Chapter 1134 - 219: One Fruit, Ten Thousand Years

Chapter 1134: Chapter 219: One Fruit, Ten Thousand Years

Charm Fruit, is it Mountain Charm?!

Mountain Charm, is it Charm Fruit?!

Mu Qingge was stunned, her eyes wide open, and Hou was the same.

Yin Le and Yin Jue looked at them, their eyes carrying an indescribable emotion. It was as if the greatest secret of the Mountain Charm Clan had been laid bare before them without any warning.

Beside the ancient tree, suddenly everything became extremely quiet.

For a long time, Mu Qingge took a deep breath, calming her shocked emotions.

Hou’s eyes couldn’t hide their surprise, his gaze moving back and forth between Yin Le and Yin Jue!

"Are you... transformed from the fruit?" Hou blurted out.

His words were somewhat blunt, but the meaning wasn’t wrong. According to Yin Jue’s statement, the Charm Clan is the Charm Fruit, which means they are all fruits produced by this ancient tree?

Yin Le’s face instantly became strange, her gaze at Hou was complex and difficult to understand.

Yin Jue looked at Hou, his expression normal as he said, "Strictly speaking, Mountain Charm is the first batch of fruits produced by this tree."

Mu Qingge said, "It seems this is another long-ago story."

Yin Jue nodded, "Yes! It’s indeed long ago. So long that the Demon Forest didn’t exist yet, and the myriad beasts hadn’t appeared."

"You’re not fooling us, are you?" Hou frowned, questioning.

Yin Jue looked at him without speaking.

Yin Le urgently said, "Brother Kong, don’t you believe me?"

Her words made Hou’s expression change multiple times. However, because one-third of his face was tattooed, his expression was harder to read.

"Uncle told you this secret because he considers you friends and doesn’t want to deceive you, nor does he wish to confront you with weapons." Yin Le added.

"Uncle?" Mu Qingge raised an eyebrow in surprise, looking at Yin Jue.

Hou also blinked in astonishment, "Are you related as uncle and niece?"

Yin Le nodded, "We Mountain Charm share the same root and origin; Uncle was born thousands of years before me, hence he’s my uncle."

Mu Qingge’s mouth twitched, her gaze lowered.

This... the relationship between birth from the womb and birth from the tree is really different!

Thinking of this, Mu Qingge looked at Hou with a bit of sympathy. She imagined Hou’s spring had arrived, but didn’t expect this Mountain Charm Empress to be fruit-formed. With Hou together with her...

Mu Qingge quickly shook her head, discarding her wild thoughts. At this moment, these gossip are not important! She silently reminded herself.

"Your Majesty, it’s because of you." At this moment, Yin Jue spoke.

His words seemed to explain to Mu Qingge and Hou, "Since he has saved your life, we naturally must be honest." The implication was that he revealed everything today only because he didn’t want Yin Le to be put in a difficult position.

Yin Le pressed her lips into silence but couldn’t help but glance at Hou with apprehension.

However, Hou’s attention was entirely focused on the matters of the ancient tree and the Charm Fruit, not noticing Yin Le’s gaze at all.

"Since we are to be honest, then please tell us this story about the Mountain Charm Clan, Prince." Mu Qingge prompted.

Yin Jue lifted his head, looking at the ancient tree, and slowly said, "Mountain Charm came into existence from this tree; this legend is true. The Mountain Charm you see today are mostly transformed from the first batch of fruits of this tree. The tree bears fruit, absorbing the essence of the sun and moon to nurture them. When they mature, fall to the ground, and come in contact with the earth’s energy, they transform into charms. We are tree seeds, also from the Human Clan, like humans but not human, like trees but not trees."

Mu Qingge and Hou listened quietly without interrupting.

Yin Jue lowered his gaze, looking at Mu Qingge and Hou, and continued, "The first batch of Charm Fruit almost all transformed into charms, forming the Mountain Charm Clan. But thereafter, every millennium, new Charm Fruits are born, yet fewer and fewer transform into charms. Even at the most recent maturity, only one transformed into a charm. The number of Charm Fruits produced by this tree is decreasing. The first time it bore fruit, there were over a thousand. Now it bears only a few, a dozen or so."

"Outside, it’s rumored that this tree bears fruit every millennium, ten pieces each time." Mu Qingge said calmly.

Yin Jue nodded, "This is deliberately spread to prevent outsiders from learning the truth about Charm Fruit. And in recent years, I’ve also told the outside world that the ancient tree no longer bears Charm Fruit. Gradually, people will forget the existence of Charm Fruit. Isn’t that better?"

"If Mountain Charm is formed from Charm Fruit, why is there talk of millennial fruit-bearing and ten-thousand-year cultivation?" Mu Qingge asked again.

Yin Jue replied, "That indeed is true."

His response made Mu Qingge’s eyes suddenly constrict, her eyes slowly narrowing.

Yin Jue said, "Previously I mentioned, Charm Fruits are decreasing. Those that fall to the ground and don’t transform into Mountain Charm remain as fruits. Although they can’t transform into Mountain Charm, they still contain millennial earthly essence. Consuming them can indeed increase cultivation for ten thousand years. But... even if they can’t transform into charms, they are still seen as our bloodline compatriots by us. How could we give them to outsiders to eat?"

Mu Qingge pursed her lips, silently thinking, ’If what he says is true, then the rumors about Charm Fruit in the outside world regard them as the dead fetus of charms.’"

"Do you know what Charm Fruit truly represents? If it were spread, what consequences would follow?" Yin Jue looked seriously at Mu Qingge and Hou.

Hou’s expression turned stern, silent.

Mu Qingge slowly said without expression, "If the truth gets out, outsiders will speculate that if a Charm Fruit incapable of becoming a charm can increase power by ten thousand years, then what about consuming the fruit that has transformed into a charm?"

Her words made Hou’s breath hitch and also made Yin Le and Yin Jue’s expressions become extremely unsightly.

After a while, Yin Jue nodded, "Correct. Greed blinds the heart. Even if we clarify outside, saying Mountain Charm has none of the effects of Charm Fruit, they still won’t believe. They’ll only trust their small, greedy imaginings."

Hou’s mouth opened and then silently closed.

Because he had to admit, Yin Jue spoke the truth. Even he, upon hearing this secret, couldn’t help but wonder if consuming Mountain Charm could be more powerful than Charm Fruit.

Luckily, he was a fierce beast from the dawn of creation, not needing Charm Fruit. This thought merely flashed in his mind, without deep contemplation.

Yin Jue’s words made Mu Qingge understand the helplessness of Mountain Charm.

Yin Jue looked at Yin Le, addressing Mu Qingge and Hou, "Your Majesty, she is from the third batch of fruits, the highest grown one. The first to fall and transform into a charm among them. Hence, she is the empress of the third generation."

Mu Qingge looked towards Yin Jue, "So you mean you’re from the second batch?"

Yin Jue nodded, "Now, the first batch of Mountain Charm is almost gone. Throughout these years of the Mountain Charm Clan’s reproduction, only fewer than a thousand exist."