The Earth Bear suddenly dashed back into the cave, which made Li Zhen and others feel lost for a moment.

Li Mengyao asked, “What’s going on? Why did the bear suddenly run back?”

Wang Minghai said, “I smelled a fragrance just now. It seems that the Earthvein Spiritual Fruits have ripened.”

Li Zhen’s expression changed. “So soon? Didn’t you say it would take more than two days for these fruits to be ripe?”

Wang Minghai said, “I’m not sure. Judging from the Earth Bear’s behavior, these fruits should be ripe.”

Li Zhen cried, “Then what are we waiting for? Hurry up and get into the cave to grab the fruits. We have to get at least one Earthvein Spiritual Fruit.

“I will reward anyone who can get the Earthvein Spiritual Fruits with two low-level Immortal Crystals!”

This was definitely a big reward. For Wang Minghai and the other guards, two low-level Immortal Crystals were enough to make them risk their lives.

As the saying goes, when a high reward is offered, brave fellows are bound to come forward. These people roared and rushed into the cave together.

Unexpectedly, as soon as they reached the entrance, they bumped into the Earth Bear that was rushing out. The power of the furious Earth Bear was much greater than that of a tank. These people were no match for it at all.

The bones of more than ten guards who rushed ahead were shattered, including a master at the early stage of the Grand Completion Realm, whose breastbone was broken by the Earth Bear. After falling to the ground, he was viciously stomped on by the Earth Bear again. Finally, he turned into a pile of meat paste.

Everyone hurriedly backed off again. This encounter between them and the beast had taken a toll on their numbers. More than twenty people were killed or injured.

The Earth Bear had not fully vented its rage yet. It roared again and rushed to Wang Minghai and the others.

Li Zhen and Li Mengyao who were standing nearby saw that the Earth Bear had rushed furiously out of the cave. They were extremely puzzled.

“Brother, what’s happening? Why did the Earth Bear suddenly go crazy?”

Li Zhen also looked puzzled. “I don’t know. Let’s go in and have a look now.”

He pulled Li Mengyao into the entrance and sneakily went inside.

The Earth Bear’s cave was very simple. They quickly came to the pool. When they saw the lone tree in the cave, Li Mengyao said, “Brother, is this Earthvein Spiritual Fruits tree?”

Li Zhen said with a gloomy face, “Yes, it is, but all the fruits on it are gone.”

“Where did the fruits go? Could they have been eaten by the Earth Bear?”

Li Zhen shook his head and said, “Definitely not. If the Earth Bear had eaten the fruits, it would not be so angry. It must have lost the Earthvein Spiritual Fruits and thought that we stole them, so it went berserk and took revenge on us.”

Li Mengyao said in surprise, “What happened? We didn’t get the Earthvein Spiritual Fruits and the Earth Bear didn’t eat them either. Is there a third person here?”

Li Zhen frowned and said, “Usually, it’s impossible. Only our Dragon Royal Family would be here. We have been staring at the entrance of the cave. No one has entered. How could there be anyone else?”

Li Mengyao said, “Then where are the Earthvein Spiritual Fruits?”

Li Zhen’s expression suddenly changed. “Did they steal the Earthvein Spiritual Fruits?”

“Who? Has anyone else been here before?”

Li Zhen said, “Just a few hours ago, Lu Xiaoyao, the president of the Alchemist Association in the Dragon Kingdom, came here with three people. At first, they wanted to cooperate with me to take the Earthvein Spiritual Fruits, but I refused.

“Could it be that they didn’t leave, but stole the Earthvein Spiritual Fruits?”

Li Mengyao also knew Lu Xiaoyao. She said, “That’s impossible. Lu Xiaoyao is only at the early stage of the Grand Completion Realm. It’s impossible for him to take away the Earthvein Spiritual Fruits under our noses and the Earth Bear’s.”

“At any rate, we failed this time. Let’s leave this place first. If the Earth Bear returns, we’ll be in trouble.”

After that, they left in a hurry.

Outside the cave, the guards of the Dragon Kingdom were currently engaged in a fierce battle against the Earth Bear.

The enraged Earth Bear grabbed the other master at the early stage of the Grand Completion Realm and sat on him, which reduced him into a pile of meat puree.

Wang Minghai also found an opportunity to stab his sword into the Earth Bear’s chest.

Unfortunately, the Earth Bear’s defense capability was too strong. His sword was only able to penetrate about two inches into its skin before it stopped. At the same time, one of his arms was torn off by the Earth Bear’s claws.

Seeing that his people had been beaten so miserably, Li Zhen shouted, “The Earthvein Spiritual Fruits are gone. Stop fighting. Let’s retreat quickly.”

When they heard the first prince’s order, all the guards immediately scattered in all directions. This order really saved their lives.

Although the Earth Bear was ferocious, its only flaw was that it didn’t know how to fly. Seeing its opponents fly into the air, it could only stand on the ground and vent the rage in its heart on the surrounding rocks and trees.

Wang Minghai lost an arm. His face was chalk-white due to fright and loss of blood. After his wound was treated, he said to Li Zhen, “Your Highness, what happened?”

“I don’t know either. In short, the Earthvein Spiritual Fruits in the cave have been picked by someone.”

Wang Minghai said in surprise, “How is that possible? There is only one entrance to the cave. We have been guarding it all the time. How can anyone enter the cave?”

“Who knows? If I find out who did this, I’ll definitely hack him to pieces.”

Li Zhen was extremely angry. He fought against the Earth Bear outside with his men, but the fruits in the cave were taken away by someone. This made him so depressed that he was about to vomit blood.

This time, they came here with one master at the middle stage of the Grand Completion Realm and two masters at the early stage of the Grand Completion Realm. However, the two masters at the early stage of the Grand Completion Realm were killed and the master at the middle stage of the Grand Completion Realm was injured. At the end of it, they got nothing.

With such an enormous loss, he would definitely be punished when he returned, even if he was the first prince of the Dragon Kingdom.

Qin Haodong left the entrance of the cave and directly entered the Seven Storeys Pagoda. When he came back, the two girls were waiting anxiously for him.

“Hubby, you’re finally back. I was so worried.” Niu Cuihua pulled Qin Haodong and said, “How are you? Are you hurt?”

He Ziwei didn’t say anything, but her eyes were filled with concern.

“I’m fine.” Qin Haodong said and smiled at the two girls.

Niu Cuihua then asked, “How is it? Did you get the Earthvein Spiritual Fruits?”

“Over here.”

Qin Haodong flipped his wrist over and five bright red Earthvein Spiritual Fruits appeared in his palm. The whole Seven Storeys Pagoda was filled with a rich fragrance.

“So beautiful!”

He Ziwei held one of the Earthvein Spiritual Fruits in her hand and fondled it. It looked more like a gem.

Niu Cuihua also grabbed one and said, “This fruit smells so good. Can I eat one?”

She pretended to bite it, but Qin Haodong quickly said, “No, you can’t.”

Niu Cuihua pouted and said, “You’re so stingy. There are five in total. What’s the big deal even if you give one to each of us?”

Qin Haodong said with a wry smile, “It’s not about being stingy. You’re not a demonic beast. You’ll explode if you eat the Earthvein Spiritual Fruit directly.”

Compared with demonic beasts, human bodies and meridians were much weaker, so these fruits had to be refined into pills for humans. If one directly ate the fruit, there would not be any benefit but one would also lose his or her life.

“Well, I’ll give it back to you first.”

Niu Cuihua put the Earthvein Spiritual Fruit back in Qin Haodong’s hand and said, “How did you get them?”

Qin Haodong told the story from beginning to end and finally said, “Fortunately, these people from the Dragon Kingdom came over to get these fruits. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to lure the Earth Bear out.”

Niu Cuihua smiled and said, “The people of the Dragon Kingdom are really stupid. They fought outside, but in the end, they did you a big favor.”

He Ziwei smiled. “How are they doing now? Do they know that the Earthvein Spiritual Fruits have gone missing?”

Qin Haodong said, “When I came out, the Earth Bear had just discovered that something was wrong. I guess that it is taking it out on them now.”

After saying that, he summoned the Three-legged Golden Toad.

It was attracted by the Earthvein Spiritual Fruits in Qin Haodong’s hand as soon as it came out. There was a greedy look in its eyes. It rubbed its big head against Qin Haodong’s leg ceaselessly.

“It’s useless trying to curry favor with me. I can only give you one to help you increase the power of your bloodline,” Qin Haodong said and threw one Earthvein Spiritual Fruit to it.

The Three-legged Golden Toad rolled out its tongue and swallowed it directly.

Niu Cuihua said, “This demonic beast can directly swallow it, which is a good thing. We don’t even know if this fruit will be helpful for it.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the Three-legged Golden Toad plopped onto the ground and fell asleep.

Qin Haodong said, “It seems to be useful. When it wakes up, it should become an eighth-level demonic beast.”

After that, he put the Three-legged Golden Toad back into the Spirit Beast Pouch.

He Ziwei asked, “When are we going back?”

Qin Haodong said, “No hurry. I’ll refine a furnace of Vitality Pills for you to improve your cultivation before we go out.”

Niu Cuihua said, “You are only at the stage of the Combination Realm now. Can you refine eighth-level pills?”

“I can give it a try but I will need your help.”

There was no problem with Qin Haodong’s alchemy skills. What he lacked now was cultivation.

After the transmission of cultivation last time, he felt that he could let Niu Cuihua help him this time.

He took out the Shennong Furnace and sat cross-legged. He asked Niu Cuihua to sit behind him, put her right hand on the Mingmen acupoint of his back, and slowly transfer Genuine Qi over to him.

He could use Niu Cuihua’s Genuine Qi to temporarily promote his cultivation to the early stage of the Grand Completion Realm. However, this was only temporary. As long as Niu Cuihua withdrew her hand, he would immediately return to his original state, and his cultivation would be back to the stage of the Combination Realm.

Moreover, Niu Cuihua’s mental force would be used up during this transmission of cultivation, so she couldn’t hold on for too long and Qin Haodong had to refine the pills as soon as possible.

First, he threw the Earthvein Spiritual Fruits into the Shennong Furnace. Then, he took out the corresponding medicinal materials for refining the Vitality Pills and also threw them into the Shennong Furnace, one by one.

About an hour later, a strong pill fragrance wafted out. Then, seven red Vitality Pills flew out of Shennong Furnace and fell into the jade bottle in Qin Haodong’s hand.

“Great!”

Qin Haodong breathed a sigh of relief. His forehead was covered with sweat. He had just used Niu Cuihua’s Genuine Qi to refine pills, which consumed a lot of his mental force.

He took out two Vitality Pills and gave one each to Niu Cuihua and He Ziwei.

“Have a try. See what will happen!”

They swallowed the pills and began to cultivate to improve their cultivation.

Time ticked by. About an hour later, He Ziwei was the first to break through. Moreover, she broke through two levels in succession and directly reached the final stage of the Combination Realm.

After her, Niu Cuihua’s momentum suddenly rose to the late stage of the Grand Completion Realm.

Both of them successfully broke through. After a moment of hesitation, Qin Haodong also took out the low-level Immortal Crystals and began to break through the bottleneck of the Grand Completion Realm.

When he was in Rosefinch Kingdom, a low-level Immortal Crystal allowed him to reach the middle stage of the Combination Realm from the early stage of the Combination Realm. Now, he had 16 low-level Immortal Crystals, so he should be able to break through successfully.