Upon hearing Lu Ming suggest that their cultivation was suppressed because they ate the spirit fruits, neither Big Yellow nor Huang Tianbao believed him. After all, they had never heard of such a thing.
Subsequently, they began to conduct various tests.
They could leave the island at will, and they even dragged over some Golden Core stage cultivators from the island to test them. There was no suppression at all; only their cultivation was suppressed.
As for their previous test, the reason they hadn't detected anything was that the marmot was naturally at the Foundation Establishment stage to begin with.
“Senior Brother, Second Senior Brother, I didn't mean it! I didn't know these spirit fruits could suppress cultivation...” Huang Tianbao apologized to Lu Ming and Big Yellow with a miserable look on his face while searching through some records.
Lu Ming sighed. “It’s fine. It’s also my fault for not testing it more thoroughly...”
However, Lu Ming was still muttering to himself in his heart. Could he and Big Yellow have been jinxed by Huang Tianbao’s special physique? That shouldn't be right. His own protagonist physique should be able to suppress a physique that jinxes others to death, shouldn't it?
Could this be the trials and tribulations that come with being a protagonist? Thinking of this, Lu Ming glanced secretly at Big Yellow and Huang Tianbao. He felt a bit embarrassed; they had likely been dragged down by him...
If he had known, he wouldn't have traveled with them... The two men and the dog spent a day and two nights scouring the island before finally finding the properties of the spirit fruit in a jade slip.
Spirit Locking Fruit. This kind of spirit fruit was not poisonous, and eating it could even increase one's cultivation. The side effect was that after consumption, one's cultivation would be locked for a period of time. As for how long it would be locked, it varied depending on the individual's cultivation level.
For Soul Transformation stage cultivators like them, it would be locked for several months...
Seeing this answer, the two men and the dog couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. It was good as long as their cultivation could be restored. If their cultivation were truly lost, they would probably cry themselves to death on this deserted island.
“What do we do now?” Big Yellow asked, looking depressed.
After all, they still had to participate in the Saintess's Husband Selection Assembly. What if they couldn't recover by then? It was fine for it and Huang Tianbao; at worst, they just wouldn't participate. But what about Lu Ming?
When the time came, he would definitely have to step onto the stage. Once he was up there, and that Saintess saw that Lu Ming was actually at the Foundation Establishment stage...
Lu Ming was thick-skinned, so he didn't mind much. But what if the Saintess saw Lu Ming's low cultivation and felt insulted? What if she got so angry she killed herself? Would the Tiansheng Sect then wipe out the Eastern Province in a fit of rage? If that happened, their sin would be enormous.
Huang Tianbao also looked at Lu Ming with some embarrassment. Lu Ming rubbed his chin. “Let’s head to the Central Province first...” After all, there were still several months before the Saintess's Husband Selection Assembly; they might recover by then...
...
Two months later, on the sea near East Sea County in the Central Province, two men and a dog were disheveled as they rowed a tortoise shell. East Sea County was a prosperous major county in the Central Province near the eastern sea.
“Damn it, we're finally here...” Lu Ming spat and cursed.
Big Yellow and Huang Tianbao also nodded repeatedly. Their journey here could be described as a disaster every three steps and a catastrophe every five. It was nothing but hardship...
After their cultivation was suppressed, every demon beast, whether in the sea or in the sky, treated them as prey. If not for their superior equipment and extensive experience in running away, they would have ended up in the bellies of demon beasts...
“Sigh... we took a huge loss on this trip. We have to find a way to make up for it...” Lu Ming lamented as he looked at the nearby shore.
Big Yellow and Huang Tianbao both nodded in agreement; they absolutely had to make up for it. They had relied on arrays, talismans, and pills to escape all the way here... which of those hadn't been bought with spirit stones?
“Dark Mysterious Snake, a mid-stage Golden Core demon beast! Selling the whole thing, demon core intact...”
“Wow... it’s actually a complete Dark Mysterious Snake! The demon core of a Dark Mysterious Snake is an essential material for refining Xuyuan Pills!”
“Hehe, this fellow daoist has a keen eye. My friends and I managed to kill it only after a great deal of effort...”
“Ah... I want it! Nobody snatch it from me!”
Lu Ming and the other two watched this shill act and couldn't help but curl their lips. There really were scammers everywhere! Seeing Lu Ming and the others turn to leave, both the seller and the buyer of the demon beast couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.
They weren't suckers! What a waste of that dramatic performance...
...
“Boss, the spiritual energy in the Central Province is much denser than in our Eastern Province...” Big Yellow's eyes darted everywhere as it spoke.
Lu Ming nodded. Although their spiritual energy was currently locked, they could still sense the concentration of spiritual energy. It was at least three times denser than in the Eastern Province or the Northern Province.
Just then, a gold-robed Foundation Establishment cultivator intercepted Lu Ming and the others. “Fellow daoists, please wait!”
Lu Ming asked with some confusion, “What is it?”
“Fellow daoists, have you just returned from the sea?” Without waiting for Lu Ming's answer, the gold-robed cultivator continued, “Don't worry, I mean no harm. I’m from the Chunfeng Merchant Guild. If you have any hunted demon beasts, you can sell them to our guild. By the way, we are a legitimate merchant guild...”
He added that last sentence at the end. Lu Ming, Big Yellow, and the others were all stunned. Were there actually illegitimate merchant guilds in this region?
“To be honest, we had no harvest from this trip to the sea...” Upon hearing Lu Ming's words, the cultivator from the Qianduo Merchant Guild stepped aside. “My apologies for disturbing you. If you have any demon beasts or spiritual herbs to sell in the future, please consider my Chunfeng Merchant Guild. Our prices are fair.”
As he spoke, he handed Lu Ming a sound transmission jade token.
“No problem.” Lu Ming smiled and took the jade token, then turned and left without looking back.
After seeing Lu Ming and the others leave, the gold-robed cultivator began searching for a target in the crowd again. Just as Lu Ming and the others left the shore and were preparing to find a place to rest, five or six Foundation Establishment cultivators suddenly surrounded them.
One of them, a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator, pointed at Lu Ming and the others. “You few dare to run away...”
This sentence immediately left Lu Ming and the others bewildered. What was the situation?
“I advise you to come back with us quietly...”
Lu Ming took another look. Damn, they had encountered people who had set their sights on them. It was obvious that these people hadn't mistaken them for someone else. They simply saw that they were outsiders and wanted to capture them!
He just didn't know if they were going to be taken to have their kidneys harvested or to serve as male escorts.
“Senior Brother, are they trying to take us to be male escorts?” At that moment, Huang Tianbao’s curious voice rang out.
That one sentence immediately left the Foundation Establishment cultivators opposite them bewildered as well. Damn... they had encountered a narcissist!
Just look at the three of you. Which one of you has the qualities to be a male escort? We can't go around insulting the term male escort!
Rate on N.U.
