Surprise

From the outside, the place Qiu'er called "where I sleep" was nothing more than an unremarkable cave. But the moment Qin Yue stepped inside, he discovered that the life energy here was far richer than outside. Forget cultivating here—even simply sleeping would bring enormous benefits.

The cave was not large. Qin Yue could take in most of it with a single glance. After finding no rare treasures, he understood. This place had probably been deliberately created by Di Tian to help Qiu'er grow. Perhaps several pieces of Life Gold were buried underground somewhere, or behind one of the stone walls.

Born of the Dragon Clan and ruling over a treasure land like the Lake of Life, Di Tian could not possibly have been unaware of Life Gold's effects. After hundreds of thousands of years, even if he had learned by licking at it, he should have gotten a taste for it by now.

"How is it? It feels comfortable here, right? I usually stay here and only go out when I'm hungry."

Qiu'er entered behind Qin Yue and bumped him deeper into the cave with its head. After finding a comfortable position to lie down in, it quietly watched him. Yet its constantly swishing tail gave it away, making it look exactly like a little dog waiting for praise from its owner.

"It really is comfortable. Thank you for bringing me here, Qiu'er."

Having received his approval, Qiu'er grew even more excited. Suddenly remembering something, it flashed past Qin Yue to the deepest part of the cave, then used its tail to bring several extraordinary-looking fruits before him. "Qin Yue, Qin Yue, these fruits taste really good. See if they're useful to you?"

Qin Yue carefully examined the fruits before him. After only a few glances, he abruptly looked up. "Dragon Soul Fruit and Heavenly Spirit Fruit?! Qiu'er, you've helped me immensely!"

Qiu'er did not understand what Dragon Soul Fruit or Heavenly Spirit Fruit meant, but it understood the delight on Qin Yue's face. It flicked its tail with feigned composure. "They're only a few fruits. We're close friends, after all!"

Qin Yue was not pretending to be surprised just to make Qiu'er happy. Among the fruits presented to him, two truly were extremely useful to him: the Dragon Soul Fruit and the Heavenly Spirit Fruit.

Both Dragon Soul Fruit and Heavenly Spirit Fruit were Heavenly Treasures. The former could only grow where powerful dragon-type Soul Beasts dwelled, formed through the day-after-day, year-after-year corrosion and transformation of dragon-type Soul Power.

As for rarity, the latter was even greater. It could only appear where a Heavenly Tribulation descended. After the Heavenly Tribulation swept across the land, its remaining tribulation power could, by chance, merge with the Soul Power between heaven and earth. Under the influence of natural laws, it would automatically condense into a fruit-like form. Because of its method of birth and its effects, it was named the Heavenly Spirit Fruit.

And what circumstances could trigger a Heavenly Tribulation? Nothing more than a Soul Master breaking through to godhood, a Soul Beast's cultivation breakthrough every hundred thousand years, or the lightning tribulation when a Soul Beast took human form!

All in all, the Heavenly Spirit Fruit was no less precious than an Immortal Herb. It was one of the finest Heavenly Treasures in the world.

The reason Qin Yue could recognize these two fruits was simple. The founder of the Qin Clan had once possessed them, and had even created a compatible Pill Formula specifically for the two fruits, one that could maximize their effects.

He reached out and picked up the Dragon Soul Fruit and Heavenly Spirit Fruit. After inspecting them carefully for a while, he gave a slight nod. These two fruits differed somewhat from the clan records. Dark- and water-type Soul Power flowed through the Dragon Soul Fruit, meaning it had most likely formed under Zi Ji's Soul Power. The tribulation power within the Heavenly Spirit Fruit roared like wind and fire, and merely touching it made Qin Yue's hand faintly ache.

A trace of regret appeared in Qin Yue's eyes. Although the treasures were still the same treasures, their attributes did not match his own. The Dragon Soul Fruit and Heavenly Spirit Fruit recorded by his clan both contained lightning-type power. The Dragon Extreme Pill refined from them was incredibly potent, easily helping a Soul Douluo break through to the Title rank.

However, that regret lasted only an instant. What level had the two fruits used by the Qin Clan ancestor been? The Dragon Soul Fruit could at most have come from a hundred-thousand-year lightning-type dragon Soul Beast, while the Heavenly Spirit Fruit had most likely formed from that dragon Soul Beast's hundred-thousand-year Heavenly Tribulation.

And what level were the two in Qin Yue's hands? One came from the Hell Demon Dragon King with two hundred thousand years of cultivation. Though it was impossible to tell who had undergone the Heavenly Tribulation that produced the other, it had at least come from a Beast of Calamity. Even if their attributes did not match Qin Yue's, the benefits they brought would absolutely far surpass the fruits consumed by the Qin Clan ancestor!

Qin Yue had no intention of being polite with Qiu'er. With a flash of light in his hand, he stored both fruits in his Storage Soul Tool. Then he stepped forward and hugged Qiu'er, pressing his face against its soft golden fur. "Thank you, Qiu'er. The fruits you gave me are truly useful. As expected of the Imperial Auspicious Beast renowned throughout the Star Dou Forest—you really can bring good fortune."

Qiu'er chuckled twice and flopped onto the ground. Qin Yue immediately felt as though he had sunk into sun-warmed cotton, surrounded on all sides by warmth and softness.

Perhaps the cave's life energy was too dense, or perhaps lying on Qiu'er was simply too comfortable. Qin Yue gradually drifted off to sleep.

Qiu'er, which had wanted to say something more, immediately fell silent. It quietly watched the sleeping Qin Yue for a while, then leaned forward and secretly licked him once. Satisfied, it closed its eyes and entered dreamland alongside him.

Elsewhere, on a low slope roughly two thousand meters from the cave where Qiu'er and Qin Yue rested, Di Tian stood expressionlessly in black robes, with black hair and golden eyes. "How were the results? Can you determine whether what the Auspicious Beast said was true?"

Beside him, a woman with purple-black hair slowly opened her eyes and shrugged. "I successfully drew them into dreams. The Auspicious Beast's dream remains carefree, filled entirely with playing with that human. But that human is somewhat unusual."

"Unusual?"

Though Di Tian was asking a question, there was no surprise in his tone. If Qin Yue were not unusual, what right did he have to earn the Auspicious Beast's favor? What right did he have to openly enter this Land of Great Calamity through that favor?

"I'm not entirely sure." The purple-black-haired woman hesitated. "His dream differs from the Auspicious Beast's. Apart from the Auspicious Beast, many other humans appeared in it. They all seemed to be people close to him. Only one thing confused me: he seemed to sense my presence—or rather, he sensed that someone was observing his dream."

Di Tian frowned slightly. If what Zi Ji said was true, then all information obtained from the dream would be unreliable. Coupled with his Eye of Darkness, which the Auspicious Beast would definitely notice, another method of quietly obtaining more intelligence had lost its effectiveness.

Seeing Di Tian fall silent, Zi Ji cautiously said, "I suggest sending this human away as soon as possible. As long as the Auspicious Beast remains in the Star Dou Forest, under our protection, no matter what that human truly thinks, he will be unable to do anything."

Di Tian gave a slight nod. At this point, that was the only thing they could do.