Chapter 46: A Bountiful Harvest

Huang Jingjun was in utter despair. Even his brother had been defeated and lost an arm. Who could save him now?

The young hunter in his eyes, carrying a blood-stained long knife, was still the same person, but his image in his eyes was completely different.

Earlier, he had even tried to force the other party to gather herbs in the sunlight, and he found the other party naive and ridiculous, still asking his brother for advice when he was about to die.

Looking back now, he had a faint sneer on his lips, while his brother was all smiles. Weren’t the other side looking at them the same way?

The tricolor flowers are about to ripen, the light and mist flow, and the refreshing fragrance grows stronger and stronger, clearing the mind and invigorating the spirit.

Qin Ming was deeply attracted and turned to dig out the jade box under the pile of rocks, fearing that he would miss the best time to pick it, as who knew whether this kind of spiritual flower would wither quickly after blooming.

Huang Jingde covered his severed arm with his left hand, his right side was covered in blood, his armor was soaked, and he staggered backward, leaving bloody footprints on the ground.

After seeing Qin Ming turn around, he didn’t think of launching a sneak attack. Instead, he took a deep look at his younger brother and was about to flee. If he could live, even if he was crippled, it would be fine.

Although Qin Ming was eager to pick the three-colored flower, he couldn’t possibly make a basic mistake. How could he let a master who had been reborn three times escape right under his nose?

Without even turning his head, he sent the long-handled black gold hammer flying out of his left hand. How powerful was he? With all his might, he could smash a crater in a city wall.

Huang Jingde screamed in agony. Just as he turned around, he heard a sharp cracking sound—the sound of bones breaking.

He felt his spine break in excruciating pain and could no longer support him. He felt dizzy and fell to the ground with a thud.

After taking out the jade box, Qin Ming quickly walked forward, because the tricolor flower was blooming in full at a speed visible to the naked eye, and it was exceptionally gorgeous and beautiful.

There was nothing more important than this. Qin Ming rushed into the flowing, colorful mist and light of the sky, heading straight for the fragrant, spiritual plants.

It grows beside a crack in the ground among piles of rocks, only about a foot tall, but its flowers are quite large, with many petals that can be as big as a fist when unfolded.

Sunlight burst forth from the crack in the ground, making Qin Ming feel a bit suffocated and uncomfortable. The entire spirit flower, bathed in the rain of light, was glistening and in full bloom.

In the sunlight, the flower is mostly silver with streaks of red like rosy clouds, while the edges are blue and translucent.

Its petals resemble willow leaves, but are sharper, even with angular edges. There are many petals, layer upon layer, which together resemble a small jungle of swords. Although beautiful, they also exude a sharp and edgy feel.

“It’s perfectly ripe!”

Qin Ming moved aside the rubble and dug out the entire tricolor flower with his bare hands. From the leaves to the stem, it was tricolor and full of vitality.

With a snap, Qin Ming closed the jade box, let out a long breath, and successfully plucked the incomparably precious spiritual flower.

“Today is truly a double blessing!” Qin Ming was overjoyed, filled with a sense of accomplishment. After venting his anger by killing the people of Golden Rooster Ridge, he unexpectedly obtained both blue jade iron and this spiritual flower.

Beside him, Huang Jingjun coughed up blood from anger. Weren’t those the words they had spoken? Now he was on his last legs, and it seemed he wouldn’t survive.

“Thank you both for your generosity. I spent several days working in the mountains, but I didn’t get as much as I have now.” Qin Ming’s gratitude came from the bottom of his heart.

Huang Jingde was also furious, his anger was about to burst out of his chest. He had originally seen a bright future, about to use the spiritual flower to practice the Heavenly Light Force, but now everything was gone!

Regardless of whether they were on the verge of death, Qin Ming still went over and finished them off one by one, cleanly and efficiently sending them on their way.

During the search, he unexpectedly found candles on Huang Jingde’s body. After thinking for a moment, he realized how to use them: they were to seal the gaps in the jade box.

“Strict!” he exclaimed, “This way, even if some strange creatures have a keen sense of smell, they probably won’t be able to detect it.”

Finally, Qin Ming carried the two Huang brothers and placed them together with the old man from Golden Rooster Ridge and the two Golden Rooster Knights. He reluctantly put down the long sword and silver spear.

These weapons are too conspicuous; he really can’t take them out to use.

Chaos had broken out underground, with all sorts of strange creatures breaking in. Qin Ming arrived at the area with the loudest roars, instantly attracting some ferocious mutated creatures.

Subsequently, the old man from Jinji Ridge and the Huang brothers became the “blood and flesh medicine” of the aliens.

Raptors circled on the ground, and a giant silver eagle with wingspans of up to ten meters led a host of flying creatures that monitored the entire Great Rift Valley.

In the underground world, even Cao Long, Mu Qing, and Wei Zhirou’s expressions changed as they gathered with the elders of their clan.

“We’ve already seen creatures that have mutated four or even five times!”

“Let’s stay underground. At least we’re deep in the Great Rift Valley, not at the exit, so our location is pretty good. The aliens can’t hold out here for long. Once the news gets out, someone from Crimson Cloud City will definitely come to our rescue.”

Even Qin Ming was impacted in the underground cave. In such a chaotic situation, it was no longer suitable to take advantage of the situation; it was too bloody. Some of the alien creatures were extremely brutal, tearing people apart and eating them.

While searching for a way out, he had already killed several mutated creatures.

He couldn’t possibly run deeper into the Great Rift Valley; following his memory, he headed towards the area where the mountain people had disappeared.

Qin Ming guessed that some veteran hunters might be able to find the way out of the valley, because they had been in the mountains for many years and had a lot of survival experience and survival skills. This was evident from the fact that these people made the right decision as soon as they entered the underground.

A giant white bear with ferocious eyes and a mouth full of blood, its sharp claws piercing two corpses, charged straight at Qin Ming upon seeing him.

“I can’t take down this giant bear!” Qin Ming sensed danger; this beast was far more ferocious than the creature that had mutated three times.

He fled quickly into the distance. He had experienced such a thrilling escape when he was young, having made a living in the mountains when he was fourteen or fifteen. It was truly a near-death experience.

However, back then he was facing ordinary beasts, and he had Lu Ze, Xu Yueping and others to take care of him. Now he has encountered a giant beast that has mutated many times.

Qin Ming hadn’t faced such a bloody and terrifying scene in a long time. His only option was to keep running, or he would die if he stopped.

Fortunately, the underground passages are densely packed, like a spider web, and some areas are quite narrow.

The giant white bear was blocked and angrily pounded the stone wall, causing the entire passage to tremble violently, stones to tumble down, and the two corpses hanging on its large paws to be mangled and bloody.

Qin Ming knew that Jinji Ridge and the Three-Eyed Sect would suffer heavy losses this time, and the small number of survivors had already rushed towards the territory occupied by Huang Jingde’s family.

Blood stained many paths within the underground cavern, and the occasional roars of strange creatures and shouts of humans could be heard. If the two sides were to encounter each other, one side would inevitably fall.

Qin Ming walked forward along the narrow passage and came out of another area just in time to see an old man from the Three-Eyed Sect die tragically, his chest pierced by the thick horns of a giant golden bull.

The elderly man, who had been reborn three times, was in a rather unfortunate situation. He had no sense of direction and wandered around in circles, never managing to leave the area.

Otherwise, with his strength, he would have already run to the Huang family’s territory; he’s completely lost here.

Five corpses were already hanging from the two enormous horns of the golden bull. With a powerful swing of its massive head, all the corpses were flung away, crashing against the stone wall with a series of thuds, leaving behind pools of blood.

At its feet lay some corpses, already crushed by the enormous hooves of the bull.

The golden giant bull’s smooth, silky fur was almost completely stained red with blood. Upon seeing Qin Ming, it immediately spewed fire from its mouth and nose and charged towards him.

Seeing its ferocity, Qin Ming knew he was no match for it, so he turned around and re-entered the narrow passage.

Exchanging harsh words and curses with a terrifying alien creature is useless now; he can only hope that the beast will leave quickly.

The feeling of not being able to control his own life and death was terrible. Qin Ming had a strong desire to become stronger again. In this kind of place, if a smaller creature that had mutated multiple times appeared, he would surely die.

“Bang!”

The golden bull’s horns were more terrifying than gleaming longswords, smashing the stone wall to pieces, causing large chunks of rock to fall and billowing dust to rise.

The flames it spewed from its mouth turned the rock wall red, and waves of heat rolled in.

“No wonder even the old man who had undergone three rebirths was no match for it and died tragically in the passage.” Qin Ming’s heart pounded, and he retreated deeper into the passage.

A full quarter of an hour passed before the golden bull finally left. It was unwilling to leave without killing the two-legged creature after discovering it.

Qin Ming waited a while longer, and it became much quieter outside. He groped his way out, and although he encountered some strange creatures this time, it wasn’t as dangerous.

Finally, he entered a narrow gap that was barely wide enough for a person to pass through. After squeezing through, the road became slightly easier to walk on. This was the last area the mountain people entered.

Qin Ming stumbled forward, his steps uneven. It was absolutely dark here. Fortunately, he had the Sun Stone with him. Even so, it took him more than half an hour to navigate the rugged and difficult paths before he finally emerged from the dark underground fissure, leaving the Great Rift Valley and arriving in a dense forest.

Qin Ming had to admire those experienced old hunters; if he were to search for this escape route, he certainly wouldn’t have been able to find it so quickly.

He was somewhat emotional, noting that the mountain people who were originally in the most dangerous situation were the ones who ended up escaping alive.

Of course, this is also related to the fact that they began to save themselves as soon as they entered the underground. If they were chased in by aliens like those from Golden Rooster Ridge and the Three-Eyed Sect, they would not have had time to find their way.

Qin Ming breathed a sigh of relief; no matter what, he had finally escaped with his life.

The mountains were very quiet, and he saw almost no living things as he traveled.

Qin Ming slowed his pace. Many dangerous monsters in the mountains had now ventured into the Great Rift Valley. He pondered this for a moment, then suddenly stopped.

“If I remember correctly, the lair of that polar bear and golden bull is less than ten miles from here. They belong to the most powerful group of creatures outside the mountains.”

Qin Ming acted decisively, turning around and sprinting in a certain direction.

He nearly perished when he encountered the two giant beasts. Although he ultimately escaped unharmed, the ordeal was extremely perilous. Had he not discovered the narrow passage, he would either have been torn apart by the bear’s claws or hanging from the bull’s horns.

Qin Ming decided to raid their lair while the two giant beasts were away.