Chapter 50: Strange Fruit

"Success!"

Looking at the ten crystal-clear, rounded medicinal pills within the iron cauldron furnace, a smile finally broke across Chen Lin's face, which had been devoid of joy for many days.

Regardless of the circumstances, he had finally left that bizarre place, and his innate ability remained as useful as ever.

Although the Black Essence Worms still resided within his body and the crisis of the Enlightenment Pill's aftereffects loomed, those were problems that could be solved gradually.

He had already thought of a way to deal with the Black Essence Worms: using his nameless sword qi to slay them. Given his current weakened state, even if they might self-detonate upon death, it wouldn't necessarily cost him his life.

Of course, having other methods would be even better. He still had eight Blood Qi Pills provided by Yu Yuehai, which could feed the Black Essence Worms for eighty days. During this period, he wouldn't have to worry about backlash.

After retrieving and storing the pills, Chen Lin swallowed one directly and began to cultivate.

Half a day passed in a flash. His eyes flashed with sharp light as he nodded in satisfaction.

The medicinal effect was indeed not as potent as it had been during the early stages of Qi Refinement, but he could still feel the growth. At this rate, after consuming all ten pills, his cultivation would advance significantly.

If he didn't use medicinal pills, his cultivation felt as if it were welded shut; forget cultivating for half a day, he wouldn't feel a thing even after half a year. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been stuck at the second level of Qi Refinement for twenty years.

Moving forward, Chen Lin cultivated while searching for an exit, occasionally gathering some natural treasures.

He encountered several low-level demonic beasts along the way, all of which he avoided from a distance. If he truly couldn't avoid them, he would use every means at his disposal to slay them.

Half a month passed, and his combat experience had improved considerably.

One evening, Chen Lin discovered a cave with a faint, flickering light emanating from within.

This immediately piqued his interest.

However, he did not dare to enter recklessly. Instead, he hid in the distance to observe. After waiting for a full hour and seeing that the light did not move, he cautiously approached.

If it were a demonic beast, it wouldn't have remained motionless for so long; there was a high probability it was a treasure.

*Could my luck finally be turning around?*

Any natural treasure that emitted light would not be of a low grade, which made Chen Lin somewhat excited.

The cave was winding, becoming increasingly damp the further in he went, with puddles even appearing on the ground.

This left Chen Lin somewhat puzzled. Could there be a river nearby?

If there were a river, he should be able to find human settlements by following it, and then he could find his way out!

He grew even more excited. After wandering in this deep, ancient forest for so long, he had finally seen a glimmer of hope for escape!

But immediately, his attention was captured by the scene before him, and his breathing grew heavy.

After rounding a bend, the view suddenly opened up to reveal a pool of water over ten meters in diameter. In the middle of the pool sat something resembling a withered tree branch, winding and as thick as an arm.

This branch protruded more than a meter above the water's surface, and at its tip, a bright red, apple-like fruit hung, emitting a shimmering glow.

Chen Lin searched his memory for a while but could not identify what it was, though judging by its appearance alone, he was certain it was extraordinary.

In an instant, that fruit turned into a massive pile of spirit stones in his eyes.

He was currently penniless and was worrying about how to earn cultivation resources once he got out. With this, his immediate crisis should be resolved.

However, according to legend, all high-level natural treasures were guarded by spirit beasts, so he did not dare to act rashly.

After thinking for a moment, he suddenly took out an ordinary Thunderbolt Pearl, activated it, and threw it toward the edge of the pool before quickly retreating.

"Bang!"

The Thunderbolt Pearl blasted a deep crater into the area.

The splashing water caused the withered branch to sway twice, but the fruit did not fall.

Chen Lin had expected this; the power of an ordinary Thunderbolt Pearl was not very great, and he had chosen a position relatively far from the fruit.

He stared intently at the pool while gripping his flying sword in one hand and holding three Fireball Talismans in the other.

Then, he saw the water in the pool churn. A large, dark green snake emerged from within, swimming angrily toward the shore, raising its head to flick its long tongue in and out.

Seeing this snake, Chen Lin couldn't help but frown.

Judging by the aura radiating from its body, it appeared to be a first-tier demonic beast, but an extremely powerful one for its tier—at least equivalent to the late stage of Qi Refinement, or even the Great Perfection stage.

With his current cultivation, he certainly couldn't face such a beast. He had encountered two similar ones before and had gone out of his way to avoid them.

But now, he felt unwilling to leave.

That fruit was clearly no ordinary object; the chance of encountering another natural treasure of the same grade would be slim if he missed this one. Furthermore, although this large snake was formidable, it had not yet reached the second tier; if he played his cards right, he might be able to kill it.

He checked his storage bag. He still had one Thunderbolt Pearl No. 3, two Thunderbolt Pearl No. 2s, and over a dozen ordinary ones. This was his confidence.

Snake-type demonic beasts had low defense, and the space here was cramped; if operated correctly, he might not even need the Thunderbolt Pearl No. 3.

Unfortunately, Thunderbolt Pearls required spiritual power to activate. It would be better if they worked like landmines; he would have to research this later to see if he could install a trigger mechanism.

While thinking, Chen Lin took out one Thunderbolt Pearl No. 2 and one ordinary Thunderbolt Pearl.

The large snake looked around for a while but did not approach the cave entrance; instead, it turned to head back into the water.

Without hesitation, he threw an ordinary Thunderbolt Pearl toward it and retreated once more.

The space of the pool was too cramped; if he used a Thunderbolt Pearl No. 2 directly, he feared it might blow the fruit to pieces. Therefore, his goal was to lure the snake toward the cave entrance and then provide overwhelming firepower.

The pearl was thrown slightly off-target, landing in front of the snake. The explosion failed to cause it any significant harm.

However, it left the creature utterly enraged.

With a piercing hiss, the snake sensed Chen Lin's presence and lunged forward with a sudden burst of its massive body.

Chen Lin flashed a satisfied smile and retreated again. Seeing the snake enter the passage, he immediately threw a Thunderbolt Pearl No. 2!

Then, without checking the result, he threw five more ordinary Thunderbolt Pearls in rapid succession, causing the entire passage to collapse with a continuous, deafening roar.

Once the dust settled, Chen Lin, who had already cast a Vajra Shield on himself, stood outside the cave entrance to inspect the scene. Through a gap in the rubble, he happened to see a section of the snake's body.

It was already a bloody, unrecognizable mess.

Chen Lin was overjoyed. A demonic beast was just a demonic beast—possessing strength without wisdom. If this had been a late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator, forget an ambush; he likely wouldn't have even been able to run.

After observing for a while to ensure the snake was dead, Chen Lin used a Strength Talisman on himself and began clearing the passage blocked by the blasted rocks.

When he encountered large chunks, he used his flying sword to hack them away, quickly reaching the snake's carcass.

The large snake had been blown into two pieces; from what he had seen outside, it was the upper body.

The flesh of snake-type demonic beasts was highly nourishing and could even enhance cultivation. Chen Lin unceremoniously collected it before continuing to clear the debris.

It took a long time before he cleared a passage wide enough for a single person to crawl through, allowing him to reach the pool.