184: Golden Baby Fruit

"Damn it, I almost didn't make it back... That place is no place for a human to stay!" A scarred man gulped down some wine and lowered his voice to his companions.

"Who could have imagined that such a malevolent star was hidden deep in the Golden Glow Plains... and that ghostly thing..." another person added, still shaken.

"Shh! Keep it down! Don't bring trouble upon yourself!" the third person looked around nervously. "No matter how precious the golden infant fruit is, you need your life to take it! The Black Wind Seven Fiends were arrogant enough, weren't they? Seven went in, and only the three of us escaped! Even the boss perished inside!"

Lin Feng's heart trembled, but he didn't show a single trace of it, maintaining his posture of resting with his eyes closed, while his Divine Sense firmly locked onto those few people.

"Damn it, who could have thought that the main ingredient for the condensation pill would just appear like this? That's a treasure that can increase the chances of Core Formation by thirty percent out of thin air." The scarred man's voice trembled, whether from fear or excitement, it was hard to tell.

"Thirty percent?! My god... No wonder even ruthless characters like the Black Wind Seven Fiends went crazy, not even caring about their lives." The other person gasped. "But that guardian Yao Beast was too fierce, and then there were those other guys later..."

"Fierce? No matter how fierce, it can't stop human greed!" the third person said bitterly. "That woman, Green Crane, was killing on sight just to clear the field. All for a single golden infant fruit that can refine a condensation pill."

"I reckon that golden infant fruit is just a lure, drawing all sorts of monsters and demons there. That place is a meat grinder now. Without real skills, going there is just asking for death."

He opened his eyes, instantly understanding why such a brutal struggle had been triggered. The Core Formation stage is the first true chasm on the path of cultivation; how many brilliant talents have been stuck at this barrier, unable to make any progress for their entire lives? Being able to increase the success rate by thirty percent out of thin air, the Materials for refining such a Medicinal Pill are enough to drive any Foundation Establishment Cultivator mad.

In his mind, he couldn't help but picture Smoke of Willow, whom he had killed on the Floating Island. Why did she risk such great danger to take on the Sect's mission for the spirit bewitching pill, if not to seek a condensation pill?

It was just that for this condensation pill, she had done so many sinister things.

And right now, this golden infant fruit was a real, tangible Opportunity right before his eyes.

Although he had the Nine Profound Sword Heart Art and his own insights to rely on for his breakthrough to Core Formation, if he could obtain this golden infant fruit and refine a condensation pill, his success rate would greatly increase, and his Foundation would be even more stable.

He put down his wine bowl, left a few Spirit Stones, stood up, and merged into the crowd. He casually inquired a bit more, and after confirming the reliability of the news, he no longer hesitated.

Transforming into an inconspicuous Escaping Light, he left the market and flew toward the depths of the Golden Glow Plains that those people had mentioned. He did not travel at full speed but instead spread his Divine Sense as far as possible, carefully sensing the movements and the flow of Spiritual Qi ahead.

The deeper he went, the more active the Spiritual Qi between heaven and earth became. A faint, strange, sweet fragrance began to permeate the air, refreshing to smell yet vaguely unsettling to the mind. Clearly, this was the fragrance emitted when a high-grade Spirit Medicine was about to mature, confirming that the news about the golden infant fruit was not false.

The hills beneath his feet gradually leveled out, turning into an endless expanse of wild grass. But the scene before him made Lin Feng's gaze instantly sharpen.

The sea of grass, which should have been waist-deep, was now flattened and scorched in patches here and there, as if scorched by raging fire or crushed by immense force.

Some of the charred pits were still emitting faint blue smoke, giving off the pungent smell of soil scorched by thunder-fire. Dark red spots were splattered on the grass blades, not yet completely dried.

His ears twitched slightly; from the distance came the faint, crisp sound of weapons clashing, mixed with the muffled explosions of Spells.

Lin Feng suppressed his aura to the extreme, skimming low over the tips of the grass. He slowly spread his Divine Sense in all directions.

A hundred zhang to the left, two streams of Late Foundation Establishment Stage Spiritual power were clashing wildly, accompanied by roars and the piercing shriek of a Magical Artifact shattering. In a seemingly calm depression to the front right, there were three deeply concealed Divine Sense fluctuations, waiting for prey to pass by.

He remained expressionless, his figure lightly turning, skillfully bypassing all battle groups and traps without attracting the slightest attention.

In a patch of flattened grass, two Cultivators lay dead. One had their chest pierced through, while the other's neck was twisted ninety degrees, eyes wide open, still tightly clutching a Spiritual Plant glowing with blue light—clearly, this was the root cause of their deaths.

Almost at the same moment Lin Feng's gaze swept past, a dark shadow darted out from behind nearby rocks, nimbly snatching the Storage Pouches of the two, and without even glancing at the corpses, disappeared again into the twilight.

After flying for another stick of incense's time, Lin Feng landed and crouched in the waist-deep grass. His gaze passed through the gaps in the grass blades, landing on the chaotic valley hundreds of zhang away.

In the center of the valley, a small tree, no more than three feet tall and entirely forged like pale gold, stood quietly. On its branch, a fruit shaped like a sitting infant radiated an alluring golden light, and its strange fragrance drifted with the wind. With it as the center, the surrounding hundred zhang had become a living hell.

To the front left, three Cultivators in different attire stood back-to-back, sword lights waving, calling out to "look out for each other."

But when a cold light struck from the flank, the gray-robed Cultivator in the middle shrank behind his companion on the left. The green-robed Cultivator on the left was caught off guard; his back was pierced through by the sword light, his body stiffened, and with shock still on his face, he fell straight down.

The gray-robed Cultivator didn't even look at his fallen companion, instead backhanding a sword strike toward the arm of the yellow-robed Cultivator on the right, who was stunned by his companion's tragic death, aiming directly at the small, glowing shield in the other's hand.

The yellow-robed Cultivator only had time to let out a roar of shock and anger before being submerged by the subsequent rush of Spells.

Further away, a short, fat Cultivator stood on a trap Talisman that had just been activated and was glowing faintly, waiting for someone to take the bait. If not for Lin Feng's powerful Divine Sense, it would have been hard to detect.

Just then, a "corpse" behind the short, fat Cultivator slowly raised its head, and a wisp of black light flashed from its fingertip.

With a soft "puff," the short, fat Cultivator's body stiffened, looking down in disbelief at the cone tip protruding from his chest, and fell to the ground.

The Cultivator who had been playing dead quickly scrambled up, searched for the Storage Pouch and unactivated Talismans, and lay back down again.

At the edge of the battlefield, an old man in black moved like a phantom. His blade rarely came out, but every time it did, it precisely struck those Cultivators who were already injured or lacking Spiritual power in the melee, retreating after a single strike.

A Cultivator who had just been burned by a fireball retreated in terror, happening to back up near the old man, and hissed, "It's Vulture Old Mo! Dodge!" Before the words even fell, the blade light arrived, and blood splattered three feet.

Another pair of fierce-looking brothers stood back-to-back. The older brother held a thick shield made of unknown beast bones, steadily blocking attacks from all sides; the younger brother held a powerful crossbow Magic Treasure, its body glowing with a dim blue luster, specializing in shooting Cultivators who revealed openings.

Every time someone was taken down, the older brother stepped forward to shield them, while the younger brother quickly bent down to search the corpse, stuffing the Storage Pouch into his bosom.

More eye-catching was a female Cultivator dressed in vibrant red. She was charming in appearance, with a crisp laugh, and as her slender fingers flicked, patches of colorful poisonous mist appeared. Wherever the poisonous mist passed, grass and trees withered, and those who were struck died instantly.

In addition, there were seven or eight Loose Cultivators at the Middle to Late Foundation Establishment Stage fighting for their lives, the scene bloody and chaotic.

"At most, they are only at the Late Foundation Establishment Stage..." Lin Feng understood in his heart. With his current strength, having circled with and even counter-killed Core Formation Cultivators, the struggle of these people before him seemed a bit lackluster in his eyes.

At this moment, in the center of the valley, the golden infant fruit shone brilliantly, its strange fragrance reaching its peak—it had completely matured.

It was time.