441: Chapter 440: Water Spirit Fruit

Rumble—

As the last powerhouse entered, the heavy vermilion gate of the main hall slowly closed amidst the flickering light of the Formation, cutting off all outside gazes and Divine Sense Detection.

Seeing this, a flash of sharpness appeared in the eyes of Chen Erniu, who was standing at the edge of the crowd.

He gave a subtle wink to Hu Nan beside him without changing his expression, then his figure swayed slightly, and under the cover of the crowd, he quietly slipped away from the plaza, quickly rushing toward the direction of the Secret Chamber in the back mountain of the Flowing Fire Sect.

The two moved with great Speed, deliberately avoiding the patrolling Disciples of the Sect.

About a quarter of an hour later, after passing through a dense purple bamboo forest, the two arrived outside the heavily guarded Secret Chamber.

Chen Erniu hid in the shade of a tree, pointed to the Secret Chamber ahead—which was built entirely of black profound stone and emitted a faint red light—and lowered his voice, saying, "Brother Hu, this is the Secret Chamber where Shen Guhong stores the water spirit fruit. A powerful defensive Great Array shrouds the outside of this Secret Chamber; if one tries to force their way in, it will trigger an alarm."

Then, Chen Erniu turned his head to look at Hu Nan, a strange glint flashing in his eyes: "However, I have brought a Secret Treasure for breaking Formations. Brother Hu, you only need to act as my Protector outside and delay for a quarter of an hour; I will be able to break the Restriction and enter the Secret Chamber to retrieve the treasure!"

Hu Nan had an honest-looking face; upon hearing this, he nodded slightly and said in a loyal and reliable manner, "Rest assured, Brother Chen. With me here, the guards outside will definitely not disturb you."

Immediately afterward, Hu Nan asked seemingly casually, "By the way, Brother Chen, after we succeed, where exactly shall we meet? And how should we distribute the water spirit fruit?"

Chen Erniu laughed it off, a meaningful smile appearing on his face, and patted Hu Nan on the shoulder, saying, "Rest assured, Brother Hu, this place is dangerous, so it's not convenient to talk more. After we succeed, I will naturally find you through a secret method, and then we will split the treasure equally. I will never treat you unfairly, Brother Hu!"

Seeing this evasive attitude of Chen Erniu, Qin Changsheng sneered repeatedly in his heart.

"After I succeed, I will naturally find you"? This kind of nonsense would barely trick a three-year-old child.

Obviously, Chen Erniu never intended to share any benefits with him from the very beginning. Once the water spirit fruit was in hand, this guy would definitely flee immediately, leaving him, the "Protector" scapegoat, behind to attract the rage of the Flowing Fire Sect.

Unfortunately, Chen Erniu calculated everything, but he could never calculate the means of Qin Changsheng.

Just as the External Incarnation "Hu Nan" was playing along with Chen Erniu outside the Secret Chamber, each harboring their own thoughts, Qin Changsheng's main body had already acted quietly.

Hum.

Accompanied by an imperceptible ripple in the Void Realm, the Golden Trait [Invisibility] was activated instantly.

Qin Changsheng's entire being slipped directly into nothingness; his Karma, aura, and figure were all erased by the rules of the Heavenly Dao.

He walked as leisurely as if strolling in a courtyard toward the defensive Great Array that emitted terrifying Pressure.

This powerful Formation, which was enough to stop a Golden Core Late Stage powerhouse and would cause mutual destruction upon contact, became like gentle flowing water under the passive effect of [Heavenly Dao: Ancestor of Ten Thousand Arrays]. Qin Changsheng did not even slow his pace and stepped straight through.

The barrier of the Great Array did not produce a single ripple, nor did it sound any alarm, allowing him to pass through.

Entering the Secret Chamber, the view before him was exceptionally empty.

There were no extra Magic Treasures or Jade Slips stored here, only a pitch-black, deep passage that, like the open mouth of a giant beast, slanted deep into the underground.

Qin Changsheng's figure, like a wisp of breeze, swept downward silently along the passage.

As he continued to go deeper, the temperature in the air began to drop rapidly, and the humidity became heavier and heavier. Later on, faint sounds of tidal waves crashing could even be heard in the Void Realm, and extremely dense water-attribute Spiritual Qi rushed toward his face.

A moment later, the passage reached its end, and the view before him suddenly opened up.

What appeared before Qin Changsheng was a huge underground karst cave.

Above the cave, countless stalactites hung down, dripping pure spiritual liquid with a rhythmic ticking sound. In the very center of the cave, there was a deep pool of deep blue water, and on a reef in the middle of the pool, a strange tree stood quietly.

This tree had no leaves, and its entire body presented a semi-transparent color like ice crystals. Its roots were embedded in the deep pool, continuously absorbing the water-element essence from the underground.

And on those crystal-clear branches hung two strange fruits, each the size of a fist and resembling liquid water spheres. Inside the fruits, water ripples flowed faintly, emitting a refreshing deep blue halo and a wave of water-attribute Law fluctuations that were pure to the extreme.

A purple-gold divine light flashed in Qin Changsheng's eyes, and a satisfied smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

"It really is the water spirit fruit, and there are two of them at once."

Looking at the two water spirit fruit that looked like works of art on the tree, Qin Changsheng no longer hesitated and immediately communicated with the System in his mind, summoning that mysterious and unfathomable power of Law.

" [Heavenly Dao: Copy], Activate!" Qin Changsheng thought to himself.

In an instant, a supreme rule of creation surged in the Void Realm.

Two clusters of deep blue brilliance condensed out of thin air in the Void Realm. In the blink of an eye, two "water spirit fruit" that were exactly the same as those on the tree—even down to the water ripple fluctuations on the surface and the emitted water-attribute Spiritual Qi—condensed and appeared.

These two copied water spirit fruit, under the power of [Heavenly Dao: Copy], were enough to deceive the Detection of any Golden Core or even Nascent Soul Cultivator in the world, with only one flaw—they could only exist for ten days.

Once ten days passed, they would turn into nothingness.

Qin Changsheng reached out and gently waved his hand, plucking the two real water spirit fruit that had taken thousands of years to mature from the tree, and stored them into his Storage Space.

At the same time, he flicked his finger, and the two copied water spirit fruit that could only exist for ten days landed steadily on the original branches, the angle at which they bent the branches being exactly the same as before.

After doing all this, a satisfied smile appeared at the corners of Qin Changsheng's mouth.

His figure swayed slightly, and he hid in the nothingness again, quietly exiting the underground cave along the pitch-black passage, passing through the layers of defensive Great Array, and returning to the outside of the Secret Chamber.

At this moment, in a hidden corner outside the Secret Chamber.

Chen Erniu was still looking around vigilantly, while whispering with the Incarnation "Hu Nan" about the details of when to make their move.

"Brother Hu, remember, the moment I break the Formation later, there might be slight spiritual power fluctuations leaking out. You must use the 'Heaven-Veiling Talisman' I gave you to suppress these fluctuations; you absolutely must not let the patrolling Disciples of the Flowing Fire Sect notice!" Chen Erniu said with a solemn expression, whispering instructions.

The Incarnation "Hu Nan" had an honest and serious face, nodding repeatedly: "Rest assured, Brother Chen, I understand. As long as you are fast enough, I will definitely keep the commotion outside suppressed for you."

Watching Chen Erniu's appearance of facing a formidable enemy and meticulous planning, Qin Changsheng's main body, hidden in the Void Realm, could not help but shake his head slightly, secretly amused in his heart.

Chen Erniu thought he had calculated everything, even having planned how to swallow the water spirit fruit alone afterward and how to shake off "Hu Nan".

However, he would never expect that what he was painstakingly trying to steal at this moment had already turned into two illusions that would dissipate in ten days.

The real treasure had already fallen into Qin Changsheng's pocket.

Chen Erniu and Hu Nan discussed for ten minutes before standing up and saying, "Good! Brother Hu, wonderful! After I retrieve the treasure, your benefits will not be lacking!"

Before his words had faded, his figure had already swept out like a ghost. The two Disciples of the Flowing Fire Sect guarding outside the Secret Chamber did not even have time to scream before their Divine Soul were locked by Chen Erniu with extreme Speed, and they collapsed softly into the dark corner.

After dealing with the guards, Chen Erniu took a deep breath and took out a Formation-breaking compass that emitted strange flowing light from his bosom, as well as several Formation-breaking talismans covered in mysterious runes.

He offered up the compass, suspending it above the barrier of the Secret Chamber's Great Array, and began to concentrate fully on deducing and breaking the nodes of the Great Array.

"Although this Yao Race's Great Array is mysterious and unfathomable, it is not impeccable in front of my Magic Treasure. A quarter of an hour, at most a quarter of an hour, and I will be able to forcibly tear open a gap!" Chen Erniu was full of confidence in his heart, his hands forming seals rapidly like a butterfly moving through flowers, and rays of light for breaking Restrictions were continuously shot into the Great Array.

In the Void Realm, faint fluctuations of backlash from the Formation began to leak out.

Watching Chen Erniu, who was sweating profusely and struggling to break the Great Array, Qin Changsheng, hidden in the darkness, smiled slightly and immediately gave an order to the External Incarnation "Hu Nan": "Cooperate with him fully; you absolutely must not let the commotion of the Great Array spread out."

After all, Chen Erniu was the "scapegoat" he had carefully selected.

If Chen Erniu made a mistake during the process of breaking the Formation, alerted the guards of the Flowing Fire Sect, or failed to successfully "steal" the two fake water spirit fruit, then it would not be fun when Shen Guhong investigated afterward.

Only by letting Chen Erniu smoothly take away the fake fruits would the rage of the Yao Race and the Flowing Fire Sect be firmly vented on Chen Erniu and the forces behind him.

Receiving the order from the main body, the Incarnation "Hu Nan" had a solemn expression and immediately stepped forward.

He not only activated the "Heaven-Veiling Talisman" given by Chen Erniu, but also secretly used a trace of the [Ancestor of Ten Thousand Arrays]'s Formation-controlling means to quietly and forcibly suppress and sort out the intense spiritual power fluctuations generated when Chen Erniu broke the Formation.

With the perfect cooperation of "Hu Nan", the originally somewhat violent Formation fluctuations became calm, without attracting any attention from the outside.

"Brother Hu, well done!"

Chen Erniu turned his head to look in his busy schedule, and seeing "Hu Nan" controlling the aftermath perfectly, he couldn't help but be overjoyed, and his guard against "Hu Nan" was completely let down.

He only felt that this trip was simply Heaven helping him, and the Speed of breaking the Formation couldn't help but Speed up a bit more.

A quarter of an hour passed in a flash.

Only a soft "hum" sound was heard, and the blood-colored Great Array shrouding the outside of the Secret Chamber, under the constant penetration of Chen Erniu's boundary-breaking compass, finally cracked open a gap only large enough for one person to pass through.

"It's done!"

Chen Erniu's face was filled with wild joy, and he turned his head sharply, nodding heavily at "Hu Nan" who was guarding beside him.

The Incarnation "Hu Nan" understood, immediately grinned, and revealed an honest expression of "looking death in the face".

His figure soared into the sky, deliberately not restraining his aura, turning into an extremely conspicuous escape light, and rushed toward the heavily guarded patrol area on the other side of the Flowing Fire Sect's back mountain.

In just a few breaths of time, dense sounds of magical power collisions and bursts of angry shouts came from the mountain forest not far away:

"Who is it?!"

"There is an assassin trespassing in the Forbidden Ground of the back mountain! Quickly stop him!"

"Catch that guy!"

Listening to the noisy commotion coming from the distance, the smile at the corners of Chen Erniu's mouth was almost overflowing, and his eyes were full of pride and mockery.

"Idiot, do you really think I would share the water spirit fruit with you? You just slowly draw all the guards away for me!"

Chen Erniu spat softly, and without any more hesitation, his figure swayed and he drilled into the gap of the Great Array, walking quickly toward the depths of the Secret Chamber.

Passing through the pitch-black passage, Chen Erniu soon arrived at the huge underground cave.

When he stepped into the cave and saw the deep blue pool, as well as the crystal-clear ancient tree in the center of the deep pool, his whole body trembled with excitement.

Especially when he saw the two water spirit fruit floating quietly on the branches of the ancient tree, emitting pure water-attribute Law fluctuations and resembling liquid water spheres, Chen Erniu's eyes instantly turned crimson, and his breathing became extremely heavy.

"water spirit fruit... it really is the water spirit fruit! And there are two of them!"

Chen Erniu stared fixedly at the two "counterfeits" copied by Qin Changsheng, the greed and joy in his eyes almost turning into substance.

"Shen Guhong, oh Shen Guhong, you guarded against everything, but this supreme divine medicine for breaking through to the Nascent Soul Stage has ultimately fallen into my, Chen Erniu's, hands!"

Chen Erniu's eyes were full of excitement.

Looking at the two water spirit fruit that were close at hand, madness and greed flashed in Chen Erniu's eyes.

A Heaven-Defying divine medicine like the water spirit fruit that could assist a Cultivator to break through the Nascent Soul Bottleneck was a stroke of Heaven's luck to obtain just one, and now there were two here, how could he be willing to share one?

"Both water spirit fruit belong to me; I will have absolute certainty to break through the Golden Core shackles in one go and advance to the Nascent Soul Stage!"

Chen Erniu's face was somewhat ferocious due to excessive excitement. He believed that as long as he broke through to the Nascent Soul, Hu Nan would never dare to come and find trouble with him.

After making up his mind, Chen Erniu took a deep breath and suppressed the wild joy in his heart.

He carefully took out a specially made ten-thousand-year white jade box covered with spirit-sealing talismans from his Storage Pouch.

He circulated his magical power, his hands turned into a blur, and with extremely fast and gentle techniques, he plucked the two "water spirit fruit" from the tree and placed them steadily into the white jade box.

The moment he closed the box, feeling the pure water-attribute spiritual power fluctuations emanating from the box, Chen Erniu's hanging heart finally completely relaxed.

"I've succeeded!"

He put the jade box into his bosom, took one last greedy look at the empty fruit tree, and then turned around without any hesitation.

Just at the moment when Chen Erniu had just turned around, and hadn't even had time to take the first step, an unexpected change occurred!

"Hum—!"

Accompanied by a piercing hum, the originally calm deep blue pool water beneath the crystal-clear ancient tree suddenly boiled violently.

Immediately afterward, a pitch-black beam of light as thick as a bucket, carrying an extremely cold and tyrannical demonic aura, like a roaring black Dragon, directly tore through the dome of the underground cave and soared into the sky!

The violent spiritual power aftermath raged, the entire cave shook, and countless stalactites shattered and fell.

Looking at the black light soaring into the sky, Chen Erniu's face instantly turned pale, and his pupils contracted violently.

"Damn it! That old fox Shen Guhong actually buried a parent-child Sensing Restriction in the Foundation of the fruit tree!"

Chen Erniu cursed in his heart.

He had originally thought that he was foolproof after breaking the Great Array outside, but he didn't expect Shen Guhong to be so insidious as to bind the Restriction directly to the root System of the water spirit fruit.

As long as the water spirit fruit were gone from the tree, the Restriction would be triggered instantly.

At this moment, Chen Erniu had no time to dwell on it or be angry.

The black light soaring into the sky meant that his whereabouts had been completely exposed, and there was not much time left for him to escape!