Ian Song was startled. He hadn't expected a venomous snake lurking beneath the Vermilion Spirit Fruit tree. He flicked his finger.
"Pfft!"
With a soft sound, a burst of qi shot out from his fingertip.
Immediately, the emerald-green snake, about as thick as a thumb, was sent flying.
But to Ian's surprise, his flick hadn't killed the snake. Its body twisted in midair and it quickly darted into a crack in the cliff, vanishing from sight.
Activating Clairvoyant Vision, he caught sight of the snake weaving rapidly through the crevice, but decided to let it go. The little guy was clever enough to know it was outmatched and immediately ran for its life.
He reached out and grabbed, collecting all forty-nine Vermilion Spirit Fruits into his hand.
With a twist of his body, he landed lightly on the ground.
"Brother Ian, is that a Treasure Herb?" Oscar Liao asked curiously.
"The Treasure Herb Compendium only records ninety-three kinds of spiritual herbs, and Vermilion Spirit Fruit isn’t listed. Plus, Vermilion Spirit Fruit is a fourth-grade spiritual herb," he added.
"It is a Treasure Herb!" Ian Song nodded.
"What grade is it then?" Oscar Liao pressed on, while the others stared curiously at the forty-nine Vermilion Spirit Fruits in Ian's palm.
Ian thought for a moment and replied, "This Treasure Herb is called Vermilion Spirit Fruit. As for its grade, it should be above Heaven-grade."
"What?!"
Everyone couldn't help but cry out in surprise. A single Heaven-grade Treasure Herb could be exchanged for 5,000 Merit Points—if Vermilion Spirit Fruit surpassed Heaven-grade, then...
Oscar Liao, recovering from his shock, couldn't help but envy him. "Congrats, Brother Ian! You actually managed to pick a Treasure Herb beyond Heaven-grade!"
The others also stared at Ian with burning eyes.
Ian smiled slightly. "Those who see it share in it. This Vermilion Spirit Fruit holds immense power—you can eat it directly. It’s absolutely a supreme Treasure Herb for boosting cultivation."
As he spoke, Ian gave his palm a gentle shake, sending fifteen Vermilion Spirit Fruits flying toward the group.
"Can this Vermilion Spirit Fruit really boost cultivation?" Gavin Zhao asked, turning the fruit over in his hand and examining it.
By rights, since Ian Song picked the Vermilion Spirit Fruit, even if he kept all of them, no one could complain.
But Ian still gave each of them one, boosting everyone's cultivation by a whole layer. That was a huge favor.
"Brother Ian, I won’t say any more—if you ever need me, just ask!" Oscar Liao bowed to Ian, speaking sincerely.
Seeing this, the others also bowed to him, promising that if Ian ever needed anything, they would not refuse. Of course, how much was genuine and how much was just politeness, Ian couldn’t tell!
With everyone's cultivation raised by one layer, the two teams now had fourteen Innate Seventh Layer experts and one Innate Sixth Layer—Elaine Zhao, whose Vermilion Spirit Fruit pushed her to the peak of Sixth Layer. Once she stabilized her realm, she was close to breaking through.
Ian was the only Innate Fifth Layer, but nobody dared underestimate him. Even at Fourth Layer, his strength surpassed the others; now at Fifth, he might not be weaker than the Seventh Layers.
After eating a little dry food, everyone started a new round of hunting.
Before breaking through, everyone hunted cautiously. Now, even facing A-class Beasts, they felt able to fight, so they became much bolder.
Cultivation improvement meant more combat power, so when tasks were handed in that night, Oscar Liao’s team had earned 3,200 Merit Points.
Ian’s team earned 3,500 Merit Points.
"Brother Ian, Brother Oscar, impressive! We’re in awe!"
Ethan Ye and Tanya Tang arrived together to congratulate Ian and Oscar.
Today, their teams had combined forces. Ethan Ye’s team earned 2,850 Merit Points, Tanya Tang’s team earned 2,600. They thought they’d surpass Ian and Oscar, but Ian’s and Oscar’s teams did even better.
As the saying goes, a tall tree catches the wind.
The next day, after Ian and Oscar set out, they found two teams trailing behind them.
"Brother Ian, what should we do?" Oscar Liao asked quietly. Yesterday, everyone’s cultivation had improved by one layer, but they all felt it was best to keep quiet and not show off, to avoid jealousy.
Now, with two teams following behind, any battle would reveal their new cultivation levels.
"No worries. If they want to follow, let them," Ian said nonchalantly.
Alright then!
Seeing Ian had no objections, Oscar didn’t say anything more.
As the saying goes, the bolder the skill, the greater the courage. This time, Ian led them to hunt two hundred li away from the base.
Ah!
A shrill scream came from behind.
Ian suddenly turned around, only to see a flash of gray.
Clairvoyant Vision!
Although the gray shadow was extremely fast, it was still revealed by Ian’s Clairvoyant Vision.
"It’s a Shadow Leopard—everyone, be careful!" Ian exclaimed when he saw the gray shadow was a cat-sized beast, quickly warning the group.
Shadow Leopards are A-class Beasts. The Alien Beast Field Guide says their attack power is about Innate Seventh Layer, but their speed absolutely rivals Innate Ninth Layer.
"What? Shadow Leopard!"
Everyone’s faces changed. The four squads quickly clustered together. The one who was ambushed by the Shadow Leopard was an Innate Sixth Layer member. Luckily, he wore soft armor, but even so, the leopard’s claws tore through it, leaving several bloody wounds on his chest.