Chapter 940: Going Overboard? (2/2)

Thankfully for him, it didn't have enough depth to drown him. So, even though he fell haphazardly into it, his impact caused the water to form waves that eventually aligned him correctly, making his head peek out of the water.

His mouth opened unconsciously as the water streamed in, healing his body. He only woke up a day later, feeling pain all over his body as he felt weak. After staying in the water for some more time, Krune got up slowly and exited the pool, walking a bit before figuring out that his condition was less than optimal.

He needed to rest for at least a week before he could heal completely. Even then, Krune exited the cave and dragged himself, walking slowly alongside the mountain range, eventually arriving at the cave with the Mutant Monster Gecko, noticing that it was still bound in the same position as before.

He approached it and inspected its condition, noticing that it was in a similar state to himself. It, too, was reeling from the after-effects of consuming a Blood Essence Crystal. Though, considering its robust body, it was bound to heal within a week.

Then again, that was only in the case it ate something. Krune didn't have any plans to do that, intending to keep it weak for the time being. Otherwise, it was bound to escape one way or another. Without being fed, it wouldn't have enough energy to heal itself.

As for the bone tree, it had already reached eight meters in height. Considering its growth speed, it seemed like it would grow even bigger than the other bone trees. Thankfully for him, the cave he had selected was high enough for that, being situated in a crack in the mountain range.

The cave reached a height of 60 meters, more than enough for him. This was why Krune chose this particular cave. Thanks to his scouting, he had memoried a lot of places, knowing the terrain clearly. As he didn't have anything else to do, memorizing the layout of the place became his favorite pastime.

That was why he did it every three days.

During the week he recovered from the damage, Krune visited the cave daily, looking at the growth of the bone tree and inspected the Mutant Monster Gecko's condition. It had become a tad weaker due to hunger and wasn't able to garner enough strength to heal itself.

So even after a week had passed, it was still reeling from the after-effects of the Blood Essence crystal. After three more days had passed, Krune carefully fed it a fruit taken from a normal bone tree. He didn't wish to see it die from hunger.

It seemed the Mutant Monster Gecko needed to eat at least two fruits per day to satiate its hunger. As for Krune, he only provided it one every day, watching its physique grow thinner day by day. After another week passed in such a fashion, he began to feed it two fruits per day.

This way, it wouldn't grow any weaker. In any case, it would need at least another month to recover to its peak. Before that happened, it was susceptible to him. To keep an eye on it, Krune spent most of his free time in the cave with it, observing its recovery.

From time to time, he checked its shoulders to see that they were still in a dislocated state, only relaxing after that. Krune still maintained his activities, training in his cave once every three days. In the remaining time, he stayed in the cave with the Mutant Monster Gecko.

But, even after a month had passed, the fruit growing on the bone tree hadn't ripened. As for its size, it had reached a height of 40 meters, double the bone trees that grew the massive fruit. As for the fruit it nurtured, it was colossal, reaching twice the size of Krune's body.

”This would definitely yield a King Monster Gecko,” Krune smirked as he glanced at the Mutant Monster Gecko on the floor.

After tying two ropes on the thin branch connected to the colossal fruit, Krune carefully descended from the bone tree.

Of the two ropes, one was to sever the branch. The other was wound from over one of the large branches, using it as a lever so that he could lower the fruit slowly when it ripened. Krune waited in patience as he continued in his training. As for the situation in the Monster Gecko villages, the scene seemed to have caused a state of unrest in all the five villages due to the prior clash between the first two villages.

Conflicts happened every day, but it hadn't escalated to their elites yet. The only fight among the elites was between the two Mutant Monster Geckos at the start. After they had lost the two elites, the first two villages didn't go overboard.

Only the regular Monster Geckos fought on a daily basis while strolling through the forest in search of ripened fruits. After all, for some strange reason, the number of fruits had dwindled sharply, causing a wave of hunger throughout the Monster Gecko populace.

Unexpectedly, this further caused the Monster Geckos to fight more, using the blood of their enemies to water the bone trees and grow more fruits. Of course, this action further incited hatred between the different villages.

As for Krune, he instigated them whenever presented with an opportunity while waiting for the colossal fruit to mature. Over time, he had lost all the hesitation he had harbored in him about causing an unneeded loss of life. After all, mortals had a different mindset compared to cultivators, even if they were the same individual.