Strange Fruit

"It's done!"

Chen Lin looked at the ten crystal clear, perfectly round pills in the iron pot alchemy furnace, and a smile finally appeared on his face, which hadn't shown joy for many days.

No matter what, he had finally left that strange place, and his innate abilities were still as useful as ever.

Although there were still Black Su Worms inside him and the crisis of the Enlightenment Pill's side effects, those could all be resolved slowly.

He had already thought of a way to deal with the Black Su Worms: to kill them using the nameless Sword Qi. In their current weakened state, even if they self-destructed during the killing, it might not be enough to take his life.

Of course, it would be even better if there were other methods. He still had eight Blood Qi Pills left from Yu Yuehai, which could feed the Black Su Worms for eighty days. During this time, he wouldn't have to worry about backlash.

After taking out the pills and storing them, Chen Lin swallowed one directly and began to cultivate.

Half a day passed in a flash. His eyes flashed with brilliance, and he nodded in satisfaction.

The medicinal effect was indeed not as good as in the early Qi Refining stage, but he could still feel an increase. At this rate, after using up all ten pills, his cultivation would advance by a large margin.

If he didn't use pills, his cultivation was like it was welded in place. Let alone cultivating for half a day, even cultivating for half a year wouldn't yield any results.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been stuck at Qi Refining Level 2 for twenty years.

Next, Chen Lin continued to search for an exit while cultivating, only occasionally collecting some rare heavenly materials and earthly treasures.

He encountered several low-level Demon Beasts along the way, all of which he avoided from afar. If he couldn't avoid them, he used all his means to kill them.

Half a month passed, and his combat experience did improve quite a bit.

One evening, Chen Lin discovered a cave, where a faint light flickered.

This immediately piqued his interest.

But he didn't dare to enter rashly. Instead, he hid far away and observed. After a full hour, when he found that the light hadn't moved, he cautiously moved forward.

If it were a Demon Beast, it wouldn't have remained motionless for so long. It was most likely a treasure.

Could his luck finally be turning for the better?

Any heavenly material or earthly treasure that emitted light was usually not of low grade, which made Chen Lin a little excited.

The cave was winding, and it became more humid the further he went, with puddles even appearing on the ground.

This made Chen Lin a little confused. Could there be a river nearby?

If there was a river, he might be able to find human settlements by following it, and then he could get out!

He became even more excited. After wandering in this deep forest for so long, he finally saw hope of leaving!

But immediately, his attention was drawn to the scene before him, and his breathing became heavy.

After turning a bend, the scene opened up to reveal a pool about ten meters in diameter. In the center of the pool was something like a dried-up tree branch, winding and as thick as an arm.

This branch was more than a meter above the water, and at its tip hung a bright red fruit, like an apple, emitting a flickering glow.

Chen Lin racked his brain for a moment but couldn't identify what it was. However, just by its appearance, he was sure it was extraordinary.

Instantly, this fruit became a large pile of Spirit Stones in his eyes.

He was penniless right now and was worried about how he would earn cultivation resources after leaving. With this item, it should solve his urgent need.

However, according to legends, all high-grade heavenly materials and earthly treasures had guardian spirit beasts, so he didn't dare to act rashly.

After thinking for a while, he suddenly took out an ordinary Thunderclap Bead, activated it, and threw it towards the edge of the pool, while he quickly retreated.

"Bang!"

The Thunderclap Bead blasted a deep pit there.

The splashing water caused the dry branch to sway a couple of times, but the fruit didn't fall.

Chen Lin had expected this. The power of an ordinary Thunderclap Bead wasn't very strong, and the spot he chose was also quite far from the fruit.

He stared intently at the pool, holding his Flying Sword in one hand and three Fireball Talismans in the other.

Then, he saw the water in the pool churn, and a Dark Green Great Snake emerged from it. It swam to the shore angrily, raising its head and flicking its long tongue back and forth.

Seeing this snake, Chen Lin couldn't help but frown.

Judging by the aura emanating from it, it should still be a first-tier Demon Beast, but it was an extremely powerful one among the first tier, at least equivalent to Late Qi Refining, or even the Great Perfection stage of Qi Refining.

With his current cultivation, he definitely couldn't deal with such a Demon Beast. He had encountered two similar ones before, and he had bypassed them.

However, he was also somewhat unwilling to leave now.

The fruit clearly wasn't ordinary. The chance of encountering another heavenly material and earthly treasure of the same level again would be very small. Moreover, although this great snake was powerful, it hadn't reached the second-tier level yet, so it wasn't impossible to kill it if handled properly.

He checked his Storage Bag. He still had one Thunderclap No. 3, two Thunderclap No. 2, and over a dozen ordinary ones. This was his confidence.

Snake-type Demon Beasts had low defense, and the space here was narrow. If he operated properly, he might not even need to use that Thunderclap No. 3.

It was a pity that Thunderclap Beads needed Magical Power to activate. It would be great if they could be like landmines. He would have to research this in the future and see if he could install an activation device.

While thinking, Chen Lin took out a Thunderclap No. 2 and an ordinary Thunderclap Bead.

The great snake looked around for a while. It didn't move towards the cave entrance but turned and was about to return to the water.

Without hesitation, he threw an ordinary Thunderclap Bead over and retreated again.

The space in the pool was too narrow. If he used Thunderclap No. 2 directly, he was afraid the fruit would be destroyed. Therefore, his goal was to lure the great snake towards the cave entrance and then unleash a barrage of attacks.

The Thunderclap Bead was thrown a bit off, landing in front of the great snake. The explosion didn't manage to inflict any damage on it.

However, it did enrage the creature.

After a hiss, the great snake sensed Chen Lin's presence and its massive body sprang forward.

Chen Lin smiled in satisfaction and retreated again. Seeing the great snake enter the passage, he immediately threw Thunderclap No. 2!

Without checking the effect, he then threw five more ordinary Thunderclap Beads, causing the entire passage to collapse with continuous rumbling sounds.

When the smoke and dust settled, Chen Lin, who had already cast a Vajra Shield on himself, stood outside the cave entrance to observe. He happened to see a section of the great snake's body through the gaps in the collapsed passage.

It was a bloody mess, its form unrecognizable.

Chen Lin was overjoyed. Demon Beasts are just Demon Beasts, he thought. They have strength but no intelligence. If this were a Late Qi Refining Cultivator, I wouldn't even be able to ambush them, let alone escape.

After observing for a while longer and confirming the great snake was dead, Chen Lin used a Great Strength Talisman on himself and began clearing the passage blocked by the shattered stones.

For larger pieces, he hacked away with his Flying Sword, quickly reaching the great snake's corpse.

The great snake had already been blasted into two pieces. What he had seen from the outside was its upper body.

The flesh and blood of snake Demon Beasts were highly nourishing and could also enhance cultivation. Chen Lin unceremoniously collected it and continued clearing the debris.

It took a long time to clear a passage just large enough for one person to crawl through. He then entered the area of the water pool.