Mortal Bones

Upon seeing Fairy Ling Yue again, Xu Taiping could clearly sense that the human-like aura around her had become much stronger, and there was no longer the cold, ghostly feeling that had lingered when they first met.

"Fairy Ling Yue, your soul seems to have healed quite a bit," Xu Taiping said, genuinely happy for her.

"Although the spiritual energy in this land is still insufficient, thanks to the power contained within the Earth's Fruit, my soul has recovered considerably this time. It can at least be considered half a complete soul now," Ling Yue Fairy smiled and nodded, clearly satisfied with her progress.

"By the way, Little Taiping, this gourd not only serves as my dwelling, but it also contains a vast space. You can store things like your magical tools and other items inside it," she added, pointing to the green gourd in Xu Taiping's hand.

"How much can it hold?" Xu Taiping asked, surprised and curious.

"Try this," Fairy Ling Yue said without directly answering. "Grip the gourd and channel some of your true qi into it."

"Alright," Xu Taiping nodded and followed her instructions, channeling a bit of true qi into the gourd. Immediately, a misty and vast space appeared in his mind, about ten feet square, roughly the size of his kitchen.

"It's this large?" Xu Taiping pulled back his senses, surprised, and looked at Fairy Ling Yue.

"This isn't even that big," she laughed and shook her head.

"This gourd is the first spiritual treasure created from the Earth's Fruit. Unlike ordinary spiritual treasures, its power grows with its owner's strength. So, as my power continues to recover, the space within this gourd will expand, and eventually, it could even become a world of its own," she continued, explaining with a bold tone.

"A world of its own?" Xu Taiping was somewhat moved.

Even just this small space seemed unimaginable to him.

"Fairy Ling Yue, could the animals I hunted in the mountains, like the yellow goats or the fire-patterned python, be stored in this gourd?" Xu Taiping asked, seeking confirmation.

"Exactly," Ling Yue Fairy nodded. "Anything, from talismans to the bodies of large beasts, as long as the gourd can fit it, you can store it."

Upon hearing this, Xu Taiping was overjoyed. The last time he couldn't fit the fire-patterned python's corpse in the gourd and had to leave it behind, only stripping the skin and leaving many valuable materials behind.

"Not only living things, but once I recover more of my strength, I can even store spirit beasts and demon beasts. This gourd has the same ability as the Demon Refining Pot," Ling Yue Fairy added.

Hearing this, Xu Taiping couldn't help but feel excited, hoping for Ling Yue Fairy to recover more of her strength.

"Clink!"

At that moment, the second gourd fell from the vine.

This one was a red-skinned gourd, with beautiful fire-like patterns etched on its surface. When it landed, it seemed as if it had just woken up, swaying gently before drifting into Xu Taiping's arms, then remaining still, as if it had fallen back to sleep.

"This fire gourd absorbed the nutrients of the Fire Spirit Herb and then absorbed similar treasures from these mountains," Ling Yue Fairy explained.

Xu Taiping wasn't too surprised by the gourd's ability to absorb treasures from the land, as Fairy Ling Yue had explained this to him before.

"Come, let's see what treasure is inside this gourd," Ling Yue Fairy said, her voice tinged with excitement.

"Boom!"

Xu Taiping lightly tapped the gourd's mouth, and the top of the fire-patterned gourd cracked open. Immediately, a burst of scorching spiritual energy, accompanied by a deep growl that sounded like a dragon's roar, shot out from the gourd.

"There's a dragon... in these mountains?!" Fairy Ling Yue exclaimed in surprise.

Though they hadn't seen the treasure inside the gourd yet, the dragon's roar alone was enough for Fairy Ling Yue to confirm that whatever was inside was related to a dragon.

The only way a treasure related to a dragon could exist in this gourd was if, in the distant past, a true dragon had once lived here—perhaps a thousand or even ten thousand years ago. And not just any dragon, but a real dragon, not the serpentine black dragon elders.

"A dragon? There really were dragons in this world?" Xu Taiping thought back to the records he had read in various books. Most of them stated that since the Dragon Han Cataclysm ten thousand years ago, true dragons had disappeared, leaving behind only serpentine dragons and similar creatures.

"True dragons still exist. They existed in the past, and they still exist now, but they have all gone to the upper realms. The spiritual energy in the lower realms was already depleted ten thousand years ago, making it impossible for true dragons to appear. Even the few that remain in our world have not appeared for nearly a thousand years. Whether they're alive or dead, no one knows," Ling Yue Fairy answered with a touch of melancholy. Then, she impatiently pointed to Xu Taiping's gourd, "Hurry up and take it out to see."

"Alright."

Xu Taiping finally remembered there was still a treasure inside the gourd.

He turned the gourd over, and a bead the size of an egg rolled out, emitting waves of intense heat. The entire spiritual herb garden suddenly became unbearably hot.

"This... is this a Dragon Gallstone refined from the true dragon's gallbladder?!" Ling Yue Fairy exclaimed in shock.

"What's a Dragon Gallstone?"

Although Xu Taiping could tell from Fairy Ling Yue's burning gaze that this bead was extraordinary, his curiosity got the better of him, and he couldn't help but ask.

"Set it down first," Ling Yue Fairy said, her expression turning wary as she signaled Xu Taiping to carefully put away the Dragon Gallstone.

Once Xu Taiping placed the Dragon Gallstone back into the gourd and sealed it, Fairy Ling Yue let out a sigh of relief and said, "The Dragon Gallstone refined from the true dragon's gallbladder doesn't have any special powers, but if used to brew wine, just one sip will greatly increase one's cultivation speed. Additionally, Dragon Gallwine nourishes the soul. It's a treasure that high-level cultivators dream of obtaining. However, because true dragons are so rare, and the gallstones are extremely difficult to refine, Dragon Gallstones are incredibly scarce."

At this point, Fairy Ling Yue's expression turned regretful, and with a wry smile, she added, "I searched the ten states for one back in the day but never found a single piece. I never imagined that I'd find one here, in this land so poor in spiritual energy."