Essence Fruit

Essence Fruit

In a cave on the outskirts of the Blackwater Mountains, flickering with firelight.

Ye Yun sat beside the campfire, eating dry rations as he looked at the Shadow Leopard's corpse he had already dismembered in the distance, recalling the battle just now. "I still lack experience. When I fought the Shadow Leopard, I didn't make proper use of my strengths at all. I only knew how to rely on brute force, and several times I hovered at death's doorstep." The thought made Ye Yun's heart pound with lingering fear.

That life-and-death battle had thoroughly shown Ye Yun his shortcomings: his battle rhythm was chaotic, his attacks were not decisive enough, and he had many other flaws.

"Still so much to learn. When I return, I need to find a martial art to use alongside the Layered Waves Fist. My current methods of attack are far too limited."

Ye Yun carefully summed up what he had learned, then took out the spoils from his clothes and examined them closely.

It was a milky-white crystal the size of a little fingernail, its entire surface radiating a faint white glow. This thing was called a Monster Crystal Core, formed from the condensed life energy of a monster beast. Humans could cultivate by absorbing the energy within it, or use it for pill refinement and array formation.

Not every monster beast possessed a crystal core. Generally speaking, among a thousand monster beasts, perhaps only a few would have one.

Ye Yun had not expected the Shadow Leopard to contain a Monster Crystal Core. A crystal core from a high-grade Level One monster beast like this could sell for at least ten thousand taels of silver on the market, and demand still exceeded supply.

Ye Yun sat cross-legged, held the Monster Crystal Core in his palm, and controlled his inner energy to envelop it. Wrapped in his inner energy, power flowed from the crystal core and entered Ye Yun's body along that inner energy. It felt cool and comfortable, and the moment it entered his body, it was devoured and refined by his inner energy.

The sun rose, its light illuminating the earth as all things between heaven and earth began to awaken.

Outside the cave, a thin mist blanketed the forest, morning dew dripping from the leaves. Inside the cave, Ye Yun sat cross-legged, while the campfire had gone out at some unknown time.

Ye Yun opened his eyes and spread open his palm. The crystal core had already turned to powder. He slowly exhaled a mouthful of turbid air. "The effect of this crystal core truly is extraordinary. Just one allowed me to open another two acupoints."

Ye Yun rose and packed up the things he needed before walking out of the cave. He left the remaining items inside. He was in no hurry to return to the sect; he still needed to train for a while, and this cave could serve perfectly as a base.

Looking at the forest shrouded in mist, Ye Yun's face was filled with determination. Without hesitation, he walked into the woods. A new day of tempering was about to begin.

Within the dense forest, Ye Yun stood atop a thick branch, looking down upon the woodland below. Bloodstains could be seen on him, along with a faint smell of blood.

The blood was not Ye Yun's, but that of the monster beasts he had hunted. Over the past half month, he had been training in the Blackwater Mountains. After all these days of tempering, his practical combat ability had undergone a complete transformation.

At the beginning, he had nearly died in the jaws of monster beasts several times. Later, as his battles increased, the injuries he suffered grew fewer.

Through constant fighting, he had also steadily corrected his bad habits and refined his fighting style. The current Ye Yun could completely crush the Ye Yun from half a month ago.

Unfortunately, although he had killed dozens of monster beasts over the past half month, not a single one had possessed a Monster Crystal Core.

"Awooo!"

At that moment, Ye Yun heard the cry of a monster beast in the distance.

Ye Yun focused completely as he searched for the direction from which the cry had come. A moment later, he kicked off with both feet and shot away like an arrow leaving the bowstring.

Several minutes later, Ye Yun carefully pushed aside the grass and saw two monster beasts before a small hill in the distance. One was a Bloodthirsty Boar four or five meters long, covered in glossy black fur, with a pair of sharp tusks about a meter long protruding from its mouth.

The other was a Fiery Sun Tiger, three meters tall and roughly six meters long, its body covered in a yellowish-brown base coat marked with fiery-red patterns, with a marking resembling the character "king" on its forehead.

At that moment, the Bloodthirsty Boar lay on the ground, blood pouring from a massive wound on its neck, while the Fiery Sun Tiger sprawled atop it and feasted in huge mouthfuls.

It now seemed that the sound from earlier had come from these two monster beasts fighting.

As the Fiery Sun Tiger lowered its head, Ye Yun's sharp eyes spotted a small tree on the hill behind it. A crystal-clear azure fruit hung from that tree, faintly giving off a refreshing fragrance.

"That is... a low-grade Level Two spirit herb, an Essence Fruit."

When he saw the fruit, Ye Yun sucked in a breath of cold air. He had never imagined that he would encounter a low-grade Level Two spirit herb, an Essence Fruit, here. His luck was simply too good.

In the sect's records, Ye Yun had read an introduction to spirit herbs that described the uses of more than a hundred kinds.

Spirit herbs of heaven and earth were divided into Levels One through Nine, with each level further divided into high, middle, and low grades. Within the Great Chu Dynasty, Level One through Level Three spirit herbs appeared from time to time, but they were always bought up as soon as they appeared. As for Level Four and above, they had almost never appeared.

The low-grade Level Two Essence Fruit before him was one of the most suitable spirit herbs for those in the Body Tempering Realm.

With this Essence Fruit, Ye Yun was confident that he could open more than ten acupoints in one go. At that thought, a trace of murderous light flashed in his eyes as he looked at the Fiery Sun Tiger.

Hidden in the grass, Ye Yun remained motionless as he watched the Fiery Sun Tiger. The tiger continuously tore at and swallowed the Bloodthirsty Boar's flesh. Before long, it seemed to be full. It lowered its head and shook it, then raised its head and roared at the sky.

"Awooo!"

"An opportunity." Seeing this, Ye Yun knew his chance had come. He poured inner energy into his legs and kicked off hard, charging toward the Fiery Sun Tiger. His left hand clenched into a fist as inner energy gathered over it.

In the blink of an eye, Ye Yun arrived before the Fiery Sun Tiger. He threw a full-force punch with his left hand into the tiger's lower jaw, knocking its enormous body to the ground with that tremendous force.

Before Ye Yun could continue his attack, the Fiery Sun Tiger had already climbed back to its feet.

"Damn, its hide is really tough."

Seeing the Fiery Sun Tiger rise without much injury, and feeling the pain in his hand, Ye Yun's scalp tingled. He had underestimated the Fiery Sun Tiger's defense.

The Fiery Sun Tiger stared at Ye Yun with murderous light in its eyes. It opened its blood-filled maw, released a low growl, and pounced swiftly at him.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Ye Yun twisted beneath its attack, evading the Fiery Sun Tiger's frontal pounce and appearing at its side. He struck the tiger's body with several consecutive punches. The fierce force knocked the Fiery Sun Tiger to the ground once more.

Seizing the chance, Ye Yun rapidly attacked the Fiery Sun Tiger again. But just as he reached it, the tiger's forepaw viciously swiped at him.

Seeing the tiger claw rushing at his face, Ye Yun did not dare hesitate. He unleashed the most powerful move of the Layered Waves Fist, Sea Embracing All Rivers, and smashed his fist toward the claw.

"Boom!"

Fist and claw collided. One large and one small figure were sent flying backward. Ye Yun crashed through a tree behind him before landing in a bedraggled heap, a thread of blood flowing from the corner of his mouth.

Ye Yun's situation was extremely dire. If this battle continued, it would not be long before he died beneath the Fiery Sun Tiger's claws.

Do I really have no choice but to give up the Essence Fruit? Ye Yun was deeply unwilling, but there was no helping it. The Fiery Sun Tiger's hide was simply too thick and hard.

(End of this chapter)