15: Chapter 15 Dragon Pattern Spirit-Nourishing Fruit

Deep underground.

Inside the ancient ruins.

Ling Tian finally dug through the last section of rock.

Thump!

He fell into a spacious underground space.

The view before him suddenly opened up.

In this area, the energy concentration was significantly higher than the periphery.

The Origin Qi wandering in the air was almost visible to the naked eye, seeping into his skin in wisps and being greedily absorbed by his energy core.

Of course, what attracted him even more were those delicious morsels wandering about.

Through Energy Perception, he could clearly see life signals of varying intensities scattered around.

Some were as blazing as torches, while others were as faint as fireflies.

"This one is bright! It must be delicious!"

Ling Tian locked onto a target with an exceptionally strong energy reaction, exerted force with all four limbs, and charged over like a gray bolt of lightning.

It was a giant beast the size of an elephant, covered in Heavy bone armor, shaped like a rhinoceros, but with three spiral horns growing on its head.

Three-Pronged Dragon Rhino, Demon Soldier Late Stage!

It was gnawing on a patch of glowing moss. Sensing Ling Tian's approach, it raised its head and let out a threatening low growl.

A foul-smelling wave of air rushed toward him.

Ling Tian didn't care at all; instead, he became even more excited.

"Whoa! It's quite big! Enough for a few meals!"

His current size was nearly one meter, but in front of the other, he still looked like a child.

But this did not hinder his determination to hunt.

Seeing that this little thing not only didn't run away but dared to bare its teeth at it, the Three-Pronged Dragon Rhino was instantly enraged. It lowered its head, aimed its three cold-glinting horns at Ling Tian, and charged like a Heavy tank!

Rumble!

The ground was trembling.

Ling Tian did not dodge or evade. The energy core within his chest spun at high speed, and a dark red light gathered deep in his throat.

When the Dragon Rhino was a few meters in front of him, he suddenly opened his mouth!

Pfft—!

A torrent of dark red energy as thick as a bowl erupted violently!

Atomic Fission Breath, full power output!

Boom!!!

The energy torrent slammed squarely into the bone armor on the front of the Dragon Rhino!

There was no stalemate, no resistance.

Before the terrifying high temperature and destructive energy produced by the Origin Qi fission, that seemingly indestructible bone armor melted instantly like ice and snow under the sun!

The breath's momentum remained undiminished, piercing directly through the Dragon Rhino's massive head, exiting from the back of its skull, and melting a huge hole in a large area of the rock wall behind it!

The Dragon Rhino's forward momentum came to an abrupt halt. Its massive body slid forward for a few more meters due to inertia, and finally collapsed to the ground with a boom, kicking up a large cloud of dust.

Its head was almost completely vaporized, leaving only a small part of its jaw and neck. A burnt smell mixed with the scent of blood began to fill the air.

[Devoured Three-Pronged Dragon Rhino (Demon Soldier Late Stage), gained Evolution Points +150. Strength +10, Stamina +20. Obtained white trait: Heavy.]

[Heavy (White): Body weight increases by 10%, lower center of gravity is more stable, and resistance to impact is slightly improved.]

A surging wave of heat exploded within Ling Tian's body, and his sense of strength and defensive power soared once again!

"Refreshing! This is what you call a meal!"

Ling Tian pounced on the Dragon Rhino's corpse and began to feast heartily.

The hard bones and residual bone armor were easily chewed up like crackers before his strengthened sharp teeth.

As he ate, he thought happily: "The quality of ingredients in this place is really high! Big and nourishing! This woman Xia Youchu really knows how to live!"

...

Meanwhile, inside the ancient ruins.

After Xia Youchu stepped into the entrance, she discovered that there was a whole new world inside.

Before her eyes was a passage paved with some kind of glowing jade, extending downwards.

"These ruins... the scale is not small."

Zhao Mengmeng followed behind, her eyes burning with desire, "Just the Bright Light Jade used for this passage is a good material for refining lighting Magical Artifacts and low-level defensive Magic Treasures; it's worth a fortune!"

As she spoke, she couldn't help but scrape the wall with her hand. She discovered that this jade was incomparably hard and integrated seamlessly with the entire passage structure, making it impossible to remove, so she had to give up dejectedly.

Xia Youchu ignored her little actions and carefully perceived the energy flow around her.

Although the Origin Qi within these ruins was pure, it seemed to carry an ancient, silent flavor, and its distribution was not uniform.

She recalled the sporadic information she had heard in her past life and, combined with her own perception, chose a fork in the road where the flow of Origin Qi was more active.

"I'll go this way."

"Hey! Are you sure? This side feels eerie!" Zhao Mengmeng looked at the darker, more gloomy passage and hesitated.

"If you're scared, you can go back." Xia Youchu didn't even turn her head.

"Who's scared!"

Zhao Mengmeng looked disdainful, then chose another fork in the road.

She wasn't Xia Youchu's bodyguard, and following behind this woman, she was afraid she wouldn't even get the scraps!

"..." Xia Youchu shook her head slightly. It was better that she left; it saved her the trouble of having to figure out how to shake her off.

The passage wound downwards, and some broken murals and incomprehensible text began to appear on both sides.

Xia Youchu stopped and carefully observed those murals.

The content of the murals mostly depicted scenes of ancient ancestors fighting with various Yao Beasts, sacrificing to heaven and earth, and... planting and harvesting some kind of peculiar plant.

"These murals... seem to record the life of the original owner of these ruins."

Xia Youchu pondered in her heart, "It looks like a Sect or Family focused on cultivating spirit plants?"

She didn't have much interest in the battle and sacrificial scenes, and her gaze fell more on the murals depicting plants.

One of the murals caught her attention.

On the mural, a small plant that was emerald green all over, with a colorful fruit radiating mist, was solemnly enshrined on a jade platform.

Below it was a line of blurred ancient text.

Xia Youchu identified it for a moment, and her pupils constricted slightly.

"Dragon-Pattern... Spirit-Nourishing Fruit?"

She remembered!

In her past life, about a month before the national college entrance examination began, news of an ancient ruin discovery in Cloud City's Black Wind Valley spread, causing quite a sensation.

What was most widely circulated at the time was not the ruins themselves, but several strange items that flowed out of the ruins.

Among them was a dragon-pattern spirit-nourishing fruit!

It is said that this fruit can greatly nourish the brain, enhance Mental Energy, and has miraculous effects on breaking through Realm Bottlenecks, especially suitable for Cultivators below the Yuan King Realm.

At that time, this fruit was auctioned for an astronomical price and bought by a mysterious buyer.

"I didn't expect... this dragon-pattern spirit-nourishing fruit actually came from these ruins!"

Xia Youchu's heartbeat accelerated slightly.

What she lacked most right now was resources!

This dragon-pattern spirit-nourishing fruit was exactly what she desperately needed!

Not only could it increase her strength, but its brain-nourishing effect could also, to a certain extent, alleviate the risks when Cultivating the Swallowing Heaven Demonic Art!

"I must find it!"

She immediately adjusted her direction based on the hints in the murals.

Relying on her past life experience, Xia Youchu avoided several hidden mechanisms and traps, and also bypassed some areas where the Origin Qi was silent and of no value.

Finally, after passing through a cave filled with stalactites, the view before her suddenly opened up.

A huge underground space appeared before her eyes.

In the center of the space was a pond that had been dry for who knows how many years, and the bottom of the pond was covered with colorful spirit sand.

And in the center of the pond, there was a small stone platform.

On the stone platform, a small plant that was lush emerald green, with natural dragon-shaped patterns on its leaves, was growing quietly.

At the top of the small plant, a colorful fruit was emitting an alluring fragrance and a surging wave of Mental Energy!

dragon-pattern spirit-nourishing fruit!

And, it was already ripe!

A flash of joy crossed Xia Youchu's eyes.

Just as she was about to step forward to pick it.

"Roar—!"

A violent roar came from the opposite side of the pond!

A Yao Beast that looked like a pangolin, covered in metallic scales and with blood-red eyes, crawled out from behind a pile of rubble and blocked the front of the stone platform.

It stared fixedly at Xia Youchu, dripping corrosive saliva from its mouth, which burned the spirit sand on the ground, creating sizzling white smoke.

Armored Earth Dragon Beast, Demon Soldier Peak!

Obviously, it was the guardian Yao Beast of this dragon-pattern spirit-nourishing fruit!

Xia Youchu's gaze was solemn.

Even though she was a female emperor in her past life, she felt the pressure.

Her gaze swept around, her brain spinning rapidly, looking for countermeasures.