Chapter 105: Transforming Dragon Fruit [Third update, seeking monthly tickets, seeking subscriptions]

"In the future, when the old master and my master come over, there's no need to report; just invite them in directly." Xia Daoming said.

"The old master said the rules cannot be broken!" Ji Wenli whispered.

"Alright, go invite them in." Xia Daoming waved his hand helplessly, secretly grumbling in his heart, why do I feel like a lonely man.

Soon, Elder Ji Yuanzhen Yuanzhen and Liang Jingtang walked in with grave expressions.

"Old master, master, your expressions are not right; has something big happened?" Xia Daoming's heart sank slightly upon seeing this.

"A group of refugees has arrived outside the city; they are fleeing from Cuiling City. I heard them say that the rebel army has been unable to take Yuancang City for a long time and has already split off a portion of their troops to head north, grabbing strong men and burning, killing, and looting everywhere. More than a month ago, they already attacked Cuiling City." Elder Ji Yuanzhen Yuanzhen said with a worried expression.

"Cuiling City! More than a month ago!" Xia Daoming frowned instantly upon hearing this.

Cuiling City is a small mountain city in the southeast region of Mangzhou.

The technique and secret map he took from Wuyun Fort back then were sold in Cuiling City.

The location of Cuiling City is roughly between Li Cheng and the state capital, slightly toward the state capital.

The rebel army had already attacked Cuiling City more than a month ago; if they continued to march north, it was estimated it wouldn't take too long before they reached Li Cheng.

"I have already sent several capable disciples out to scout for news!" Elder Ji Yuanzhen Yuanzhen said in a deep voice.

"Good, from now on, we must keep track of the rebel army's movements at all times. In addition, we must recruit troops as soon as possible and conduct training.

Under heavy rewards, there must be brave men; when recruiting troops, try to offer generous conditions; anyway, we have plenty of money and goods on hand now.

Also, for the people fleeing, after you distinguish them, if there are no suspicious people, try to settle them down well!" Xia Daoming said in a deep voice.

Having finally taken Li Cheng, and with spirit fields, spirit wells, and spirit trees hidden at the bottom of Mount Yuncui in the Xu Clan's backyard, which concerned future cultivation resources, Xia Daoming was naturally unwilling to hand them over.

Moreover, with so many ordinary people in Li Cheng, Xia Daoming now considered himself to have some ability, and he also wanted to take on some responsibility within his power, not wanting to let them be displaced and burned, killed, looted, and raped by the rebel army!

"Master Liang and I have the same intention!" Elder Ji Yuanzhen Yuanzhen said.

Next, the three discussed for a while, and Elder Ji Yuanzhen Yuanzhen and Liang Jingtang got up and left.

"The tree wants to be quiet, but the wind won't stop! Having finally taken Li Cheng and having a foundation to start, I wanted to pick up Lian'er and the others to have a good game of cards and lie flat for a few days, but now I have to tirelessly enter the Cangmang Mountains again!"

After Elder Ji Yuanzhen Yuanzhen and Liang Jingtang left, Xia Daoming's pressure increased greatly, and he decided to enter the Cangmang Mountains tomorrow with some nourishing medicinal herbs and elixirs, preparing to reinforce his meridians to perfection at the eighth-rank realm while on the road.

——

Ten days later.

Cangmang Mountains.

Xia Daoming arrived in front of a straight, isolated peak that rose more than two hundred zhang high.

The cliffs were steep and made of rock, with very few plants growing, only some old vines growing from the cracks in the stones and climbing along the cliff walls.

A waterfall rushed down from the cliff, creating a clear, bottom-visible small mountain lake at the foot of the peak.

Xia Daoming held the incomplete secret map given by Liu Qiaolian, carefully identified and observed according to the location marked on the secret map, and suddenly his eyes lit up sharply.

At a height of twenty or thirty zhang from the ground on the cliff, a strangely shaped giant rock protruded into the air, and on this stone grew an old tree with intertwined roots, a trunk like a coiled dragon, and as red as coral.

"That must be the Transforming Dragon Fruit tree, but I don't know if there are any Transforming Dragon Fruits!" Xia Daoming narrowed his eyes, trying to focus his gaze, but unfortunately, the distance was a bit far, and the old tree was lush with branches and leaves, and red and dazzling in the sunlight, making it impossible to see clearly if there were any fruits on it.

"Regardless of whether there are any, let's go up first!" Xia Daoming held the Profound Dragon Spear, leaped up, and when his strength was exhausted, he either borrowed the force of the protruding rocks on the cliff or used the Profound Dragon Spear as a big nail, stabbing it into the rock; after a few leaps, the giant rock and the old tree above were already right before his eyes.

"Haha, not bad! There are actually more than ten Transforming Dragon Fruits!" Xia Daoming's sharp eyes soon discovered more than ten Transforming Dragon Fruits hanging among the branches and leaves.

The fruits were the size of apples, eight of which were the same color as the tree body, as red as coral flames, and under the sunlight, they emitted points of light; the light gathered together, as if a lifelike red dragon was circling the fruit.

There were five others that were pink, estimated to not yet be ripe.

A mountain breeze blew, the branches and leaves rustled, and a faint fruity fragrance was blown over, making Xia Daoming's spirit feel refreshed.

However, immediately following, a foul, fishy smell came with the wind, making Xia Daoming feel so disgusted he almost wanted to vomit.

Xia Daoming's heart was startled, and he hurriedly looked in the direction of the foul smell.

At this look, Xia Daoming felt a chill all over his body.

He saw that on the giant rock protruding from the cliff, a huge snake head had appeared at some point, dripping saliva downward.

That snake head with golden scales and red eyes was none other than the monster beast Golden-Scaled Blood-Eyed Snake he had encountered in the Peach Miasma Illusion Array on Gengyun Mountain.

But the head of this Golden-Scaled Blood-Eyed Snake on the giant rock was more than twice as large as the one guarding the array eye on Gengyun Mountain.

Not only that, there was a fleshy lump protruding from the middle of its head, as if it were about to grow horns.

As for its body, it was blocked by the giant rock, so Xia Daoming couldn't see it, but he knew with his toes that it must be incomparably thick.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Just as Xia Daoming was shivering, the Golden-Scaled Blood-Eyed Snake had already opened its mouth, and a cloud of blood mist sprayed from its mouth, actually turning into blood arrows that covered the sky and sun, shooting toward Xia Daoming like lightning.

"Damn!"

Xia Daoming's scalp went numb, and he hurriedly waved the Profound Dragon Spear and the Black Cloud Shield fixed on his arm to protect his upper body, while leaping downward rapidly.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The blood arrows rained down, hitting the Profound Dragon Spear and the Black Cloud Shield one after another, splashing up clouds of blood mist, with astonishing force.

"Crash!"

The rock on the cliff where Xia Daoming landed cracked and rolled down one after another.

His body also fell sharply.

"Boom!"

Xia Daoming's feet hit the ground, the earth cracked, gravel flew, and two pits were deeply smashed below.

"Fortunately, it wasn't high, otherwise, if this happened suddenly, even though my physical strength is powerful, this high-altitude fall would probably have left me dead or seriously injured!" Xia Daoming looked up at the giant rock, seeing the Golden-Scaled Blood-Eyed Snake poking its head out, a pair of terrifying blood eyes staring at him, its snake tongue constantly flicking in and out, and couldn't help but feel a lingering fear.

Soon, Xia Daoming looked down at the Black Cloud Shield again, seeing some faint marks left on it, and couldn't help but click his tongue.

"To be able to leave marks on the Black Cloud Shield, is this still a Golden-Scaled Blood-Eyed Snake? It should be called a Golden-Scaled Blood-Eyed Dragon! No wonder the people from the Liu family who entered the Cangmang Mountains later never returned! Just that blow just now, if it were that old thief Xu who came, he would probably have died."

Thinking this, Xia Daoming looked up at the Golden-Scaled Blood-Eyed Snake again, his hand gently rubbing his chin.

This snake had already evolved, its strength far beyond that of the one on Gengyun Mountain, and it occupied a high position, and Xia Daoming didn't know the technique of flying, so he certainly didn't dare to leap up to pick the fruit rashly like before.

Soon, Xia Daoming had an idea.

He found a pile of hard stones of suitable size, cut many branches as thick as an arm from a big tree, sharpened them into javelins, and piled them up.

Then Xia Daoming transported these things to a place ten-plus zhang high and, like a bear child, began to throw them at the Golden-Scaled Blood-Eyed Snake.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The Golden-Scaled Blood-Eyed Snake sprayed a cloud of blood mist, which turned into blood arrows and shot down, and those stones and javelins exploded in the air, turning into gravel and wood chips.

Xia Daoming was not discouraged and continued to throw.

However, the Golden-Scaled Blood-Eyed Snake had a good temper and remained unmoved.

Even later, it discovered that those stones and wood chips had no power, so it was too lazy to spray blood mist, letting the stones and javelins fall on its body, just treating it as scratching an itch.

"Damn! This Golden-Scaled Blood-Eyed Snake seems to be really becoming a dragon, it's so calm!" Xia Daoming saw that the stones and javelins he had worked so hard to collect were used up, and the Golden-Scaled Blood-Eyed Snake remained unmoved, and couldn't help but be dumbfounded.

However, Xia Daoming couldn't think of a good way for a while, so he had to go find another pile of stones and wooden javelins.

He still believed that sincerity could move heaven and earth!

Sure enough, when Xia Daoming's hands were sore from throwing, the Golden-Scaled Blood-Eyed Snake began to become a bit irritable.

At first, it was disdainful of Xia Daoming, but later, its pair of blood eyes would occasionally cast bloodthirsty and fierce gazes at Xia Daoming.

Even sometimes, it would futilely spray a round of blood arrows at Xia Daoming.

However, the Golden-Scaled Blood-Eyed Snake still kept a close watch on the Transforming Dragon Fruit tree and was unwilling to leave.

"Clang!"

Suddenly, sparks splashed from the scales on the Golden-Scaled Blood-Eyed Snake's body, and several scales were carried away by a javelin.

It turned out that Xia Daoming was not playing fair; he had originally been throwing wooden javelins, but this time he had split the Profound Dragon Spear into two and thrown one section.

The Profound Dragon Spear was hard in texture and sharp at the tip; even though the distance was far and it was from bottom to top, one shot hit, and it hurt the Golden-Scaled Blood-Eyed Snake so much that its body swayed violently.

"Crash!"

Gravel rolled down from the cliff.

Then the Golden-Scaled Blood-Eyed Snake finally couldn't stand this kind of humiliation and provocation, and its body, as thick as a water bucket, swam down along the cliff.

Xia Daoming only then discovered that this guy had actually grown feet under its belly.

"It's really about to become a dragon!" Xia Daoming was surprised in his heart, but he had already leaped several times, picked up the section of the Profound Dragon Spear that had fallen, and spliced it with the section in his hand.

"Kill!" Xia Daoming held the Profound Dragon Spear and killed toward the Golden-Scaled Blood-Eyed Snake.

Before the spear could arrive, the sky was already filled with blood arrows shooting toward him.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

Cold light suddenly lit up in the sky, and the blood arrows were hit one after another, exploded, and turned into blood mist.

"Whoosh!"

The strong wind rolled up the blood mist, and a snake body as thick as a giant golden tree swept over.

Xia Daoming roared, his whole body's strength exploded, and he wielded his spear to resist.

PS: The updates during the public version were a bit intense, so I couldn't save up any drafts. This is the last chapter drafted during the day today. I will draft the second day's manuscript tomorrow during the day. If the drafting goes smoothly, I will strive to update another chapter during the day. I will try my best to write, and I hope readers can help cast monthly tickets to support this book during this time. Thank you very much.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 106 =====