Chapter: 882 (1/2)

AST 882 – Jade Spirit Fruit, Stumbled Upon The Golden Jiao’s Lair

When Qing Shui saw the determined gaze of the Snow Lion King, he knew that the lion was done for. He didn’t try to force the beast to consume the medicinal pill – he would rather let the laws of nature determine the lion’s fate.

To be frank, Qing Shui felt quite uncomfortable with his decision. It was quite a pity to let a majestic beast like this lion to perish away just like that. However, this was the way of a ‘king’, which was no different from the other demonic beasts in the wild. In any case, it was considered rare to be able to capture a demonic beast of the king class. Essentially, it would be impossible to do so, especially for demonic beasts with the strength greater than a Peak Martial Saint, as they had already possessed an intelligence from advanced cognitive functions.

Before he knew it, the Snow Lion King had slumped to the ground, its body becoming an empty shell, completely devoid of life. Qing Shui sighed deeply and then used his Primordial Flames to completely cremate the corpse.

He didn’t salvage the core or the other materials from the Snow Lion King body, but instead buried its remains under the soil of the Jade Spirit Fruit Tree. The tree, however, was removed by Qing Shui and moved into the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal.

He initially thought that the process would be a little bit difficult, since this being the first time he had attempted to move such a large ten meters tall tree. After a hefty process and a lot of effort, he was able to move the tree successfully into the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal.

The tree would be able to grow inside the realm without much trouble.

Qing Shui took a closer look at the Jade Spirit Fruit, which was coincidentally also known by the same name in his past life as well. This fruit could be consumed by both humans and demonic beasts and would effectively increase their Spiritual Qi once consumed. In other words, the fruit had the ability to change the constitution of the body fundamentally.

The effect, however, would differ between every human and demonic beast. Additionally, the fruit would require a period of time to ripe completely. Qing Shui could test the effect by then, which should be remarkable as the fruit was a product well-guarded by the Snow Lion King after all.

Killing the beast was his plan all along, but then he had a change of heart and decided to try and tame it at the last minute. Ultimately, he didn’t succeed. If he couldn’t tame the demonic beast, then it would be impossible to get along with it after that.

After this matter was settled, Qing Shui proceeded to venture into the deeper parts of the forest. This was the Snow Lion King’s territory, so Qing Shui would have no problem in dealing with encounters with other demonic beasts of the same level.

……..

Finally, he made it out from the forest!

The bright sun in the sky was a cheerful sight, which subsequently lightened up his mood as well. The forest was always gloomy and dark and Qing Shui didn’t like to be stuck in that atmosphere for a long period of time.

He had arrived at the depths of the mountain at last. The surroundings were enclosed with tall ancient trees and the atmosphere was peaceful but unrealistically quiet. Qing Shui was alarmed by this odd situation and felt that it was suspicious because there were no demonic beasts in sight.

Qing Shui was bewildered. He was told that the demonic beasts would be stronger the deeper he ventured but there was no sight of any beasts, not even a small demonic beast or a tiny flying beast.

This was a most alarming situation.

This location seemed like a wide beach. He scanned the area filled with golden sand, then he knelt down and grabbed a handful of sand before releasing his palm to let it trickle through his fingers.

As the sand slipped back to the ground, Qing Shui got up and continued his way forward. There must be a sea somewhere ahead!

This was a beach, after all. Oddly, he could feel a whiff of aura from the sand beneath his feet. This beach could be considered a hotspot for demonic beast encounters as it was quite close to the ocean. However, he hadn’t seen a single demonic beast since his arrival. The atmosphere was quiet, eerily quiet.

Qing Shui turned his head around to look out for surprise ambushes, then headed toward the area where the air felt increasingly moist. On the bright side, the colorful shells scattered around the beach painted a bit of vividness to the unsettling quietness of the beach, bringing a little bit of liveliness to the atmosphere.

After a brief stroll along the beach, a large flying beast hurriedly flew by, as if it was trying to run away from something. Qing Shui was calm, yet nervous. He couldn’t understand why he felt that way just now.

Qing Shui seemed as if he was walking casually, but his pace was as fast as a flash of lightning. With one step on the sand, his body was brought forward by about ten li in an instant. His expression remained collected and composed as he expanded his spiritual sense to his surroundings.

And then, he froze……

An overwhelming aura stormed abruptly toward his direction like a hurricane, enveloping everything in its path. Qing Shui halted his movements as he continued to observe the aura.

Roar!

A heaven-shattering roar trembled across the sky. At that moment, Qing Shui finally realized the true meaning of the word ‘heaven-shattering’ as he felt the ground and the sky vibrating from the growling screech. This was nothing like any of the cries he had heard before in his entire life.

One could even hear the roar very distinctively from thousands of li away.

Qing Shui’s facial expression changed slightly. He stared at the faraway space attentively without taking cover, because he knew it would be futile as nothing could evade his opponent’s spiritual sense.

As he recalled the flying beast from before, he finally realized why it had seemed terrified.

Roar!

Another roar echoed throughout the sky, which was promptly followed by a large figure soaring into the air. A gigantic golden python-like beast circled the sky swiftly.

Qing Shui’s eyes followed the golden beast as he was still left in a state of shock. The flying creature in the sky was by far the largest demonic beast he had ever seen.

The circling motion was intriguing as well. Qing Shui had never seen a dragon before, but he had seen illustrations of one from books and pictures in his past life. However, when he saw the golden beast in the sky, he was instantly reminded of the majestic figure of a dragon.

A dragon form!

The gigantic golden figure was about 200 meters in length with the body as strong as diamonds. Two humps were peeking through the ferocious head of the Jiao, as if it would eventually grow out horns from the top of its head.

The Golden Jiao!

Qing Shui finally realized that the flying beast was a Golden Jiao but he had no idea whether this beast could be the same Golden Jiao King that had destroyed the entire Cheng Clan. This Golden Jiao seemed to fit the bill, or rather, this could be the exact Golden Jiao King that was responsible for the annihilation of an entire clan.