Martial Arrogance Dragon Soul-Chapter 338 - 321 Fruit of Life

Pei Hong stared at the shadow that had appeared just moments before.

At this moment... the shadow lay about thirty feet ahead of him.

This shadow somewhat resembled a black spider, but it was more like a human.

It could be said to be a human, and yet not quite; it had two arms and two legs, clearly just like a human’s, yet they were positioned like those of a spider, crouching on the ground.

"Hiss, hiss!"

Suddenly, the creature raised its head and bared its mouth...

This was a human face!

No!

More precisely, it was a ghastly face!

Though it had eyes, it lacked pupils, with nothing but white visible in the sockets.

Its head and body were covered in black hair, enveloping its entire form, with sharp claws protruding from its limbs.

It had no nose, or rather, the nose had sunken in, appearing as a black hole.

Black saliva dripped from its mouth.

A chilling aura of death shrouded the creature.

Even Qin Qing couldn’t help but shiver inside.

He had never seen such a monster before.

"This is definitely not a Ferocious Beast."

Such a beast did not exist!

"This should be—a dead spirit!" Qin Ren whispered softly.

"Dead spirit?" Qin Qing couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

At that moment, the creature lunged at Pei Hong again.

Pei Hong hurriedly brandished his sword to meet it.

But within the Life Forbidden Zone, Pei Hong’s strength was greatly affected.

Moreover, the limbs of the creature were as hard as metal, and Pei Hong’s sword couldn’t even cut through the black hair on its arms.

"Swoosh, swoosh!"

Then at the next instant, the black hair on the creature’s limbs suddenly grew longer, winding around the sword in Pei Hong’s hand like a creeping reptile, spreading toward his arms.

In the blink of an eye, Pei Hong was completely enveloped by the creature’s hair, making him look like a black cocoon.

It was at this moment that Qin Qing suddenly thrust his spear.

"Whoosh!"

The raging flames melded with the glow of the spear and fiercely pierced into the body of the creature.

"Crack!"

The black creature’s body hair was instantly ignited.

It let out a wretched scream, shattering the deadly silence of the Life Forbidden Zone.

But it was only for a few breaths’ time that the creature was completely burned to ashes.

Qin Qing’s Spiritual Power could actually restrain such a monster.

"Huff, huff!"

Pei Hong was still gasping for breath.

In that moment just now, he had felt as if he was about to suffocate.

"Dead... dead spirit, what is that?" Pei Hong asked with lingering fear.

"A dead spirit is a kind of monster born from death energy," explained Qin Ren, his gaze sweeping the surroundings. "This Life Forbidden Zone has had nearly all its vitality drained away, all of it absorbed by the Tree of Life. That’s why this place is filled with silence and death. The black mist floating in the air is the physical manifestation of death energy!"

"Death energy accumulating over time can give birth to dead spirits."

After hearing this, both Qin Qing and Pei Hong suddenly realized.

"I see..."

"So, in places where death energy accumulates, dead spirits can indeed be born."

"Compared to living spirits, dead spirits must be another kind of existence of spiritual objects," pondered Qin Qing.

"Right!" Qin Ren nodded. "I once saw an ancient text in the imperial palace’s Scripture Pavilion that mentioned a world of dead spirits. Most of the spiritual objects there are dead spirits, with very few living spirits. It’s probably the opposite of our world..."

"Maybe it really does exist," Qin Qing nodded. "It’s not hard to understand, like with the formation of this Life Forbidden Zone. Inside is a world of dead spirits, while the surrounding areas are a world of living spirits, life and death being two opposite poles..."

Qin Qing walked over to where they had killed the dead spirit, and there lay a black bead.

"Such dense death energy."

Qin Qing picked up the bead.

"Living beings have inner cores, so the inner core of dead spirits must be these kinds of beads."

Qin Qing felt that the five fingers touching the bead were ice cold.

He immediately tossed the bead into the Spirit Ring, deciding to study it later when he had time, as it might be useful in the future.

Next... Qin Qing and his two companions encountered different types of undead.

There were many varieties of undead, all bizarre in their ways; compared to living creatures, they seemed even more grotesque, most of them terrifying and ghastly, instilling a deep sense of horror.

Upon slaying these undead, nearly every one of them dropped a black bead, which Qin Qing and his party collected.

"It’s just ahead."

In less than an hour, Qin Qing and his group arrived at the very heart of the Life Forbidden Zone.

"Over there, that one... That’s the Tree of Life!"

Ahead lay a circular valley.

In the center of the valley stood a tree.

This was the only tree still growing in this area...

Of course, there wasn’t just one tree but many.

Just like the rest of Tianjue Forest, this place was once full of towering ancient trees.

But now... the surrounding ancient trees had all withered away.

What remained were just the bare trunks and branches, all of which had withered, turning a charred black color, as if they had been turned to charcoal.

Only the one in the middle was still growing.

This tree was the Tree of Life!

But this Tree of Life clearly differed from ordinary plants.

It exuded a black mist, as if formed from the condensation of black fog, giving it an unreal appearance.

The trunk, branches, and leaves were all black.

And on this black tree hung three fruits.

"Are those the Fruits of Life?"

The three of them gazed at the fruits hanging on the tree.

The fruits, like the trunk and leaves, were pitch-black, emanating a dangerous aura as if they could devour one’s soul...

"The Fruits of Life haven’t matured yet, let’s wait here and not get any closer..."

Qin Qing said in a low voice.

Qin Ren and Pei Hong both nodded.

All three of them hid behind a withered tree, their eyes fixed on the Tree of Life, waiting for the Fruits of Life to ripen...

Time slipped by, moment by moment.

Unknowingly, three hours had passed.

To Martial Artists of Qin Qing, Pei Hong, and Qin Ren’s level, three hours were but a blink of an eye.

During secluded cultivation in the training room, sometimes three days were nothing more than a breath.

But within the Life Forbidden Zone, it was a completely different story.

The powerful oppression emitted by the Tree of Life toward other living beings made Qin Qing and his companions feel increasingly agonized.

Especially Qin Ren and Pei Hong.

At that moment, both of their brows were deeply furrowed, and their eyes reflected a look of pain.

...

But still, they waited.

If the Fruits of Life were not mature, they were useless and, in fact, were the most poisonous substances in the world.

Another four hours went by.

It was now the next day.

Qin Qing suddenly noticed that the corners of Qin Ren and Pei Hong’s eyes had developed some faint crow’s feet. Although subtle, for Martial Artists, this was very abnormal.

Usually, Martial Dao Masters who reached the Golden Core Realm by their thirties found it hard to age.

Normally, a Golden Core True Person from their twenties to thirties could live to a hundred without showing signs of wrinkles.

But now crow’s feet had appeared on Qin Ren and Pei Hong, and even their temples revealed gray amongst black hair.

This showed that a significant amount of vitality had drained away from them.

It seemed Qin Ren and Pei Hong could also feel their condition, as their eyes held a grave expression.

Continuing to wait like this, with no idea how long it would take for all their vitality to drain away, their lifespan might run out right here.

Fortunately, at this time, the Tree of Life finally began to transform.

The trunk of the Tree of Life began to lose its black color, revealing the normal color of a tree trunk.

The black on the leaves also dissipated like mist, revealing lush, green leaves.

Then... the blackness on the three Fruits of Life quickly vanished, and in its place appeared three fruits, fresh and tender, with a green hue tinged with light red, looking about seventy to eighty percent similar to peaches.

They were about to ripen!