After resting for a while, Mu Chen and Zhao Feng decided to head down the tunnel to find a safe place to consume the fruit, as well as find a way out of this place. The tunnel stretched downward into earth, it was unknown just how deep it was, or whether there was even an exit at the end. The two of them followed the tunnel all the way down. There was not a single light source, so the entire tunnel was pitch dark. If you extended your hand out, you would not even be able to see your five fingers in front of you.

Thankfully, with his spirit sense, Mu Chen was able to ‘see’ in the dark, so he led the way forward. After around an hour, the tunnel widened out and they found themselves standing in a dimly lit large cavern. There was no visible exit.

“A dead end? Is there really no way out of this place?” Zhao Feng sighed in exasperation. He did not like the feeling of wandering about in the dark. It made him very uncomfortable. All of this was a first time experience for him. Interrogating the two Nine Demon Gate disciples, stealing the Dragon Blood Fruit from the Stormwing Condor, then escaping from it. Today’s series of events were like a rollercoaster ride. He was already mentally drained.

“Hold on. Listen carefully.” Mu Chen shushed him as he pricked his ears up.

The two of them stood silently in the dark for a minute, listening carefully.

“I hear it!” Zhao Feng suddenly exclaimed.

It was extremely faint, but he could hear a soft whistling sound, like the kind a breeze would make when passing through a small opening.

“It's coming from over there!” Zhao Feng immediately ran toward a dark corner and started feeling around the rock wall with his hands.

Mu Chen leisurely strolled over and stood quietly behind him, watching his movements.

“Here, I’ve found it!” Zhao Feng shouted excitedly after a few moments. There was a tiny crack in the wall, the length of one’s pinky finger. A very faint wind was blowing through it, emitting a soft whistling sound.

“Alright, now we should make an exit.” Mu Chen took a deep breath as he began to circulate his spiritual qi.

“Big brother, allow me.” Zhao Feng stopped him. His gaze was full of confidence and his expression was serious as he stepped forward with his spear in hand.

Mu Chen smiled lightly and stepped back, watching Zhao Feng’s performance.

Zhao Feng gripped his spear tightly with both hands, raising it up to point toward the wall. His qi circulated rapidly in his body as his muscles tensed up. A powerful spiritual qi aura from a peak Mortal realm cultivator was released, distorting the air around him slightly.

“Overlord Spear Art, First Move: Piercing Heaven!” Zhao Feng roared as he mightily thrust his spear forward, his muscles rippling with power. His spiritual qi rushed into the spear, causing it to let out a low hum. A faint tyrannical aura like that of a supreme overlord was released as the spear glowed with a beautiful crimson red light.

Boom! The tip of the spear hit the rock wall, the impact sending out a small shockwave that caused the air to tremble. The solid rock was instantly blown straight through by the force of the blow, the rubble flying in all directions as a massive gaping hole was made in the wall by Zhao Feng’s spear attack.

“Not bad, your Overlord Spear Art is quite impressive, especially since you’ve only been training for a short time.” Mu Chen applauded. Zhao Feng was not only talented in battle, his comprehension skills were also great.

“Hehe, big brother overpraised me.” Zhao Feng rested the end of his spear on the ground. His hands were still trembling, but he acted like it was nothing. Mu Chen noticed but did not say anything other than his lips curling up slightly.

It seemed as if Zhao Feng had not fully mastered the technique yet, but he was making good progress.

“Let’s see what we have here.” Mu Chen stepped over the rubble through the gaping hole with Zhao Feng following behind him.

The pair found themselves in an even larger cavern than the one from before. This one had a small pool of water in the center of it, with shafts of sunlight shining down from openings in the ceiling. The rays of sunlight shone onto the pool, creating dazzling reflections in the water. A thin layer of mist also covered the surface of the pool.

“It's beautiful…” Zhao Feng’s eyes widened as he took in the scenery.

Mu Chen also admired the natural beauty of the cavern. He swept his gaze over the pool and noticed something. He ran over to the edge of the pool and put his index finger into the water, then put the finger into his mouth.

“As I suspected. This is spiritual water!” Mu Chen exclaimed. They were extremely lucky! Spiritual water was water that contained a concentrated amount of spiritual energy. It was considerably rare and could not be found just anywhere. It had to accumulate over hundreds to thousands of years.

“Spiritual water…it can only be found in areas with high concentration of spiritual energy!” Zhao Feng recalled as he walked over to the pool. Even he had never seen so much spiritual water before. He knew his grandfather had a small bottle, which he treated like a treasure, not allowing anyone to even touch it.

Splash! A loud splashing sound could be heard. Zhao Feng was startled and turned to look at Mu Chen. He was stunned at what he saw.

Mu Chen had actually stripped his clothes off and jumped into the pool.

“B-big brother, what are you doing?” He asked with wide eyes.

“Taking a bath.” Mu Chen replied flatly.

“T-taking a bath?” Zhao Feng was stunned.

“You want to take a bath too?” Mu Chen asked casually.

“...” Zhao Feng was momentarily speechless. This big brother of his was actually taking a bath in spiritual water? If his grandfather knew about this, he would probably vomit blood and die on the spot. Then he remembered that his big brother was a supreme figure in the past after all. Spiritual water was probably like normal water to him.

“Depending on the age and purity of the spiritual water, it might be more beneficial to bathe in spiritual water rather than consume it, you know? Spiritual water also has many other uses, such as forging pills or weapons.” Mu Chen explained.

“In this case, the qi within the spiritual water is much too concentrated. If a Mortal realm cultivator drinks just a cup, he will lose control of his spiritual qi, explode and die.”

“Ah…I see.” Zhao Feng understood now. It was not that his big brother didn’t care about the spiritual water, but it was that Zhao Feng himself was ignorant.

Shrugging, Zhao Feng also stripped and jumped in. The water was cool and refreshing on his skin, washing away all the stress and fatigue from earlier. His mind became calm and serene.

“Close your eyes, meditate and sense the flow of spiritual qi in the water.” Mu Chen’s voice entered Zhao Feng’s ears.

Zhao Feng did as he was told and closed his eyes, slowly entering a meditative state. After a few seconds, he could feel the dense amount of spiritual qi both in the water and the air surrounding him. The spiritual qi in his body began to automatically circulate, linking and creating a complete cycle with the spiritual qi in the water and air. After several minutes of cultivation, he could even feel the barrier to the next realm weaken slightly.

“The effects are truly wondrous!” He muttered under his breath. His cultivation speed had increased by several times, and he could also feel that he was on the verge of breaking through to the next major realm! If only he had a pool like this back home…

Mu Chen smiled as he leaned back against the edge of the pool and closed his eyes. The supreme spiritual qi in his body circulated as it rapidly assimilated the qi from the spiritual water.

The two of them soaked for an hour before they got out. Mu Chen had warned him that it would be detrimental if you stayed inside for too long. You had to leave the pool and completely assimilate the spiritual qi into your body before re-entering the pool.

“It's time. Let’s eat the Dragon Blood Fruit.” Mu Chen held up the blood red fruit in the palm of his hand. He could feel the powerful vitality pulsing within the fruit.