Chapter 135: Ladong Fruit

Amutate seemed to have stopped advancing after reaching Level 79, and now he has broken through the Level 80 barrier. This means the Ladong Fruit forcibly raised Amutate, a Demigod, by one level, and his Soul Strength has reached the level of a Demon King. This Ladong Fruit is quite something.

Zhai Guangyi used ‘World’ to inspect the Ladong Fruit and could roughly guess Ladong’s Special Skill. His Special Skill is essentially a random Treasure Chest—a luck-based Special Skill. Initially, Ladong was only planting ordinary plants, but they could transform into Ladong Fruits capable of enhancing Soul Strength. It is truly astonishing.

After being inspected by ‘World,’ the Ladong Fruit was ultimately classified as a Gold Grade Magic Item. With Zhai Guangyi’s current ‘World’ Level, reproducing one Ladong Fruit would require about 1,000 System Currency. Its effect is to increase Soul Strength by 10%, ignoring rank, Level, or race—a truly remarkable effect, but it only works once.

A 10% increase in Soul means the greater one’s strength, the larger the boost. Amutate had already reached the Peak of Demigodhood, so this 10% increase was significant, which is why he fell unconscious. The stronger one is when consuming this fruit, the greater the boost in strength.

Judging by Ladong’s appearance, he must have already consumed one. Being able to grow such a fruit, he is incredibly lucky in itself. However, he consumed it when his strength was weak—whether that counts as misfortune is hard to say.

Ladong’s Special Skill seems to have significant side effects. Usually, he can always pick up some strange and rare treasures, such as the Book of Fate. This book allows one to see people they will encounter in the future. Previously, in the Wyvern-kin village, this book predicted that Hong Ren would come.

However, this book has already been replicated by Xiong Er using her Special Skill. Xiong Er’s Special Skill can even copy Magic books and items she has seen. As long as she has read the book, she can replicate it with very low consumption. The higher the quality of the book, the more Soul Power is required.

Zhai Guangyi asked Liya to acquire Ladong’s fruits. After all, such a valuable item is being handed out by Ladong like snacks, seemingly unaware of its preciousness. It would be better for the Divine Tree to distribute it to those whose strength matches its value.

However, he couldn’t simply take the fruits without compensation. Zhai Guangyi instructed Liya to tell Ladong that he could request a Gold Grade Magic Item from him. Zhai Guangyi offered this as an exchange to see if Ladong would agree.

Although Liya was somewhat puzzled, the Lord Divine Tree personally contacting her was a rare occurrence. She felt that the Lord Divine Tree had indeed weakened significantly—his voice sounded soft and gentle. It seemed he would need a long time to recover, and she was determined to work even harder to take good care of the weakened Lord Divine Tree.

With this thought, Liya energetically went to find Ladong to ask for his fruit tree.

Ladong looked into the Magic Mirror, hoping to see if there was any business. If Qiao Zhirou and the others ate the fruit, they would surely want to buy more from him. Unfortunately, this fruit can only be consumed once—eating it a second time causes diarrhea and provides no enhancement effect at all. After eating a few himself and discovering this principle, he stopped consuming them. Now the fruits are overstocked, and he can only hope that wealthy Dragonkin friends will come to buy them.

Before the Dragonkin fellows arrived, the Forest Elf Demigod Liya came looking for him.

Ladong held great respect for the Forest Elves here, after all, this was their territory. Lord Divine Tree was his new father figure, and there was plenty to eat and drink here, along with great safety. There were even several Demigods present. It was quite rare for a Forest Elf to seek him out personally.

Upon hearing that Lord Divine Tree had taken an interest in his fruit trees and was willing to exchange a Gold Grade Divine Artifact for them, Ladong was overjoyed. These useless fruits finally had a purpose, and thinking of Xiong Batian’s Spiked Club that could grow and shrink at will—a golden weapon akin to the legendary Ruyi Jingu Bang—he now had a chance to obtain something similar.

In truth, the Jade Dragon Magic Array that Ladong had previously given to Zhai Guangyi was also Gold Grade, but Ladong himself didn’t know. He simply thought it was a life-saving treasure passed down by his ancestors. Now, it had become the primary Defensive Magic Array here.

Ladong immediately led Liya to his orchard, where seven fruit trees were planted. A few Ladong Fruits hung sparsely from the branches, and some half-eaten ones lay scattered on the ground. On the way, Liya had already heard Lord Divine Tree explain the effects of these fruits—they were something even Demigods and the Demon King coveted. In Ladong’s hands, they were truly being wasted.

After transplanting these fruit trees inside the Church, Ladong requested a life-saving Gold Grade defensive tool from Lord Divine Tree, which cost Zhai Guangyi about 5,000 System Currency. Its effect was similar to the previous Jade Dragon Magic Array.

Excitedly taking the Defensive Tool, Ladong happily returned.

Zhai Guangyi stored the ripe Ladong Fruits in the System warehouse, planning to let Xiong Batian, Liya, and other Demigods consume them once their strength reached Level 70.

With matters here mostly settled, Zhai Guangyi’s consciousness returned to his Elven Body. The System and Qing Jiu were still fighting, but Qing Jiu’s stamina was nearly depleted, and he seemed to have aged considerably.

Qing Jiu hadn’t even used up all his Martial Techniques, but a mortal body simply couldn’t sustain such high-intensity combat for days and nights. In truth, Zhai Guangyi’s Elven Body shouldn’t have been able to last that long either, but he used Magic Power to convert into stamina—after all, Magic Power was limitless. Then, the “World” ensured his physical state remained unchanged, as if frozen in a moment, achieving perpetual motion. Of course, Zhai Guangyi couldn’t do this himself; only the System could make the “World” realize such a state.

“Alright, that’s enough.”

A hoarse voice echoed throughout the Arena. Many Demon Race students hadn’t closed their eyes for days, watching the match intently, especially since Demon King Mephistopheles had also arrived at the Arena. They didn’t dare make any inappropriate moves—the Demon King’s presence brought immense Divine Pressure.

Lvqi’s voice acted like a pause button. As soon as it sounded, Qing Jiu collapsed unconscious in the Arena. Upon hearing this voice, many members of the Demon Race collectively turned and knelt before the Demon King in unison, including Hong Ren and Lvqi, all assuming a kneeling posture.

The Demon Race greatly respected the battles of the strong. As long as a fight was ongoing, combat took priority over Demon Race hierarchy—this was their rule. During a battle, kneeling before the Demon King was not required, a tradition the Demon King tacitly permitted, a longstanding custom of the Demon Race.

The Demon King now appeared to be over fifty, resembling a frail old man, yet the aura of a powerful being on his face had not diminished in the slightest despite his aged appearance.

Lilith stood quietly behind Demon King Mephistopheles, motionless. Zhai Guangyi had just taken control of his Elven Body, so it was better for him to handle this situation himself, lest the System be exposed.