Chapter 572: Chapter 471: Mission Accomplished

As the world spun around, Jiang Lingling let out a soft "hmm" as she regained consciousness.

"Hmm?"

She opened her mouth and, hearing her own voice, understood.

She had returned to that false Kunlun Immortal Court.

With this in mind, Jiang Lingling quickly looked up at her companions, concerned about their condition.

"Strange, just this level of forbidden book, and I’m blushing like a teapot?" Li Lingzhen said while frowning slightly, recovering from the special heart nightmare state.

"Hmph." Gongyang Jin snorted coldly, overcoming the heart demon, his sword heart once again clear.

"Is this also considered a mind twist? It’s just too weak." Shang Siteng also finally returned to her normal state.

Nuannuan shook off her amnesia, and Xia Youwei no longer needed others to call her sister; they also awoke from their respective heart nightmares.

"Where did the Heart Ape go?" Han Zhan, upon waking up, immediately looked to his side.

By this time, the figure of the Heart Ape had already disappeared.

"It’s gone." Shang Siteng glanced around, "Heaven’s Origin did not sense it."

This was the first time within the Fruit World that Shang Siteng opened her mouth to speak.

Han Zhan looked over with surprise: "Siteng, you’re back to normal?"

"I... am back to normal?" Shang Siteng realized, a joyful expression appearing in her eyes.

She was finally no longer the clear-headed but foolish Shang Siteng.

The official return of the team brain made everyone particularly happy.

"Hmm!" Jiang Lingling, standing on the side, spoke up.

"Lingling, do you mean that the Heart Ape had you swallow a Flat Peach and showed you a glimpse of the real Kunlun?" Li Lingzhen translated, "It also helped us revert our personalities, so we returned to our normal states?"

"Could it really be so kind?" Li Lingzhen was a bit skeptical, as she still held grudges.

"If swallowing a Flat Peach lets us see the real Kunlun, then can we just eat another one?"

Saying this, her eyes fell on the surroundings.

There were numerous Flat Peach Trees within the Peach Garden, picking one wasn’t a difficult task.

"No." Before Han Zhan could speak, Shang Siteng shook her head first. "Don’t forget, what is our current task."

Their task was to care for the fruit trees in the Peach Garden and successfully mature the Flat Peaches.

"If we pick a Flat Peach, the task might be deemed a failure, and you should all know the consequences of a task failure."

"But Lingling just picked a Flat Peach without provoking the Queen Mother’s punishment, nor was the task judged a failure."

"That’s what I wanted to say." Shang Siteng paused, looked towards the entrance of the Peach Garden, and asked the group, "There was the Heart Ape just now, but where is it now?"

According to Shang Siteng’s speculation, it should have been some method used by the Heart Ape that allowed Jiang Lingling to pick a Flat Peach without triggering the punishment mechanism.

From the daytime battle between the Heart Ape and the Queen Mother of the West, it was clear they knew each other and were equally matched in strength.

Assuming that because Jiang Lingling picked a Flat Peach the act of picking one was without risk would undoubtedly be an unwise decision.

After Shang Siteng’s explanation, the group nodded in agreement.

This is the benefit of having the team brain.

"So what should we do now?" Li Lingzhen immediately followed up with a question.

"Get through the fourth night, complete the five-day Peach Garden guard mission, and follow the main quest line of the Kunlun Twin Fruit World."

"I think we should encounter the Heart Ape again, and by then, the whole truth will naturally become clear."

...

In the latter half of the fourth night, Han Zhan and the Contracted Spirit Girls were back on track.

The rules in the Flat Peach Garden Fruit Tree Care Rules had all been cracked; aside from the sudden appearance of the Heart Ape, there was nothing else in the Peach Garden that could threaten them.

As time progressed, the sky turned from dark to light.

This signified the completion of their fourth night in the Peach Garden, safely passed.

The rhombic crystal unsurprisingly refreshed again, and once activated, Han Zhan’s power finally returned to his peak, Tier Eight Peak.

Now in the whole team, apart from Jiang Lingling’s realm still being locked, everyone else had returned to their peak state.

This filled them with more confidence for the upcoming challenges.

Inside the Peach Garden.

The Flat Peaches on the trees began to emit a rich fruity aroma.

The aroma quickly filled the entire Peach Garden.

Upon smelling the fragrance, Han Zhan had the urge to pick a Flat Peach to eat but quickly restrained himself.

Among everyone, only Jiang Lingling was indifferent to these Flat Peaches.

No, not just indifferent; to be precise, she avoided them like the plague.

Because she had really tasted them!

Compared to four days ago, the appearance of these Flat Peaches hadn’t changed much.

Besides continuously emitting an enticing aroma, they began to be shrouded in a layer of halo.

From a distance, it looked as though a few small suns hung on the Flat Peach Trees, radiant and sacred.

By the fifth day, little worms were still crawling out of the Flat Peaches, but unlike the previous days, their emergence was no longer leisurely but urgent and frantic.

The frantically writhing worms crawled out of the Flat Peaches, but in the next moment, they were burned to ash by the sacred halo.

This saved Han Zhan and the others a lot of trouble.

At nightfall, with the descent of darkness, the entire Peach Garden became "brightly lit."

The reason was those Flat Peaches.

Compared to the daytime, their glow was even more dazzling, truly resembling small suns, illuminating the entire Peach Garden.

The shadows invading the Peach Garden, under the illumination of these lights, also revealed their true forms like the small white worms and were burned to ashes.

"Don’t trust the Queen Mother of the West!"

"Queen Mother of the West, you damn viper!"

"The Queen Mother of the West is a fraud, she’s a fraud!"

In the last moments of being burned, the shadows repeated the same words over and over.

Han Zhan’s eyelids twitched suddenly.

Even though it was only for a fleeting moment, he seemed to see, right before the shadows were consumed by flames, them reverting to their original appearances.

If... they weren’t lying, and what they said was all true?

This thought flashed through Han Zhan’s mind, and before he could finish pondering, a familiar and spine-chilling voice sounded behind him.

"Congratulations to you seven fairies for successfully completing the task arranged by Her Highness."

Taibai Jinxing!

Seeing the kindly smiling old man, everyone felt a chill rising from beneath their feet.

Hadn’t he already died?

He was clearly seen by everyone, having his head taken and chewed up by the Fierce Ape before being swallowed into its belly.

Why was he appearing here again?

"It’s past midnight; your task is completed."

"Her Highness has summoned you to Kunlun Mountain to personally grant you your reward."

Taibai Jinxing continued speaking as if he hadn’t noticed their expressions of disbelief and shock.