Chapter 176: Dragon Blood Divine Fruit

At the same time, Qin Ming deeply felt that his initial choice had been exceedingly wise.

He had not risked entering the Beast Roar Mountains to hunt beasts for their essence blood.

Who could have predicted that killing a single White-Armed Cangyuan would trigger such a catastrophe?

The annihilation of three Foundation Establishment families was a massive upheaval even in the spiritual energy Archipelago and the Canghai Immortal City.

Unfortunately, no matter how cautious he had been, he had still become entangled in this matter.

Qin Ming sighed inwardly, "Ah! I hope that demonic monkey finishes its blood feud and leaves soon."

He then turned to Wu Jiang, who looked dazed and broken.

"Friend Wu, you're safe—that's all that matters."

"There's a demonic monkey rampaging outside; stay on the island for now."

"We'll deal with everything after the storm passes." Qin Ming patted Wu Jiang on the shoulder.

He had just learned from Wu Jiang that two Wu clan members had died outside while gathering intelligence and never returned.

After nodding in agreement, Wu Jiang withdrew.

…

Qin Ming sat alone in his cave dwelling, pondering for a long time.

He then walked toward the Dragon Blood Divine Tree outside—his next opportunity to enhance his strength lay in this spiritual plant.

In the days that followed,

Qin Ming first planted some low-grade spiritual herbs in the outer spirit fields; three months later, he harvested five 【Ripen】 entries.

He went before his Life-Extending Vine and ripened all dozens of black demonic flowers on its vines.

Then he went to the spirit-water pool beneath the main peak and ripened the three jade-flower spiritual lotuses bearing entries.

In his spiritual sea, six blue entries appeared: 【Minor Lifespan】×5, 【Space-Time Leaf】×5, 【Highly Potent Purity】×5, 【Blood Qi Crystallization】×5, 【Space-Time Leaf】×5, 【Highly Potent Adaptation】×5. Qin Ming immediately used the 【Minor Lifespan】 and 【Blood Qi Crystallization】 entries.

Instantly,

A force of temporal energy descended upon Qin Ming, his lifespan abruptly increasing by fifty years, reaching over four hundred and seventy—a longevity rivaling that of a Golden Core elder.

To possess such longevity at the Foundation Establishment stage meant he had ample time to pursue the Dao.

After consuming the five 【Blood Qi Crystallization】 Citiao, Qin Ming's blood qi true Gang increased by a third.

He was drawing ever closer to meeting the requirements for the second transformation of True Gang Morphing.

Afterwards,

Qin Ming went to the entrance of his cave and gazed at the undernourished Dragon Blood Divine Tree; with a thought, he used one 【Highly Potent Adaptation】 entry.

A golden radiance settled upon the tree, and a silent transformation began within it.

Qin Ming closed his eyes and used his powerful affinity for plants to sense the plant's condition.

Its roots had regrown a dense network of fibrous roots, spreading outward to draw spiritual energy from the earth veins.

The previously listless leaves slowly lifted, swaying gently in the wind.

This entry enabled the finicky Dragon Blood Divine Tree to instantly adapt to its environment, bursting with vitality.

But this was not enough; Qin Ming consecutively used five 【Space-Time Leaf】 entries, ripening the tree to five hundred years of age.

In Qin Ming's sight, the Dragon Blood Divine Tree, once only two feet tall, began growing at a visible, frenzied pace.

A force of temporal energy coiled around it, persisting for a full half-month.

In the end, the spiritual plant grew over twenty feet tall, lush with branches and leaves, and bloomed crimson flowers.

Qin Ming did not rush to ripen it further; instead, he had the Silver-Winged Frost Bees and their swarm begin pollinating the Dragon Blood Divine Tree.

The Silver-Winged Frost Bees absorbed the essence from the crimson flowers, their aura surging again—as if they had gained immense benefit.

Pollination lasted a full month before ending.

The Silver-Winged Frost Bees returned with their swarm to the hive on the Life-Extending Vine.

Afterwards, Qin Ming used another 【Space-Time Leaf】 entry to ripen the crimson flowers on the tree.

This Dragon Blood Divine Tree bore fruit only once every hundred years—but under Qin Ming's care, Dragon Blood Divine Fruit became freely available.

He was happily contemplating this when,

The hundreds of crimson flowers withered and fell, their petals dissolving into crimson energy that flowed into the remaining blossoms.

Only eighteen crimson spiritual flowers remained.

Then, one by one, strange fruits covered in dragon-scale-like patterns swelled and ripened, until over a dozen crimson, fist-sized spiritual fruits appeared before Qin Ming's eyes.

Even from afar, he could sense the astonishing blood qi contained within them.

And since this plant had grown from the essence blood of a dragon, its fruits also carried a trace of dragon bloodline energy.

Upon ripening, the fruits emitted a strong, pungent stench of blood.

"Truly worthy of the legendary Dragon Blood Divine Fruit!"

Qin Ming casually reached out; one Dragon Blood Divine Fruit, glowing with crimson spiritual aura and resembling a giant egg covered in red scales, detached from the tree and landed in his hand.

At that moment,

The Aqua Crocodile and the Silver-Winged Frost Bees, sensing the scent, rushed to Qin Ming's side like wind and lightning.

Both beasts stared at the fruit on the tree with intense longing.

The Aqua Crocodile, as usual, drooled profusely.

"I haven't even eaten one yet—why are you two in such a hurry?"

Qin Ming frowned and scolded them.

Yet he remembered that these two spiritual beasts, once grown, would become part of his own strength.

He promptly plucked two more Dragon Blood Divine Fruits and tossed them to each of them.

The Aqua Crocodile and the Silver-Winged Frost Bees, upon receiving the fruits, grew ecstatic and began absorbing their blood qi.

Such rare fruits were undoubtedly great tonics for them.

Qin Ming then plucked one for himself, endured the intense stench of blood, and devoured it in several large bites.

Roar! The instant he finished eating the fruit,

A dragon's roar echoed from within Qin Ming's body.

A tidal wave of blood qi surged forth like a volcanic eruption.

Qin Ming's face flushed red; he immediately activated the Foundation Establishment section of the Hundred Treasures Luminous Scripture and began cultivating.

The endless blood qi was transformed into denser, refined blood qi true Gang.

Qin Ming sat cross-legged beneath the Dragon Blood Divine Tree for three full days before fully refining the blood qi contained in the single fruit.

He could clearly feel his blood qi true Gang had strengthened further.

Another month passed.

Qin Ming had consumed all the dozen or so Dragon Blood Divine Fruits on the tree, stacking his blood qi true Gang to a terrifying level.

He had now met the requirements for the second transformation of True Gang Morphing.

Qin Ming took out the beast-skin map again and infused it with his blood qi true Gang.

With the blood qi true Gang meeting the condition, the Beast Contemplation Map reactivated; new regions unlocked on the map, and various beast spirit shadows appeared as glowing orbs.

Qin Ming was contemplating which beast form to choose next,

When a streak of purple light reappeared before his eyes.

That familiar feeling of sudden insight returned.

Without hesitation, Qin Ming directed his intent toward the purple glow.

(End of Chapter)