Xiaoxiao.

Only now did Wu Ren realize what the so-called Vermilion Fruit was all about, and why it always appeared in the human world every now and then.

In fact, the Vermilion Fruit was originally a carefree spirit in the world, a natural treasure born in accordance with the will of heaven and earth.

But the appearance of Zhu Xian changed everything.

He was not as innocent as his ancestors, because he discovered that consuming his own kind, especially those who had awakened their intelligence, greatly enhanced his strength.

This accidental discovery led him to extend his evil reach to his own kind.

It was from that time that Noguchi Pass, which was originally covered with red fruit, gradually became what it is today.

As for the appearance of the Vermilion Fruit in the human world, at the very beginning, at least during the time of Shennong and Pengzu, the Vermilion Fruit did indeed accidentally wander into the human world.

Moreover, it was unintentionally absorbed by humans, thus beginning a legend.

But everything changed after Lü Chunyang.

Because Zhu Xian discovered that by planting a wisp of divine consciousness within the Zhu Fruit and enticing humans to absorb it, the energy of the Zhu Fruit itself could be converted to the maximum extent.

At this time, absorbing the spiritual energy within a human body is thousands of times more effective than simply consuming one's own kind.

This discovery thrilled him, and it was from that time that Zhu Xian began to consciously use the innate bodies of humans as his "furnace" to transform the energy within his own kind.

Moreover, it became unstoppable because he unexpectedly discovered that: by utilizing the innate human body, not only could the energy within the Vermilion Fruit be completely transformed, but other energies could also be absorbed and transformed into higher-level spiritual energy, and the absorption speed of other energies by the "furnace" could be greatly increased.

In this way, Zhu Xian essentially had a cultivation accelerator, because the spiritual energy accumulated in these "furnaces" ultimately belonged to him.

Zhu Guo used the power of those exceptionally talented martial arts prodigies among humanity to help him condense the spiritual energy between heaven and earth.

Once the spiritual energy accumulates to a certain level, it will unhesitatingly activate the powerful divine sense that was initially hidden within the "furnace".

In this way, Zhu Guo can fully control the "furnace" and make it a tool that can be manipulated at will, thus easily absorbing the precious spiritual energy of the "furnace" to improve his own cultivation.

In this way, he leaped to become a level six savage beast, equivalent to the Nascent Soul Realm in humans, and became one of the three true overlords of the Wild Plains.

Now, the truth about the Vermilion Fruit has finally come to light.

However, he ultimately underestimated those exceptionally talented and gifted individuals.

Even when they were in dire straits, they never gave up easily.

As the saying goes, "Better to be a broken piece of jade than a whole piece of tile!"

This is why Zhu Xian encounters tremendous resistance whenever he absorbs the spiritual energy of these people, causing most of the spiritual energy to dissipate into the world.

The massive amount of spiritual energy that dissipated caused earth-shattering destruction, which was mistaken by ordinary people as divine punishment for tribulation!

In reality, they are going through a thrilling life-or-death struggle, not against a heavenly tribulation in the traditional sense, but against a sinister conspiracy meticulously planned by Zhu Xian.

Unwilling to become pawns in others' pursuit of their goals, they fought back fiercely.

Even knowing that death is inevitable, they would never let the enemy succeed easily.

It was precisely because of this perseverance and determination that, despite successfully absorbing the spiritual energy of two Golden Core stage experts, Zhu Xian only managed to break through to the sixth level (the Nascent Soul stage for humans).

The root cause is that most of the spiritual energy has already dissipated into the world and cannot be used.

Even so, the amount of spiritual energy he acquired still far exceeded what he could have obtained through years of diligent cultivation.

As for why Zhu Xian still released the Twin Vermilion Fruits when the spiritual energy of Penglai Planet had been completely depleted, it actually concealed his deep helplessness and bitterness.

Having grown accustomed to getting something for nothing, he had absolutely no interest in things that required arduous training to achieve his goals, but improving his strength was something he absolutely had to do.

So when faced with a predicament, he adopted a "what the heck" mentality and eventually released the incomparably precious twin Vermilion Fruit.

The reason for choosing twin Vermilion Fruits was simply to increase their appeal to humans.

However, laziness and opportunism are ultimately undesirable.

By absorbing the spiritual energy of his own kind and from the "furnace," he became the one with the highest realm among the three lords.

However, because everything came too easily, his state of mind became extremely unstable.

Furthermore, his combat strength did not increase with his overall power. On the contrary, because he needed to expend a great deal of energy to suppress the potential for internal turmoil, his combat strength did not increase significantly.

In order to stabilize his current level and further improve his strength, he had to rack his brains and try every possible way to take shortcuts.

Although all of these are merely Wu Ren's personal speculations, he firmly believes that the truth is not far from his predictions.

Thinking of this, Wu Ren looked at Zhu Lu in front of him and felt a complicated feeling.

The man in front of him did not take advantage of his breakthrough to launch an attack.

His behavior was completely different from Zhu Xian's; they were worlds apart.

Seeing the other party's behavior, Wu Ren felt an extremely absurd sense of sympathy welling up in his heart.

However, when Zhu Lu felt the caring look in his opponent's eyes, he immediately became furious.

He menacingly pointed a finger directly at Wu Ren's nose, roaring, "You arrogant fool! I saw how arduous your cultivation journey was, which is why I kindly waited for you outside this cave. Who would have thought that you, with your newfound breakthrough, would dare to come here and mock me like this? It's utterly despicable! Hmph! Take this!"

Before he finished speaking, the man suddenly swung his spear and thrust it fiercely at Wu Ren.

Fortunately, Wu Ren reacted quickly, dodging the fierce attack with a swift movement.

He quickly explained, "Oh dear, you've really wronged me. When did I ever mean to mock you?"

However, Zhu Lu was already furious. He angrily pulled his spear back in front of him and shouted with wide eyes, "Hmph! Stop trying to argue! If you weren't deliberately mocking me, why would you look at me with such a strange gaze?"

Only then did Wu Ren realize that he had been misunderstood by the other party.

So he kept apologizing: "Yes, yes, it's all my fault, it's all my fault. But you're too refined. A vulgar person like me really can't understand or respond to those elegant words. So, let's just speak in plain and simple language."

Seeing the sincerity in the other person's eyes, Zhu Lu's anger subsided considerably, so he said, "You're quite crude. Our ancestor said that refined language is a symbol of civilization and a sign of cultivation. But even I feel that my own words aren't as straightforward as plain language, hahaha..."

Wu Ren could no longer contain his joy, and he laughed so hard he almost fell over. Seeing Wu Ren so happy, Zhu Lu was also infected by his joy and laughed even more heartily and unrestrainedly.

Just then, the mountain birds perched on the treetops were startled by the sudden, deafening, and hearty laughter. They flapped their wings and soared into the sky, disappearing into the horizon in an instant.

For a moment, it seemed that only the unrestrained laughter of the two men echoed throughout the world.

If someone familiar with them were to pass by and witness this scene, they would probably be so astonished that their jaw would drop to the ground, and their eyes would even pop out of their sockets.

After all, it's hard for anyone to imagine that these two adversaries from opposing camps are now as close as brothers, chatting happily together.

If this scene were to spread, probably few people would believe it.

However, Wu Ren and Zhu Lu did not care at all.

They were engrossed in each other's laughter and conversation, sharing their experiences and insights.

Through their back-and-forth exchanges, Wu Ren gained a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the three major forces in the martial arts world.

Meanwhile, as the conversation continues, the initial hostility between the two gradually dissipates, replaced by a growing friendship.

Life is often so strange and unpredictable; many things that seem impossible can happen unexpectedly.

Perhaps even the heavens cannot explain the reason...