This darkness was deep and warm, giving an unprecedented sense of belonging and safety. It felt as if one could be free from any harm while enveloped within it.
Was this a dream? Or had she already died? Was the afterlife so warm and peaceful? Since she was already dead, could she see her master?
As if responding to her thoughts, her master appeared in the darkness the next moment, smiling. He still wore his patched-up ragged robe, his messy silver-white beard and hair, carrying a wine gourd on his back. He always tried his best to put on the airs of a lofty immortal, yet somehow always looked rather sleazy.
He didn’t speak, just smiling as he gazed at her, but his eyes clearly said: Well done.
She instinctively wanted to reach out and grab him, but as soon as her body moved, the darkness before her suddenly cracked inch by inch. Countless beams of light poured in, and she heard crisp cracking sounds. The comforting, thick darkness left her in an instant. Her eyes, long unaccustomed to light, were overwhelmed by the sudden intense brightness, causing her to cover them with her hands.
Countless cold snowflakes fell on her head, brushing past her bare body. It took Li Fei a long time to barely adapt to the external light. What entered her vision was a dazzling expanse of white. She found herself in a vast, snow-covered landscape. Behind her stood a tree of unimaginable height and thickness, already covered in ice and snow.
Without even needing to marvel or guess, just one glance was enough for her to immediately understand that this tree was the Jianmu that had nurtured her.
Li Fei tried to get up, but her hands pressed into something soft and warm. The ground beneath her was soft and yielding. She was sitting inside a cracked, enormous white fruit. Inside the shell were countless snow-white, paper-thin, soft skins. They were moist and warm, exactly the feeling she had been longing for earlier.
She had returned to the foot of Jianmu, once again become a fruit, and hatched once more.
Li Fei couldn’t quite sort out her jumbled thoughts. Her memory was still stuck at that moment before she fell into the East Sea. How much time had passed? How did she come to the overseas lands? How did she return to Jianmu? Why was everything here covered in ice and snow? The entire mountain, including Jianmu, was encased in ice. It was impossible to count how thick the ice layer was.
Her body was craving Yuan Power. She was so parched, empty inside. Without Yuan Power to protect her body, the icy world was about to freeze her solid.
Li Fei instinctively curled her body into the cracked giant fruit. The soft, warm skins enveloped her once again. Almost by instinct, she used Spirit Absorption. The snow-white fruit transformed into concentrated Yuan Power, which she absorbed into her body, alleviating her newborn thirst. At the same time, countless images flowed into her mind – the various secrets passed down generation after generation after the Jianmu Fruit matured and broke out of its shell. In an instant, she understood them all.
When she opened her eyes again, the cracked fruit had disappeared. Her body was full of vigorous Yuan Power, and she was neatly dressed in an ancient-style white robe. On the ice surface, only two horns remained – one translucent and lustrous, her treasured Si Zhi Jiao; the other black and slender, the Yaksha horn of Lei Xiu Yuan that had been split by celestial thunder.
Li Fei had just carefully placed both horns in her bosom when she heard a familiar voice shouting from behind: “You rascal!”
She immediately smiled, turning around with a grin. Sure enough, she saw the giant white nine-tailed fox suspended in mid-air, staring at her with wide eyes. He seemed to have grown even larger, and his snow-white fur now emitted an unprecedented faint silver glow. He looked less and less like a demon beast and more like a “Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox.”
“Ri Yan!” Li Fei cheered as she pounced on him, burying herself in his lush fur, rubbing her hands, face, and body against it with abandon. The next moment, she was unceremoniously thrown out by one of his tails.
“Get away! You’re disgusting!” Ri Yan glared at her, his remaining five long tails swaying dreamily. The four tails that had been torn off by the Dian Cang Mountain water technique had grown back, but they were still very short, like four furry balls clustered at his rear. It somewhat comically softened the majestic and imposing image of this giant nine-tailed fox.
Li Fei looked at his ball-like tails, remembering how he used to be only the size of a thumb, and couldn’t help but chuckle.
“What are you laughing at?!” Ri Yan’s tone became excited, “What’s going on with you? How did you turn into a big fruit again? Do you know how many years you’ve been a fruit? Four hundred years! Look at the ice and snow here! The entire island has been frozen for four hundred years!”
Li Fei smiled slightly: “It was to resist the celestial thunder and sea of fire within me, so the island was frozen. Don’t worry, the ice will melt soon.”
Ri Yan was stunned for a moment. Looking carefully at her expression, he realized that this girl’s gaze was resolute as if she wasn’t surprised at all by the overseas scenery she was seeing for the first time. This wasn’t like her at all. This fool usually made a fuss over everything, always finding something to ask about. After more than four hundred years, what secrets had she comprehended inside the fruit?
Although more than four hundred years had passed, the events of that day were still vivid in his memory. He had been controlled by Li Fei, involuntarily carrying the severely injured Lei Xiu Yuan to the overseas lands. As soon as he was able to stop, he wanted to fly back in exasperation. He couldn’t watch another important person die before his eyes again. He hadn’t made it in time for Qingcheng last time; was he going to be too late this time as well?
Yes, this demon had truly developed feelings for them – feelings of companionship and camaraderie. Once one experiences the warmth of human emotions, it becomes unforgettable. He could now understand the little girl’s reluctance to leave the Central Plains and her attachment to it. Complete detachment and transcendence would never be the true aspiration of any sentient being. So now he could understand why Qingcheng had insisted on returning to the Central Plains back then, and why he had insisted on treating the Jianmu Fruit as a person.
It was precisely for this reason that he was determined to go back and save her. But he hadn’t gone far before he was blocked by the newly reformed celestial thunder and sea of fire. Lei Xiu Yuan’s condition was also dire – the Yuan Power net woven from his essence was almost used up, his injuries hadn’t healed, and most seriously, his broken horn. A Yaksha’s abilities relied on both horns and having one forcibly split by celestial thunder meant he had instantly lost more than half his life. The Yuan Power overseas wasn’t as rich as in the Central Plains, and he wasn’t in the peak Yaksha body of years past. He might die if they weren’t careful.
He couldn’t let this kid die. The little girl had risked her life to save them, so keeping himself and Lei Xiu Yuan alive was the only thing he could do.
He remembered that the island with the mountain forest where Jianmu grew had relatively abundant Yuan Power – after all, it was where the Jianmu Fruit had grown. Ri Yan hurriedly flew towards the Jianmu island carrying Lei Xiu Yuan. To his surprise, Li Fei, whom he thought had died at the hands of the Central Plains immortals, was also there. She looked strange, with both eyes closed, her snow-white skin still falling like snow, floating in front of Jianmu.
He had only called out to her once when he saw her falling white skin suddenly gather together, enveloping her body, gradually turning into an unopened Jianmu Fruit, hanging back at the treetop. Suddenly, ice rapidly formed, nearly freezing him inside as well. He hurriedly fled the island, barely escaping.
Over these years overseas, apart from aimlessly wandering around when idle, he pondered about Li Fei turning back into a Jianmu Fruit. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t understand. Could a Jianmu Fruit that had already become human turn back into a fruit? And what was with the ice? He went to the island daily to check the situation, watching as the ice layers encased the entire island along with Jianmu, eventually affecting nearby sea areas and islands. For over four hundred years of endless winter, was Jianmu alright? Would the little girl freeze to death inside?
Until today, Ri Yan, like every day for the past four hundred years, came to the island to check on Jianmu’s condition. To his surprise, he immediately saw Li Fei standing safely under the tree. His surprise and curiosity had reached their peak, and he could no longer maintain his elder’s façade. For the first time, he questioned her: “Did you learn something? If you did, just say it! Don’t keep it to yourself!”
Li Fei was indeed a straightforward child. She simply sat in front of him and recounted the stories passed down through generations of Jianmu Fruits as if reciting from memory.
“When you and Master cut me down from the tree before, the fruit had only been forming for less than a hundred years, far from maturity. Before a Jianmu Fruit matures and breaks out of its shell, it needs to stay in the fruit for five hundred years.”
That’s why when she was forced out of the fruit, the fruit became her human body, protecting her through seventeen years in the Central Plains.
“After I was forced to absorb the celestial thunder and sea of fire, I was called back by Jianmu to go through the remaining four hundred years. Now I’m truly a Jianmu Fruit.”
Ri Yan listened with his eyes wide open: “There’s such a good thing? Then where did all the previous Jianmu Fruits go?”
Li Fei sighed: “I was called back to be nurtured again because I hadn’t matured. Mature Jianmu Fruits wouldn’t have this experience.”
Since learning about the existence of Jianmu Fruits, this was the first time Ri Yan had heard these things. He felt he had a belly full of questions to ask, and immediately fired them off like a string of firecrackers: “What’s the difference between mature and immature ones? And what’s the deal with that celestial thunder and sea of fire? Oh right, and the sea calamity…”
Li Fei laughed heartily: “Now it’s your turn to bombard me with questions. I wasn’t mature, so the celestial thunder and sea of fire nearly killed me. Now they won’t be so difficult. As for the celestial thunder and sea of fire disaster during the sea calamity, it’s because, in recent times, Jianmu Fruits were fought over by Yakshas as soon as they broke out of their shells. They were either imprisoned or killed immediately, with no one to manage them, so the celestial thunder and sea of fire would rush towards the Central Plains.”
Even in the most ancient records of the major immortal sects in the Central Plains, there was no mention of the sea calamity. This natural disaster suddenly occurred about ten thousand years ago, originating when the Jianmu Fruit of that time absorbed the celestial thunder and sea of fire and went to the Central Plains to absorb Yuan Power, but was killed by the joint forces of the Central Plains immortal sects. The sudden death of the Jianmu Fruit caused panic among the Yakshas who relied on them the most. Subsequently, whenever Jianmu produced fruits, they were snatched by Yakshas as soon as they hatched, resulting in no one to absorb the celestial thunder and sea of fire, which then rushed towards the Central Plains time and time again.
Thinking about it, the reason wasn’t that complex. The Central Plains immortals had an almost yearning fear of the overseas lands, but how could they know that the overseas people didn’t long for the rich Yuan Power and beautiful landscapes of the Central Plains? In the past, when there were Jianmu Fruits, the Yuan Power overseas wasn’t as scarce as it is now. But as Jianmu Fruits encountered accidents time and time again, after many five-hundred-year cycles, the foreign cultivators gradually learned not to rely on Jianmu Fruits. Instead, they took advantage of the celestial thunder and sea of fire’s anomalies every five hundred years to move towards the Central Plains. After encountering merciless interceptions once or twice, grudges naturally formed over time.
Ri Yan let out a long breath. He had only one last question: “Why must the Jianmu Fruit absorb the celestial thunder and sea of fire to go to the Central Plains to absorb Yuan Power?”
Li Fei shook her head: “I don’t know either. Things in this world, since they exist, probably have their reasons. It’s like why humans need to eat, or why people from Fire-Hating Island can breathe fire. The celestial thunder and sea of fire are probably something similar for Jianmu Fruits.”
At this point, she suddenly looked around: “I’ve been talking to you for so long, my mouth is dry. Why are you the only one here? Where’s Xiu Yuan?”
Ri Yan, unusually, hemmed and hawed: “Him… he… uh…”
Li Fei suddenly stood up in shock: “His injuries haven’t healed?! How could I forget that four hundred years have passed? Where is he?! Could it be… could it be…”
Ri Yan’s eerily green eyes stared at her. After a long pause, he finally said: “He’s not dead. He’s alive and kicking. Don’t worry. If you want to see him, I can take you there now.”