A Bountiful Harvest

Huang Jingjun was utterly despairing. Even his elder brother had been defeated and lost an arm—who could possibly come save him now?

The young hunter in his eyes held a bloodstained longsword. He was still the same person, yet his image in Huang Jingjun's eyes had become completely different.

Earlier, he had wanted to force the other party into the Heavenly Light to gather herbs. He had even thought Qin Ming simple and laughable, still asking his elder brother questions with death staring him in the face.

Looking back now, there had been a faintly discernible sneer at the corner of his own mouth, while his elder brother had smiled warmly. Had the other party not been looking at them in exactly the same way?

The Three-Colored Flower was about to mature. Luminous mist flowed around it, and its refreshing fragrance grew ever richer. One whiff cleared the mind and lifted the spirit.

Qin Ming was deeply drawn to it. He turned and dug out the jade box beneath the pile of rocks, afraid of missing the best time to pick it. Who knew whether this spiritual flower would wither rapidly after blooming?

Huang Jingde covered the stump of his arm with his left hand. The entire right side of his body was covered in blood, his armor drenched through. As he staggered backward, he left bloody footprints on the ground.

Seeing Qin Ming turn away, he did not think of launching a sneak attack. Instead, he cast a deep glance at his younger brother and prepared to flee. If he could live, even with a mutilated body, that would be enough.

Though Qin Ming was eager to pick the Three-Colored Flower, he would never make such a low-level mistake. How could he let an expert of Third New Life escape right beneath his nose?

Without even turning his head, he sent the Long-handled Black Gold Hammer flying from his left hand. How terrifying was his strength? Thrown with all his might, it could smash a pit into even a city wall.

Huang Jingde screamed. The instant he turned around, he heard a crisp crack—the sound of bones breaking.

In his agonizing pain, he felt his spine shatter. He could no longer support himself. The world spun around him, and with a thud, he crashed to the ground.

After taking out the jade box, Qin Ming quickly stepped forward. The Three-Colored Flower was blooming in full at a speed visible to the naked eye, exceptionally resplendent and beautiful.

Nothing was more important than this. Qin Ming entered the Heavenly Light where iridescent mist swirled, heading straight toward the spiritual plant that exuded its rich fragrance.

It grew beside an Earth Fissure amid a pile of rocks, only about a foot tall. Its flower, however, was not small. Once its many petals spread open, it was as large as a fist.

Heavenly Light surged from the Earth Fissure, making even Qin Ming feel tightness in his chest and discomfort. Accompanied by a rain of light, the entire spiritual flower gleamed as though dripping with dew. It had fully bloomed.

Within the Heavenly Light, the main body of the flower was silver, streaked with threads of red-cloud-like patterns, while its edges were blue, crystal-clear and translucent.

Its petals resembled willow leaves, though sharper, with angular ridges along their edges. There were countless petals, layer upon layer, combining into something like a miniature forest of blades and swords. Though beautiful, it was filled with sharp, cutting force.

"It's ripe!"

Qin Ming acted, shoving the rocks aside and digging out the entire Three-Colored Flower with his bare hands. From its leaves to its roots and stem, it was all three-colored, brimming with dense life force.

With a snap, Qin Ming closed the jade box and let out a long breath. He had successfully harvested the incomparably precious spiritual flower.

"Today, fortune has come in pairs!" Qin Ming beamed, filled with the feeling of harvest. After venting his anger by killing the people from Golden Chicken Ridge, he had obtained Blue Jade Iron and this spiritual flower in succession.

Beside him, Huang Jingjun was so furious that he coughed up blood repeatedly. Had that not been what they had said? By now, he was at the end of his rope and clearly would not survive.

"Thank you both for your gifts. I spent several days busy in the mountains, yet gained less than I have now." Qin Ming's thanks came straight from the bottom of his heart.

Huang Jingde was also furious beyond endurance. Smoldering rage was about to burst through his chest. He had originally seen a brilliant future ahead, about to use the spiritual flower to cultivate Heavenly Light Force, but now he had nothing!

Whether they were about to breathe their last or not, Qin Ming still walked over and gave each of them another strike, cleanly and decisively sending them on their way.

While searching their bodies, he unexpectedly found candles on Huang Jingde. After thinking it over, he understood their use: they were meant to seal the seams of the jade box.

"Meticulous!" he praised. That way, even if some other creature possessed a keen sense of smell, it likely would not be able to detect anything.

In the end, Qin Ming carried the Huang Family brothers over and placed them together with the old man from Golden Chicken Ridge and the two Golden Chicken Knights. Reluctantly, he set down the longsword and silver spear.

Those weapons were simply too conspicuous. There was no way he could take them out and use them.

By then, chaos had erupted underground. All kinds of other creatures had poured in. Qin Ming headed toward an area filled with thunderous roars, immediately attracting some ferocious mutated creatures.

Soon after, the old man from Golden Chicken Ridge and the Huang Family brothers became "flesh-and-blood spiritual medicine" for the other creatures.

Birds of prey circled aboveground. A giant silver eagle spread wings fully ten meters long, leading numerous flying creatures in watching over the entire Great Rift Valley.

In the Underground World, even Cao Long, Mu Qing, and Wei Zhirou changed expression as they gathered with the elders of their Lineage.

"Creatures that have undergone Fourth Mutation, even Fifth Mutation, have already appeared out in the open!"

"Let's stay underground. At the very least, we're deep within the Great Rift Valley, not near the exit. Our position is fairly good. The other creatures cannot keep attacking here for long. Once word gets out, Red Haze City will definitely send people to rescue us."

Even Qin Ming was shaken in the underground cavern. In such chaos, it was no longer suitable to fish in troubled waters. It was too bloody. Some other creatures were exceptionally brutal, tearing people apart before eating them.

While searching for a route, he had already killed several mutated creatures.

He could not run deeper into the Great Rift Valley. Following his memories, he headed toward the area where the mountain folk had vanished.

Qin Ming reckoned that some old hunters might be able to find a route leading out of the valley. They had moved through the mountains year-round, possessing tremendous survival experience and life-saving methods. One could see as much from the fact that they had made the correct decision as soon as they entered underground.

A giant white bear had vicious eyes and a mouth full of blood. Two corpses were impaled on its sharp, massive claws. The moment it saw Qin Ming, it charged straight at him.

"I can't take down this giant bear!" Qin Ming sensed danger. This colossal beast was far fiercer than creatures that had undergone Third Mutation.

He fled rapidly. He had experienced such perilous escapes when he was young. At fourteen or fifteen, he had already made his living in the mountains, truly surviving by the skin of his teeth.

But back then, he had faced ordinary wild beasts and had Lu Ze, Xu Yueping, and the others looking after him. Now, however, he had encountered a colossal beast that had mutated many times.

Qin Ming had not faced such a bloody, terrifying scene in a long time. He could only keep fleeing. If he stopped, he would die.

Fortunately, the underground passages were densely packed, as numerous as a spiderweb. Some areas were very narrow.

The giant white bear was blocked. It furiously struck the stone walls, making the entire passage shake violently as rocks tumbled down. The two corpses hanging from its massive claws had already become mangled masses of flesh and blood.

Qin Ming knew that Golden Chicken Ridge and the Three-Eyed Sect were bound to suffer devastating losses this time. The small number of survivors had already rushed toward the territory occupied by Huang Jingde's Lineage.

Many paths in the underground caverns were stained with blood. From time to time came the roars of other creatures and the shouts of humans. Once the two sides met, one side was bound to fall.

Qin Ming followed a narrow passage forward. After emerging from another area, he happened to see an elder of the Three-Eyed Sect die miserably, his chest pierced through by the thick, long horns of a giant golden bull.

This elder of Third New Life was rather unfortunate. He had no sense of direction and was hopelessly lost, turning around and around without ever leaving this area.

Otherwise, with strength like his, he would have long since reached Huang Family territory. He had wandered here until he was thoroughly dazed.

Five corpses already hung from the giant golden bull's two enormous horns. Its huge head jerked fiercely, flinging every corpse away. They slammed into the stone walls with thuds, leaving puddle after puddle of blood.

There were also some corpses beneath its hooves, long since trampled into pulp by those enormous bovine feet.

The Golden Bull's satin-smooth hide had nearly been completely dyed red with blood. Upon seeing Qin Ming, flames immediately burst from its nostrils and mouth as it charged wildly toward him.

Seeing how vicious it was, Qin Ming knew he was no match for it. He turned and entered that narrow passage again.

There was no use making harsh threats or hurling curses at a terrifying other creature now. He could only hope that this beast would leave soon.

The feeling of having life and death beyond his control was terrible. Qin Ming desperately yearned to grow stronger again. In a place like this, if a smaller creature that had mutated many times appeared, he would certainly die.

Bang!

The Golden Bull's horns were more terrifying than gleaming longswords. They rammed the stone wall until it split into pieces, sending great chunks of rock crashing down amid billowing dust.

The flames it spat from its mouth burned the rock wall red, and heat waves surged forth.

"No wonder even an elder of Third New Life was no match for it and died miserably in the passage." Qin Ming's heart trembled as he retreated deeper into the tunnel.

Only after a full quarter of an hour did the Golden Bull leave. Having discovered a two-legged beast, it had been unwilling to depart without killing it.

Qin Ming waited a while longer. The outside had grown much quieter, so he felt his way out. Though he encountered some other creatures this time as well, none were as dangerous.

In the end, he entered a crack barely wide enough for a person to pass through. After forcing his way across, the path became slightly easier to traverse. This was the last area the mountain folk had entered.

Qin Ming stumbled forward through absolute darkness. Fortunately, he carried a Sun Stone. Even so, he struggled through all kinds of rugged, difficult paths for more than half an hour before finally emerging from the dim underground fissures, escaping the Great Rift Valley and arriving in a dense forest.

Qin Ming could not help admiring those experienced old hunters. If he had been the one searching for this escape route, he definitely would not have found it so quickly.

He felt somewhat moved. The mountain folk who had come to prospect for minerals had originally been in the most dangerous circumstances, yet in the end, they were the ones who had escaped alive.

Of course, that was also because they had started saving themselves as soon as they entered underground. If they had been chased in by other creatures like Golden Chicken Ridge and the Three-Eyed Sect, where would they have found the time to seek a route?

Qin Ming let out a long breath. No matter what, he had finally escaped alive as well.

The mountains were very quiet. As he traveled, he scarcely saw any living creatures.

Qin Ming slowed his pace. Many of the dangerous other creatures in the mountains had now entered the Great Rift Valley. As he pondered this, he suddenly stopped.

"If I remember correctly, the lairs of that white bear and Golden Bull are both less than ten li from here. They are among the most formidable creatures in the outer regions of the mountains."

Qin Ming acted decisively, turning and sprinting madly in a certain direction.

When he encountered those two colossal beasts, he had nearly been killed. Though he had ultimately escaped without even an injury, the process had been exceedingly perilous. Had he not discovered that narrow passage, he would either have been torn apart by bear claws or already been hanging from bull horns.

Qin Ming decided that while the two colossal beasts were away from home, he would raid their lairs.