Vermilion Fruit

Roar!

One after another, three- to four-meter-tall apes were smashed to pieces, blood spraying everywhere as their bones were crushed.

Some boulders slammed into the ground, blasting out huge craters.

Roar! Roar!

The apes began shrieking madly, their eyes bloodshot. They knew the enemy had arrived.

Aargh!!

Deep in the valley, the black ape suddenly opened its eyes, fury filling its gaze.

It charged out of its cave and let out a roar. A terrifying aura swept outward like a gale.

The Ape Leader stood eight meters tall, its claws sharp and glinting coldly in the sunlight.

"Keep going!"

Outside the valley, Liu Tianyu shouted. Hundreds of students deftly hauled up enormous rocks, and the catapults swung into action again. Boulders rolled down from the sky and crashed into the valley.

They had come well prepared this time. Boulders were piled up like mountains, and they had plenty of ammunition.

Wave after wave of boulders hurtled into the valley. The apes dodged frantically, but some were still struck.

The apes hit by the boulders burst apart, their blood blooming like flowers. The thick blood spread a foul stench through the air.

But that stench sent every ape into a frenzy.

Some apes at Blood Qi Sixth Rank glared coldly and braced against the boulders with their claws, smashing them apart. Even so, their arms trembled slightly.

The boulders hit with tremendous force. Even the apes at Blood Qi Sixth Rank could barely withstand them.

At that moment, the Ape Leader roared and slapped at a boulder with its huge, fan-like palm. Its terrifying strength burst forth, and the boulder was smashed to pieces.

The Ape Leader rallied all the apes and charged toward the valley's entrance.

The apes shrieked and stormed out of the valley. Along the way, yet more were struck by boulders, blood spraying everywhere.

The Ape Leader was furious. Roaring, it smashed the incoming boulders as it strode toward the valley's entrance.

Its hate-filled gaze locked onto Liu Tianyu and the others outside the valley.

Liu Tianyu's lips curled up at the sight.

The catapults had already weakened the ape pack considerably.

The Ape Nest had originally held about as many apes as they had people. But after wave upon wave of catapult attacks, only a little over two hundred apes remained.

Meanwhile, the North Campus had more than three hundred students.

As long as Liu Tianyu could deal with the Ape Leader, the others could crush the Ape Nest with their numerical advantage!

"I didn't expect Liu Tianyu to be this clever. He even had people build catapults. No wonder he was so confident!" Mu Qing hid among the trees nearby, watching what was happening outside the valley.

Ji Jia and the others were with him.

They had arrived some time ago and had been observing the situation. When they saw the catapults, they were all stunned.

They realized that Liu Tianyu's side would probably win this fight against the Ape Nest and obtain a large haul of precious medicinal herbs.

Mu Qing had already spotted quite a few plants that looked like herbs growing around the outskirts of the valley. Some shimmered with light and looked quite extraordinary.

"Roar!"

While Mu Qing and the others watched, the battle erupted. The Ape Leader roared and led its underlings into the fray.

"Attack!"

A trace of coldness curled at the corner of Liu Tianyu's mouth as he shouted. Hundreds of North Campus students charged forward and clashed with the apes.

Liu Tianyu and his trusted subordinates each engaged the Ape Leader or the apes at Blood Qi Sixth Rank.

The two sides were evenly matched among their strongest fighters, but in the battles at Blood Qi Fifth Rank, the North Campus students had an overwhelming advantage.

Most of the apes were up against two or even three North Campus students. In just a few minutes, they were covered in wounds and left in a sorry state.

The apes were savage and bloodthirsty, but two fists could not fight off four hands. Faced with one attack after another, some could no longer hold their ground.

"Let's go! Into the valley!"

Mu Qing's eyes suddenly lit up, and he led the others toward the valley.

The area around the valley was covered with trees and bushes, which provided ample cover. And with Jiang Yuanjie's powerful sense, they could easily slip into the Ape Nest.

However, they didn't have much time. They had to get back out before Liu Tianyu and the others finished fighting.

The sounds of battle still rang out nearby, while Mu Qing and the others had already slipped quietly into the valley.

As soon as they entered, their eyes lit up, gleaming with excitement.

Under the fruit trees in the valley grew strange blue plants, each shining with a faint glow.

Everyone hurried to gather the blue plants. Mu Qing pulled one up and found that it contained about as much energy as the Touyuan Grass he had taken before. It was a precious herb!

Mu Qing gathered five blue plants, but realized he wouldn't be able to carry many more this way. After all, they didn't have backpacks or anything like that.

A strange glint flickered in his eyes. Then, as if making up his mind, Mu Qing gritted his teeth and swallowed all five blue plants at once.

A surging wave of energy burst forth. Mu Qing hurried into the Heaven and Earth Fusion State and frantically refined it.

After it eased a little, Mu Qing left the Heaven and Earth Fusion State. Energy churned within him, but he paid it no heed and strode deeper into the valley. He swallowed the few blue plants he gathered along the way.

He kept circulating the Blood Refining Technique. The bloated feeling in his body grew more and more pronounced. Gritting his teeth, Mu Qing swallowed another plant.

Mu Qing couldn't help worrying. Would the surging energy force his body to burst apart?

But to increase his strength quickly, he had no other choice. Only with enough energy would he have a chance to break through.

Just then, a strange fluctuation rippled out from his dantian. A wave of suction followed, and most of the surging energy in Mu Qing's body was suddenly dragged away.

Mu Qing's face lit up with delight. He hadn't expected the Blood Spirit in his dantian, which had yet to awaken, to absorb the energy on its own.

He circulated the Blood Refining Technique and combined it with the suction from his dantian, sending all the energy into it. The energy was absorbed in an unending stream.

Mu Qing's eyes brightened. Then, with a rough motion, he yanked up a blue plant beside him and stuffed it into his mouth.

The blue plant tasted a little bitter, but melted as soon as it touched his tongue.

He strode onward, pulling up one blue plant after another and shoving them into his mouth.

Surging waves of energy coursed through Mu Qing's body. He kept gathering and swallowing the blue plants, his body swelling as if it were about to burst. At the same time, faint blue gas seeped from the pores all over him.

Ji Jia and the others stared at Mu Qing, their faces full of shock.

Ji Jia and Yang Shanshan wore looks of utter disbelief, their red lips parting slightly in amazement.

"Mu Qing... that guy's a beast!"

Jiang Yuanjie held blue plants in both hands, and his clothes were stuffed full of them. He looked at Mu Qing with a rueful expression.

The others had already gathered as many blue plants as they could carry. And inside the Ape Nest, the plants grew like weeds—there were simply too many.

Watching Mu Qing's wild antics, Ling Fei chuckled. He copied Mu Qing, stuffing the blue plant in his hand into his mouth, intending to eat as he gathered more.

But the violent energy burst through Ling Fei's body, forcing him to sit down and refine it. Otherwise, the surging energy would have burst his blood vessels.

Ling Fei's face darkened. He couldn't understand why he couldn't gather and eat at the same time, the way Mu Qing did.

"Mu Qing, are you all right?" Ji Jia called out worriedly.

"I'm fine. Don't worry!" Mu Qing replied, his voice muffled. His mouth was already stuffed with blue plants, and translucent blue liquid was spilling out.

Wave after wave of violent energy made the blood vessels in Mu Qing's body bulge. The suction in his dantian absorbed it without end, like a starving Taotie devouring the dense energy.

He gathered the blue plants at incredible speed. In no time, he had disappeared from the others' sight and entered the depths of the valley.

"Hm?" Deep in the valley, Mu Qing spotted an enormous cave, more than ten meters across.

Curious, he walked inside. The space was vast, and a faint fragrance drifted through the air.

Following the scent, Mu Qing went deeper into the cave. At the very back, he found a plant with an emerald-green trunk and no leaves or flowers. It bore only a dozen or so vermilion fruits. The Vermilion Fruits were crystal clear and glowed softly. Their skins were transparent, and their pits looked like crystal.

Mu Qing stared blankly at the dozen or so Vermilion Fruits. In his mind, the Purple Lightning Bamboo swayed gently, filling him with a sudden urge.

Swallow all the Vermilion Fruits in front of him!

He unconsciously plucked one and swallowed it at once.

An unparalleled surge of energy swept through him. Even with the suction from his dantian taking some of the burden, the blood vessels in Mu Qing's body bulged high, as if they could burst at any moment.

The energy contained in this Vermilion Fruit was terrifying—far beyond what someone at Blood Qi Fifth Rank could swallow.

Mu Qing understood now. This was what Liu Tianyu had been after. Each of the Vermilion Fruits contained an astonishing amount of energy.

Liu Tianyu would probably break through to Blood Qi Eighth Stage after swallowing these Vermilion Fruits.

"Mu Qing!"

At the same time, Ling Fei and the others entered the enormous cave. They saw Mu Qing, and they saw the Vermilion Fruits.

"The energy in these Vermilion Fruits is beyond imagination!" Mu Qing rasped, enduring the pain as the violent energy ravaged his body.

The others looked slightly startled. They had seen Mu Qing swallow the blue plants with ease and without any problems, but now, after swallowing just one Vermilion Fruit, he had to sit down and refine it.

That showed just how immense the energy contained in the Vermilion Fruits was.

"These Vermilion Fruits are extraordinary. They must be what Liu Tianyu and the others are after. If we take them, Liu Tianyu won't be able to break through to Blood Qi Eighth Stage!" Ji Jia said.

The others nodded. Yang Shanshan stepped forward and plucked a Vermilion Fruit.

Ling Fei plucked one too and examined it curiously.