Chapter 45: An Unexpected Change

Before heading to the center of the island to check on his precious little fruit, Lin Li first went to his cultivated farmland to inspect the white radishes he had planted.

After only one afternoon, the white radish seedlings had grown considerably. At this rate of rapid growth, the radishes should be ready for harvest in another five or six days.

After checking the seedlings, Lin Li turned and walked toward the mysterious little tree in the center of the island.

"This...?"

Upon reaching the mysterious little tree, Lin Li's gaze was instantly drawn to the small green fruit.

"How did it grow so large all of a sudden?" Lin Li was greatly astonished to see the green fruit, which was now the size of a pigeon egg.

Then, with a single thought, a piece of information surfaced in his mind.

"Thirty percent."

"What's going on? Why did the progress suddenly jump to thirty percent? I've only killed a dozen or so exotic beasts in total!"

The information appearing in his mind left Lin Li stunned. After a long period of contemplation, he finally arrived at a guess that he felt was quite plausible.

"Could this change be because the flesh of that Tier-2 white ape exotic beast accelerated the progress? It should be that. Otherwise, excluding that terrifying white ape, I've only killed about a dozen Tier-1 exotic beasts. Logically, the progress should only be around ten-plus percent."

As Lin Li pondered, the more he thought, the more reasonable his guess seemed.

"The flesh of a single Tier-2 exotic beast increased the progress by over ten percent all at once. If it were the flesh of a Tier-3 exotic beast, would it cause the green fruit on the mysterious tree to mature instantly?"

Lost in his wandering thoughts, Lin Li couldn't help but feel a surge of desire for the flesh of Tier-3 exotic beasts, but he quickly snapped back to reality.

"Alright, alright, stop daydreaming. A Tier-2 white ape is already this terrifying; there's no telling how fearsome a Tier-3 beast would be... This time was just a stroke of luck, like a windfall from the heavens. With my current cultivation, finding a Tier-3 beast by chance would be even less likely than winning the jackpot on a lottery ticket. A person should be content. Since the progress has jumped so much, I should stick to the rules and increase it step-by-step by hunting exotic beasts!"

Dispelling his unrealistic fantasies, Lin Li shifted his gaze from the pigeon-egg-sized green fruit to the lush canopy of the mysterious little tree.

When he first saw this tree, its leaves were slightly yellowish, looking malnourished and as if it were about to wither away.

Now, nourished by the flesh of exotic beasts provided by Lin Li, the once-yellowish leaves had become a vibrant, dripping green, and many new emerald buds had sprouted on some of the branches.

From this sight alone, one could easily deduce that as Lin Li continued to hunt exotic beasts in the future, the nourished mysterious tree would undoubtedly grow even more vigorously.

"It's becoming more and more worth the effort. It seems many Lohua Chicken exotic beasts live in that area; I'll go there tomorrow to look for targets. I'll go to bed early tonight and get up early tomorrow to head into the wilderness. I'll strive to push the progress to one hundred percent within five to seven days."

Looking at the pigeon-egg-sized green fruit, the fighting spirit in Lin Li's heart burned brightly.

Then, with a thought, he left the mysterious island and returned to the real world.

…………

Several days passed in a flash.

In the wilderness on the outskirts of Rongcheng's East District, a figure was battling a wild boar exotic beast covered in earthen armor.

The two sides went back and forth in a heated fight.

*Thump.*

*Whoosh.*

The figure raised his left hand, and a spiritual light flashed, quickly condensing into a small, scorching fireball. He then flicked his hand, throwing the fireball toward the wild boar exotic beast, which was just about to turn around.

The wild boar, which had turned to continue its charge against the enemy, saw the small fireball flying toward it just as it turned its head.

Knowing the power of the enemy's fireballs, it quickly used its awakened ability. With a flash of spiritual light, the earthen armor covering its body rapidly expanded, even enveloping its head.

*Bang!*

The scorching fireball shot out at high speed, striking the heavily armored head of the wild boar with a dull explosion.

Sparks and flames scattered everywhere, scorching the lush green grass into a charred yellow.

Having fought for many days, Lin Li, who could now skillfully use his abilities, saw that his fireball had only cracked the earthen armor on the wild boar's head and had failed to cause any substantial damage.

He knew he had to find another way; continuing to attack with small fireballs was merely a waste of his spiritual energy.

"Hmph." The wild boar, encased in earthen armor, let out a triumphant grunt toward Lin Li.

Then, it adjusted its stance, digging its front hooves into the ground several times, preparing to let this human experience the sensation of being gored by its tusks.

Lin Li looked at the armored wild boar with a solemn expression, thinking to himself

"Since I can't break through this wild boar's earthen armor and can't do anything to it, there's no need to keep wasting my energy fighting it. I'll just hide in the mysterious island to avoid the trouble and look for other exotic beasts later."

"Hmph..."

Just as Lin Li was debating whether to retreat to the mysterious island, the wild boar launched its charge.

Although the earthen armor increased the wild boar's defense, it correspondingly lost running speed and flexibility.

The wild boar charged like a small armored vehicle, kicking up a cloud of dust as it rushed toward Lin Li.

Holding a spiritual longsword, Lin Li kicked off the ground with his right foot and dodged to the left, easily evading the charge of the armored beast.

After dodging the charge and regaining his footing, Lin Li watched the creature's wiggling rear, and a brilliant idea surfaced in his mind.

*Whoosh.*

An orange-red fireball shot rapidly toward the armored wild boar, striking its armor and causing small sparks to burst.

*Whoosh.*

Another fireball followed. The armored wild boar stood its ground, motionless, allowing Lin Li's fireballs to strike its body.

"Hmph..."

The wild boar snorted, looking at Lin Li with a gaze of contempt.

At this moment, it felt that the human before it was truly foolish. Knowing that the fireball attacks couldn't harm it, the human was still wasting his spiritual energy, launching these ineffective attacks over and over again.

…………

(End of Chapter)