for ten thousand years. For Loose Cultivators and small clans, being able to find a single Fourth Rank Vicious Beast fruit in their lifetime is already a stroke of immense luck. Back then, this old man managed to barely achieve Foundation Establishment with a Fourth Rank 'Red Flame Python' source fruit. Although I gained a trace of fire-control ability, my foundation was ultimately shallow, and there was no hope for the Great Dao."

Looking at this passage, you could deeply feel the despair of Master Qingling as a bottom-tier Loose Cultivator.

Immediately following this, the qingling notes listed the names and abilities of several legendary high-Rank source fruit.

"Fifth Rank Essence Spirit: Wood Demon, Water Ghost. Fourth Rank Vicious Beast: Red Flame Python, xiaoyang, Gu Eagle. Those who consume the xiaoyang fruit possess infinite strength and bloodthirsty berserk transformation."

"Third Rank Divine Ability: Bifang, Nine-Tailed Fox, Kui Ox. It is rumored that those who consume the Bifang fruit can command the Nanming Li Fire, capable of boiling seas and burning rivers."

"Second Rank Overlord: Nine Infants, Kai Ming Beast."

"First Rank Supreme: Candle Dragon, Di Jiang!"

Seeing this, you gasped at the cold air in the Immortal Cave, your eyes widening in shock.

"Candle Dragon? Nine Infants? Kai Ming Beast?" you exclaimed in shock, cursing, "No wonder it looked so familiar! Aren't these the exotic beasts from the 'Classic of Mountains and Seas'?!"

Your heart was filled with both wild joy and shock.

These so-called source fruit of the Cultivation World were actually ranked according to the exotic beast catalog of the Classic of Mountains and Seas! Consuming a source fruit allowed one to obtain a portion of that exotic beast's abilities! This wasn't just Cultivation; it was practically genetic assimilation and evolution disguised as Xianxia!

You suppressed the shock in your heart and continued flipping through the pages.

Master Qingling had added an even more cruel rule afterward.

"However, the Heavenly Dao is both perfectly impartial and perfectly cruel. The higher the Rank of the source fruit, the more terrifying the backlash encountered during Breakthrough, a life-or-death gamble. What is even more despairing is that to ascend to the Purple Mansion Realm, one must find a 'Purple Mansion Miraculous Item' corresponding to one's own source fruit. These miraculous items are fixed constants of Heaven and Earth; only when the owner dies can they condense again."

"The higher the Rank of the source fruit, the fewer the corresponding Purple Mansion Miraculous Items. It is rumored that throughout history, for those who achieved Foundation Establishment with a First Rank 'Supreme fruit', there are only thirty-six Purple Mansion Miraculous Items prepared for them in the world. Scattered across the vast Cultivation World, they are like needles in a haystack. Countless Prodigies, despite having a Supreme Dao foundation, remained trapped at the Foundation Establishment Stage until death because they could not find the miraculous item."

Looking at this passage, you sighed silently.

"This Cultivation World has really taken class solidification and resource monopoly to the extreme," you grumbled to yourself, "Giving you top-tier talent but no promotion quota—they've really got a stranglehold on you."

The notes contained only a few sparse words about the Purple Mansion Realm; clearly, Master Qingling knew very little about it.

Flipping to the last page, there was a simple hand-drawn map.

The center of the map was Great Qing, and a huge red circle was drawn in the northwest direction, labeled "Nanxuan Region".

At the border between the two regions, several continuous mountain ranges were drawn, with a line of small annotations written next to them: "Ten Thousand Mountains, where Yao Beasts run rampant, a forbidden zone for Mortals. Crossing these mountains is the territory of the Sect 'Luoyun Sect'."

You let out a long sigh of relief and closed the qingling notes.

"Northwest, Ten Thousand Mountains, Luoyun Sect." You carved these few words firmly into your mind.

Your initial goal of finding the route to the Cultivation World and basic common knowledge had been exceeded. You turned your head, looking eagerly toward the second stone platform.

On the second stone platform lay a crimson jade book.

You reached out and picked it up; it felt warm and smooth to the touch. The four large characters "Burning Heaven True Art" were engraved on the cover.

"Cultivation Technique!" Your heart trembled, and you opened it immediately.

Sure enough, this was the Immortal Dao Cultivation Technique that Master Qingling primarily cultivated, a method biased toward the fire attribute that led directly to the Peak of the Foundation Establishment Stage. On the first page, there was his annotation: "This technique was accidentally obtained by this old man on the periphery of an ancient ruin. Although incomplete, the Spiritual Qi is tyrannical, far surpassing ordinary Loose Cultivator techniques."

You tried to read the main text, but found the Meridians circulation routes and Spiritual Qi breathing incantations obscure and difficult to understand, as they used a large number of professional terms from the Cultivation World.

"Damn it, if I had known, I would have brought that blue trait [Eidetic Memory] for this simulation." You rubbed your throbbing temples, feeling somewhat annoyed.

But you currently had no Spiritual Root and could not Cultivate at all, so you could only use the most foolish method: forcing yourself to memorize it word for word.

Suppressing the urge to devour this "Burning Heaven True Art" and carve it into your brain, you tucked it away close to your body.

You walked toward the third stone platform.

There were two items placed on this stone platform.

On the left was a crimson fruit the size of an infant's fist. The surface of the fruit was covered with thin golden lines, faintly outlining the pattern of a Vicious Beast that resembled a hideous ape.

Although you didn't know how many years it had been placed here, the fruit still emitted a refreshing, exotic fragrance, and its skin was crystal clear, as if it had just been plucked from a tree.

"This must be the xiaoyang source fruit." You recognized it at a glance.

The old man and the youth from the Ziyu Li Family had traveled all the way to Linyuan City and massacred the city to silence everyone, all for this fruit that could allow one to achieve a Fourth Rank Foundation Establishment.

You unceremoniously tucked it into your chest.

On the right side of the stone platform lay a small blood-colored pendant.

The pendant was teardrop-shaped and made of a material that was neither gold nor jade; inside, it seemed as though a pool of viscous fresh blood was slowly flowing, exuding a strange and bewitching beauty.

"Could this be a Magical Artifact?" You curiously pinched it between your fingertips.

You tentatively mobilized a trace of your Great Grandmaster True Qi and slowly injected it into the blood-colored pendant.

"Hum—"

A red light suddenly flashed across the surface of the pendant, and a tyrannical repulsive force instantly erupted, directly bouncing your True Qi back and making your finger bones slightly numb.

That feeling was just like a haughty noble disdainfully brushing away the dirty hand of a beggar.

"Quite a temper you have." You curled your lip; having no clue, you could only find a string to hang it around your neck, hiding it close to your body inside your collar.

The pendant, squeezed into your deep cleavage, seemed very satisfied with its current location and happily shone a red light, but you did not notice.

After sweeping through the three stone platforms, you looked around, and a trace of doubt could not help but arise in your heart.