A Bountiful Harvest

Huang Jingjun was in utter despair. Even his elder brother had been defeated, losing an arm. Who could possibly save him now? The young hunter before his eyes gripped a blood-stained saber. He was still the very same person, yet his image had completely transformed. Earlier, Huang Jingjun had wanted to force the boy into the heavenly light to harvest the herb, finding him foolishly naive for asking his brother questions even on the brink of death. Looking back now, when a faint sneer had hung on his lips and his brother had chuckled good-naturedly, had this youth not been looking at them the exact same way? The three-colored flower was on the verge of maturity. Luminous mist swirled around it, and its refreshing fragrance grew richer by the moment, clearing the mind and invigorating the spirit with every breath. Qin Ming was deeply captivated. He turned to dig up the jade box beneath the pile of rubble, fearful of missing the optimal window for harvesting—who knew if such a spiritual flower would rapidly wither after blooming? Huang Jingde clutched the stump of his severed arm with his left hand. The right side of his body was drenched in blood, his armor sodden, leaving behind a trail of bloody footprints as he staggered backward. Seeing Qin Ming turn away, Huang Jingde did not consider ambushing him. Instead, he cast a lingering look at his younger brother and prepared to flee. As long as he could survive, even a crippled body was better than death. Although Qin Ming was eager to harvest the three-colored flower, he was not one to make amateur mistakes. How could he possibly let a third Newborn expert slip away right under his nose? Without even turning his head, he hurled the long-handled dark-gold hammer from his left hand. How ferocious was his physical might? Thrown with full force, it could blast a crater into a city wall. Huang Jingde let out a bloodcurdling scream. The very instant he turned, a crisp snap rang out—the sound of shattering bone. Through the agonizing pain, he felt his spine break. No longer able to support himself, his vision spun, and he collapsed to the ground with a dull thud. Having retrieved the jade box, Qin Ming moved swiftly forward, for the three-colored flower was opening in full bloom at a visible pace, extraordinarily radiant and beautiful. Nothing was more important than this. Qin Ming stepped into the heavenly light where swirling colorful mist flowed, heading straight up to the fragrant spiritual plant. It grew beside a fissure amidst the rubble, only about a foot tall, yet its bloom was quite large. With all its petals unfurled, it was the size of a fist. The heavenly light surging from the fissure made even Qin Ming feel slightly tight in the chest and uncomfortable. Bathed in a rain of light, the entire spiritual flower was glistening and translucent, now in full bloom. In the heavenly light, the body of the blossom was predominantly silver, laced with gossamer veins resembling rosy clouds, while the petal edges were a crystalline, translucent blue. Its petals resembled willow leaves, yet sharper, with defined, angular edges. Packed in layer upon layer, the numerous petals together resembled a miniature forest of blades—beautiful, yet radiating an undeniable sharpness. "Fully ripe!" Qin Ming set to work, clearing the rubble aside and digging up the entire three-colored flower with his bare hands. From foliage to root, it was entirely three-colored, brimming with dense vitality. With a snap, Qin Ming shut the jade box and exhaled a long breath, having successfully secured the priceless spiritual flower. "Today is truly a double blessing!" Qin Ming felt elated, brimming with a sense of triumph. After venting his fury by killing the men from Golden Rooster Ridge, he had acquired both blue jade iron and this spiritual flower. Nearby, Huang Jingjun coughed up mouthful after mouthful of blood in pure rage. Hadn't those been their exact words earlier? By now, his vitality was completely spent, and he clearly had little time left. "My thanks to you both for your generosity. I spent several days bustling about the mountains, yet never reaped as much as I did today." Qin Ming’s gratitude was genuinely heartfelt. Huang Jingde was equally incensed, stifled fury threatening to burst through his chest. He had envisioned a dazzling future, on the verge of using the spiritual flower to cultivate heavenly light force, but now everything was gone! Regardless of whether they were already drawing their dying breaths, Qin Ming still walked over and finished them off one by one, sending them on their way with clean, decisive strikes. Searching their bodies, he unexpectedly found a candle on Huang Jingde. A moment's thought revealed its purpose: it was meant to seal the seams of the jade box with wax. "Thorough!" he marveled. That way, even if mutated creatures possessed keen senses of smell, they likely wouldn't catch a scent. In the end, Qin Ming dragged the two Huang brothers and laid them alongside the elder from Golden Rooster Ridge and the two Golden Rooster knights. With great reluctance, he put down the long saber and silver spear. These weapons were far too conspicuous; there was simply no way he could carry them out and use them. By now, chaos reigned underground. Mutated creatures of all kinds had stormed in. Qin Ming arrived in an area echoing with thunderous roars, immediately drawing the attention of several ferocious beasts. Soon after, the elder from Golden Rooster Ridge and the Huang brothers became "flesh-and-blood elixirs" for the mutated beasts. Above ground, birds of prey circled overhead. A silver giant eagle with a wingspan of a full ten meters led numerous winged mutants in surveilling the entire Grand Rift Valley. Down in the subterranean world, even Cao Long, Mu Qing, and Wei Zhirou looked grim, gathered alongside the elders of their respective clans. "We've already spotted creatures mutated four or even five times out in the open!" "Let's hold our ground underground. At least we are deep in the Grand Rift Valley rather than by the entrance; our position is relatively decent. The mutated creatures can't sustain an assault here for long. Once word gets out, Chixia City will definitely send reinforcements." In the subterranean karst caves, even Qin Ming was feeling the pressure. In such utter chaos, it was no longer suitable to fish in troubled waters. It was far too bloody; some of the mutated beasts were extraordinarily brutal, ripping people to shreds before devouring them. While searching for a path, he had already slain several mutated creatures. He couldn't flee toward the depths of the Grand Rift Valley; relying on his memory, he made his way toward the area where the mountain villagers had disappeared. Qin Ming reasoned that some of the veteran hunters might know a way leading out of the valley. Having spent years roaming the mountains, their survival skills and preservation instincts were top-notch—a fact evident from how they had made the right choice the instant they went underground. A giant white bear with feral, bloodthirsty eyes and a maw dripping with blood charged straight at Qin Ming, two corpses impaled on its razor-sharp claws. "I can't take down this giant bear!" Qin Ming sensed the danger; this behemoth was far fiercer than a creature mutated three times. He quickly fled into the distance. He had experienced thrilling escapes like this from a young age; making a living in the mountains at fourteen or fifteen had truly been a series of brush-with-death escapes. Back then, however, he had faced ordinary wild beasts and had people like Lu Ze and Xu Yueping looking out for him. Now, he was up against a behemoth that had mutated multiple times. It had been a long time since Qin Ming had faced such a gory, terrifying scene. His only option was to keep running; stopping meant death. Fortunately, the underground tunnels were dense and crisscrossed like a spiderweb, with some passages extremely narrow. The giant white bear was blocked. In its fury, it slammed against the stone walls, shaking the entire tunnel violently and sending rocks tumbling down, while the two corpses impaled on its massive claws were mangled beyond recognition. Qin Ming knew Golden Rooster Ridge and the Three-Eyed Cult would suffer catastrophic losses this time. The small portion of survivors had already bolted toward the territory held by Huang Jingde's clan. Many pathways throughout the karst caves were stained with blood. Roars of mutated beasts and cries of humans echoed from time to time; whenever the two sides met, one was bound to fall. Moving along the narrow tunnel, Qin Ming emerged in another area just in time to see an elder of the Three-Eyed Cult meet a gruesome end, gored through the chest by the thick, long horns of a giant golden bull. This third Newborn elder had suffered a miserable fate: having no sense of direction, he had wandered around in circles, unable to escape this area. Otherwise, with his strength, he would have reached the Huang family's territory long ago. Instead, he had become utterly disoriented. The giant golden bull's massive horns were already strung with five corpses. With a violent toss of its enormous head, all the bodies went flying, slamming against the stone walls with dull thuds and leaving behind splatter after splatter of blood. Beneath its feet lay yet more corpses, already trampled to mush by its gigantic hooves. Its hide, as sleek as satin, was nearly soaked red with blood. Spotting Qin Ming, it immediately snorted plumes of flame from its snout and charged toward him. Seeing its ferocity, Qin Ming knew he was no match and wheeled around, ducking back into the cramped passage. Hurling threats or curses at a terrifying beast was pointless now. He could only hope the brute would quickly move on. Having his life outside his own control was a terrible feeling. Qin Ming felt a burning urge to grow stronger. In a place like this, if a creature mutated multiple times but small in stature appeared, he would surely die. Crash! The giant golden bull's horns were more terrifying than a gleaming saber, shattering the rock wall into fragments as massive chunks of stone fell amid billowing dust. The flames spouting from its mouth scorched the rock face red-hot, unleashing waves of sweltering heat. "No wonder a third Newborn elder was no match for it and died horribly in the tunnel." Qin Ming's heart raced as he retreated deeper into the passage. Only after a full quarter-hour did the giant golden bull finally depart. Having spotted a two-legged beast, it had been loath to leave without a kill. Qin Ming waited a little longer until outside grew considerably quieter. He crept out, and though he still encountered some mutated beasts along the way, they were far less dangerous. Eventually, he squeezed into a fissure barely wide enough for a person. Once through, the going became slightly easier; this was the area the mountain villagers had entered last. Qin Ming stumbled forward, stepping unevenly. It was absolute darkness here, but thankfully he carried a sunstone with him. Even so, after struggling through the rugged, treacherous paths for the better part of an hour, he finally emerged from the murky subterranean fissure, leaving the Grand Rift Valley behind to arrive in a dense forest. Qin Ming couldn't help admiring those experienced veteran hunters. Had he tried to find this escape route on his own, he could never have found it so quickly. He couldn't help marveling: the mountain villagers prospecting for ore had originally been in the most perilous predicament, yet in the end, they were the ones who had made it out alive. Of course, that was also because they had begun saving themselves the moment they entered underground. If they had been pursued down by mutated beasts like Golden Rooster Ridge and the Three-Eyed Cult, how would they have had time to search for a way out? Qin Ming let out a long breath. Whatever the case, he had finally escaped with his life. The mountains were quiet; as he hurried along, he hardly saw any living creatures. Qin Ming slowed his pace. Many dangerous mutants in the mountains had charged into the Grand Rift Valley. As he pondered this, he suddenly came to a halt. "If I remember correctly, the lairs of that white bear and golden bull are less than ten li from here. They rank among the most formidable creatures in the outer reaches of the mountains." Decisive in action, Qin Ming turned and sprinted toward a certain direction. When he had encountered those two behemoths, he had nearly been slaughtered. Though he ended up without a single scratch, the ordeal had been perilous in the extreme. Had he not found that narrow passage, he would either have been torn to shreds by bear claws or impaled on bull horns. Qin Ming decided that while the two behemoths were away, he would go raid their dens.