SWNOVELXO Chapter 508: Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit
Qilong Mountain!
This tallest mountain in Qing Province stands majestically, shrouded in mist.
The ancient trees in the mountain tower upwards with lush leaves, seemingly swallowing all the sunlight.
A clear spring cascades down from the mountain's peak, splashing into droplets that reflect a rainbow of colors in the air.
Once peaceful and deserted, Qilong Mountain is now bustling with people. Numerous cultivators have gathered here, coming from various sects in Qing Province, along with many loose cultivators trying to fish in troubled waters.
These people are all wary of each other, ready to unleash flying swords and magic at any moment, constantly advancing toward the mountaintop.
At the summit of Qilong Mountain, there is a circular pit, bottomless, with five-colored radiance surging like swallows, casting multicolored halos on the surrounding vegetation and cultivators.
"A bunch of wishful thinkers."
Among the crowd, a young man in fine clothes holds a folding fan, his face shadowed with gloom.
He is none other than the Sixth Prince of the Da Li Dynasty, Wei Lanchen.
"Master, be careful. Let's not get surrounded."
An old man appears behind Wei Lanchen. His name is Liu Cheng, a cultivator of the third level of the Taoist Platform Realm, a royal sacrifice, specifically accompanying to ensure Wei Lanchen's safety and to support this trip to Qing Province.
Wei Lanchen snorts coldly and says, "I understand, our royal family's possessions are not for them to covet."
Despite his words, Wei Lanchen regrets it a little inside since the happenings on Qilong Mountain were of his own making.
The anomaly here on Qilong Mountain isn't due to the emergence of some so-called exotic treasure.
There's no exotic treasure on Qilong Mountain. What exists here is a dragon vein and a Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit born from it.
Spread across the underground of the Tianyuan World are spirit veins, like large tree branches beneath the earth, while dragon veins are referred to as the larger spirit veins, akin to the trunk of a tree.
The main features of a dragon vein, besides abundant spiritual energy that speeds up cultivation, include a special field of insight that assists cultivators in breaking through, and the unpredictable path of the dragon vein.
Unlike ordinary spirit veins that have fixed areas, dragon veins move like giant dragons under the ground, wandering bizarrely, hard to pinpoint, hence they are called dragon veins.
Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit is a miraculous object born from dragon veins due to various fortunate coincidences over the years.
Using it can maximize the enhancement of the surrounding spiritual energy environment, integrating it into underground spirit veins, further elevating ordinary spirit veins into dragon veins and fixing them so they won't roam unpredictably, becoming stationary like ordinary spirit veins.
This is especially valuable for the Da Li Royal Family as their secret cultivation technique, the "Dragon Suppressing Heavenly Net Divine Scripture," relies on the dragon vein and imperial dynasty fortune. This technique is extremely domineering, and with a Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit, cultivation of the "Dragon Suppressing Heavenly Net Divine Scripture" would be twice as effective, progressing rapidly.
Since the founding of the Da Li Royal Dynasty, it has been pursuing the traces of dragon veins to obtain Dragon Vein Crystal Fruits.
Wei Lanchen's visit to Qing Province this time is specifically for the Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit, but due to some mistakes, he failed to find the Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit in time, instead exposing the anomaly here.
"It's coming out."
Suddenly, the crowd becomes noisy, and countless cultivators look up.
A dazzling light erupts from the depths of the earth, illuminating the entire Qilong Mountain. A rainbow bridge appears across the sky dome, and five-colored radiance begins to surge violently.
A crystalline, pineapple-sized irregular sphere rises from the deep pit; it is the Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit, ascending slowly with a majestic and solemn demeanor into mid-air.
Upon its emergence, the spiritual energy of the heavens and earth for a hundred miles around becomes agitated, with countless threads of spiritual energy gathering spontaneously, forming rivers of spiritual energy resembling dragons soaring into the sky.
"Dragon... Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit."
Among the present cultivators, those knowledgeable enough to recognize the Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit are initially stunned, then their eyes blaze with fervor, and their expression becomes frantic.
The Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit is an extremely rare sight, appearing once in a hundred years. For a sect, it immensely boosts, transforming the sect's spirit veins into dragon veins, greatly enhancing its heritage and cultivation speed.
"Seize it, grab the Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit!"
"This belongs to our Fog Hidden Sect, attack!"
"A Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit, who would have thought such a treasure would appear? By all means, seize it for me."
One by one, the cultivators go mad, employing their skills, rushing towards the Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit.
"Stop, all of you. I am the Sixth Prince of the Da Li Royal Family, Wei Lanchen. This is a royal possession, already decreed by our royal family. Do you wish to oppose the Da Li Royal Family?"
With a loud shout, Wei Lanchen leaps into the air, holding a Dragon Pattern Token representing the royal identity. The token is of top-grade magic treasure form, suppressing this area of the world.
Liu Cheng, the royal sacrifice, also steps forward, openly releasing his powerful cultivation aura of the Taoist Platform Realm. The terrifying momentum spreads like a violent storm, making it difficult for the present cultivators to breathe, their faces filled with astonishment.
"Sixth Prince?"
"Why is the Da Li Dynasty here too?"
"Fools, the Da Li Dynasty has been pursuing dragon veins, their presence here is no surprise."
Upon seeing Wei Lanchen's face, several cultivators' momentum is immediately suppressed.
Although the Wei Royal Dynasty had long declined, a dead camel is still larger than a horse. As the rightful authority of the world, it still held some intimidation among the righteous sects.
Wei Lanchen sighed with relief, seeing the situation subdued, he immediately wanted to take the Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit.
However, not all righteous sects feared the royal name, such as...
Boom!
With the thunderous roar, the clouds in the Sky Dome gathered to form a massive hand, reaching for the Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit in mid-air.
A middle-aged man revealed his figure, staring intently at the Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit, blatantly ignoring Wei Lanchen's warning.
"It's Elder Dong from Guan Chao Pavilion."
Many cultivators recognized the identity of the newcomer—Elder Dong Yu of Guan Chao Pavilion, who had announced its seclusion, a formidable figure at the Seventh Realm of Daoist Platform.
Bam!
Before the cloud-hand could fall, a flying sword vertically and horizontally cut the giant hand in half.
A light flew from the flying sword, rushing directly towards the Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit.
"Master Li Yuze of the Ten Thousand Sword Alliance, he's here as well."
Gasps filled the air, and apart from Wei Lanchen's darkened face, the other cultivators retreated. The aftershocks from these powerful individuals' clash were not something they could meddle in.
"Elder Dong, for our old friendship's sake, please let me have the Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit."
Li Yuze sped towards the Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit. Although his Ten Thousand Sword Alliance had perished, the Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit could elevate the Spirit Vein to a Dragon Vein, enabling the revival of the Alliance, making the fruit indispensable to him.
"I'm sorry, Master Li, the Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit is destined to belong to our Guan Chao Pavilion."
Dong Yu wouldn't yield a single step, flying towards the Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit. The fruit concerned the revival of the ancestor, and he had an equally critical reason not to give it up.
Li Yuze wielded the Sky Eagle Sword, with Sword Qi intertwining with nothing it couldn't cut.
Dong Yu remained calm, countering only with magic, raising huge waves beneath him, using softness to conquer hardness, swallowing all the Sword Qi.
Wei Lanchen's face was gloomy; these two paid him no heed at all, starting to compete brazenly.
Unconsciously, Wei Lanchen turned to look at the royal sacrifice Liu Cheng.
"Can't fight, can't go!"
Before Wei Lanchen could speak, Liu Cheng waved his hands repeatedly. His cultivation was nowhere near capable of joining such a battle. If he went up to snatch it, it was no different than taking food from a tiger's mouth. If the others disrespected the royal family and killed him on the spot, it would be entirely normal.
Wei Lanchen felt even more frustrated; the storm-laden Da Li Dynasty couldn't provide much support. It was already an achievement to have Liu Cheng on standby, as the local forces were now far stronger than Da Li's dynasty.
"Damn it, if only the Da Li Dynasty were at its peak, how dare you be so presumptuous."
Wei Lanchen cursed silently, fingering the gold-plated bracelet on his left hand, an innate spiritual object.
When the Da Li Dynasty was at its height, which sects dared to provoke Da Li? Each one was obedient and respectful, unlike now. Whoever dared show their royal family such disrespect?
The confrontation between Li Yuze and Dong Yu reached a fever pitch, clashing fiercely over the Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit.
But just then, from within the crowd, a gaping maw shot skyward, attempting to swallow the Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit in one gulp.
The thousand-hand centipede burst from the ground, its several-hundred-meter-long body like a small mountain, its ferocity intimidating the surrounding cultivators, causing them to turn pale.
"It's Su Jie."
Seeing the young man standing on the head of the thousand-hand centipede, the nearby cultivators scattered in a rush.
Even more than fearing Li Yuze and Dong Yu, Su Jie's terrifying reputation had long spread across the world through numerous battles, making these cultivators tremble with fear at his presence, causing them to flee for their lives.
Li Yuze and Dong Yu were surprised, exchanging glances, immediately redirecting their focus to Su Jie, for both had blood-sea enmity with him.
Su Jie grinned, his Chaos Dharma Form manifesting behind him, the solo eye flickering, with a glorious ray shooting toward the Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit.
Crack!
In an instant, the Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit shattered into three pieces, flying in different directions.
"Everyone, determine for yourselves whether pursuing me or obtaining the Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit is more important. If you don't take it now, it'll end up in the hands of the Da Li royal family."
Su Jie smiled at the two, his expression calm.
Li Yuze and Dong Yu, who were initially fervent in hunting Su Jie down, suddenly paused, then each turned, flying towards a piece of the Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit.
Clearly, the Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit was more important than chasing Su Jie. They both understood how difficult it was to kill Su Jie, as winning was easy, but killing was too challenging. Time wasted on Su Jie would only make the Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit available to others.
Seeing this, Su Jie laughed, moving with the thousand-hand centipede beneath him, also heading for a fragment of the Dragon Vein Crystal Fruit.
The thousand-hand centipede opened its mouth, catching up with the fruit fragment, swallowing it whole into its belly, claiming it for itself, and then quickly burrowing into the ground in preparation to escape.