Chapter 1110: Non-Normal Creature Gathering Place

Just one? That seems a bit too few, doesn't it?

Instead of complaining directly, Xu Xiaoshou probed curiously, saying, "Elder Dragon Apricot, I've heard that consuming ninety-nine Dragon Apricots can grant one the 'Power of the Ancestral Dragon.' Is that true?"

Suddenly, the Dragon Apricot Spirit's drowsy eyes snapped wide open. "Human, do not be so greedy!"

"Elder, I won't take your Dragon Apricots for free. You've been in the Forest of Miracles for so long, I imagine you've almost forgotten some of your past joys, haven't you?" Xu Xiaoshou remarked calmly, glancing at the three hundred and twenty-one Dragon Apricots on the tree.

Calculating based on a yield every three millennia, even if this Dragon Apricot tree had a hundred or so fruits remaining when it was transplanted to Void Island, it would still have been in the Forest of Miracles for... five or six hundred thousand years?

Well, that might not be the right way to calculate.

Theoretically, Dragon Apricots bear fruit every three thousand years, but given the spiritual energy of Void Island and the fertilizer the Dragon Apricot Spirit found for itself after a good long sleep...

It would still have been tens or hundreds of thousands of years, wouldn't it? Still a very long time!

After such a long time, does the Dragon Apricot Spirit even remember the taste of dragon blood? "Joys?"

Hearing this, the Dragon Apricot Spirit's two large dragon eyes flickered with a hint of recollection. It soon narrowed its eyes and probed, "Human, what do you mean by that?"

"I'm talking about... dragon blood!"

With a wave of his hand, Xu Xiaoshou produced a half-human-height bucket of dragon blood, siphoned from the corpse of the Gold Devouring Dragon, and contained it in an alchemy cauldron. The quantity was substantial! An ordinary person would consider it extravagant for a bath, let alone for drinking. However, for the immense Dragon Apricot Spirit and the Dragon Apricot tree itself, this amount was just enough to tease, but not so little as to be negligible. As for the other dragon blood... Xu Xiaoshou, of course, had much more!

But he wasn't foolish enough to offer the entire Gold Devouring Dragon corpse immediately; what would be the difference then between that and giving it away for free? Within his Yuanfu World, as long as Xu Xiaoshou, the master of the world, wished it, the Dragon Apricot in the Divine Farmer's Herb Garden couldn't sense the Gold Devouring Dragon's corpse. Therefore, Xu Xiaoshou concluded that this single cauldron of dragon blood, for the Dragon Apricot Spirit which was born from bathing in ancestral dragon blood but hadn't tasted blood for tens of thousands of years, could at least fetch one extra Dragon Apricot!

As expected, just like when it had seen the Sacred Emperor's Dragon Scale previously, the Dragon Apricot Spirit's eyes lit up, staring intently at the cauldron of dragon blood. Xu Xiaoshou could even see more longing in its eyes than it had shown for the Sacred Emperor's Dragon Scale!

"Give it to me, and you may take one more Dragon Apricot." The Dragon Apricot Spirit immediately offered its terms of exchange, without Xu Xiaoshou needing to say another word.

*You're easily exploited this way...* Xu Xiaoshou chuckled inwardly, but outwardly feigned embarrassment, saying, "Elder, you know dragon blood is hard to come by. I only brought out a little because I thought you hadn't had any in so long..."

"Two... no, three!"

The Dragon Apricot Spirit counter-offered, its gaze firmly fixed on the enticing golden dragon blood in the cauldron, not moving an inch.

"Deal!"

Xu Xiaoshou didn't dare to haggle further and immediately agreed to the price. Dragon blood could barely be considered a sacred medicine... Of course, the blood from an entire dragon corpse was an exception, but here he referred to just one cauldron. Its sole effect was to increase the physical strength of those who bathed in it, but even ten cauldrons of dragon blood were likely not worth a single Dragon Apricot. The entire massive corpse of the Gold Devouring Dragon lay within his Yuanfu World, and Xu Xiaoshou figured he could extract hundreds or even thousands of times the amount of dragon blood he had just presented. In short... its value lay in its potential. Using it for trade and completely emptying the Dragon Apricot Spirit's desires wouldn't be a problem!

"Hold on." Just then, the Dragon Apricot Spirit seemed to recall something and asked cautiously, "Where did your dragon blood come from?"

Xu Xiaoshou felt a slight tension, but quickly realized what the Dragon Apricot Spirit was implying and chuckled, "Don't worry, Elder Dragon Apricot. This isn't blood from a dragon in a normal dragon lair. It's from a dragon traitor whom I killed." After a pause, he added two more sentences: "There's no karmic debt! Even if there were, it would be my karmic debt, and it wouldn't bring trouble to you, Elder. You can continue sleeping... um, slumbering, after you drink it."

"Awooo~" The Dragon Apricot Spirit nodded its large head in satisfaction. This human boy was quite clever; he knew what it was worried about.

"Give it here." With a sweep of its paw, the Dragon Apricot Spirit took control, and the cauldron of dragon blood was drawn to the front of its main body.

"Splash!"

As the cauldron tilted, half of the viscous liquid poured straight down, passing through the Dragon Apricot Spirit's wide-open dragon mouth and flowing onto the Dragon Apricot tree's main body. "Delicious!" "Truly delicious!" The Dragon Apricot Spirit was delighted.

It hadn't even consumed it directly... Xu Xiaoshou was puzzled, watching the dragon blood pass through the Dragon Apricot Spirit's ethereal body without a drop being swallowed. How could it be delicious then? However, on second thought, the dragon blood ultimately flowed onto the Dragon Apricot's trunk. Since this ancestral tree was the Dragon Apricot Spirit's main body, this method presumably allowed the spiritual entity to taste the flavor. Anyway, I still don't understand what's so delicious about this... Xu Xiaoshou still couldn't comprehend the enjoyment derived from drinking blood this way.

"Awooo~~~"

Soon after, with a joyful dragon roar, the Dragon Apricot Spirit curbed its desire to drink all the dragon blood. It firmly placed the remaining half-bucket of dragon blood before the Dragon Apricot tree and sealed it with the power of laws. It lowered its dragon head, took a deep sniff, and then looked up to declare earnestly, "What is mine, outsiders are not permitted to touch!"

"Mhm, mhm." Xu Xiaoshou nodded repeatedly, scoffing inwardly. Just half a bucket of dragon blood? Was it really that big of a deal? If you want more, I have it; just trade more Dragon Apricots for it.

The Dragon Apricot Spirit turned its head, glancing at the silver-haired human woman standing behind it. "The same goes for you."

Lei Xier's beautiful eyes flickered slightly. She subtly swept her gaze towards the other space where the Gold Devouring Dragon's corpse was stored, then nodded her delicate head and smiled, "Alright."

Still not satisfied, the Dragon Apricot Spirit's gaze fell, then landed on the chubby little cat cradled in Lei Xier's arms. "Can you understand?"

"Meow!"

Little White Cat Glutton God's fur bristled all over. Frightened by the giant monster's gaze, it shrank further into its mistress's embrace, then poked out half its head and nodded like a pecking chick, "Meow, meow, meow!"

"Three, take them." The Dragon Apricot Spirit leisurely waved a claw, then, still seemingly unsated after another deep sniff of the dragon blood, it closed its eyes and settled onto the Dragon Apricot tree's main body. Its light gradually faded, on the verge of disappearing.

"Three plus one equals four." Xu Xiaoshou quickly spoke up; he hadn't forgotten the one Dragon Apricot from before. Having the ability to trade fairly was good; after all, the Dragon Apricot Spirit had been thirsty for so long and needed support. But occasionally getting a little something for free was also quite nice... Such was human nature, and he believed the Dragon Apricot Spirit could understand.

"Then four." The Dragon Apricot Spirit grandly uttered this last remark before completely vanishing. The Divine Farmer's Herb Garden returned to its tranquility.

*What a truly good dragon...* Xu Xiaoshou, with a genuinely emotional and feigned pious expression, decided he would be kinder to the Dragon Apricot Spirit in the future. Then, he reached out and began plucking the Dragon Apricots.

This time, he indeed encountered no obstacles and easily retrieved the four treasures.

As he floated down, cradling four Dragon Apricots in one hand, his other free hand accidentally brushed against a fifth Dragon Apricot. The recoil force almost activated, threatening to cut it off. But the Dragon Apricot immediately emitted a clear force of resistance. Before Xu Xiaoshou's 'recoil' and 'sharpness' could even trigger, he was flung away.

"Hehe, hehe..."

Xu Xiaoshou wasn't annoyed. After landing with a thud, he rolled over like a lazy donkey, got up, and scratched his head in embarrassment, "My math isn't great; I almost took too many. Please don't blame me, Elder!" The Dragon Apricot Spirit was clearly asleep and bothered to reply.

Lei Xier watched speechlessly as Xu Xiaoshou quickly walked out of the Divine Farmer's Herb Garden, as if afraid of being hit again. She thought to herself, *You're clearly trying to take advantage of it being asleep and snatch a bit more, aren't you? I've never seen such a shameless person!*

"Suffered internal criticism, passive value +1."

*Its attack power is quite strong; it clearly held back on me. It's not someone to provoke...* Xu Xiaoshou subtly glanced back at the motionless Dragon Apricot. *This is definitely a big shot! If anything happens to the Yuanfu World in the future, I'll trade two buckets of dragon blood for its help; if that's not enough, then three buckets, and if that still doesn't work, then dragon meat! After all, as one of the Nine Ancestral Trees, capable of bearing Dragon Apricots, its inherent power must be top-tier! However, the Dragon Apricot Spirit has a much more obvious flaw...*

"I've never seen such a laid-back big shot," Xu Xiaoshou remarked to Lei Xier, his face full of lament.

"Keep your voice down," Lei Xier said, startled.

"Don't worry, this is my world; it can't hear. As long as I don't call it by its name, it's fine. I suspect it has half-saint combat power, but it's so lazy that its effective combat power is probably halved." Xu Xiaoshou examined the Dragon Apricots in his hand, his eyes beginning to gleam.

"Isn't that precisely one of the reasons you were able to bring it here?" Lei Xier asked with a chuckle.

"That's true..." Xu Xiaoshou realized, amusement lighting his face. He dropped the subject and offered a Dragon Apricot, "Want one?"

The golden Dragon Apricot radiated the aura of a peak sacred medicine. If Twin Dazes or Hong Dang had seen this first and recognized it, they likely wouldn't have even considered the Sacred Relic Fruit. But Lei Xier remained indifferent. She gently shook her delicate head and said coolly, "No, I just finished taking the Sacred Relic Fruit..."

Before she could finish, her small face suddenly contorted, her fists clenched and swung forcefully in front of her, and simultaneously, she stomped her foot. A high-decibel shriek interrupted her mid-sentence. "Ah!" Xu Xiaoshou's hand twitched, nearly dropping the Dragon Apricot. He felt as if his eardrums were tearing and stared blankly at the silver-haired woman before him.

After a long silence... Lei Xier's pretty face instantly turned crimson. She averted her gaze, snatched the Dragon Apricot, and said, "Then I'll take one." With a whoosh, she turned and vanished without a trace.

"What in the world was that?!" Xu Xiaoshou was dumbfounded. "Why is it that in this Yuanfu World, besides me, there isn't a single normal creature? It's one thing for the Dragon Apricot Spirit to be a lazy slacker, but you're pulling a stunt like this too? That was Junior Sister just now, wasn't it? Tell me what's going on with you! What's there to be embarrassed about? I'm your Senior Brother!"

Xu Xiaoshou let out a long sigh. After venting his internal frustration, he noticed something tugging at his robe at his feet.

"Meow~"

He looked down to find that Little White Cat Glutton God had, at some point, left Lei Xier's embrace and come over. It now wore a wronged, pleading, and longing expression, staring intently at the Dragon Apricot. Its whole demeanor screamed one thing: "This kitty is hungry..."

Xu Xiaoshou was exasperated. "You're already so fat, and you're still hungry?" "Here!" He tossed a Dragon Apricot, throwing it far away. Little White Cat transformed into a streak of light in a flash, snatching it like a frisbee.

"Don't you dare say I mistreated you later!" Xu Xiaoshou grumbled, watching the chubby cat voraciously devour the peak sacred medicine, the Dragon Apricot.

"Calm down. It doesn't matter if others aren't normal, as long as I am..."

"Now is the crucial time to consume the Dragon Apricot and break through to the Sovereign Dao Realm. I need to remain calm..."

After calming himself, Xu Xiaoshou chose an auspicious spot, sat down cross-legged, and then, with a Dragon Apricot in each hand, began examining them from side to side.

"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe... Alright! I'll eat the left one first!" He wasn't actually examining the external structure of the Dragon Apricots; he was simply suffering from decision paralysis. Ultimately, feeling the left one was slightly larger, Xu Xiaoshou decisively abandoned the "eeny, meeny, miny, moe" result and chose the one he most wanted to eat.

"Hiss~"

With a quick inhale through his mouth and nose, the Dragon Apricot transformed into pure spiritual energy, being absorbed into Xu Xiaoshou's body, his face bearing a fearless expression.

Although his 'Culinary Mastery' skill indicated that this item tasted good and might be very sweet, Xu Xiaoshou still used his 'Breathing Technique' to maximize the medicinal effects.

That single inhale unleashed uncontrolled sounds of joy throughout the Yuanfu World: "Ohohoho~"

"Sigha sigha~"

A human-shaped 'salted fish' straightened its body, thrashing and rolling on the ground as if being stir-fried in a hot oil wok. The aroma of the medicine permeated the air, then was absorbed back as if reduced to a sauce. "Powerful, powerful!" "Excellent~"

At the broken tower.

The silver-haired Lei Xier lightly patted her cheeks. After feeling her complexion return to coolness, she indifferently watched Xu Xiaoshou, who was bouncing and flailing wildly in the distance, completely out of control after taking the medicine.

"Ugh..."

Unable to bear watching directly, she averted her gaze and glanced at the Dragon Apricot in the direction of the Divine Farmer's Herb Garden, vaguely noticing light and shadow flickering on it. The Dragon Apricot Spirit, the king of apathy, bored by everything, had actually reappeared, watching Xu Xiaoshou's self-amused spectacle with utter shock.

"Hmm..."

Lei Xier shivered. She couldn't imagine how terrible it would be if she reacted this way after taking medicine, and was seen by others, not just one person! —It would be worse than death! She lowered her gaze.

Inadvertently, Lei Xier saw Little White Cat Glutton God standing beyond the hundred thousand alchemy cauldrons, its face full of contentment, completely unfazed by its master's embarrassing display. It was intently holding the half-eaten Dragon Apricot with its two chubby little paws, reluctant to eat it further. So, it would put it in its mouth, then spit it out, put it in again, spit it out again... repeating this cycle, enjoying and feeling utterly satisfied. A single Dragon Apricot gave this cat the satisfaction that would normally come from a hundred. "...Sigh!"

Lei Xier remained silent for a long time before finally letting out a sigh, unable to recover for quite a while. "In this Yuanfu World, is there truly not a single normal creature apart from myself? It's one thing for the humans to be eccentric, but why are even the non-human creatures so infuriatingly peculiar?"

"Hurry up!"

In her mind, a little loli with twin pigtails began screaming, and Lei Xier finally understood the meaning of "birds of a feather flock together." She let out a cold laugh, like an outsider, exceptionally calm and meticulously concealing her presence... Only then did she take out a recording orb and stealthily crept towards Xu Xiaoshou's direction. "The one thousand three hundred and twenty-second check-in, successful!"

"Hehe~"