Elder Geng pretended not to hear. They had already gained an advantage, so no matter how unwilling the demons of Bear Tiger Ridge were, what could they do?
Gu Guan and Xiong Lie exchanged a glance. Knowing there was nothing they could do about this old fellow, they could only coax and cajole the demons into calming down. Gu Guan said, "Elder Geng, please continue leading the way and break the seventh restriction."
Elder Geng nodded and walked another five or six li ahead. Before them appeared a shrub over ten feet tall, bearing thirteen crystalline fruits. Each fruit was the size of an infant's fist, like green crystal, with patterns carved across its surface.
Elder Geng stopped about twenty zhang from the tree and turned to Yan Chihuo. "This is the Spirit Pattern Lucky Fruit tree. It is time for Fellow Daoist Yan to act. Use the Cloud Swallowing Hand to harvest the Spirit Pattern Lucky Fruits."
Yan Chihuo was taken aback. Xiong Lie could not help saying, "Elder Geng, didn't you say there were seven layers of restrictions before we reached this place?"
Elder Geng said, "Yes. This is the seventh restriction."
Yan Chihuo cursed inwardly. This old thief was truly slippery. When he had answered the demons' questions that day, he had clearly said there were seven restrictions before they obtained the Spirit Pattern Lucky Fruits, all of which would be his responsibility. That had led everyone into misunderstanding him. Otherwise, when he had asked them to send him their spiritual power earlier, it would never have gone so smoothly. At the final juncture, everyone else had lost spiritual power while he had grown stronger instead—surely that would have aroused suspicion.
Sure enough, even Gu Guan could not help saying, "Elder Geng, you said that all seven