I’ll Take That Opportunity Chapter 42 - Moon Spirit Fruit

Lin Zisheng cast a quick glance at Ye Lin before hurrying off toward the Inner Sect, as if something urgent awaited him.

"Senior Disciple Brother, how many inner elders does the Inner Sect have?" Ye Lin asked casually.

Zhao Li blanched at him, "There are only nine. All of them are late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators."

After a pause, Zhao Li leaned in, checking to make sure no one was nearby, and lowered his voice.

"Actually, there's a rumor. Don’t spread this. But they say there’s a mysterious tenth inner elder who supposedly has reached the Gold Core realm."

"But this elder is in seclusion year-round, so no one knows for sure if it's true. They say the elder is a woman."

"I can’t say if it’s real or not, but seriously, you shouldn’t spread this."

Ye Lin nodded, "Of course. I was just curious."

"There’s really a mysterious tenth elder, and they’re at the Gold Core realm?" Ye Lin thought to himself.

An inner elder at the Golden Core realm, that was truly surprising. In most sects, someone at that level would already be a grand elder.

"Junior Disciple Brother, we’ve arrived." Zhao Li announced.

Ye Lin looked ahead. The Darkmoon Pool sat quietly on the edge of the Hundred Thousand Li Mountain Range.

"This is the place. The villages at the base of the mountain rely on this pool for water. A few days ago, three 9th layer Qi Refinement rock crocodiles suddenly appeared, cutting off the water supply."

"Our task is to eliminate them." Zhao Li said seriously, "I’ll take two. You tie down the other one. Be careful."

The Darkmoon Pool was only about fifty meters across. By the edge, three massive rock crocodiles, each eight or nine meters long, lay coiled in the sun.

Unlike ordinary crocodiles, these had yellow-brown scales covering their bodies and possessed incredible defensive capabilities.

Moreover, at the 9th layer Qi Refinement realm, it could be said that Qi Refinement cultivators without the aid of spirit treasures stood no chance of breaking through their defenses.

"Senior Disciple Brother, their defenses are too strong. I don’t think we can break through." Ye Lin said with concern.

"No problem. I came prepared. I borrowed a spirit treasure for this task."

He drew a sword from his back—a high-grade basic-tier weapon.

"I’ll go in first. Just keep one of them busy. Once I finish the other two, I’ll come help."

Without another word, Zhao Li charged at the rock crocodiles. Startled, the demon beasts stirred and lunged toward him with surprising speed.

Ye Lin didn’t hesitate. He dashed forward and threw a punch at one of the rock crocodiles, drawing its attention.

"Three 9th layer rock crocodiles... Even without my sword, I could easily kill them." Ye Lin thought to himself as the rock crocodile's attack sent him skidding back.

Meanwhile, Zhao Li, empowered by the spirit sword, fought like a whirlwind. One crocodile was already down, and he was locked in battle with the second.

"If I take a hit and fall into the pool, I can retrieve the treasure unnoticed." Ye Lin schemed.

Just then, the rock crocodile’s tail came swinging. Ye Lin raised his arm to block and, using the impact, allowed himself to be sent flying into the pool.

"Junior Disciple Brother!" Zhao Li shouted, having just slain a rock crocodile. He turned to see Ye Lin plunge into the water.

"Damn it!" He growled and lunged toward the rock crocodile in front of him, sword raised.

Meanwhile, underwater, Ye Lin was already swimming toward the bottom of the pool.

And there, nestled in the sediment, he saw the glowing Moon Spirit Fruit.

"It’s almost ripe? So that’s why those rock crocodiles were here."

Ye Lin stared at the Moon Spirit Fruit, realization dawning. It was clearly on the verge of ripening, and demon beasts were far more attuned to spirit treasures than human cultivators.

The three rock crocodiles had undoubtedly been drawn here by the spirit fruit.

"You're mine now." Without hesitation, Ye Lin plucked the Moon Spirit Fruit, stored it in his Interspatial Ring, and began swimming back to the surface.

"Damn it, just die already!"

Zhao Li gritted his teeth as he struggled against the rock crocodile. Despite his relentless attacks, the demon beast refused to go down easily.

Suddenly, Ye Lin burst from the water and landed on shore. The same rock crocodile that had knocked him into the pool was about to lunge at Zhao Li. But it abruptly turned toward Ye Lin instead and crawled toward him.

"Let’s finish this."

Flames ignited in Ye Lin’s right hand. With a blazing punch, he struck the rock crocodile’s head. The force smashed it into the ground, the earth cracking beneath it. Blood seeped from the orifices—the creature was dead.

Nearby, Zhao Li had just finished off his opponent as well.

"Junior Disciple Brother, are you alright?" Zhao Li approached, sword still in hand.

"I'm fine." Ye Lin replied, shaking his arm, "I was caught off guard and knocked into the pool. Luckily, that one was already wounded, or else I might not have been able to defeat it."

Zhao Li glanced at the corpse and nodded, "Indeed, an 8th layer Qi Refinement cultivator going up against a 9th layer demon beast is extremely difficult. That was my oversight. But luckily, we pulled through."

"Let’s head back and claim our reward."

"Alright." Ye Lin cupped his fist in acknowledgment. After briefly handling the corpses, the two made their way to the Azure Cloud Sect.

At the sect, Ye Lin waited outside the Task Pavilion while Zhao Li submitted the task. Moments later, Zhao Li emerged, smiling.

"Here you go, twenty-five low-grade Spirit Stones, as promised." He tossed a pouch to Ye Lin.

"Thank you, Senior Disciple Brother." Ye Lin caught the pouch and cupped his fist in salute.

"No problem. I’m off to cultivate."

Ye Lin watched Zhao Li walk away, then sighed to himself, "Senior Disciple Brother is truly a good person."

He turned and made his way to his residence.

Zhao Li, meanwhile, had earned an extra five low-grade Spirit Stones for completing the task quickly and with excellent results.

Back in his quarters, Ye Lin shut the door and took out the Moon Spirit Fruit and Foundation Establishment Pill and fell into contemplation.

"Should I try to break through to the Foundation Establishment realm now?"

He was fully capable of advancing. With the aid of the Foundation Establishment Pill, his strength after the breakthrough would likely exceed that of a typical Foundation Establishment cultivator.

"No—I should visit the Scripture Pavilion first."

Breaking through to the Foundation Establishment realm was a monumental step. As the saying went: a towering structure must begin with a solid foundation. Only with a firm foundation could greater heights be reached

With that thought, Ye Lin stored the treasures and left for the Scripture Pavilion.