Divine Emperor of Death

Without even realizing it, Davis subconsciously moved toward the Voidslime Realm Eater's giant carcass and arrived before the Divine Jade Cicada Fruit.

It was akin to the manifestation of celestial beauty, capturing the psyche of those who laid their eyes on it, although it didn't possess any harm. It was the size of a small melon, its exterior adorned with translucent jade-green hues, reflecting the essence of life. Its surface was covered in intricate patterns resembling the delicate veins of the cosmos.

Its appearance suggested that it was fully ripe, which meant it had gone through a million years of growth. It radiated a faint otherworldly aura like an ebb, bringing back Davis's attention to it, his jaws dropping.

Stella appeared beside him.

Looking at his reaction, she smiled brightly, knowing that he was floored by her gift.

"It seems like you love it~"

"How- just how… did it get here? Was it in this abandoned realm…?"

Davis expressed his shock, appearing to be at a loss for words before he looked around. This mini realm was completely barren, with not a single plant life in sight.

The Divine Jade Cicada Fruit was a heavenly resource that would absorb the entirety of heaven and energy in its wake, but at the same time, without a suitable environment to support its initial stages, it wouldn't even grow.

"I don't know." Stella shrugged, "It just dropped after I killed it."

'It was a freaking loot drop!?'

Davis palmed his forehead, unable to believe he found such a thing in some random mini-realm or obtained it as loot from the Voidslime Realm Eater. If it had eaten it, then considering the Divine Jade Cicada Fruit's grade and tenacity, it wasn't surprising that the Voidslime Realm Eater was unable to devour it.

After all, the Divine Jade Cicada Fruit was the main ingredient of the Chaotic Genesis Physique.

This outer layer of this fruit absorbs the heaven and earth energy out of the air like a vacuum. It is a slow process, and when it's finally ripe, the core or the seed produces a trace of incredibly dense chaos essence in it, something that shouldn't exist in this day and age, hence the name Divine.

It was a fruit that receives a heavenly tribulation every hundred years, and the fact that it didn't perish meant that it had received innumerable heavenly tribulations and survived to remain in this state.

Perhaps that had been the reason the mini realm it inhabited was deserted or massacred and was taken by the Voidslime Realm Eater in the end.

Nonetheless, he knew this fruit's prowess.

It was not something even an Empyrean would be able to put a dent in it. Its defense was shockingly high and could only be refined by flames at the Empyrean Grade or the first or second-ranked Heaven-Tier Flame Essence.

With Calypsea, though, he wasn't worried, but he didn't imagine he would obtain this soon.

With his luck, he thought he would obtain it in the true immortal world, but it seemed like the luck of a tree was rather good. Still, he couldn't believe he obtained it just like that.

Did Wix Voidfield not notice this resource in the endless stomach of the Voidslime Realm Eater? Or did she notice and still let Stella go capture it again?

He couldn't help but ask Stella what her mother's intentions were in letting the Voidslime Realm Eater escape again.

"Mother did say that to lessen the karmic burden on me stemming through you; I should hunt it by myself. She also said it would help increase my skills, so I agreed to let it go. I etched my mark on it so it wouldn't be able to escape from me, so after some time, I chased after it. It ended up escaping to the northwestern corner of the First Haven World."

Stella's head kept swaying with delight, causing Davis to blink.

They were actually at the edge of the First Haven World? It was no wonder he felt the spatial energy around here was slightly stronger. Still, he couldn't understand the intentions of the two Void Dust Trees.

"Then you should know this resource is special just by its undulations. You only promised me the core, so there's no need to gift me this, right? You could've taken this back and gifted this to your mother. Why me…?"

Davis knew he wasn't the only one looking for this resource.

Even an Upper Realm would go batshit crazy for this resource and commit innumerable crimes. That was how beneficial and rare it was despite being at Immortal Emperor Grade. In terms of rarity, it was not much different from the realm pill, although it only increased defensive prowess by strengthening the flesh.

To a tree like Stella or Wix, absorbing this heavenly resource would be godly, boosting their defense by multiple times that even higher prowess lifeforms by a few levels would be unlikely to cause harm to them. Most likely, even the Voidslime Realm Eater didn't let it go despite being in danger and intended to refine it once it reached the Empyrean Stage.

The greed for this resource was real as even lovers could turn enemies, but this… woman…

"Of course, I could've given it to Mother or used it on myself… but… I thought you would want it. Besides, I wanted to gift you as you mean so much to me…"

Stella pursed her lips and touched her index fingers, appearing shy, "You're my human, after all~"

"…"

Davis's gaze shook.

It wouldn't be a lie if he said that his heart didn't skip a beat at that moment, even having the urge to hug her and share his excitement of obtaining this resource he never thought he would find here.

He was the one who was mostly giving out, but to be on the receiving side didn't feel bad at all. However, that wasn't important. Just the gesture of choosing him over her mother made him feel quite flattered and important.

He couldn't help but wryly smile, "If your mother learned that you gave this to me, she might be pissed beyond compare."

"… then you protect me…"

Stella uttered softly, but looking at his wide eyes, she raised her hand.

"Ah~ A Void Dust Tree will love its child, but there comes a time when the child must leave and create their own realm. That's how we spread our kind and live~"

"Alright, alright. I'm not trying to make you feel bad. It's just… I didn't expect to receive such an expensive gift."

Davis turned to look at the Divine Jade Cicada Fruit.

Since it was ripe, it was at Peak-Level Immortal Emperor Grade. The value of this heavenly resource could be well over a trillion High-Level Immortal Crystals. Even at this price, it would be hard for it to be sold as it would probably only sell for an appropriate amount of Peak-Level Immortal Crystals.

The tiny, golden-hued seed inside the inner layer was the most important part where the chaotic energy was concentrated, but without the fruit, everything would dissipate, so both were required in the concoction.

Davis couldn't express how important this fruit was to him, but he was embarrassed to accept it just like that, making him want to do something for Stella.

"Say, will you accept life energy from me and grow faster?"

"Of course." Stella didn't hesitate to answer.

"Are you sure?"

But Davis remained solemn.

"Why not? My cultivation in the Immortal Emperor Stage takes nine cycles. If I can hasten that, then wouldn't it be good?"

Stella asked, causing Davis to shake his head.

"Not quite right since you would be receiving an extreme karmic burden that would raise the might of your heavenly tribulation. You are a Divergent right now, but you might become an Anarchic Divergent if I get involved with your growth too much."

"It can't be that… exaggerated…"

Stella giggled lightly, but Davis remained solemn.

"Why do you think your mother went to great lengths to prevent you from receiving my karmic burden? Your growth can be assisted by me, but it should not be entirely through me. There's a wide gap when it comes to directly helping you and indirectly helping you. So far, I've only indirectly helped you, but upon noticing that I personally caught the Voidslime Realm Eater for you, your mother chose to let it go since that was a direct aid. I had no choice but to do it since the Jadedrite Sword Mini Realm was in danger. Nonetheless, the karmic burden overflowing to you from me would be lessened after your mother's decision."

"…"

Stella's expression turned complicated.

There were a lot of things she didn't understand in this world. She wanted to understand them, but she couldn't understand why she needed to understand them. She'd rather live happily, worried about nothing, but that's why she looked up to him and her mother: they were all-knowing to her.

She smiled, inclining her head, "Does it really matter? We're going to be together for a long time, but I don't want to take as long as my mother to reach the ninth cycle. Imbue your life energy in me and make me grow faster, even at the expense of me receiving karmic burden. I don't want to be slow when my human is too fast."

"…"

Davis blinked. Stella was at it again, talking in an ambiguous way he couldn't understand, but he nodded his head.

"As you wish..."

He was already intent on hastening her growth, but now, it could be said that she had fully earned it.

"But this decision would be like going against your mother's wishes."

"As I said, a Void Dust Tree's sapling will have to eventually leave its mother's realm, so I'm going to follow you instead of listening to my mother all the time~ I'm no longer a sapling mhmph~ Besides, if my mother had ascended long back instead of choosing to be with her human Saintess Lunaria, then she would've long completed the nine cycles and rose into the Empyrean Stage, so don't look down my growth rate~"

Stella complained, causing Davis to smile as he shook his head.

He turned around, carefully took the Divine Jade Cicada Fruit, placed it in the most precious jade container he could find, and threw it into his spatial ring.

They both then looked at the Voidslime Realm Eater, intending to take the carcass and the core, each with a wicked grin.

Davis had been a bit down when he felt compelled to give the core of the Voidslime Realm Eater away to Ivy Aries in order to repay his debts, but obtaining the Divine Jade Cicada Fruit had been more than enough to make up for this adventure!