Chapter 409: Holy Infant Pill
Upon spotting the evil cultivator's traces through the Void Nightmare Eye, Lu Xuan, who was hiding nearby, took the opportunity to move all other spiritual plants from the underworld courtyard into the Gluttonous Insect Pouch, except for the Holy Infant Fruit.
This was to deceive Ge Pu and the others who came to help. While a single Holy Infant Fruit might not raise eyebrows, the sight of several fourth and fifth-grade aberrant spiritual plants would certainly provoke speculation from someone of noble lineage like Ge Pu.
From Ge Pu's subtle hint earlier, it was evident he had discovered something and took the opportunity to give a gentle reminder.
"That's good to hear," responded Ge Pu, his face breaking into a mild smile.
The three true disciples, two guardian spiritual beasts, and Lu Xuan gathered around the decapitated and deformed corpse of the evil cultivator.
The Profound White Phoenix let out a clear chirp, and a misty spiritual light circled the corpse a few times, confirming the absence of any malevolent presence before stepping back.
Lu Xuan approached and picked up a thin human skin sack from the ground. The sack exuded a slight chill, its texture indistinguishable from real skin.
He also took the evil cultivator's storage bag, breaking the simple seal with his spiritual power to inspect the contents.
Inside were a black banner filled with numerous resentful souls, a black blade with concealed brilliance, several bottles of pills of unknown grades but with significant spiritual energy, and some spirit stones.
At the back, two grey-black tumors nearly the size of fists emitted an aura identical to the Holy Infant Fruit.
"This time, I'm thankful for the assistance of the three Senior Brothers and our two spiritual beast friends for eliminating this powerful evil cultivator," Lu Xuan expressed his gratitude.
"Among the spoils found on the evil cultivator, I would like to keep this embryonic-shaped fruit. The rest can be divided among the Senior Brothers. What do you think?"
"I have no objections," "Lu Junior Brother, you decide," Ge Pu and Huo Lin'er voiced, with Zhong Jingshan nodding in agreement from a corner.
They had come either to repay Lu Xuan for nurturing their spiritual beasts or to form ties after recognizing his talent in botany, not driven by a desire for treasures.
Since the fruit Lu Xuan chose was of unknown use to them, they had no objections to his distribution.
After a brief discussion, Ge Pu received the Thin human skin sack and several pills, Huo Lin'er got the banner of resentful souls and the black blade artifact, and Zhong Jingshan, having already benefited from his toads consuming the halves of the avatar puppet, took some spirit stones.
The phoenix and the monkey, not seeing their preferred spiritual fruits among the items, bid farewell to Lu Xuan and left early.
"Leaving this mutilated corpse here might contaminate the area with its spreading Yin energy, better to take it back for disposal," Lu Xuan suggested before leaving, placing the corpse into his storage bag for a convincing reason.
The others agreed.
"Junior Brother Lu, since that evil cultivator might have accomplices in Jianmen Town, do you need to return to the sect with us?" Ge Pu inquired.
"With a Foundation Establishment completion stage cultivator dead on the spot and the commotion in Jianmen Town raising our fellow disciples' alertness, any accomplices would have fled, not waiting to be found."
"I need to return to take care of some follow-up matters," Lu Xuan confidently said.
"Alright, we'll head back to the sect first. If anything comes up, you can contact us anytime with a messaging talisman," the three said their goodbyes.
Lu Xuan quickly returned to the small courtyard in Jianmen Town using the Floating Light Technique and the Five Elements Escape Art.
The courtyard attracted some curious cultivators and a few Sky Sword Sect inner disciples maintaining order, drawn by the previous commotion.
After waiting for the crowd to disperse, Lu Xuan sneaked back into the courtyard.
The Holy Infant Fruit stood alone in the courtyard, its grey-black infant phantom flashing before merging into the embryonic fruit.
Above the courtyard, the Void Nightmare Eye continued to monitor the surroundings between the void and reality.
"It's surprisingly easy to deal with a Foundation Establishment completion stage evil cultivator."
"It seems my decision to befriend the guardian spiritual beasts and true disciples was exceptionally wise," Lu Xuan mused.
Despite the evil cultivator's advanced cultivation, peculiar avatar puppet, notable artifacts, and secret techniques, he was easily dealt with by the true disciples and spiritual beasts, a feat that would not have been so effortless for Lu Xuan alone.
"This underworld courtyard's exposure necessitates finding a
new location for aberrant spiritual plant cultivation to handle the Blood Woe Flower, Aberrant Longevity Peach, and others," Lu Xuan pondered, approaching the Holy Infant Fruit.
Focusing on the plant, the semi-transparent progress bar was now fully loaded.
"The fifth-grade Holy Infant Fruit has finally matured," Lu Xuan carefully picked the embryonic fruit from the plant.
【Holy Infant Fruit, cultivated from the resentment of infant souls, can be used alone or integrated with the mother plant to enhance its effects. Consuming the fruit can strengthen the spirit and improve one's constitution. It's also a primary ingredient for crafting the fifth-grade Holy Infant Pill, which, if of high quality, can even be used to refine an external incarnation.】
"Though not a complete fifth-grade spiritual fruit, I wonder what reward this offspring fruit will yield," Lu Xuan looked forward to the white light orb that appeared on the plant.
He reached out and gently touched the orb's surface.
Instantly, numerous light spots entered his forehead, and a thought flashed through his mind.
【Harvesting a fifth-grade Holy Infant Fruit, awarded a fifth-grade Holy Infant Pill.】
A chicken egg-sized, dark, round pill appeared in Lu Xuan's hand.
The pill's surface was covered in grey-black spiritual patterns that moved like countless deformed infant faces. The dense, pure Yin energy emanating from within invigorated one's spiritual power upon smell.
【Holy Infant Pill, a fifth-grade pill crafted with the Holy Infant Fruit as the main ingredient. Consuming it slightly increases the probability of breaking through to the Core Formation stage.】