Chapter 592: Spirit Fruit Forest 2

The Exiled Great Demon began to explain, a hint of awe in his voice, “The Great Demons of the Spirit Fruit Forest are the ones who have mastered the Tai Python’s patterns. They’ve been rooted here for many years—far, far longer than I have. They are already familiar with the python’s routine of surfacing to feed, so they can basically enter the Resource Island with low risk. That’s why we need to ask the Great Demons of the Spirit Fruit Forest to help us cross the water. In fact, this has always been their business. An endless stream of members of the Demon Race hear the legends of Tai Lake and come here seeking help. They then work for free for several decades in exchange for a single chance to visit the Resource Island. The Spirit Fruit Forest is also far larger than it appears. Deeper inside, there’s a city—or more accurately, another dimension entirely. Its scale is more imposing than most levels of the First Celestial Realm, second only to the Chaos Main City and the Demon Emperor’s Imperial Capital. The Great Demons here built it all using the labor of the Demon Race members who rushed here from all over. It can easily accommodate hundreds of millions of the Demon Race. Even the Spirit Fruits grown inside are gradually starting to rival those on the Resource Island in terms of rarity. They’re so potent that it’s not impossible for someone above the Transformation Realm to use them to break through to the True Body Realm.”

Hearing this, Jiang Qiu finally understood. ‘So that’s why we can’t cross the water alone. It’s because the Great Demons of the Spirit Fruit Forest know the Tai Python’s schedule, and asking for their help is the way to avoid the risks.’

‘But this really is a critical matter. The Tai Python is one of the pinnacles of power in this world, a creature of many legends. If it decides to eat, even a True Body Realm expert would become its Food. Right now, none of us—myself, Ah Xiong, or One-tailed—have reached the True Body Realm. One wrong move, and we’ll surely be doomed.’

‘So, asking the Great Demons of the Spirit Fruit Forest for guidance is indeed the most convenient option.’ However, hearing that the Spirit Fruit Forest’s resources were more complex than they appeared on the surface, his interest was piqued. “The core city in the Spirit Fruit Forest has many precious Spirit Fruits growing inside. Do they trade them with outsiders? For example, Spirit Fruits that can help someone above the Transformation Realm break through to the True Body Realm.”

The Exiled Great Demon thought for a moment, then hesitated. “Actually, I’m not too familiar with the rules here. After all, I’m still an Exiled Great Demon and have never entered the city myself. I’ve only occasionally met some members of the Demon Race coming out and questioned them. I’ve heard that it’s possible to trade for precious Spirit Fruits in the core city deep within the Spirit Fruit Forest, but the price is extremely high. An outsider might not be able to acquire even one in several thousand years. However, more basic resources can be exchanged. For instance, if you work for the Great Demons for a period of time, they might give you a few seeds or some Spirit Fruits as payment. According to rumors, quite a few members of the Demon Race have made their fortunes this way. They returned to the Primitive Ancient Forest and became Dominators of the outer regions, or even Great Dominators or True Dominators—the equivalent of a local Ancestor. But going higher, becoming a Super True Dominator of the middle region of the Primitive Ancient Forest—a level above the Transformation Realm—is extremely difficult. Examples like that are very rare. I’m not sure if there are even resources available for trade that could achieve that.”

Having received this information, Jiang Qiu didn’t hesitate. He decided to test the waters first. ‘We’re already here, so we can’t just do nothing. If it really doesn’t work out, we’ll find another way.’

‘I can’t just attack the Demon Race of the Spirit Fruit Forest. First, they haven’t offended me in any way. Second, they have experts above the True Body Realm, who are basically the first tier of power just below the absolute pinnacles. How could they be easy to provoke?’

‘As for my own group, besides my third clone that needs to be summoned—the Nine-tailed Fox God—the rest of us can’t even be considered second-tier.’

‘Never mind that the Exiled Great Demon was once powerful; he’s completely useless now. After starving for over a hundred thousand years, his Realm has fallen to the Early Stage of the True Body Realm. How much combat power could he possibly have left?’

‘He hasn’t honed his skills in all those years, focusing all his efforts on longevity. It’s questionable if his combat power even ranks in the second tier. With a group like this, trying to seize the Spirit Fruit Forest by force would be a gross overestimation of our abilities.’

‘Because according to the Exiled Great Demon, the Spirit Fruit Forest is already quite developed. Even if the many Ancestors of the Chaos Main City led an army to attack, as long as the pinnacles of power didn’t intervene, they would most likely return empty-handed.’

‘So, the Spirit Fruit Forest is really only missing a pinnacle-level expert. Their true strength is immense, perhaps not even inferior to the Chaos Main City. And on their home turf, they’d be especially powerful because their development of the Cultivation System is so advanced here!’

‘Besides, theoretically, there is a pinnacle of power here—the Tai Python. And among the pinnacles, it’s in a league of its own. It would never just stand by and watch. Therefore, other pinnacles wouldn’t dare to cause trouble here. And if the pinnacles don’t act, what makes anyone else think they can gain an advantage?’

‘That’s the true strength of the Spirit Fruit Forest. Anyone who could seize this place by force would have to be a pinnacle-level being themselves, and one capable of deterring the Tai Python from interfering.’

Considering all this, Jiang Qiu said no more and followed the Exiled Great Demon toward the core of the Spirit Fruit Forest. Along the way, they saw many members of the Demon Race diligently tending to the Spirit Fruit Trees and patrolling the area.

After noticing the group’s movements, they quickly surrounded them. Upon learning their purpose, they escorted the group to a Great Demon. When that Great Demon saw them, especially the Exiled Great Demon, his brow twitched. “How did you get out of the Beimu Mountain Range?”

‘There aren’t many Great Demons who were exiled to the Beimu Mountain Range and managed to survive. After all, they were once first-tier existences, and there weren’t that many of them to begin with. How could so many powerful experts have survived?’

‘And this old man, the Exiled Great Demon, was one of the very few. He had even frequented the territory near the Spirit Fruit Forest many times, preying on quite a few members of the Demon Race who came to try their luck. He left a rather deep impression.’

‘They had even fought over it once. In the end, the Exiled Great Demon retreated deep into the Beimu Mountain Range, and the area around the Spirit Fruit Forest was rid of a menace.’

This was the backstory, which was why he was somewhat surprised to see the Exiled Great Demon again.

In truth, he had sensed the Exiled Great Demon’s presence the moment he reappeared nearby. But when he detected no killing intent, he chose not to act, instead letting the patrolling Little Demon Race members bring them over.

‘After all, unless it’s a special situation, no one likes to fight. If I got injured, the loss would outweigh the gain. Besides, this is the Spirit Fruit Forest’s territory. Many resources are planted here. If a wide-area attack flattened everything, wouldn’t that be a huge loss?’

The Exiled Great Demon said earnestly, “I have brought these Excellencies here. They need to trade for some Spirit Fruits.”

Hearing his words, the True Body Realm Great Demon frowned. He began to carefully study Jiang Qiu and his companions, vaguely sensing something unusual about them but not understanding what it was. Now, hearing the Exiled Great Demon address them as “Excellencies,” he was momentarily stunned.

‘In this world, the number of beings the Exiled Great Demon would call ‘Excellency’ could be counted on one hand. Only figures on the level of those from the Chaos Main City would qualify, but even then, they aren’t usually addressed with a title like ‘Excellency’.’

‘So it was very strange. Who on earth were these people to make the Exiled Great Demon use such a title?’

‘More importantly, it seemed they were here to trade for resources, meaning they wanted to obtain rare resources from the Spirit Fruit Forest.’

‘This was actually achievable. As long as they could offer resources the Spirit Fruit Forest desired, they could get what they wanted!’

‘In other words, I’ll have to see what they can produce, and what this mysterious ‘Excellency’ is willing to trade.’

With this in mind, the True Body Realm Great Demon asked, “And you are?”

He would never call them “Excellency.” In his eyes, aside from the few Elder figures above the True Body Realm, only the Tai Python had the qualifications and status.

Jiang Qiu simply stated his name calmly. One-tailed and Ah Xiong followed suit. They emitted no excess pressure, appearing completely ordinary.