Chapter 795 — The Earth's Essence Fruit
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 5
The Water Qilin bore Shen Mu past several imperial tombs and at last caught sight of the Dragon Qilin, who was busy swearing brotherhood with a whole company of dragons and qilins, boasting until the heavens and earth went dark. "I keep a man," he was saying, "one who refines spirit pills for me alone. .
.
" The dragon kings and qilins were green with envy. In mid-sentence the Dragon Qilin caught sight of Shen Mu and the others approaching and hastily shut his mouth.
Yu Tianzun called him over. Seeing Shen Mu so utterly spent, the Dragon Qilin gave a start and said in a fluster, "Let me carry the Cult Master instead. My steps are steady — I won't let him feel the least jolt.
" Yu Tianzun lifted Shen Mu onto the Dragon Qilin's back. The Dragon Qilin stole a glance at Shen Mu's face and found it dark and grim, at which his heart began to pound. "I wonder whether the Cult Master heard what I said just now. .
. " The dragon kings and qilins watched with envious faces as he carried Shen Mu away. Only when the two were far off did they say one after another, "Young and accomplished — truly young and accomplished.
" "Young as Long Pi is, his vision is uncommon. Keeping a human to refine pills for himself — why did such an idea never once occur to me in my younger days?
" .
. .
The Dragon Qilin carried Shen Mu out of the underground space and into the hall of the ruined temple. The phoenix followed and glanced about. Gongsun Yan hurried off to tidy the rooms.
"I usually stay at the Yuanjun Temple," she said, "and have only kept a few rooms for myself. Let me clear out a few more for Sister Feng and Brother Shen.
" The phoenix took out a nest of gleaming gold.
"I cannot sleep in another's bed," she said. "Lay out my nest. " Gongsun Yan assented and took the nest. Before long she had finished. Shen Mu sat at the bedside, his color much improved.
"Sister," he said, "I am much better now. There's no need to fuss over me. The Earth Mother's fruit is indeed effective — I can feel my vital essence returning. It is nothing serious. " Gongsun Yan studied him closely and saw that his color had indeed improved a great deal, and she was full of envy. "This fruit is no ordinary thing," she said. "It grows on the Prime Wood and is called the Earth Origin Dao Fruit. The Prime Wood is the root of heaven and earth in the Yuan Capital, drawing in the spiritual essence and power of the Yuan Capital's heaven and earth, and compounded with the Earth Mother's own cultivation in the Great Dao — that is why it is so rare in all the world. I have heard the Earth Mother say she seldom bestows the Earth Origin Dao Fruit on others; only in the early years of the Longhan era did she pick a few and give them to the Heavenly Emperor to entertain the ancient gods. And even then, when the Longhan Heavenly Court was founded, the number of ancient gods qualified to taste the Earth Origin Dao Fruit was not great.
" Shen Mu turned his head. The halo behind his head turned with him, always remaining at the back of his skull, giving him a sense of unease.
The Earth Origin Dao Fruit hung within the halo formed by the Earth Mother Venerable God's blessing, shriveled and dry — yet the energy within it was truly terrifying. One could not simply bite into it to taste it. What unsettled him, however, was not the Earth Origin Dao Fruit but the blessing of the Earth Mother Venerable God.
He had seen most of the Seven Heavenly Worthies.
Behind the head of each of the Seven Worthies were circles upon circles of halo — the blessing of the ancient gods. The blessings of the ancient gods served all manner of purposes — longevity, fortune, agelessness, deathlessness, indestructibility, and so on — yet Yu Tianzun, who had received the blessings of every ancient god, had still been assassinated, his soul scattered.