Chapter 30: Snatching Xiao Jian (Part 1)

  Li Ran Dao put the Ling symbol into his own bosom and stored it close to his body, then stretched his hand into the cloth bag again.

  More than twenty pieces of silver were scattered and fragmented, Li Ruo's knife was bluntly and unceremoniously accepted, finally, he actually took out seven fingernail-sized red fruits from the cloth bag, shaped like hawthorn, slightly smaller in size, emitting a faint fragrance.

  Li Ran Dao held the red fruit up to his eyes with a strange expression, carefully identifying it. The skin of the red fruit was quite rough, and when pinched in his hand, it felt hard, just like dried fruit that had been wind-dried for many years. It looked like it shouldn't taste good.

  But Lee No-Knife knew that such a red fruit was originally called Qiong Jiang Guo, a name that was quite lively.

  Li Ruo's bitter smile shook his head. The Qin family didn't know where to find this red fruit, it was indeed a spiritual medicine, but apparently the Qin family missed something even more precious.

  Don't look at the red fruit being so dry, but when its medicinal properties are strongest, it's extremely tender and moist inside, as if wrapped in a layer of light jelly.

  Jade syrup fruit generally grows in the crevices of flame spirit stones, with plants growing to about one foot tall. Each jade syrup fruit can produce eight to ten fruits. After the jade syrup fruit is ripe, if no one picks it, the liquid inside the fruit will gradually seep out and drip onto the flame spirit stone below.

  After a long time, after the medicinal properties of the crystal dew fruit have completely dripped out, the crystal dew fruit will be thoroughly dry. At that time, it can only be used to make some ordinary insect-repelling medicines.

  The two red fruits in Li Ran's hand still retained some medicinal properties, but how would the Qin family know that the Fire Spirit Stone that carried the essence of the Jade Dew Fruit was the real treasure.

  Huǒ Líng Shí originally had a low rank, but after absorbing the energy of the Qióng Jiàng Guǒ over time, it may evolve into a true spirit stone.

  At this stage, Li Ruo's knife is still at a level where he has to use gold and silver to buy things. In the future, when his power grows stronger and he enters the true realm of cultivation, he will be using spirit stones instead.

  A piece of Fire Spirit Stone can at least buy several stalks of spiritual medicine.

  He let out a sigh, and Li Ran put the red fruit into the cloth bag in his bosom as well, slowly standing up.

  The spiritual medicine is profound and subtle, the subtleties inside are not something ordinary people can grasp. Only a spiritual medicine master like Li Ruo Dao can have piercing eyesight, seeing many things from subtle clues.

  But Li Ruo didn't have time to regret losing the treasure for someone else's sake now that he had to leave.

  If I can't find a few more spiritual herbs before leaving the valley and break through to the fifth level of Jingyuan's power, it will be difficult for me to participate in the Xuanji Sect's disciple selection competition half a year later.

  Li Ran's knife raised its head, bit its teeth, and jumped up several zhang. Then, with hands and feet working together, it drilled out of the rattan sea in a few ups and downs.

  Continued to climb up for dozens of feet, Li Ran's heart felt a sense of loss, and he turned his head to look at Teng Hai, wondering what kind of superior immortal was in that cave, who could actually lay out the entire spiritual array on top of the Misty Valley, and use this dense patch of vines as a screen barrier in front of the door.

  Shang Xian's methods still shocked Li Ruo with a sense of trepidation from his past life experiences.

  Just as he turned around, Li Ran's gaze fell on a spot in the sea of people, and he suddenly froze.

  Looking down from the waist of the mountain, Li Ruo saw that not far away in the sea of rattan, there was another empty space with a width of more than ten zhang, just like a courtyard surrounded by green plants, exactly the same as the front door of the cave mansion on the other side.

  "What's going on?"

  Li Ruo's heart was pounding, and he vaguely sensed something. He quickly turned around and jumped down from the cliff, rushing into the sea of vines and sprinting in that direction. After running for a while, Li Ruo's head emerged from the sea of vines and entered an open area.

  Li Ran's eyes widened as he found himself standing in a quiet "courtyard", with a bluestone path leading straight to the mountain wall, and on the mountain wall, two slightly smaller stone gates were quietly open, with mountains, rivers, stars and other celestial bodies carved on them.

  Inside the stone gate, a passageway extends into the belly of the mountain, with thin mist swirling around it, like an immortal realm.

  Li Ran's knife had some blood on it, and he was both excited and nervous in his heart, barely concealing the excitement. He had already guessed that this should be the back door of that cave mansion, or one of the several passages of the cave mansion.

  "Since there are different channels to enter, doesn't that mean that even if I encounter the man in green inside, he won't be able to block me? Heaven has not been unkind to me, and at a time when I had completely given up, it actually allowed me to see hope again."

  Li Ran's heart was burning with a flame, and in this situation, if he didn't go in to investigate, wouldn't he regret it for the rest of his life.

  Li Ran gritted his teeth and rushed out, taking a few steps to arrive in front of the two stone gates. With a flash of movement, he squeezed through the open gate.

  A chilly atmosphere fills the cave, and the rocks emit a lustrous glow.

  The luster of each piece of mountain rock is not very bright, but the entire passageway is made up of this kind of mountain rock, and it's as bright as daylight here. Thin fog floats quietly in the soft light, like being in a dream.

  Li Ruo carefully felt his way forward in the passage, walking for several miles before seeing more colorful lights shining through from a distance ahead, apparently the exit.

  Li Ruo held the short crossbow in his hand, loaded with the last remaining sharp arrow, and stepped forward cautiously.

  Closer to the exit, Li Ran held his breath, his feet making no sound as he walked to the end of the corridor and peeked out, stunned for a moment.

  The exit of the passage was hidden in a patch of wisteria, and through the gaps in the wisteria, one could see that in front of them, beneath their feet, lay a spacious cave with an area of over ten zhang. Inside, there were stone tables and chairs, complete with everything. On one side of the cave, a dark stream flowed slowly, and on the walls of the cave, sparse wisteria climbed up, with unknown flowers blooming brightly, filling the room with a strange fragrance.

  Li Ruo's dagger was in the passage, which was actually at the highest point of this stone mansion, covered by a piece of wisteria. He crouched behind the mountain rocks and looked down, with the entire cave house under his eyes.

  That man in green was squatting in front of a green jade stone bed, his hands stuck to the bed, using all his strength to pull something out like pulling a radish.

  Li Ran's knife was already at the fourth level of Jingyuan's power, his eyes were much sharper than before, he looked down and stared intently, a small sword about the length of a palm was stuck in the middle of the stone bed, dull and unreflective.

  "A small sword? Could it be that a Small Sword Technique treasure has been left behind?"

  Li Ran's heart skipped a beat as he saw this, the small sword was clearly left behind by the master of this cave. What kind of treasure would be left behind by such a high-level immortal? Was it a spiritual artifact? A flying sword?

  Li Ran's eyes were burning with excitement, and upon closer inspection, he saw that the small sword on the stone bed was neither gold nor stone, nor wood nor jade. It had a dull gray color and seemed to be made of some unknown material. The man in green was sweating profusely, his fingers grasping at the hilt of the sword as he tried with all his might to pull it out from the stone bed, but no matter what he did, he couldn't budge it.

  Li Ran's gaze swept through the cave again, except for the stone-cut utensils, it was empty and didn't see any strange objects, nor did he know whether they were taken away by the green-robed man or if there was nothing to begin with.

  That emerald green jade bed had a warm and smooth texture, obviously not an ordinary product, but the bed was too big to be moved away.