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Chapter 17: When it rains, it pours

The herb gatherer didn\'t even have time to scream before he was inside the snake\'s belly, dead on the spot.

Xu Hei looked at the already uprooted Serpent Fruit tree, his heart filled with rage. It bore fruit once every three years, and now it had been dug up.

Replanting it was obviously impossible; those two would definitely notice something was amiss.

Moreover, Xu Hei\'s knowledge was limited to the Serpent Fruit itself; he knew little about the tree and wasn\'t sure if it could survive being replanted.

"Even I know to leave a bit of leeway when hunting. You humans, uprooting the tree and destroying the roots, deserve death!"

Xu Hei was furious but helpless.

At this moment, the commotion in the distance gradually subsided, and the hissing of a large snake could be heard, indicating that the battle had ended.

Xu Hei\'s mind raced, and he quickly made a decision.

He opened his mouth wide, bit down on one end of the Serpent Fruit tree, and swallowed it whole.

The Serpent Fruit tree wasn\'t very large, about three meters tall, with a slender trunk. It was more like a shrub than a tree.

Once inside, the tree stretched Xu Hei\'s body straight, making him look like a bamboo pole. He had expected it to be quickly digested, but it remained intact, which surprised him.

He had eaten plants before—watermelons, wild fruits, grasses, even stones—and no matter what entered his body, it would immediately show signs of corrosion and digestion.

The herb gatherer had been half-digested in just a few breaths.

But this tree remained completely undamaged.

Only the edges of the leaves were shrinking at an extremely slow pace.

"Forget it, time to get out of here!"

Xu Hei immediately slipped away. The undigested tree made him stiff and awkward to move.

Fortunately, once he entered the pool, he could stretch and contract like a leech, allowing him to move quickly.

The black-gold scales at the tip of his tail flicked rapidly, increasing his speed even more.

"That herb gatherer was definitely instigated by someone, probably one of those two, wanting to monopolize the Serpent Tree."

Xu Hei wasn\'t stupid; a bit of analysis revealed the cause and effect.

But he couldn\'t be bothered to care. He had swallowed the Serpent Fruit tree; now he just needed to leave and find a place to digest it, avoiding detection.

Suddenly, Xu Hei froze.

A massive surge of energy erupted within him, an indescribable force crashing into his meridians like a wild ox, causing excruciating pain.

"What\'s happening?" Xu Hei was shocked.

In his panic, Xu Hei found a snake hole and burrowed in.

The snake hole wasn\'t large, but Xu Hei kept digging deeper with his tail, making it even deeper than his last hibernation hole.

"This is unbearable!"

Xu Hei quickly looked inside his body and saw that the Serpent Fruit tree had unknowingly digested all its leaves and part of its bark.

These barks had transformed into boundless, violent energy rampaging through his body, threatening to shatter his bones.

Unable to endure it, Xu Hei spat out a mouthful of blood.

It wasn\'t that the Serpent Fruit tree was poisonous; the energy was simply too overwhelming for him to handle.

In fact, the Serpent Fruit tree was a top-grade spiritual item, suitable for consumption only in the late Qi Refining Stage, and even then, it needed to be refined into a pill to remove impurities.

Swallowing it raw would cause the violent energy to immediately rupture one\'s meridians, potentially leading to an explosive death.

Xu Hei made a quick decision and spat out the Serpent Fruit tree.

Even after spitting it out, Xu Hei was still in immense pain, with several streams of violent energy rampaging through his meridians.

At this moment, the Demon God Cauldron suddenly absorbed all the violent energy, calming Xu Hei down.

"That was terrifying! This Serpent Fruit tree is poisonous!"

Xu Hei gasped for breath, still shaken.

No wonder the Serpent Fruit tree had existed for so many years without any demonic beasts gnawing on its bark or branches; it was indeed dangerous.

He had sensed it too, but in his desperation, he had no other choice but to try.

Clearly, the mastermind was after the tree, with the Serpent Fruits being a secondary objective.

At this moment, Xu Hei noticed something astonishing.

The Spiritual Qi mist inside the Demon God Cauldron had unknowingly expanded from eighty percent to ninety percent!

The seventh scale on his tail had also completed its transformation.

Xu Hei was stunned. When did this happen? Just now?

Meanwhile, above ground.

Two streaks of light flew rapidly and landed where the Serpent Fruit tree had originally been.

These two were Zhao Wenzhuo and Song Shiyu, who had just dealt with the Old Snake King.

They hadn\'t even used their full strength against the aged Snake King, relying on long-range attacks and strategic retreats to eventually kill it.

However, before they could inspect the corpse, they discovered that the Serpent Fruit tree was gone!

Standing on the slope, they looked at the large pit and the shovel marks on the ground, their expressions uncertain.

Clearly, someone had taken advantage of their battle with the Old Snake King to dig up the Serpent Fruit tree.

Song Shiyu gritted her teeth, "Damn it, who did this?"

Zhao Wenzhuo glanced at her and calmly said, "Senior Sister, if you needed the Serpent Tree, you could have just said so. Why do this behind my back?"

Song Shiyu was taken aback and glared at Zhao Wenzhuo, "What do you mean? Suspecting me? Ridiculous, I haven\'t even suspected you yet!"

"Junior Brother Zhao, are you feeling guilty and trying to shift the blame?"

Xu Hei, deep underground, heard their conversation clearly.

He didn\'t know who had done it. He was unfamiliar with the female cultivator, but he had witnessed Zhao Wenzhuo\'s cunning firsthand and leaned towards suspecting him.

Zhao Wenzhuo examined the ground for a while and found several footprints.

He said solemnly, "Senior Sister, this isn\'t the place to talk. Call your friend out, and I\'ll give you the Serpent Tree. I only want one Serpent Fruit. We can discuss the rest later."

Song Shiyu angrily retorted, "Ridiculous! I have no such friend. If it wasn\'t you, then the Old Snake King\'s commotion must have attracted other experts."

"Other experts?" Zhao Wenzhuo squinted his eyes and said coldly, "Do you take me for a three-year-old? Trying to fool me with such an excuse?"

Song Shiyu stared directly at him, and Zhao Wenzhuo stared back.

"Why aren\'t they fighting yet? Hurry up and fight!"

Xu Hei was getting anxious. He was tired of their bickering and wanted them to get to the part where they both got injured.

Both of them reached for their Storage Bags simultaneously but then stopped, staring at each other without saying a word.

"Hurry up! Start fighting!"

Xu Hei cheered them on in his mind, excited beyond measure.

He loved watching such scenes, where both sides ended up worse off.

At this moment, Zhao Wenzhuo suddenly sighed, released his grip, and said, "Let\'s leave it to Master to decide."

He took out a communication jade talisman and tossed it into the air, letting it fly towards the horizon.

During this process, Song Shiyu kept a close eye on him, ready to activate her copper bell at any moment, but in the end, she didn\'t make a move.

"Snap!"

The communication jade talisman hadn\'t flown far before a large hand grabbed it.

A figure appeared in the distance, holding the talisman, walking on water, and quickly approached, arriving in just a few breaths.

This person looked middle-aged, wearing a green Python Robe, with a stern face and a mustache, resembling a scholarly middle-aged man.

"Senior Brother?"

"Greetings, Senior Brother!"

The two were initially surprised but quickly bowed respectfully.

They had no choice but to be respectful. This person was their strongest senior brother, Mu Yun.

Eight years ago, Mu Yun had already broken through to the mid-Qi Refining Stage, reportedly reaching the sixth level of Qi Refining, three levels higher than them.

Both were secretly alarmed. Why was Mu Yun here?

Mu Yun landed in front of them, seemingly aware of their confusion, and said calmly, "Master knew your plans and sent me to protect you in secret. I already know what happened."

Upon hearing this, the two quickly bowed and thanked him.

Xu Hei, on the other hand, was startled.

Thinking back on his recent experiences, Xu Hei felt a chill down his spine.

"How insidious, having someone secretly protect them! Luckily, I didn\'t act rashly, or I\'d be dead by now!"

Xu Hei felt fortunate. Fighting humans was entirely different from fighting demonic beasts; you never knew what tricks humans had up their sleeves.

Zhao Wenzhuo hesitated for a moment, unwilling to give up, and said, "Senior Brother, what about the Serpent Tree..."

"It wasn\'t me who dug it up; someone else did," Mu Yun said calmly.

"What?" Zhao Wenzhuo\'s eyes widened.

"That person was very cunning, sending a mortal to dig up the tree. Otherwise, I could have tracked them through their Spiritual Qi. But with a mortal, it\'s impossible to track, only through footprints."

Mu Yun shook his head and said slowly, "But unfortunately, the footprints are gone too."

Everyone could see that the footprints disappeared five meters away from the Serpent Tree.

Mu Yun stared at the ground, silent for a moment, then closed his eyes and spread his Divine Sense.

Xu Hei quickly retracted his Divine Sense and remained motionless deep underground.

He knew the other party\'s Divine Sense couldn\'t reach him, and as long as he didn\'t release his own Divine Sense, he wouldn\'t be discovered.

Just then, the three Serpent Fruits on the Serpent Fruit tree beside Xu Hei suddenly turned a deep black, emitting a rich fragrance that seeped through the soil.

The Serpent Fruits had ripened!

The scent of the ripened Serpent Fruits was so strong that it couldn\'t be concealed, even permeating through the soil.

"Fing hell..."

Xu Hei nearly cursed out loud.