"Legend says this fruit grows atop an Earth Fire Spiritual Vein. It blooms once every five hundred years and bears fruit once every five hundred years. If a cultivator consumes it, it can temper their Nascent Soul, and perhaps even..."
He paused, a feverish light bursting from his eyes.
"There is a chance of awakening a fire-element divine ability!"
However, Zhou Xun noticed the ghastly white bones beneath the ancient stele. One skeleton remained seated in meditation, its robes already decayed.
He bent down and picked up half a damaged Jade Slip. When his divine sense swept over it, his expression changed drastically.
The owner of the Jade Slip called himself "Emberfire Celestial." Thousands of years ago, he had come here in search of medicine to break through to Spirit Transformation, only to be grievously wounded by a ferocious beast and left with no choice but to perish here in meditation!
Zhou Xun flicked out a stream of force, blasting a deep pit into the ground. He swept Emberfire Celestial's remains into it, then buried them.
"May Senior Emberfire rest in peace!"
Perhaps because he had come seeking the Dao before his death, he had not carried many treasures. Even his Natal Treasure had likely been destroyed in his battle with the ferocious beast.
"Perhaps one day, I will meet the same end!" True Monarch Zhenhai sighed, his expression inscrutable.
He then turned his gaze toward the five fruits.
"Though these seven Dao Fruits have not fully matured, you and I can take three each, leaving the final one for someone fated to find it. What do you think?" With a flick of his finger, he cast a set of Mystic Gestures, and five Vermillion Fruits fell in response.
He placed them into jade boxes and carefully stored them away.