10: Chapter 10: Sacred Fruits Gather, the Secret Realm is About to Open

The mountain gate of the Qingyun Temple appeared exceptionally cold and desolate in the twilight.

When the three of them, Lin Ye, returned to the front of the temple, stepping on the last rays of daylight, the two young Daoists guarding the gate were preparing to close it.

Qingfeng was stunned for a moment upon seeing their disheveled, dust-covered appearance, but immediately opened a crack in the door to let them in.

"Three patrons, this is..." Mingyue started, then hesitated.

"We encountered some trouble." Lin Ye replied briefly, while simultaneously taking out a few ordinary herbs collected along the way from his storage space and handing them over. "Sorry to trouble you two young Daoists for your accommodation."

Qingfeng accepted the herbs and nodded, asking no more questions.

In a cultivation world like Beidou, it was not uncommon for Cultivators to return injured every day.

Oil lamps had already been lit inside the temple.

Most of the players were gathered in the dining hall eating, with only a few scattered figures in the eastern guest room area.

The three of them deliberately avoided the crowd, went around to the backyard, and found the most secluded guest room—it was next to the firewood room where miscellaneous items were piled up, and rarely visited.

Closing the door and sliding the bolt into place, Lin Ye finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Safe now." He sat down against the door panel and took out three sacred fruits from his storage space.

The pale golden fruits emitted a soft halo under the dim oil lamp light, and their fragrance permeated the small room.

The fragrance was not intense, but it had a peculiar penetrating power, as if it could seep into the bone marrow and awaken the deepest desires of the body.

Chen Hao's eyes were fixed, and he swallowed involuntarily: "This... is this the archaic sacred fruit?"

Su Qingyue also stared intently at the sacred fruits. The Vast Cold Spirit Body's perception of heavenly and earthly spiritual objects allowed her to understand the energy contained in the sacred fruits more clearly than Chen Hao—it was not simple life essence, but a higher-level fragment of the "Dao" Laws.

"One each." Lin Ye handed the two sacred fruits to them respectively. "Eat them right here, I will act as the Protector."

"Now?" Chen Hao hesitated slightly. "Should we not wait until our status is fully restored?"

"The sooner you eat it, the better." Lin Ye explained. "The energy of the sacred fruit will slowly dissipate over time. Although the dissipation speed is very slow, retaining even a little more is better. Besides..."

He paused and lowered his voice: "I suspect that the Daoist Master of Azure Cloud has already sensed something. When we left during the day, I felt an obscure Divine Thought sweep over the temple gate. Although it was withdrawn quickly, someone is definitely monitoring the comings and goings."

Su Qingyue's eyes narrowed: "You mean the temple master is monitoring us?"

"Not specifically us, but monitoring everyone entering and leaving." Lin Ye said. "The commotion in the Ancient Desolate Forbidden Land cannot be hidden from him. The appearance of the sacred fruit and the fluctuations of Spiritual Qi—with his cultivation, it is impossible for him not to notice. We must complete our Breakthrough tonight and leave Qingyun Temple early tomorrow morning, otherwise, there might be trouble."

Hearing this, Chen Hao no longer hesitated and picked up the sacred fruit: "How do I eat it? Just bite into it?"

"Yes, swallow the whole thing, including the pit. The pit contains more Law fragments than the fruit flesh." Lin Ye picked up his own sacred fruit. "After eating it, run the 'Qi Induction Technique' with full power to guide the energy to impact the Dantian. The process might be very painful, but you must hold on. The opening of the wheel sea secret realm is the first hurdle on the path of cultivation; once you cross it, the world will open up before you."

The three of them looked at each other and simultaneously placed the sacred fruits into their mouths.

Lin Ye bit through the fruit skin.

The fruit flesh melted upon contact, turning into a warm current that surged into his throat.

It did not have the sweet and sour taste he imagined, but rather a... indescribable, complex flavor, as if he had tasted a thousand different flavors all at once.

After the warm current entered his stomach, it quickly spread to every part of his body.

Immediately following that was the second wave of impact.

That was the integration of the Law fragments.

Lin Ye felt his consciousness being pulled into a strange space.

It was a void of Chaos, without up, down, left, or right, without time or space, only endless gray mist slowly rotating.

In the mist, golden light spots occasionally flashed by, and each light spot contained a small segment of incomplete rule information:

"Life... Death..."

"Wither... Flourish..."

"Beginning... End..."

"Yin... Yang..."

Fragments of the archaic Laws!

These fragments were too profound for Lin Ye to understand at his current Realm.

But they were like seeds, planted deep within his Soul, waiting to sprout and grow in the future.

And just as the Law fragments integrated, the third wave of impact arrived.

A massive amount of life essence surged out from within his body like a volcanic eruption!

It was not a gentle warm current, but a violent, raging torrent of energy that almost threatened to burst his body!

His Meridians were expanding, his muscles were tearing, and his bones were groaning.

Intense pain swept through every nerve like a tide; Lin Ye gritted his teeth so hard that his gums bled.

But he did not panic.

The Chaos Heavenly Emperor Body automatically activated at this moment.

Deep within his Dantian, the Chaos Qi vortex that was originally rotating slowly suddenly accelerated!

It was like a bottomless black hole, crazily devouring the surging life essence and converting it into the purest Chaos Divine Power.

At the same time, the Chaos Qi vortex began to expand and deform, gradually condensing from a blurry mass of mist into a... prototype?

Lin Ye looked inside himself and saw a strange sight.

In the original location of his Dantian, the Chaos Qi vortex had disappeared, replaced by a "sea".

A golden, boundless "sea".

The sea surface was as calm as a mirror, and the seawater was pale gold, shimmering with starlight.

Deep on the seabed, one could vaguely see a more complex scene—it was not an ordinary seabed, but a "foundation" composed of countless tiny runes. Those runes were flowing slowly, forming a Formation so vast it was unimaginable.

This was the first stage of the wheel sea secret realm: the Bitter Sea!

But unlike the Bitter Sea opened by ordinary Cultivators, Lin Ye's Bitter Sea... was golden.

[Chaos Bitter Sea]

Quality: Unique

Description: The exclusive Bitter Sea opened by the Chaos Heavenly Emperor Body, containing the chaos origin source, capable of evolving all methods.

Characteristics:

1. Capacity is ten times that of an ordinary Bitter Sea of the same Rank.

2. Divine Power recovery speed +200%.

3. Power of all Chaos-type skills +30%.

4. Can slowly absorb and convert energy of any attribute (including but not limited to Five Elements, Yin and Yang, Time and Space, Life and Death).

Current Realm: Early Stage of Bitter Sea Realm (0/10000).

Success!

Lin Ye opened his eyes, and a golden light flashed deep within his pupils.

He felt that the whole world was different.

It was not a visual change, but a sublimation of perception.

He could "hear" the trajectory of Spiritual Qi flowing in the air, "see" the faint life fluctuations of small insects crawling behind the wall, and "feel" the surging of earthly vein energy deep underground.

Everything within a radius of thirty meters was clearly revealed in his perception.

This was the "Spiritual Sense" that was naturally born after the wheel sea was opened; it was a Cultivator's sixth sense.

He looked at Chen Hao and Su Qingyue.

Both were still cultivating with their eyes closed, but obvious changes had already appeared on their bodies.

A faint golden light appeared on the surface of Chen Hao's body; it was a sign of the God King Body Awakening—although it was only the most preliminary Awakening, it meant that his Physique was beginning to transform into the "God King Body".

In his past life, Chen Hao only awakened it after obtaining the complete Legacy of the God King Body; in this life, it was accelerated due to the stimulation of the sacred fruit.

Su Qingyue's changes were more obvious.

Faint blue cold air swirled around her body; the temperature in the room had dropped below freezing, and a thin layer of frost had formed on the floor and walls.

On her forehead, a silver-white crescent mark was faintly visible—it was the mark of the further Awakening of the Vast Cold Spirit Body.

Both of them were undergoing a metamorphosis.

Lin Ye did not disturb them but opened his attribute panel.

[Player: Lin Ye]

[Race: Human Race]

[Rank: 10 (Experience Points: 1200/5000)]

[Talent: Chaos Heavenly Emperor Body (Unique)]

[Realm: Early Stage of Bitter Sea Realm (0/10000)]

[Vitality: 800/800 (Base 200 x 4)]

[Divine Power: 1200/1200 (Base 300 x 4)]

[Attack: 80-96 (Base 20-24 x 4)]

[Defense: 64 (Base 16 x 4)]

[Strength: 40 (Base 10 x 4)]

[Agility: 40 (Base 10 x 4)]

[Physique: 40 (Base 10 x 4)]

[Spirit: 40 (Base 10 x 4)]

[Comprehension Ability: 40 (Base 10 x 4)]

[Luck: ?]

[Fortune: ?]

[Title: Pioneer (All Attributes +5%, Experience gained from first exploration of an area +20%), Friendly Outsider (5% discount when trading with Yan State villages)]

The effect of +50 to all attributes, plus the doubling of base attributes brought by the opening of the Bitter Sea Realm, brought his current attributes to a terrifying value.

800 points of Vitality and 1200 points of Divine Power meant that his endurance far exceeded that of players at the same Rank.

More importantly, the characteristics of the Chaos Bitter Sea—ten times the capacity and 200% recovery speed—meant that his actual combat power was at least five times that of players at the same Rank!

"Still not enough." Lin Ye clenched his fists.

This was just the beginning.

There were still six sacred fruits in the Ancient Desolate Forbidden Land (three half-ripe, three unripe), and he had to obtain them all.

Only when all nine sacred fruits were gathered could the Chaos Heavenly Emperor Body complete its first true "Awakening" and unlock more hidden abilities.

But not now.

Chen Hao and Su Qingyue needed time to digest the energy of the sacred fruits and consolidate their Realm.

Furthermore, climbing the sacred mountains consecutively was too exhausting and they had to rest.

"We will act tomorrow." Lin Ye made a decision. "Let the two of them break through first, and then we will go together to get the remaining sacred fruits."

He closed his eyes and began to run the "Qi Induction Technique" to consolidate the Bitter Sea he had just opened.

The Chaos Bitter Sea rotated slowly; with every rotation, it absorbed a trace of faint Spiritual Qi from the Void Realm and converted it into pure Chaos Divine Power.

Although the speed was slow, it had the advantage of being continuous, and the conversion efficiency was terrifyingly high—ordinary Cultivators would have losses when absorbing Spiritual Qi, but the Chaos Heavenly Emperor Body had 100% conversion, without any waste.

Two hours later, Chen Hao woke up first.

He opened his eyes, and a golden Divine Power light swirled deep within his pupils, but it quickly faded away.

"Brother Ye... I..." Chen Hao looked at his hands, his voice trembling slightly. "I feel... as if I have changed into a different body."

"Normal." Lin Ye nodded. "The sacred fruit opened your wheel sea and also preliminarily awakened the God King Body. You are now a genuine Cultivator of the Bitter Sea Realm; try calling upon your Divine Power."

Chen Hao tried to concentrate his mind and mobilize the energy within his body according to the method of the "Qi Induction Technique".

The next second, a faint golden light appeared in the palm of his right hand.

The golden light was very weak, but it was indeed the external manifestation of Divine Power.

"I... I can use skills!" Chen Hao said excitedly.

"Not just skills." Lin Ye guided him. "Try infusing Divine Power into your weapon."

Chen Hao picked up the long blade and injected the golden light into the blade body.

The blade lit up with a thin layer of golden halo; although it was faint, its sharpness was significantly improved.

He swung it gently, and the blade grazed the corner of the table, slicing off a corner of the wooden table as if it were cutting tofu.

"This..." Chen Hao widened his eyes.

"This is the difference between a Cultivator and a Mortal." Lin Ye said. "With Divine Power enhancement, ordinary iron can cut gold and sever jade. When you obtain a true Cultivation Technique in the future, its power will be even greater."

As they were talking, Su Qingyue also woke up.

The moment she opened her eyes, the temperature of the entire room plummeted by ten degrees!

The thin frost on the floor and walls thickened rapidly, and even tiny ice crystals condensed.

The crescent mark on her forehead was clearly visible, emitting a faint blue glow.

"Control it." Lin Ye reminded her. "Just broke through, your power is not yet stable."

Su Qingyue took a deep breath, the mark on her forehead slowly faded, and the room temperature began to rise.

She raised her right hand, palm facing upwards.

Five ice cones condensed out of thin air, hovering and rotating.

The ice cones were translucent, their edges as sharp as knives, with faint blue runes flowing on their surfaces.

Compared to before, these ice cones were more solid and sharper, and the number had changed from three to five.

"The Vast Cold Spirit Body has further awakened." Lin Ye judged. "Your control over ice-type energy has increased by at least 30%. Try the Moon Blade."

Su Qingyue nodded, put her hands together, and then pulled them apart.

This time, the Moon Blade was no longer pale blue, but nearly transparent ice blue.

The blade body was more slender and more condensed, and one could even see the distortion of space being slightly sliced at the edges.

She pushed gently, and the Moon Blade flew out.

There was no sound, no sound of breaking through the air, only an ice-blue trajectory flashing through the air and vanishing.

The Moon Blade hit the wall, not embedding itself, but... penetrating it!

A fist-sized hole with smooth, mirror-like edges was left on the wall, and a thick layer of frost had formed on the brick surface around the hole.

"The power has at least doubled." Lin Ye nodded with satisfaction. "And it carries a powerful freezing effect. Very good; with this, our confidence in seizing the remaining sacred fruits is even greater."

The three of them exchanged their feelings and gains after the Breakthrough, and then began to formulate the next step of the plan.

"There are still six sacred mountains in the Ancient Desolate Forbidden Land, and the situation on each mountain is different." Lin Ye drew a simple map on the ground with his short sword. "The guardian beast of the first mountain is the 'Iron Feather Eagle', an aerial unit, which is very difficult to deal with. The second mountain is the 'Ghost Face Vine', a plant-type Yao Beast, adept at entanglement and poisonous thorns. The fifth mountain is the 'Fire Lizard', fire-attribute, which has resistance to ice-type..."

He detailed the difficulties and countermeasures for each mountain.

"Our goal is the remaining six sacred fruits, but we cannot take them all at once." Lin Ye said. "Tomorrow, we will first take the two half-ripe fruits from the second and fifth mountains. The guardian beasts of these two mountains are relatively easy to deal with, and the half-ripe fruits have gentle energy, so they can be consumed directly without waiting."

"What about those three unripe ones?" Chen Hao asked.

"Wait." Lin Ye said. "Forcibly picking unripe fruits will result in poor effects; it is not worth the loss. According to the growth cycle of the sacred fruit, it will take about three more days to mature. We can finish other things first and come back to take them in three days."

"Other things?"

"For example... exploring the Bronze Ancient Palace." A sharp light flashed in Lin Ye's eyes. "On the edge of the Ancient Desolate Forbidden Land, there should be an entrance to a Bronze Ancient Palace. That is a hidden dungeon, and the first-clear rewards are very generous. Moreover, I suspect that there might be clues about the 'heavenly dao system' in the ancient palace."

Su Qingyue keenly captured the keyword: "heavenly dao system?"

"It is that mysterious optical brain that built this game." Lin Ye did not elaborate. "In short, we must go to the Bronze Ancient Palace. But before that, we need more preparation—better equipment, more supplies, and... more teammates."

"We need to form a group?" Chen Hao frowned. "Aren't the three of us enough?"

[part:gemini-3.0-flash]

"It's not enough." Lin Ye shook his head. "The Bronze Ancient Palace is a team dungeon; it requires at least five people to open. Moreover, the mechanisms and monsters inside are complex, requiring cooperation between different classes. The three of us are all damage dealers; we lack a healer and a tank."

"Where can we find reliable people?"

Lin Ye looked out the window; the night was deep.

"We'll go to town tomorrow to take a look. Those people from the Storm Society should have obtained sacred fruits as well, but their goal will definitely be the remaining ones. We can take advantage of that..."

He lowered his voice and explained his plan.

The night passed in silence.

The next morning, the three of them woke up early and left Qingyun Temple.

The temple master, Daoist Master of Azure Cloud, did not appear, but Lin Ye could feel an obscure Divine Thought from the direction of the main hall constantly locked onto them until they were three miles away from the temple gate.

"As expected, we're being watched." Lin Ye sneered. "But it doesn't matter. Once we get all the sacred fruits and have enough strength to protect ourselves, we won't have to worry about these things anymore."

The three of them first went to Bluestone Town.

The small town was much livelier than yesterday. After a night of rest, most players had adapted to this world and begun forming teams to hunt monsters and do missions. Players setting up stalls to trade could be seen everywhere on the streets; although they were selling trash equipment and Materials, the atmosphere was very active.

The appearance of Lin Ye's trio attracted a lot of attention.

Although their equipment was ordinary, their Aura was clearly different—it was the confidence and sharp edge of those who had experienced life-and-death combat and successfully achieved a Breakthrough. Especially Su Qingyue; after her Vast Cold Spirit Body further Awakened, her cold and ethereal temperament became even more pronounced, drawing many eyes as she walked down the street.

"Look, those three... their presence is so strong!"

"Their Rank is so high! They're already Level 10! I'm only Level 5!"

"That girl is so beautiful... and she feels so cold, like an iceberg."

Whispers were constant.

Lin Ye ignored them and walked straight toward the post station in the center of town.

Many players had already gathered there, mostly forming teams or exchanging information. Just as Lin Ye walked in, he heard a familiar loud voice:

"Storm Society is recruiting! Level 6 and above, those with combat experience preferred! Excellent benefits, food and housing included, equipment for good performance!"

It was Overlord Spear.

He stood at the entrance of the post station, surrounded by a dozen members of the Storm Society, shouting loudly. After yesterday's trip to the Ancient Desolate Forbidden Land, the Storm Society had clearly suffered significant losses and urgently needed fresh blood.

Lin Ye's gaze swept over the Storm Society crowd.

There were about twenty people, generally between Levels 7 and 9, with equipment slightly better than average players. Overlord Spear himself was already Level 11, and the long spear in his hand had been replaced with a new one; the shaft glowed with a faint green light, looking to be at least of Green quality.

It seemed they had also obtained sacred fruits, and their harvest was not small.

"Brother Ye, should we..." Chen Hao asked in a low voice.

"No rush." Lin Ye shook his head. "Let's listen for information first."

The three found a corner to sit down and ordered three bowls of tea, seemingly resting but actually gathering information.

The players' discussions mostly focused on a few topics:

"I heard the Storm Society grabbed three sacred fruits in the Ancient Desolate Forbidden Land yesterday! Overlord Spear jumped straight to Level 11!"

"More than that! They also found a treasure cave on the second mountain and dug out several pieces of Green equipment!"

"Damn, what Luck..."

"Should we go try our Luck too? Maybe there are still sacred fruits that haven't been picked."

"Forget it, the remaining sacred fruits are all after the fifth mountain, where the guardian beasts are even more insane. Yesterday a team tried to go up the sixth mountain and was wiped out by a pack of 'Phantom Wolves'; not a single one escaped."

Hearing this, Lin Ye's heart stirred.

The Storm Society got three sacred fruits? Those should be from the first three mountains. They didn't encounter the Storm Society on the fourth mountain yesterday, so it seemed the other party took a different route.

And they found a treasure cave... that was useful information.

While he was thinking, a commotion suddenly broke out over by Overlord Spear.

"What did you say? The sacred fruit on the fifth mountain was picked by someone?" Overlord Spear's voice suddenly rose.

A thin, small player was being held up by two Storm Society members, saying tremulously, "It's... it's true... I went near the fifth mountain this morning to gather herbs and saw three people coming down from the mountain from a distance. One of them was a woman who could cast ice spikes... When they left, I saw that one fruit was missing from the vines on the fifth mountain..."

Ice spikes... a woman...

The gazes in the post station all shifted toward Lin Ye's trio.

When Su Qingyue was practicing her skills outside earlier, she had indeed used ice spikes, and many people had seen it.

Overlord Spear's gaze also swept over.

He stared at Su Qingyue for a few seconds, then strode over, his long spear thumping against the ground with a dull thud.

"You three, did you take the sacred fruit from the fifth mountain?"

His tone was unfriendly, carrying an air of interrogation.

Lin Ye slowly stood up and looked at him calmly. "What if we did? What if we didn't?"

"If you did, then we need to have a good talk." Overlord Spear grinned, revealing white teeth. "The Ancient Desolate Forbidden Land is a public map; sacred fruits should be shared by those who see them. You took something you shouldn't have, so you should give the other brothers some compensation, right?"

"Compensation?" Lin Ye raised an eyebrow. "What kind of compensation do you want?"

"It's simple." Overlord Spear held up three fingers. "First, hand over the sacred fruit from the fifth mountain. Second, tell us how you bypassed the guardian beast. Third... this beautiful lady," he looked at Su Qingyue, "join our Storm Society, and I guarantee you'll be satisfied with the treatment."

It was a blatant threat combined with recruitment.

The post station instantly fell silent.

All the players watched, some gloating, some sympathetic, but no one dared to speak up. The Storm Society's power was evident; with over twenty high-level players, ordinary solo players simply couldn't afford to provoke them.

Su Qingyue's eyes were cold, and frost was already gathering in her palm.

Chen Hao also gripped his long saber.

But Lin Ye laughed.

It wasn't a sneer, but because he genuinely found it funny.

"Overlord Spear, is it?" He shook his head. "Do you think you're very clever? Using such low-level tactics to test our background and establish your authority at the same time?"

Overlord Spear's face darkened. "What do you mean?"

"It means..." Lin Ye took a step forward.

The Chaos Domain unfolded silently.

Although it only spanned a three-meter radius, it was enough.

Overlord Spear suddenly felt his body grow heavy, as if he had fallen into a swamp; every movement became laborious. His expression changed drastically, and he wanted to retreat, but his legs felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead.

"You... what did you do?!" He was both shocked and furious.

"Nothing, just helping you clear your head." Lin Ye said calmly. "We took the sacred fruit by our own ability. If you want it, you can go get it yourself. As for joining the Storm Society..."

He glanced at the other members of the Storm Society. "A bunch of rabble; are you even worthy?"

As soon as these words came out, all the Storm Society members were enraged.

"You're looking for death!"

"Hack him!"

"Boss, get him!"

A dozen people surrounded them, weapons drawn, radiating Killing Intent.

The other players in the post station retreated one after another, fearing they would be caught in the crossfire.

But Lin Ye's expression remained unchanged.

He looked at Overlord Spear. "Want to make a move? Think carefully about the consequences. If a fight breaks out here, Qingyun Temple won't sit idly by. And..."

He paused, his voice lowered so only those nearby could hear. "Do you really think there are only three of us?"

Overlord Spear's pupils constricted.

What did he mean? Was there an ambush?

He subconsciously looked outside the post station, but saw nothing.

And in the moment he was distracted, Lin Ye moved.

It wasn't an attack, but... a display of strength.

He made a grasping motion with his right hand, and Divine Power from the Chaos Bitter Sea surged out, condensing into a ball of gray mist in his palm. The mist slowly rotated, with faint flashes of lightning inside, emitting a heart-palpitating Aura of destruction.

"Chaos... Thunder?" Overlord Spear blurted out.

Although he was a combat coach by trade, he was also very familiar with the original 'Shrouding the Heavens' novel. Chaos Thunder was one of the unique abilities of the Chaos Body, capable of evolving into all methods and possessing infinite power. Although this ball of mist in Lin Ye's palm was still weak, it was indeed the prototype of Chaos Thunder!

"You... you have a special Physique?" Overlord Spear's voice was dry.

"What do you think?" Lin Ye was noncommittal as he dispersed the Chaos Thunder in his palm. "Now, do you still want to fight?"

Overlord Spear's expression flickered indecisively.

A special Physique... those were as rare as phoenix feathers among the entire player base. Every player with a special Physique, as long as they didn't die young, was bound to become a hegemon in the future. Offending such a person was not worth the cost.

More importantly, he couldn't see through Lin Ye's strength.

That strange slowing effect from earlier, along with the display of Chaos Thunder, showed that the opponent was definitely not an ordinary player. And since the opponent was so fearless, they might really have a hidden hand.

After weighing the pros and cons, Overlord Spear made a decision.

He withdrew his long spear and took a step back. "Today's matter was a misunderstanding. You three, please suit yourselves."

The members of the Storm Society were all stunned.

"Boss, just like that?"

"There are only three of them..."

"Shut up!" Overlord Spear barked. "All of you, stand down!"

The crowd retreated unwillingly.

Lin Ye gave Overlord Spear a deep look, said nothing more, and led Chen Hao and Su Qingyue out of the post station.

Once they were out of town, Chen Hao breathed a sigh of relief. "Brother Ye, that scared me to death just now... with so many of them, we would have definitely been at a disadvantage if a fight really broke out."

"A fight wasn't going to happen." Lin Ye shook his head. "Overlord Spear isn't stupid. If he made a move in town, Qingyun Temple wouldn't sit idly by. Moreover, I showed the prototype of Chaos Thunder just now; he couldn't gauge my depth and didn't dare to act rashly."

"Chaos Thunder?" Su Qingyue asked curiously. "What is that?"

"One of the innate abilities of the Chaos Heavenly Emperor Body." Lin Ye explained. "It can evolve into various attribute attacks; lightning is just one of them. However, my Realm is too low right now, so I can only simulate a prototype. It's good for intimidation, but doesn't have much power in an actual fight."

"That's enough." Chen Hao said admiringly. "Brother Ye, your Aura just now really suppressed them."

"It's only temporary." Lin Ye said. "Overlord Spear won't let this go. He backed down today partly because he couldn't gauge our depth, and partly because he has more important things to do."

"What things?"

"Getting the remaining sacred fruits." Lin Ye looked toward the west. "Storm Society got the sacred fruits from the first three mountains, but the ones from the latter six mountains aren't in their hands yet. They must be eyeing those sacred fruits too. We need to pick up the pace."

"Then we now..."

"First go to the second and fifth mountains to get the semi-ripe fruits." Lin Ye made a decision. "Then go to the Bronze Ancient Palace. By the time we come out of the palace, the remaining three sacred fruits should be ripe. At that time, we'll settle the score with the Storm Society."

The three of them entered the Ancient Desolate Forbidden Land again.

With yesterday's experience and their greatly increased strength, their progress was much faster this time.

The guardian beast of the second mountain, the 'Ghost-Faced Vine', was a plant-type Yao Beast specializing in entanglement and poisonous thorns. But Su Qingyue's ice spikes happened to counter it—the freezing could significantly slow down the vine's movement speed, and her Moon Blade could easily sever the main body of the vine.

The battle only lasted ten minutes before the three of them obtained the semi-ripe sacred fruit of the second mountain.

The Fire Lizard on the fifth mountain was a bit more troublesome. The fire attribute countered the ice System, greatly reducing the effectiveness of Su Qingyue's attacks. But Lin Ye's Chaos Domain proved useful again—after weakening the Fire Lizard's attributes by 30%, Chen Hao held his ground with his shield while Lin Ye and Su Qingyue focused their fire, successfully taking it down.

Two semi-ripe sacred fruits were in hand.

Adding the three ripe sacred fruits from before, they now had five sacred fruits in their possession.

"Still four to go." Lin Ye tallied the harvest. "Three unripe ones, and the four ripe sacred fruits from the sixth to the ninth mountains. However, after the sixth mountain, the strength of the guardian beasts will increase significantly, and..."

He looked toward the depths of the Forbidden Ground, where unusual energy fluctuations were faintly coming from.

"And what?" Chen Hao asked.

"And I feel that something in the depths of the Forbidden Ground... is calling to me." Lin Ye frowned. "It's not a voice, but an instinctive attraction. The Chaos Heavenly Emperor Body is restless, as if there's something it needs there."

Su Qingyue also looked in that direction. "I feel it too... it's very faint, but it definitely exists. It's like... the power of Moonlight?"

The two looked at each other, seeing the confusion in each other's eyes.

What exactly was hidden in the depths of the Ancient Desolate Forbidden Land?

"Go to the Bronze Ancient Palace first." Lin Ye suppressed the throbbing in his heart. "When our strength is greater, we'll explore the depths."

The three followed the route in their memory, heading toward a certain direction at the edge of the Forbidden Ground.

That should be the entrance to the Bronze Ancient Palace.

Not long after they left, a large group from the Storm Society also entered the Forbidden Ground.

Overlord Spear looked at the crude map in his hand—it was exchanged for a sacred fruit from some NPC, and it marked the locations and general information of the nine sacred mountains.

"The sacred fruit on the fifth mountain was picked, and the one on the second mountain is gone too..." His face was grim. "Those three move really fast."

"Boss, what do we do now?" a subordinate asked.

"Go to the sixth mountain." Overlord Spear gritted his teeth. "The guardian beast of the sixth mountain is the 'Phantom Wolf', which is good at illusions and group combat. We have numbers on our side, which happens to counter them. As long as we get the sacred fruit from the sixth mountain, we can Cultivate a few more experts, and then..."

A ruthless look flashed in his eyes. "Not one of those three will escape!"

The Storm Society headed toward the sixth mountain.

But what they didn't know was that the Phantom Wolves of the sixth mountain were more dangerous than they imagined.

And even more dangerous was that deep within the Phantom Wolf pack's nest, there slept a... mutated Wolf King.

Meanwhile, in the deepest part of the Ancient Desolate Forbidden Land.

In that eternal darkness where even sunlight could not penetrate, in the core area surrounded by the nine sacred mountains, a fissure suddenly cracked open in the ground.

Grayish-white mist billowed out from the fissure.

The mist condensed, forming a blurred humanoid outline.

The outline raised its head, looking in the direction Lin Ye's trio had left, then in the direction the Storm Society had entered the sixth mountain.

It smiled silently, then turned back into mist and sank into the ground.

It was as if it had never appeared.

But before the ground closed, a soft sigh faintly drifted from the depths of the fissure:

"The seeds... have been sown..."

"This time... will it succeed?"