Chapter 451: Heart Ape Fruit
"Let's agree on this, then. Lu Xuan, you will cultivate the spirit fruit needed for brewing Monkey Child Wine for me. Once it matures, I will give you some of the wine and a few other items."
Hearing Lu Xuan's suggestion, the old ape became even more intrigued.
The secret recipe was a hereditary tradition of the White Jade Heavenly Ape lineage. Once they reached a certain stage of growth, their bloodline would activate, granting them access to the brewing secrets automatically. Therefore, the ape was not worried about human cultivators discovering the details of the recipe.
Having such a skilled cultivator in spirit plants right before its eyes, the ape naturally wouldn't let this opportunity slip away.
"I happen to have a spirit seed inside me. I will take it out for you now, Lu Xuan."
The old ape opened its mouth, and a spirit seed the size of a chicken egg slowly floated out from its belly.
"The spirit fruit is called the Heart Ape Fruit. Its condensation process is closely related to my White Jade Heavenly Ape lineage. It must be nurtured with essence and blood to properly cultivate."
Lu Xuan carefully received the spirit seed.
The seed was pale gold, and inside the thin husk seemed to be a miniature ape embryo, curled up into a ball. Upon closer inspection, it transformed into a cluster of golden shadows.
"Elder White Ape, is there anything special I need to be aware of when cultivating this Heart Ape Fruit seed?"
Although he had the ability to understand the information about spirit plants upon planting them, it was still important to ask the old ape outright.
"The Heart Ape Fruit is a fifth-grade spirit plant, which demands a high-quality spiritual soil and spiritual qi. There's nothing else particularly special about it."
"However, one more thing to note is that while cultivating this Heart Ape Fruit, your mind may be influenced by it, potentially causing emotions such as restlessness and irritability to arise involuntarily. Please be mindful of this, Lu Xuan."
"Understood. Thank you for the reminder, elder."
Lu Xuan bowed in thanks and stored the pale gold seed in his storage bag.
He continued to chat over tea with the old ape.
"By the way, elder, is there a forbidden area within this blessed land? Could you tell me more about it? I'd like to learn a bit about it."
He recalled the Thunderstorm Bear that had difficulty giving birth due to the influence of the aura around the forbidden area.
Now that he was taking over the management of the blessed land on behalf of Uncle Cangwu, it was crucial to understand all the potential dangers within, to prevent any accidents during his stewardship.
"A forbidden area? There is such a place, but it's not of much concern to you or me," the old ape said leisurely, sipping hot tea.
"As for what's inside, it mainly houses unfortunate or ominous spirit beasts and demons."
"Although the spirit beasts within the blessed land have been tamed from a young age, they still originate from demonic natures, which are difficult to control. It's inevitable that attacks or even killings of Sky Sword Sect cultivators may occur."
"Some with special bloodlines need to be suppressed within the forbidden area to prevent harm to other spirit beasts or cultivators."
Lu Xuan nodded lightly in understanding.
It was challenging enough for sect members to coexist peacefully, with disputes and even deaths being common. Managing demonic beasts was evidently even more difficult.
"There are also demonic beasts captured by the sect or half-transformed aberrant creatures kept in the forbidden area, used as food for certain spirit beasts within the blessed land, for sect research, drug testing, or for breeding new species of demonic beasts, and so on."
"It's not as peaceful and serene inside as it is outside the blessed land. Mostly, it houses fierce and bloodthirsty creatures."
"Unlike me, who is refined and easygoing, valuing harmony above all."
The old ape squinted its eyes, nodding its head as it spoke.
"..."
Lu Xuan remained silent. Had he not known the old ape's true nature after feeding it, he might have believed its words just based on its demeanor and speech.
"With so many ferocious and aberrant creatures inside, there shouldn't be any safety issues, right?"
Lu Xuan asked worriedly, fearing that during his management of the blessed land, there might be an outbreak of demonic beasts breaking the prohibition.
"Rest assured, there are numerous powerful prohibitions outside the forbidden area. Even if several fifth or sixth-grade demonic beasts or aberrant creatures attacked simultaneously, they couldn't break out."
"Unless there's a seventh-grade great demon that breaks the prohibition in a short time before the sect can react."
"…Don
't jinx it, old fellow…"
Lu Xuan inwardly screamed.
But outwardly, he remained composed:
"Then I'm relieved."
"That old fox inside often likes to wander around the forbidden area, but nothing has happened so far."
"That Beast Control Command in your hand can also easily pass through the prohibitions and enter the forbidden area. If you're curious, you might want to take a look."
Lu Xuan quickly shook his head.
"I'd rather not."
Although he was somewhat interested in the so-called hybrid demonic beasts, it was wiser not to approach that area given his limited strength.
He sat with the old ape for a while longer before returning to the Cloud House.
The cloud formation was covered in a type of white, fine sandy spiritual soil, slightly more potent than ordinary spiritual soil, but without any spirit plants growing in it.
When Lu Xuan first saw it, he thought it was a waste not to fill the fine sandy spiritual soil with spirit plants.
Now, the fine sandy spiritual soil had found its use.
He took out the Heart Ape Fruit seed from his storage bag.
With spiritual power flowing, he performed the Earth Attraction Technique, and the structure of the spiritual soil accumulated on the surface of the cloud formation changed subtly, silently forming a crack.
Lu Xuan placed the pale gold seed into the crack, and wisps of Spirit Rain fell, moistening the seed.
The golden ape embryo inside the seed seemed to sense something, its body quietly stretching a bit.
Lu Xuan focused his mind on the seed, and suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind.
[Heart Ape Fruit, a fifth-grade spirit plant, is a unique fruit of the White Jade Heavenly Ape lineage. The seed's condensation is extremely complex, requiring nourishment from essence and blood, and high demands for spiritual qi and spiritual soil during its growth phase.]
[Once mature, the fruit can be consumed directly to cleanse the marrow and refine the mind and body, integrating them into a cohesive whole. It can also be used to concoct certain special high-grade pills or brew the unique Monkey Child Wine of the White Jade Heavenly Ape lineage.]
[It holds great attraction to ape-type demonic beasts.]
[During the growth period of the spirit plant, staying nearby for an extended time can disturb the cultivator's mind, making it difficult to concentrate, which is detrimental to cultivation.]
[Lock the heart ape, tether the mind horse!]
"Fifth-grade spirit fruit…"
Lu Xuan's heart swelled with joy.
"Unexpectedly, a visit to the blessed land yielded a fifth-grade spirit fruit."
"Considering its information, it's a rare variety indeed. I can look forward to the rewards when it matures."
His lips curled into a slight smile.
"As for the disturbance to my mind, detrimental to cultivation…"
"As long as I'm not cultivating, there are no pros or cons to consider."
Lu Xuan thought to himself.
Cultivation was secondary to him compared to farming. Given his limited talents, it was better to focus on farming more, opening more luminous orbs, and using the infinite unknown rewards from the orbs to compensate for his finite talents.