Its medicinal properties were gentle, and the strengthening process was gradual. It wouldn't place any strain on his fragile body.
For Xu Zixi, it couldn't be more suitable.
No wonder Father had gone to Tungwood Mountain in search of it. This rare fruit truly was meant for him.
If he could combine the Purple-Gold Fruit with the five strands of Life Force obtained from clearing the Life-and-Death Arena, Xu Zixi was confident that his withered, shrunken meridians would improve significantly.
Even if they couldn't be completely healed, cultivation would no longer be out of reach.
Thinking about how his father had been running everywhere these past years, desperately searching for medicine and treatment methods for his sake, Xu Zixi felt a warmth rise in his chest. He was deeply moved.
He silently vowed that he would be even more filial in the future.
But then—
"Does Tungwood Mountain really have a gold vein?" Xu Zixi looked up at A-Ling and asked. He had never been there before and knew very little about it.
"Yes," A-Ling replied. "It's a small mineral vein. The tribe discovered it a few years ago, but at the time, no Purple-Gold Fruit was found."
"And there's also a swarm of Gold-Devouring Ants there. After discovering the vein, the tribe rarely went back."
"Gold-Devouring Ants?" Xu Zixi's heart tightened. "Then… will Father be in danger?"
A-Ling shook her head. "No. They're low-tier exotic beasts. Their individual combat strength isn't high. The real danger is their numbers. Anyone too weak who gets surrounded would be devoured in moments."
"But the Chieftain is powerful. Dealing with those ants won't be a problem for him."
Even though A-Ling said so, Xu Zixi still felt uneasy, unable to sit still. What if something went wrong?
What frustrated him most was that he was small and weak, completely useless. Not only could he not help, but he had forced his father to spend years searching for medicine and cures for him.
If only he could recover faster.
Seeing his troubled expression, A-Ling comforted him. "Don't worry. The Chieftain's strength is above the Heaven Extreme Realm. In this region, very few can rival him. Nothing will happen."
Xu Zixi sighed inwardly and nodded, falling silent.
He had to trust his father.
Within the tribe, his father was among the absolute strongest. Only two or three people could even match him.
Worrying wouldn't change anything. All he could do was pray for his father to return safely—and soon.
Lowering his head, Xu Zixi continued flipping through the book. Aside from the Purple-Gold Fruit, it recorded many other rare treasures and exotic fruits.
Unfortunately, due to the Meteor Rain, nearly seventy to eighty percent of these spiritual fruits and medicines had already been destroyed.
What remained were almost impossible to find. With the land now so barren, it was difficult for rare treasures to be born at all.
These days, most people read this book merely to broaden their horizons.
Many rare items required massive amounts of energy to grow.
The Purple-Gold Fruit was special only because it absorbed solar essence. Otherwise, it might have gone extinct like so many others.
Xu Zixi thought to himself, Tungwood Mountain has a gold vein, and it's currently the hot season. The sun is strong—perfect conditions for the Purple-Gold Fruit. Maybe… Father really can find it this time.
A faint spark of hope rose in his heart.
Records of Rare Treasures was a thick volume. Even after reading all afternoon, Xu Zixi had only managed to get through half of it by dinner time.
That alone showed how rich this world's resources must have been before the Meteor Rain.
The thought made him ache with regret. So many rare treasures, all destroyed—it was heartbreaking just to imagine.
And it wasn't just rare items. Even ordinary crops hadn't been spared.
One only needed to look at the tribe's daily meals.
Xu Zixi gnawed on a flatbread made from ground tungwood roots, baked until dry and hard.
It was barely edible.
The bread was slightly bitter and rough, scraping his throat. Tungwood roots were the tribe's staple food and one of their main sources of sustenance.
Tungwood trees were the most common plants on Tungwood Mountain, which was how the mountain got its name. Their vitality was astonishing, with massive, deep-reaching root systems.
Even when the Meteor Rain destroyed everything above ground, their roots would continue growing underground. Before long, new shoots would emerge again.
Their survivability was absurdly strong.
Xu Zixi chewed the flatbread while eating exotic beast meat alongside it.
The meat tasted much better, but it was tough and chewy. After a while, his cheeks started to ache.
Well… any beast capable of surviving the Meteor Rain was bound to be formidable.
Only when he was truly parched did Xu Zixi carefully take a sip of water.
He nearly teared up.
This cursed Meteor Rain… no one even knew how it formed. It had been falling nonstop for ten thousand years.
Still, according to legend, compared to the world-ending Meteor Rain of the distant past, the current ones were far weaker.
Compared to back then, today's Meteor Rain was little more than a drizzle.
After dinner, Xu Zixi felt a bit too full. Not wanting to go outside and risk being bothered, he walked a few laps in the cultivation room, then slowly practiced a set of拳 techniques.
It was a simple boxing form.
Since he couldn't cultivate, his father had specially found it to help strengthen his body.
The form had nine moves. Xu Zixi had practiced it since childhood and knew it inside out. When he finished a full set, his movements flowed smoothly, uninterrupted.
He stopped, breathing lightly. A-Ling wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked, "Do you want to rest for a bit?"
"No." Xu Zixi shook his head and practiced it a few more times, stopping only when he was completely exhausted.
After catching his breath, he said, "Let's go. I want to return to the study and finish Records of Rare Treasures."
A-Ling smiled gently. "Alright. But don't read too late. Children should sleep early and wake early."
"Mm." Xu Zixi nodded.
By the time he finished the entire book, it was nearly ten o'clock.
He closed it at last, rubbed his eyes, and, under A-Ling's urging, returned to his room to wash up and rest.
Xu Zixi lay obediently on the bed, watching as A-Ling left and closed the door behind her.
Once the room fell silent, he finally spoke in his mind.
"System, open the Life-and-Death Arena."
"Okay~" A soft, cute voice responded. "Xixi, are you planning to clear the first stage this time?"
"Yes," Xu Zixi replied.
"Then I'm starting the transfer~" the system said cheerfully. "Xixi, make sure you survive!"
Before Xu Zixi could say anything, the scene before him shifted violently.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared on a vast arena.
Standing across from him was his old opponent—a scaled exotic beast with a nimble body. It bared its fangs at him, and Xu Zixi's emotions grew complicated.
This beast was calibrated to his strength and would grow alongside him.
Although their raw power was similar, its attacks and combat experience far surpassed his.
The first time Xu Zixi entered the arena at age three, he had been chased in panic, barely escaping death.
It took nearly two years of effort for his combat instincts to catch up, allowing him to fight it to a standstill.
Even so, stamina remained his biggest weakness.
He couldn't afford a prolonged fight. If it dragged on too long, he would collapse first.
The scaled beast suddenly blurred, its speed lightning-fast. A claw streaked toward his eyes like a black flash.
Xu Zixi leaned back instantly and kicked out, sending it flying. The beast let out a sharp screech, then reappeared behind him in the next instant, claws tearing toward his back.
Xu Zixi drew his dagger and turned, blocking just in time.
Clang!
The dagger knocked aside the claws.
Man and beast clashed fiercely across the arena. Their movements grew faster and faster, flashing back and forth in a dizzying exchange.
The scaled beast was agile, its dark claws gleaming as it attacked in rapid succession, leaving afterimages from every direction.
Xu Zixi reacted swiftly, dodging left and right. He adapted the boxing form into his dagger techniques, striking with fierce momentum, slashing whenever a claw appeared.
The beast roared repeatedly.
Another claw came straight at him.
Xu Zixi struck hard with his dagger, carving a bloody gash into it. He frowned.
The longer this dragged on, the worse it was for him.
As he fought, he analyzed calmly.
The most troublesome thing about this beast was its speed.
He needed to find a way to deal with that.
When the scaled beast lunged again, Xu Zixi didn't dodge.
Instead, he shot forward and grabbed its attacking claw.
The beast flew into a rage. Its other claw lashed toward his eyes.
Xu Zixi didn't let go. He tilted his head slightly—
Rip.
His cheek was torn open, flesh splitting as searing pain exploded.
Before the claw could strike again, Xu Zixi raised his dagger and plunged it toward the beast's heart.
"—Screee!"
The scaled beast shrieked.
It struggled violently. Xu Zixi held on tightly, his body raked by vicious wounds as it thrashed.
Gritting his teeth against the agony, he drove the dagger in again, piercing straight through its heart.
The scaled beast finally stopped moving, dissolving into a wisp of green smoke.
Xu Zixi let out a long breath and collapsed onto the arena floor.
Then, the system's voice echoed through the space.
"Congratulations, Xixi. You've finally cleared the first stage."
Leaving the arena, Xu Zixi returned to reality. The wounds left by the scaled beast had already healed completely.
The system asked inside his mind, "Xixi, would you like to claim your rewards now?"
"Let's do the draw first," Xu Zixi said.
He currently had six strands of Life Force—five from clearing the stage and one from surviving another day.
One strand would be used to maintain his body's vitality.
The rest… he would decide after Father returned.
If there was a Purple-Gold Fruit, he could use them together. If not, he'd figure it out then.
Xu Zixi looked at the screen before him. This was his first-ever draw. He couldn't help feeling a little excited.
Nine silver cards appeared, arranged neatly and gleaming with light.
"All set!" the system said brightly. "Please choose one, Xixi~"
Xu Zixi nodded and selected the card in the middle.
The other cards vanished instantly. The remaining card flipped over, revealing a wooden token with a single large character engraved on it:
Guard.
He picked it up curiously.
The system explained, "This is a low-tier defensive artifact. It can block three full-power attacks from anyone below the Human Extreme Realm."
Xu Zixi smiled. That wasn't bad at all.
"Can this artifact be used in the Life-and-Death Arena?" he asked.
"Yes," the system replied. "But the next stage will be more dangerous, so be careful, Xixi."
"More dangerous?" Xu Zixi frowned. "Isn't the arena calibrated to my strength?"
"That only applies to the first stage," the system said. "After that, each new stage increases in difficulty. Unless you break through to the next realm, the enemies will keep getting stronger."
"For example, once you advance from your current uninitiated state to the Human Extreme Realm, the first stage of that realm will again be calibrated to you."
"But the second and third stages will double, then triple the difficulty based on your strength—until you break through again."
Xu Zixi fell silent.
So the rewards really weren't easy to obtain.
Still, for the sake of more Life Force, no matter how hard it became, he wouldn't give up.
Seeing his silence, the system hurriedly added, "But the harder the stages, the better the rewards! As long as you keep clearing them, your meridians will definitely recover very soon!"