Chapter 037

Chapter 37: Nascent Soul Fruit

“Who did this?”

Dou Ming’s face turned very dark. He ended his Sword Flight and strode forward. The farther he went, the more hollow he felt. Nothing. There was nothing.

Except for some weeds, every spirit herb with any use had been uprooted with root and soil, as clean as a swept floor. Only turned earth remained. If someone scattered seeds here now, perhaps in fifty years this could become a new medicine garden. But at the moment not even a blade of useful grass remained.

No, not quite nothing. The weeds were still there.

Ye Qian’s face went pale. The mist high above had blocked the truth, creating a fake scene of plenty. Who would have thought that once you went in, there would be nothing? It would have been better to go to the Sheep’s Belly.

“Third senior brother…” Ye Qian called in a timid voice: “Did we come too late?”

No matter how angry she felt inside, she did not dare lose her temper in front of Dou Ming.

“Do not worry,” Dou Ming soothed. “This valley is so large. Even the one who did this could not have taken everything. He does not have the time or the strength.”

Ye Qian thought so too. The Sheep’s Head Valley was rich in spiritual energy. Many rare herbs and beasts grew here. Besides the Core Formation Fruit, there were countless other treasures. Second senior brother Lian Xin was an apothecary alchemist. Ye Qian had planned to gather more herbs to trade for Soul Nurturing Pills to stabilize essence and nourish the soul. If they returned empty-handed, this trip would be wasted.

They pushed on with renewed effort. But the whole way they saw only barrenness. Forget Black Sour Fruit and Bloodswallow Herb. They did not even see the simplest level-one herb. It had truly been cleaned out.

When they arrived at the spot marked on the map for the Black Sour Fruit Tree and looked at the pit where the roots had been pulled out, Dou Ming could no longer hold back his anger. Ye Qian said nothing.

“They dug up the trees too,” Dou Ming snarled. “Who are these people?”

He wanted to smash a tree, but there were hardly any trees left to smash. The place was empty.

Suddenly, footsteps and noises sounded ahead. Dou Ming snapped his head up. There were people. He moved at once: “Go.”

Ye Qian followed. As they neared the sounds, a voice came from within the thick mist: “Catch this thing, do not let it run. This is the Core Formation Fruit!”

Sword qi rang twice. It sounded like they were hunting something.

Without a word, Dou Ming drew his sword. The long blade flashed into a stream of light that shot into the fog and slashed at whoever was within.

Clang, clang. The other side fought back. His sword met resistance and flew back into his hand. A furious shout rose from inside: “Who ambushed us?”

Dou Ming sneered and charged in: “Ambush? The ones who deserve death are you.”

Seizing treasures by cutting roots, leaving no chance for others. Shameless. They should be killed.

Inside the fog, the two sides could not see each other, but they had already crossed moves many times. Dou Ming poured out his anger in every strike. Ye Qian stayed at his side and did not dare stray a step. She spread her hands and cast spells to hold the enemy in place, saying: “Senior brother, there are three people on the other side.”

“Good. No wonder they moved so fast,” Dou Ming gritted out. “Now we will make them spit out what they took.”

The Cloud Wave Fort disciples grew even angrier when they heard him: “So you came to steal the treasure!”

They had chased this Pill Tree for a day and a night. They had finally forced the thing into the array eye and were about to succeed. Someone trying to cut in at this key moment was something they would never allow.

“Take their lives,” one of them said. The three exchanged looks, killing intent in their eyes.

Especially Li Qun, the Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator. He had targeted this Core Formation Fruit for himself. With it, he could break through to Golden Core. He quietly pulled a treasure from his robe. It was a Thunder Orb, a Third Grade Artifact that could equal a full-strength strike from a mid-stage Core Formation Stage cultivator.

Catching the right moment in the fight, he hurled it at Dou Ming.

Lightning boomed out and shot toward Dou Ming and Ye Qian. Dou Ming stepped fast to shield Ye Qian, formed a seal, and called: “Earth moves in haste. Earth, respond, come quick.”

Walls of earth rose, building several barriers in front of them. But the lightning climbed over the two-zhang wall. Before the walls could close, the bolt smashed into Dou Ming. Half his body went numb, yet at the key moment he slipped into the ground with the Earth Escape Technique.

Li Qun started after him, but senior brother Sun Qu blocked him: “The Pill Tree matters more. He cannot get far. We will chase. You stay and pick the fruit.”

Li Qun swallowed his anger and said through his teeth: “Senior brother, we cannot leave any survivors.”

“Understood.”

If word got out that they had caught a Pill Tree bearing Core Formation Fruit, Cloud Wave Fort would be in trouble. This was a whole Core Formation Fruit Tree. Sun Qu hoped to win great merit for their sect.

“Second junior brother, go with junior brother,” Sun Qu ordered.

“Alright.”

Sun Qu chased along the marks of the Earth Escape Technique, but he kept running without finding Dou Ming and Ye Qian. He frowned: “That is strange. I followed the Earth Escape trail, so how did it… disappear?”

The tracks in the earth cut off halfway. Sun Qu checked for a long time, and his heartbeat grew faster and faster. He looked up and scanned around, blurting out: “No. This valley… it is empty.”

“Wait. That is not the main point,” he realized, spinning back. “We were tricked.”

He rushed back, glad he had left one more man with Li Qun. Even so, he was late. By the time he returned, Dou Ming had already driven a sword through one man’s chest and shattered his Golden Core. Only Li Qun, the Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator, remained.

Li Qun stared at his fallen senior brother and screamed in a sharp voice: “You dare kill me?”

“The weak are meat,” Dou Ming sneered. “Save your breath.” He raised his sword and slashed for a kill.

Li Qun had treasures of his own. He threw another Thunder Orb. Dou Ming’s face changed, but at the key moment a pillar of water quickly caught the lightning and guided it aside. It crashed into the ground with a thunderous thud. Even so, Ye Qian turned pale.

“You dare hurt my junior sister,” Dou Ming said coldly.

Li Qun tried to flee, but he could not outrun the blade. Dou Ming’s sword pierced his heart. Eyes wide, Li Qun slowly fell. In his pupils, a blurry figure in the mist flickered. Dou Ming did not notice. He had already turned to check on Ye Qian.

“Junior sister, are you alright?” he asked, worried.

“I… I am fine,” Ye Qian panted.

Dou Ming took out a Mystic Spirit Pill and fed it to her, saying: “Absorb it well.”

“Mm.”

She swallowed the First Grade Pill and drew in its energy quickly. Seeing her color return, Dou Ming supported her as they walked toward the Pill Tree trapped inside the Array Arts.

“These people do have some skill,” he said. The array holding the Pill Tree was actually grade three. Normally only disciples of great sects could learn grade-one or grade-two Array Arts, and grade three was for personal disciples and elders. As Yan Ding’s personal disciple, Dou Ming understood Array Arts, though it was not his specialty. The highest he usually handled was grade two. This one was tricky.

[If only Eldest Senior Brother were here,] he thought.

“Senior brother, can you break it?” Ye Qian asked.

He would never say no in front of Ye Qian. “I need a little time,” he said.

“I will guard you,” Ye Qian answered. She formed seals in quick succession and chanted: “Spring river tides join the level sea. Over the sea the bright moon rises with the tide. Water spirit, gather.”

In moments, countless beads of water flowed in and swirled around them, forming a natural water shield. In front of them, the rising vapor turned into a new fog that hid their shapes. When Sun Qu came hunting, he only got lost in the mist.

“You worked hard, junior sister,” Dou Ming said gently.

“Move fast, senior brother, I will buy time,” Ye Qian urged.

Dou Ming answered and began to break the array. Ye Qian no longer hid her ambition. Her eyes burned as she stared at the branches filled with Core Formation Fruit, and at the top, at one fruit that seemed almost ripe… a Nascent Soul Fruit.