Swallow One Spirit Fruit, and I'd Gladly Serve as a Menial for a Hundred Years!

"Gulp!"

A loud swallow sounded behind Chen Du.

He turned to see Yunzhi standing behind him, looking at him.

"Immortal Master..."

Chen Du remained outwardly calm, but inwardly, his guard and vigilance were already raised high.

If watching the news just now hadn't improved his impression of this yao's character, his expression would probably have been even sterner.

It wasn't that he feared the yao would succumb to temptation and steal a fruit. He feared that if Yunzhi stole one of his fruits, there would be nothing he could do about her. Right now, he was like a zookeeper who seemed perfectly at ease among lions and tigers, but actually relied on making them believe he was stronger. It was a bubble that could not be allowed to burst.

"What is it?"

Chen Du gave her a cool glance.

Yunzhi jolted and hurriedly looked away.

"The spirit fruits are ripe."

She lowered her head as she reminded him.

How rude, how rude.

I'm just a little yao. How could I dare overstep so badly in the Immortal Master's presence?

"I saw."

Chen Du's cultivation was profound, his magic power boundless. A mere movement of his hand or foot could shake mountains and rend the earth, so he paid no heed to this little yao of unknown kind, his expression remaining as calm as ever.

Looking around, he found that the unusual fragrance of the spirit fruits was immensely tempting not only to himself, Yunzhi, and Side-Swept Bangs, but also to the ordinary birds and beasts, snakes, insects, rats, and ants in the mountains. The breeze just now had carried the fragrance far away, and in the time it took to exchange two sentences, birds were already flying toward them.

But these birds and beasts were not worth his intervention, just like the snake that had blocked the road that day.

Chen Du merely glanced to the side.

"Don't let them come over."

"Yes!"

Yunzhi agreed at once, even feeling a faint thrill of excitement.

Normally, if you put in the work, you get a share. The Immortal Master is asking me to work at a time like this...

Could it be...

"Fellow Daoists, this is an immortal's dwelling, and the spirit tree was cultivated by the Immortal Master. It is not fated to be yours. The Immortal Master is merciful and will not make things difficult for you, so please leave."

Her gentle voice traveled far on the breeze.

"Chirp, chirp!"

The mountain birds circled once and actually flew away.

Many small beasts in the woods hesitated, smelling the fragrance on the wind and gazing longingly toward the Daoist temple, reluctant to leave. In the end, they too turned back.

This had been their chance to attain the Dao.

Unfortunately, it was not fated to be theirs.

Meanwhile, Chen Du had already walked beneath the tree. Seeing the spirit fruits that filled its branches, perfectly round as pearls and shining all over, he treated them as ordinary fruits and reached out to pick one.

He picked it quickly, but he hadn't simply plucked it the moment he touched it. He first pinched the fruit, feeling its firm texture beneath his fingers, and only after confirming that it did him no harm did he pull it off with its stem.

Then, while Yunzhi was looking up and speaking to the birds in the sky, too occupied to watch him, he put it in the bamboo basket to test it. Only after confirming that it did not possess the property mentioned in ancient books, of vanishing into thin air upon contact with anything belonging to the five elements, did he relax.

By the time Yunzhi finished speaking, he had completed this step as well.

After that, he slowly picked the rest.

He was very careful, picking every fruit with its stem attached. Soon, the bamboo basket seemed to hold a collection of miniature full moons. Moonlight shone through the gaps in the basket and spilled across the ground, making the Daoist temple look like the Moon Palace, as beautiful and unreal as a dream.

More birds and beasts in the mountains smelled the fragrance and came one after another.

Yunzhi, meanwhile, kept speaking to persuade them to turn back, all the while struggling to resist the temptation herself.

This was her Method of Gathering Beasts and Taming Birds.

A casual glance showed that the bamboo basket was already full of spirit light. At one point, the fruits themselves could hardly be seen, only a mass of radiance. Not only was their fragrance enticing, but the profound and mysterious spirit essence emanating from them was even more astonishing and captivating.

Yunzhi no longer knew what to say.

If she had obtained such an extraordinary spirit plant and its wondrous fruits back then, she would have had to arrange a separate, exquisitely carved jade treasure box for each one. Even that would hardly have been enough to contain their marvelous mysteries.

And it wasn't just her, or just her time. Even if it had been someone else, or even another era-say, the ancient pre-Qin period, when spiritual energy was abundant and treasures emerged in profusion-she believed that whoever obtained such treasures would probably have used some extraordinary treasure box to hold them.

At the very least, they would have used a precious box.

Who would have thought that, in this Immortal Master's eyes, such immortal fruits seemed only a little better than ordinary wild fruits?

Now, all that held them was a bamboo basket.

Even the common folk at the bottom of Great Ming's society used them to carry things. Perhaps people had been using them a thousand years ago, and had continued to do so right up to the present day.

Suddenly, she heard a voice beside her.

"Yunzhi."

"Here!"

Yunzhi jolted and hastily turned her head. The Daoist had already picked the last fruit, and the tree's radiance was rapidly fading, as though it had become an ordinary little tree with an unusual shape.

Holding a mass of spirit light, the Daoist looked at her calmly.

"Thank you for your hard work these past few days."

"It was nothing." Yunzhi hurriedly lowered her head. "You provide me with food and shelter, Immortal Master, and allow me to cultivate in this immortal mountain dwelling, so rare in the world. What do the few odd jobs within my ability amount to? I often feel that what I do is far from enough to repay your kindness."

"Hehe..."

Not daring to look up, she only heard the Immortal Master chuckle.

"This one is for you."

His tone was as ordinary as if he were giving her an orange.

Yunzhi's heart leaped into her throat.

Heaven knew how eagerly she had awaited those words!

With just that one hint, who could have been certain she would really receive a spirit fruit? Now it was a dream come true!

Yunzhi waved her hands repeatedly.

"I couldn't, I couldn't! Your kindness to me is already as weighty as a mountain, Immortal Master. What virtue or ability do I have to deserve such a preci-cough-treas..."

She was drooling so much that her tongue got tangled.

"The tree bore plenty of fruit. One is nothing. Don't stand on ceremony. I've been practicing a secret art lately, and though I seem to have plenty of leisure, I'm actually busy. There may be other things I need your help with."

A fruit as bright as a lamp was held out before her, its rich fragrance burrowing straight into her body at such close range.

"Then I shall respectfully accept." Yunzhi accepted it with some reluctance, and remembering the Immortal Master's words, her expression turned solemn. "Whatever your orders, Immortal Master, I would not refuse even ten thousand deaths."

She had already detected the fruit's unique spirit essence, and somehow understood its effects.

Not only could this spirit fruit help her restore her magic power, it could also improve her innate talent and aptitude. She had been born in an era when spiritual energy was scarce, and had cultivated in a state of hazy ignorance, unable to go very far. From now on, even if she continued cultivating purely by instinct as before, the road beneath her feet would probably be broader and stretch farther into the distance.

This was a gift that could shed her old body and remake her bones!

Chen Du was also mulling things over. Watching her expression with satisfaction, he casually asked:

"How are you going to use it? Have you decided?"

"Well..."

Yunzhi grew even more troubled. "I know nothing of the art of alchemy, so I'm afraid I can't amplify its effects. I can only use the clumsy method and swallow it, like a wild beast in the mountains or an ordinary mortal."

Having said that, she wanted to hear what guidance the Immortal Master might offer.

"How is that a clumsy method?" Chen Du disagreed. "I don't know anything about alchemy either! But since this fruit has already grown into the shape of a fruit and gives off such a rich fragrance, I'd say eating it just like a wild beast in the mountains or an ordinary mortal is probably the most proper way, and the one most in keeping with its original intent, isn't it? Otherwise, wouldn't that let it down?"

Yunzhi couldn't help staring.

She raised her head slightly and happened to see a piece of calligraphy hanging on the wall behind the Immortal Master. It bore four characters commonly found in every Daoist temple in the world: "The Dao follows nature."

She had originally wanted to hear a better way to consume it from the Immortal Master. Instead, she heard those words, and on careful thought, they seemed even better than what she had hoped to hear, so much so that she felt the beginnings of an insight.

"Thank you for your guidance, Immortal Master!"

"When are you going to eat it? I'll watch you eat it."

"All right! Thank you, Immortal Master!"

Working under a virtuous person was different indeed. Not only were achievements always rewarded and rewards given generously, but he even stayed by her side to personally stand guard for her. She would gladly serve as a menial in a Daoist temple like this for a hundred years.

What free servant? Pah, pah, pah!

Yunzhi was wild with joy and could hardly wait.

The spirit fruit shimmered with flowing colors, like an immortal pill. When she swallowed it, light shone from her mouth all the way down her throat. As it dropped into her belly, her entire body blazed with light, illuminating the courtyard as brightly as day.

The Daoist sat in a grandmaster's chair, watching her intently.

The black-and-white cat on him stretched its neck out, its eyes full of curiosity.