Human Clan Defender

After obtaining the Nirvana Fruit, Shen Changqing was the first to consume one of the Spirit Fruits. The Nirvana Fruit, true to its reputation as a heavenly and earthly treasure, still had considerable effects even after he reached Grandmaster Peak, especially in tempering the physique.

Initially, before consuming the Nirvana Fruit, his flesh defense was already extremely strong. The twenty-ninth layer of the Great Sun Golden Body allowed Shen Changqing to directly withstand a Grandmaster's attack with the strength of his flesh, emerging unscathed. Now, after swallowing the Nirvana Fruit, his defensive power had further increased. He had a premonition that ordinary Grandmaster attacks would no longer have any significant effect on him. Of course, if he had just entered the Physical System or held some kind of Divine Weapon, that would be another matter.

Overall, although the Nirvana Fruit did not enhance Shen Changqing's True Yuan and Qi and Blood as much as the blood of the Red Phosphorus Fierce Beast did, it played a significant role in terms of flesh defense. As a result, this indirectly increased his strength somewhat. Not long after entering the Heavenly Realm, he had continuously acquired treasures, allowing his strength to improve to a certain extent without utilizing his status panel. Regarding this, Shen Changqing's perception of the Heavenly Realm remained quite positive.

After leaving the place where he had obtained the Nirvana Fruit, he headed in a specific direction. His primary goal was still the Longevity Fruit. If he could obtain the Longevity Fruit, then this trip to the Heavenly Realm would truly be a tremendous profit.

"What a pity!" Shen Changqing thought of the records about the Longevity Fruit in the booklet and couldn't help but sigh to himself. The Longevity Fruit does not exist in every Heavenly Realm, and it is not easy to find—

The Longevity Fruit was extremely precious. For one, it could increase a martial artist's lifespan, having the effect of prolonging life. For another, the Longevity Fruit was exceedingly rare. The opening of the Heavenly Realm itself was rare enough. Additionally, not every Heavenly Realm had a Longevity Fruit, which made finding one even more difficult. Therefore, Shen Changqing could not be sure that he would definitely find the Longevity Fruit here.

Walking within the Heavenly Realm, he kept his Divine Sense at its peak state at all times, vigilant for any danger that might emerge from the shadows. There were many opportunities in the Heavenly Realm, and the dangers were not trifling at all. In Shen Changqing's view, the Heavenly Realm had likely not opened for a long time, allowing the Fierce Beasts living here to greatly recover. Combined with the rich Spiritual Energy, this made the Fierce Beasts here quite formidable.

Thinking back, the tiger he encountered upon first entering the Heavenly Realm turned out to be the weakest one. The other Fierce Beasts he encountered were all quite strong. So far, the strongest was still the Red Phosphorus Fierce Beast he had slain. Shen Changqing could not guarantee that there would not be Fierce Beasts stronger than the Red Phosphorus Fierce Beast within the Heavenly Realm. If there really was one, that beast would be firmly at the peak of the Grandmaster realm. If they were to encounter each other, he did not have absolute confidence that he could deal with such a beast.

However, though the Fierce Beasts were formidable, slaying them had very obvious benefits, just like the Red Phosphorus Fierce Beast. In actual fact, every Fierce Beast lived by absorbing and exhaling Spiritual Energy, and their blood contained surging Spiritual Power. Besides that, each Fierce Beast had, to some extent, nurtured precious treasures within its body. These items were very valuable outside. Therefore, if he could slay a Fierce Beast, the benefits he gained would also be substantial.

With this in mind, Shen Changqing also set a goal for himself. Before the Heavenly Realm closes, find the Longevity Fruit. Otherwise, I'll focus on slaying Fierce Beasts to plunder their power for my own use!

Finding the Longevity Fruit would certainly be a joyous occasion. But if the Longevity Fruit could not be found, improving his own strength was also a good thing.

The next moment, his thoughts shifted to another aspect. Demonfolk have infiltrated the Heavenly Realm; the one I killed likely wasn't the only one. The Demonfolk's infiltration surely had a purpose. If I can take this opportunity to kill a few more, that would be best.

In Shen Changqing's eyes, Demonfolk were equivalent to Slaughter Value. Killing Demonfolk was no different from slaying Demonic Evils on the outside. If there was any difference, it would probably be that after slaying Demonfolk, he could not harvest their Spiritual Power. Aside from that, there were no other issues.

「——」

BOOM!!

Another Fierce Beast fell to the ground. Shen Changqing looked at the beast, then flipped through the booklet, only to find that it didn't contain any records of this particular Fierce Beast. Clearly, the booklet mainly focused on recording heavenly and earthly treasures; records of Fierce Beasts, for example, were only noted in passing. Not every Fierce Beast had a corresponding record.

Looking at the blood flowing from the Fierce Beast, he tried swallowing some and then made a face of distaste. It was true that the blood contained Spiritual Energy. However, compared to the blood of a Red Phosphorus Fierce Beast, the Spiritual Energy contained in this beast's blood was far too scarce. And moreover, it lacked the ability to temper Qi and Blood. A mouthful of the beast's blood, once swallowed, did nothing more than slightly recover his recent expenditure, without increasing his strength in the slightest.

As Shen Changqing inwardly scoffed, he also understood something. It seems that not all beast blood is effective for me; only that of a beast at the level of the Red Phosphorus Fierce Beast can enhance my strength a bit!

That was, not all beast blood was useful to him. The reason was simple: his current strength had nearly reached the peak of what a Martial Artist could attain at this stage. To advance further from here would be many times more difficult. Therefore, every bit of strength gained was by no means an easy feat. Although it might seem that his overall strength had increased significantly after swallowing the blood of the Red Phosphorus Fierce Beast, one had to remember that the Red Phosphorus Fierce Beast was a top-tier Fierce Beast, nearly at the Grandmaster Peak level. In the outside world, its strength was also not to be underestimated. Shen Changqing even doubted how many such beasts there could be in the Heavenly Realm. Gaining such an increase after slaying it was understandable.

After a glance at the beast's carcass on the ground, he decisively left. Since even the beast's blood was useless to him, its other parts would also be of limited value. If he had a storage ring like those he had heard of in his previous life, then it wouldn't matter as much. But now, he had nothing on him that could serve as storage. Carrying too much would only cause inconvenience. That was why, since entering the Heavenly Realm, Shen Changqing only carried two Nirvana Fruits in his bosom and the pair of horns from the Red Phosphorus Fierce Beast on his back. He hadn't even bothered to skin the beast. Otherwise, given the Red Phosphorus Fierce Beast's exceedingly strong defensive power, if he had skinned it, he could have had it forged into high-quality treasured armor after leaving. Whether for auction or personal use, both would have been good choices.

With his previous experiences, Shen Changqing no longer hunted every Fierce Beast he encountered. He didn't kill those that were too weak, nor did he collect heavenly and earthly treasures of little effect. Unless it was something useful to him, he wouldn't even bother looking.

Although the Heavenly Realm didn't distinguish between day and night, Shen Changqing still kept a silent count of the time. In his estimation, since he had slain the Red Phosphorus Fierce Beast, he had spent at least two to three days in the Heavenly Realm. In this period, he hadn't encountered any Fierce Beast as powerful as the Red Phosphorus Fierce Beast, nor had he come across any useful heavenly and earthly treasures. He hadn't even seen a single person. It was as if everyone who had entered the Heavenly Realm had disappeared, leaving him alone. Because of this, Shen Changqing deeply felt how vast the Heavenly Realm truly was.

BOOM—

A terrifying Surge of Spirit Qi burst forth, stirring the clouds and weather of the Heavenly Realm. He paused in his steps, turned his head towards the direction of the Surge of Spirit Qi, and his expression unconsciously shifted.

"A Surge of Spirit Qi!" he exclaimed, then wondered, Could it be that a Longevity Fruit has fully matured?

Shen Changqing recalled everything about the Longevity Fruit mentioned in the booklet.

"Longevity Fruit: A supreme heavenly and earthly treasure nurtured from the essence of Heaven and Earth as well as boundless Spiritual Energy, with the innate ability to capture the mysterious opportunities of creation. If the Longevity Fruit is not fully matured, it will not show too many unusual phenomena. When it reaches full maturity, it will surely be accompanied by phenomena such as a Surge of Spirit Qi."

The records in the booklet were so similar to the current Surge of Spirit Qi. This made him suspect that this was indeed the phenomenon that occurred when a Longevity Fruit appeared.

Legend had it that the Longevity Fruit itself was extremely rare, and its growth period was unknown. It was already difficult to locate a Longevity Fruit under normal circumstances. To happen upon the very day it matured would require immense fortune. Could it be that my luck is truly this good, to encounter a naturally matured Longevity Fruit on my first entry into the Heavenly Realm! Shen Changqing thought to himself.

He didn't hesitate further and directly turned in the direction of the Surge of Spirit Qi. Regardless of whether it was the Longevity Fruit, the current Surge of Spirit Qi indicated that even if it wasn't a maturing Longevity Fruit, some other powerful heavenly and earthly treasure must be emerging. He had absolutely no reason to pass up such a treasure. He had to go and take a look, no matter what. Besides, with his current strength, Shen Changqing felt quite confident within the Heavenly Realm.

Elsewhere, when the phenomenon of the Surge of Spirit Qi appeared, the experts scattered throughout the Heavenly Realm all noticed it immediately. Then, as if they had agreed beforehand, they all headed towards the direction of the Surge of Spirit Qi.

"A Surge of Spirit Qi! It might be a Longevity Fruit maturing! Let's go!"

Shen Hua had originally been fighting a Fierce Beast with several clansmen of the Shen Family. Upon seeing the phenomenon of the Surge of Spirit Qi, he decisively stopped and backed away, abandoning the heavenly and earthly treasure there and heading toward the direction of the phenomenon.