Zhu Li was a very patient person, hiding within the thick canopy of trees, she squatted there for over an hour.
It wasn't until the sun was high in the sky that she saw a figure approaching from a distance.
It was the Little King Zen Tree.
At this moment, it was covered in scars all over, but if you looked closely, you would notice that the wounds had mostly healed, leaving only bark scars.
Contrary to its disheveled appearance, its little steps were lively and spirited, as if it had just enjoyed a pleasant event not long ago.
Upon closer inspection, you could notice a few more leaves on the treetop, perhaps suggesting it leveled up.
"So it was him."
Originally hoping to encounter a stealth-eating magical beast, Zhu Li couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.
Buzz...
Once it recognized the scent of the Little King Zen Tree, the large stone feeding machine automatically opened up, revealing the richly replenished food inside.
Although called food, it was actually just a large tank filled with concentrated nutrient essence.
However, to the tree-people magical beasts, this was the most delicious food.
Next, Zhu Li witnessed the Little King Zen Tree wolfing down the food.
After consuming almost all of the nutrient essence, the Little King Zen Tree swelled up, turning into a plump tree-person.
"Isn't it afraid of eating too much?"
Seeing this, she couldn't help but comment.
No wonder the feeding machine empties so quickly, is this guy possessed by a starving ghost, finishing everything in one meal?
A satiated Little King Zen Tree didn't, as Zhu Li had expected, root itself somewhere to rest, but instead found a leaf as big as a watermelon and scraped whatever remaining nutrient liquid was inside the tank onto its surface.
Then it carefully held the large leaf bowl-like and swiftly walked away.
Paired with its little steps, it resembled a little housewife.
"A bit odd."
Upon seeing this, Zhu Li decided to follow and take a look.
Thus, the Little King Zen Tree led the way while she followed quietly behind.
About 15 minutes later, she finally saw two figures.
Beside the small stream, a young man with a limp was moving around.
Next to him, there was a straw man with a bundle of vine whips on its shoulder, looking quite ostentatious.
"... No way."
Upon seeing the human and grass, Zhu Li finally understood.
With another thought, she felt a bit overwhelmed.
Could it be that ever since the competition, this pair has been coming daily to beat up the Little King Zen Tree?
The reason for her anxiety was that at this rate, wouldn't she have to come daily to replenish the food?
Just thinking about spending over an hour daily in transit made Zhu Li's face fall.
At that moment, the human, the grass, and the tree met by the creek, not noticing Zhu Li's presence.
[Rustle!]
Little King Zen Tree: Brother Grass, try this!
The Little King Zen Tree lifted the large leaf filled with nutrient essence.
The well-regarded prince among the zen trees was actually showing affection to a mere straw man.
Zhu Li couldn't have imagined this scene if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes.
[Grass?]
The straw man looked at the bright green, crystalline liquid on the leaf and couldn't help but become curious.
So it took the large leaf, leaned its head, and took a small sip.
[Pah! Grass!]
The next second, it spat it out immediately.
This stuff tasted a hundred or a thousand times worse than cola.
[Russle?]
The Little King Zen Tree, sucking its finger, looked a bit aggrieved and puzzled.
Why didn't Brother Grass like it, when it itself thought it was very tasty.
[Rustle!]
Little King Zen Tree: Brother Limp, would you like to taste it?
It immediately looked at Li Pu.
"Can I eat stuff like this?"
Li Pu surprisingly understood the tree's intention.
Honestly, the liquid did look pretty enticing.
Thinking that he had half summon beast blood, trying a small taste shouldn't be an issue, right?
So he dipped his finger and placed it into his mouth.
"Doesn't seem like anything special."
After tasting it, Li Pu felt nothing unusual.
It tasted like the dew he had drunk before.
[Haha grass!]
However, the straw man pointed at Li Pu and suddenly burst into laughter.
Straw Man: Summoner! Your tongue is green!
"Uh…"
Li Pu looked at his reflection in the creek and found it true.
It seems the magical beast's food shouldn't be eaten indiscriminately.
Luckily, it was just a green tongue with no other side effects.
Unexpectedly, his left foot seemed less swollen as well, indicating the mysterious liquid still had some effect.
[Pah! Rustle!]
While he was checking his reflection, the straw man gave the Little King Zen Tree a sip of cola, and it spat it out immediately too.
It seemed that although both were of plant type, their tastes were vastly different.
The ensuing time was the Little King Zen Tree's beatdown session.
This little treant had helped him a lot yesterday, and if he wanted to navigate through the southern forest in the future, he'd need this local resident's assistance.
Thus, Li Pu decided to treat it well by giving it a more intense beating.
As a result, the human and the grass took turns mercilessly returning the plump tree-person back into a little tree-man.
[Russle russle russle!]
Little King Zen Tree: Thank you two big brothers!
The satisfied Little King Zen Tree danced around and sprinkled gold powder towards the human and grass.
"Whew..."
Taking a long breath, Li Pu casually found a place to sit: "Tell it, I also need to head to Mushroom Valley again."
[Caocao!]
[Russle!]
After an exchange between the translator grass and the local guide, the message was conveyed to Li Pu.
[Grass!]
Straw Man: Summoner, it says no problem,
"Then it's OK."
Li Pu's journey wasn't purely for money-making.
Or rather, not for immediate profit.
To do a job well, one must first sharpen their tools.
To traverse the southern forest smoothly, he couldn't do it alone.
The straw man's combat power had to be further enhanced.
With sufficient strength, he could more effectively and steadily collect materials in the southern forest, moving towards the 50W goal.
Mushroom Valley was the only place Li Pu knew so far that had a community of magical beasts.
When chased in by the mushroom lizard yesterday, he took note of his surroundings.
Besides the red-headed mushrooms, there were other types of mushroom beasts.
If there were enough of these different species of mushrooms, he could potentially gather more complete elements.
The remaining crystal coins he had might still enhance the straw man further.
"It's already so late, aren't they planning to return to school?"
Seeing the human and the grass walking in the opposite direction from school, Zhu Li frowned.
She still had a lot of official work yet to handle today, she couldn't keep being delayed like this.
"Hold on, isn't Li Fan still around?"
Fortunately, she immediately thought of someone.
If she remembered correctly, she had the number of this new teacher on her phone.
...
...