"I'll give it to myself."
Long Chen did not think too much about it. He placed the Heart of Eternity back into the Void Realm. Li Xuanji smiled when she saw the item reappear before her. Even though she was no longer beautiful, she was still breathtakingly beautiful.
The patriarch of the Poison Shadow clan no longer had any intentions of dealing with Long Chen. He studied Long Chen for a while again and said, "The Saints' Fruit will ripen in around two hours. Something will happen at that time. You should be able to arrive before that."
"Thank you," Long Chen said gratefully from the bottom of his heart. The Saints' Fruit was extremely important to him.
"It's no problem. Five hundred years ago, I also personally witnessed another group of people fight over the Saints' Fruit. Over five hundred of my clansmen died that time. Do you know why?" The patriarch stared at Long Chen deeply.
Since he had personally witnessed it, the patriarch clearly understood a lot about the Saints' Fruit. It was not easy for him to find someone to ask about it, so Long Chen gave up on the thought of leaving immediately. He asked, "Why? We killed them."
The patriarch of the Poison Shadow clan smiled helplessly, "This is a mission given to us by the humans. They want us to kill five thousand young human fighters before the Saints' Fruit ripens. If we kill a few less, we'll be punished, and we'll lose a few more people. It must be said that the humans hate their juniors very much, but they treat us even more viciously. For this complete victory, we've prepared for five hundred years, just to kill five thousand people this time. Thank you for saving these children and old people. To be honest, we're on opposing sides. I never thought that the person who saved me would be a human …" The patriarch smiled helplessly.
Reaching there, he gritted his teeth and said, "But even with that being the case, I still want to kill five thousand, or even more of my clansmen will die. There aren't many of us left, and I don't want our branch of the Poison Shadow clan to be wiped out here, so … in return, I'll tell you some information about the Saints' Fruit, but I'll have to leave again after that."
What he meant was that he wanted to go out and slaughter the humans again.
This was something that Long Chen couldn't stop. The experts of the Nine Underworld Demon Territory were here to let the younger generation grow through real battles. As for the Poison Shadow Clan, they were here to survive. There was no right or wrong. The weak would be eliminated, and only the strong would survive.
"Survival, this word … Come to think of it, I also live for the sake of survival, so I understand you, and I also understand you," Long Chen said with a bitter smile.
The Poison Shadow Race's Patriarch smiled knowingly. "Talking to you, I can tell that you are different from others. You are someone who will become a true peerless expert. That is because true experts do not rely on their strength, but on their character and their heart to protect."
Long Chen did not really understand what he meant.
Wasn't strength the only way to become a true expert?
As he pondered, the patriarch did not have much time left. He said gruffly, "There are a few things you need to pay attention to regarding the Saints' Fruit. First, the Saints' Tree has offensive power. You should have seen the Myriad Evil Vine before. The Saints' Tree is also a creature of that type. Its branches and trunk can transform into venomous insects and snakes. Not only do they possess terrifying offensive power, but they're also extremely venomous. In the beginning, they only look like branches and leaves, but when the Saints' Fruit ripens, the tree's weapons will awaken as well."
The first time did not exceed Long Chen's expectations. The Saints' Fruit would not be taken away for nothing. However, he thought of something else. If the Saints' Tree of Heaven and the Myriad Evil Vine were the same creature, would the Saints' Tree of Heaven and Earth not be able to discover him if he used his Breath of Soul?
This was a very likely possibility. Long Chen rejoiced inside. If that was the case, his chances of obtaining the Saints' Fruit would be extremely great.
At this moment, the patriarch of the Poison Shadow clan mentioned the second point.
"As for the second point, only a few of the cultivators who can enter know about it. When the Saints' Fruit is taken away, the Saints' Tree will become enraged. It will ignite its own energy and form a spherical domain. This is an invisible space, and basically all the people around the Saints' Fruit will be sucked into it. The restrictive power of the domain is extremely terrifying, and it's impossible to break through it without reaching the eighth layer of God's Martial realm. As a result, people from the nine clans will appear at this time and announce a new rule, which is a free-for-all. The last person standing in the domain will obtain the Saints' Fruit."
Reaching there, the patriarch looked at Long Chen in pity and said, "In other words, if you want to obtain the Saints' Fruit, being the first one to pluck it doesn't necessarily mean you'll be able to obtain it. After all, refining it requires time. Everyone is in the domain, so no one will let you refine it for nothing, right? As long as you defeat everyone, you'll truly obtain the Saints' Fruit."
This news definitely exceeded Long Chen's expectations.
Just as the Poison Shadow Clan's Patriarch had expected, Long Chen's expression became extremely grave.
"If my guess is correct, I should be able to obtain the Saints' Fruit first with my Breath technique without any suspense with my speed. Now that Su Zhe and Qin Shi have been eliminated, none of the cultivators from the nine clans should be at the peak of the sixth layer of God's Martial realm. Although I'll have to face the attacks of at least seven peak sixth layer God's Martial realm cultivators, it shouldn't be a problem with the endless replenishment from devouring the World of Blood."
This was what Long Chen thought.
Although the final rule had indeed exceeded everyone's expectations, it was still within Long Chen's control.
In the end, the people who could truly obtain the Saints' Fruit would still be those who possessed extraordinary strength. Without strength, it would be useless even if they obtained the Saints' Fruit.
"And to me, if I can obtain the Saints' Fruit first, then it would be considered a success. Xuan Ji can refine it in the Void realm. As long as it's in the Void realm, there's still Kitten who controls it. No one can take it out."
The Void realm was different from ordinary Spatial Rings.
"Thank you, patriarch. These two pieces of information are very important to me. If I can obtain the Saints' Fruit, I'll have to thank you first."
"Go. I still need to go kill people," said the patriarch.
Long Chen did not waste any time. Under the curious gazes of the other youths, he turned around and left the lair of the Poison Shadow clan. He turned into a golden bolt of lightning and made his way to the peak of the Nine Darkness Demon Mountain.
Soon afterwards, the patriarch of the Poison Shadow clan left as well.
They were all fighting for survival. Of course, right now, Long Chen was fighting for Li Xuanji's survival.
An hour after Long Chen left, bubbles suddenly appeared in the depths of the pool. The bubbles grew larger and larger before producing a terrifying explosion in the end.
They never thought that there would be another disturbance. This time, the children of the Poison Shadow clan had learned their lesson. They no longer shrieked and instead gathered together obediently. They stared at the cave hidden in the waterfall in fear.
After a very long time, there was no other disturbance. Everyone finally let out a breath of relief.
The danger had been resolved.
However, before this, the place where the Myriad Evil Vines were located trembled greatly. Finally, the cultivators trapped beneath the vines discovered that the rampaging vines had suddenly gone on a terrifying rampage. After a very long time, all the vines collapsed to the ground. They lost their luster and life, turning into withered vines. They were no different from ordinary trees.
After a while, a figure with a murderous aura crawled out from the ground.
… …
Long Chen's current speed was so fast that even if the Poison Shadow clan saw him, they would not be able to catch up. He rushed upwards as fast as he could. Originally, the patriarch thought that Long Chen would need two hours to reach the peak, but he never thought that Long Chen would only need an hour to reach the top.
When he reached this place, he was already in the middle of the clouds. Looking down, he could see that the mountains were small. The dark green clouds were extremely cold, making one's hair stand on end. The dark moon in the sky seemed like it could be plucked by stretching out one's hand.
When he arrived at this place, the surrounding forest was much taller. The Heaven and Earth Sacred Tree was probably the largest tree here. At this moment, Long Chen could roughly sense the disturbance. He scurried to the top of a nearby tree. This was the place where the lightning shackles were the highest. The lightning here was more than two hundred meters above the ground, and the trees here were generally more than a hundred meters tall.
Standing at the top of the tree, Long Chen could still sense that the lightning shackles were within reach. A destructive lightning aura burst forth in the sky above him.
However, Long Chen's gaze was attracted by a towering ancient tree in front of him. It was a snow-white ancient tree that shone with a milky-white radiance. It did not look like a tree, but an exquisite white jade in the shape of a tree. The milky-white radiance emitted from it illuminated the world.
The ancient tree's trunk and leaves seemed to be translucent. From afar, Long Chen could see the veins and the resources flowing through them.
This was the Heaven and Earth Sacred Tree.
A pure and holy aura assaulted Long Chen's face. This was a kind of spiritual energy. Long Chen felt as if he had been reformed. His entire body felt comfortable, and his heart involuntarily felt moved.
As the saying went, when things reached an extreme, they would move in the opposite direction.
The Heaven and Earth Sacred Tree emitted such a pure and holy radiance in this dark green world. There were no blemishes at all, making it hard for people to profane it. If he had not met the patriarch of the Poison Shadow clan, Long Chen would definitely believe that this tree was holy and harmless. However, Long Chen now made a mental note.
When things reached an extreme, they would move in the opposite direction. The holiness could only be an illusion. When people did not expect it, it could cause fatal danger.