Chapter 1197, The Appearance of the Sacred Energy Fruit

Translator: Silavin

  

“That guy!”

 

Watching Qin Yichen tuck the Beast Core away, the expressions of both Zhao Xueqi and Zhang Heng grew faintly dark.

 

The Beast Core of a Demonic Beast with half a foot in the Saint Realm, even if they had no intention of refining it themselves, could be readily exchanged for a considerable fortune in the Myriad Beasts War Domain.

 

And now, right before their eyes, this windfall had been pocketed by Qin Yichen.

 

What frustrated Zhao Xueqi and Zhang Heng most was that Qin Yichen ‘s strength was, in all likelihood, no less than their own.

 

Both of them had come this time with absolute resolve to claim the Sacred Energy Fruit. Their individual strength and the experts at their respective backs were roughly evenly matched, but were Qin Yichen to casually join one side or the other, that balance would be effortlessly shattered.

 

Even though neither of them was pleased about Qin Yichen taking the Beast Core, no one chose to make a scene of it on the spot and go looking for trouble with him.

 

After all, valuable as the Beast Core was, what mattered most to them right now was, naturally, the Sacred Energy Fruit.

 

As for the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon, it had used the opportunity to slip back beneath the water. A single ripple spread across the lake’s surface, and that enormous body had vanished from sight entirely.

 

“That Demonic Beast will not let this go so easily!”

 

“Even its Beast Core has been expelled. If it does breakthrough to the Saint Realm quick enough, its cultivation will fall drastically!”

 

Everyone’s expressions grew faintly taut as they watched the lake slowly return to stillness.

 

The Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon, having retreated to its lake, would be near-impossible to draw back out, and striking it down in those unfathomable depths would be even more difficult.

 

And now, time continues its slow passage. The blazing Sun in the sky had begun to tilt and descend, and on the other side of the horizon, a Crescent Moon was gradually emerging into view.

 

“Hmmmm…”

 

And then, at the precise moment when the Sun and Moon met in the sky, everyone present felt it with perfect clarity, the World Energy atop Vibrant Vermilion Peak suddenly surged into violent motion.

 

The great mountain itself trembled faintly in that instant. The lake that had been returning to calm began to stir again with ripple upon ripple, and shimmering, brilliant light radiated outward continuously from the centre of the lake.

 

“The Sacred Energy Fruit is about to appear.”

 

At the sight, the pupils of every person present contracted in unison. One by one, their breathing grew involuntarily heavier.

 

Qin Yichen, hearing this, felt a small surge of excitement ripple through him as well, a gleam of heat rising in his eyes.

 

*Whoosh!*

 

Beneath those blazing, intent gazes, the brilliance at the centre of the lake grew more and more dazzling, and eventually it seemed to solidify, forming what appeared to be a small island composed entirely of light.

 

Upon that radiant little island grew a great tree of vivid emerald green. Rings of green light patterns pulsed outward from it continuously, filling the surrounding space with a strange, sweet fragrance.

 

Most arresting of all was what sat at the very crown of that great tree: a cluster of light where red and white intermingled and swirled, faintly concealing within it a peculiar fruit.

 

“The Sacred Energy Fruit!”

 

At the sight of that radiant cluster atop the tree, every person’s breath hitched slightly. That was the rare treasure capable of allowing one to break through to the Saint Realm!

 

“Why did the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon not eat this Sacred Energy Fruit in advance?”

 

A number of those present still held a thread of cautious puzzlement in their hearts.

 

“The Sacred Energy Fruit has not yet fully ripened. Only when that cluster of light turns entirely red will it have reached full maturity. That Demonic Beast already has half a foot inside the Saint Realm. Consuming one that is not yet fully ripe would not be enough to let it fully breakthrough its bottleneck.”

 

Zhao Xueqi stared at that brilliant cluster with an intensity of heat in his eyes that made his gaze almost burn. The Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon, after all, was merely a Demonic Beast. It lacked the cultivated foundation that the experts of the Myriad Races possessed, and its cultivation technique was not even up to par.

 

But they were different.

 

Even if this Sacred Energy Fruit was not yet fully ripe, the day of its ripening was not far off.

 

The moment he swallowed this Sacred Energy Fruit, Zhao Xueqi was confident he could form Saint Prestige in short order and achieve a decisive breakthrough to the Saint Realm.

 

Once he became a Saint, the name Zhao Xueqi would resound in all four directions. Within the Myriad Beasts War Domain, he would be more than enough to become a dominant power in his own right.

 

The Myriad Beasts War Domain was a place of competition so brutal it defied imagination. Yet it was precisely because of that atmosphere, combined with the various powerful opportunities it contained, that countless Races continued to send their people here one after another to be tempered and tested.

 

Only by enduring this manner of brutal trial could one truly become the pillar of their Race.

 

Within the Myriad Beasts War Domain, experts at the Late Stage Martial Ancestor Realm could be considered no more than the lowest rung. Even so, they were also the most numerous group the Myriad Beasts War Domain contained.

 

Of course, those experts from the Top Tier Races, who possessed trump cards capable of fighting above their Realm, were exceptions to this.

 

Above them sat the Peak Stage Martial Ancestors.

 

Peak Stage Martial Ancestors were likewise numerous, though even amongst them, many different tiers existed.

 

Some experts from ordinary Races who had no hope of ever breaking through to the Saint Realm would find their way here and rely on their own strength to forcibly prey upon and rob weaker Late Stage Martial Ancestors.

 

These Peak Stage Martial Ancestors were the very lowest.

 

Above them were the Peak Stage experts from the Top Tier Races, those who held powerful trump cards.

 

The vast majority of these had not truly reached a dead end in their cultivation. Rather, they came to the Myriad Beasts War Domain to be tempered, treating it as a stepping stone for their future path.

 

And at the very pinnacle of Peak Stage Martial Ancestor, were those such as Zhao Xueqi and Zhang Heng, whose individual strength had long since reached the absolute limit of the cultivation realm, yet who had once forced their cultivation upward in the past, leaving behind severe after-effects that prevented them from breaking through to the Saint Realm.

 

Truly speaking, save for the absence of Saint Prestige, their strength was already on par with an ordinary Saint.

 

And the Saints itself…

 

They were the true Masters of this great land.

 

Many who came here, with their natural talent, could simply break through to the Saint Realm, becoming a dominant force of their own.

 

Others, Peak Stage Martial Ancestors who had come across rare treasures such as the Sacred Energy Fruit through fortunate circumstances, were also able to break through and become powerful forces to be reckoned with.

 

Though Zhao Xueqi and Zhang Heng stood only a single step from the Saint Realm, that single step made all the difference in the Myriad Beasts War Domain.

 

…

 

The lakeside was ringed with scorching, intent gazes, all of them locked onto that one giant tree at the centre of the lake. With clusters of red and white light at its crown, shining there like the most precious of gems, drawing every eye without fail.

 

At this moment, everyone’s breathing had grown heavy. Yet curiously, not a single person made a move.

 

Qin Yichen likewise stood quietly to one side, not rushing to act. The one who moved first would not only have to deal with the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon lurking in the lake, but would also risk being targeted by every other person present.

 

Besides, he knew perfectly well that someone would always lose their patience first.

 

The temptation of the Sacred Energy Fruit, after all, was no small thing.