"If I had come today intending to take what lies inside this mountain for myself, do you think you could have discovered me so easily, given my strength? If I had been determined to avoid you, do you think you would have had the slightest chance of finding me, given the Ghost Fiend Gate's methods of concealment?" Ignoring Yuan Qing's confusion, Old Ghost Yan Mo pressed on with another question.
Yuan Qing's brow furrowed deeply. He lowered his head and pondered Old Ghost Yan Mo's words. The old ghost was right: if he had been determined to hide using the Ghost Fiend Gate's concealment arts, Yuan Qing might not have found him even if he cultivated for another hundred years. But what exactly was he trying to say? Could he really have let me find him on purpose, luring me out so he could bring others to wipe me out in one stroke? At the thought, cold sweat broke out all over Yuan Qing's body. His soul force spread outward of its own accord as he began searching for presences in the surrounding area. Yuan Qing was no fool, however. After a brief search, he drew back the powerful soul force he had released, refusing to let his passing thoughts throw his mind into disarray.
On second thought, Old Ghost Yan Mo had brought none of his guards with him when he came out. The old ghost himself also knew that he had no chance of killing Yuan Qing here on his own; he would be doing well just to avoid being killed by Yuan Qing instead.
Then what was Old Ghost Yan Mo trying to do, going to such lengths to lure him out?
High overhead, hidden among the white clouds, Xiao Yan saw Yuan Qing racking his brains and shook his head with a soft sigh. "Sigh! They say the older a man gets, the shrewder he becomes, but why does Yuan Qing seem so dull-witted to me? It seems the longer a man lives, the less willing he is to die, until he clings to life and fears death. He fell for such a simple trick. All those years he's lived have really gone to the dogs."
A moment later, Yuan Qing raised his head and stared unblinkingly at Old Ghost Yan Mo. "Speak," he said in a deep voice. "What exactly do you want from me? Since you lured me here, surely you wanted more than a simple chat?"
The corner of Old Ghost Yan Mo's mouth curled beneath his mask, and his entire body, shrouded in black mist, quietly relaxed. The mist kept Yuan Qing from noticing, but Xiao Yan, up among the clouds, frowned slightly. Then a cold smile curved his lips.
People of the Hun Clan really could not change their treacherous nature, no matter where they went. Wherever these fellows went, they would first measure their strength against their opponent's. When they were stronger, they would torment the other party all the more viciously. When they could not win, they would exhaust every means and use everything around them to draw attention, then wait for the right moment to strike with a vicious bite, like an immensely venomous snake. Afterward, they would quietly savor that feeling of pain, which filled them with excitement.
Old Ghost Yan Mo looked at Yuan Qing, who stood motionless with his three incarnations behind him, and smiled. "Brother Qing Yuan, there is indeed a supreme treasure of heaven and earth inside this mountain. However, an extremely powerful restriction has been placed on the mountain itself. I imagine a mighty expert discovered the treasure here long ago, but perhaps it had not yet matured at the time, so the expert left the restriction and intended to return for it later. Having said that, you should understand what I mean, shouldn't you?" Old Ghost Yan Mo looked at Yuan Qing with a broad smile; even his way of addressing him had grown more familiar. Yuan Qing frowned and looked at him with some displeasure. "You want me to join forces with you to break the protective restriction on this mountain and take the natural treasure inside? Why should I?" Old Ghost Yan Mo seemed to have anticipated the question. He merely glanced at Yuan Qing before continuing, "As for the treasure inside this mountain, I have investigated it, and if my guess is correct, it should be..." He suddenly paused and looked up at Yuan Qing, who stood in the air with an impatient expression. The corner of his mouth curled beneath his mask before he continued, "The Ice and Fire Vermilion Fruit!"
As soon as he said it, heaven and earth fell silent. Yuan Qing's eyes widened, his cloudy old eyes filled with undisguised excitement and traces of greed. His entire body trembled slightly, and the Dou Qi within him began to surge. Had Yuan Qing not thought Old Ghost Yan Mo still had some use, he would probably have struck with all his might to kill him the moment those words left his mouth.
The Ice and Fire Vermilion Fruit was a spiritual herb of heaven and earth with extremely demanding growing conditions. Wherever one grew, it had to be at a place where exceptionally dense fire-attribute and ice-attribute energies converged.
During its growth, the Ice and Fire Vermilion Fruit first had to absorb enough ice- and fire-attribute energy from the surrounding world to reach a balance. It would then grow on its own for a hundred years. Once the hundred years were up, it had to be picked immediately; otherwise, one could only wait until it had grown for a thousand years and pick it when it reached its next evolved form.
The fruit looked like a vermilion fruit, with two fine lines, one fiery red and the other icy blue, winding around it. They made it as dazzling as a work of art in alternating red and blue.
Ice and fire were inherently opposed and should not have been able to fuse into one. Yet whether through the strange workings of heaven or some peculiarity of the fruit itself, the two energies within it did not explode from the clash of their attributes. Instead, they merged in perfect harmony. Because of this quality of the Ice and Fire Vermilion Fruit, when a cultivator swallowed it, the balance between ice and fire would be broken, releasing tens of times more energy than usual. The cultivator could then use that energy to break through and advance.
Wherever it grew, every living creature within a thousand miles, except for plants, would be cowed by a strange heavenly pressure it emitted and would not dare set foot within that area. The current situation matched this in every detail.
"It seems there's no doubt it's an Ice and Fire Vermilion Fruit!" Yuan Qing steadied his mind and stared at Old Ghost Yan Mo for a long while. After casting several more glances at the great mountain beside him, with its distinct red and white halves, he finally nodded in confirmation.
"Speak. How do we divide it?" Yuan Qing wasted no words, getting straight to the point and asking the question that concerned them both most. Old Ghost Yan Mo was not surprised. He knew Yuan Qing had been stuck at this cultivation realm for many years, and now that he had finally learned the thing he dreamed of was right before him, he was naturally beside himself with impatience.
"Haha, that's easy enough. Since the two of us will join forces to break the restriction, naturally we'll each take half of what's inside. Brother Yuan Qing, do you have any objections to that?"
Yuan Qing hesitated briefly, then a smile curved his lips. "All right. Half each."
With that, the two approached the great mountain and set about preparing to break the restriction on it.
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