Chapter 170: Bodhi Tree, Merit Fruit

“We’ve killed nearly six or seven hundred Stone Dragon Beasts already. How long will this endless killing go on?”

With a flick of her ten fingers, the Long-Legged Lady made the Pale Flame spin violently, blasting three charging Stone Dragon Beasts into pieces.

She was already feeling a bit impatient. This endless slaughter gave no Experience Points and dropped no items, easily breeding irritation.

“If only we could borrow Senior Sister Jiang’s Vajra Pāramitā Ship! Even a thousand miles would be covered in an instant, and we’d surely get ahead of everyone!”

“Look, something’s changing over there. There’s actually a lake!”

Ye Rong exclaimed. With the Fluorescence Microscopy Technique active, he could observe the distant situation earlier than the Long-Legged Lady.

“Bodhi Tree, Merit Fruit!”

With a clear goal, both of them felt their spirits lift. They sped forward. When they were just a few dozen meters from the small lake, which was as blue as a gem, the Long-Legged Lady showed a strange expression and cried out in surprise.

It wasn’t because she was a Closed Beta Player of Graceful Dream Butterfly, but because her knowledge from Miaozhen Temple was much broader than Ye Rong’s.

On a mound in the center of the azure lake grew a towering ancient tree—the sacred Buddhist Bodhi Tree. Hanging from it were lush, teardrop-shaped gourd-like fruits, the extraordinary Buddhist treasure known as Merit Fruit.

Even from a distance, the Merit Fruit emitted waves of enticing fragrance. Each fruit had green mist coalescing into shapes of dragons and tigers, so vivid they seemed alive, even roaring continuously.

The Bodhi Tree was a Seventh Rank material for forging swords, suitable as the main material for wooden Flying Swords.

But there were plenty of materials for sword forging and artifact crafting; Seventh Rank sword materials weren’t particularly precious. What made the Long-Legged Lady change expression was its other use: it was one of the main materials for crafting several types of ships.

Although the Shipbuilder profession was the least common among all Life Professions in Far Shore, even if you found a couple, they could only craft Kan Grade First or Second Tier ships at present, which were hardly worth mentioning.

Materials for shipbuilding were definitely among the rarest types of resources, absolutely worth collecting and hoarding, never disappointing.

Thinking of Fairy Jiang Xuejun’s majestic Vajra Pāramitā Ship, Ye Rong felt a burning desire in his heart and marked the Bodhi Tree as his own.

The Merit Fruits hanging from it could be directly consumed, each increasing Karma Points by 10,000, with no consumption limit. That meant if you swallowed ten at once, you’d directly gain 100,000 Karma Points, no doubt about it.

Hearing the effect of the Merit Fruit, the fickle Ye Rong immediately had stars in his eyes, ranking it above the Bodhi Wood.

Didn’t this mean that if he could get thirty Merit Fruits, he could unseal the Nine Glazed Golden Lamp? If he got eighty or ninety Merit Fruits, would he directly meet the conditions to face his First Heavenly Tribulation? In the future, no matter how many people he killed actively, he wouldn’t have to worry about Karma Points? And those follow-up tasks on the Merit Steles—could he trigger them one by one too?

“When we first entered, we saw the Shushan Sword Alliance’s floating warships parked outside. The main material used was this Bodhi Wood, named the Great and Small Extinction Faxing Ships. The large ones are Kan Grade Fifth Tier, the small ones Kan Grade Fourth Tier.”

“Shushan Sword Alliance is so wealthy! Just to guard the entrance and intimidate other Players, they used five ships!”

“They’re just transport ships. Apart from carrying more Players, they have no advantages, only one defensive spell.”

The Long-Legged Lady snorted lightly, clearly looking down on these Great and Small Extinction Faxing Ships.

“Mount Emei itself has several great Immortal Manors. Opening any one would reveal a treasure trove of legendary proportions, though the difficulty of obtaining them wouldn’t be much easier than this Yellow Emperor’s Tomb. They wouldn’t get any special treatment just for being Emei disciples. But even if they threw lives at it, they’d still gain some rewards. I estimate that right now, Shushan Sword Alliance not only has Kan Grade ships but even Dui Grade high-tier ships.”

“Instead of focusing on those Immortal Manors, Shushan Sword Alliance still covets this Yellow Emperor’s Tomb. So greedy!”

As Ye Rong learned more about ships, he finally understood the classifications and their pros and cons. Zhen Grade, Li Grade, Kan Grade—these only represented the types of ships, not their quality.

But for Kan Grade ships, the highest they could reach was Fifth Tier, which was the level of the Great Extinction Faxing Ship.

Zhen Grade and Li Grade ships could reach up to Seventh Tier, which was already on par with Ninth-Tier Magic Treasures.

As for Ninth Tier ships, they only existed in Qian Grade and Kun Grade classifications. Each one had the power of a nuclear weapon, even guild war divine artifacts—supreme weapons that could single-handedly oppose thousands of Players, like the Divine Shuttle Piercing the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths or the Salvation Ship.

“Yijian, do you know the three great mysteries from the Closed Beta?”

“Which three? I had other matters during that time and didn’t participate in the Closed Beta at all. I don’t know any of this information.”

Ye Rong acted like a well-behaved, eager student, absorbing these Closed Beta insights rapidly.

“These three mysteries are all speculations, vague and unclear. It’s said they were revealed by a few super bigshots. They are—whether the power of the Twin Swords Combined surpassed the Tenth Tier, whether an Immortal Realm System existed in the game, and one related to ships.”

“Guangchengzi’s Yuan River Golden Ship contained countless treasures, almost the largest hoard among the game’s treasure locations. But the real greatest treasure was the Golden Ship itself—a Tenth Tier ship! And that mystery was that there was another Tenth Tier ship in the game, as famous as the Golden Ship—the Far Shore Ship!”

“Damn Kung Fu Panda! There’s such a thing?”

Ye Rong felt dizzy hearing this. There really was a lot he didn’t know. What did a Tenth Tier ship even mean?

One was left by Guangchengzi; the other was simply named after the game itself. These two Tenth Tier ships were probably the number one supreme treasures in Far Shore.

“Enough, these things are too far from us. Let’s just take what’s in front of us first!”

Ye Rong activated his Sword Light and was about to land on the mound in the center of the lake when suddenly a circle of golden light appeared, sweeping down toward his head. A sharp turn barely dodged the golden light, but he was forced back, unable to set foot on the mound.

“Benefactor, why so hasty? This Bodhi Tree and Merit Fruit are both extraordinary Buddhist treasures; naturally, they should be collected by me.”

A smiling monk in coarse robes, with his palms pressed together, had a string of prayer beads on his left wrist. Each bead was carved with a Buddha, and bright Buddha Light shimmered within, clearly an extraordinary Buddhist Treasure.

The Sword Light flickered and, as it returned to his hand, turned into a golden Buddhist pestle, shining brilliantly.

“Bald head! A Buddhist School disciple?”

Ye Rong was greatly shocked. This was the first Buddhist School disciple he had seen since entering the game.

Compared to the thriving Daoist Sects and Demonic Path Sects with many Players, Buddhist School disciples were much rarer, absolutely precious creatures.

“Hehe, if you two benefactors have no objections, I’ll take these Buddhist treasures away!”

The coarse-robed monk laughed happily and reached out. A Vajra Giant Hand appeared, grabbing toward the Bodhi Tree as if to take everything at once, very greedy.

Anger flashed across the Long-Legged Lady’s face, and she was about to activate the Pale Flame above her head when Ye Rong stopped her with a hand.

“Wait and see. It’s not that simple!”

He had been too hasty earlier; otherwise, by carefully observing the surroundings, he could have detected this hidden big bald guy. Now, after careful sensing, he faintly detected several almost imperceptible breaths and had a plan in mind.

The Vajra Giant Hand grew larger as it extended, finally becoming about an acre in size. As a Buddhist Dao Spell, it was much more domineering than Ye Rong’s Kasyapa’s Thousand Hands. Just as it was about to touch the Bodhi Tree, the towering ancient tree actually moved upward to meet it. It collided fiercely with the Vajra Giant Hand, shed a few leaves, its branches trembled, and it completely shattered the Vajra Giant Hand.

“So that’s it! Yijian, how did you know the Bodhi Tree had cultivated a tree spirit and could counterattack on its own?”

The Long-Legged Lady looked over at him, her gentle, appreciative gaze making him feel quite pleased.

“Ahem… Just a feeling. It was just a feeling.”

What else could Ye Rong say? Should he admit he didn’t notice anything odd about the Bodhi Tree but detected other Players hiding nearby with stealth spells? That probably wouldn’t sound good, so it was better to let the mistake stand.

“By the way, this guy’s Vajra Giant Hand looks so similar to your Sister Jiang’s. Could his master be related to your Miaozhen Temple?”

“Buddhist Spells all look like that. How many shapes can a Vajra Giant Hand take? Only when high-level Buddhist big shots make a move do you get thousand-colored auspicious auras, myriad beams of rosy light, and effects like dharma wheels, precious umbrellas, canopies, and lotuses.”

The coarse-robed monk, failing with one strike, angrily shouted and put more effort into his hands. Another Vajra Giant Hand condensed and grabbed toward the Bodhi Tree, determined to obtain the treasure this way.

“Master Xunhua, it seems your Buddhist Spells aren’t up to par. You truly disgrace the name of Divine Monk White Brow!”

A supremely pure Sword Light shot out diagonally, heading straight for Master Xunhua’s waist, creating loud sonic booms.

One Sword Breaks Ten Thousand Spells! One Sword Cuts Through the Heavenly Stars! One Sword Shatters Heaven and Earth!

The intense sword aura emanating from this person seemed to tolerate nothing but the purest, fiercest Sword Light.

Ye Rong’s eyebrow twitched. This reminded him of someone else who gave him the same feeling—no wonder it felt so familiar.

It was that Luo Xin Zhuipo, the Player who possessed the Sword Embryo of the Ancient Sword Path.