Symbiotic Relationships in Ten Thousand Beast Mountain

Martial Examination, Day Four.

"Wow! A White Spirit Fruit!"

Ji Ruo picked a white fruit that emitted an enticing, refreshing fragrance, looking very pleased.

This White Spirit Fruit was a spiritual fruit even more advanced than Blood Rice!

Eating it could clear the mind and sharpen the eyes, with no particular restrictions on consumption, greatly benefiting Martial Dao cultivation.

Not only that, but for a Martial Apprentice, consuming it could also boost qi and blood, and even temper the body to some extent—frankly speaking, while the Martial Apprentice realm was weak, any spiritual medicine or fruit consumed at this stage came with special effects.

In Ji Ruo's understanding, this was roughly equivalent to playing an online game like Tanwan Blue Moon: when your own level was far below the world's highest level, you'd get an experience bonus for killing monsters.

Since it wasn't a particularly high-grade spiritual fruit, the White Spirit Fruit's effects—whether clearing the mind and sharpening the eyes or tempering the body—were present but very weak.

Even so, it was enough to make Ji Ruo happy.

After all, he'd picked this fruit for free.

"Ji Ruo. Keep your voice down."

Liang Shixian said urgently in a low voice.

"We can't get exposed now!"

"Exposed to what?"

Ji Ruo asked in surprise. "We're Tree Demons now, what are you afraid of?"

Liang Shixian: "..."

The hell, do you really think you're a Tree Demon?

Liang Shixian recalled yesterday's experience and was still a bit dazed.

Yesterday, Ji Ruo had led him to dig two pits, lie down in them, and fill in the dirt, planning to tough out the remaining four days of the Martial Examination.

Unexpectedly, while they indeed weren't discovered by the demon beasts, every single tree in that grove was a Tree Demon!

During the day, they stayed put, basking in the sun and photosynthesizing.

At night, they all pulled up their roots and migrated.

Liang Shixian himself was fine, but Ji Ruo—whether by bad luck or something else—was suddenly yanked out of the soil by a Tree Demon.

At that moment, not to mention Liang Shixian, even the Tree Demon seemed stunned.

Then the Tree Demon started attacking Ji Ruo.

Dense branches came stabbing at him like a sky-covering swarm.

Liang Shixian remembered clearly: Ji Ruo calmly placed his Miao Saber at his waist, sank his body slightly, and then with a clang, the blade's light blazed brilliantly in the darkness, as if accompanied by fine, crackling white lightning.

Ji Ruo's speed was so fast that even Liang Shixian's eyesight could barely track it—and they were at the same cultivation level!

Liang Shixian could only see a flash of dazzling lightning; the Tree Demon's branches were all severed, and Ji Ruo had already charged in front of it, directly hugging its trunk, his palms glowing red as he rubbed them at high speed.

He actually managed to set the Tree Demon on fire!

Normally, ordinary Tree Demons were just long-lived; their individual strength wasn't very high, and they were extremely afraid of fire.

The other Tree Demons had initially wanted to attack Ji Ruo too, but as soon as they saw the fire, they fled outright—Ji Ruo had clicked his tongue at the time, exclaiming it was the first time he'd seen trees voluntarily create a firebreak.

Then, taking advantage of the burning Tree Demon's screams, Ji Ruo grabbed Liang Shixian and ran.

After that came the absurd part.

Liang Shixian never expected that after Ji Ruo led him into a normal forest, he'd tear off a large pile of leaves, crush them, smear the juice on their bodies, break off a few leafy branches, and stick them into their clothes. Then, ignoring Liang Shixian's frantic protests, he said he was going to take him back for a good meal.

After that, the two were surrounded by Tree Demons and then released. Ji Ruo suddenly announced he wanted to join the Tree Demon family—and then he actually did.

He even casually helped the Tree Demon, whose leaves were almost completely burned off, put out the fire... Though half its body was charred, judging by the way its branches trembled, it seemed quite grateful to Ji Ruo...

These Tree Demons hadn't suspected their identities at all—it was insane!

"Better be careful anyway. We're not real Tree Demons after all." Liang Shixian said earnestly. "Can you stop picking spiritual fruits off those Tree Demons? That's way too blatant!"

Ordinary Tree Demons had no eyes, no nose, no mouth—they were considered a relatively docile type of demon, not very dangerous.

But even if the danger was low, it was still dangerous!

Liang Shixian felt the reason these Tree Demons accepted them was that they lacked facial features and couldn't see or hear them—but what kind of tree climbs onto another tree to pick fruit!

Ji Ruo thought for a moment, climbed up a tree, picked another fruit, and said, "Here, Class Monitor, have one."

"...Thanks."

Ji Ruo took a bite of the White Spirit Fruit and said blissfully, "Relax, we won't get exposed. Tree Demons hibernate during the day and only wake up to move at night. Besides, they can't see or hear us, so we're safe, take it easy~"

Seeing Ji Ruo like this, Liang Shixian said helplessly, "Ji Ruo, when are you going to grow a brain?"

"Brain? What brain?"

"..."

Ji Ruo wasn't actually some reckless fool. In fact, because Liang Shixian hadn't been directly involved, he didn't fully understand the situation at the time.

Back then, Ji Ruo hadn't been yanked out by the Tree Demon—he'd crawled out on his own. The Tree Demon really had been stunned.

Actually, Ji Ruo didn't want to come out either, but the problem was that the Tree Demon had stepped on him at the time!

The sturdy root system the Tree Demon used to move had rolled right over Ji Ruo. Through the ventilation hole he'd left near his head, Ji Ruo saw a large group of Tree Demons migrating, and his mind raced.

The school teachers had taught that, normally, Tree Demons had relatively gentle temperaments, and those that lived in groups only did so because they couldn't survive on their own.

So Ji Ruo made his move—the Tree Demon was too heavy, its movement too slow, and it seemed to feel something off underfoot, lingering and refusing to leave.

The reason he acted was simple: being stepped on constantly, Ji Ruo couldn't take it anymore.

As for why Ji Ruo came back later, it was mainly because after escaping, he remembered a very important piece of knowledge.

That was that this kind of group-living Tree Demon usually formed a very peculiar symbiotic relationship with other creatures in the forest.

Because Tree Demons needed to rest during the day, or rather, perform photosynthesis to accumulate energy for nighttime activity, they couldn't move at all during the day before reaching a certain realm.

So they would grow some ordinary spirit fruits on their bodies, harmless and non-toxic, to attract other forest creatures to eat them.

Since the spirit fruits were quite ordinary, no particularly powerful demons or monsters would come to eat them, first ruling out the crime of possessing a treasure.

And the creatures that did come to eat the spirit fruits were not strong, and the herbivorous demons or monsters had gentler dispositions, theoretically unlikely to bite the hand that feeds them.

This way, even though the Tree Demons couldn't move during the day, they were still relatively safe.

Not only that, but occasionally some weak creatures, after eating their fill and feeling satisfied, would relieve themselves on the spot.

While the creatures were content, they also provided some fertilizer for the Tree Demons—this was the survival strategy of ordinary group-living Tree Demons: mutual benefit, cooperation, and symbiosis.

It was precisely because Ji Ruo thought of this that after escaping, he put on some camouflage and brought Liang Shixian back.

But initially, he only wanted to pluck some spirit fruits, eat his fill, and then find a good spot to bury himself, waiting for the martial exam to end.

However, things were unpredictable. The Tree Demons that had been migrating at the time discovered Ji Ruo and the other returning, and immediately surrounded them.

But at that moment, Ji Ruo and the other carried a strong scent of soil and plant sap, plus the boost from the [Camouflage] skill.

Tree Demons weren't very strong in perception, but they could still detect some movements.

Ji Ruo was ready to fight, but unexpectedly, one of the thicker trees used its branch to touch the twig stuck in Ji Ruo's clothes. Its leaves rustled softly, as if saying, don't fall behind.

Then the Tree Demons continued their migration. Ji Ruo hadn't even plucked any fruits yet, but suddenly he didn't want to leave.

Because the moment the Tree Demons accepted him, he triggered an achievement—

[Congratulations, host little friend, for unlocking the functional achievement: Let's Play House Together!]

[Acquired skill: Immersion Sense!]

[Immersion Sense: When role-playing, if the identity you're playing is within a 'reasonable range,' you gain a 40% identity boost, causing those around the target to experience a certain degree of immersion.]

[Note: Today I'm Dad, tomorrow I'm Grandpa, the whole family is me, hehe~]

"Ji Ruo, you've eaten enough, right? While these Tree Demons are still asleep, let's make a run for it," Liang Shixian said in a low voice.

As the class monitor, Liang Shixian had always been a model student in both conduct and academics.

In terms of theoretical knowledge, Liang Shixian wasn't much worse than Ji Ruo.

If Ji Ruo could think of an important piece of knowledge, how could Liang Shixian not?

Of course he knew that, under normal circumstances, this kind of symbiotic group-living Tree Demon wouldn't actively attack nearby creatures.

But knowing that didn't stop Liang Shixian from being scared!

Ji Ruo said seriously, "Run? We've got something big to do now!"

Liang Shixian was stunned. "What big thing?"

"Play house, of course!"

Liang Shixian: "???"