Weiwei

Should they go together?

Was that even a question?

Of course they had to!

Lu Zhou followed the two of them around the mountaintop. Before long, Pang Bo made a discovery.

"There's a spring pool over there!"

They rushed over. The spring pool was about a meter square, its water bubbling steadily like a divine spring of sweet dew.

Beside the spring pool grew thirteen small trees over half a meter tall. Their leaves were broad, lush green, and shaped like human palms.

At the top of each tree hung a bright red fruit. It looked like a cherry, yet it was as large as a chicken egg.

"The fragrance is overwhelming. Could they be poisonous?"

Ye Fan and Pang Bo were uncertain.

Lu Zhou walked right over, picked three fruits, and took a bite from one. As he handed the other two to Ye Fan and Pang Bo, he said to them,

"These fruits smell too tempting. I couldn't resist. I'm healthy, so I'll test them for poison first!"

Naturally, Lu Zhou was joking.

Yet his actions left Ye Fan and Pang Bo at a loss.

"These fruits are delicious. I feel much more energetic all over, and I don't feel any other discomfort. They should be safe."

"Really?"

"Mm-hmm!"

Lu Zhou grunted in affirmation, signaling for them to try some too.

They had long since been irresistibly drawn in by the fruits' fragrance. Lu Zhou had simply moved faster; otherwise, they would have started eating already.

"Delicious!"

Pang Bo took a bite of the fruit in his hand and nearly swallowed his fingers along with it.

Next, they picked all the fruits and sat beside the spring pool, feasting heartily.

Lu Zhou ate five fruits, while Pang Bo and Ye Fan each ate four.

Pang Bo sniffed, bent down, and smelled the spring pool.

"Strange. This spring water seems to have a fragrance too!"

Lu Zhou spoke up.

"These fruit trees are rooted beside the spring pool. They must have been nourished by this water, which is why they bore such delicious, miraculous fruits that can replenish our energy."

"I think this spring water must be extraordinary as well!"

"Mmm, it's very sweet. You should try it too!"

Even as he spoke, Lu Zhou had already lowered his head into the spring and begun drinking deeply.

Though he appeared to be gulping down water nonstop, he was actually using the opportunity to conceal the fact that he had begun collecting the divine spring water with the Qiankun Pearl.

He did not dare take too much—only a little over twenty jin or so.

He thought the Empress was most likely watching them right now.

Before an existence like that, he had to be careful, careful, and even more careful.

While he was doing this, Pang Bo and Ye Fan followed Lu Zhou's example. They either scooped up spring water with their hands and drank it or lowered their heads directly into the pool.

"It has a faint sweet fragrance, but aside from tasting a little unusual, there's no other feeling after drinking it!"

Pang Bo spoke after gulping down several mouthfuls of spring water.

He poured out all the water in several mineral water bottles and began filling them with spring water.

Lu Zhou and Ye Fan did the same.

Afterward, they rested a while longer and drank some more spring water before heading back the way they had come.

When they returned, Ye Fan's classmates were discussing where they should go next.

Pang Bo shared some of the spring water he had brought back with Liu Yiyi and the others.

Then Lu Zhou continued onward with them. As they traveled, he kept considering what he should do next.

After nightfall, they witnessed a terrifying scene. It was not until the latter half of the night that everyone finally drifted off to sleep in a daze.

The next day, they did not wake one after another until the sun had risen high. After washing up briefly by a stream and picking some wild fruit to stave off hunger, they continued on their journey.

Around noon, Wang Ziwen spotted buildings on a distant mountain. There even seemed to be immortal cranes flying among them.

They headed toward those buildings.

Along the way, Liu Yunzhi and his two companions recklessly courted death just as they had in the original story, attempting to trick Liu Yiyi out of her prayer beads.

In the end, Ye Fan, Pang Bo, and Lu Zhou taught them a lesson.

Perhaps because he had read the original work more than once and had put himself in protagonist Ye Fan's shoes, Lu Zhou, like Ye Fan, felt some sympathy for Liu Yiyi, who looked frail and timid and lacked confidence.

Lu Zhou could not stand seeing people like that being bullied.

After teaching those three bastards a lesson, they continued onward and eventually stopped before a stone wall carved with the four words "Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land."

It was also here that Ye Fan and the others threw Liu Yunzhi's group into the saber-toothed tiger's den.

They continued onward until all of them felt unbearably hot, as though a raging fire were burning inside their bodies.

The excruciating pain made them scream, and every one of them passed out. Not even Lu Zhou could remain conscious.

About two hours later, Lu Zhou was the first to wake, followed closely by Ye Fan.

They discovered that they had become younger.

Lu Zhou now looked like an eleven- or twelve-year-old boy, while Pang Bo and Ye Fan appeared slightly older, around thirteen or fourteen.

This differed from what had happened in the original story.

Lu Zhou thought it was probably because Pang Bo and Ye Fan had eaten one fewer Saint Fruit than they had in the original.

He remembered that the original Ye Fan and Pang Bo had each eaten four Saint Fruits beside that spring pool.

Then, after returning to Liu Yiyi and the others, Pang Bo had stuffed another Saint Fruit into Ye Fan's mouth. Pang Bo had also bitten off most of another Saint Fruit, while the remaining fruits had gone to Liu Yiyi, who received two, and Zhang Ziling, who received one.

Thinking of this, Lu Zhou looked toward Liu Yiyi and Zhang Ziling, then at everyone else.

Including Liu Yiyi and Zhang Ziling, they had all grown old.

Going from youthful vitality to white-haired old age in an instant was something many people could not accept.

Especially some of the women!

After a long time, they finally supported one another and continued toward the immortal palace.

In the end, however, they discovered that no matter what they did, they could not get close to it.

By then, the sky had gradually darkened. Everyone suddenly saw a streak of rainbow light appear on the horizon, cutting across the sky like a rainbow bridge.

When he saw that rainbow light, Lu Zhou let out a long breath.

All along the way, what he had feared most was missing Weiwei.

If he missed Weiwei as she passed through this place, Lu Zhou did not dare imagine what would happen next.

Fortunately, his luck was good. Certain major events that were destined to occur had not changed.

Weiwei had already noticed them and was flying toward them.

The instant Lu Zhou caught sight of Weiwei, his eyes lit up.

The study materials on his phone were instantly thrown back to the island nation.

Weiwei looked about eighteen or nineteen. Her face was like jade, her figure slender, her waist delicate, and her legs straight. Her pale blue dress fluttered naturally around her.

Standing in midair, she exuded an otherworldly air that set her apart from the mundane world!

Everyone stared blankly when they saw her, feeling only that she was like an immortal maiden untouched by worldly dust, like a fresh snow lotus atop a snowy mountain.

Lu Zhou could not help thinking that if even Weiwei was this stunningly beautiful, then how peerlessly gorgeous must Yan Ruyu, the Jade Pool Saintess, and An Miaoyi—the three most beautiful women of the Eastern Wasteland—be?

After a brief conversation, Weiwei took them away from this ancient wilderness and brought them to a brightly lit town.