The Dao Sovereign of Shennong

"Ying~" Lu Qian woke up from her unconscious state.

If Zhao Xing had been here, he would have praised her. As a practitioner of seductive illusion magic, even her waking murmurs were so enticing.

Lu Qian found that the treacherous man had already disappeared.

She calculated the time; she had been unconscious for an entire hour.

She first checked her body and, relieved to find no signs of abuse, breathed a sigh of relief.

Then she became furious again: "Damn that nasty man! Took my red fruit, stole my magic garment, and then went back on his word, leaving me to fend for myself. All men are untrustworthy!"

"Heh." A mocking voice came from the dark forest.

"Who?!" Lu Qian instantly became alert and looked toward a bush.

There she saw a straw puppet, but after making a noise, it lost its luster.

"Is it him? He does keep his word." Lu Qian came to her senses and then muttered to herself, "Next time if you fall into my hands, I'll take your stuff and let you off..."

Zhao Xing had left a quarter of an hour ago. The reason he left a straw puppet and didn't leave Lu Qian to her own devices wasn't out of sympathy or a rigid adherence to promises.

The main reason was that Donghu Mountain had shadow gods overseeing it, and every action of the officials was watched closely.

If he had promised to spare Lu Qian and then allowed her to be carried off by wild beasts in the forest, it would not be beneficial for Zhao Xing's subsequent ascent of the mountain.

Because on the mountain, there was a Mountain God Temple. To gain benefits, one must not offend the guardian deity of the mountain, or it would be counterproductive.

"Set up camp here."

After walking for half an hour, Zhao Xing found a cave.

He first sent the Mighty Vajra Straw Puppet to scout and, finding no abnormalities, proceeded inside.

He then had the straw puppet stationed around the cave entrance to stand guard.

He also moved several large stones to block the entrance.

Only then did he settle in comfortably.

Zhao Xing was being so cautious because he was preparing to consume the red fruit.

"Low-grade spiritual essence, known as longevity spiritual essence, increases lifespan and vitality."

"This red fruit is, to me, even more important than high-grade luck spiritual essence."

Zhao Xing was most eager for a treasure that extended lifespan.

Because surviving to the future revival period was quite difficult, and lifespan had a limit to its increase—the earlier one obtained it, the better.

If it were close to the end of his lifespan, a treasure that could extend life by 800 years might only extend it by ten more years.

"Hope this red fruit brings me some surprises."

Zhao Xing first consumed the smallest one.

Strangely, this red fruit dissolved into his body with just three bites, without much need for chewing.

"Classic instant melt," Zhao Xing smiled.

He then checked the records on the panel.

[You have consumed a low-grade spiritual essence, longevity red fruit. Your lifespan has increased by fifteen years, and your vitality has increased by 20 points.]

"Fifteen years? As expected, the sooner you consume it, the better," Zhao Xing was pleasantly surprised.

Although the panel didn't show lifespan directly, he just needed to remember the total additional lifespan.

"In the normal operation of the Luck Dynasty system, at the first-grade realm, 800 years is the limit, and it's still a theoretical limit based on Peng Zu from the Yin Dynasty."

"Even emperors only have a thousand-year lifespan, unable to achieve a true 'ten thousand years.'"

The vitality increased by only 20 points, which was minimal. Others would probably vomit and curse at such rubbish.

But with Zhao Xing's panel record, he could directly see the increase. What he needed was lifespan, not vitality.

So he was very satisfied with this result.

"Second fruit."

Zhao Xing eagerly ate the second red fruit.

[You have consumed a low-grade spiritual essence, longevity red fruit. Your lifespan has increased by eighteen years, and your vitality has increased by 10 points.]

This one was slightly larger than the previous, providing 18 additional years of lifespan, with vitality only increasing by 10 points.

The effect of early-stage lifespan treasures had a less noticeable decrease, and continuous consumption still yielded strong results. A new data record appeared on the panel: [Additional Lifespan: 33 years]

"Directly extending life by over thirty years, a great gain. Thanks to nature's gift," Zhao Xing was overjoyed.

Because this wasn't something he fought for, but rather fell from the sky, it was essentially a free gift. How could he not be happy?

"Third one, also a mid-grade essence red fruit."

Zhao Xing looked at the red fruit the size of a head, plump and vivid.

"Crack." The fruit flesh was very crisp. Compared to the previous two, biting into this mid-grade red fruit caused the vitality to explode in his body.

Zhao Xing's face turned red, a state of extreme fullness, coming from his abdomen, indicating excessive nourishment.

"Indeed, a good item!"

"Much better than the Celestial Pear."

"The fruit from a spiritual mountain is truly exceptional."

With a thought, Zhao Xing began to focus on circulating the Essence Gathering Technique, guiding the fierce vitality through his body.

The rotation speed of the dantian's qi was cranked up to the maximum, grinding and absorbing the vitality brought by the red fruit like a millstone.

He waited for a full fifteen minutes to digest this first bite.

[You have consumed a mid-grade spiritual essence, pure vitality red fruit. Vitality increased by 2512 points.]

[Essence Gathering Stage 4: 2831/10000]

"A bite increasing 2500 points? Pure vitality red fruit should purely increase vitality," Zhao Xing mused. If it were a vitality method red fruit, he would also gain insight into spells during the process of consumption.

That would mean increasing both vitality and spell proficiency.

"It seems today I'll not only reach Essence Gathering Stage 5 but might even advance to Stage 6."

Breaking through Essence Gathering Stage 4 was a few days before the autumn equinox. Now, with a significant boost in vitality, the feeling was simply exhilarating.

"Stage 5 is certain, and Stage 6 is promising!"

Zhao Xing digested most of it and took another bite.

[You have consumed a mid-grade spiritual essence, pure vitality red fruit. Vitality increased by 2542 points.]

[Essence Gathering Stage 4: 5373/10000]

[You have consumed a mid-grade spiritual essence, pure vitality red fruit. Vitality increased by 2642 points.]

[Essence Gathering Stage 4: 8015/10000]

[You have consumed a mid-grade spiritual essence, pure vitality red fruit. Vitality increased by 2588 points.]

[You have broken through to Essence Gathering Stage 5!]

[Essence Gathering Stage 5: 291/10000]

Breaking through to Essence Gathering Stage 5, the limit was still 10,000 points. The vitality increase from the red fruit correspondingly decreased but was still considerable.

[You have consumed a mid-grade spiritual essence, pure vitality red fruit. Vitality increased by 1728 points.]

[Essence Gathering Stage 5: 2019/10000]

[You have consumed a mid-grade spiritual essence, pure vitality red fruit. Vitality increased by 1611 points.]

[Essence Gathering Stage 5: 3630/10000]

He repeatedly devoured and digested the vitality red fruit, which was the size of a head, all night long.

After finishing the last bite, Zhao Xing looked at the panel.

[Essence Gathering Stage 6: 156/10000]

"Reached Essence Gathering Stage 6," Zhao Xing showed a satisfied smile.

The pure vitality red fruit wasn't a plant, had no seeds, and couldn't be cultivated, so after finishing the last bite, it completely disappeared.

But there was no need to worry about a lack of records. The shadow gods in the mountain kept track of the spiritual essence obtained by officials in the mountain.

Ordering the Mighty Vajra Straw Puppet to move the large stones, Zhao Xing walked out of the cave, looked at the dim sky, and called out:

"Let's go, my followers, to patrol the mountain with me!"