The Zhen' Brothers

Seeing their young benefactor in a daze, they called out quietly.

" What are you guys doing in the Wild Forest with your current realm?" Ye Mo asked the question that was on his mind.

The four brothers wore a troubled expression.

" Everyone has their own troubles, I thought I could be of help but nevermind."

" Benefactor for saving our lives, we four brothers are eternally grateful, we don't wish to bother your esteemed self with our trivial matters." The Second Brother said not wanting to delve into the topic.

" Well... Benefactor if you don't mind, we are currently searching for a fruit and we urgently need it for our Fifth Brother." The First Senior brother said spilling the truth.

The remaining three brothers, threw a confused and perplexed look at their first senior brother not expecting him to spill the beans easily, they were saddened by the outcome because their first senior brother had solemnly instructed them to keep their main reason for coming to the Wild Forest a secret.

" What type of fruit would make you risk your lives?" asked Ye Mo puzzled.

" It is the Soul Cleansing Fruit" the Second Brother answered, since the cat was already out of the bag there was no use of taking it back.

" What's that? " asked Ye Mo with a blank face

" Huh....

The four brothers were surprised seeing Ye Mo genuine blank face, they had thought that the former might be from a prominent clan considering his terrifying strength but they were wrong, even the lowly maids in the prominent clans would know of the Soul Cleansing Fruit but the young man had no idea.

" The Soul Cleansing Fruit is taken by Kung Fu Body cultivators to clear and enhance the mind and it can increase the probability of awakening one's Divine Soul by 10%.

" But it has another effect, which is to heal cultivators that has failed to awaken their Divine Soul." The taciturn Fourth Brother explained.

" So you guys want to use it for the former purpose, right?"

" No, our Fifth Brother suffered a deviation when trying to forcefully awaken his Divine Soul."

" Why would you awaken your Divine Soul forcefully? Isn't the Divine Soul Awakening Ceremony just a month away?" asked Ye Mo finding the whole matter confusing.

" Benefactor must be jesting; we rogue cultivators cannot awaken our Divine Soul at the ceremony because the ceremony is held for the students of the academies. So we can only try to awaken our Divine Soul by using unconventional methods to summon a Divine Soul, but the Divine Soul awakened are usually mediocre, only a few got lucky enough to awaken their Divine Soul through such methods." The First Senior Brother explained diligently.

" How can the Divine Soul be forcefully summoned? Isn't that a little bit too far-fetched?"

" I don't know the details but I surmise that the Divine Soul are dormant in the human sea of consciousness, so forcefully summoning them means to arouse them from their slumbering state which might be dangerous."

Ye Mo did not ask any further questions, he got the general gist of the situation. So some cultivators can also awaken their Divine Soul without the Awakening Ceremony but their Divine Soul would be at the bottom rank.

The Four Brothers noticed that the young man did not have any greedy thought and were astounded. Even cultivators of the Spirit Realm would fight for the Soul Cleansing Fruit just for its nourishing effect.

Huh.. seeing their peculiar gaze, Ye Mo knew what they were thinking about " Don't worry,. I'm not after your Spirit Fruit, but you wouldn't mind me tagging along, right?" The Four Brothers exchanged glances and nodded, they had no choice he was much stronger than them, even though they had any disagreement, voicing it out wasn't an option.

The First Senior Brother lead the way to the valley where the Soul Cleansing Fruit was located, they had got the map from the black market by luck.

Ye Mo got to know their names as they journeyed to the destination indicated by the map. Their names were Zhen Yu, Zhen Pao, Zhen Ping and Zhen Ai respectively.

They grew up in a small village in the Chu City, their parents were murdered in a Spirit beasts tide two decades back, they had to fend for themselves ever since that incident and they later bonded as brothers since they grew up together from a tender age.

" According to the map, the Soul Cleansing Fruit is guarded by the Soul Devouring Insect and it is a Spirit beast." Zhen Yu said with a solemn voice.

" But why did you guys venture into the Wild Forest since you know that there is a Spirit beast guarding the Fruit? " asked Ye Mo clearly not understanding the reason for their boldness.

" You might not understand this feeling, but our camaraderie is linked to our bones." Zhen Ping said with a heavy tone.

" We've arrived, everyone should be careful, the Soul Devouring Insect are known for their mental attack, so be careful and be on the look out." Zhen Yu reminded everyone putting on a solemn attitude.

Ye Mo gazed at the sword in Zhen Ping hand, sensing his gaze, Zhen Ping handed the sword to Ye Mo " You can use it Benefactor Ye, it's currently useless in my hands."

Ye Mo nodded accepting the Iron sword, feeling the weight with both hands,the sword was heavy but not for the likes of him, it was as light as the wooden branch he had been using earlier.

Ye Mo had already felt something wasn't right the moment he stepped into the valley. Although dark and dirty, the spiritual energy in the place was higher than outside places. Thanks to his high mental strength, he noticed an Insect with a pitch-black eyes staring at them coldly a few steps away, it had a pair of dark wings and a medium sized body.

Slash....

Zhen Ai face changed when he saw Ye Mo attack in his direction, he hurriedly dodged with a furious face.

Shriek .. a sharp cry burst out and the furious brothers saw the Soul Devouring Insect fall to the ground dead, its body divided into two halves.

Their furious face turned to surprise, they had thought that Ye Mo was finally that Ye Mo was finally showing off his fangs after getting to the location but they had mistaken his actions. The Soul Devouring Insect, a tier 1 Spirit beast was killed in one strike although it was a sneak attack, it was still shocking afterall that was a genuine Spirit beast.

" Benefactor Ye, sorry for mistaking your good intentions." Zhen Ping hurriedly apologized.

" No it's nothing, I didn't inform you in advance for fear of alerting the Spirit beast, it was all for the best." Ye Mo waved his hands signalling him to stop the topic.

" Let's get the Soul Cleansing Fruit quickly, other beast will soon notice this place. " Zhen Yu urged dashing deeper into the valley. Ye Mo furrowed his brows and shouted suddenly..

" Be careful..." Howbeit too late.

Zhen Yu that had dashed into the distance suddenly stopped, it seems as though he was in a trance.

The faces of the others changed when they noticed this, they looked around vigilantly but saw nothing.

" It's in the sky.. Ye Mo shouted suddenly followed by the slash of his sword.

Zhen Ai pupils constricted in fear when he noticed the sword attack moved towards him.

" Noooo...

Another slash of the sword followed, his shout stopped, the world before his eyes fell apart. They saw a beast fall to the ground.

" It's the Mirage Demon Bat " Ye Mo said after a moment of silence.

The brothers opened their mouth wide in unison, they had only heard it name but had never seen it before, they were said to be beasts that befuddle the mind, making one hallucinate, although they had a weak body, they were capable of tearing cultivators apart once caught in their illusion.

Another slash of the sword put an end to the Mirage Demon Bat. The Four Brothers were covered in cold sweat even their benefactor took the Soul Cleansing Fruit, they wouldn't be angry instead they would be relieved because the bone of different structures covered the whole valley, a testament to the horrifying illusion of the Mirage Demon Bat.

They soon arrived under the foot of a small tree where the Soul Cleansing Fruit grew, their body and soul became clear, the previous fear of the gory scene was washed away when they laid their sight on the four friuts hanging on the tree, the spiritual energy revolved around them making the aura of the fruit more vigorous. Their eyes gleamed with joy and they hurriedly surrounded the fruit with heated gaze.

The Soul Cleansing Fruit was capable of removing one's inner demon and enlightening the soul. Luckily they found it first. The Four Brothers soon regained their calm and analyzed the situations clearly, they contributed nothing much in this endeavor so getting one fruit was already enough for them.