The other eleven party members were rather reluctant to pass up the spoils, but they had to honor their original arrangement, or the group would fall apart, so they could only begrudgingly concede. "Yeah, it's your turn." The man was ecstatic, and he eagerly strode toward the body propped up against the tree. That's funny, why hasn't his Five Spirit Parasite come out? Is he still not completely dead? With a swing of his saber, he decapitated the body, but there was still no Five Spirit Parasite to be seen. Right at this moment, a string of explosions rang out as the objects concealed by the woman beneath the bodies were detonated in unison, sending countless needles as thin as strands of hair erupting in all directions. All of the twelve party members were instantly reduced to human pincushions, with the one that had stepped forward to claim the spoils bearing the brunt of the damage. The needles struck them with an excruciatingly itchy sensation while simultaneously sealing their cultivation base away, and they immediately fell to the ground, rolling around in unbearable agony. A pleased look appeared on the woman's face upon seeing this, and right as she was about to spring out of hiding to claim her spoils, Fang Che beat her to the punch. In the blink of an eye, he had already decapitated four of the twelve party members, "Stop!" the woman yelled in a furious voice as she rushed out with sword in hand, but Fang Che paid no heed to her as he continued his killing spree. In the blink of an eye, four more were decapitated, and the woman was furious! She hurriedly turned around to kill the remaining four party members, but she only managed to cut down three of them before the final one was also slain by Fang Che. Their Five Spirit Parasites began to devour the Five Spirit Parasites of the deceased, while the woman turned to Fang Che, looking livid with rage. "Hold on, let's talk!" Fang Che hurriedly said. "What is there to talk about?" the woman spat through gritted teeth. "Aren't you the one who was talking trash to everyone outside? Surely you're not scared of anyone!" "Of course I'm not scared, but I can tell that you're a formidable opponent. As you can see, all of these people had already joined forces. Right now, I'm on my own, and you appear to be in the same boat, so how about we become a couple?" "How dare you take liberties with me!" the woman yelled in a furious voice as she lashed out with her longsword. Fang Che parried her attack with his sword as he hurriedly amended, "Sorry, that's not what I meant, I was saying we should become a duo... Hey, are you listening to me? Stop!" The woman refused to listen. She had set up a trap to claim twelve lives, only for Fang Che to take nine of them, and there was no way she would let him off the hook! Joining forces with Fang Che was the last thing she wanted to do right now! Seeing as a peaceful resolution was no longer a feasible option, Fang Che was forced to fight, but he quickly found himself on the back foot, only able to passively defend against the woman's attacks and hold on for dear life. Not only was the woman's cultivation base far superior to his, he could tell that she was an exceptional prodigy who hadn't taken any pills to artificially enhance her own cultivation base. Even the aptitude of the likes of Mo Ganyun paled in comparison with hers. She was definitely at least an eighth-rank General, but Fang Che had fought eighth-rank Generals in the past, and none of them had given him this much trouble. If it weren't for the near endless supply of spirit power provided to him by the Boundless Sutra, he would've most likely already been overwhelmed. "What the hell's wrong with you, you crazy woman?! I'm just trying to forge an alliance with you, not take you as my wife!" Fang Che snapped. "I don't forge alliances with dead men!" the woman scoffed. She could see that Fang Che's cultivation base was inferior to hers, and she was determined to cut him down where he stood. A loud clang rang out as Fang Che's wind steel sword was knocked aside, and a gash was sliced into the front of his robe, almost disemboweling him. "Crazy bitch!" Fang Che yelled. "You must be hiding behind that mask cos you're ugly as fuck!" The woman became even more infuriated, and her attacks rained down with even greater ferocity. Fang Che continued to ward off her attacks while instructing the Golden Horn Flood Dragon to assist him, and it immediately appeared out of thin air before circling around to position itself behind the woman in a stealthy fashion. Right as it was about to pounce, the woman suddenly felt a chill run down her spine, and she immediately sprang back in retreat before pointing the tip of her sword at Fang Che in a wary manner. "What dirty tricks are you up to?!" Taken aback by her sharp instincts, Fang Che immediately instructed the Golden Horn Flood Dragon to stop what it was doing and return to him. He then raised his head and yelled, "What are you waiting for? Get her!" There's someone behind me? The woman instantly spun around while also protecting her own back in case Fang Che attacked her from behind, but there was no one behind her. She immediately spun back around, just in time to see Fang Che throwing up a mouthful of blood before fleeing the scene at an astonishing speed. That bastard used the Blood Incineration Technique! The woman's eyes were smoldering with fury as she yelled after the fleeing Fang Che, "Cowardly bastard! You're not getting away next time!" Fang Che fled to close to three hundred kilometers away in one go before finally stopping to catch his breath. He was feeling rather disappointed at the way that things had turned out. His plan was to forge an alliance with the woman, then find an opportune moment to stab her in the back and take her spatial ring. She's too strong, I'll have to find another opportunity to get her later! Fang Che hurriedly began focusing on his own recuperation. He hadn't sustained any significant injuries, but the force of the clashes that he had endured against the woman were still lingering in his body. That confirms it! For a woman to be this strong, she has to be ugly as hell! With that notion in his mind serving as consolation, he immediately felt much better. Right as he was recovering from his injuries, his attention was drawn to some faint sounds of battle that had suddenly begun ringing out in the distance. He hurriedly withdrew his spirit power, then made his way toward the direction the commotion was coming from. As he approached the scene, the sounds of battle grew louder and louder, and he quickly came to realize that this was a large-scale battle, rather than just a clash between two combatants. As he drew closer, he caught a whiff of a strong, bloody odor carried to him by a gust of wind, but it was also accompanied by some other scent, one that left Fang Che feeling rather perplexed. It was quite a refreshing and fragrant scent, and it was remarkable that it managed to stand out even through the gag-inducing odor of blood. A fragrant scent in the midst of a large-scale battle... Fang Che's eyes instantly lit up as the only reasonable explanation sprang into his mind. There had to be some natural treasure up ahead! This was not an opportunity that he was going to let slip. He didn't know exactly what natural treasure was at stake and how many people were fighting over it, but he was certainly going to find out. Up ahead was a ridge that resembled a natural wall, and the battle was taking place on the other side. Fang Che flew onto the summit of the ridge, and he was just about to jump down the other side when he stopped cold in his tracks. The ridge really was a wall. The summit of the ridge was only around half a meter in thickness, and on the other side was an almost completely vertical rock face that extended down for several thousand feet. Only from there did the terrain gradually begin to flatten out into a basin that was enshrouded in mist. Within the basin were three clear factions, at the center of which were some combatants who were locked in a fierce battle. The three factions remained passive bystanders, and all they did was try and recruit the newly arrived General's entering the basin. Clearly, these three factions were building up forces to fight over something, but Fang Che couldn't see what it was that was at stake. Only after descending until he was roughly three hundred feet from the ground did he notice that there was a very conspicuous cloud that was situated far too low an altitude. Furthermore, it was somehow able to hold itself together and refused to dissipate even in the face of the shockwaves sweeping through the basin from the clashing Generals. The cloud was the source of the fragrant aroma that Fang Che had detected earlier, and the sight of the cloud reminded him of a legend that he had once heard. There was an entry in the "Journal of the Exotic" that spoke of a Cloud Water Heavenly Fruit. In the Journal of the Exotic, the Cloud Water Heavenly Fruit was ranked third on the Exotic Fruit List, and it was consumable for anyone, from ordinary laymen to unfathomably powerful warriors. It posed no harm to the consumer, and among warriors, it was also known as the Tenfold Pill. Once consumed, the medicinal power of the fruit that couldn't be absorbed wouldn't dissipate at all. Instead, it would be stored in the consumer's meridians, and it would cleanse the consumer's body once per day. Furthermore, it could enhance one's rate of cultivation by tenfold. For example, if a Warrior Master could normally only absorb a cup's worth of spirit power through cultivation per day, that amount would increase to ten cups' worth after consuming the fruit. Similarly, if an Emperor could absorb a vat's worth of spirit power in a day, then consuming the fruit would increase that amount to ten vats' worth. If one didn't cultivate after consuming the fruit, then it would only cleanse the consumer's body, and its other medicinal powers would be retained, only coming into effect once the consumer resumed their cultivation. These downright absurd benefits would continue to take effect all the way until the medicinal power of the Cloud Water Heavenly Fruit was completely expended, and it was said that consuming the fruit could elevate someone with completely blocked meridians with no cultivation aptitude to a prodigy with legendary aptitude! It was unclear how long the plant took to grow, but it would bear fruit within six hours of its flower coming into full bloom. The fruit was fully ripe from the moment it took shape, and it would fall from the plant on its own. If it weren't consumed in a timely fashion, then its spirit qi would dissipate into the environment to nourish the land, providing unspeakable benefits. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on NoveIꜰire.net