Chapter 113: The Ancient Divine Fruit

As always in the past, Chu Feng’s dream was a world of pure white. Yu Yang appeared within it, magnificent and spirited, bearing himself with uncommon grace, a faint smile never leaving his face.

Even now, standing before Yu Yang, Chu Feng still felt as though he were facing a deep abyss or a towering mountain.

“Senior Yu Yang!” Chu Feng called out, a trace of surprise on his face. He had thought he had not yet reached the extreme realm Yu Yang had spoken of, and had never expected they would meet again so soon.

Yu Yang nodded. “We meet again.”

“I thought it still wasn’t that extreme realm,” Chu Feng said with a sigh.

Yu Yang smiled faintly. “This strand of spiritual consciousness is attached to the little sword and cannot exist independently. That is why I could only contact you when you were asleep.”

“I see,” Chu Feng said, enlightened.

“How long has it been since our last meeting?” Yu Yang asked.

“Almost three and a half years, I think.” Speaking of time, Chu Feng could not help feeling a touch of emotion. He was already nearing twenty-one.

“I never thought that in just a little over three years, you would already have reached the second extreme realm. Good, very good.” Looking at Chu Feng, Yu Yang showed a hint of surprise, then added, “You’ve become very strong indeed. At this rate of cultivation, you are not far behind even me!”

“I still have to thank Senior Yu Yang for your guidance,” Chu Feng said.

“I said at the time that spiritual transformation might not necessarily be the best path. But the road of martial cultivation is fraught with hardship and peril, a struggle in the midst of life and death. Are you willing to continue walking it?” Yu Yang asked.

“Even if I must stake my life on it, I will keep going,” Chu Feng said resolutely.

“Good.” Yu Yang praised him once more, then said, “The path of martial cultivation need not concern me. My awakening this time is to tell you something else.”

“Something else?” Chu Feng immediately looked curious.

Yu Yang said, “Did I not once tell you that if you persist in body refinement, something unexpected may very well happen? It all depends on whether you can reach that step.”

Upon hearing this, Chu Feng could not help but freeze. He naturally remembered what Yu Yang had said before, but all this time he had believed that step referred to reaching the first extreme realm, and that the unexpected event meant embarking on the path of martial cultivation. Yet now that Yu Yang had brought it up, it was clearly not what he had meant.

“Senior Yu Yang, could that step be reaching the second extreme realm?” Chu Feng asked tentatively, holding his breath. If so, then had the unexpected thing Yu Yang mentioned not yet happened?

Yu Yang smiled slightly. “Of course I mean the second extreme realm. My awakening was precisely for that unexpected matter.”

Chu Feng’s heart began to pound. He truly could not imagine what unexpected thing there could be besides the path of martial cultivation, but one thing he could be sure of: it must be a good thing.

“Senior Yu Yang, what exactly is this unexpected thing?” Chu Feng asked curiously.

Yu Yang gave an awkward laugh. “To be honest, I am not entirely clear myself. After all, what you see before you is only a strand of spiritual consciousness that cannot stand alone. There are many things even I do not know.”

Chu Feng was momentarily speechless. Wasn’t that just maddening?

Then Yu Yang said, “Though I do not know everything, I am here to tell you this: now that you have reached the second extreme realm, once you complete the final step, something unexpected will occur. As for why this is so, you will have to seek the answer when you meet my true self in the future.”

Chu Feng felt a stir in his heart. Since this consciousness spoke like that, it clearly knew that its true self was still alive, which also confirmed the elder’s earlier speculation.

One question after another surged up in Chu Feng’s mind. He even lost interest in the so-called unexpected event and asked, “Senior Yu Yang, where exactly is your true self? What is that road shrouded in darkness? And why did you choose me?”

Hearing this, Yu Yang’s expression turned vague and distant. He patted Chu Feng on the shoulder and said gently, “I am sorry, but I cannot answer any of those questions. I do not know the answers either, because I am only a strand of spiritual consciousness. Perhaps the true self deliberately avoided telling you too early. Focus on your cultivation. I have a feeling that you and my true self will eventually meet.”

Chu Feng was somewhat disappointed, yet he also understood that there were indeed some things beyond his present reach. He steadied his emotions and asked, “Earlier you said that only after completing the final step would the unexpected event occur. May I ask what that final step is?”

“It is not difficult. Use the Spirit War Sacred Token to obtain a heavenly treasure from the Treasure Hall, then consume it,” Yu Yang said.

“A heavenly treasure?” Chu Feng murmured. Last time he had entered the Treasure Hall, he had indeed seen many rooms labeled with rare and precious items. It seemed that the heavenly treasure was within one of them.

Only now did Chu Feng seem to truly understand the real purpose of the Spirit War Sacred Token. “What kind of heavenly treasure is it?”

“An ancient divine fruit,” Yu Yang said. Then, with a smile, he added, “After you eat the ancient divine fruit, the unexpected thing will naturally take place.”

The ancient divine fruit—just from the name, Chu Feng felt that it was no ordinary item. He was about to ask more when Yu Yang smiled and said, “I know what you want to ask. But my own feeling toward the ancient divine fruit is much the same as my feeling toward that little sword of yours. Though it seems somewhat familiar, I simply cannot remember. Blame my true self for that.”

Chu Feng was thoroughly convinced by now. He even found that Senior Yu Yang had a certain wit to him.

Then Yu Yang thought for a moment and said, “After this meeting, this strand of spiritual consciousness of mine will vanish completely. Everything that needed to be done has already been done. From here on, you will have to rely on yourself. I have one last thing to remind you of: when you become a Holy Spirit Warrior, you may once again sense the spirit realm and summon your spiritual body. Do your best. It is about time we said farewell.”

No sooner had Yu Yang spoken than his body began to fade little by little.

“Senior Yu Yang!” Watching that dissolving figure, Chu Feng was filled with endless sorrow, yet he did not know what else to say.

When Chu Feng opened his eyes, he found that dawn had already broken. Even then, a faint melancholy remained in his heart.

He looked down at the little sword at his chest and understood that, at the very least, he would not be able to see Senior Yu Yang again for a long time.

“Senior Yu Yang, are you well there?” Chu Feng murmured.

The words from the dream still seemed to echo in his ears. After tidying himself up, and with Dragon Moon busy cultivating, Chu Feng did not disturb her. Instead, he rode straight to the Sacred Temple.

Inside the temple, when Chu Feng mentioned that Yu Yang’s strand of spiritual consciousness had awakened once more, the five elders were immediately shaken.

“Did you ask him?” the First Elder asked.

Chu Feng shook his head helplessly. “That strand of spiritual consciousness of Senior Yu Yang does not seem to know much about those matters. It appears his true self deliberately avoided them.”

“Perhaps the time has not yet come,” the First Elder sighed.

“What did he say?” the Fifth Elder asked. Everything concerning Yu Yang was of great importance to them.

So Chu Feng recounted his conversation with Yu Yang in detail. The five of them could not help but feel puzzled, and although they could not understand Yu Yang’s actions, even the elders were filled with curiosity regarding that unexpected event.

“An ancient divine fruit, then?” the First Elder murmured, his expression turning grave. The other four elders also looked somewhat complicated.

Chu Feng knew that any heavenly treasure stored in the Treasure Hall was certainly a rare treasure of the entire human race.

Seeing the elders’ expressions, Chu Feng became even more convinced that the ancient divine fruit was extraordinary.

“First Elder, what exactly is this ancient divine fruit?” Chu Feng asked curiously.

The First Elder gave a long sigh. “To be honest, even the five of us do not know what it is.”

“Huh?” Chu Feng stared in surprise. He had not expected such an answer.

Then the First Elder said, “That fruit was handed down from antiquity and has long been kept by successive generations of human elders. It was only after the Treasure Hall was established that it was placed there. It has never decayed; from beginning to end, it has remained as though freshly plucked from the tree. But throughout history, because its effects were unknown and no texts recorded anything about it, not even its name was known. Thus it came to be called the ancient divine fruit. In any case, after appraisal by the alchemists of past generations, it is certain that eating this fruit is beneficial to the body. However, using it without understanding anything about it would be far too wasteful, so it has never been consumed.”

Chu Feng silently marveled. Calling it the ancient divine fruit was indeed fitting.

“Yu Yang arranged all this long ago. Could it be that he already understood the fruit’s effects?” the Third Elder said.

“That is hard to say, but I do believe he made the best choice,” the Second Elder replied.

The First Elder nodded. “Perhaps this is the true purpose behind his giving Chu Feng the Spirit War Sacred Token. Come, let us all go to the Treasure Hall and see just what this unexpected event is.”

The five elders quickly brought Chu Feng to the Treasure Hall.

In the courtyard before the Treasure Hall, Chu Feng held an opened white jade box. Inside lay a fruit of vivid emerald green.

It was only the size of a walnut, round and smooth-skinned, with a faint spiritual aura continually swirling around it.

“So this is the ancient divine fruit,” Chu Feng sighed. It was hard to imagine that a single fruit could have been preserved for tens of thousands of years and still look as though it had just been picked.

Staring at the ancient divine fruit, the Fifth Elder could not help swallowing. This drew a teasing remark from the Fourth Elder: “Old Five, craving it again, are you?”

The Fifth Elder grew somewhat embarrassed and quickly turned his head away. “Boy Chu Feng, move it farther away. Don’t let me see it.”

“Uh...” Chu Feng was a bit stunned. The Fifth Elder seemed rather out of character.

The Second Elder smiled. “Our Fifth Elder is good in every way, except that he is a little greedy, especially when it comes to this divine fruit from antiquity. He has tried more than once to taste it, you know.”

“Second Brother, are you exposing my old secrets in front of the younger generation?” the Fifth Elder said, beard bristling and eyes glaring.

Chu Feng was dumbfounded. Who would have thought that the lofty and awe-inspiring elder of the human race could have such a lovable side?

“Old Five, it seems you are fated to have no share in this fruit. You truly lack the fortune to enjoy it,” the First Elder said with a laugh. Then he looked at Chu Feng. “Chu Feng, eat it. Let us see just what unexpected thing will happen. And with all five of us here, if anything goes wrong, we can intervene at once.”