Purple Sun Vermilion Fruit

"Patriarch, are you still troubled by the disaster in the Spirit Field?"

Passing the Zhao Family members, Shen Mo walked straight up to Patriarch Zhao Bing.

"Alas..." Zhao Bing sighed, his face full of sorrow.

Though he said nothing, the worry weighing on his heart was plain to see.

"I'm heading back to the sect."

Shen Mo hesitated for a moment before speaking. "I can't solve the disaster in your Spirit Field for now. But if the Zhao Family can't find another cultivator to help, I'll come back again later."

"Immortal Master, do you mean it?"

Zhao Bing, who had been frowning moments before, was overjoyed at his words.

"Yes. I'll return to Yongan Town in a month. By then, I'll be fully prepared and rid the Zhao Family of the snake menace." He nodded, then cautioned him, "Until then, don't let anyone else enter the Spirit Field, and don't seek out any other cultivators. You might provoke that Two-Headed Python."

It was crucial that no other cultivators learn about this and enter the Spirit Field!

Otherwise, if they saw the purple Vermilion Fruit, greed would surely take hold.

They might even get there first and snatch the fruit.

That was why he stressed the matter so seriously.

"Rest assured, Immortal Master. The Zhao Family will heed your instructions."

Zhao Bing nodded repeatedly, unable to contain his joy.

He hadn't expected the Immortal Master's attitude to take such a turn. In the end, his heart had softened, and he had agreed to help the Zhao Family resolve this calamity after all.

Heaven truly blessed the Zhao Family.

River-Facing Sect, mountain gate.

After giving his instructions, Shen Mo set off. An hour later, he returned to the sect.

He flashed the Identity Jade Pendant at his waist, and the disciples guarding the mountain gate let him through.

After returning, he'd planned to go back to his quarters and rest for a while.

But as soon as he entered his courtyard, he saw a figure standing in front of the door.

It seemed he'd been waiting for quite some time.

"Uncle Chen?"

He looked at the figure in surprise. "You've come out of seclusion?"

The man waiting at the door was Chen An, an Outer Sect steward, an old friend of his parents who had always looked after him.

He remembered Chen Mengze telling him that Uncle Chen was hoping to break through soon and had been in seclusion, with no time to visit him.

He hadn't expected Uncle Chen to come while he was away.

"I came out of seclusion today. I thought I'd come see you, but it seems you weren't in the sect."

Chen An turned around and looked at Shen Mo, who had just returned, travel-worn. "Where did you go?"

"Uncle Chen, I took Meng Ze's advice and decided to go out for some real-world experience, so I accepted a bounty mission from an affiliated family and went to Yongan Town."

"You went out to gain experience?"

"Did things go smoothly? You weren't hurt, were you?"

Faced with Uncle Chen's concern, Shen Mo hesitated for a moment, then decided to tell him the truth. "I wasn't badly hurt, but the trip didn't go smoothly..."

He told Chen An everything he'd seen in Yongan Town, including the Double-Headed Silver-Patterned Python hidden in the Spirit Field and the purple Vermilion Fruit on the giant tree.

"The information never mentioned a powerful demonic beast that was nearly second-tier. I almost got caught flat-footed."

Shen Mo still resented how incomplete the information had been.

But that wasn't what Chen An focused on. His attention was fixed on the purple Vermilion Fruit!

"You mean you saw a purple Vermilion Fruit growing on the tree?"

Chen An's expression turned solemn. He asked gravely, "Are you certain you didn't mistake it for something else?"

"It was definitely purple. I'm sure of it."

Shen Mo paused, surprised that Chen An had reacted so seriously to the mention of the purple Vermilion Fruit.

So he described it in detail.

"The fruit was growing on a massive tree. Perhaps its quality was so high that it had drained all the tree's nutrients.

"Such a huge tree had produced only that one fruit. The rest was just broken branches and withered leaves.

"Oh, and the fruit seemed to have intricate patterns on it, like lightning."

Chen An drew a deep breath. "The fruit you saw must have been the legendary Purple Sun Vermilion Fruit!"

Purple Sun Vermilion Fruit?

Shen Mo was stunned. "Is this kind of fruit really that precious?"

He had indeed suspected the purple Vermilion Fruit was of exceptional quality, no ordinary treasure.

But Uncle Chen's reaction made him realize he'd still underestimated its worth.

"Purple Sun Vermilion Fruit is naturally incomparably precious. It can only form after being tempered by heavenly lightning."

Tempered by heavenly lightning?

At that, Shen Mo finally understood.

No wonder the Zhao Family hadn't known the Purple Sun Vermilion Fruit was there.

Most likely, the tree had shown no unusual signs before. Then, one day, it was struck by heavenly lightning, and only then did it produce a Purple Sun Vermilion Fruit.

That drew the Two-Headed Python's attention, keeping them from entering the Spirit Field and learning of the fruit's transformation.

"If this Purple Sun Vermilion Fruit were sold, could it fetch seventy Spirit Stones?"

Shen Mo offered the price he'd originally had in mind and asked curiously.

"Seventy Spirit Stones?" Chen An raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "Forget seventy. Even seven hundred, or more than a thousand Spirit Stones, might not be enough to buy one!"

"Such a rare treasure has no market price. Vermilion Fruits are easy to find, but being tempered by heavenly lightning is an encounter one can only dream of."

Even a thousand Spirit Stones wouldn't be enough?

Shen Mo sucked in a cold breath.

"No matter how good its quality is, it's still just a low-tier medicinal herb. How can it be so valuable?"

He was puzzled.

"If it only replenished spiritual energy and nourished the vital breath, it naturally wouldn't be worth so much."

"But the Purple Sun Vermilion Fruit is a supreme spirit medicine for Body Tempering Realm cultivators to open a dantian vortex when advancing!"

"Open a dantian vortex?"

Shen Mo furrowed his brow, still confused.

The original Shen Mo hadn't learned much about cultivation beyond the Body Tempering Realm.

Uncle Chen's explanation was already beyond his understanding.

Seeing this, Chen An explained directly. "When Body Tempering Realm cultivators advance to the Qi Gathering Realm, their bodies undergo a transformation."

"Their qi sea must open a dantian before they can be considered to have advanced successfully."

The greatest difference between Body Tempering Realm and Qi Gathering Realm cultivators lay in the qi sea and dantian.

Body Tempering Realm cultivators had not opened a qi sea dantian, so they could not store large amounts of spiritual energy.

They relied only on their sinews and bones, tempered through a thousand trials.

At their core, they were still ordinary mortals who had not truly entered the immortal path.

Qi Gathering Realm cultivators, on the other hand, possessed a qi sea dantian and could freely wield all manner of immortal arts. The difference between the two was immense.

In truth, the human qi sea contained three dantians: the upper dantian, the middle dantian, and the lower dantian."

"Most cultivators can only form one dantian when breaking through to the Qi Gathering Realm."

Chen An spoke earnestly.

"Does opening more dantians when advancing to the Qi Gathering Realm mean greater combat strength?"

Shen Mo wondered to himself, then asked.

"It's not just combat strength," Chen An said earnestly. "It also affects your cultivation potential in the future."

"Cultivators who open two dantians when advancing are far more likely than ordinary cultivators to reach the Spirit Sea Realm."

"As for those who open three dantians, they'll have an unparalleled foundation. As long as they don't die along the way, they're certain to reach the Spirit Sea Realm, and may even advance to the Origin Core Realm!"

"Opening all three dantians depends on a cultivator's own accumulation. Very few external items can help."

"And the Purple Sun Vermilion Fruit happens to be one of them."

"Swallowing it while advancing increases a cultivator's chances of forming multiple dantians!"