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In this place where the spiritual energy was extremely dense, Gu Xiaoxi felt like a dry sponge.

Eagerly absorbing the power she needed.

Overnight, her Inner Strength and Spiritual Power had doubled, the speed of cultivation here was simply twenty times faster than outside.

When dawn broke the next day, Gu Xiaoxi opened her eyes and at sunrise, she felt her body become ethereal like a butterfly.

Immediately, a thought arose in her heart, and that was to fly.

Fly!

The word startled her—her Qinggong, no matter how formidable, had only allowed her to leap slightly higher than a normal person.

Now, her body suddenly felt light and fluffy, following the idea in her heart.

She stood on a tree branch, took a step, and stepped into the air.

She didn’t fall!

Gu Xiaoxi clutched her hands in astonishment, her cheeks flushing with excitement.

She tried jumping, and in the blink of an eye, her body drew a beautiful arc, weaving through the treetops.

"Holy shit!" Gu Xiaoxi pinched herself hard, thinking she was dreaming.

But this wasn’t a dream.

The pain in her arm snapped her back to reality for a moment.

The next second, she lost control and fell from the sky, crashing into the dense foliage.

Gu Xiaoxi lay on the ground without feeling any pain because she had landed softly.

Her mastery of spiritual energy had reached an unprecedented pinnacle.

She looked up as the morning light pierced through the treetops like stars, an excitement in her compelled her to surge skyward uncontrollably.

Once again, she flew up.

It was as if she had suddenly grown a pair of wings, becoming a free bird; she soared into the mid-air, looking down at the whole island bathed in sunlight.

The place was divinely beautiful, making her linger with no thought of leaving.

Suddenly, she saw a massive tree in the center of the island, its branches and leaves blocking the sun.

Golden fruits hung amongst its foliage, shining like gold, each radiant and dazzling.

Just as she thought of flying towards the giant tree to explore, she felt the spiritual energy in her dantian could not sustain her, and her body plummeted quickly from the sky.

She had to retreat in order to safely return to the ground.

Gu Xiaoxi landed under the tree where everyone was resting, letting out a regretful sigh.

She had only cultivated the first scroll of the Third Level overnight, but if she could complete it, she might really be able to fly and travel freely in this world.

By then, everyone was waking up one after another.

Due to the rich spiritual energy, everyone felt refreshed after a night’s rest, without a trace of fatigue.

Anna loved the flowers here very much; she had an affinity for all things novel.

She felt that this trip was absolutely worth it.

Su San had a more stable personality, highly vigilant of anything overly beautiful.

Having trained the first scroll of the first level in one night, Xiao Xi was also in an excellent mood.

Not only that, but Jing Haoran also discovered that his Special Ability had grown stronger.

Especially his eyes, which seemed to see farther and farther.

He could even see the insects hiding in a forest and the birds tucked behind leaves.

Naji stayed close to Anna, clearly showing his love for his wife.

"Mr. Naji, where is your destination?" Gu Xiaoxi asked.

Upon hearing this, Naji glanced at the tall ancient trees surrounding them. The trees were lush, and the leaves blocked out the sun, yet it wasn’t dark in the forest at all.

"Seeking the Fruit of Immortality, if we can’t find it, we won’t return," Naji said firmly.

"Darling! What if there’s no Fruit of Immortality here?" Anna asked.

"The moment everyone sails back, is also when we’ll return," Naji said with a smile, seemingly very considerate of others’ success.

Even though Gu Xiaoxi was in good spirits, she had not forgotten the strange events that had transpired on the ship.

"If Mr. Naji doesn’t mind, I’ll go find the Fruit of Immortality for you. You just need to stay outside," Gu Xiaoxi stated seriously.

"Why?"

"Think about it, if it’s really the Fruit of Immortality, then many masters must have come. They will be armed, fighting for the fruits. Without the power to face them, it’s easy to invite disaster," Gu Xiaoxi reasoned matter-of-factly.

She didn’t mind venturing into the dense forest in search of the Fruit of Immortality.

But she was concerned about the safety of Naji and Anna.

Since she had promised to protect them, naturally, she would bring them back safely.

After hearing Gu Xiaoxi’s explanation, Anna and Naji fell silent for quite a while before glancing at the endless ancient forest and compromising, "Fine, we will wait for you on the periphery. If there is any Fruit of Immortality, you must bring back two for us."

Naji longed to catch a glimpse of the so-called Tree of Immortality, but he chose to give up because he was worried about Anna’s safety.

*

Gu Xiaoxi, Su San, and Jing Haoran continued their journey, and along the way, they encountered large groups of people hurrying toward the center of the island.

"We rested for one night and wasted a lot of time.

If there really are Fruits of Immortality, they must have already been picked by others," Su San sighed, thinking of the mercenaries and assassins on the ship.

"Those who came here specifically for the legend will surely do everything in their power to head toward the center of the island. "

"Being the first to arrive doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good thing. Let’s not rush, and proceed at a normal pace." Gu Xiaoxi already knew the direction of that strange big tree.

She also wanted to investigate what conspiracies might be hidden behind this trip to Ghost Island.

...

They walked for another day.

At night, they reached the deeper parts of the island.

In the pitch-dark night, Gu Xiaoxi and the others didn’t stop. Instead, they continued on their way.

Suddenly, she smelled a pungent scent of blood in the forest.

At the same time, Jing Haoran also smelled it.

"Xiao Xi, could it be that something happened ahead?" Jing Haoran whispered.

Gu Xiaoxi raised her hand in a halting gesture and instructed, "Everyone be careful!"

Afterward, she closed her eyes and used her Spiritual Sense to sense the surroundings.

It was just a moment before Gu Xiaoxi took a step back in shock, with goosebumps all over her body.

"What’s wrong?" Jing Haoran, seeing that Gu Xiaoxi’s reaction was off, quickly supported her and asked.

"Dead people! So many dead people!" Gu Xiaoxi clutched her chest, instantly feeling her scalp tingle.

In front of them, the forest was littered with messy corpses, gnawed beyond recognition by animals, with blood spilled everywhere.

No wonder the smell of blood was so strong just now.

"Let’s get out of here!" Without a second thought, Gu Xiaoxi turned around and retreated with Jing Haoran.

Unexpectedly, pairs of green eyes twinkled on the path they were retreating along.

Jing Haoran instinctively hid behind Gu Xiaoxi, his legs going soft with fright, "Ghosts!"

Gu Xiaoxi furrowed her brow and immediately drew out a dagger, holding it tightly in her hand.

She looked behind the leaves, on the treetops, and on the ground at a dense pack of wild beasts, and swallowed hard. Why hadn’t she felt their presence just before?

Where had they been hiding before they suddenly appeared out of nowhere?

"What do we do?" Su San wasn’t faring much better. The number of wild beasts blocking their retreat was simply too many, and he could see hundreds of them in sight—wolves, tigers, lions—all strangely coexisting together in harmony, which was incredulous.

Seeing that there was no way to retreat, Gu Xiaoxi decided the only way was to continue heading toward the center of the island.

"Go!" Without hesitation, Gu Xiaoxi turned around and, leading Su San and Jing Haoran, ran deeper into the forest.

As they ran, the pack behind them gave chase.

Gu Xiaoxi’s speed was naturally no problem, but Su San and Jing Haoran were key concerns.

Even though they were running with all their might, they ultimately couldn’t match the speed of the wild beasts.

Seeing this, Gu Xiaoxi suddenly leaped to the rear of the group, wielding her dagger to hack at the tide of beasts.

Meanwhile, she instructed Jing Haoran and Su San, "Keep running forward! Don’t look back, and don’t worry about me. If you can, find somewhere to hide."

"No way! How can you handle so many wild beasts by yourself?" Jing Haoran immediately turned back to fight alongside Gu Xiaoxi.

But before he could strike, a wolf claw tore through his shoulder.

Gu Xiaoxi was horrified, somersaulted over, and cut the wolf’s throat with a single stroke.

Jing Haoran’s shoulder began to bleed profusely, the wound deep enough to reveal bone, causing his face to turn deathly pale with pain.

He hadn’t expected these wild beasts to be so powerful.

"Su San, take him and go!" Gu Xiaoxi didn’t have the time for lengthy discussions. She pushed Jing Haoran to Su San and once again joined the fray with the wolves.

Her dagger, combined with her nimble Qinggong, quickly held back the onslaught of wild beasts.

Su San took Jing Haoran, fleeing deeper into the island.

Soon, Gu Xiaoxi was running out of Physical Strength.

She fought while retreating.

She also sensed that these were no ordinary wild beasts.

In a place with such a rich concentration of Spiritual Energy, the trees and plants could grow exceedingly lush, and the same could be said for these wild beasts.