Chapter 38

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Chapter 38

Zhong Wei didn’t understand, so she asked, "Elder Martial Sister, is that Vermilion Fruit you mentioned the tree over there, bare and only having a few fruits hanging on it? Isn’t it already bearing fruit?"

Yun Chuyou nodded and shook her head, "That is a fake, it’s a disguise to fool its prey. This kind of treasure from heaven and earth has a long flowering period, but the time for producing fruit is very short."

She didn’t really understand all that either, but that’s how it was written in the original story.

Xie Qi, who was rejected by several of his fellow brothers, added from the side, "What Taoist Friend Yun said is correct; it casts an illusion over itself. If you don’t have the talent to see through it, you can only see its current form. Once the Vermilion Fruit falls, it will quickly rot."

In front of the other disciples, he didn’t call Yun Chuyou "Pomelo" anymore, as that name was a bit too cute. His precious disciple is the master of the sect and also the senior martial sister, so she should have the dignity that comes with her position; calling her "Pomelo" should be saved for private moments.

When it comes to matters concerning Yun Chuyou, Xie Fuzhi is always attentive and caring, acting like an excellent master.

This isn’t his first time being a master; he has done it many times before, going from having no experience at all to being quite skilled.

Xie Fuzhi had once put a lot of effort into several other disciples, but sadly, the ones he nurtured turned out to be ungrateful.

As a Phoenix, his nature was originally as explosive as Phoenix True Fire; if his disciples were not good, he wouldn’t like them. And if he held a grudge, he would never forgive them a second time.

But fate insisted on making these fools his apprentices, again and again, time after time.

These fools remembered nothing and knew nothing. He tried to change fate, but sadly, they were like puppets controlled by destiny, repeating the same mistakes every time.

The endless torment had long awakened the internal demon of the phoenix. He was a fire phoenix, yet he lived on a snow-covered mountain top where snow never melted, and he had dug a thousand-year Cold Pool to suppress his burning anger.

Xie Fuzhi was tired and weary, and now

He just didn’t want to care anymore. He wasn’t too harsh on his apprentices, but if he were to truly care, there was not even a bit of that.

As for the matters in the sect, with the capable senior martial sister Yun Chuyou in charge, he just had to obey. Whatever lessons she wanted him to teach these guys, he would just do the minimum needed and wouldn’t worry unnecessarily.

The knocked-out Hu Xiao Bai was now a fox, but not a tiny one like a rabbit; he was as big as Yun Chuyou, with five tails swaying back and forth. He was listening to his family master’s voice while rubbing his head.

His nose twitched, "I smell a lot of people and many demon beasts coming from all directions." Canine animals have such powerful senses of smell.

The legendary Vermilion Fruit, the moment it bears fruit, attracts numerous demon beasts fighting for it. So, to ensure its safety during this competition, the Vermilion Fruit Tree speeds up the absorption of nutrients when the fruit ripens, making the time to seize this treasure very short.

Yun Chuyou asked, "Is anyone especially interested in the thousand-year Vermilion Fruit? It can extend life and is also the main ingredient for the longevity pill."

Meng He shook his head, "If the senior martial sister can use it for medicine, I will help you get it. If it’s not useful, I have no interest in competing for the Vermilion Fruit."

He is so young and has many years to live. He is not close to old age, so why would he need to fight for the thousand-year Vermilion Fruit?

Yu Jiu also shook his head, "I’m not interested, but if the senior martial sister wants it for alchemy, I will do my best to help."

As a ghost child, Yu Jiu can naturally live for millions of years, so he is not very interested in the thousand-year Vermilion Fruit either. If Yun Chuyou weren’t here, he might not even come this way after hearing about the Vermilion Fruit.

Zhong Wei asked, "Senior martial sister, if you don’t want it, should we stay further away? Those cultivators fighting for the fruit will be very fierce, and we should keep our distance to avoid any trouble."

Yun Chuyou shook her head, "If we are lucky enough to get one, that’s fine, but we won’t push for it. Our main goal is to mix in with the demon beasts and practice your combat skills."

Before, they had only killed demon beasts at Cloud Peak and had almost no encounters with cultivators.

There are only a few thousand-year Vermilion Fruits, and a winner can be decided in a day. The crucial point is that the fruit tree will attract numerous secret realm demon beasts, and then the heroine will activate the core of Sword Tomb to bring forth the Sword King Palace early. To ensure that they can enter the Sword King Palace at the first opportunity, Yun Chuyou does not plan to stay far from the battlefield.

Hu Xiao Bai patted his chest proudly and said, "Master, don’t worry. I am a five-tailed fox now, and I will definitely protect you in the battle."

Meng He scoffed, "You, such a weak fox, protecting senior martial sister? I think it will be senior martial sister protecting you instead."

He looked down on Hu Xiao Bai and turned to Yun Chuyou, pledging, "Senior martial sister, don’t worry. I will definitely guard you and won’t let you get hurt."

Yun Chuyou smiled at him, "Just take care of yourselves. Don’t forget, I have already condensed my Nascent Soul. Right now, I am the one with the highest cultivation in the sect, aside from our master."

Zhong Wei immediately said, "Exactly! Senior martial sister doesn’t need your protection; just don’t cause any trouble for her."

She continued, "I will surely protect myself and not distract senior martial sister. A cultivator doesn’t need others to protect them. Depending on mountains is useless when they collapse, and rivers dry up; relying on oneself is the truth."

Although she relied on Yun Chuyou, she also understood that in the cultivation world, strength is the most important. The weak have no voice, and neither men nor women can always expect others to protect them.

Yun Chuyou nodded and praised, "Younger martial sister is right, but when we are outside, let’s stick together and not be too proud. It’s better to be adaptable rather than stubborn."

All the disciples of our sect are here; when it comes to a real fight, why fight one-on-one? This isn’t a competition, and there’s no need to speak of fairness and rules.

Xie Qi beside her remained silent, quietly watching Yun Chuyou. In fact, the atmosphere between the few senior and junior brothers was quite harmonious, but the master’s perspective was different.

Looking at Yun Chuyou, he thought: The disciple is smart, the disciple is doing well.

Looking at Meng He, the words in his mind were: Impulsive and foolish fool.

Looking at Yu Jiu: A bad person with a black heart.

As for the youngest disciple, Zhong Wei: A foolish person with blind eyes.

He did not pay much attention to Hu Xiao Bai; the silly, bubbling idiot fox was seen by him as just a pet that could be discarded at any time.

"Taoist Friend Xie, is there something on my face, or do you have some opinion?"

She looked at Ye Xuanye, who was already gathered with other disciples from the Tianyuan Sect in the distance, "The everlasting Vermilion Fruit should be beneficial for the Supreme Elder of Tianyuan Sect. You’re his disciple; aren’t you seeking the Vermilion Fruit with Ye Xuanye?"

Those direct disciples from Tianyuan Sect were all gathered around Ye Xuanye, clearly relying on their chief as their backbone. She didn’t quite understand why Xie Qi was still following her; they, the Qingxu Sect, were just a small sect, and at such a crucial moment, she couldn’t care about the disciples from other sects.

Xie Qi’s eyes were bright, and his smile was very charming, "Thank you, Chuyou, for your concern. I will try hard to take care of myself."

A disciple’s behavior is greatly related to their character, especially when raising Yun Chuyou, a kind-hearted, strong, thoughtful, and clever disciple; he truly understands what a normal and healthy master-disciple relationship is.

In fact, if an informed observer had heard this, they would surely shout loudly, "Right now, his relationship with Yun Chuyou is not healthy or normal at all! How can a master show such biased favoritism? His obsession with Yun Chuyou is so intense that it’s almost twisted; it may look normal on the outside, but it’s already a mess inside."

If something happened to Yun Chuyou, he would definitely go mad on the spot.

"Why are you shouting like that? Just now you called him Taoist Friend Yun, and now it’s Chuyou. You can’t just call our great senior martial sister’s name like that!"

Meng He was very angry. He looked at Little Bai with great displeasure and couldn’t help but explode with frustration.

It was Hu Xiao Bai’s words that interrupted his complaint, "Master, more and more people are coming."

Because Hu Xiao Bai sensed the presence of danger, the fur on his back stood up again. He started to scratch the ground with his paws, partly to ease his own nervousness and partly because his subconscious was trying to find a hole to hide in.

Meng He looked at the growing crowd and said, "You don’t need to say it; we can all see it."

The Vermilion Fruit slowly ripened during their chat, beginning to give off a strong fragrance. When the fruit was born, Yun Chuyou saw strange clouds rising above the Vermilion Fruit Tree.

During the fruiting period, the once thin and small Vermilion Fruit Tree had to shed its disguise. It had looked like a tiny sapling less than two meters tall, but now it grew tall in the wind, turning into a grand tree several hundred meters high that reached the clouds.

The shining gold-red Vermilion Fruit was hidden at the very top of the Vermilion Fruit Tree, located in the crown and protected in the center by countless branches.

The time of fruiting was also the most vulnerable time for the Vermilion Fruit Tree; this period was equivalent to the Transmigration stage of this magical plant.

However, no lightning struck from the sky to protect the ancient Vermilion Fruit Tree that was flowering and bearing fruit.

While it could not move its roots, the branches swung wildly, with each branch jabbing into the chests of the demon beasts or human cultivators trying to pick the fruit, quickly turning them into thin skins.

The enlarged Vermilion Fruit Tree still hadn’t produced leaves, but the skins that had not been consumed hung from the black branches like leaves. They fluttered in the wind, causing the dazzled cultivators to feel a chill and flee in fear.

Yun Chuyou had warned about the situation of the Vermilion Fruit Tree, so several disciples from Qingxu Sect kept their distance. When the Vermilion Fruit Tree began to attack, they swiftly withdrew from the range of the branches.

"They all retreated."

Accompanied by a strange and strong fruity smell, people came from all directions, and demon beasts also flocked from everywhere. Not everyone could sense that there were rare treasures here; those cultivators who were too far away couldn’t see what was happening, and by the time they arrived, it would be too late.

However, along the way, many cultivators saw the demon beasts acting wildly and followed them, unaware that there was a thousand-year Vermilion Fruit here; they were simply drawn to the demon beasts themselves.

The claws, tusks, sharp horns of high-level demon beasts, every bone in their bodies, and even the blood flowing through their veins can become collectibles for human cultivators.

Some demon beasts eat anything, including their own kind, of course, they also include human cultivators. Cultivators hunt demon beasts, using their fur, meat, and blood to create pills and magical tools.

Yun Chuyou didn’t harbor much hatred for the demon beasts; it was simply that they belonged to different races, and everyone naturally had different stands. They all followed the same law of the jungle; cultivators dying at the hands of their kind were not fewer than those that fell to demon beasts.

She held her sword tightly, swinging it toward the demon beasts that charged at her. A continuous wave of demon beasts was drawn here by the soon-to-ripen Vermilion Fruit, and some low-level demon beasts were driven here by high-level demon beasts.

Some of them looked frightened, while others had blank stares, completely losing their reason and acting uncontrollably.

The low-level demon beasts rushed madly toward the direction of the Vermilion Fruit Tree, sacrificing their own blood and flesh to help the Vermilion Fruits ripen faster and improve their quality.

In nature, no two leaves are exactly the same, and the same goes for fruits. Even the fruits from the same tree will show some differences in their effects. The fruit that absorbs enough flesh can extend life more, and the longevity pills made from it will work better.

The beast horde moved forward without caring about any enemies they encountered. Countless animal hooves trampled the bodies of those who tried to stop them, crushing the unprepared weak disciples into a bloody mess.

"Hu Xiao Bai, be careful and help save people!"

The words in the book did not describe the chaos of the scene. Besides killing the demon beasts, Yun Chuyou also saved some lower-level cultivators who were frozen in fear.

She did not know if these cultivators were good or bad; she saved people based on her intuition, pulling those who seemed to have a pure spirit.

Seeing her actions, Zhong Wei also helped a few people.

She wanted to learn from the senior martial sister, but she only saved younger girls, not everyone.

Until she saw a familiar face across the horde of beasts, a face that had changed little in six years.

Something made her blood, her body crave the Spiritual Root she once had but was stolen from her.

This moment of distraction made Zhong Wei freeze. Just then, she stumbled and nearly got hit by a grayish-blue bull-like demon beast.

A blue silk ribbon quickly wrapped around her body and pulled Zhong Wei away from the battlefield.

A person cannot come back to life, and Zhong Wei only has one life. Yun Chuyou thought of her younger martial sister’s unreliability and scolded sharply, "Younger martial sister! How can you lose focus on the battlefield? You almost got caught in the wave of beasts!"