Fat City, noon.
Snow lay thick and white. The sunlight was fairly gentle, and when it fell on one's body, one could faintly feel a trace of warmth. This place bordered the Boundless Ice Wastes and practically had no summer; it remained in autumn and winter year-round. At every moment, howling cold winds surged from the Boundless Ice Wastes into Fat Prefecture.
Fat Dragon was reporting the information he had gathered inside the inn.
"Fierce Baleful Wood really does come from Fat Prefecture, just as the Heavenward Sect Master said. Though it grows in baleful lands, for some reason only the baleful lands of Fat Prefecture can produce this kind of wood."
"Maybe it's because Fat Prefecture is cold, which is why this thing exists."
"Just like how, within seven steps of snake venom, there must be an antidote."
"It is an ordinary heating material used by the common sects and lineages of Fat Prefecture. It truly isn't worth much."
"As for that Eight Desolations Fruit—"
Fat Dragon paused, then said with emotion, "This information cost some Spirit Stones. I asked Under-Heaven Pavilion, which specializes in selling intelligence. Fierce Baleful Wood can at least be used for warmth, but the Eight Desolations Fruit is a truly useless thing."
"It is classified as a spirit fruit."
"It grows completely at random. It might grow on an apple tree, or it might grow on a pear tree. Fruit trees of any variety may produce an Eight Desolations Fruit. It somewhat defies the laws of nature."
"Moreover, any tree that grows an Eight Desolations Fruit will never bear another fruit again. It will never fruit again in the future."
"The Eight Desolations Fruit has an octagonal shape and resembles a starfruit."
"If it has one effect, it is this: rare."
"Eating it causes