Chapter 212: The Peach Thief!

One day later.

Wu Jiang returned to Wangyue Island with his clansmen, and seeing his face glowing with ruddy vitality, Qin Ming knew he must have shown off greatly before his people again.

"Fellow Daoist Qin, the matter you entrusted to me is done; I personally delivered the jade box, completely intact, to True Person Canghai."

Hearing this, Qin Ming nodded and was just about to open his storage bag to give Wu Jiang a reward for his efforts.

Seeing this, Wu Jiang hastily stopped him, saying, "There is no need, Fellow Daoist Qin; True Person Canghai has already rewarded me with a bottle of pills to advance cultivation, hehe!"

Hearing that he had already gained benefits, Qin Ming let the matter drop.

Afterwards, Qin Ming chatted with Wu Jiang about the situation outside for a while before dismissing him.

"Although the beast tide outside has quieted down considerably, I still need to intensify my cultivation."

"I will cultivate until my Foundation Establishment is perfect before doing anything else."

Qin Ming had thought that after breaking through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment, he could go anywhere under heaven, but due to a twist of fate, he had been targeted by a third-rank Demon King again, instantly ramping up the pressure to the maximum.

Not daring to go out and show off, he could only continue hiding on Wangyue Island to cultivate diligently.

"Hmm, once the situation relaxes in a while, I will then plan for forming my Jin Dan."

Half a month later.

After consuming two premium Void-Breaking Pills, Qin Ming finally refined his Qi and Blood True Essence to the extreme, lacking only the final step to reach perfection.

After finishing his cultivation, his gaze fell once again upon the 【Source of Qi and Blood】 attribute on the Five Elements Primordial Spirit Peach.

"As long as I obtain this attribute, my Body Refining Art will definitely advance to the third transformation of True Essence Manifestation!"

In the spirit herb field Qin Ming had planted earlier, a batch of low-grade spirit herbs had matured, allowing him to harvest several 【Ripen】 attributes.

His original plan had been to use these 【Ripen】 attributes to force the demon flowers on his life-bound spirit plant, Yin Yang Xuanteng, to mature.

However, the attributes refreshing on the spirit peach tree made him change his original plan.

Qin Ming arrived before the medicine field and harvested those few spirit herbs bearing attributes.

Instantly, eight 【Ripen】 attributes appeared in his sea of consciousness; since the spirit peaches mature once every eight years, ripening the peaches on five trees should not be a problem.

Subsequently, Qin Ming applied the Ripen attributes to the spirit peach trees.

In an instant, on the Five Elements Primordial Spirit Peach trees, clusters of pink flower buds bloomed in competition, while mist-like spiritual essence lingered around the trees, forming dense, unscattered clouds.

Within the spirit field before the cave dwelling, the spirit peach flowers bloomed completely, their fragrance filling the air and creating a beautiful sight.

The swarm of spirit bees inside the hive also moved at the scent, buzzing as they flew out in groups to begin collecting spirit peach nectar.

The nectar produced by these Five Elements Primordial Spirit Peaches was also a rare spiritual treasure.

Qin Ming did not rush to rapidly ripen the spirit peaches; instead, he waited until the spirit bee swarm had finished collecting nectar and pollinating before starting to ripen the peaches.

After the spirit peach flowers bloomed, emerald green leaves gradually began to grow on the trees, revealing lines of golden spiritual runes upon them.

Seven days later.

On each of the five Five Elements Primordial Spirit Peach trees, seven or eight large spirit peaches had formed, emitting an extremely tempting fruity fragrance into the air.

The Profound Water Crocodile had smelled it long ago and was staring eagerly at the spirit peaches on the trees, drooling profusely.

"I've raised you to be a pure vegetarian."

"Every day it's either eating spirit herbs or spirit fruits; shoo, shoo, they aren't ripe yet, wait two more days!"

Qin Ming slapped the Profound Water Crocodile on the head, making it crawl back to its old nest.

"With such a low fruit-bearing rate, these Five Elements Primordial Spirit Peaches count as one of the great treasures of the Immortal Realm, but I'll be able to eat them soon, hehe!"

As the spirit peaches approached maturity, the progress of those two attributes also changed.

【Name】: Five Elements Primordial Spirit Peach 【Attribute】: Source of Qi and Blood x1 (Maturity 88%)

【Name】: Five Elements Primordial Spirit Peach 【Attribute】: Abundant Lifespan x5 (Maturity 82%)

The next day.

Qin Ming got up as usual and left the cave dwelling to check the maturity of the spirit peaches.

But today, when he arrived beneath the spirit peach trees, the scene before his eyes made the usually calm Qin Ming boil with rage! "Who! Dares to steal and eat my peaches!" Just at the critical moment when the spirit peaches were about to mature, five spirit peaches from the five trees had vanished overnight!

Fortunately, the two bearing attributes had not been stolen.

Standing there, Qin Ming pondered; on this main peak, there was a Mist Illusion Realm blocking the way, protected by a third-rank middle-grade great formation, so other cultivators and demon beasts simply could not enter.

"Could it be this dullard, the Profound Water Crocodile?"

He immediately summoned the Profound Water Crocodile over and questioned it severely.

The result, however, was the Profound Water Crocodile shaking its head with a wronged expression.

Qin Ming thought carefully and realized it was true; if he himself did not give the Profound Water Crocodile any to eat, even with eight hundred times its courage, it would not dare to touch the spirit fruits.

The Silver-Winged Frost Bees were in hibernation, and on the main peak, apart from himself and the two spirit beasts, it was impossible for anyone to steal the spirit peaches right under his nose without anyone knowing.

"Then who could this peach thief be?"

At the same time, Qin Ming heightened his alertness to the utmost, immediately releasing his divine sense to cover the entire island, scanning every corner, yet finding nothing.

Qin Ming's gaze turned slightly cold; that someone had silently infiltrated the main peak and stolen spirit peaches made him feel terrified upon deeper thought.

Countless thoughts flashed through his mind.

Subsequently, Qin Ming applied several powerful prohibitions onto the spirit peach trees.

As long as there was the slightest disturbance, the prohibitions would be triggered.

With the prohibitions he applied now at the late Foundation Establishment stage, even a False Dan stage cultivator forcibly breaking them would have to go to great trouble.

Time passed little by little.

Once again, deep night arrived.

Inside the cave dwelling, Qin Ming did not rest all night; instead, with nerves taut, he released his divine sense and stared motionlessly at the five spirit peach trees.

The Profound Water Crocodile was also woken up by Qin Ming, lying in ambush nearby, ready to act at the right opportunity.

"That peach thief might very well return."

"I intend to see just what kind of great figure they are."

And so it was.

One man and one beast kept watch until deep into the night, discovering nothing.

Whoosh! Just then.

In an instant, a black shadow flashed like lightning and sparks through the spirit peach trees, then plunged into the darkness, vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye.

"..."

It happened faster than words could describe, treating the restrictions Qin Ming had set up as if they were nothing...

No matter how Qin Ming used his divine sense to lock onto it, he could no longer find that black shadow; it seemed to have vanished into thin air, extremely eerie.

However, Qin Ming did catch a glimpse of something.

The aura emanating from that black shadow did not seem very strong; it hadn't even reached the Foundation Establishment stage, yet its skill at concealment was extremely potent, its presence fleeting and gone in an instant.

At this, Qin Ming couldn't help but curse angrily.

"Coming and going as they please!"

"Is this a public latrine or what!"

Qin Ming summoned the Profound Water Crocodile and conducted a carpet search across the main peak, leaving no stone unturned, yet still found nothing.

He had never expected that Wangyue Island, always impregnable as a fortress, would actually attract such a thief.

Breaking through the misty illusion realm and the third-tier great formation in succession, the intruder had swaggered right up to the entrance of his cave dwelling to steal and eat the spirit peaches he had worked so hard to cultivate.

"Truly detestable!"

(End of Chapter)