Chapter 038

Chapter 38: Secret Realm Spirit

Inside the Illusory Dream Star Marsh secret realm, a Core Formation Fruit Tree has existed for a thousand years. Once a Pill Tree passes a thousand years, there is a chance it will produce a single Nascent Soul Fruit. Even the Dark Nether Sect does not know this; her father, Ye Cong Ying, found it out for her.

Her father had warned her in plain words: “When you attempted Core Formation, your Golden Core shattered, so you failed. The Golden Core in your body now belongs to Ye Wan Wan. Although we used a method to change that Supreme Grade fire core into a water core, pushing any higher will be hard. Unless you can use the power of a Nascent Soul Fruit, and also have help from two Ye Clan elders and your master, only then will you have a chance to break through to Nascent Soul.”

She asked evenly: “What if I can’t get the Nascent Soul Fruit?”

He answered without pity: “Then you will stay at the Golden Core Stage for life.”

No.

Absolutely not.

[Ye Qian had seen Ye Wan Wan’s end. Ye Wan Wan had once been a famous genius of the Supreme Sect, but after her Core Formation, her cultivation stopped. Yan Ding and Ji Chang Huai grew tired of her. In the end, she was forced out of the Supreme Sect step by step.]

[So I will not walk Ye Wan Wan’s old path. I will never accept that. The main character of this world can only be me. Ye Wan Wan can only be a stepping stone. The Nascent Soul Fruit must be mine.]

Within a ring of falling water, Dou Ming was still breaking the formation. Ye Qian sat cross-legged to stand guard for him, but every so often her gaze lifted to the highest golden fruit, and the ambition in her eyes gave away her hunger to win at all costs. Even when she glanced at Dou Ming, a flicker of caution and calculation crossed her eyes. [If senior brother asks for it… I still don’t want to let him have it.]

In the thick fog, a tiny talisman bird watched the place. Its cinnabar-dotted eyes rolled around as if it were alive.

A mile away, Ye Wan Wan had just dug up the last Bloodswallow Herb. She brushed off her hands and looked back toward the fog. The calm meant the fighting inside had ended. Her tidy-up was finished too.

“We’re only missing the last Pill Tree,” she said, but she did not rush over. That Pill Tree had taken a group of Cloud Wave Fort disciples running around the valley for a full day and night, giving her plenty of time. Even so, she still doubted whether the thing was real.

She had searched the whole valley and found no second Pill Tree. If that thing was not a Core Formation Fruit Tree, then where was the real one?

Ye Wan Wan tapped the ground with her toe.

To be honest, although the Core Formation Fruit Tree had been in the Illusory Dream Star Marsh for many years, very few people had actually picked the fruit. The Dark Nether Sect had opened this secret realm five times, and only twice did a disciple get one, and each time only a single fruit. Yet this one tree had produced so many.

Would the people who picked before really be so moral and so controlled that they took only their share?

Ye Wan Wan gave a soft laugh: “Impossible.”

[If it were me, I’d take the whole thing, roots and soil, and leave nothing for anyone.]

So there was a problem. But where?

Thinking it over, she looked at the ground, then suddenly tilted her head toward the sky. Thick fog smothered the heights. Even above the mist, the sky was pitch black. There was nothing.

Illusory Dream Star Marsh… that was the name of the secret realm. But where were the stars? And where was the marsh?

Ye Wan Wan lowered her eyes. [This name has nothing to do with what I see. Not even a little. So is this really a secret realm?]

Her gaze snapped to the nearby lake, the only lake in the valley. It was also the place where the Core Formation Fruit Tree had first appeared. After that, it took those few people and ran off, never coming back.

Ye Wan Wan walked to the shore and reached into the water. The lake was icy, and fine streams of spiritual energy slid into her skin. The spiritual energy was overflowing, so full that it spilled out and formed this whole valley.

Her eyes deepened. Without another word, she dove in.

She held her breath and swam down through the dark lake heart. Nothing looked special as she went deeper. Just when she thought her guess was wrong, lights appeared ahead. One point, then two, then more and more, until they turned into a skyful of Myriad Stars.

Ye Wan Wan froze. She took two more steps forward and passed through a thin water curtain. The world flipped.

She was standing on the lake surface.

The lake was like a mirror, reflecting a brilliant starry sky. She could not tell sky from lake. As she walked across the center, ripples spread under her feet. After a few rings, the water calmed again.

Not far away, a fiery red spirit tree was in full bloom. Its branches curled with grace, its leaves burned bright red, and apricot-sized fruits hung from the boughs. Some were light red, some pink, some dark red, and there was one dazzling golden fruit.

Ye Wan Wan fixed on the golden fruit. It was still small, as if it had just torn free of its bud. Its faint color carried a sour, unripe bite. Yet it was the most saturated with spiritual energy of them all. If the dark red fruits were Core Formation Fruit, then this gold one was the Nascent Soul Fruit.

Her eyes grew calm and serious. If Core Formation Fruit was something she could take or leave, the Nascent Soul Fruit was different. She had to have it, and it was worth the risk.

[With my own strength, reaching the Nascent Soul Realm might never happen in this life. With outside help, there is a chance.]

Even Pei Xuan was asking around for the whereabouts of Master Fang He An, hoping to bring him back to refine a Nascent Soul Pill for her. But the ingredients for a Nascent Soul Pill were too rare. Even if Fifth Senior Uncle could refine it, gathering the materials would be hard. Especially with so many Golden Cores inside her body, how many Nascent Soul Pills would that take? Just thinking about it made her scalp tingle.

So she would try this Nascent Soul Fruit first to see if she could break through to Nascent Soul. As for the other Core Formation Fruit, they would benefit her too. With her talent, she did not need them to form a core, but if she could save time and effort, why insist on the hard road?

Without hesitation, Ye Wan Wan walked toward the Core Formation Fruit Tree. Compared to the thin little Pill Tree on the surface, this one was completely different. It was lush and thick, with roots sunk deep. If the one above looked like a thousand years old, this one looked like ten thousand.

Its roots took up almost half the lake and dived down who knew how far.

“Pulling it up will be a bit of a pain,” she said as she measured it with her hands. “Maybe I should pick first.”

Her first choice, of course, was the golden fruit.

But the golden fruit trembled. The secret realm seemed to feel the intruder. The realm shook. Waves rippled across the lake. Then the whole lake exploded upward, a water pillar shooting straight at Ye Wan Wan.

She swung her long pole to block and slid behind the spirit tree. The water column crashed past the tree and turned into fine rain. It did not dare to attack too wildly.

That surprised her. Feeling a hostile gaze, she looked up and finally saw a child sitting beside the golden fruit. He glared at her with wide eyes, as if scolding: thief!