Chapter 21: Blood Origin Fruit

　　Translator: AstralGhost Editor: Kurisu

　　After finally sending away the last group of guests, Bei Feng grudgingly returned to the menial task of cleaning the plates and utensils.

　　Putting some of the leftovers into a small bowl, he squatted down to place it before the two little wolfdogs. Perhaps because they hadn’t eaten anything in a long time, the two puppies immediately buried their heads in the food bowl, pigging out with the appetite of wolfs and tigers. [1]

　　‘Hehehe, today, I’ve made a total of 4,800 yuan. The combined cost of the two meals was only in double digits. If I had four tables of guests everyday, that would be 6,400 yuan of profit everyday!’

　　Bei Feng looked at his online banking account, a complacent smile on his face.

　　Calculating based on a 30-day month, that’s a monthly income of roughly 190,000 yuan!

　　Although Bei Feng was thrilled, he did not lose his rationality. He knew that his foundations lay with the Myriad Heavens Fishing System!

　　When he had finally finished cleaning and the two little wolfdog puppies were lying contentedly on the ground with bloated bellies and tongues sticking out, Bei Feng walked up to the Ancient Well, holding the Purple Bamboo Fishing Rod.

　　This time, he put some thought into it before finally piercing an unfortunate cicada with the hook to serve as his current bait and casting the line down into the depths of the Ancient Well.

　　***

　　Somewhere within a strange world, an ancient battlefield shrouded in fog existed. This was the location of a large-scale, heaven-shaking, earth-shattering savage battle that had taken place during an ancient era!

　　Mountains were crushed, rivers evaporated. Even the waters in the huge rivers flowed backward!

　　Countless years passed, and yet, the immense residual energy born from that cataclysmic battle had yet to disperse!

　　This place was a well-known ominous area and, at the same time, a famous treasure trove!

　　All kinds of strange plants and objects existed within the battlefield, causing it to become a land which held a fatal attraction for many martial practitioners.

　　However, the moment any powerful practitioners entered the ominous area, their robust auras would trigger the remnant energies in the battlefield, causing them to suffer endless attacks from the ancient battlefield. Even if one had ten lives, it would not be enough to survive such an onslaught!

　　Low-level practitioners, however, would not trigger the dormant energies, and thus would not attract any attacks. As time passed, various large sects began to use the ancient battlefield every decade as a field for competition between their disciples.

　　There was a rule that all items the disciples brought from the ancient battleground would be recorded, and 80-90% of it had to be offered up to the sect. This way, the powerful practitioners would be able to obtain the treasures within the ancient battlefield without throwing their lives away.

　　At this moment, a jet-black fishing hook descended swiftly from the sky above the ancient battlefield. A cicada was struggling furiously on the hook, causing the fishing line to sway slightly as it dropped into the heart of the ancient battlefield.

　　Just as it passed by a small earth mound, a strange thing happened!

　　The earth mound suddenly exploded, and a blood-red plant burst out of it, extending toward the cicada with incredible speed! In the blink of an eye, a branch had already coiled itself tightly around the poor cicada!

　　The plant’s height was around four, five meters, and it was entirely blood-red in color. It looked like a slender cactus, but without needles.

　　Three fist-sized fruits hung on its branches. One of them was deep-red in color, but the hue of the other two wasn’t as deep, and there were vague vestiges of green that could still be seen on them.

　　“Heavens! That’s the Blood Origin Fruit!”

　　A group of five youths, all dressed in the same uniform, happened to witness the plant emerging from the underground. Based on their attire, they seemed to belong to the same sect.

　　It was one of the youths that had noticed the Blood Origin Fruit, causing him to exclaim excitedly.

　　“It’s really the Blood Origin Fruit! The last time it appeared was probably over twenty years ago?” A youth who seemed to be the leader of the group immediately became serious as he looked at the cactus-like plant, a determined look appearing on his face.

　　The greatest benefit the Blood Origin Fruit brought was its immense nourishing effect on the blood and Qi of the one who consumed it! Such a treasure was immensely beneficial to any martial practitioners!

　　30 years for the flower to bloom; 60 years to bear fruit, and 100 hundreds years for it to fully ripen!

　　A full 190 years was required to form just a single Blood Origin Fruit! Once consumed, the energy accumulated for those 190 years would stay hidden within one’s body before spreading out bit by bit, nourishing the body’s Blood and Qi.

　　The moment the blood-red plant wrapped its branch around the cicada, it immediately pulled back toward the hole in the ground. A few strands of root even burst out of the ground in preparation to absorb the terrified cicada’s body!

　　‘I wonder what’ll come out this time…’

　　The abstruse feeling Bei Feng had when he fished out the Minor Illumination Breathing Technique had appeared once again. He even sat up straight as he rubbed his hands in anticipation!

　　At that moment, an irresistible force suddenly tugged at the blood-red plant, causing it to be yanked out of the ground; it was so strong that even its roots were completely pulled out of the ground!

　　“SCREEEE!”

　　The blood-red plant let out an ear-piercing scream, causing the sect disciples nearby to cover their ears and cower on the ground.

　　Finding out that its all-out struggling was in vain, the blood-red plant immediately chose to discard the branch which was caught by the hook.

　　As luck would have it, the only ripe Blood Origin Fruit happened to be located on that very branch and, in that moment, it was ascending into the clouds with incredible speed.

　　“SCREE!”

　　This plant had lived for an extremely long time and had already developed some basic form of consciousness. In that moment, it was shaking its leaves and branches angrily, crying out in an unearthly, shrill voice.

　　However, there was nothing it could do! Boiling with rage, the blood-red plant turned its attention to the sect disciples standing nearby…

　　“What was that just now? The Blood Origin Fruit was actually plucked with such ease!” One of the disciples mumbled with a stupefied expression.

　　“Skills like that are definitely something beyond our imagination! Perhaps it’s the handiwork of some godly expert… Even though the ripe Blood Origin Fruit had been plucked, there’re still two more Blood Origin Fruits that aren’t far from being ripe left for us! That’s not too bad as well,” a clever-looking disciple analyzed the situation.

　　“Heh, that’s right, after being pulled out of the ground and losing one of its branches, this Vampiric Vine is most likely in a pretty bad state right now. Its Origin Qi had even been damaged in the struggle! It shouldn’t be too hard to take it down now…” Lin Yun said cooly. [2]

　　“HACK IT DOWN!”

　　Lin Yun took the lead and dashed toward the Vampiric Vine. In the instant he neared it, a dazzling sword light struck out, accompanying his warcry.

　　“Puchi!”

　　The sword within Lin Yun’s hands was made of a hundred times tempered steel. Reinforced by Lin Yun’s inner Qi, this sword could easily cut through iron as though it were mud! Thus, the defense of the Vampiric Vine was breached with ease.

　　Creamy, blood-red sap immediately sputtered out of the wound, much to the delight of Lin Yun. An ecstatic expression hung on his face as he surveyed his handiwork.

　　“Senior brother! Behind you!”

　　Lin Yun was about to turn around when he heard the warning. However, he suddenly felt a chill spreading from his chest. Lips trembling, he looked down and, to his horror, found that a blood-stained branch was protruding from his chest…

　　“Ding! Obtained one ripe fruit from the Vampiric Vine. Blood Origin Fruit, Grade 1 treasure; (consuming the fruit will result in the nourishing of the flesh, and strengthening of Blood and Qi). Experience +500!”

　　“Another Grade 1 treasure!”

　　Bei Feng was thrilled. This Blood Origin Fruit was exactly what he needed!

　　Pulling up the fishing rod, Bei Feng detached the Vampiric Vine’s branch with a blood-red fruit hanging on it from the hook.

　　It looked like a blood-red crystal, with vein-like patterns that could be observed after peeling its skin off. There were even some red strands of juice flowing within them.

　　“What a beautiful fruit!” Bei Feng muttered in amazement as he examined it.

　　Following that, Bei Feng hurriedly discarded all random thoughts as he lightly bit into the surface of the fruit and sucked on its juices resolutely.

　　A mouthful of fiery liquid was immediately sucked deep into Bei Feng’s mouth, catching him off guard and almost causing him to spit it back out!

　　However, Bei Feng recalled the benefits mentioned by the System and steeled his mind, forcefully swallowing all of the sizzling juice into his stomach.

　　As the medicinal properties set in and took effect, Bei Feng’s skin’s color turned into a frightening shade of red, as though his blood was about to ooze out of the pores in his skin.

　　But even so, it was only one percent of the fruit’s energy that was being absorbed by Bei Feng at this moment, for the 99% of it was being stored within his body instead! The remaining energy would slowly seep into his flesh and bones, silently remoulding his fleshly body.

　　“What shocking medicinal effects!”

　　Bei Feng opened his eyes as his skin’s hue gradually returned to its normal state.

　　Clenching and unclenching his fists, Bei Feng felt as though he possessed limitless strength. Bei Feng forcefully calmed his mind, let out a long breath and looked at the attributes screen within his consciousness.

　　Strength: 8

　　Speed: 7

　　Mental Power: 13

　　Required experience points to reach level 2 Fisherman: 9,200!

　　‘My strength increased by four points, speed by two, and even my mental power went up by one point!’

　　Bei Feng was euphoric with joy. That was a huge improvement! His strength had even been instantly doubled!

　　‘That was just a very small portion of the Blood Origin Fruit’s nourishing essence… what kind of ridiculous numbers will my stats reach after my body absorbed the Blood Origin Fruit in its entirety?’ Bei Feng made some rough calculations in his mind and was stunned.

　　For now, his stats meant that his body’s condition was still below that of an average adult man. However, it was now apparent that it was only a matter of time before he would not only reach it, but also completely surpass it!

　　[1]TL/N: Pun intended.

　　[2]TL/N: I assume Lin Yun is the leader of that group. ED/N: Since he’s the only… named character, you should be right.