Chapter 1367: Splitting the Fruits
These were none other than the lightning beads that Han Li had refined, and he had tossed out four of them at once. Having been refined using the lightning symbol techniques, each and every one of these beads were imbued with power akin to the full-force attack of a Spatial Tempering cultivator. Additionally, the nature of the power itself possessed the lightning attribute, which was why the beads were so devastatingly powerful.
It appeared that he had made the right decision in using them.
If it weren't for the fact that those treasures had delayed the lizard and the giant, he wouldn't have been able to get away even with his Thunderstorm Wings.
After the spirit fruits were stolen, the massive lizard and the Thousand-Eyed Giant were absolutely furious, but they were temporarily trapped by the power of the lightning beads.
Long Dong and the others were also given a fright by the immense power of Han Li's lightning beads, but all of them then immediately unleashed movement techniques to flee the scene in elation.
During the process, they also unleashed concealment techniques to hide themselves from view.
Thus, everything had disappeared from the nearby area aside from the two Spatial Tempering Stage beings, which were still trapped within the explosions from the lightning beads.
Han Li was flying as quickly as he could using his Thunderstorm Wings, disappearing into the distance after just a few flashes.
In order to ensure safety, Han Li even threw up a mouthful of blood essence to unleash his Bloodshadow Evasion Technique, thereby further enhancing his speed.
After expending an extensive amount of effort to break free from the explosions, the lizard and the giant let loose a string of thunderous enraged roar upon discovering that all five cultivators had disappeared, along with the bunch of Zoysia Dragon Fruits.
Several hours later, a dull thunderclap rang out atop a mountain peak tens of thousands of kilometers away. Immediately thereafter, Han Li emerged amid an arc of azure and white lightning.
He then took a glance behind him, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
The task that he had undertaken had been quite dangerous and he'd been forced to expend quite a bit of energy, but he had thankfully managed to secure the spirit fruits.
As a safety precaution, Han Li released his spiritual sense to carefully scan through the surrounding area. After ascertaining that nothing was amiss there, he descended onto the mountain's summit.
He flipped a hand over to produce a jade vial, and he poured out two crimson pills, which he quickly consumed.
Even though he had only used his Bloodshadow Evasion Technique for a short time, the primordial world was quite a perilous place, and it was best to constantly maintain prime condition when possible.
After swallowing the pills, a stream of cool and refreshing energy immediately began to circulate through his meridians.
Han Li's expression eased as he summoned a jade box, which was as translucent as ice.
He carefully removed the lid of the box to reveal a bunch of exuberant fist-sized purple fruits.
He appraised the spirit fruits with an unblinking gaze before gently picking up a spirit fruit between two fingers and carefully assessing it.
After a while, Han Li exhaled and nodded to himself. These were indeed Zoysia Dragon Fruits.
This type of spirit fruit was one of the few Spatial Tempering Stage pill ingredients that produced seeds, thereby allowing it to be nurtured and reproduced. It was a type of spirit medicine that he'd had his eyes on for a long time, which was why he had been willing to take such a massive risk for it.
Now that the spirit fruits had been secured, a smile finally appeared on Han Li's face.
If he could find another ingredient known as the Soaring Cloud Glue, then refine those two ingredients along with some other secondary medicines, he'd be able to produce Soaring Dragon Pills, which were extremely alluring even to Spatial Tempering cultivators.
A flash of excitement appeared in Han Li's eyes as these thoughts ran through his mind.
However, his brows suddenly furrowed at this moment, and he turned toward a certain direction as his expression turned neutral once again.
Moments later, a white streak of light approached Han Li from that direction.
After a few flashes, the white streak of light appeared above Han Li's head. The light then receded to reveal a young man; it was none other than Long Dong.
At this moment, his suit of yellow scale armor had already disappeared. As his gaze fell on the spirit fruits in Han Li's hands, an elated look immediately appeared on his face.
"Haha, your abilities really are quite astonishing; to think that you'd truly be able to snatch the fruits away from those two fearsome beings! Let me see if they're really Zoysia Dragon Fruits."
As soon as Long Dong landed on the mountain summit, he began to approach Han Li.
"There's no hurry, Brother Long; let's all take a good look when the other fellow Daoists also arrive." A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as spiritual light flashed within his hands, upon which the jade box disappeared.
A hint of barely detectable killing intent flashed through Long Dong's eyes upon hearing this, but a thought then occurred to him, and his expression smoothed out. "You're right, Fellow Daoist Han. I was too hasty there."
Thus, a smile appeared on his face as he made his way over to a large rock that was over 100 feet away from Han Li, and he sat down upon it with his legs crossed.
Meanwhile, Han Li remained standing on the spot with his hands clasped behind his back, silently awaiting the arrival of the others.
A short while later, Xiao Hong and the white-browed young man arrived on the scene, and both of them were also overjoyed that Han Li had actually been able to secure the spirit fruits.
However, there was still one more comrade left to come, so they could only repress their excitement and emulate Long Dong, sitting down in silent meditation.
Fifteen minutes later, just as everyone was beginning to speculate internally about whether something had happened to Ye Ying, a ball of golden light shot forth from the distance before landing on the mountain.
"Sorry for making all of you wait, fellow Daoists. As I was passing through a forest, I just so happened to find a Myriad Year Green Spirit Wood, and it took me some time to dig it up from the ground," Ye Ying explained with a smile.
"Myriad Year Green Spirit Wood? That's a superb material for refining wood-attribute treasures; you sure are quite lucky, Fellow Daoist Ye." Xiao Hong was rather surprised to hear this.
"Hehe, surely you jest, Big Sister Xiao; a Green Spirit Wood can't even begin to compare to Zoysia Dragon Fruits. Brother Han, you managed to secure the fruits, right?" Ye Ying chuckled before turning her attention to Han Li.
"I have, indeed. Everyone can gather around and have a look." Han Li nodded before sweeping a hand over his storage bracelet. The jade box appeared once again, and he carefully removed the lid to reveal its contents.
A faint pleasant aroma wafted through the air, and everyone immediately turned their eyes toward the bunch of spirit fruits with expressions of rapt focus on their faces, trying to ascertain its authenticity with their spiritual sense.
"It should be real." A flash of elation appeared on Xiao Hong's face as she made her assessment first. Moments later, everyone else also withdrew their spiritual sense with satisfied nods."Seeing as we've verified that the fruits are real, let's go ahead and split them. There are six fruits in total here, so there'll be one leftover after we each take one," Han Li said in a calm voice.
Everyone's brows furrowed upon hearing this.
"Six spirit fruits will indeed be rather difficult to split among us, but let's set that aside for now and distribute one fruit each to everyone first." The white-browed young man was growing a little impatient.
"You're right, Brother Li. Fellow Daoist Han, please distribute the first five spirit fruits for now," Xiao Hong chimed in with a daint smile.
Long Dong and Ye Ying naturally had no objections to this arrangement, either.
A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.
He carried the jade box with one hand and made his way over to Xiao Hong first. He plucked one Zoysia Dragon Fruits with two fingers and offered it to her.
Xiao Hong was ecstatic and immediately produced a wooden box to accept the fruit.
However, Han Li refrained from releasing the fruit, and was appraising her with a meaningful smile.
Xiao Hong faltered slightly upon seeing this before quickly coming to a realization. She immediately swept a sleeve through the air, and a small golden sword with two talismans plastered onto its appeared in her hand.
She tore off the talismans and tossed the sword directly toward Han Li. This was none other than one of his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords. Han Li opened his mouth, and the small sword disappeared down his throat as a streak of golden light.
At the same time, he released the spirit fruit, and it fell into Xiao Hong's wooden box.
As Xiao Hong began to appraise the spirit fruit with elation twinkling in her eyes, Han Li had already made his way over to the white-browed young man with another spirit fruit caught between his two fingers.
After witnessing the exchange that had just taken place, the young man naturally knew what to do already. He also produced another small golden sword and removed the restriction on it before tossing it to Han Li.
As such, after a short while, Han Li only had a pair of spirit fruits left.
After pocketing one of the fruits, he placed the jade box onto the ground before backing away as a disinterested bystander.
Just one of these spirit fruits was enough for him, and a second one wouldn't really benefit him much at all. However, this was naturally unbeknownst to the other four cultivators, and all of them appraised him with much friendlier expression for his willingness to back down in such a situation."There's only one spirit fruit left now; how about we hold an impromptu auction for it? Whoever can offer the most spirit stones gets to take the spirit fruit, and the spirit stones spent will be split among everyone else," Long Dong suggested.
"Hmph, isn't that too lopsided of an arrangement, Fellow Daoist Long? Everyone knows that your Long Family is a family with immense wealth. Even the four of us combined most likely won't be carrying as many spirit stones as you are," the white-browed young man rejected with a cold harrumph.
"Oh, then do you have a better idea?" Rather becoming enraged by the young man's blunt refusal, a smile appeared on Long Dong's face as if he were open to suggestions. "A fruit as valuable as this naturally has to be exchanged for using other items. Regardless of whether it's using pills, ingredients or materials, the one who gets to take the fruit has to offer something that is roughly equal in value to the spirit fruit, and can be split among everyone else. What do you all think of this arrangement?" Xiao Hong suggested with a seductive smile.
The white-browed young man immediately nodded in agreement.
Ye Ying cocked her head to the side and contemplated this notion for a while before also giving a nod of approval.
Han Li naturally had no objections, either.
"Seeing as Fairy Xiao's suggestion has garnered the most support, we'll do as you say." Even though Long Dong was reluctant to agree to such an arrangement, the other four had all expressed their approval, so he could only comply with a forced smile on his face.
Two hours later, a flying azure carriage that was over 100 feet in length appeared high in the air above the mountain. It then shot forth toward a certain direction as a streak of azure light.
Within the span of a few breaths, the carriage had covered a distance of several thousand feet, and after just a few more flashes, it had completely disappeared.
Han Li was sitting near the rear of the carriage, fiddling with a small section of cylindrical green wood.
This section of wood was only around a foot in length, but its surface was glimmering with faint spiritual light. Upon closer inspection, one would notice that there were indistinct silver threads flashing within the section of wood.
This Green Spirit Wood could prove to be quite useful!