After running about three hundred meters down, Lin Chuan found a Crimson Flame Lotus tucked away in a hidden corner where almost no one could ever have discovered it. With no time to hesitate, he picked it and shoved it straight into his mouth.
The moment the crimson lotus entered his mouth, it transformed into a surging blend of plant energy and spiritual energy that flowed through Lin Chuan's meridians. At the same time, though, the Fruit of the God Tree unleashed its power of devouring and swallowed every last bit of that energy.
After eating the Crimson Flame Lotus, Lin Chuan felt much better. At least the Fruit of the God Tree had stopped devouring his body.
"If I'd known eating just one would provoke such a huge reaction, I should've found a place with more Crimson Flame Lotuses before eating it. Now look at me—I nearly got myself killed!" Lin Chuan thought, letting out a sigh of relief as he began using the Tenseigan to search a wider area for Crimson Flame Lotuses.
He could feel that the Fruit of the God Tree in his dantian wasn't "full." It still needed more Crimson Flame Lotuses. Its current silence was only temporary; it was just taking time to digest.
Bu Lianshi and Qin Lang finally caught up with him. They didn't even have time to speak before they hurried after Lin Chuan toward the next place.
"Two kilometers below us, there's a place where Crimson Flame Lotuses grow in clusters. There are eleven of them there." Lin Chuan had finally found a place with a large number of Crimson Flame Lotuses.
"But we should search along the way and see if there are any others!" Lin Chuan led Bu Lianshi and Qin Lang farther down. The Crimson Flame Lotus he'd just eaten clearly wouldn't hold out for long, so he had to pick more along the way.
And so, guided by Lin Chuan's Byakugan, the three of them hurried toward the cluster spotted by the Tenseigan, picking the Crimson Flame Lotuses hidden in every nook and cranny along the way.
"Finally, I can take a breather!" Lin Chuan gazed at the eleven Crimson Flame Lotuses growing before him, nearly moved to tears. Without wasting a moment, he picked them all and stuffed them into his bag.
"Lin Chuan, what's going on? Won't eating so many Crimson Flame Lotuses cause problems for you?" Bu Lianshi asked anxiously.
"If I don't eat them, the problem will be even worse!" Lin Chuan said, shoving a Crimson Flame Lotus into his mouth. "I can't help it. I need a lot more of them!"
His Byakugan remained open as he searched the surrounding Lava Cave, but the danger had eased compared to before, so Lin Chuan stopped using the Tenseigan. It consumed a great deal of chakra.
"Your body... and your eyes..." Qin Lang began, then hesitated.
"I'll explain when we have time. Come on, follow me—I've found an incredible place!" Lin Chuan said as he ran deeper into the cave, excitement shining on his face.
Ten minutes later, with only three Crimson Flame Lotuses left in his bag, Lin Chuan finally reached the enormous Lava Cave he'd spotted earlier with his Byakugan.
At the center of the cave lay a lava lake more than ten meters across. Two or three hundred Crimson Flame Lotuses bloomed around it like a sea of burning flames, sending up waves of terrifying heat.
"How could there be so many Crimson Flame Lotuses here... This is..." Qin Lang and Bu Lianshi stared at the sea of red flowers in disbelief, too shocked to speak.
"These Crimson Flame Lotuses should be enough for the Fruit of the God Tree to devour, right?" Lin Chuan thought. He circulated Senjutsu Chakra into his palm and began picking the lotuses as fast as he could.
The next moment, however, Lin Chuan suddenly froze. He lost control of his body in an instant. "How could this be?"
Lin Chuan stared at the inside of his body in shock. The Fruit of the God Tree, which had been quietly rotating in his dantian, suddenly released a great cloud of purple mist. In an instant, the mist filled every meridian in Lin Chuan's body, then burst out through the acupoints all over him and spread throughout the enormous Lava Cave.
"What is that? Lin Chuan, what are you doing? Get back here!" Qin Lang shouted anxiously.
He watched helplessly as Lin Chuan was swallowed by the purple mist, but there was nothing he could do. Neither he nor Bu Lianshi dared approach Lin Chuan. The heat had already reached the limit they could endure; only a cultivator like Lin Chuan, who could let spiritual energy leave his body, could survive in there.
"Damn it, only cultivators at the sixth level of the Qi Refining Stage or higher could barely enter this place for a short time. What is this purple mist?!" Qin Lang was sweating profusely with anxiety.
"Qin Lang, I'll transfer my spiritual energy to you. Go in and save Brother Lin Chuan!" Bu Lianshi said in a solemn voice, as if she'd made a difficult decision.
"Transfer your spiritual energy to me? But..." Qin Lang looked at Bu Lianshi in surprise. Once spiritual energy entered a person's body and began circulating, it bore that cultivator's imprint. Unless a spell or something similar returned it to nature, there was no way to let someone else use it directly.
"There's no need to be surprised. This is my ability!" Bu Lianshi shook her head and spoke with difficulty as she watched the purple mist spread through the cave. "This is our only option. If you go in now, you'll only be throwing your life away. You won't be able to survive in there. Brother Lin Chuan is our companion—we can't abandon him!"
"All right!" Qin Lang looked at the resolve on Bu Lianshi's face and finally nodded.
Before Bu Lianshi could begin casting her technique, however, the purple mist in the cave rapidly contracted. It became a huge vortex and drilled into Lin Chuan's body, vanishing without a trace. The two or three hundred Crimson Flame Lotuses that had grown there disappeared along with it.
Gulp! Qin Lang swallowed, staring blankly at the scene before him. "Were all those Crimson Flame Lotuses... absorbed by Lin Chuan?"
Bu Lianshi's eyes widened. Even now, she seemed unable to believe what she was seeing. So many Crimson Flame Lotuses—all devoured in just a moment?
"Brother Lin Chuan... what kind of... monster are you?"
Having devoured such a vast quantity of Foundation Establishment Stage medicinal plants, Lin Chuan had absorbed all their medicinal power, even though he hadn't done so of his own accord. The Fruit of the God Tree absorbed almost all the plant energy, but took in very little of the excess spiritual energy. As a result, Lin Chuan's body was now surging with an enormous amount of spiritual energy from heaven and earth.
"Damn it, there's so much energy. If I don't refine it quickly, I really will burst!" Lin Chuan gritted his teeth. He didn't dare make a single unnecessary move, devoting himself completely to cultivation. He couldn't even move.
At the same time, the Fruit of the God Tree, which had devoured more than three hundred Crimson Flame Lotuses, finally fell silent and began digesting the plant energy it had just obtained. As time passed, it quietly released more purple mist, which slowly seeped into Lin Chuan's body, seemingly changing something without his knowledge.
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