Su Wen: Did You Say Thank You? Xuan Zi: World-Shaking Wisdom!

Their minds were linked, and Su Wen quickly understood what had happened.

This ancient tree was called Dragon Beard Wood. A mature Dragon Beard Wood could reach a height of a thousand zhang, and among over a hundred mature Dragon Beard Woods, one would bear a Dragon Beard Fruit. As luck would have it, it was this very tree they were on.

And because of Xuan Zi, the soul beast originally guarding this Dragon Beard Fruit—a Nether Python with twenty thousand years of cultivation—had been forced to leave temporarily. It had merely shifted over to another nearby Dragon Beard Wood, watching the Dragon Beard Fruit with its heart in its throat.

As for Hurricane, he had taken advantage of that window to pluck the Dragon Beard Fruit and bring it back.

"Hissss..."

The Nether Python coiled on the roots and branches below, flicking its forked tongue nonstop. It was cowardly and terrified, knowing how terrifying Xuan Zi's strength was, yet it could not bear to give up the treasure it had watched over for months, only for someone else to snatch it away at the last moment.

"Heh..."

Xuan Zi lay leisurely off to the side.

His gaze fell on Su Wen, rather curious.

He wanted to see just how righteous this kid really was. If Su Wen made some grand, high-sounding speech and then accepted the Dragon Beard Fruit, that would be a bit hypocritical. But if he returned the Dragon Beard Fruit to the Nether Python, that would be a bit too foolish.

Su Wen unhurriedly patted his sleeves and stood up, glancing at Hurricane, whose eyes were full of hope, then at the Nether Python, whose face was full of unwillingness.

Its stats were rather extravagant.

Nether Python

Cultivation: 31,723 years

Attribute: Dark

Potential: 4

Evaluation: A mutated Green Spirit Python. Although its potential has already reached its limit, among the Green Spirit Python race, whose average cultivation is only around a thousand years, it can already be considered to have defied fate...

"Did you say thank you?"

The surrounding air seemed to freeze.

Countless question marks seemed to appear above the Nether Python's head as it stared at Su Wen in a daze.

Xuan Zi nearly fell out of the tree.

"I said, did you say thank you?"

Su Wen stared at the Nether Black Snake, his tone calm. Seeing that it did not answer, he turned to look at Xuan Zi.

"Good. Elder Xuan, help me beat it. Beat it until it says thank you..."

Nether Black Snake: "..."

"Hahahahaha! Good, good, good! That suits my temper. Since when did a mere ten-thousand-year soul beast dare throw its weight around in front of this old man? If it were that bunch of Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, they'd probably have been so scared they hid off to the side already. A tiger doesn't show its might, and you take this old man for a sick cat?"

Xuan Zi grinned.

His fingers clenched in the air, and the Nether Python's nearly thirty-meter body instantly stiffened. Its cold pupils shrank at once, a flash of fear passing through them. It twisted its body, trying to escape, but Xuan Zi held it firmly in place.

The man and snake flashed and vanished from the ancient tree.

Knowing Xuan Zi had gone to another spacious area to stretch his muscles so the commotion would not be too large and let the people from Shrek know his location, Su Wen did not mind. He turned his gaze to Hurricane.

The little fellow's eyes sparkled.

"You want to become the overlord of this forest? Beat up whoever you want?" Su Wen said in surprise. "Wait a few more decades. With that tiny body of yours, they'd swallow you one bite at a time."

"Roar~"

Hurricane was a little disappointed.

However...

Su Wen opened the attribute panel.

A hint of joy flashed through his eyes.

His current base value had already reached 0.22. In other words, he had risen by a level out of thin air, just like that, with a whoosh. Wasn't this way faster than cultivating!

"Roar~"

But Hurricane shattered his fantasy.

"The effect of the second one will be reduced? And after you swallow one now, you still have to rest for a while to digest its effect, or else you'll be stuffed until you explode?"

Su Wen nodded slightly.

Still, this also meant that when his Pet Beasts ate, or when they increased their cultivation, it could feed back to the master himself. Even if there were limits, when added to his own cultivation, wouldn't it be equivalent to the effect of two people cultivating at the same time?

He glanced at the patch of scarlet fruit juice at the corner of Hurricane's mouth, and then at the Dragon Beard Fruit handed over to him. The crimson fruit was plump and full, and a fragrance drifted into his nose, instantly maxing out his appetite.

Dragon Beard Fruit

A treasure unique to soul beasts. It contains Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth. After swallowing it, there is a certain chance of bloodline mutation. After being picked, its shelf life is three days. After three days, it will quickly rot. Note: Humans must not swallow it, or they may easily explode and die.

Hurricane licked his lips, staring eagerly at the Dragon Beard Fruit.

Clearly, this kid had already eaten at least one.

And while he was at it, he had taken another one too. No wonder the Nether Python had lost its cool and chased him over. So you were eating and taking extras!

Hurricane scratched his head awkwardly.

The corner of Su Wen's mouth twitched. "It ate two?!!"

"When you're a beast, leave yourself a way out. With treasures like these, you should at least leave a few for their owner," Su Wen said with a raised brow.

No wonder the increase in his stats had paused and jumped twice—zero point zero seven the first time, zero point zero two the second...

"Roar~" Hurricane nodded.

But in the next instant—

"Plop—"

A snake flopped limply down in front of Su Wen.

Xuan Zi's figure followed right after.

Picking his teeth, he spoke leisurely. "I beat it up for you. Kill it or carve it up, your call."

"It didn't say thank you?" Su Wen glanced at the Nether Python, who looked like it had lost all will to live, then raised a brow. "Since it didn't, beat it up again until it does."

Hurricane: "..."

Nether Python: "..."

Xuan Zi rolled his shoulders, grinned, and reached his big hand toward the Nether Python.

"Hiss!!!"

The Nether Python let out a despairing wail.

"Wait!" Su Wen froze, then looked at Xuan Zi. "It can't talk?"

"Who told you it could talk?" Xuan Zi looked baffled.

"Isn't it said that most soul beasts over ten thousand years old can speak the human tongue? This guy looks like it's thirty or forty thousand years old..." Su Wen explained.

"Not every ten-thousand-year soul beast can talk. And a special species like the Nether Python has to advance to a hundred thousand years before it can speak human words," Xuan Zi said helplessly.

"Then why didn't you remind me earlier?" The corner of Su Wen's mouth twitched.

"I thought you meant to beat it up hard..." Xuan Zi shrugged.

Nether Python: "Hiss..." (Damn you...)

"So that's how it is, hahaha." Su Wen scratched his head awkwardly.

The Nether Python's resentful gaze looked as if it could burn him to death through the air.

"Fine."

Su Wen tossed the Dragon Beard Fruit in his hand to the Nether Python.

Humans couldn't use it anyway. Giving it to Sister Tao would only harm her. Hurricane had swallowed two, and it would take at least a month or two to digest them; by then, the shelf life would have long passed. He might as well give it to this guy...

He didn't have a habit of wasting things.

"Hiss~"

The Nether Python glanced at Su Wen in surprise, hesitated for a moment, then carried the Dragon Beard Fruit in its mouth and shot off toward the other ancient trees where the vines intertwined. It moved as fast as lightning, lively and vigorous, with not the slightest trace of its half-dead appearance from before.

Xuan Zi: "..."

Well damn, it was playing me!

"But you're pretty interesting, kid. I thought you'd have me kill it." Xuan Zi returned to his leisurely manner, took a bite of his chicken leg, and smacked his lips as he spoke.

"I have my principles," Su Wen said calmly.

"Having principles is good. Having principles..."

Xuan Zi took out his wine gourd, popped off the wooden stopper, and tipped it toward his mouth, only to find it completely empty.

"No wine left?"

Xuan Zi peered through the mouth of the gourd and glanced inside. "The food's about gone too. Sigh. If I have to rely on the soul beast meat around here, either tough as dry wood or soft and mushy with no chew, how am I supposed to live..."

"Wait!"

Xuan Zi looked at Su Wen, who had fallen into a state of deep meditation nearby, and a sudden idea flashed through his mind.

"Ah, I've got it!"