Chapter Fifty-One: The Bloodshade Fruit

Jiang Feng found it utterly unbelievable. The little tree before him looked frail and weak, yet from within it emanated waves of fierce, domineering energy. In fact, Jiang Feng felt that this aura was a hundred times more savage than his most powerful killing move, the Eight Dragon Sonic Death!

Suddenly, he recalled that the Blood Fiend Tree had been forged in the Age of Extinction by a group of masters possessing Nether Soul Power, who had joined forces to create it. The aura lingering for a thousand years had not diminished in the slightest; on the contrary, it had grown even more abundant. Absorbing the vast essence of heaven and earth, the Blood Fiend Tree had become the most formidable tree in the entire Eastern Netherworld!

And the small tree before him bore the purest Blood Fiend Fruit, infused with the most concentrated fiendish aura. Naturally, one could not judge this tree by its appearance.

"Kid, why don't you try picking those Blood Fiend Fruits?"

Jue was stirred beyond measure, as if he himself, rather than Jiang Feng, could resonate with the Blood Fiend Tree.

At Jue's urging, Jiang Feng smiled and nodded. For reasons unknown, whenever he used his Nether Soul Power to communicate with the Blood Fiend Tree, he felt a deep sense of kinship—like a greeting between family members, or a long-lost letter from an old friend.

"Could it be that I am a descendant of those people?" The absurd thought flashed through Jiang Feng's mind, but he quickly shook his head with a wry smile. After so many years, even if descendants from the Age of Extinction remained, it was unlikely that he was one of them. Besides, he had checked his family records more than once—the earliest ancestor listed was only from three hundred years ago, while the Age of Extinction dated back several millennia.

Still, being able to resonate with the Blood Fiend Tree was a good thing; at the very least, it helped him repeatedly find his way forward. He placed his hands upon it, caressing its surface as if it were the most flawless, gentle jade, leaving no corner untouched.

To his astonishment, each Blood Fiend Fruit held a different aura: some were as sharp as flying swords, others as steadfast as towering mountains, and still others flowed with the speed of a hunting leopard—swift as lightning!

Amusingly, one aura was so lively it bounced up and down like a flea.

Such distinctive auras were rare; most resembled sword energy, which confirmed his suspicion: thousands of years ago, people were adept at wielding swords. In present-day Eastern Netherworld—and indeed the whole world—a multitude of Nether Artifacts were used, and swords were no longer the mainstream. For example, Jiang Feng himself wielded the Nine Heavens Steel Blade.

After sharing all this with Jue, the elder was not as excited as Jiang Feng expected. Instead, he listened calmly, as if hearing a story, and at the end gave a faint smile. "They did indeed use swords then. All those with Nether Soul Power believed the sword was the most elegant artifact. Only after their extinction did other Nether Artifacts grow popular."

"Senior, are you saying they were very closed off?"

"Heh, you could put it that way," Jue replied with a bitter smile, his gaze deep and distant, as if recalling painful memories. He stared at the vibrant Blood Fiend Fruits before him. "Nether Soul Power is vastly superior to Nether Power; a single ordinary Nether Soul wielder could easily defeat someone in the Illusory Nether Realm. Those who mastered the second stage of Nether Soul Power were even more extraordinary. Sigh, but enough of that. There's no point in telling you all this. You should focus on your own task."

They fell into a brief silence. Then, sensing the atmosphere growing too cold, Jue switched to a mischievous grin and winked at Jiang Feng. "Why don't we pick all the Blood Fiend Fruits here? Then we can form an army of Nether Soul wielders and become invincible!"

Jiang Feng naturally took this as a joke. Yet, to the Blood Fiend Trees surrounding them—underfoot, overhead, all around—it felt like a threat.

A naked threat!

"This isn't good. They seem to have grown hostile toward us!" Jiang Feng's heart shuddered. The faint aura emanating from the Blood Fiend Trees suddenly surged, now tinged with murderous intent. He was annoyed but couldn't tell Jue, so he muttered, "Senior, it seems your words angered them?"

Jue donned an innocent, harmless expression and looked at Jiang Feng blankly. "How could I have angered them? It must have been you. You must have said something wrong while communicating with them. Tell me, what exactly did you say?"

Jiang Feng was speechless, so aggrieved he felt as if snow could fall in June or frost in March. He grumbled inwardly—this was classic elder's privilege!

But debating with Jue about who had angered the Blood Fiend Tree wasn't the most pressing concern. The real issue was that the Blood Fiend Tree was now furious. If it chose to vent its anger, what would happen?

Jiang Feng waited anxiously, his nerves taut as if thunder had suddenly crashed on a clear day. By contrast, Jue was far more composed, his curious gaze flitting here and there, indifferent to Jiang Feng's fate.

"Senior, could you maybe be a bit more serious?" Jiang Feng pleaded, thinking simply that two were stronger than one. Though Jue was now but a wisp of soul, his experience and wisdom were invaluable. Surely he could help.

But Jue was unmoved. His eyes grew stern as he retorted, "I've always been serious. It's you who should be keeping your eyes on the Blood Fiend Tree, not on me. Are you dissatisfied with me?"

Jue's words were so bombastic that Jiang Feng felt as if a hundred cats were scratching at his heart, driving him mad.

At last, Jue fell silent. Jiang Feng barely had time to rejoice when he realized, in despair, that the reason Jue had stopped speaking was that the Blood Fiend Tree was now venting its wrath upon them!

The frail, slender tree suddenly shuddered, and a single Blood Fiend Fruit dropped to the ground. Once it touched earth, it seemed to root itself, and the misty surroundings suddenly locked into darkness, as if they were sealed inside a pitch-black chamber.

"What’s happening?" Jue’s voice in the darkness was lazy, almost disinterested. "No idea, don’t know, haven’t a clue."

Jiang Feng almost cursed aloud, frustrated, as he summoned his Nether Power to create a glowing orb that floated above, hoping to illuminate the Blood Fiend Fruit and see what was wrong.

But he was soon plunged into despair—a near-total surrender.

"Seriously? Even light can’t exist here?" As he feared, the orb made of Nether Power shone for an instant before vanishing completely, leaving not a trace behind.

Worse still, within the darkness, a faint sound of swords singing emerged.

Clang! Clang!

The sound grew louder and sharper. At first, Jiang Feng thought it was his imagination, but soon realized it was real.

It was truly sword song—pure and authentic.

"So their form of punishment is to let a Blood Fiend Fruit imbued with sword aura torment you," Jue said, suddenly enlightened. "Quite a creative punishment, not bad at all."

"Not bad? Why am I always the one suffering?" Jiang Feng cried out in misery, forced to use his Twenty-Five Shadow Dance Soul Shattering Steps, narrowly dodging a shrieking wave of sword energy near his ear.

Close call!

He knew clearly that if he were a moment slower, he would likely have met his end.

"Blood Fiend Tree, you’re being petty! We mean you no harm—can you please desist?" In his panic, Jiang Feng resorted to the most basic method: surrender.

Jue rolled his eyes, unconcerned. "Do you really think they’ll believe you? This is the Blood Fiend Tree, after all. The aura of Nether Soul wielders lingers inside. Of course they’ll think you’re faking surrender."

Feigning surrender—three black lines appeared on Jiang Feng’s forehead. He nearly stumbled and fell.

It was the first time he’d heard anyone think so convolutedly!

"Elders within the Blood Fiend Tree, can you hear me?"

Jue shot Jiang Feng another look of disdain, sneering, "Afraid of death at such a young age! Even if your ** is damaged, we can always cultivate a new one together!"

Jiang Feng shook his head vigorously, dodging several sword energies with a look of frustration. "I don’t want to damage my **. My cultivation isn’t high yet, so wasting my ** now would be a terrible loss!"

"That’s still better than being shredded to pieces by this fierce sword energy!"

The reality was just as Jue said: the sword energies were ferocious, like scythes from the deepest netherworld long deprived of souls, now catching a whiff of Jiang Feng’s vitality and rushing at him heedlessly, stabbing at him from all sides.

Their speed was like thunder on level ground, flashes of light unending.

Only by using the purest forms of his Shadow Dance Soul Shattering Steps could Jiang Feng dodge them all.

But this was not a sustainable solution.

Suddenly, he remembered—he was also a Nether Soul wielder. If he didn’t use his power now, when would he ever?

The nascent Nether Soul Power within him surged at his command, roaring with excitement like soldiers long denied the scent of blood, suddenly told they were going into battle, charging forward with wild abandon!