Li Gewen let out an involuntary cry of agony, feeling as though his head was about to split open. He pressed his hands against his forehead and collapsed face-first onto the ground. Du Yun turned ashen with fright, frozen in place and completely at a loss for what to do, not even knowing what to say. It truly seemed, just as the books described, that forcibly consuming a Holy Blood Fruit would cause one's spiritual power to surge so violently that the person would burst apart. He suddenly remembered the scene a year ago when Zhu Heng had first discovered the fruit.
Du Yun had pulled out the *Compendium of Herbs*, holding the fruit in one hand and carefully comparing it to the illustration. "Look at this, it's an exact match with the drawing, there's no mistake at all. It's a Holy Blood Fruit. Eating it can increase a person's cultivation by ten years. Fatty Heng, your luck is truly through the roof. Eat it, and you'll become an peerless expert, and no one will ever be able to bully you again."
Zhu Heng had glanced at the fruit, swallowed hard, and ultimately shook his head, indicating he would not eat it.
"Why aren't you eating it?"
"I've heard of several senior and junior martial brothers who went looking for spiritual energy-replacing fruits on the mountain, and after eating them, they either ended up poisoned or bedridden. I'm not that stupid. If the book got it wrong, I certainly don't want to spend the rest of my life lying in bed."
"How could the book be wrong? This young master of the Li Family gave me this book to read." Wang Yun looked at the other three. "You don't believe it either?"
"Since he doesn't want to eat it, and you're the one who picked it, it's yours. If you want to eat it, you eat it," Li Ping said and walked away.
Wang Yun was baffled, then looked at Zhang Kai and Du Ju.
"You'd better not eat it. This thing isn't like a pebble that you can just shit out after swallowing." Zhang Kai patted Wang Yun on the shoulder and also walked away.
Wang Yun shouted loudly, "If any of you want to eat it, I can give it to you!"
"Stop egging people on with your reckless ideas. You're the most cowardly of all. If you don't want to eat it, keep it, or throw it away. Don't go instigating others to eat it; none of us know what this thing is, who knows if it's good or bad," Du Ju said with a smile.
At this moment, watching Li Gewen in such agonizing pain that his face was completely distorted, Du Yun was so terrified his jaw dropped open.
"I'm not being cowardly and afraid to eat it, I just thought what the book said made sense—that people with low spiritual energy would be blown apart if they ate it, but your spiritual energy must be very high, so you'd be able to fully absorb it. That's what the book said, I just thought that since it's such a good thing, giving it to you would make you happy, I didn't mean to harm you." Du Yun was crying tears of anxiety, having no idea what to do, terrified that he might have just killed Li Gewen.
Li Gewen raised his head to look at Du Yun, startling Du Yun so much that he kept backing away. After quite a while, Li Gewen's pale complexion finally regained some color. "I'm fine, I feel much better now. It's just that my glabella hurts a bit, help me look and see what's wrong with it."
Wang Yun took two timid steps forward and saw that the birthmark right between Li Gewen's brows had split open into a small slit, inside of which looked like an eyeball. "So you're growing an eye too? Is this hereditary?" Du Yun suddenly beamed with joy.
"An eye? What eye?" Li Gewen frantically pulled out a bronze mirror, only to see what looked like a slightly opened eye right between his brows. His expression instantly turned deathly pale. "I need to regulate my breathing."
Li Gewen sat down and began to meditate. Wang Yun stood to the side, took a deep breath, looked at the slightly opened eye once more, and then walked away in satisfaction. He produced a dagger, gripped it in both hands, squatted down, and stood completely motionless in a combat stance.
Who knew how much time passed? The others had long since left the stream valley, leaving only the two of them breathing quietly amidst the sweet fragrance of the valley. Li Gewen opened his eyes, pulled out the bronze mirror, and looked again. The slightly opened eye had now closed, merging into a single line, and no matter how much powder he applied, that line could no longer be covered up. Hearing the movement, Du Yun walked over, leaned in close, and stared at it for a moment.
"Is it obvious?"
Wang Yun stepped back another two paces and nodded. "How did you do this?"
"How would I know?"
"I want one too."
The two looked at each other and laughed. Just as Li Gewen was hesitating over the matter, Wang Yun spoke up. "You still haven't told me about that epic battle with the female demon. I want to hear how you fought." Wang Yun plopped down onto the ground, having already assumed his stance, waiting only for Li Gewen to speak.
Li Gewen smiled as he stood up, thought for a moment, and began: "The female demon's name is Yi Renmei. Her father is called Xiang Hua. Just like my father, he married into a prominent and influential family, and the two of them often went on missions together, drinking together in their spare time. In my mother's words, perhaps both of them suffered grievances at home, so they talked about everything without holding back when they drank, and their bond grew deeper day by day. It was precisely five years ago in the winter when the two of them were drinking at a tavern. At the time, Yi Renmei and I went to find them. Seeing how close the two of them were, always inseparable, they took advantage of their drunken state right then and there to betrothe us to one another. Everyone was very happy at the time, thinking about how we could be together forever. But after returning home, when I mentioned this to my mother, she immediately opposed it, scolded my father up and down, and dragged me over to the Yi Family to find Aunt Yi Sihan, insisting on calling off the engagement. However, that Aunt Yi Sihan was actually quite willing to marry her daughter to me. The two women argued back and forth as they talked, and eventually, the two fathers arrived as well to mediate. After all, the Yi Family and the Li Family had never intermarried before; both were major families at the Peak of Yunxiao, and everyone wanted to make it a match made in heaven. But my mother refused, absolutely unwilling to yield, crying tears of frustration. In the end, not wanting to see my mother grieving, I said I didn't want to marry Younger Sister Renmei. Younger Sister Renmei was heartbroken and ran away from home right then and there. She's been gone for five years now. I heard that Uncle Xiang also had a big argument with Aunt Yi Yan, and Uncle Xiang left the Peak of Yunxiao as well, not returning once in five years."
"In other words, Yi Renmei came looking for you to settle scores. You really broke a woman's heart, though this woman holds a grudge way too long, remembering it even after five years."
"Yi Renmei has had a very strong sense of self-esteem since childhood, and she has a proud spirit deep in her bones that won't tolerate others insulting her. Back then, she probably never expected that I would suddenly change my mind."
"Why did your stepmother... I mean, why did your mother firmly refuse?"
"There were some unspeakable hardships behind it. I didn't understand at the time, but I came to know all about it later."
"Oh, so that's how it is, I know everything now."
Li Gewen said mockingly to Wang Yun, "What do you know? Acting like you know everything. Let's hear it, then."
"It's a secret, I'm not telling." Du Yun stood up and walked toward a small waterfall not far away.
Li Gewen followed closely behind. Eyeing Wang Yun's omniscient-looking demeanor, he couldn't help recalling what the other had said earlier: *"So you're growing an eye too? Is this hereditary?"* He was just about to press him on it, but feeling a bit scared, he pulled back.
"Let me show you the fruits of my three years of bitter cultivation." Wang Yun stood before the waterfall. The waterfall wasn't tall—only about ten zhang high and roughly two feet wide. He had already assumed his stance, gripping the dagger with both hands.
"Are you trying to split the mountain and sever the current? Alright, then let me see how our great hero Wang manages to sever a current."
As soon as Li Gewen finished speaking, he saw Wang Yun swing downward. A massive blade aura surged straight toward the waterfall, parting it by about a foot. Li Gewen was momentarily stunned, and only when the waterfall returned to its original state did he catch sight of Du Yun's grinning face.
"How was that?"
"The power is decent, but your form is so strange. Don't you gather your qi first?"
"I was already gathering qi while you were meditating."
"After finishing your qi gathering, you listened to me tell a story, and then walked over," Li Gewen said, glancing back at the spot where the two of them had previously stayed. "After all this time, keeping the qi pent up in your body—wasn't it uncomfortable?"
"Not uncomfortable, just a bit weak after using it all up at once."
Li Gewen pressed his fingers against Wang Yun's pulse, but couldn't detect anything out of the ordinary. "If anything feels uncomfortable, you must tell me immediately."
Wang Yun nodded happily. "Is something wrong with it?"
"This is the first time I've ever seen anyone use it the way you do. In a couple of days, I'll go home and ask my grandfather; his old man is well-read and knowledgeable." Li Gewen pondered for a moment, then abruptly changed the subject. "Then let me see your second achievement. Are you ready?"
"Of course." Wang Yun focused his mind, gave a casual wave of his hand, and produced a handkerchief.
"A handkerchief? Too light, that barely counts as the entry level."
Du Yun thought for a moment, then casually pointed, and a stone stool appeared in front of Li Gewen. Li Gewen sat down upon it. "Not bad."
Du Yun scratched his head again, formed hand seals with both hands, and shouted just one word: "Transform!"
Li Gewen looked around, let out a loud laugh, and said, "Nothing happened."
Du Yun pointed up at the sky, and Li Gewen saw a massive boulder plunging down from above. Li Gewen was struck with utter panic. "Are you trying to crush me to death?!"
He quickly scooped up Du Yun and leaped twenty zhang away. The giant boulder crashed into the ground, and Li Gewen felt the earth shake violently. The two of them were buffeted by the oncoming gale, unable to keep their eyes open. Only when the surrounding dust settled and everything returned to peace did Li Gewen speak: "That's the Pouch Technique—a minor spell for carrying objects when traveling at home. How did you practice this? It's become completely offensive."
"I don't know either. I originally just wanted to find a heavier object to practice with, and as I kept practicing, it turned into this. During one practice session, I accidentally almost got smashed to death by that stone."
"Putting that aside, though, this spell of yours can totally be used for slaying demons; it's quite impressive. It seems you didn't slack off at all over these past three years."
"I've always been very diligent," Wang Yun said solemnly.
Li Gewen wiped the dust off Wang Yun's face. "You feel much thinner than before."
At that moment, Du Yun's stomach let out a loud rumble, and Li Gewen smiled knowingly.
"Actually, I came to find you for food and drinks, but on the way, I ran into the female demon and had a fight."
The two walked over to the shade of a tree, and with a wave of Li Gewen's hand, a table full of dishes materialized before their eyes.
"This is what's left over from what my father and older brother ate. I'm hungry too, you don't mind, do you?"
"Of course I don't mind." Du Yun spotted a whole chicken that remained completely untouched, reached out, and ripped off a chicken leg. But after taking a few bites, he paused. "Can I call them over?"
"Sure, though we have more than enough for the two of us, it might be a bit tight if we share with them."
"It doesn't matter, being able to eat a little more is better than nothing."