Chapter 035

Chapter 35: Core Formation Fruit Tree

When she thought about past life memories, Ye Wan Wan realized those memories were growing blurry. She could remember the turning points of that life, but the details were slowly fading. She wondered if it was because her path was drifting farther from her last life, so the memories were fading with it.

After all, in her last life, she was still a bullied outer disciple at Supreme Sect. Forget a secret realm slot, even leaving the mountain was hard. But today, among two hundred elite disciples, she held one place.

Shen Nan Zhou’s voice sounded at her side: “Senior sister, what are you thinking about?”

Hearing the words senior sister, Ye Wan Wan slanted a look at him. The boy wore a smile, but he was always cold. Even smiling, he felt distant, almost like he was mocking her. Ye Wan Wan changed the topic and nodded ahead: “We are here.”

Passing through the entrance, she felt the token at her waist flash once. Then she smoothly crossed the threshold and arrived in another world.

In the blink of an eye, yellow sand rolled toward her and swept past. Ye Wan Wan frowned and kept the Heart Questioning Sword steady so it did not tilt off course. After cutting through the sand, she finally landed and saw nothing but dunes all around.

There was no one in sight. Bai Jian and the others were not here.

Ye Wan Wan patted her sleeve clean. She did not panic. Before departure, Li Wan Zhi had gotten them a map of Illusory Dream Star Marsh, and all four of them carried a copy. Disciples of other sects had been given maps by their elders too. So this situation was not strange. She took out her map and, judging by the terrain, decided she was at Sheep’s Head Slope.

She thought through last night’s briefing and murmured to herself: “The whole Illusory Dream Star Marsh looks like a Savage Ram with its head and body separated. The head and body lie in two different areas, with a huge lake between them for the connection.”

She traced the head region with her finger and recalled more: “The head area holds rare third tier herbs and Core Formation Fruit. If a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator gets one, it can raise the chance of forming a core by fifty percent. If it is refined into a Breakthrough Pill, the chance can rise to ninety percent. It is one of the most wanted things this time.”

That had been last night’s back and forth between Li Wan Zhi and Senior Brother Fang.

Fang He An had asked in doubt: “But most of the people entering are in Core Formation Stage. Would Core Formation Fruit alone draw this much attention?”

Li Wan Zhi had smiled and replied: “Senior Brother Fang asked the key point, but you missed one thing. Core Formation Stage may not need it, but Foundation Establishment Stage does. And if Core Formation Stage disciples bring Core Formation Fruit back, they can exchange it at their sects for Essence Nurturing Pills to help them break through to mid Core Formation. That is a fine thing too.”

Fang He An had smirked: “You sure know a lot.”

Li Wan Zhi had shrugged: “It is only that senior brother knows too little.”

Those voices echoed in Ye Wan Wan’s ears now. She breathed out softly: “Core Formation Fruit, huh.”

[Is that not made for me?] Other people only need to form a core once. She had to do it many times. [Yes. I want this.]

Ye Wan Wan set her direction and sped toward the ram’s head. The yellow sand streamed past. She flew very fast and soon reached a valley where the wind whipped along different slopes. Spiritual mist hung thick and wet.

When she drew close, she saw a Pill Tree in full bloom. Its branches were heavy with fruit, some large and some small. The big ones were as large as fists. The small ones were only the size of longans. Core Formation Fruit ripened every eighty to one hundred years. This year, luck was good. She had run right into one.

Ye Wan Wan’s eyes brightened. [Just what I needed, delivered to my door.]

With a few light steps she moved through the trees, quickly closing in on the Pill Tree. But as she neared it, she sensed a thin thread of killing intent.

Ye Wan Wan stopped at once on a branch and did not move.

A Pill Tree this full of fruit, with some already mature and over a hundred years old yet still not fallen, did not fit the pattern. The secret realm opened every fifty years. There should not be this many fruits left.

She thought for a moment and chose to watch first. She wanted the treasure, but she wanted her life too.

Quiet as a shadow, she hid nearby and sent out a Spirit Sense Projection to slowly scan the area.

Her cultivation realm could not break from Golden Core to Nascent Soul yet, but the Spirit Refining Art Pei Xuan taught her trained both her body and her spirit. While tempering her body, it had also been strengthening her Primordial Spirit day by day. When her Body Tempering finished, the true power of the Spirit Refining Art would show itself. It was, at its core, a Primordial Spirit cultivation method.

It could raise the Primordial Spirit Realm.

For now, it had not fully unfolded, but the effect was already great. Even if her main realm had not advanced, her Primordial Spirit Realm had reached Golden Core Stage Great Perfection. She was only one step from Nascent Soul. She did not know when she could break that wall, but for today, it was enough.

Her spiritual sense swept the valley. Just as she caught the feel of something unusual, someone entered the valley.

A voice cried out in excitement: “It is here, senior brother. A Pill Tree!”

A Pill Tree is the tree that bears Core Formation Fruit. Because the fruits look like round, oversized Golden Cores, people call the tree a Pill Tree.

Ye Wan Wan held her breath and hid her presence. The three newcomers did not notice her. They were disciples from Cloud Wave Fort: two in early Core Formation, one in late Foundation Establishment. The three flew in under the blowing sand.

Ye Wan Wan lowered her eyes. [People these days have no caution at all.] It was just right. They could serve as free test mice.

“Junior brother, wait,” the older of the two senior brothers called out and stopped the younger one right before he grabbed a Core Formation Fruit.

The junior brother blinked, confused, and asked: “Senior brother, what is wrong?”

“Be careful,” the senior brother warned in a low voice.

The junior brother laughed as he reached forward anyway: “Senior brother is too careful. Our whole way here was quiet. If a strong Demonic Beast were here, it would have come out already. How could it be this calm?”

His hand closed on the fruit.

But his palm passed straight through it.

He stared, stunned. Refusing to believe it, he grabbed again. Still nothing. It was like the fruit was only a shadow he could not hold. Then the fruits in front of his eyes vanished and appeared two steps away.

The two senior brothers rushed up at once, but as soon as they moved, the fruits flickered and showed up three steps farther.

“It is running,” one of them shouted.

A tree that ran sounded like a joke.

But that was exactly what they saw. Right before their eyes, the Pill Tree tore itself free of the ground, lifted its roots like feet, and sprinted into the depths of the valley.

Ye Wan Wan stared in surprise: “?”

The three disciples froze for a heartbeat.

“Chase it,” one yelled.

They bolted after it, but the Pill Tree was very fast and very nimble. When they could not catch it, their anger boiled over. One of them drew a longsword with a snap and snarled: “Stand still for me!”

Sword energy swept the air and shook the whole valley. Even the ground trembled. His slash raced straight for the Pill Tree’s roots.

If that blow landed, it would destroy the tree at its foundation.

Ye Wan Wan’s eyes grew cold.