Chapter 159: Chapter 1157: Heaven-shocking Fortune

As Qin Li’s body passed through the dense fog of Spiritual Qi, it poured into him without pause, even without him actively trying to absorb it. The stamina he had just expended was instantly replenished. Looking inward, he saw that the fist-sized purple vortex in his Dantian, nourished by the surging Spiritual Qi, now shone with a much richer luster.

Qin Li didn’t stop, continuing deeper inside. Before long, he saw a mass of white, misty Spiritual Qi ahead, as tall as a person. It swirled and floated, constantly shifting shape as if it had a mind of its own!

Moving like a cat, Qin Li made no sound as he stealthily approached the dense fog of Spiritual Qi. But as if sensing danger, the Spiritual Qi began to disperse as he drew near!

Qin Li was taken aback for a moment, but this time he didn’t hold back. He opened his mouth and inhaled, and the Spiritual Mist surged into him. Every meridian in his body was like a starving ghost, opening its maw to absorb the energy with abandon!

’If not now, when?’

By the time Qin Li had absorbed most of the Spiritual Mist, the plant within—as tall as a person—was finally revealed!

It was a tall herbaceous plant, easily as tall as a man, with lush branches and leaves. It was impossible to know if it had been growing for tens of thousands of years. Its leaves resembled intricately carved jade, so vibrant they seemed to drip with life, and they shimmered with a moist luster! The entire plant looked like it was made of green jade, so perfect it hardly seemed real.

It was truly a miracle of this world!

Seven or eight bright red fruits hung from this Spirit Grass. Each was about the size of a longan and looked as if it were carved from red jade, gleaming with a crimson light!

Qin Li couldn’t resist reaching out to pick one of the red fruits. It felt incredibly smooth and lustrous in his hand. A soul-refreshing fragrance wafted up to him, instantly revitalizing his spirit. In his Dantian, the fist-sized purple vortex began to stir restlessly, as if it desperately yearned for the red fruit!

’Does it want me to eat it? Honestly, I’m a bit hesitant. I’m sure the fruit isn’t poisonous, but I have no idea if eating it so rashly might have other side effects. If it causes my qi and blood to surge and forces me into seclusion to cultivate, that would be a disaster.’

’My actions right now are no different from a thief’s. How could I possibly risk falling into a deep slumber in someone else’s home?’

With that, Qin Li no longer hesitated. He placed the red fruit into his Storage Ring, drew Blood Drinking, and carved a large circle in the ground to dig up the entire plant, roots included.

Blood Drinking tore through the earth like it was rotten wood, carving out a massive pit over four meters in diameter and three meters deep. The moment it was done, Qin Li sucked the plant into his Storage Ring. Before any sound could betray him, he turned tail and fled!

This time, Qin Li didn’t hesitate in the slightest. He couldn’t believe that the powerful Spirit Beast wouldn’t sense the sudden disappearance of such a rare treasure.

So, before the beast could react, he unleashed his full cultivation. As he burst out of the dissipating Spiritual Mist, he didn’t forget to take two more huge gulps. Then, executing his Lightweight Skill, he vanished into the dense forest like a ghost!

After running for a good ten to fifteen miles, Qin Li suddenly heard an earth-shattering roar from far behind him!

The staggering pressure could be felt even from that distance. Only a single thought remained in Qin Li’s mind: Run!

He lost track of how long he ran. Suddenly, the terrain ahead opened up, revealing a massive cluster of waterfalls!

There were hundreds of them, large and small!

He had run clean out of the mountain range and onto a plain. This place was the very source of the river flowing below.

The largest waterfall gave him the distinct impression of a torrent plunging down from the heavens. It was at least a thousand meters high! The thundering water drowned out all other sounds. Qin Li now stood at its base, a massive, deep pool spreading out before him.

The torrent’s impact churned the water into countless menacing whirlpools of all sizes. With barely a moment’s hesitation, Qin Li shot forward like a bolt of lightning, flying across the enormous pool and charging straight into the cascading falls.

A shocking force slammed into him, nearly knocking him out of the air. Thankfully, by exerting all his strength, he managed to push through to the space behind the waterfall. A dark, deep cave opened up before him. He glanced up, confirmed the words "Water Curtain Cave" weren’t carved into the stone, and shook his head with a self-deprecating smile. He had only intended to hide behind the water, never imagining he’d find an actual cave.

The cave was deep, and Qin Li pressed on without stopping.

Just then, outside the cave, a golden, winged tiger appeared. Its body was over ten meters long, and its wings, when fully spread, had a span of more than twenty meters! The wings were covered in long, golden fur, each strand shining like a polished golden needle!

The golden giant tiger stood at the edge of the pool, its body emanating a terrifying aura. Its bronze-bell eyes blazed with fury as it roared at the churning water.

’It was seething with uncontrollable rage. For millennia, it and the people from the Paradise Celestial Palace had kept to themselves, never crossing into each other’s territory. To think they’d have the audacity to steal its Top-Grade Spirit Grass!’

’The fruits on that Spirit Grass only ripened once every one thousand five hundred years, and it only ever bore eight of them at a time!’

One thousand five hundred years ago, it had been just an ordinary Spirit Beast living here, its strength not yet having reached the Celestial Level. It had stumbled upon this Top-Grade Spirit Grass just as eight fruits ripened. After eating all of them, its power surged, its body mutated, and its consciousness was awakened.

’From that moment, it knew this thing was a Top-Grade treasure! No one would ever be allowed to take it! It would fight to the death with anyone who even thought about it!’

Over the past millennium, it had killed countless Spirit Beasts and even disciples from Paradise Celestial Palace who had dared to covet the Top-Grade Spirit Grass. It reached a point where the Sect Leader of Paradise Celestial Palace from several generations prior—a supreme expert at the Celestial Integration Realm—had to personally come and negotiate. He promised the golden giant tiger that this mountain range would belong to it, while the lands beyond would belong to Paradise Celestial Palace.

At the time, the golden giant tiger wasn’t confident it could defeat the Sect Leader, but the Sect Leader was equally unsure of victory against it.

Thus, the agreement was honored by both sides for over a thousand years. No matter how talented the successive Sect Leaders of Paradise Celestial Palace were, none ever managed to break through to the Venerable Realm. As a result, no one dared to make a move on the golden giant tiger’s territory.

Everyone knew that the mountain range under the golden giant tiger’s control was filled with countless rare and wondrous treasures. Still, every generation of Paradise Celestial Palace’s Sect Leaders would sternly warn all disciples to never set foot there.

Over time, the golden giant tiger had grown complacent, believing no one would ever dare enter its forest again. It never imagined that today, while it took a short nap, its Top-Grade Spirit Grass... would be dug up and stolen!

’What made it both furious and heartbroken was that the Spirit Grass had eight freshly ripened fruits! That was the Divine Grade treasure it was going to use for its next breakthrough, to ascend to the Venerable Realm!’

ROAR!

ROAR!

ROAR ROAR ROAR ROAR... AWOOOOO!!!

The golden giant tiger roared madly, terrifying all the creatures in the vicinity into hiding, not daring to move an inch. None of them knew why the king of this forest was so enraged today. After all, it had been several hundred years since the golden giant tiger had eaten a single creature from these woods!

At its realm of cultivation, it had no need to eat. It could maintain its peak condition just by absorbing the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi!

However, if it couldn’t break through to the Venerable Realm, it would eventually face the end of its lifespan, perhaps in a thousand years, perhaps two. What drove the golden giant tiger to the brink of madness was that the thief had dug the plant up, roots and all. If they had even just left the Top-Grade Spirit Grass itself, it wouldn’t have been this enraged, because it could afford to wait another fifteen hundred years!

But now, the golden giant tiger was on the verge of insanity. It resolved to get the Top-Grade Spirit Grass back, no matter the cost—even if it meant fighting that Sect to the death!

The golden giant tiger roared one last time, spread its wings, and shot away like a streaking meteor. Having reached the early stage of the Celestial Embracing Realm, the golden giant tiger believed it now possessed more than enough power to slaughter every last person in the damned Paradise Celestial Palace for daring to steal its treasure!

...

Deep within the cave, Qin Li felt the waves of staggering pressure that vibrated through the waterfall, and he didn’t dare to move a muscle.

’How terrifying!’

’What realm has this Spirit Beast reached? It’s stronger than anyone I’ve ever met!’

’Ye Qianyu, the Sect Leader of Paradise Celestial Palace, the Elders... none of them could possibly be as powerful as this thing.’

Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Qin Li offered a moment of silent prayer for the people of Paradise Celestial Palace before unhesitatingly continuing deeper into the cave.

The cave consisted of a single, twisting passage that descended for a full half-hour before he reached the bottom. He couldn’t guess how deep he’d gone. The moment he saw what lay at the bottom, however, a sense of unreality washed over him, and he stood there, dumbfounded.

’Has my luck reached the heavens? I just found one supreme treasure, and now I’ve stumbled upon another?’

For a moment, Qin Li even felt a little apprehensive. ’I hope I’m not using up all my good fortune at once,’ he thought. ’My luck today has been almost *too* good!’

The bottom of the cave opened into a flat, wide space. Looking up, the passage he’d come from was just a hole in the ceiling. In the very center of this cavern was a natural stone basin over ten meters in diameter. And growing in the middle of the basin was a flawless, pure white lotus, as smooth and perfect as jade.