Chapter 359 - The Devil on the Ninth Floor (Part 1) (1/2)
The aura, overwhelming as it was, vanished in a split second. For some reason, Xiao Chen had the feeling that the strong aura wasn’t that terrifying anymore. It was an inexplicable feeling.
“Koo-chee! Koo-chee!” The Koo-chee beast continued to shake its head as if it had, too, detected the terrifying and powerful existence deep under the ground.
Xiao Chen nodded. Without his cultivation, he couldn’t move on boldly anymore. So he followed the Koo-chee beast back to the first floor above the surface. Once he was back up there, he immediately felt much more relaxed.
He put the shrub outside the straw shed. Laughing, he said, “Alright, Brother Koo-chee. I’ve got the fruits for you.” He looked around and said in alarm, “Oh no! Where did I put my sword?!”
“Koo-chee! Koo-chee!” The Koo-chee beast shook its head incessantly, indicating him not to go down anymore. Xiao Chen smiled wryly. “Oh, alright. We’ll get it next time.” He sat on a slab and started picking out the thorns in his right palm.
The Koo-chee beast kept running around the shrub, making Xiao Chen chuckle. He plucked one of the fruits and found it to be as light as a feather. It felt empty in his hand. He noted the fruit was the size of a walnut and had an incredibly tough exterior, but didn’t know what the flesh inside was like. With a smile, he handed it to the Koo-chee beast. “Here you go.”
“Koo-chee, Koo-chee!” The Koo-chee beast shook its head.
“You don’t want it?”
“Koo-chee, Koo-chee!” The beast nodded.
Xiao Chen forced a smile. “After I spent so much effort getting it, you tell me you don’t want it anymore. Brother Koo-chee, are you pulling a prank on me?”
“Koo-chee, Koo-chee!” The Koo-chee beast shook its head. It pointed to Xiao Chen and then to its mouth.
Xiao Chen pointed to himself. “You want me to eat this?”
“Koo-chee! Koo-chee, Koo-chee!” The Koo-chee beast repeatedly nodded as if it was overjoyed.
Xiao Chen observed the golden fruit. Well, it didn’t matter if this was poisonous. He was substantially handicapped, anyway. “Alright. I’ll accept your kindness, Brother Koo-chee.” He popped the fruit in his mouth and took a hard bite. Bitter juice immediately coated his mouth. It was as if he had bitten a snake gall. The taste itself was quite indescribable.
“Koo-chee!” When the Koo-chee beast saw him spitting it out the fruit, it immediately threw itself at him and forcefully covered his mouth.
“I’m eating it. I’m eating it, alright! Brother Koo-chee, stop pushing me! I’m going to… choke!”
Tears brimming in his eyes, Xiao Chen swallowed the whole fruit along with its flesh and juice. His stomach instantly churned. This thing was a hundredfold more bitter than snake galls. All he wanted now was a bowl of freshwater to wash the taste away.
“Koo-chee!” the Koo-chee beast cried out. It then plucked off another fruit and brought it to him. Xiao Chen shook his hand with a wry smile. “No more, no more. I’d rather die.”
“Koo-chee! Koo… Koo-chee! Koo-chee!” The Koo-chee beast widened its eyes as if it was furious.
Xiao Chen forced a smile. Even though this Koo-chee beast couldn’t speak, it was much more spirited than a human. He chose to accept its intentions and said, “Oh, alright then. I’ll eat just this one more.”
This fruit was too big to be swallowed whole. After he managed to eat one, he felt like retching. The joyful Koo-chee beast plucked off yet another fruit and presented it to him. Xiao Chen couldn’t help smiling bitterly. He stared at the shrub and saw that there were nine more of the same fruits. With a wry smile, he said, “Brother Koo-chee, don’t tell me you want me to eat all twelve fruits.”
“Koo-chee! Koo-chee! Koo-chee!” The Koo-chee beast repeatedly nodded, obviously happy. Xiao Chen forced a smile and took the fruit from its hand. His eyes were filled with tears by the time he finished eating this one. He couldn’t help retching, but all he could vomit was some gastric fluid.
“No more… I really can’t eat anymore.” Xiao Chen held onto the slab of stone and shook his hand with difficulty. He could feel all strength leaving his body.
Moments later, he suddenly felt physically and mentally refreshed. He tried circulating his energy and immediately felt his breathing becoming incomparably smooth. Even his Divine Sense had become much clearer. He stood up, feeling like he had an endless supply of force in his body. He thrust his palm, and a storm immediately followed. With a resounding thump, he crushed a large boulder nearly thirty feet away.
The sudden noise gave the faraway group of demons a fright. All of them looked around. When they saw it was Xiao Chen circulating his energy, their necks immediately shrunk, and they started hiding behind stones.
Xiao Chen stared at his palms. He was so agitated that his body was trembling. He could feel vividly that his cultivation had returned to the Foundation Building Realm. He was back at the Foundation Building Realm! In this past year, he had considered countless ways of restoring his cultivation but had only ever met failure. He never thought that this fruit would have such an effect.
“Koo-chee! Koo-chee!” The Koo-chee beast plucked off the remaining nine fruits from the shrub and presented it to him.
“Yes!” Xiao Chen nodded firmly. Even if these fruits were a hundred times more bitter, he would swallow them all as long as he could restore his cultivation.
After eating all nine fruits in a row, his stomach threatened to rot and hurt. But when he considered how he would soon regain his cultivation, this bit of suffering was nothing!
Suddenly, a burning-hot sensation filled his entire body as if he had dipped himself in Laozi’s Eight Divinatory Trigram Cauldron. His skin turned red from all the burning, and red glow flickered on his face. He could see all the arteries and veins under his skin.
“Argh!”
Xiao Chen yelled, clutching his head. He frightened the group of demons so much that they scrambled to hide. The Koo-chee beast kept running circles around him. “Koo-chee! Koo-chee!” it cried in apparent worry.