Chapter 17 Big Brother
"Something good?"
Chen Zhong, thoroughly exhausted, turned around suspiciously, then his pupils constricted as he stared at Lu Li, whose aura had dramatically changed. "You... how."
Lu Li smiled faintly, taking out three crimson red fruits from his chest and handing them over. "I discovered a few fruits on the mountain. After eating them, I became like this, and my strength increased a lot too. I happen to have six left; I'll give you three, and the rest to Beast."
"There's actually such good fortune?" Hearing this, Chen Zhong immediately and excitedly took the fruits.
"Although these fruits are good, when eating the first one, it feels like falling into a fiery pit; it's extremely uncomfortable. You need to mentally prepare yourself. Go eat them by the pool at the mountain peak; if you can't endure it, just jump into the water..."
Lu Li recounted his own experience to Chen Zhong to prevent him from making any reckless moves out of surprise.
After hearing this, Chen Zhong felt both excited and scared. After hesitating, he gritted his teeth, "Let's do it!" Then he hurriedly went up the mountain.
A moment later, a scream resembling a slaughtered pig echoed from the mountain.
Lu Li smiled and shook his head, picking up the axe from the ground. He swung it in a half-circle, and with a heavy thud, chopped into the black wood before him. Instantly, the axe sank seven inches deep into the wood.
After chopping dozens more times in succession, the black wood crashed down. Lu Li clapped his hands, quite satisfied with his work.
Then he started working on the second tree.
Unconsciously, over an hour passed. Lu Li had already chopped down no less than fifty black trees. Right at that moment, a rumbling sound echoed, and a burly young man charged toward Lu Li like an explosive bear.
Without even looking, Lu Li threw a backhand punch. That figure flew backward with a loud crash, falling to the ground with an ouch. "Mud Monkey, why'd you sneak attack?"
"Hehe, my hand itched." Lu Li stepped forward and pulled Chen Zhong up. "How do you feel?"
At this moment, Chen Zhong had become extremely burly, his muscles bulging all over, looking full of power.
Chen Zhong grinned, "I feel like I could knock down a bowl-thick black tree with one punch."
Saying that, he really swung his fist and slammed it against a bowl-thick black tree. With a crack, the black wood didn't break, but its roots flipped entirely out of the earth.
Lu Li originally wanted to tell Chen Zhong to go down the mountain with him and rest for a while, but Chen Zhong insisted on finishing all ninety trees first. Lu Li had no choice but to go down the mountain alone.
He first went to the dining hall to find some food, then headed straight back to his small hut.
After returning to his room, Lu Li didn't rest. Lying on his bed, he directly entered the Time Hall to start cultivating.
Not long after Lu Li returned to his room, Sun Zi'an arrived at the peak of Cuiyun Peak. For the junior brother who had dared to oppose him right after entering the sect, Sun Zi'an felt deeply displeased. If he couldn't even handle a newly entered disciple, how could he continue to mix in the Chores Hall in the future?
However, when he saw the six pools completely full of water, his expression turned ugly. With a flick of his sleeve, he stormed down the mountain to find trouble with Chen Zhong, because in his view, it must have been those two fellows who helped Lu Li again.
When he arrived halfway up the mountain and saw the fallen black trees strewn everywhere, he felt even worse. Moreover, after just one night, Chen Zhong's body fat had transformed into solid muscles all over his body. It was simply unacceptable and incomprehensible.
Chopping trees could exercise the body, true, but this change was far too outrageous.
"Something the matter?" Seeing Sun Zi'an arrive, Chen Zhong walked toward him carrying his axe, asking with an unfriendly expression.
Seeing Chen Zhong dare to threaten him, Sun Zi'an felt a surge of anger. "How rebellious!" His body swayed as he instantly dashed toward Chen Zhong, raising his hand to strike a palm at Chen Zhong's chest.
Slap!
A crisp sound rang out. Chen Zhong stood still and unmoving, simultaneously swinging his broad palm and slapping it across Sun Zi'an's face.
Slap!
Sun Zi'an never expected this. He thought Chen Zhong would be sent flying by his palm, but instead, a sharp pain erupted on his face, and he himself flew backward, landing heavily on a dirt slope with a thud.
Seeing this, Chen Zhong was stunned for a moment, then revealed a sinister grin and roared, "I'll kill you, you bastard!" Like a wild bull, he charged toward Sun Zi'an again.
Sun Zi'an's pupils sharply contracted. He rolled aside, narrowly avoiding Chen Zhong's punch, and flung a fireball toward him in return.
Chen Zhong was about to pursue when the fireball exploded against his chest with a boom. His internal organs churned violently, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Arrogant, keep being arrogant!" Seeing this, Sun Zi'an finally breathed a sigh of relief, standing in the distance and staring at Chen Zhong with a sinister sneer. "Kneel and admit your fault immediately, or I'll kill you!"
"I'll admit your ancestor's grave!" Chen Zhong roared, lunged forward with a bow stance, and closed the distance in a few strides.
"Courting death!" Sun Zi'an rapidly retreated while throwing another fireball.
Chen Zhong was prepared this time. Seeing the incoming fireball, he extended his fist and smashed it directly against the flame.
Crack!
The fireball shattered instantly under Chen Zhong's punch.
"How is this possible!" Sun Zi'an turned pale with fright, spun around, and sprinted madly down the mountain.
"You coward, don't run if you have the guts!" Chen Zhong shouted from behind, though he didn't pursue. Although he had shattered the fireball, his fist was still numb, and a faint smell of scorching wafted from his skin.
"The fruit the Mud Monkey gave me is too powerful. I actually managed to drive away a Qi Refining second layer cultivator."
Watching Sun Zi'an scramble down the mountain, Chen Zhong felt ecstatic.
Evening.
Lu Li was still cultivating when he suddenly heard a thud from the courtyard. His ears twitched, and he immediately withdrew from cultivation. Stepping outside, he saw that Qin Shouren had returned.
A broom lay abandoned in the middle of the courtyard, presumably used to vent his frustration.
Looking at Lu Li's tall, upright figure and healthy physique, Qin Shouren rubbed his eyes. After confirming he wasn't seeing things, he rushed over. "Mu, Mud Monkey, what happened to your scrawny appearance?"
Lu Li's face twitched. "Come inside."
The two entered Lu Li's room.
A moment later.
Qin Shouren stared at the three crimson red fruits on the table, swallowing hard. "Mu, Mud Monkey, are you really giving these to me?"
"Nonsense, why else would I take them out?" Lu Li patted Qin Shouren's shoulder. "Take them. We'll settle our accounts with Sun Zi'an sooner or later."
"Okay, okay!" Qin Shouren's hands trembled as he tucked the fruits into his robes. "Monkey, great kindness needs no words. From now on, you're my big brother!"
"Cut the sentiment, you're older than me!" Lu Li glared at him in amusement.
"Hehe." Qin Shouren chuckled sheepishly. "Big brother, I'm going to the mountain peak to eat the immortal fruit now. Wait for me to return!"
"Go on, go on." Lu Li waved his hand.
Not long after Qin Shouren left, an excited knocking came from outside the door, accompanied by shouting. "Mud Monkey, open up, I have good news!"
Exasperated, Lu Li got up from the bed. Once Chen Zhong entered, he asked, "What good news?"
Chen Zhong laughed heartily. "You have no idea, I just beat that Sun Zi'an so badly he scrambled away crying for his parents. It was too satisfying!"
Lu Li was stunned. "You... beat up Sun Zi'an?"