197: Chapter 197 Creatures Under the First Spiritual Root

"Wake up!"

With a thought from Qin Tian, the power of the contract forced Xiao Yan to wake up.

"Mm..."

Xiao Yan opened his eyes dazedly.

The moment he saw Qin Tian clearly, his eyes burst into tears!

"Waaa... Master... You're finally back, Master... Waaa...!"

Xiao Yan leaped into Qin Tian's arms, his body trembling uncontrollably.

"It's over..."

"It's all over... Master..."

Qin Tian's expression darkened slightly. "What exactly happened?"

"Master... I... I think I'm going to turn into a female fox...!"

???

Qin Tian was stunned.

He lifted Xiao Yan's tail and took a look.

"Isn't it still there?"

Xiao Yan shook his head frantically. "No... it's going to disappear... I have a premonition... it will definitely disappear... Waaa!"

Qin Tian was somewhat bewildered.

"Did you eat something strange?"

Xiao Yan nodded vigorously.

"Fasting Pills, centipedes, whip grass, furnace slag..."

"Stop, stop, stop!"

"What about the jerky I left for you?"

Xiao Yan looked aggrieved. "Master, you've been gone for years. I finished it ages ago..."

Qin Tian: ...

He had been negligent.

Still, while foxes were omnivores, this diet was a bit too eclectic...

Besides, eating those things would at most make one sick; how could it trigger a mutation?

"Think carefully again. What's the strangest thing you've eaten?"

Xiao Yan recalled earnestly.

"Ah!"

"I ate a strange fruit under the big tree!"

"Which tree?"

The one at the Hundred Herbs Medicine Peak..."

Qin Tian's pupils suddenly constricted.

Could it be the first spiritual root?

"The Ancient Ancestor said there's a being beneath the first spiritual root. The fruit was almost certainly given by that one..."

Knowing the cause, Qin Tian breathed a sigh of relief.

"It should be fine. Just rest easy and recover."

Xiao Yan's expression changed.

"It's a big deal!"

"A huge deal!"

"I'm turning into a female fox!"

"This is more serious than the sky falling!"

As he spoke, Xiao Yan pulled out his three tails. "Look, Master, this is the sign!"

Qin Tian: ...

"System, what's going on?"

[Ding! The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox is the ultimate evolutionary form of the fox race. It possesses immense power and stands at the pinnacle of the Immortal Ancient Fox Race. However, there is a very special aspect: only the female body can exert its full power.]

[Therefore, any fox that evolves into a Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox, whether male or female, will ultimately become female.]

Uh...

"Xiao Yan, actually, as a fox, gender sometimes isn't that important..."

"Waaa! No! I don't want to be a female fox! Master, please help me, okay?"

Qin Tian was helpless.

"Eat this Medicinal Pill first. As for the rest, I'll find another way."

Aowu.

Xiao Yan swallowed it in one gulp.

The medicinal power spread, regulating his chaotic internal Qi.

Within a few breaths, he fell into a deep sleep...

...

Hundred Herbs Medicine Peak.

Qin Tian proceeded unimpeded all the way to the deepest part, standing before the first spiritual root.

This was Qin Tian's first time here.

He looked up and realized that the true form of the Dao Seeking Immortal Sect's first spiritual root was actually a Peaches of Immortality tree!

However, the peaches growing on the tree were different from ordinary ones, possessing a very unique form.

"Xiao Yan evolved because he ate this special peach?"

Qin Tian thought for a moment, then shook his head.

Whether it was or not, he would know once he asked.

"Junior Qin Tian requests an audience with Senior!"

The next moment.

The center of the peach tree's trunk began to turn translucent, and a doorway emerged.

"Enter."

An aged voice rang out.

Qin Tian stepped inside, and a familiar passage came to mind.

At first it was extremely narrow, just wide enough for a person. After walking dozens of steps, it suddenly opened up...

That was roughly the feeling.

Light flooded in.

What Qin Tian saw was a vast peach orchard, boundless and stretching as far as the eye could see.

He was somewhat amazed; he hadn't expected the Dao Seeking Immortal Sect to have such a hidden paradise.

In the center of this paradise stood the figure of an old man.

Upon seeing that face, Qin Tian's breath hitched.

"Senior... Senior Martial Uncle...?"

The person before him looked exactly like the Peak Master of the Hundred Herbs Medicine Peak!

"Hehe, that is merely one of my peach branches."

Qin Tian realized the truth.

No wonder the Hundred Herbs Medicine Peak never recruited Disciples.

And never easily allowed outsiders to set foot there.

Any peach tree here, if taken to the outside world, would be a supreme treasure that people would fight to the death for.

"May I ask how to address Senior?"

"Hehe, you may call me Peach Immortal." Peach Immortal stroked his beard with a smile.

"Sit."

"Thank you, Senior Peach Immortal." Qin Tian sat down as invited.

Peach Immortal raised his hand, and a cup of clear tea appeared out of thin air.

"How is the Imperial City?"

"The calm before the storm..." Qin Tian answered truthfully.

"An interesting description." Peach Immortal smiled slightly.

"Senior Peach Immortal, are you an Longevity Being?"

"I once was."

"Once?"

"Years ago, someone severed my immortal root. I am no longer everlasting."

"Was it the work of the Eternal Foreign Realm?"

Peach Immortal shook his head.

Then it must be the Ancient Realm of Longevity...

"Qin Tian, speaking of which, I must thank you."

"Thank me?"

Peach Immortal smiled. "On the day your dao seed awakened, I felt a wisp of heaven and earth's vitality because of it, and I recovered quite a bit."

Qin Tian paused.

The Awakening of the seven emotions seed had indeed caused a worldly phenomenon, but it had been suppressed by the System.

If he could feel the vitality of heaven and earth even in that brief moment...

Peach Immortal's cultivation must be unfathomably deep.

"Senior Peach Immortal, the Ancient Ancestor asked me to bring a message to Senior."

"What message?"

"Does the promise from back then still hold?"

Hearing this, Peach Immortal smiled faintly.

"That little fellow is still thinking about my old bones."

"Very well, very well."

"Since it was a promise, it naturally holds."

As his voice fell.

A wisp of Qi emerged from Qin Tian's body, gradually condensing into a phantom.

"Ancient Ancestor?"

Qin Gu nodded slightly, then looked at Peach Immortal.

"Qin Gu awaits you in the Imperial City."

Peach Immortal sighed softly. "You fellow, you're still so impolite, refusing to even call me Senior."

"You're not even a bit like this little fellow."

Qin Gu said slowly, "He is a Junior from my elder brother's lineage; naturally, he knows his manners."

Qin Tian was somewhat surprised.

It seemed the Ancient Ancestor and Senior Peach Immortal had some history between them?

It was truly intriguing.

Qin Gu's figure soon dissipated.

"Senior Peach Immortal and the Ancient Ancestor, in the past..."

Peach Immortal stroked his beard. "It was nothing much. Back then, when he was young, he broke into my peach orchard to steal peaches. I hung him up by his bare bottom and whipped him for three days and three nights."

Qin Tian almost couldn't hold it in.

"Cough, cough..."

"Senior, what did you just say? I didn't hear clearly..."

"Hehe, you brat!"

Peach Immortal spoke loudly, "This peach is for you."

As his voice fell, a golden Peach of Immortality landed in Qin Tian's hand.

"Thank you, Senior."

"By the way, Senior, there's one more thing. My little fox..."

Peach Immortal smiled. "I once had a connection with the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox and was entrusted with a few wisps of essence blood."

"Seeing that the little fox's Bloodline was suitable, I gave it to him."

"Consider it fulfilling her request."

"I see..." Qin Tian nodded.

"Drink the tea and savor it slowly; it will benefit you..."

...

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