Chapter 12: Fruit of Wisdom on the Tree of Wisdom
"Old Wei, don't you think so?"
Wei Shutong ignored Zhao Jie's words and looked at Xia Feng with a deep, expressionless gaze. "Forget it, let's get started."
Although he wasn't optimistic about Xia Feng, there was no turning back now. He could only hope that this reckless young man would make it out of the Evil Dragon Forest alive.
"The rules are simple," Zhao Jie explained. "The Evil Dragon Forest is divided into light disaster zones and heavy disaster zones. The deeper you go, the faster you'll be eroded by the disaster. If you don't leave in time, you'll lose your sanity and die—or worse, turn into a slave of the nightmare beasts.
"At the border between the light and heavy disaster zones, there's a tree called the Tree of Wisdom. Eating its fruit can restore your sanity and help you resist the disaster's erosion."
Zhao Jie paused, then continued, "However, wherever the Tree of Wisdom grows, a Tree of Life will also appear nearby. Your ultimate goal is to retrieve the Fruit of Life from the Tree of Life. Whoever brings back the Fruit of Life first will win."
He grinned at the end, adding, "Oh, and one more thing—this competition has no limits on time, methods, or even life and death!"
Xia Feng wasn't surprised by Zhao Jie's final remark. This was the ethos of the Six-Tails Society: achieve your goals by any means necessary. Zhao Jie was a firm believer in the idea that the ends justify the means.
It was precisely because of this mindset that Qi Xiao had killed several of his fellow disciples, and Zhao Jie hadn't batted an eye.
If Xia Feng hadn't been a student of Boundless Academy, Qi Xiao would have assassinated him long ago instead of resorting to underhanded tactics to eliminate him from the competition.
"Alright, follow me when you're ready," Zhao Jie said, presenting a token. Xia Feng and Qi Xiao followed him through the city gate corridor.
At first, Xia Feng felt nothing unusual, but as they ventured deeper, his heart began to race.
Thump—thump—thump—
His heartbeat quickened noticeably. It was a mix of excitement and desire, as if he had caught the scent of something delicious. Xia Feng swallowed hard. He could smell something incredible—the scent of Erli!
"Is this Erli?" Qi Xiao, walking ahead, suddenly stopped and leaned against the wall, his face pale and his breathing labored.
Zhao Jie, leading the way, turned and explained, "When evil forces gather, they create an evil force field. The Evil Dragon Forest is currently the largest evil force field outside the Evil Realm. It's normal to feel chest tightness and shortness of breath when you first enter. It takes time to adjust."
As he spoke, he glanced at Xia Feng with a hint of confusion.
Xia Feng quickly leaned against the wall, pretending to catch his breath. "Oh, it hurts so much!"
Zhao Jie checked his watch. "I'll give you one minute to adjust. We can't stay in the tunnel for too long."
Qi Xiao closed his eyes, focusing on adapting to the evil force field. Xia Feng followed suit, though his rapid heartbeat was harder to suppress. He was practically starving for evil energy. Sensing such a massive evil force field had triggered a stress reaction in him.
It was like a dying man in the desert, parched for three days, suddenly spotting a bottle of water. He would go mad trying to reach it.
Xia Feng squinted his eyes. While Qi Xiao was still adjusting, he felt like the minute was dragging on forever.
"Young man, if you regret this, you can still turn back," Zhao Jie said, glancing at Xia Feng.
Xia Feng looked up at Zhao Jie, his eyes resolute. Uncle Zhao, my sword is thirsty. Can you stop wasting time?
Seeing Xia Feng's determination, Zhao Jie nodded. "Let's go. The exit is just ahead."
After a few more steps, a dim, blood-red light appeared. As Xia Feng's eyes adjusted, a vast, dark forest came into view. A strange, crescent-shaped blood moon hung in the sky, like a demon's eye watching the world with mockery.
The sight was oppressive.
"Don't stare at the blood moon for too long. It'll speed up the erosion of your sanity," Zhao Jie warned.
Qi Xiao quickly averted his gaze, but Xia Feng's eyes widened as he stared at the blood moon. For a moment, he thought he saw a beautiful fairy winking at him, sending a thrill through him.
The pleasure was overwhelming. But he quickly looked away, pretending to be frightened.
"Once you cross this line, you'll officially enter the Evil Dragon Forest, and the competition will begin," Zhao Jie said, pointing to a red line ahead. "I'll wait here. The first one to bring the Fruit of Life back to this line wins."
"Alright, let's go."
As soon as Zhao Jie finished speaking, Xia Feng dashed past Qi Xiao and disappeared into the forest.
Qi Xiao sneered, taking his time to follow. He wasn't in a hurry. The deeper they went, the higher the concentration of evil energy, and the faster their sanity would erode. Xia Feng likely hadn't learned the C-level Spirit Clothe—"Evil Filter"—which was typically taught in the fourth year.
"Evil Filter" helped spiritualists reduce the concentration of evil energy invading their bodies, allowing them to survive longer in evil force fields.
Qi Xiao, who had mastered "Evil Filter," wasn't worried. Even in the light disaster zone, the concentration of evil energy was deadly for low-level spiritualists like them. Xia Feng would slow down as they went deeper, and Qi Xiao, with his superior spiritual pressure, would easily overtake him.
His plan was simple: get the Fruit of Wisdom first to ensure his safety, then find the Fruit of Life, and finally eliminate Xia Feng to end the competition.
"Delicious, exquisite, divine!"
Xia Feng stood on a tree branch, arms wide open, gazing at the moon like a cult leader. After entering the forest, he hadn't headed straight for his destination. Instead, he found a secluded spot to test the abilities of the Demon Heart.
He reached out and pinched the air, compressing it until a wisp of light gray mist and a pool of blood-red mist separated.
The gray mist shimmered faintly, emitting a sweet, vanilla-like fragrance. Xia Feng inhaled deeply—it was refreshing, like ice cream.
The blood-red mist, however, reeked. He quickly tossed it aside.
Sizzle—
The mist hit a bush, causing it to wither and die. But moments later, it grew back wildly, its leaves turning blood-red. Flowers bloomed, and ten eyes opened in their centers, glaring maliciously at Xia Feng.
Xia Feng stared for a moment, then slashed at the flowers. "What are you looking at?"
The newly born flowers: "..."
According to textbooks, evil spirits were composed of "Blood Beast Impurities" and "Evil Spirit Liquid." The blood-red mist was the former, causing organic creatures to mutate. The gray mist, with its vanilla scent, was the latter—absorbable by the Demon Heart.
The "concentration of evil spirit" people often referred to wasn't the proportion of evil spirit in the air but the proportion of Evil Spirit Liquid within it. The Demon Heart relied on absorbing this liquid to repair itself and enhance its activity.
That wisp of gray mist had added 30 seconds to his lifespan. It was a drop in the bucket.
His heart still pounded violently, unsatisfied with the meager amount of Evil Spirit Liquid. Xia Feng looked deeper into the forest.
"If I want to significantly extend my lifespan, I need to enter an area with a higher concentration of evil spirits—or even find the legendary Evil Dragon that's been asleep for ten thousand years!"
The Evil Dragon, the most terrifying entity in the forest, would undoubtedly be surrounded by an overwhelming concentration of evil energy. The thought made Xia Feng's mouth water.
That would be a feast beyond imagination!
"Let's go!"
With his goal in mind, Xia Feng sprinted deeper into the forest, thinking about how to best utilize the powers he'd synchronized from Mu Qingtong.
[Spiritual Pressure Level: First Level]
[Combat Skills: Master Level (smell, hearing, vision, nerve reaction, combat foresight)]
[N-level Spirit Clothes (6): Illuminating Clothe, Fireball Flash, Ice Soul Blade, Messenger Elf, Eye of Detection, Bronze Mask]
[D-level Spirit Clothes (2): Concealed Clothe, Triple Wave]
[Spiritual Weapon: To be awakened]
Among the eight Spirit Clothes, the Illuminating Clothe emitted light, and the Bronze Mask reduced his presence. Both were auxiliary abilities.
Fireball Flash and Ice Soul Blade? The former allowed him to throw a fist-sized fireball, and the latter an ice blade. Along with the Eye of Detection, they were the basic trio every first-year student learned.
Mu Qingtong had been lazy since entering the academy. If she hadn't accidentally learned Triple Wave the day before, she wouldn't have bothered learning any offensive skills.
Wait, she hadn't even learned Triple Wave on her own!
And why had she only learned the Concealed Clothe among the D-level Spirit Clothes? It didn't seem useful for someone like her.
Xia Feng pondered for a moment, then it hit him—Concealed Clothe, combined with the Bronze Mask and Ice Soul Blade, was perfect for stealth attacks. It was like the skill of the legendary Lanling King!
It was worth noting that the Bronze Mask, though an N-level Spirit Clothe, had been created by Mu Qingtong herself. Using a simple spirit particle structure, she'd crafted a unique Spirit Clothe that reduced her presence.
That was so like her.
The Concealed Clothe wasn't true invisibility—it left a faint outline. But combined with the Bronze Mask, it allowed her to enter a near-perfect stealth state, making it hard for enemies to detect her.
"Great, I've wasted enough time!"
But—
What he needed now was speed-related Spirit Clothes.
Mu Qingtong had probably memorized the spirit particle structure for the D-level Spirit Clothe "Shadow Step" but hadn't bothered to analyze it.
What a scam.
As for the One-Tail Spirit Clothe, its progress was at 98%. Just one more step...
Roar!!!
A sharp roar echoed in the distance, shaking the trees. A red-eyed bird shot into the sky in panic.
"Is that a nightmare beast?" Xia Feng stopped, glancing at the map in his hand.
"According to the map, this is still a light disaster zone. Why are there nightmare beasts here?"
The light disaster zone wasn't ideal for nightmare beasts, so they usually stayed in the heavy disaster zone. It was rare to see them here.
As he pondered, he climbed a tree to get a better view.
In the distance, a massive black hole loomed in the sky. A griffin-like beast struggled against its pull, roaring in terror.
Roar!!!
Its efforts were futile. The black hole swallowed it bit by bit.
"A black hole... Is that the work of Sanam?"
Xia Feng recalled that nightmare beasts were categorized into four types: Disaster, Misfortune, Calamity, and Void. Sanam was a Disaster-type that randomly released black holes, swallowing everything before spitting it out elsewhere.
The natural disasters caused by Sanam were known as Black Hole Disasters.
"It's gone."
Xia Feng jumped down from the tree and took a detour. According to the map, there was a Fruit of Wisdom in the northwest. While his main goal was to find the Evil Dragon deep in the disaster zone, he might as well complete the competition along the way.
Qi Xiao was probably nearing his destination by now. Xia Feng had to hurry.
Huff—huff—
Qi Xiao leaned against a tree trunk, pale and gasping for breath. He shook his head, trying to clear the incessant whispers in his ears—sharp, chaotic mutterings that surrounded him like a swarm of insects and beasts.
Snap—
He stabbed his forearm with a knife, the pain jolting him awake. But his eyes remained bloodshot, veins bulging on his neck and forehead as he panted like a mad beast.
"Damn it! I underestimated the evil energy concentration in the light disaster zone!"
He pressed his temples, struggling to stay rational.
After a moment, he calmed down and checked the map. A grin spread across his face. "It's just ahead!"
He pushed forward, and soon, a clearing came into view.
A tree over ten meters tall, covered in dark red fruits, stood before him—the Tree of Wisdom! Behind it, in a small grassland, grew a massive tree with pale leaves and stems. Hanging from it was a crystal-clear, pear-shaped Fruit of Life.
Hah...
Qi Xiao grinned and staggered toward the Tree of Wisdom. Once he ate a Fruit of Wisdom, he'd regain his sanity and escape the threat of death.
Then—
He could pick all the Fruits of Wisdom and wait for Xia Feng to arrive.
No matter how talented Xia Feng was, faced with death, a single Fruit of Wisdom would be enough to make him beg for mercy.
(End of Chapter)