Chapter 127: Holy Solution Materials
Be wary of Mu Qingtong.
He Jianzhu's warning was deliberate. Xia Feng naturally understood the need for caution—but wasn't Mu Qingtong He Jianzhu's own daughter?
And more importantly—
Mu Qingtong was standing right beside him!
"What does your mother mean by that?" Xia Feng asked calmly, blinking to transmit his voice.
Mu Qingtong smiled faintly. "She enjoys being cryptic with her abilities. Just ignore her."
She glanced up at the writhing mass of black tentacles in the sky. "Of course, if you're truly curious, you could always go ask her directly."
"Fair point."
Xia Feng swiftly changed the subject, eyeing the old woman with skepticism. "I have another question. Old lady, why did you choose to play a wife in the Wheel of Life?"
"..." The old woman's expression stiffened before she replied awkwardly, "Isn't it more enticing that way? And judging by your presence, it clearly worked, young man!"
"What?!" Xia Feng's eyes widened. "Hold on—don't twist my words! I'm not here for that!"
Mu Qingtong studied him thoughtfully. "So this is why you agreed to come with me?"
"She's making things up!" Xia Feng groaned, rubbing his temples. His reputation was taking an unjust hit. Since when was he the type to chase married women? Absolutely not!
Next, Mu Qingtong repeated all of Uncle Yun's earlier questions to the old woman. Aside from her ignorance about the Wheel of Life, the answers aligned—proving she hadn't lied.
Xia Feng headed upstairs and found the missing little girl—her limbs severed, leaving only her torso propped on a chair. Under the lamplight, a crayon drawing of the Zhang family lay on the desk.
"Xiao Wen's parents and brother vanished. Then she insulted the gods. This is her divine punishment," the old woman explained coolly.
The girl clutched a crayon in her teeth, mechanically coloring the paper with hollow eyes.
Xia Feng's breath hitched. He watched in silence before suddenly noticing the clock—its minute hand imperceptibly merging with the hour and second hands at midnight.
Then—
CRASH!
Two black tentacles shattered the window. Mu Qingtong effortlessly obliterated Uncle Yun's spirit before darting out the opposite window.
Xia Feng burst into the sky outside, but both froze at the sight—countless tentacles speared down from the clouds, engulfing the entire town-sized space.
No escape.
Within moments, unbreakable tentacles coiled around their waists, yanking them northward.
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!
The tentacles cleverly avoided buildings, swinging violently. Dizzy and wind-whipped, Xia Feng soon found himself above an amusement park.
At its center stood a ten-meter-tall tree, heavy with glossy apples—over seventy in total.
An enlarged Gift Tree.
Several spirit masters dangled from its tentacles, writhing in terror. Xia Feng and Mu Qingtong soon joined them.
"Ooh, fresh meat~" A Gothic Lolita, similarly bound, tilted her head at them.
"Idiot! Now's not the time for introductions!" snapped a man with a TV for a head, his screen's portrait scowling.
"If not now, then when? After we die?" The Lolita pouted, batting heavy-lidded eyes. "Hi! I'm Yuan Zhoulu. And you?"
"..."
What a name. Seeing the two fourth-tier experts unfazed, Xia Feng stayed calm too. "Diamond (Fang)," he replied politely.
"Club," Mu Qingtong added with a smile.
"Huh?" The TV man's pixelated face brightened. "Bro! Your surname's Fang too?"
"Sure is. Why?"
"All Fangs are my brothers! Nice to meet ya." His screen flickered into a grin—eerily distorted by static. "Name's Square Fours. Fitting, right? Hah!"
"..." Xia Feng was speechless. I don't know about 'square,' but you're definitely… something.
"AAGHH—!"
A distant scream shattered the moment.
The four turned to see the nearest spirit master's body rot and bleed, collapsing into putrid meat before condensing into a gleaming red apple on the tree.
The other twenty-plus captives paled. Proximity to the tree meant faster transformation.
"The Spirit-Flesh Fruit Tree… Damn, legends don't do it justice!" Square Four cackled.
"Spirit-Flesh Fruit Tree?" Xia Feng frowned.
"The 'Gift Tree' the locals mentioned," Yuan Zhoulu sneered. "Its fruits forcibly compress spirit-particle density—but the side effects? Bloodlust, rage, and cannibalistic urges."
Forced compression?! Xia Feng's pulse spiked.
Spirit-Storage Fruits expanded soul space, indirectly increasing spirit particles but hindering advancement.
Spirit-Flesh Fruits directly compressed particle density—skyrocketing power without bottleneck penalties. But the cost?
The fruits were literal human flesh. What kind of monster could stomach that?
"So these exist outside too?" Xia Feng pressed.
"Obviously," Yuan Zhoulu sighed. "In the Gray World, they're priceless—traded for D-Class or even B-Class spirit weapon. Who knew their source was here?"
The Gray World: a lawless no-man's-land between the human and evil realms, rife with criminals and cults.
Mu Qingtong studied the crimson fruits. "Evil Beasts can't relocate easily. Selling these requires human intermediaries."
"No wonder this evil realm survived in District 51 undetected for over a decade," Xia Feng realized.
Orphans vanished into First Harmony Orphanage yearly, severed from society—uninvestigated. Any inspectors likely ended up "sealed" in twisted forms.
Someone powerful was shielding this place. And such protection never came free.
The Spirit-Flesh Fruits? Just one of their rewards.
At this thought, Xia Feng instinctively looked toward the sky.
"If the evil beast truly collaborated with District 51's nobility," Mu Qingtong remarked calmly, "then the so-called Sky God and deities become easily explained."
"The Sky God is the evil beast itself, while the 'gods' are those high-ranking officials."
"Tsk tsk~ Typical imperial nobility! I always knew those aristocrats were rotten!" The Gothic Lolita scoffed after hearing their analysis. "This empire will collapse sooner or later!"
"Whether the empire collapses or not, we'll be dead first, sister!" Square Fours snapped. "If we don't figure something out, we're all finished here!"
Before them, spirit masters kept exploding into bloody chunks that coalesced into new fruits on the tree. Their turn would come soon.
"A solution? Tsk~ Mine is waiting for death." The Gothic Lolita lowered her eyes indifferently.
"." The TV-headed man sighed in resignation. "Damn. We're done for."
Seeing their defeatist attitudes, Xia Feng's eyes widened. "Hey wait—aren't you two fourth-level experts?"
The Gothic Lolita gave him a sidelong glance. "Please. This is at least a five-eye disaster realm—no, probably six-eye level. Completely out of our league."
"My luck's been absolute hell recently," Square Fours grumbled. "This damn realm disguised its entrance as a regional portal. Thought I could shortcut to District 51, not land in fucking purgatory!"
As the two high-level spirit masters kept complaining, Xia Feng's heart sank. So they genuinely had no escape plan, hence all the earlier small talk?
He'd assumed their casual demeanor meant they had things under control. This complicated matters. Xia Feng gazed thoughtfully at the sky—beyond the writhing tentacles loomed a massive shadow, its octopus-like silhouette blotting out the heavens.
"Hey! Brother, look at that!" Yuan Zhoulu suddenly pointed excitedly at the Spirit-Flesh Fruit Tree.
Square Four's screen displayed a blank expression. "There's nothing. What're you yelling about?"
"Idiot brother! Those water droplets around the tree—it's Holy Solution Liquid! That's Holy Solution Liquid!" The Gothic Lolita nearly vibrated with excitement.
Xia Feng's eyes narrowed. Now he saw it—countless minuscule golden-glowing droplets encircling the tree's base.
"Holy shit! It really is!" Square Fours's screen flickered wildly. "At this quantity... must be at least 10 milliliters combined!"
Xia Feng's breath caught. Holy Solution Liquid—one of the essential materials for achieving Holy Solution!
[Holy Solution Materials: 100ml Holy Solution Liquid, Life Trace Pathway, 100 Obsidian Stones of Primordial Attribute]
Each component was extraordinarily rare, with Holy Solution Liquid's scarcity rivaling A-grade spirit weapon. Even a single drop could make fourth-level, fifth-level, even Venerable masters fight tooth and nail.
Holy Solution Liquid had multiple uses: absorbing 100ml granted a temporary twelve-hour Holy Solution state. It also dramatically boosted mental strength, repaired damaged souls and spirit weapon. But its paramount purpose? Being a mandatory Holy Solution material.
Holy Solution—an ability exclusive to S-grade and select A-grade spirit weapon—represented the ultimate perfection of a spirit weapon's capabilities. Achieving it could elevate a high-level spirit master's combat power exponentially.
Of course, given the extreme rarity of its materials, few ever completed Holy Solution.
(End of Chapter)