Under Lu Yi's pressing interrogation, Chen An, seemingly left with no choice, revealed how he had acquired so many spirit stones.
"At the time, I was bored and decided to take a walk around the back of the sect. However, I slipped and fell into a crevice in a mountain stream. To my surprise, growing in the crack was a small tree, no taller than a person. The tree had no leaves but bore a few small green fruits."
"Out of curiosity, I picked one of the fruits and brought it back to the outer sect for Elder Gu to examine. To my surprise, Elder Gu was overjoyed upon seeing it and immediately rewarded me with fifty spirit stones. He also made me promise not to tell anyone about it."
"Lu Shixiong, you absolutely must not let this secret slip, or I'll surely face Elder Gu's wrath."
Chen An, looking weak and feeble, pleaded as he detailed his story. Lu Yi furrowed his brows, deep in thought. After a moment, he asked again, "And where exactly is this fruit tree located? Can it be found again?"
"It can be found," Chen An nodded, looking confused. "But the location is quite remote and hard to reach. Finding it again might take some time."
"That's fine, we have time," Lu Yi responded generously, waving his hand. "How about this—tomorrow morning, we'll meet back here, and you can lead us to the tree. What do you think?"
"But Elder Gu…"
"No one knows about this except the three of us. As long as we don't say anything, what can Elder Gu do?" Lu Yi coaxed Chen An as if they had become close friends. He even went so far as to promise that once they obtained the fruits, Chen An could keep thirty percent of the spirit stones they exchanged for.
Tempted by the offer, Chen An hesitated before testing the waters, "If I take you two to find the fruit, will you let me go afterward?"
"Of course. Once we find the fruit, we'll be friends. I'll not only let you go, but I'll also help guide your cultivation."
"Alright, I'll take you there."
Chen An appeared to make up his mind, nodding to agree with Lu Yi's request.
Satisfied, Lu Yi reminded Chen An not to be late the next morning before leaving with Han Juan.
"Shixiong, what is this fruit that the outer sect disciple mentioned? How could it be so valuable?" Han Juan asked curiously as they walked away, her eyes filled with confusion.
After a moment of thought, Lu Yi murmured, "If what the kid said is true, then he likely found an immature Zhu Fruit."
"Zhu Fruit!!" Han Juan gasped in shock. "That's a legendary treasure! One bite can rapidly increase one's cultivation and extend life by a thousand years. Is such a miraculous thing growing in the back mountains of our sect?"
"You're getting ahead of yourself," Lu Yi shook his head. "The Zhu Fruit takes an extremely long time to ripen. It takes at least a few thousand years for the fruit to turn from green to red. With our lifespan, there's no way we'll live to see that happen."
"However, even an immature Zhu Fruit can still fetch a huge sum of spirit stones—enough to last us a lifetime."
The prospect painted by Lu Yi made Han Juan incredibly excited. The idea of never having to worry about spirit stones and living a life of luxury forever filled her with anticipation. However, she didn't understand why Lu Yi insisted on waiting until the next morning to deal with this. Wouldn't that give Chen An a chance to change his mind or something else to happen in the meantime?
Lu Yi reasoned that Chen An had mentioned the location being quite remote and hard to find. It was already late, and by the time they reached the back mountain, it would be completely dark, making it difficult to find the fruit. Better to rest for the night and set out fully prepared in the morning.
As for the risk of delay, Lu Yi wasn't worried at all. From today's interaction, he had already figured out that Chen An was just an ignorant fool.
"I bet that kid is still too scared to stand up right now. He'll never know that once he leads us to the Zhu Fruit, his death will be inevitable."
At that moment, Lu Yi and Han Juan exchanged a malicious glance, their eyes glinting with cruelty.
...
Lu Yi had been wrong about one thing—Chen An wasn't too scared to stand. As soon as they left, he got up as if nothing had happened, wiped the sweat from his forehead, dusted off his clothes, and stood still with a deep, cold gaze, brimming with murderous intent.
The so-called "immature Zhu Fruit" that Lu Yi believed in was just a story Chen An had deliberately fed him.
Tomorrow, in the back mountain, would be their burial ground!
"Why don't people ever understand?" Chen An muttered to himself as he shook his head, walking toward the outer sect. "Don't try to take advantage of me, or you'll pay for it a hundredfold."
By the time Chen An returned to his residence, it was already late. Normally, this would be the time for his evening cultivation, but tonight was different. He broke routine and headed for the herb field under the cover of night.
Earlier, when discussing the Zhu Fruit, Chen An had purposely hinted that he might not find the way at night. This subtle suggestion had convinced Lu Yi to wait until the next morning to search for the fruit.
Tonight was the opportunity Chen An had given himself, and if he made the most of it, Lu Yi and Han Juan would undoubtedly meet their deaths!
In the dark, Chen An's eyes gleamed with a cold, piercing light. After reaching the herb field, he carefully scouted the area. The confusion on his face faded, replaced by an air of supreme confidence.
"I hope you like the gift I've prepared for you," he muttered.
Once back at his residence, Chen An retrieved the jade slip that Li Muchen had given him earlier. While he was confident in his plan to deal with Lu Yi and Han Juan, one could never have too many tricks up their sleeve. He intended to make the most of his remaining time to study *Hànshān Strength*.
*Hànshān Strength* was indeed a powerful physical cultivation technique. Compared to other techniques, it was relatively easy to practice and could exhibit substantial power even at the beginner level.
In a way, physical cultivation techniques were the most practical and effective methods for beginner cultivators.
Chen An channeled his spiritual power into the jade slip, and a surge of information about the cultivation method for *Hànshān Strength* entered his mind.
He silently followed the instructions and began cultivating. Chen An knew that he couldn't master it all in one go, and there wasn't enough time to reach the beginner level of *Hànshān Strength*.
His goal was simply to understand the basics of the technique and grasp the method of circulating spiritual power—enough to perform the technique and increase his strength temporarily.
This was the fastest and safest way to cultivate in preparation for whatever might come tomorrow.