Bonding with Qian Renxue, Fruit Wine and a Mutant Wild Apple

By then, Qian Renxue and Shui Bing'er had drunk their fill of water. Shui Bing'er wanted to take some vines with them, but Chu Xiu stopped her.

"We're going farther in. The vines are too heavy to carry around. We can pick them up on the way back."

The three continued deeper into the forest.

As they walked, Chu Xiu gathered lightweight supplies.

One kind of leaf was tough enough to fold into a bag, useful for carrying water or anything else.

He also found a thin but sturdy vine that could serve as rope.

Another half hour passed.

Just as Chu Xiu began to wonder whether the Deserted Island had any edible fruit at all, he caught a faint fragrance.

"Huh? Do you smell that?"

Shui Bing'er caught the strange scent a moment later.

"It's Fruit Wine."

Chu Xiu sounded certain. "If there's Fruit Wine, there must be fruit. And Fruit Wine is food too. It keeps better than fruit."

At the mention of food, Qian Renxue perked up as well.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Not so fast."

Chu Xiu straightened and felt the breeze, then angled slightly right. "The wind's coming from over there. That's where the Fruit Wine should be."

He pointed ahead and to the right.

The three pressed on. After another thirty or forty meters, they found a grove of fruit trees.

The fruit was ripe. Beneath one tree lay a broad, flat stone with a hollow in its center.

Fruit had fallen onto the stone and slowly rotted and fermented, leaving Fruit Wine pooled in the hollow.

The tree's canopy kept rain from washing it away.

"It really is Fruit Wine! And look at all this fruit."

"Chu Xiu, you're amazing."

Shui Bing'er was thrilled.

Neither she nor Qian Renxue had wilderness experience. Without Chu Xiu, they might have struggled for ages to find this place.

Qian Renxue, meanwhile, was curious where he had learned so much about survival.

"Chu Xiu, where are you from?"

Chu Xiu knew from her question that she might be growing suspicious of him.

But he had prepared an answer. Without so much as a blush, he lied. "I'm from Vast Sea City, so I know a little about surviving by the sea and in the wild."

"That explains it."

Her doubts eased. "I hear Vast Sea City has lots of Sea Soul Masters. Is your martial soul related to the sea too?"

"Uh... more or less."

Chu Xiu dared not admit his martial soul was a Sea Island. He quickly changed the subject. "The place I was born was pretty remote. Hardly anyone lived there, just a few households in the whole village."

"If Spirit Hall hadn't awakened my martial soul for free, I might never have left the coast. I'd have spent my whole life as a fisherman."

Chu Xiu was grateful that Yu Xiaogang had judged him so poorly.

Not long after Tang San became Yu Xiaogang's disciple, Yu Xiaogang was already wrapped around his finger. Chu Xiu had also failed to absorb a Spirit Ring dozens of times in a row. From then on, Yu Xiaogang had grown cold toward him and rarely brought him along to public events.

Later, Yu Xiaogang joined Shrek Academy for Tang San's sake and did not take Chu Xiu with him.

As a result, Ning Rongrong had never met Chu Xiu. Otherwise, his identity would already have been exposed.

[Qian Renxue's opinion of you has improved slightly. Bond Value +10]

[Current Bond Value: 10]

Chu Xiu froze, then rejoiced inwardly.

He had never expected a casual compliment to Spirit Hall to earn Qian Renxue's favor.

They had only been trying to survive for half a day, and he had already formed bonds with two beautiful women.

That put Chu Xiu in an excellent mood.

"I'll gather fruit up ahead. You two collect the Fruit Wine."

Chu Xiu left them two tough leaves he had gathered along the way to use as wine containers, then headed alone toward the fruit trees.

The trees were tall and thick. Chu Xiu could climb, but with plenty of fruit already on the ground, there was no reason to waste the effort.

He folded two leaves into bags and soon filled both with fruit.

He was about to leave when a fruit on one of the trees caught his eye.

It looked exactly like the others, except for the faint green light around it.

The moment Chu Xiu focused on it, a notification appeared.

[Wild Apple]

Grade: Upper Mortal Tier

Mutation: Green Glow

Effect: Eating it slightly increases strength. Limit: one.

Excitement surged through Chu Xiu, and his eyes went wide.

Was this the opportunity the rules mentioned when my martial soul activated?

His breathing quickened. He set down the two bags, hurried to the tree, and climbed it in a few swift movements.

In the distance, Qian Renxue and Shui Bing'er noticed something odd as they worked together to collect the Fruit Wine.

"With all that fruit on the ground, why is he climbing the tree?" Shui Bing'er wondered.

Qian Renxue burst out laughing. "Maybe he has a crush on you and wants to show off."

Shui Bing'er's pretty face flushed bright red.

"What makes you say that? Maybe you're the one he has a crush on."

As the two teased each other, Chu Xiu picked the Mutant Wild Apple.

He glanced at Qian Renxue and Shui Bing'er. They were chatting and laughing, paying him no attention, so he quickly stuffed the fruit into his mouth.

With every bite, Chu Xiu felt his strength surge.

By the time he had swallowed the entire Mutant Wild Apple, his strength had more than doubled.

That was only a Mortal Tier mutated fruit, yet it made such a difference. Too bad... I can only eat one.

Feeling power course through him, Chu Xiu leaped down from the tree.

He landed from over three meters up with a dull thud, yet barely felt the impact.

Chu Xiu was very pleased.

After briefly testing his strength, he tied the mouths of the two fruit bags shut with vines, slipped a stick beneath them, and hoisted it onto his shoulder like a carrying pole.

"Are you two ready?" Chu Xiu called.

"Ready."

Shui Bing'er and Qian Renxue were hiding behind a tree. Shui Bing'er called back, "Start heading back the way we came. We'll follow behind you."

Chu Xiu strode back along their route.

Only after he was more than ten meters away did Shui Bing'er and Qian Renxue emerge from behind the tree and quietly follow him.

The return trip was much faster. They picked up a few water-filled vines along the way and reached the beach in less than an hour.

Ning Rongrong had long since grown impatient.

She had been waiting at the forest's edge. As soon as she spotted the three figures among the trees, she hurried behind a thick trunk to hide.

"Why bother hiding? We've already seen everything."

Qian Renxue sneered.

The light outside the forest was brighter, making it easier to see from within the trees than the other way around.

Before Ning Rongrong spotted them, all three had already seen her pale, bare figure pacing anxiously outside the forest.