Chapter 441 - Shen Yi Fruit
That huge carrot had some fragrant little crimson fruits dangling from its top.
Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin'er slowly moved toward it while meticulously observing their surroundings. They didn't dare to let their guards down; what they had seen happening in these Returning Ruins thus far was far beyond their imaginations. They couldn't help but tense their hearts in vigilance.
Zhong Yue scanned every inch of their surroundings with his divine third eye but spotted nothing odd at all.
The two of them reached to the side of the carrot, and Zhong Yue changed into the state of [Atman Body as One], growing to a height of 16 feet. He reached his hands out and grabbed the carrot's head, pulling it out with all his might Qiu Jin'er also put in some effort by pulling at one of the carrot's leaves.
The two of them were in the middle of trying to wrench it out when suddenly, a voice called out at them, "What are you doing!?"
Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin'er were shocked, they quickly let go of the carrot, and by itself, the carrot lunged out from its little hole. Two pitch black, shiny eyes opened on the carrot's body and stared at them wrathfully, "I'm just trying to rest in peace! Why are the two of you pulling at my hair!?"
Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin'er were both stunned, and they vacantly stared at the carrot with bewilderment.
The divine herb just came out from its own hole and spoke words. Moreover, it even had two thin arms and legs, making it look like a carrot man. It was utterly bizarre.
“This… brother, are you a celestial?” Zhong Yue did not know what to call the divine herb as he asked.
"Celestial? What celestial?" The carrot was puzzled as well. Suddenly, it quickly shook its head and shouted again, "Don't change the topic! I'm questioning you, why did you pull my hair!?"
Zhong Yue then realized that this ancient divine herb had developed sentience after living for such a long time!
But Qiu Jin’er was still asking, “If you are not a celestial, then are you a demon?”
The carrot's roots began to flutter out of anger. It glared at them and chided, "Don't keep trying to change the topic! We are talking about why you were pulling on my hair…"
Zhong Yue suddenly sprang to action. His arcane energy surged out and formed into 1000 tiny dragons that quickly pinned the carrot to the ground.
Zhong Yue was overjoyed at seeing his plan work, and he laughed, "This carrot can sustain us for many days…"
Bang, bang, bang, bang——
The carrot moved its body and broke the dragon shackles away like thin twigs. It laughed loudly, "How dare you? Why didn't you ask the others in the Returning Ruins as to who I am? Do you not know what I am capable of? Come, come, you want a fight? I will give you a fight! I hope you don't cry like a baby looking for your mother's help!!"
Hu——
The godly totem patterns around the carrot flew over and curled around its arms and fists. Without any warning, it lunged over and threw a punch that was so fierce that even Zhong Yue couldn't fully endure the strike. He raised his hand and met the incoming punch with a fist of his own. But as the fists clashed, the sounds of bone cracking clearly echoed out from within his arm. Zhong Yue's heart skipped a beat, and he thought, This divine herb, how incredibly strong is its strength?
The carrot then yelled out and launched another fist. While Zhong Yue let out a long whistle, two light rays - one bright and the other dark - flitted out from his eyes. The Yin and Yang Qi shot out toward the rabbit.
A series of blunt noises rang out as the carrot's godly totem patterns, and Zhong Yue's Yin and Ying Qi clashed with one another. Sparks flew about like festive fireworks.
The carrot continued raining down its fists at Zhong Yue in face-to-face frontal combat!
On the side, Qiu Jin'er was utterly dumbfounded. She watched as the muscular carrot fought head to head with Zhong Yue. The both of them exchanged countless strikes within a single second.
Strictly speaking, the carrot's prowess might not be as strong as Zhong Yue's, but the godly totem patterns around it were way too strong. No matter how strong or what kind of skills Zhong Yue used, the godly totem patterns were able to fend them off without fail.
Thankfully, this carrot doesn't know how to unleash the full potential of these godly totem pattern chains, or else, even senior martial brother won't be able to endure it... Qiu Jin’er said in her heart.
Suddenly, Zhong Yue opened his divine third eye, and a flash of godly ray struck at the carrot's godly totem pattern chains. A loud and shrill noise ravaged their ears, and although the godly totem patterns were able to ward down it down, the carrot was still struck off balance. It had to take a few steps back to unload the impact force.
Zhong Yue then seized the opportunity, and light wheels emerged behind him as his aura erupted. His attacks turned wild and ferocious while his strength grew exponentially stronger with every strike he made.
An additional six arms then extruded out from below his shoulders, elevating his attack rate to a level that was beyond what even the divine carrot could adequately defend against.
It took dozens of blows within a span of a few seconds before its endurance finally gave out. Seeing that even its fists were mashed away, the carrot immediately leaped back out of Zhong Yue's attack range. It then ran and escaped while shouting at him, "You wait and see! I will come after you another time, and I will bring my brothers with me!"
Just as it started running, Qiu Jin'er hastily dashed over and grabbed onto its leaves. She then dragged the muscular carrot back toward Zhong Yue.
“Please, spare my life!”
Abruptly, the carrot knelt on the ground in tears, "Please, don't eat me! I have parents to support and children to raise. Please spare my life. I don't want them to die of starvation."
Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin'er were bewildered, and they looked at each other with perplexity on both their faces. Right at this moment, where they were momentarily frozen in confusion, the carrot suddenly swung Qiu Jin'er's hand away from its hair and shot out like a loose arrow. It ran away from the two humans as it taunted, "Ha-ha! Too easy, you rookies! Just you wait for me! My brothers will…"
But before it could even reach any appreciable distance away from them, Zhong Yue raised his hand up and clenched on the carrot's hair again.
Pu-tong!
Instantly, as he held onto the carrot leaves, it went straight down to the ground on its knees and cried, "Please, please! I beg you, I beg your pardon! Please don't eat me…"
Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin'er were between laughter and tears. Zhong Yue then asked, "Xin Huo, by any chance, have you ever been in such a situation like this before?"
"A few divine herbs that came to life, yes. But it's also my first time witnessing such a hoodlum like this."
Xin Huo then continued, "It doesn't matter, they were all eaten. After all anyway. Besides, isn't that precisely the reason we cultivate them?"
“Senior martial brother, are we really going to…” Qiu Jin’er was unwilling as she said, “... to eat this carrot?”
Zhong Yue was also hesitant, the carrot then quickly hugged on his legs and soaked his pants with its tears, "Hero, oh mighty hero, I have parents to support and children to…"
Zhong Yue quickly swung his leg and kicked the carrot away, he smiled and said, "Didn't you just say that it was all lies? Are you still planning to use the same trick again?"
The carrot was whimpering, and knowing that it couldn't trick Zhong Yue again, it immediately turned its efforts to Qiu Jin'er. It begged her while shedding tears like the rain. Qiu Jin'er then looked at Zhong Yue, and Zhong Yue looked at the big carrot, he then said, "The fruits on your head…"
As soon as the carrot heard him, it saw a glimpse of hope and answered eagerly, "These are the Shen Yi Fruit, it takes 800 years to bloom, another 800 to bear fruit, and a final 800 years to mature. A whole cycle requires 2,400 years. I can give them all to you!"
Zhong Yue picked one of the Shen Yi Fruits and ate it. Instantly, spiritual energy billowed within his body, cleansing the impurities away from every crevice of his mortal body, psyche ocean, Yuan Shen, and even the secret realms!
He could see his mortal body growing stronger with every cycle, and his flaws were amended, and those parts where his Immortal Body had yet to cover were now accessible. His Yuan Shen became filled with life energy, and even the Yuan Shen now partially carried the Immortal Body's characteristics!
The cultivation technique he had gotten on the Immortal Body was missing the part regarding the Yuan Shen. And now, after consuming the Shen Yi Fruit, his Yuan Shen had already nearly achieved the state of Immortal Body!
Zhong Yue was shocked and overjoyed, and he picked another Shen Yi Fruit down and gave it to Qiu Jin'er, "Senior martial sister, try it."
Qiu Jin'er consumed it. Her eyes soon lit up, and she quickly sat down and cultivated. Moments later, the young lady exclaimed in joy, "My Immortal Body has improved a lot, I can be considered an expert in it already!"
Zhong Yue inwardly nodded in satisfaction at the Shen Yi Fruit's potency but still forced a disappointed expression. He said begrudgingly, "Carrot, I allow you to live and follow me. But your fruits and even your entire being shall belong to me from now on."
The carrot turned pallid like a white radish, and it stammered, "Uh, follow you… about that… I… I don't think I'm very suit to traveling… I get a little homesick… and also… I can't bear any fruit if I'm not comfortable…"
"No worries, it's just a small issue. We will take some of the soil here and carry it around. This will work out perfectly, what say you? I will bring you out of this place, and you will have the opportunity to explore the marvelous world outside of the little bubble you've known your whole life. This will be an excellent experience for you. Hmm… indeed...." Zhong Yue was said all of this with a warm smile on his face as he slowly pulled out the Golden Peng Sword from his Yuan Shen secret realms.
He said smilingly, "But if you really don't want to trouble me bringing you around, that's also fine by me. I can just use you as an ingredient to cook some congee now. That will save all the hassle."
The carrot then obediently nodded its head like a woodpecker on a sugar rush.
Zhong Yue nodded and kept the golden sword. He dug out some of the soil from the ground and tucked them in one corner of his Yuan Shen secret realms, laying down a solid bed of soil. Suddenly, he thought of something and looked at the carrot, "Did you say you had some brothers?"
Qiu Jin'er remembered it as well, and she also turned to the carrot.
The big carrot was startled for a second, it then quickly nodded and confirmed, "I have many brothers, they are all stron- … strongly delicious...!"
Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin'er were overjoyed, and they said in unison, "Bring us to them!"
The carrot was overjoyed as well, and it quickly obliged, leading them while thinking, Hehe, when my brothers surround them and take them down, I will use them as my nutrients!
It smirked happily at the mere prospect.
Zhong Yue asked, “Do you have a name?”
“Husan Weng.”
The big carrot strode forward and boasted, "Just go around the Returning Ruins and ask the others, I bet you can't find someone who doesn't know who I am. My reputation is the greatest here. Not long ago, I just stomped on the ground, and the whole Returning Ruins came out from that darkest hole of the world, countless livings in Returning Ruins are scared to death because of me … There, right in front. That is where one of my good brothers Cusia lives! Careful, this is the Crimson Water River, there are quite a few strong fellows in it. Last time, they tried to kill me, but I beat them back into the waters. Something that none of you could have done."
At the other end of the Crimson Water River, there was a shabby garden where a demon Qi Practitioner was meticulously taking out a divine herb and cautiously planting it into the soil. He then cast out a few tiny black banners and buried them under the ground before proceeding to cover the tracks.
A bright ray flashed across the demon Qi Practitioner's eyes, and he blew a mouth of air at the divine herb. Right away, the godly rays were spread into the sky, and as soon as he heard a noise coming from the surroundings, he turned into a wave of black smokes and disappeared into thin air.
"Senior Martial Brother Kui Longzi, there is a divine herb here!" A few Kui Long Qi Practitioners swarmed into the garden, and one of them said in surprise and also joy.
"What luck!"
Senior Martial Brother Kui Longzi laughed in joy, and he said, "Just how lucky are we. A free divine herb waiting for us to claim! But still, be cautious. The divine herbs here in the Returning Ruins have a high chance of coming to life. It's fairly hard to capture them once they escape."
“With senior martial brother, a great young god here, what is there to be afraid of?”
The Qi Practitioners and Kui Longzi walked forward, their eyes were fixated on the divine herb, and suddenly, the surroundings changed. Huge banners extruded out from the ground, and the sky darkened. In just the blink of an eye, the Qi Practitioners around were killed, and their energies were sucked away from their bodies, leaving only their skeletons behind.
Kui Longzi was bellowing in rage, and he surged out a divine weapon despite the many wounds on his body.
"Who, who dares to ambush me!?" Kui Longzi shouted, "A coward! How is that you are even fit to be a great cultivator!? Come, come out and fight! Roar!!!”
Just as he finished his words, a wave of black smoke seeped out from the ground, and a sharp object pierced right through his mouth from the back and grabbed on his head. It then pulled back down hard, crushing Kui Longzi's head into his own chest.
"My name is Yan Zhen, disciple of the Yama three saints." The demon Qi Practitioner calmly said as he pulled Kui Longzi's head out from the back of the latter’s body.