I'm bound to the World-Destroying Witch

Chapter 12. The Fruit of Wisdom on the Tree of Wisdom

"Old Wei, don't you think so?"

Wei Shutong ignored Zhao Jie's words, but instead gave Xia Feng a deep look before saying expressionlessly, "Alright, let's begin."

Although he didn't think highly of Xia Feng, there was no turning back now, and he could only pray that this reckless kid could make it out of the Evil Dragon Forest alive.

"The rules are simple: the Evil Dragon Forest is divided into a lightly afflicted zone and a heavily afflicted zone. The deeper you go, the faster you will be eroded by the afflicted forces."

If one does not leave in time, the consequences will be loss of reason and death, or even transformation into a nightmare slave.

At the border between the Lesser Calamity Zone and the Greater Calamity Zone stands a tree called the Tree of Wisdom. Consuming its Fruit of Wisdom effectively restores sanity and resists the erosion of Calamity.

Zhao Jie slowly explained the rules, "What you need to pay attention to is that whenever a Tree of Wisdom appears, a Tree of Life will inevitably appear around it. Your ultimate goal is to pick the Fruit of Life from the Tree of Life! Whoever successfully brings back the Fruit of Life wins."

Finally, Zhao Jie grinned, "Furthermore, this competition has no time limit, no restrictions on methods, and no limits on life or death!"

Xia Feng wasn't surprised by Zhao Jie's last words. After all, this was the spirit of the Six-Tailed Society: they would stop at nothing to achieve their goals, and Zhao Jie was a staunch believer in the winner-takes-all principle.

As a result, Qi Xiao killed several of his fellow disciples, but Zhao Jie didn't care much.

If Xia Feng hadn't been a student of Weiyang Academy, he would have been assassinated by Qi Xiao long ago, instead of using the indirect method of marrying into the family to eliminate his eligibility to compete.

"Alright, everyone, get yourselves mentally prepared and follow me."

After Zhao Jie showed his token, Xia Feng and Qi Xiao followed him into the city gate passageway.

At first, he didn't feel anything, but as he went deeper, Xia Feng suddenly felt his heart tighten.

"Dong dong - dong dong -"

His heartbeat quickened noticeably, a mixture of excitement and longing from the delicious aroma. Xia Feng swallowed hard; he caught a wonderful scent—it was…

The taste of Eel!
"Is this Eri?" Qi Xiao walked ahead, his face pale. He suddenly stopped and leaned against the wall, panting.

Seeing this, Zhao Jie, who was at the front, stopped and turned around, saying, "When evil forces converge, they form an evil force field. The Evil Dragon Forest is currently the largest evil force field besides the Nightmare Realm. Everyone will feel chest tightness and shortness of breath when they first enter, but they will get used to it after a while."

As he spoke, he looked at Xia Feng at the very back with some confusion.

Xia Feng was stunned for a moment, then quickly leaned against the wall, panting heavily, "Ouch, I feel so uncomfortable."

Zhao Jie glanced at his watch: "I'll give you one minute to adjust. We can't stay in the passageway for too long."

Upon hearing this, Qi Xiao immediately closed his eyes and began to adapt to the evil force field.

Xia Feng followed suit, closing his eyes and trying to suppress his rapidly beating heart. He was about to die; he guessed it was because he was too lacking in evil energy and was having a stress reaction when he sensed such a huge evil energy field.

It's like a dying person who has been thirsty in the desert for three days and three nights, seeing a bottle of mineral water, they would go crazy and grab it.

He squinted, while Qi Xiao was still adjusting with his eyes closed. Xia Feng had never felt that a minute could be so long.

“Young man, if you regret it, you still have a chance to go back.” Zhao Jie glanced at Xia Feng indifferently and suddenly spoke.

Xia Feng looked up at Zhao Jie. "Uncle Zhao, my sword is itching for a fight. Can you please stop with your nonsense?"

Seeing Xia Feng's resolute gaze, showing no sign of backing down and even appearing somewhat anxious, Zhao Jie nodded.

"Let's go, the exit is just ahead."

After walking a few steps, a faint, blood-red light appeared ahead. After a moment of blinding light, Xia Feng squinted and saw a vast, dark, and dense forest. A strange, crescent-shaped blood moon hung in the sky, like the terrifying eye of a demon god, mockingly watching over this world.

It gives people a great sense of oppression.

"Don't stare at the blood moon for too long, it will only speed up the process of you being corrupted by the evil force and losing your sanity," Zhao Jie said calmly from the side.

Qi Xiao's pupils contracted, and he quickly lowered his head and looked away.

Xia Feng's pupils contracted, and he quickly opened his eyes wide to stare intently at the blood moon on the horizon.

He seemed to see a stunningly beautiful fairy beckoning to him with seductive eyes and a beckoning gesture, instantly sending his adrenaline soaring!
It was so delightful, so incredibly delightful. But he only glanced at it once more before lowering his head and pretending to be frightened.

"Once you cross this line, you will have truly entered the Evil Dragon Forest, and the competition will officially begin."

Zhao Jie pointed to the red line ahead and said indifferently, "I will wait for you here. Whoever brings the Fruit of Life across the red line first wins."

"Alright, everyone, go inside."

As soon as Zhao Jie finished speaking, Qi Xiao felt a gust of wind sweep past him, and Xia Feng disappeared into the forest without a trace.

"Heh~" Qi Xiao sneered disdainfully, took a step, and leisurely followed.

He wasn't in a hurry at all. After all, as they went deeper into the forest, the concentration of evil energy around them would rise sharply, and his rationality would drop rapidly as a result. Moreover, Xia Feng was unlikely to learn the C-rank spirit garment, "Filtering Evil," which was only learned in the fourth grade.

"Filtering Calamity" can help spiritual masters significantly reduce the concentration of calamity energy invading the body surface, achieving the goal of long-term survival in the calamity energy field.

Therefore, Qi Xiao, who was proficient in 'filtering evil', was not in a hurry at all. After all, although this was the outermost light evil zone of the Evil Dragon Forest, the concentration of evil energy was still deadly for low-level spirit masters like them, and they could not stay here for long.

Therefore, Qi Xiao was quite certain that the further they went, the slower Xia Junior Brother's speed would become, and he might not even reach his destination.

At that time, with his spiritual pressure far exceeding Xia Feng's, he would naturally be able to easily surpass him.

Therefore, his current strategy is to first obtain the Fruit of Wisdom, consume it to ensure his safety, then quickly find the Fruit of Life, and finally kill Xia Feng to easily end the match.

*
"Delicious! Superb!"

A dark-haired youth wearing a high-collared trench coat stood on a tree branch, his arms outstretched, looking up at the moon, muttering unintelligible words, looking like a perverted cult leader.

After venturing deep into the forest, he did not immediately head to his destination, but instead secretly found a secluded spot to begin testing the abilities of the Demon Heart.

He reached out and squeezed, and the empty air seemed to be compressed to the extreme, separating a wisp of light gray mist and a large pool of blood-red mist.

The gray mist shimmered with a faint golden light under the illumination, emitting a sweet fragrance. Xia Feng sniffed it; it tasted like vanilla ice cream, sweet, icy, and refreshing.

He also sniffed the blood-red mist, and a stench almost made him faint, so he quickly threw it aside.

"Zizi-"

The crimson mist struck the bushes, which rapidly crumbled and withered.
But in the next instant, it began to grow wildly as if in a final burst of energy, only the leaves turned blood red. Then, several bewitching flowers appeared, and ten eyes suddenly opened from the center of the flowers, turning to look at Xia Feng with malicious intent.

"..." Xia Feng was silent for half a second, then swung his sword back and hacked the thing to pieces with a series of splattering blows. "What are you looking at!"

The newly sprouted flowerbed: "."

According to the knowledge learned from the textbook, Evil is composed of "blood impurities" and "Evil liquid".

This crimson mist should be the 'Blood Demon Impurity,' which can cause organic organisms to mutate. This impurity cannot be absorbed by the Demon Heart.

As for the gray mist with a cool, vanilla-scented aroma, it is 'Evil Spirit Liquid', which can be absorbed by the heart of the Evil Demon.

The "Celigible concentration" that people often talk about actually refers not to the proportion of Celigible in the air, but rather to the proportion of Celigible liquid within Celigible.
So essentially, the Heart of the Demon relies on absorbing the "Demonic Liquid" from the Demonic Power to repair its heart and enhance its activity.

That wisp of gray mist just now added a full 30 seconds to his lifespan.
Damn, this is just a drop in the ocean. His heart was still pounding, seemingly dissatisfied with this meager amount of Evil Spirit Liquid, which barely even filled a tooth gap. Xia Feng pondered this, then looked up into the dark depths of the forest.

"It seems that to significantly extend the time, we must enter an area with high concentrations, or even directly find the legendary evil dragon that has been sleeping for ten thousand years!"

As the most terrifying being in this forest, the concentration around the evil dragon must be ridiculously high. Just thinking about this made his mouth dry.

That must be a delicious dish that would drive you crazy with pleasure!
"Go, go, go!"

Having decided on his goal, Xia Feng stopped dawdling and ran as fast as he could into the depths of the forest.

As he ran, he pondered how to better utilize the strength he had received from Mu Qingtong.

[Spiritual Pressure Rank: First Tier]

[Combat Skills: Master Level (Smell, Hearing, Vision, Neural Reaction, Combat Awareness)]

[N-Rank Spirit Robe (6): Illumination Robe, Fireball Flash, Ice Soul Blade, Messenger Spirit, Eye of Reconnaissance, Bronze Mask]

【D-Rank Spirit Robe (2): Concealment Spirit Robe, Triple Waves】

[Spirit Weapon: *Awakening Required*]

Of the eight spirit garments, the Illumination Garment can emit light for illumination, and the Bronze Mask is used to reduce one's presence. They are almost all literal in function and are all auxiliary spirit garments.

As for Fireball Flash and Ice Blade? The former can throw a fireball the size of a fist, and the latter can throw an ice blade. Together with Eye of the Scout, they are known as the "noob trio".

These are the three costumes that first-grade students must learn and are also the easiest to learn.

This shows just how lazy Mu Qingtong has been since she enrolled. If she hadn't accidentally learned the Triple Wave yesterday, she wouldn't have taken the initiative to learn any attack skills at all.

No, she didn't learn the Three-Layer Waves technique on her own initiative!

Why did this woman choose to learn Concealment instead of learning so many D-rank spirit suits?
Given Mu Qingtong's personality, she would never waste her energy learning a spirit garment that wouldn't be of much use to her.
Xia Feng pondered for a moment, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration and seemed to understand something—

The combination of stealth, bronze mask, and ice blade—good heavens, isn't this exactly Lanling King's backstab technique?
It's worth mentioning that although the bronze mask is an N-level spirit garment, it was actually created by Mu Qingtong herself!

Using a very simple spirit particle structure, a strange spirit garment was created that can reduce its own presence.

This is very much like Mu Qingtong.
Although the Concealment Robe is called Concealment, a blurry outline can still be vaguely seen, so it's not true invisibility. But it's a different story when paired with the Bronze Mask.

Even though the Concealment Robe still has an outline, its presence is weakened by the bronze mask, allowing it to enter a true stealth state, making it difficult for enemies to detect its approach!

"Very good, you've failed miserably!"

but--

Unfortunately, speed-type spirit clothes are now the key for him.

Mu Qingtong, this arrogant fool, probably memorized the spiritual structure diagram of the D-grade spirit garment 'Shadow Step', but was too lazy to analyze it at all.

It's a total rip-off.

As for the One-Tailed Spirit Robe, the progress has reached 98%, with only one inner garment remaining.
"Roar!!!"

Suddenly, a shrill roar came from afar, shaking the surrounding forest three times. Unidentified red-eyed birds hurriedly flew into the sky.

"Is that... the roar of a nightmare beast?"

Xia Feng stopped in his tracks, looking down at the map in his hand with some uncertainty.

"According to the map, this is still the Light Calamity Zone, so why are there still Nightmare Beasts appearing here?"

The environment of the Light Calamity Zone is not the best habitat for the Nightmare Beasts, so the Nightmare Beasts in the Evil Dragon Forest only move around in the Heavy Calamity Zone and rarely enter the Light Calamity Zone.

While pondering, he jumped to the treetop and gazed into the distance.

In the distance, a huge black hole appeared in the sky, and a griffin-like beast was fleeing in terror, desperately struggling against the black hole's immense suction.

"Roar!!!"

In vain, it was helplessly and furiously swallowed up little by little by the black hole.

"A black hole. Is this Sanamu's power?"

Xia Feng recalled that the Nightmare Beasts were divided into four types: Calamity, Disaster, Calamity, and Emptiness.

Sanamu is a type of calamity; it randomly releases black holes that devour everything around them, then spews it out from another black hole.

Therefore, the natural disasters that occurred after the passing of Sanamu are also called the Black Hole Disaster.

"Let's go!"

Xia Feng jumped down from the treetop, turned around and left. Since this road was blocked, he would take a detour.

According to the map, there is a wisdom tree bearing fruit in the northwest. Although his main purpose for this trip is to go deep into the Chong'e region to find the evil dragon, it is also possible to complete the competition along the way.

I reckon Qi Xiao should be almost at his destination by now, so we need to hurry.

*
“Ho~ho~~”

Qi Xiao, his face deathly pale, leaned against the tree trunk, panting heavily. Somewhat delirious, he shook his head, gritting his teeth and waving his hands wildly around him, shouting, "Get out—get out of here! All of you, get out!!"

Indescribable, fragmented murmurs, intermittent and mixed with sharp, noisy delirium, surrounded him from all sides, as if countless humans, insects, and wild beasts were roaring at him.

chap——

The knife was plunged into his forearm with a backhand motion, blood splattering out. Qi Xiao suddenly regained consciousness, but his eyes were still bloodshot, and the veins on his neck and forehead bulged horribly. He was panting heavily like a mindless beast.

"Damn it! We still underestimated the Hazard concentration in the Light Hazard Zone!"

He pressed his temples, trying to stay rational and clear-headed.

After a while, he finally calmed down, glanced down at the map, and grinned excitedly, "It's just ahead!"

He quickly got up and scrambled forward, but after walking only a few steps, the view suddenly opened up!
A tall tree, over ten meters high, covered with small dark red fruits, came into view; that was the Tree of Wisdom!
Further behind the Tree of Wisdom was a small forest meadow, in the center of which stood a solitary giant tree with pale leaves and stems, bearing only a pear-shaped fruit of life, its skin crystal clear.

"Heh~~"

Qi Xiao grinned and staggered toward the Tree of Wisdom. As long as he ate a single Fruit of Wisdom, he could regain his sanity and escape the threat of death from the Calamity!

Then--

Then he can pick all the Wisdom Fruits and leisurely wait for Xia Feng to arrive.

Even the most arrogant genius, in the face of death, is made to kneel at his feet and beg for mercy by a single fruit of wisdom.

(End of this chapter)