Chapter Fifty-Eight: The Fruit Is Taken

Purgatory...

An equally vast and boundless grassland, but now the air was filled with the howls of wolves, and a line of dusky yellow stretched across half the sky! Qiongqi’s powerful limbs pounded the earth, confusion flickering in its eyes.

“Where is this place? How did I suddenly end up here?” Gazing at that line of yellow on the horizon, feeling the faint tremors beneath its feet, Qiongqi was inwardly startled. “Such wild, overwhelming force!”

But in the blink of an eye, the line of yellow revealed its true form: countless fire-red giant wolves, sweeping like a primeval army across the wilderness, their wild, menacing aura surging straight toward Qiongqi.

“Oh, my mother!” Qiongqi quailed as it saw the fire-red wolves clearly. The saying goes that even a tiger cannot withstand a pack of wolves, and though this beast was far fiercer than any ordinary tiger, it only possessed a formidable exterior—inside, it was weak and battered.

Yet, as a descendant of the divine beast White Tiger, even in its frailty, Qiongqi did not retreat before the horde of prairie wolves. It knew it would be instantly overwhelmed, but retreat never crossed its mind. Qiongqi had always believed in dying standing, never in dying on its knees.

The countless fire-red wolves surged forward in a rolling wave of yellow, like a scythe of death sweeping the earth, engulfing Qiongqi in an instant.

“Haha... scared that fool to death!” Judas, watching Qiongqi swallowed by the wolf pack, danced with glee.

“As a descendant of the divine beast White Tiger, if he could be intimidated so easily, then he would be of no use to me at all.” Lingtian spoke coolly, then left purgatory with Judas.

Not long after, when the wolves faded and the dust settled, Qiongqi still stood tall and unyielding, his eyes as resolute as ever, maintaining a calm composure.

Yet a discordant trickling sound came from beneath Qiongqi’s belly—the creature had lost control of its bladder! Its massive body collapsed with a thud, mouth agape and panting heavily, revealing the violent turmoil within.

If Lingtian had witnessed this, who knows what he would have thought. Perhaps some shadow demon would be drooling with delight!

By coincidence, the path Lingtian took from another direction led directly to the mountain where the three from Southridge were. At this moment, the distance to the underground ravine in the cave was only a few miles.

Within the shadowy ravine, bizarre and twisted plants grew everywhere. The three from Southridge landed at the bottom, advancing with cautious vigilance. Their divine senses swept the surroundings ceaselessly, ready to attack at the slightest sign of danger.

In such an environment, peril lay hidden at every turn. Suddenly, a monstrous man-eating flower shot out from a crevice, its gaping maw lined with dripping fangs lunging at Xuehan’s neck with lightning speed!

But Xuehan sensed the attack in advance. Calmly, she pressed two fingers together like a sword and slashed with blinding speed, a blade of light a foot long flashing through the air—

“Spurt—”

The enormous flower was sliced clean at the neck, collapsing to the ground. Thick, viscous fluid gushed from the wound, and wherever it touched—be it plants, soil, or stone—all dissolved into mist and vanished.

“What a fierce poison!” Xuehan drifted aside, dodging the spray, and marveled at the melted stones.

The other two from Southridge showed no reaction, clearly unconcerned, moving forward in silence. Xuehan stared at their backs, deep hatred burning in her eyes.

She glanced at the withered monster flower, then smashed its head to pulp with her foot to vent her anger.

Behind her, Southridge merely smirked with contempt, while Mingfeng’s smile concealed even deeper meaning.

Lingtian stood at the edge of the cave’s top, his eyes glittering with three-colored light as he gazed down.

“Boss, those three show-offs are right below, in the depths of this ravine!” Judas affirmed.

Lingtian’s expression turned odd. “How do you know? Why can’t I sense anything?” He was bewildered by Judas’ ability to detect the trio at such a distance.

“Heh heh...” Judas grinned slyly, “Boss, you didn’t know? Before leaving, one of them left a divine sense mark on you. But how could such a trick fool a shadow demon like me? Divine sense is a shadow demon’s favorite snack, so I devoured his imprint and replaced it with a shadow demon’s unique tracking mark. That’s how I can sense their location!”

As Judas finished explaining, a cold smile curled at Lingtian’s lips. Calmly, he said, “If they want to profit from me, they’ll have to pay an equal price. Otherwise, how could I survive in this world?”

“Come, let’s see what they’re after here!” With that, Lingtian floated down to the valley floor.

“They’re sitting ducks in here, while we can move freely!” Judas’ triumphant voice echoed in the gloom.

“Shut up—don’t get cocky! Show me the way quickly. If they get the treasure first, it’ll be too late!” Lingtian cut him off, urging Judas to lead him to the trio.

A splatter of thick yellow fluid landed on Southridge’s protective aura, the potent poison corroding his shield with a crackling hiss!

Southridge’s face darkened as he surveyed the corpses of monstrous flowers strewn about, the air thick with an acrid stench.

“Southridge, Mingfeng, come quickly! Could this be the Xuanling Fruit?” Xuehan called from atop a boulder, pointing ahead.

The two men leapt onto the rock and looked where she indicated.

They saw a wide clearing, brightly lit by a mysterious, glowing radiance. In the center stood a small mound, atop which grew a peculiar small tree. Several golden fruits hung from its branches, their weight bending the limbs.

“That’s it! The Xuanling Fruit—we came for this very thing!” At last, a smile broke over Southridge’s face.

“Once we get it, we’ll head elsewhere and see what we can profit from next!” Greed flashed in Mingfeng’s eyes as he stared at the distant fruit.

“Right. We’ll each approach from a different direction to increase our chances!” Southridge’s expression turned grave.

“Agreed...” the others answered, awaiting Southridge’s signal.

“Go!” Southridge shot forward like a sword, straight at the Xuanling Fruit tree. Mingfeng and Xuehan struck simultaneously from other angles, swift as the wind.

The distance from the boulder to the tree was just over twenty meters—at their speed, they would reach it in two breaths. But fate is fickle: every rare treasure has a fearsome guardian. So it was with the Xuanling Fruit in this underground ravine.

Just as they neared the tree, three points of light abruptly appeared before them and exploded with a thunderous roar that echoed through the ravine.

The three were blasted back like shooting stars, crashing into the cliff face!

Boom! Boom!

The ground shook. The mound bearing the Xuanling Fruit tree began to tremble and slowly rise from the earth!

As it lifted, the entire floor cracked open—a colossal head emerged from the depths! When the whole head was revealed, they saw it was that of a giant toad!

The mound with the fruit tree sat atop the toad’s head, the tree’s roots trailing down along the sides and burrowing into the ground.

From its head alone, one could imagine the toad’s true size. This was a demon toad of immense cultivation, already nearing the second stage of sacred beasts. It had guarded the Xuanling Fruit tree in this ravine for a century.

To help the fruit tree mature faster, the toad had transplanted the ancient tree onto its own head, using its unique ability to commune with the earth veins to channel earth energy into the fruit.

To better connect with the earth, the toad had entered a light slumber, only awakening recently as the fruit ripened. Needing to recover its demonic power, it had not left with the fruit, but the arrival of the three intruders roused it, and seeing them try to steal its painstakingly cultivated treasure, it erupted in fury and struck!

With unwelcome guests intruding, the toad naturally appeared, determined to destroy all invaders and protect its hard-won prize.

The three from Southridge staggered out of the rock wall, their protective auras flickering erratically, staring in horror at the gigantic toad head and the Xuanling Fruit tree atop it.

“What kind of demon beast is this? That attack nearly shattered my protective aura!” Mingfeng shuddered as he stared at the toad’s massive head.

Southridge’s face was clouded, his gaze fixed on the Xuanling Fruit tree. He said resolutely, “No matter the cost, we must seize the Xuanling Fruit. The Grand Emperor’s ascension to sainthood depends on it!”

At his determined words, Mingfeng and Xuehan’s faces twitched, but neither replied. Their eyes flickered as each calculated privately.

Suddenly—

A strange distortion rippled atop the toad’s head. The four fruits vanished into thin air, right under the noses of the three and the demon beast—spirited away as if by magic!

“No!” Southridge reacted first, flinging a bronze square ruler from his sleeve. It multiplied into hundreds, sealing the entire area. A pale bronze glow spread out, covering several hundred meters in all directions.

Martial Dao Peak 58—Chapter Fifty-eight: The Fruit Is Stolen. End of update!