Ink Fruit

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It was as though he were fighting against heaven and earth themselves; even the slightest movement of his body required him to resist the tremendous pressure formed by the entire world!

Although Triangular Eyes stood at the peak of the Fifth Layer of Body Refining and surpassed Zhou Heng in strength by a fair margin, faced with this sword strike, he did not even have the ability to dodge!

—In truth, it was not heaven and earth suppressing him, but his mind being completely controlled by the sword's momentum! Only when Zhou Heng's sword reached his chest did he barely react, but by then it was already too late!

To the others, an incomparably bizarre scene unfolded. Zhou Heng thrust out his sword, yet Triangular Eyes seemed to have gone stupid, utterly unaware of how to dodge or parry as he allowed the blade to pierce him.

Pfft!

The sword stabbed straight through Triangular Eyes' heart. As Zhou Heng withdrew it, a great torrent of blood immediately surged from the chamber of his heart like water from a pump, spraying a full two meters away.

Zhou Heng immediately felt a fierce wave of weakness wash over him. Though he had recovered some of his True Essence Power, that single strike had consumed nearly half of it again, leaving him almost completely drained!

He hurriedly swept backward, leaping behind a boulder. His gaze swept over the area, and he saw a Strange Herb growing beneath the rock. It was no more than two inches tall, entirely ink-black without a single trace of another color. It had only five leaves, spread open like an umbrella, and at its peak grew an equally black fruit, scarcely larger than a grain of rice.

Was this the treasure that had made the Black Broken Sword tremble?

Zhou Heng had no time to think. As he sped past, he reached out and plucked the inky fruit from the top, then fled at once without pausing for even an instant.

"Bastard!"

"Damn beast!"

"Junior Brother Niu!"

Only then did the seven behind him react. All of them roared in fury. Two rushed over to inspect Triangular Eyes, while the remaining five immediately set off in pursuit of Zhou Heng.

Zhou Heng snorted coldly within. Why had these people not considered the consequences when they had been throwing their weight around earlier? Now that someone had died, they knew anger!

Who did not have a little fire in their belly?

He could originally have plucked the inky fruit and left directly, but since they had pressed him step by step, how could he not show them a little color?

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. Figures darted through the dense forest as the two groups began a great chase and escape.

Zhou Heng continually changed his route, gradually widening the distance between himself and the pursuers behind him. Still, he was a little short of shaking them off completely. He was in no hurry. The terrain in the mountains and forests was complicated; as long as he dragged things out until nightfall, once the light weakened, let alone five people, even fifty would never catch him!

Unfortunately, the Heaven-Soaring Nine Styles consumed too much True Essence Power. A single swing of his sword had directly used up nearly half his True Essence Power. Otherwise, with one sword strike per man, the roles of pursuer and prey would have been reversed.

The five men behind him also knew that pursuit would become unfavorable after dark. They all shouted angrily and even provoked Zhou Heng, demanding that he stop and fight.

Zhou Heng paid them no heed, merely driving his speed to its limit as he ran with all his might.

Heaven truly answered his wishes. Before darkness had fully fallen, thick clouds filled the sky, and a drizzling rain began to fall.

The forest had already suffered from poor visibility, and now it grew even darker. The five men called out to one another to keep in contact and avoid getting separated, but judging by their voices, they were getting farther and farther from Zhou Heng.

The rain only grew heavier. When the last ray of sunlight vanished, the forest became so dark one could not see one's own hand before one's face. The shouts behind him became softer and more distant. Zhou Heng knew he had more or less shaken off his pursuers.

He did not stop. He was still far from having put a sufficiently safe distance between them.

There was almost no light in the forest. Zhou Heng did not dare run too quickly either; the ground was now wet and slippery, and one careless moment could send him crashing into a tree. That would be haste making waste. He slowed his steps, and his movements became even lighter.

A small hillside appeared ahead. Only after Zhou Heng felt his way over did he discover a narrow hole between two massive boulders, just wide enough for one person to pass through. It was extremely well hidden.

After considering it, he plunged straight in, intending to take shelter from the rain here.

Only after entering did Zhou Heng discover that the cave was surprisingly deep. It was pitch-black within, and he could not see the end at all.

He first sat down cross-legged to replenish the True Essence Power he had consumed. With the food in his stomach being rapidly used up, coupled with several hours without eating, he soon felt ravenously hungry.

He took several pieces of pre-roasted jerky from his pack. Though they were cold and hard, he could hardly gather branches and start a fire now, so he could only gnaw on them slowly. Fortunately, when one was hungry, even bad food did not taste bad. Before long, a large piece of jerky had gone into his stomach.

Once he had filled his belly and recovered seventy to eighty percent of his True Essence Power, Zhou Heng's confidence naturally surged. In this special location, even if those seven men caught up to him, he would not be afraid. With one man guarding the pass, he would kill one for every one who came!

Thinking of the pursuers, Zhou Heng hurriedly took out the inky black fruit. The Three-Tailed Wolf Eagle had guarded it with such effort, and the Black Broken Sword had reacted to it—what kind of treasure was it?

The instant the fruit was taken out, a faint glow appeared inside the cave—the fruit actually gave off light!

Though it was not very bright, and the cave was well hidden enough, Zhou Heng still did not dare take the risk. He walked much deeper into the cave. At this point, let alone the limited light emitted by the Ink Fruit, even if he lit a bonfire, it would be impossible for anyone outside to discover it!

Zhou Heng carefully examined the fruit.

In the darkness, the fruit emitted a gentle glow. Though faint, it was enough to reveal its full appearance.

Zhou Heng brought the fruit closer and saw that beneath its thin peel lay a dazzling splendor like starlight, filled with tiny glowing particles. It was precisely these points of light, like a sky full of stars, that made the fruit shine.

If he removed this outer layer, the light would surely become much stronger!

Zhou Heng thought to himself, but had no intention of cutting open the skin. If the juice inside sprayed out, this Strange Fruit would be finished!

This was definitely an extraordinary treasure! But how was he supposed to use it? That was a difficult question.

Zhou Heng could not help hesitating. He was certain that this fruit was a heavenly treasure, but Spirit Fruits and Strange Herbs could not simply be eaten at will. Some had to be combined like medicine, with sovereign and minister ingredients properly matched; others had medicinal effects too potent to consume all at once and needed to be taken in several doses.

If he swallowed it rashly, would something go wrong?

Huh?

As he hesitated, he saw that the starlight inside the Ink Fruit had actually dimmed somewhat!

Could it be that if it was not consumed immediately after being picked, its medicinal power would leak away?

In just that brief instant, the Ink Fruit dimmed another fraction.

Zhou Heng hesitated no longer. He tossed the Ink Fruit into his mouth, shut his eyes, and swallowed it in one gulp!

The Ink Fruit entered his throat, and the skin around it immediately ruptured. Inside was a mass of juice that instantly turned into an icy liquid and rolled down into his stomach.

Boom!

Zhou Heng looked inward at himself and saw that the liquid seemed to be composed of countless stars. The instant it landed in his stomach, it violently burst apart, transforming into innumerable gleaming particles of starlight. They entered his blood and raced through his entire body.

Like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, the moment these starlight particles reached his lower abdomen, they immediately surged toward his Dantian.

Zhou Heng was startled, thinking that the Black Sword was once again "drawing its blade to steal his love." But after the starlight particles entered his Dantian, the Black Broken Sword remained utterly still, while the starlight particles scattered themselves throughout the Dantian.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. Before long, all the starlight particles had entered his Dantian through the flow of blood. They truly resembled the stars filling the heavens. Zhou Heng's consciousness drifted among them as though flying through an endless river of stars—magnificent and grand.

Boom!

One spark of starlight suddenly exploded, immediately creating a shockwave that rippled through the entire Dantian.

What!

Before Zhou Heng could finish the thought, another spark of starlight exploded, followed by a third, then a fourth!

Like a chain reaction, all the starlight exploded almost at once, forming shockwave after shockwave that raged wildly through Zhou Heng's Dantian!

Zhou Heng's entire body shuddered violently, as though someone were striking him again and again. His Dantian felt as though it were about to split apart from the impacts!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Wave after wave of shockwaves surged through him. His Dantian was forcibly expanded bit by bit, yet the force of these shockwaves did not dissipate completely. Like waves crashing against the shore, after striking the embankment, they rolled back and surged toward the other side.

The Dantian was an absolutely miraculous place. How large was a human body? Yet through his inner sight, Zhou Heng saw that his Dantian was already a circular space three feet in diameter—he had reached that conclusion by comparing it to the size of the Black Broken Sword.

Now, under the shockwaves created by those exploding starlight particles, his Dantian space was forcibly expanding to around three feet and two inches, and it was still showing signs of continuing to grow!

But this was going to burst him apart alive!

Pain! Extraordinary pain! Incomparably intense, extraordinary pain!

Cold sweat streamed down Zhou Heng's face, but compared to the torment the Black Broken Sword had put him through a month ago, this was nothing! The key was not whether he could endure such pain—his body truly felt as though it were about to split open!

Buzz!

At that moment, the Black Broken Sword, which had remained still all this time, suddenly trembled. Like an adult grown impatient with a child pestering them, it released an aura of supreme authority, as though capable of suppressing the heavens themselves. It rolled forth and filled his entire Dantian.

Zhou Heng felt as though some miraculous force had been injected into his body, and his Dantian, on the verge of collapse, immediately stabilized.

Boom! The shockwaves were still raging and crashing. Zhou Heng's Dantian was still expanding, but the agonizing pain that had seemed ready to tear him apart was gone.

The Black Broken Sword had saved his life!

Ten minutes, twenty minutes, half an hour!

Nearly forty minutes later, the shockwaves in Zhou Heng's Dantian finally exhausted their power. His Dantian space had expanded to four feet in diameter, more than twice its former size!

Everything returned to calm, like the sea after a raging storm, without a single ripple.

Zhou Heng was stunned. Was that it?

How had his True Essence Power not increased by even the slightest bit? What was this supposed to be? Expanding his Dantian by more than twice—what use was that?

What kind of treasure was this!

He could not help sighing again and again. Still, something guarded by a demonic beast and capable of making the Black Sword stir was definitely not ordinary! As for what benefits expanding his Dantian space would bring, perhaps they would only reveal themselves in the future.

Zhou Heng rose to his feet. There was still some time until midnight. The cave was too narrow for sword practice, while torrential rain poured outside. He might as well explore just how deep this cave went.