48: The Daobing Rebellion

"Junior Brother Lu?" Zhao Qiong blinked her large eyes, curiously sizing up the tall stone figure that had approached.

She raised her hand, then lowered it. She raised it again, then lowered it again, finally unable to resist reaching out and touching the Dao Soldier's body, saying, "This stone is really hard!"

The Dao Soldier 'coldly' stepped back, causing Zhao Qiong's hand to miss. If the Dao Soldier could speak, Lu Chen would definitely have told Zhao Qiong, "Please have some self-respect."

"Ah! You won't let me touch it!" Zhao Qiong was like a child who had done something wrong, her raised hand awkward whether she continued to touch or lowered it, her large eyes staring blankly, a look of helplessness on her face.

Lu Chen thought for a moment, then still had the Dao Soldier step forward two steps, allowing Zhao Qiong to touch it a few more times.

Thus, the helplessness in the girl's eyes turned into happiness. She nonchalantly popped a nut into her mouth and chewed away.

The Disciples watching also seemed to find it quite interesting. They pretended to casually approach, and then casually reached out, wanting to touch the Dao Soldier a couple of times as well.

"This is exactly the effect I wanted." Lu Chen smiled knowingly, then suddenly had the Dao Soldier escape underground, disappearing from sight.

It looked as if it were avoiding the curious 'hands-on' actions of the fellow Disciples.

"This Junior Brother Lu is a bit stingy." Zhou Li awkwardly lowered his already extended hand and let out a dry laugh.

"That's true." Han Rong also put down the knife in his hand. He originally wanted to try knocking it with the knife to see if he could make the Dao Soldier shed some stone fragments, but he didn't succeed.

He remembered that even those Xuan Fa Realm Demons could knock off the stone armor on the Dao Soldier's body, so his knife should be able to as well.

It was just that Lu Chen was stingy and didn't give him the chance.

"Exactly, touching it won't make it lose color." Hou Liehu rubbed his rough palms, feeling resentful that he hadn't been able to touch Lu Chen's Dao Soldier.

The Disciples saw the Dao Soldier escape underground as if fleeing, smiled, but didn't mind. Lu Chen's Dao Soldier had escaped underground because it was avoiding the 'demon claws' of its fellow Disciples. Although the roots of the dragon transformation fruit tree were right beneath the ground here, could Junior Brother Lu's Dao Soldier possibly eat tree roots?

If it were to eat, it would eat the dragon transformation fruit. Who would have ideas about the dragon transformation fruit tree itself!

...

Lu Chen was having ideas about the dragon transformation fruit tree.

His Dao Soldier silently escaped underground, then hugged a thick dragon transformation fruit tree root and began to 'absorb' nutrients.

In an instant, a faint light began to appear on the Silver Armor Dao Soldier's body. Vaguely, it seemed as if some unknown divine power flowed from the dragon transformation fruit tree, slowly being swallowed by the Dao Soldier, circulating within its body, causing the Dao Soldier to undergo some ineffable changes.

"It really works!" Lu Chen mused.

His Dao Soldier seemed to be able to 'eat' strange things. It could eat ghosts, it could eat zombies, and it could even eat the dragon transformation fruit which was extremely effective for Demons. The key was that it ate the dragon transformation fruit tree along with it.

Eating zombies was similar to eating Demons, both could enhance the Dao Soldier's own strength.

But eating ghosts was different. The effect of eating ghosts seemed to be that it allowed Lu Chen to better integrate within the Dao Soldier, allowing him to personally feel the power the Dao Soldier wielded.

So, what kind of benefits would 'eating' this dragon transformation fruit tree bring?

The dragon transformation fruit, for Demons, could help them transform into 'Dragons'!

But this 'Dragon' was not a Dragon in the true sense. Instead, it could allow the Demon's Bloodline to advance further. Its general effect was likely to help the Demon 'evolve'. This was the most fitting word Lu Chen could think of.

For example, a Flood Dragon Python about to transform into a Flood Dragon would definitely be able to directly transform into a Flood Dragon if it ate the dragon transformation fruit.

If that Black-striped Demon Tiger ate the dragon transformation fruit, it would definitely be able to become a 'Mountain Lord'.

As for what direction that Great Diamond Ape would improve in after eating this dragon transformation fruit, Lu Chen did not know.

"Then my Dao Soldier..."

It couldn't possibly evolve, could it?

The next level up from a Silver Armor Dao Soldier was a Golden Armor Dao Soldier, but this was the normal, conventional path of improvement. It could reach that stage without evolving.

"Hmm? Wait, this is..."

Without reason, Lu Chen suddenly noticed that this Silver Armor Dao Soldier, which was hugging the dragon transformation fruit tree root and 'absorbing nutrients', seemed to be transmitting a vague will.

Very vague, extremely vague, so vague that even Lu Chen couldn't guess what kind of desire this Silver Armor Dao Soldier was conveying. It seemed to be under some special restriction and couldn't fully express itself, or perhaps its 'evolution' wasn't complete enough!

"There's something to this, definitely something to this." Lu Chen was pleasantly surprised.

Although he couldn't yet fully grasp what kind of changes the dragon transformation fruit tree had brought to the Silver Armor Dao Soldier, he knew that this change must be good.

Just like before, after the Dao Soldier consumed numerous ghosts, it allowed him to personally feel the power the Dao Soldier wielded more deeply, which was very helpful for him to comprehend the true meaning.

And now, this dragon transformation fruit tree was clearly not meant to directly enhance the Dao Soldier's strength, but had other wondrous uses.

This kind of wondrous use was what Lu Chen liked the most.

It wasn't difficult for the Dao Soldier to improve its strength; by hunting more Demons and Demonic Beasts for the Dao Soldier to absorb, it would always improve. But to undergo a 'mutation'... Bah, what mutation, to undergo a higher-level change, that required a fortuitous encounter.

Clearly, the dragon transformation fruit tree was this kind of rare fortuitous encounter.

"All of you, go eat, eat your fill."

This dragon transformation fruit tree is partly mine; it would be a waste not to eat it.

Lu Chen was excited and sent all of the remaining thirty-four Silver Armor Dao Soldiers under the dragon transformation fruit tree. Each of them hugged a root of the dragon transformation fruit tree and immediately started eating.

And the Disciples of Doujian Peak were completely unaware of this.

Their attention was always on the miraculous dragon transformation fruit at the top of the dragon transformation fruit tree, which was also the great fortuitous encounter that Demons most desired. However, it wasn't very useful for human cultivators, though it could be used to exchange treasures with Demons.

............

Outside Mangniu Mountain, below the clouds.

A figure in a white-edged grey robe was hidden within the clouds and mist. He wore a Green Fox mask, was tall, and his hair was mixed black and white, tied up with a wooden hairpin and casually draped down.

Behind him, there was also a white-clothed woman wearing a Shanmao mask whose face could not be seen, and a sturdy man in a black robe wearing a White Tiger mask.

"The people from Dongming Sect's Doujian Peak have indeed come after all. Unfortunately, the Peak Lord isn't here." The white-clothed woman wearing the Shanmao mask spoke, her voice hoarse, like that of a decrepit old woman.

"After all, this is within Dongming Sect's territory. What kind of Grand Demons could appear? It's already not easy to attract Demons from the three races: King Kong Ape, Black-striped Demon Tiger, and Flood Dragon Python." The sturdy man in the black robe wearing the White Tiger mask sneered.

The person wearing the Green Fox mask coldly glanced at the White Tiger mask wearer: "If that Peak Lord came, how confident are you that you could keep him?

"Greed is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant. You have to eat bite by bite. A large sect like Dongming Sect must also be dismantled step by step. Being greedy for quick success will only harm you."

The White Tiger mask wearer coldly snorted: "Could being indecisive also be considered plotting before acting by you? This old man cannot stand such humiliation."

With that said, he took a step forward and headed directly towards Mangniu Mountain: "Then let this old man first slaughter a batch of little rascals from Doujian Peak to whet my appetite."

Watching the White Tiger mask wearer depart on the clouds and mist, the old woman wearing the Shanmao mask said: "If we had joined forces with the King Kong Ape, Flood Dragon Python, and Black-striped Demon Tiger races in advance, not a single person from Doujian Peak would have survived."

The Green Fox mask wearer said indifferently: "Are you blaming me for not joining forces with those Monsters? Although we have a grudge against Dongming Sect, that is a dispute within our own Human Race cultivation world. It is not for beastly Monsters to interfere."

"Do not forget, you and I are also of the Human Race! Conspiring with Monsters - do not let me hear such words a second time! Otherwise, I will not spare you!"