Chapter 256: The Peach Thief!

One day later.

Wu Jiang returned to Wangyue Island with his clan; seeing how radiant and flushed he looked, Qin Ming knew he had once again shown off before his clansmen.

"Qin Dao You, I've completed the task you entrusted to me—I personally delivered the jade box intact to Canghai True Person."

Upon hearing this, Qin Ming nodded and was about to open his storage bag to give Wu Jiang some compensation.

Wu Jiang quickly stopped him, saying, "No need, Qin Dao You —Canghai True Person already rewarded me with a bottle of elixir to enhance my cultivation, hehe!"

Hearing he had already received his reward, Qin Ming let it go.

Afterwards, Qin Ming chatted with Wu Jiang briefly about the external situation, then dismissed him.

"Although the beast tide outside has calmed somewhat, I still need to intensify my cultivation."

"First, reach Foundation Establishment's peak."

Qin Ming had assumed that after breaking through to Foundation Establishment's later stage, he could go anywhere under heaven—but by a twist of fate, he had once again drawn the attention of a third-rank beast king, and his pressure skyrocketed.

Daring not to show off outside, he could only continue hiding on Wangyue Island and cultivating hard.

"Hmm, once the heat dies down a bit, I'll start planning for Core Formation."

Half a month later.

Qin Ming consumed two premium Po Xu Dan pills, finally refining his blood and qi Gang to its utmost limit—only one final step remained to complete it.

After ending his cultivation, his gaze fell again on the 【Blood and Qi Source】 term of the Five Elemental Qi Spirit Peach.

"If I obtain this term, my body refinement art will surely reach the third transformation of True Gang Forming!"

In Qin Ming's previous spirit herb field, a batch of low-rank spirit herbs had matured and could yield several 【Ripen】 terms.

His original plan was to use these 【Ripen】 terms to ripen the demonic flower on his life-spirit vine, Yin-Yang Xuan Teng.

But the newly refreshed term on the spirit peach tree changed his original plan.

Qin Ming went to the herb field and harvested the several spirit herbs bearing terms.

Instantly, eight 【Ripen】 terms appeared in his spiritual sea; the spirit peach ripens once every eight years, so ripening the peaches on all five trees should pose no problem.

Then, Qin Ming used the 【Ripen】 term on the spirit peach tree.

In an instant, pink flower buds on the Five Elemental Qi Spirit Peach tree burst forth in competition, a mist-like spiritual essence swirling around the tree, thick and undispersed.

In the spirit field before the cave, the spirit peach blossoms fully bloomed, their fragrance filling the air, forming a stunning sight.

The spirit bees in the hive also stirred into action, buzzing in swarms as they flew out to collect the spirit peach nectar.

The nectar produced by the Five Elemental Qi Peach was also a rare spiritual item.

Qin Ming did not rush to rapidly ripen the peaches; instead, he waited until the spirit bees finished collecting nectar and pollinating before initiating the ripening.

After the blossoms opened, the tree's emerald-green leaves gradually grew, revealing golden spiritual patterns upon them.

Seven days passed.

On each of the five Five Elemental Qi Spirit Peach trees, seven or eight large peaches had formed, emitting an extremely enticing fruit fragrance into the air.

The Xuan Shui E had already smelled it, staring longingly at the peaches on the tree, drooling.

"I've turned you into a full vegetarian."

"Every day you eat nothing but spirit herbs and spirit fruits—shoo, shoo, they're not ripe yet, wait two more days!"

Qin Ming slapped the Xuan Shui E on the head, forcing it back into its den.

"The Five Elemental Qi Spirit Peach has such a low fruiting rate—it's truly a rare treasure in the cultivation world. But I'll be eating them soon, hehe!"

As the peaches neared ripeness, the progress of the two terms changed.

【Name】: Five Elemental Qi Spirit Peach 【Term】: Blood and Qi Source X1 (Ripeness 88%)

【Name】: Five Elemental Qi Spirit Peach 【Term】: Abundant Lifespan X5 (Ripeness 82%)

……

The next day.

Qin Ming rose as usual and left his cave to check the ripeness of the spirit peaches.

But today, when he arrived beneath the spirit peach trees, the scene before him made the usually calm Qin Ming fly into a rage. "Who?! Who dares steal my peaches!" Just as the peaches were about to ripen, five of them had vanished overnight from the five trees!

Fortunately, the two peaches bearing terms had not been stolen.

Qin Ming stood there, pondering. His main peak was shielded by mist illusions and guarded by a third-rank middle-grade array—no other cultivators or beasts could possibly enter.

"Could it be that fool Xuan Shui E?"

He immediately summoned Xuan Shui E and interrogated it sternly.

The result was Xuan Shui E shaking its head pitifully, looking aggrieved.

Qin Ming thought again—he never let Xuan Shui E eat the fruit; even if it had eight hundred Dan, it wouldn't dare touch them.

The Yin Yi Shuang Feng were in hibernation; besides himself and the two spirit beasts, no one could have stealthily stolen the peaches right under his nose.

"Then who is the peach thief?"

At the same time, Qin Ming raised his vigilance to the utmost, immediately releasing his spiritual sense to scan the entire island, every corner thoroughly—yet found nothing.

Qin Ming's gaze turned cold. Someone had silently infiltrated his main peak and stolen the peaches—this sent a chill down his spine.

Countless thoughts flashed through his mind.

Then Qin Ming cast several powerful seals upon the spirit peach trees.

Any disturbance would trigger the seals.

With his current Foundation Establishment's later-stage power, even a pseudo-Core Formation cultivator would have to exert great effort to break them.

Time passed slowly.

Night fell again.

Inside the cave, Qin Ming had not slept a wink—he remained tense, his spiritual sense fixed motionless on the five spirit peach trees.

Xuan Shui E had also been roused by Qin Ming and lay hidden nearby, ready to strike.

"The peach thief might come again."

"I'll see just who this mysterious figure is."

Thus,

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

ZHOU!

In an instant, a dark shadow flashed between the spirit peach trees like lightning, then vanished into the night, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

"..."

So swift was the movement, and so utterly indifferent to Qin Ming's seals...

No matter how hard Qin Ming tried to lock onto it with his spiritual sense, the black shadow was gone—vanished as if into thin air, eerily so.

Yet Qin Ming did catch one thing.

The black shadow's aura seemed weak—not even at Foundation Establishment level—but its concealment technique was extraordinary, its presence fleeting.

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

"Come when you want, leave when you want!"

"Like a public toilet?!"

Qin Ming summoned Xuan Shui E and conducted a Ditanshi search across the main peak, even digging up the ground—but still found nothing.

He had never imagined that Wangyue Island, once thought impregnable, would attract such a thief.

One who had breached the mist illusions and the third-rank array, then boldly slipped right to his cave entrance to steal the peaches he had labored so hard to grow.

"Truly despicable!"

……

(End of Chapter)