As expected, there was liquid inside the golden fruit. A cluster of exceptionally viscous fluid flowed within Old Man Dique's palm, yet it was not golden, but a magma-like crimson.
Even now, Qin Sang caught no fragrant scent from the spiritual fruit.
He stared at the fluid, a look of perplexity surfacing in his eyes. For some reason, this fluid gave him an odd sense of familiarity. He was certain he had never seen it before, so the only possibility was that he had read a record of something similar in an ancient tome.
Shrouded in Old Man Dique's spiritual power, the mass of fluid hovered in midair, gleaming with an intoxicating, jade-like luster. Even more astonishing was that, from time to time, faint golden glints flashed within the fluid.
The golden glints were exceedingly minute; without careful observation, one would easily overlook them.
Qin Sang soon discovered that these golden glints were far from ordinary. They resembled runes born of heaven and earth, utterly beyond human craftsmanship to engrave, shrouded in profound mystery.
*Could this be...*
Something abruptly clicked in Qin Sang's mind, his eyes narrowing in sheer astonishment.
"Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold!"
Old Man Dique gazed entranced at the fluid before him, murmuring under his breath as he uttered its true name, confirming Qin Sang's suspicion.
Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold.
A rare, wondrous spiritual material seldom found in heaven and earth. Shaped like liquid gold yet crimson in color, resembling flowing lava, it had earned the name Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold.
Qin Sang was so astonished because records stated that this was no spiritual medicine, but a material for artifact forging—and a precious one that could be used to forge magic treasures!
Ancient tomes clearly stated that Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold was a marvel born between heaven and earth, so how could it have grown from a vine?
At the same time, Qin Sang noticed that this cluster of fluid was not entirely identical to true Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold; the golden glints within it were far less dense than described in ancient records.
Just as Qin Sang was racking his brains in bewilderment, Old Man Dique reached toward his spirit beast bag with his other hand, releasing the two Fire Jade Centipedes and separating a single droplet of Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold onto his palm.
As though sighting the most delectable delicacy, the two centipedes pounced forward impatiently, vying with each other to devour it.
The droplet of Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold shrank at a rate visible to the naked eye, swallowed into the bellies of the two Fire Jade Centipedes. Old Man Dique then held his palm before him, looking down at the centipedes with eager anticipation.
Seeing this, Qin Sang also fixed his gaze upon the Fire Jade Centipedes.
After swallowing the Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold, the centipedes suddenly became languid, losing all their earlier vitality. Soon, a new transformation took place on their bodies: at the tip of every single leg, a tiny tuft of flame sprouted. The centipedes seemed to tread upon fire, making their fire-jade bodies appear even more crystalline and translucent.
Before long, however, the flames extinguished, and the Fire Jade Centipedes returned to their original appearance. Yet Old Man Dique's expression only grew more and more excited.
*Is this... metamorphosis?*
Qin Sang had possessed the Fire Jade Centipedes for so long and consulted so much information that he understood their habits thoroughly. He knew that treading on blazing fire indicated they were about to begin their metamorphosis!
The metamorphosis of rare insects was akin to a cultivator breaking through a bottleneck.
With every metamorphosis, their strength underwent a qualitative leap.
By the same token, the difficulty of an insect's metamorphosis was extraordinarily high, far harder than a human cultivator breaking through a bottleneck!
Moreover, the conditions required for metamorphosis differed for every kind of rare insect.
The Yuling Sect was the most adept in the art of beast taming, yet it was said that even they knew very little about the world's rare insects. Coupled with the fact that various rare insects had practically gone extinct in today's cultivation world, almost no one bothered to study them anymore.
The Fire Jade Centipedes were currently equivalent to the peak of the Mortal Demon stage—the peak of the thirteenth layer of the Qi Refinement stage for human cultivators. In truth, when Qin Sang first acquired the Fire Jade Centipede twenty years ago, it had already possessed this level of strength.
Judging purely by strength, the Fire Jade Centipedes should have begun metamorphosing long ago.
Yet despite devouring so much Qianyang quartz and fire elemental stone over the years, not only had their strength failed to advance, but there had also not been the slightest sign of metamorphosis, showing just how difficult it was for rare insects to transform.
Naturally, Qin Sang had not dared to lightly allow the Fire Jade Centipede to metamorphose either. Once it did, its strength would rival his own; without having bound it as its master, relying solely on external restrictions would make it extremely difficult to subdue.
Yet after consuming a single droplet of Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold, they actually showed signs of metamorphosis! Of course, it was merely a sign for now; whether they could succeed and how long it would take remained uncertain.
Even so, Qin Sang was still greatly astonished. He shifted his gaze, staring intently at the mass of fluid.
Without a doubt, the Fire Jade Centipedes' impending metamorphosis was entirely thanks to the fruit of the Red Gold Vine.
He simply could not tell whether the metamorphosis was induced by the fluid itself, or if they had consumed enough spiritual materials over time that this droplet was merely the final catalyst causing a qualitative leap.
Old Man Dique suddenly burst into laughter.
"Haha... It truly is so! It truly is so!"
He promptly swept the Fire Jade Centipedes back into his spirit beast bag, then turned his head toward Qin Sang with an amused look in his eyes.
Perhaps because obtaining the fruit of the Red Gold Vine had put the old ghost in high spirits, he took the initiative to explain, "What this old man loves most is collecting the world's rare insects. Long ago, I heard that Patriarch Kuiyin obtained the ancient demonic Heart-Devouring Insect, so I lurked near the Kuiyin Sect for over thirty years. At long last, I found an opportunity to capture someone controlled by a Heart-Devouring Insect. To my dismay, the Heart-Devouring Insect was actually dead; Patriarch Kuiyin had used his secret methods to refine its corpse into an insect parasite, keeping only its outward appearance. It wasted this old man's time for nothing! Who would have thought that Old Ghost Yi possessed such rampant ambition, not only launching a sneak attack on the Yuanzhao Sect, but even daring to scheme against Shaohua Mountain. He never stopped to consider his own stature. Without Patriarch Kuiyin striding like a colossus, the Kuiyin Sect was reduced to an empty shell, yet he dared to play the snake swallowing an elephant! Sure enough, he choked himself to death... What was Old Ghost Yi's objective in planting you as a spy in Shaohua Mountain?"
Qin Sang's eyes flickered. Old Man Dique concluding that he was a spy planted in Shaohua Mountain by Old Ghost Yi was already the best possible outcome.
What objective could he possibly have had? He had simply wanted to find a place to shelter himself.
"This junior does not know. Sect Master Yi did not speak plainly back then, and later this junior heard news that the Kuiyin Sect had been destroyed by the Yuanzhao Sect. Since then, Sect Master Yi has never contacted me..." Qin Sang replied.
Old Man Dique sneered. "Old Ghost Yi is finished; naturally, he couldn't contact you. And not just Old Ghost Yi—the Yuanzhao Sect detests the Kuiyin Sect to the bone and pursues them relentlessly to this day. Barely a handful of survivors remain, practically no different from total extermination. Of the three great Golden Cores, only one is left now. Furthermore, he was tracked down in the Ancient Immortal Battlefield by helpers assembled by the Yuanzhao Sect's new sect master; his Golden Core was heavily damaged, forcing him to abandon his physical body and flee for his life. Who knows which dark corner he's scraping by in now—perhaps he has already died beneath the celestial phenomena of the Ancient Immortal Battlefield. So you need not fear; the people of the Kuiyin Sect won't be coming to cause you trouble."
Qin Sang had also been secretly inquiring into the current situation of the Kuiyin Sect and the Yuanzhao Sect, but his channels were limited, and the Yuanzhao Sect seemed to be intentionally suppressing information, leaving the news he gathered vague and ambiguous.
Especially at the Golden Core level, most rumors were mere wind-catching shadows, unworthy of trust.
Only from Old Man Dique's lips had he learned, for the very first time, the definitive whereabouts of the Kuiyin Sect's last Core Formation cultivator.
Chapter 249