“I heard that the Vermilion Fruit is scarlet all over and resplendent. Why is the fruit green?” Li Ziyue asked curiously.
“It isn’t fully ripe,”
Su Zimo replied, “But by the looks of it, it should ripen within a month or so.”
Before it was ripe, the Vermilion Fruit was not a great tonic and even possessed immense poison!
If ordinary living beings were to approach it, they would be affected by the aura released by the Vermilion Fruit and would lose their minds, falling into a deep hallucination.
Most of these spirit items of the universe possessed the capability to protect themselves.
This place was unusually secretive and did not have much intruders usually.
Otherwise, there would be countless corpses around the vicinity of the spirit items!
The Vermilion Fruit could only be plucked after it was ripe.
Furthermore, once the fruit ripens, if it wasn’t plucked within a single day, it would fall off on its own.
Once the Vermilion Fruit makes contact with mud, all the energy contained in the fruit would flow back into the mud and return to the earth – it would be completely wasted.
Su Zimo remarked, “Let’s dig up all the spirit herbs in the outer perimeter of the Vermilion Fruit and give up on those inside. Don’t get close to the Vermilion Fruit by all means!”
“There’s no hurry. The spirit qi here is robust and the medicinal fragrance is rich. We can use the chance to cultivate here for a while and our injuries should be healed before long,” Li Ziyue remarked deeply.
Xuan Yi and Liu Hui nodded.
Su Zimo furrowed his brows slightly and did not speak further.
The most logical decision after discovering such a treasure ground in the Great Qian Ruins was to dig up the spirit herbs and leave as soon as possible!
The Great Qian Ruins was not a kind place.
Dangers did not come from the ruins alone, but also other cultivators!
If any intruders were to enter and catch sight of this medicinal field, needless to think, a bloodied battle would be invoked!
When he saw that Xuan Yi and the other two had already assumed lotus positions to heal up, Su Zimo did not interrupt them.
At that moment, he had two other doubts in mind!
Firstly, there should be ferocious beasts in the vicinity of this universal spirit item, guarding it!
Su Zimo believed that any ferocious beasts hiding here wouldn’t be able to avoid his detection.
But up till this point, he did not notice any trace or aura of any ferocious beasts.
That was way too strange!
Secondly, apart from the Vermilion Fruit, there was also the Scarlet Flame Bamboo, Scarlet Moon Grass and Scarlet Flame Fruit.
It was probably not a coincidence that so many spirit herbs with the power of flames was born in this place!
There was an extremely high chance that the rumors about the connate spirit fire in the Great Qian Ruins were true!
A clear spirit spring surrounded the medicinal field, emitting a rich spirit qi that nourished the spirit fields constantly.
Su Zimo meandered along the spirit spring and continued deep into the palace.
A thousand feet away, he arrived at the mouth of the spirit spring.
The mouth of the spirit spring was a gigantic pool that was gurgling with spring water, flowing continuously for 10,000 years.
This pool seemed like it was created for baths to be taken. Made with white jade, it was more than five meters long and had a depth of two meters.
Exquisite drawings of fishes, dragons, flowers and birds were etched around the walls of the pool.
Against the reflection of the jade, the clear spring water shimmered brightly and the fishes, dragons, flowers and birds on the walls seemed alive!
A flowering crabapple blossomed in the middle of the pool.
The spring water gushed and a misty fog spread.
In the haziness, an alluring body seemed to form above the flowering crabapple with a pleasant elegance. Beautiful as white-jade with a rouge tinge, it was extremely charming and reached into one’s soul!
Su Zimo felt his heart skip a beat and shut his eyes hurriedly.
A moment later, he opened them again and looked over. There was nothing on the flowering crabapple except for the fog around it that changed endlessly.
The owner of the pool and medicinal field should have been a woman and her status in the Great Qian Empire should have been rather imminent!
Reaching out, Su Zimo splashed gently in the pond and his eyes lit up.
True enough!
The spirit spring was warm!
There had to be a powerful source of fire deep beneath this place!
He did not know what status this woman held in the past or how powerful she was to be able to create such a majestic palace underground in the capital.
Not only that, she made use of the powerful fire source underground to nurture a medicinal field and turn the spirit spring into a hot spring.
Circling around the hot spring, Su Zimo surveyed the ground with a keen gaze, seemingly looking for something.
In theory, there should be an entrance leading underground in the vicinity of this hot spring!
However, after circling a few times, Su Zimo discovered nothing.
A moment later, he suddenly stopped in his tracks and fixed his gaze on a divine dragon etched on the wall of the pool.
There was nothing wrong with that divine dragon. It was life-like and its claws, scales, horns and whiskers were realistic. However, one of its eyes was missing!
Was it an error in the etching?
Or could it have been washed away by time after 10,000 years?
Su Zimo shook his head.
The possibility of both guesses were extremely low!
Dot the eyes when you’re drawing a dragon
Those words came to Su Zimo’s mind as he murmured, “Dot the eyes, dot the eyes…”
Heading forward, he reached out and pressed gently on the spot where the dragon’s eye was missing.
That push caused the walls of the pool to sink in slightly.
Sensing the motion beneath him, Su Zimo soared into the air hurriedly.
The two stone slabs that he was standing on slid to both sides rapidly and revealed stone steps leading underground.
Su Zimo praised internally.
The structure could be considered as a piece of godly work. Even after 10,000 years, the mechanisms did not age and functioned as per normal.
Taking a whiff at the entrance, a cold glint shone in Su Zimo’s eyes.
He could sense a vague hint of demonic qi in the warm air current that was surging out!
In that case, the ferocious beast guarding this place should be hiding in the depths of this place!
With the possibility of a connate spirit fire existing beneath, Su Zimo would not give up despite knowing the possible dangers lurking.
Entering the tunnel slowly, he gradually disappeared into the darkness.
The two stone slabs above his head closed silently, leaving no gaps.
As Su Zimo ventured deeper along the descending stone steps, the surrounding temperature increased.
A long time later, he came to the end of the stone steps and was clearly at the bottom of the place. Before him, there was a dark tunnel that had an unknown destination.
Not daring to be careless, Su Zimo withdrew Blood Quencher from his storage bag and headed into the depths of the tunnel with narrowed eyes.
The temperature was getting higher!
His green robes were already so dry that a single spark could ignite them.
If not for the fact that he possessed tsunami blood and a shocking physique, no ordinary Golden Core would be able to endure this scorching heat!
If I’m not wrong, a connate spirit fire must definitely be hidden in the depths of this place!
Su Zimo was increasingly convinced.
The connate spirit fire was more important to him than the 10,000 Year Vermilion Fruit!
With the connate spirit fire, he could refine a new set of 27 flying swords and the power of his Candlelight Sword Formation would increase significantly.
Furthermore, he could attempt to repair his Mystic Gold Silk Armor and the Black Gold Arrows he found in the ancient battlefield.
If he could repair the Mystic Gold Silk Armor, it would mean that he would be in possession of a connate-grade defensive spirit weapon. Coupled with his physique, the power of ordinary Golden Cores wouldn’t be able to hurt him!
He might even be able to withstand the attack of an ordinary Nascent Soul!
As Su Zimo contemplated, a series of red lights flashed vaguely from the darkness ahead.
The deeper he ventured, the brighter and clearer they became!
