Chapter 382: Longevity Fruit

After a rough glance, besides seeing a pile of unknown techniques and magic tools, what caught Song Qingming's eye most were the colorful, glowing spirit stones. These were all Mid-grade spirit stones, numbering at least seventy or eighty.

Song Qingming truly had not expected that the number of spirit stones alone in this jade pendant magic tool would be worth more than all the items he had obtained from the storage bags yesterday combined.

Looking at these Mid-grade spirit stones, a smile slowly and unconsciously appeared on the corner of Song Qingming's mouth. These spirit stones alone were enough to make Song Qingming feel fortunate that he had truly come to the right place by coming to the Fuyun Mountain Range to find Long Feng and the others.

When he first obtained this jade pendant, Song Qingming had no idea there would be so many spiritual items inside. Suffering from only having Foundation Establishment cultivation, Song Qingming had no way to open this spatial magic tool, nor did he dare to easily ask other high-level cultivators for help.

According to what Fire Phoenix said yesterday, if it weren't for Song Qingming's good luck in happening to run into her just as she came out of seclusion, Long Feng and the others might not have been able to open the restrictions on the jade pendant, and Song Qingming might have made a wasted trip.

After cultivating for so many years, Song Qingming felt more and more that personal fortune in this world was sometimes truly unfathomable.

At the time Song Qingming was being hunted by the red-clothed man and his two companions, he had once lamented that his luck was truly terrible; the moment he acted alone, he ran into this gang of fierce demonic cultivators.

But after he survived this tribulation, the bad luck passed, and now Song Qingming's good luck followed; it could be considered that after a great disaster, there must be a blessing.

"Many of the items inside have been invaded by demonic energy. Could the owner of this jade pendant be a demonic cultivator? Could it have some connection to the demonic cultivators who were hunting you yesterday?"

After carefully examining these spiritual items, Fire Phoenix quickly sensed something unusual, turned around, and asked Song Qingming nonchalantly.

Song Qingming, still attracted by those Mid-grade spirit stones, only turned his gaze away and carefully examined the few magic tools Fire Phoenix was holding after hearing her say this.

Soon, Song Qingming also sensed a trace of familiar demonic energy from those magic tools. And it wasn't just these few magic tools; many of the spiritual items taken out of the jade pendant on the ground, like the items Song Qingming had obtained from the storage bags of the red-clothed man and his two companions, were mostly tainted with demonic energy.

Looking at these items tainted with demonic energy, Song Qingming pondered for a moment and replied earnestly, "I am not very clear either. The corpse of the Qi Refining cultivator from whom I found this magic tool was not a demonic cultivator. As for what is going on inside this jade pendant, I am indeed not very clear."

Song Qingming was actually telling the truth; he had obtained this jade pendant from Gao Sihai that day and did not know who the original owner was.

As for how Gao Sihai obtained this item, or whether someone had placed it on him after he was captured by that mysterious demonic cultivator, Song Qingming had had his own guesses before but had never been able to verify them. Moreover, Gao Sihai had long since been possessed by Feng He, so it was impossible to ask him.

Just as Song Qingming finished this sentence, before Fire Phoenix could respond, he suddenly felt something unusual at his waist. He hurriedly turned to the side to look and discovered that a faint white light had suddenly lit up in one of the storage bags at his waist.

This storage bag contained some spiritual items that Song Qingming had specifically picked out yesterday while tidying up the items from the red-clothed man and his two companions, which were not tainted by demonic energy.

"What is going on?" After Song Qingming voluntarily opened the storage bag and took out the green bead he had obtained yesterday, he held it carefully in his hand and discovered that the bead had completely changed from its original green color to a very dazzling white.

Just as he took out the bead, before Song Qingming could think of an answer, a cyan jade box not far from Fire Phoenix also suddenly lit up with a faint white spiritual light. This scene did not escape Fire Phoenix's eyes, and she immediately reached out and took it into her hand to examine it carefully.

The white light in this jade box was much smaller in range than the white light emitted by the bead in Song Qingming's hand. If it weren't for Fire Phoenix's higher cultivation allowing her to see the abnormality in the jade box at once, Song Qingming, whose attention had already been attracted by the bead, would truly not have noticed this point.

Fire Phoenix picked up the jade box, opened it, and discovered that it contained a crystal-clear, round little fruit. The fruit was glowing with spiritual light and looked very heart-stirring.

"This is... a Longevity Fruit?" Seeing this somewhat transparent, round spiritual fruit, Song Qingming immediately recalled a type of longevity-extending spiritual item recorded in a book he had once read.

The Longevity Fruit was a very rare Tier 2 High-grade spiritual fruit in the cultivation world. After consuming it, a cultivator at the Foundation Establishment level or above could immediately increase their lifespan by about ten years.

In the entire cultivation world, spiritual items that could extend a cultivator's lifespan were very rare, and this Longevity Fruit was one of them. This item could be considered a rare Tier 2 spiritual item that even a Golden Core ancestor would be tempted by upon seeing it.

In the State of Wei, besides the Merit Pavilion of the Xiaoyao Sect, Song Qingming had never heard of this item appearing anywhere else. When the Taiyue Lake Secret Realm opened years ago, the Huang family dragged Song Qingming into the secret realm together, actually wanting to see if they could find a Longevity Fruit inside to add some lifespan for Huang Shengxin, so he would have a chance to form a Golden Core again.

It was a pity that although the Huang family's intentions were good, their luck was still somewhat insufficient, and they hadn't seen a trace of the Longevity Fruit until they left the secret realm. However, after coming out of the secret realm, Song Qingming heard rumors that a Foundation Establishment rogue cultivator had received a heaven-sent opportunity and brought out three Longevity Fruits alone, causing quite a stir in the entire cultivation world of the State of Wei.

Now that this Longevity Fruit was placed directly before his eyes, Song Qingming was quite excited. Whether he consumed it himself in the future or used it to exchange for other Golden Core spiritual items, it was a very useful spiritual item for Song Qingming.

Just as Song Qingming's attention was still on this Longevity Fruit, Fire Phoenix, who had opened the jade box, suddenly moved her magic power on two fingers. Using magic power to condense two thin, long threads, she slowly hooked a very tiny white insect out from the yellow velvet cloth beneath the spiritual fruit.

As soon as this tiny white insect left the cyan jade box, the white light inside the jade box followed it and slowly faded away, gradually returning to its original deep cyan color.

"What kind of insect is this? Could it have some connection to this bead?" Song Qingming looked at the tiny white insect in Fire Phoenix's hand and then at the green bead in his own hand, asking with some confusion.

"This is a Phaseless Insect. This insect likes to hide beside spiritual items rich in spiritual energy, and it is adept at concealing its own form and aura. Generally, a Foundation Establishment cultivator like you would find it very difficult to discover its existence.

This Phaseless Insect appears to have been planted with restrictions by someone. If this thing hadn't been found today, I'm afraid that no matter where you went in the future, it would follow you. For the person who set the restrictions, finding you would be an easy task. The bead in your hand should be the magic tool the other party used for tracking."

After Fire Phoenix finished speaking, she smiled and shook the tiny transparent insect on her finger before Song Qingming's eyes. Then, a flame lit up, and this Phaseless Insect quickly turned into a thin wisp of black smoke.

Hearing Fire Phoenix say this, Song Qingming immediately realized that he had been very careful on his way to find Long Feng this time, and had intentionally hidden his appearance and form.

The reason why the red-clothed man and those demonic cultivators could track him so accurately was because the jade pendant he carried contained this thing called a Phaseless Insect. Their target this time was not him, but the spatial magic tool of the jade pendant on his body.

It seems that when those demonic cultivators went to Black Stone Valley years ago, the red-clothed man and that yellow-clothed old man were also aiming for this jade pendant. At that time, the jade pendant was still on Gao Sihai. Later, in the chaotic battle, they were driven away by people from the Xiaoyao Sect, allowing him to finally obtain this item. It was truly a coincidence of fate.

In this jade pendant, there were not only spiritual items like spirit stones, but also many magic tools used by demonic cultivators. It was no wonder they had pursued him so relentlessly yesterday.

After thinking these things through, Song Qingming hurriedly bowed and saluted Fire Phoenix, "Thank you, Your Highness, for helping me remove this great hidden danger today."

Seeing that Fire Phoenix had found the Phaseless Insect and helped him clarify the reason why he was targeted by the red-clothed man and those demonic cultivators, Song Qingming felt much more comforted. Otherwise, if this Phaseless Insect had remained on him, it would have been a hidden danger sooner or later. If any of the red-clothed man's other companions had such green beads, Song Qingming would sooner or later be targeted by them again.

After solving the problem of the tiny insect, Fire Phoenix took another careful look at the spiritual items on the ground, and then suddenly said:

"Since there are many hidden dangers in the items inside, and most of them have been tainted by demonic energy, they are of no use to you now. I think it would be better to leave them all with me for now. When your cultivation reaches the Golden Core level in the future, I should have almost finished removing this demonic energy. I will return them to you then. What do you think?"

Hearing this, Song Qingming was immediately surprised. Although Fire Phoenix's words sounded like she was helping him, she also wanted to temporarily obtain these items. Song Qingming had not expected that she would actually have ideas about the items on these demonic cultivators.

The reason Fire Phoenix said this was naturally because she didn't want Song Qingming to take all these items away now. Although she said she would return them to him after Song Qingming reached the Golden Core level, this was actually just drawing a big cake. If Song Qingming could never form a Golden Core in his life, that meant these items could only remain with her forever.

Looking at the spiritual items on the ground with some reluctance, Song Qingming hesitated for a moment before saying, "Your Highness doing this is also for my sake, so let it be as Your Highness says. These items will be temporarily stored with you.

It's just that I am currently a bit strapped for resources. Coming to ask Your Highness for help in opening this spatial magic tool this time was actually to find some spiritual items from here to exchange for cultivation resources. Could Your Highness allow me to pick out some spiritual items without hidden dangers first, so I can exchange them for some spirit stones and resources?"

"That is also fine! You can pick them out first, and then I will take a look. If there are no problems, you can naturally take them first. After all, these are your things, and I am just keeping them for you for the sake of your safety!" Fire Phoenix sat to the side and replied with a thoughtful smile.

Seeing that Fire Phoenix agreed to his request, Song Qingming finally breathed a sigh of relief. There were indeed many good things in this jade pendant, and it was not strange that Fire Phoenix would be tempted by some of the items inside. Moreover, he had previously promised to give her half of the spiritual items inside to invite her to take action. If Fire Phoenix really took away what she liked, Song Qingming would absolutely not dare to have any objections.

Song Qingming stepped forward, first taking out those Mid-grade spirit stones, and then found several Tier 2 spiritual items from the pile that did not appear to be tainted by demonic energy, including the Longevity Fruit that had been placed in the cyan jade box earlier.

After Fire Phoenix took a few glances at the items Song Qingming picked out, she quickly nodded, indicating there was no problem. Seeing this, Song Qingming hurriedly waved his hand and quickly put these spiritual items into his storage bag.

Although most of the items in the jade pendant, including that valuable spatial magic tool, had fallen into Fire Phoenix's hands, Song Qingming had already gained a lot by being able to take away these spirit stones and the Longevity Fruit.

Compared to what Fire Phoenix could share with him, if Song Qingming had taken this jade pendant to find other Golden Core cultivators, the final result would likely have been that he would not only have obtained no spiritual items, but might even have lost his life because of this thing.

Although there was some helplessness on Song Qingming's face, there was also a trace of small comfort.

"You can rest assured and cultivate well. As long as you are willing to do things for me in the future, I will naturally not treat you unfairly. Although I have no way to support you in successfully forming a Golden Core, I still have some spiritual items here that are useful for forming a Golden Core. However, the way you human cultivators form a Golden Core is different from us demon clans after all. How much certainty you have in successfully forming a Golden Core mainly depends on yourself in the future."

"Then thank you, Your Highness! Since the purpose of this visit has been achieved, if Your Highness has no further instructions, I will return first."

After Song Qingming walked out of the cavern, Fire Phoenix waved her hand and quickly took an iron plate from the pile of spiritual items on the ground into her own hand.

"I really didn't expect this kid to have such good luck to be able to find this thing." Fire Phoenix said, shaking her head gently while staring intently at the iron plate in her hand.

This iron plate looked very ordinary and did not look like any precious object. Placed in that pile of spiritual items, it was not eye-catching. Besides two jade dragons carved on it, there were only two large characters: "Tongtian".

If Song Qingming were still here to see this scene, he would probably also be unexpected. Song Qingming actually had an identical iron plate on his person. It was just that although he had obtained this thing for many years, he still did not know the origin and use of this item, and had long since forgotten it.