18: Chapter 18 Let's eat some fruit to cleanse our palates

Looking further into the distance, a group of Knight Professionals were carrying a giant log in a line.

They didn't have horses, but that didn't stop them from using their skills.

"Charge!"

Rumble!

White light shone on over a dozen people, wind gathered at their feet, and they moved like human tanks. In the blink of an eye, they crossed a hundred meters and delivered the timber precisely to the designated location!

There were also Archers!

They stood on high ground, holding longbows borrowed from the City Guards.

"Precision Shot!"

Twang! Twang! Twang!

They weren't hunting prey; they were firing iron nails attached to ropes!

Those nails accurately pinned to the joints of the scaffolding dozens of meters high, easily completing the fixation work and saving the trouble of climbing up and down.

As for the Assassins...

They already had specialized speed in their class. With the occasional use of the Shadow Assault skill, they moved up and down, clutching bricks, walking on the scaffolding as if on flat ground, leaving trails of afterimages.

What shocked Zhou Yun the most was the scene in the foundation pit.

"Come out! Earth Guardian!"

A somewhat shy Summoner youth pressed his hands to the ground.

Boom!

The soil churned, and a three-meter-tall earth elemental giant rose from the ground.

It didn't go to fight; instead, it raised its massive fists against the foundation soil that had just been filled.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

This was simply a tireless, oil-free human pile driver!

With every punch, the ground shook, and the foundation was compacted tighter than iron!

Watching this chaotic construction site with special effects flying everywhere, Zhou Yun felt his worldview being refreshed.

Mages logging, Warriors crushing stones, Knights pulling carts, Assassins moving bricks, Summoners pile driving...

One could only say...

It was an operation he had never imagined.

After all, in his inherent impression, for Professionals, fighting was their main job.

But fair is fair, the efficiency of Professionals doing construction was indeed high!

Too high!

It was ridiculously high!

In just one night, the foundation that was originally just a prototype had now turned into a wide, flat, and deep giant trench, and even the first layer of cornerstones had been mostly laid!

Zhou Yun was filled with emotion.

Even though he wasn't a Professional, he knew that releasing skills required consuming stamina and Spiritual Qi.

With everyone releasing skills at such high intensity, how could their bodies handle it?

Especially when he learned from Lei Lie that everyone had truly worked all night, he immediately ordered:

"Pass on my order, everyone stop working and go rest immediately!"

However, after Lei Lie conveyed the order, the Professionals all gathered at the city gate.

"City Lord, we aren't tired, there's no need to rest!"

"That's right! The more we work, the more energetic we get; stopping actually makes us feel uncomfortable!"

"Please, City Lord, let us keep working!"

Looking at this group of spirited Professionals who not only refused to rest but actively asked for work, Zhou Yun didn't know what to say.

"The more you work, the more energetic you get?" He laughed bitterly. "You've been up all night, are you made of iron?"

"City Lord, actually, it's like this." Lei Lie stepped forward and explained in a low voice:

"The energy from the Gold Rank Demonic Beast meat last night was truly too vast. Even after Awakening and becoming a Professional, that energy wasn't fully absorbed, and most of it is still accumulated in the body."

"If we let them rest, this energy will stagnate, making people feel hot and restless."

"But if we let them work, it can actually accelerate the circulation and absorption of Spiritual Qi in their bodies."

"So for them, working is not tiring at all; instead, it allows their strength to grow rapidly. It is an extremely efficient form of Cultivation!"

So that was it!

Zhou Yun suddenly understood.

So he wasn't exploiting workers; they were asking to work out of their own needs.

Then that was fine.

If they were willing to work and he was willing to let them, there was really no need to interfere.

"Since that's the case..." Zhou Yun nodded and turned his gaze to the ordinary people who hadn't Awakened yet. "Then let those who haven't Awakened go rest! They aren't Professionals, they can't be pushed like this."

However, upon hearing this, the expression on Lei Lie's face became even stranger.

He sighed and said helplessly, "City Lord, to tell you the truth... those who haven't Awakened are even less willing to rest than those who have."

"Ah?" Zhou Yun was puzzled. "Why? They aren't Cultivating."

"Please wait a moment, I will go bring a few people over, you will know once you ask." Soon, Lei Lie brought over a dozen people from the construction site.

Each of them had their clothes soaked with sweat, but their eyes were very bright and spirited.

"Everyone, listen," Lei Lie said, looking at them, "The City Lord feels for everyone's hard work and has specifically ordered you to stop working immediately and go back to sleep! Your wages will still be paid!"

Hearing the words "go back to sleep," the expressions of these dozen people changed instantly.

They immediately begged Zhou Yun:

"City Lord! We don't want to sleep!"

"No need to stop! Really! I can still work!"

"Look! I still have plenty of strength!"

A seventeen or eighteen-year-old youth was so anxious his face turned red. "Sir, I also want to Awaken! I want to be like Brother Ergou next door, able to conjure fire from my hands!"

"Then you need to rest even more!" Zhou Yun advised. "Balancing work and rest is important! If you exhaust your body, how can you Awaken?"

"We won't collapse!" A middle-aged man raised his head, his eyes seeming to burn with flames. "Sir, we also ate the meat! Although we haven't Awakened, there is a heat constantly pushing in our stomachs!"

"As long as we work, that heat will make us stronger and bring us closer to Awakening!"

"We also want to Awaken, we also want to become Professionals!"

"City Lord! Please, grant our wish!"

"Please grant our wish!" Everyone knelt down with a swoosh.

The dozen people shouted in unison, and although their voices were hoarse, it moved Zhou Yun deeply.

From their voices, he heard the longing for power.

From their eyes, he saw the persistence to change their destiny.

He understood.

He got it.

Before he took office as City Lord, they were in Flower City, the metal ring would light up red, and they would fall into the execution line.

Even if they weren't expelled from the city, they lived meal-to-meal, with the ending of potentially freezing to death at any time.

Now, although he had let them eat a full meal and found them work, they still felt uneasy in their hearts.

For them, only by becoming a Professional would they truly have a sense of security!

Did they have to work?

Did they have to work here?

Actually, no.

They just wanted to live well.

Now that someone had finally reached out a helping hand, they just wanted to hold on tight, not wanting to go back to the past.

So he smiled.

"Alright." He said softly, "Since you have such thoughts, as the City Lord, how can I not grant it?"

"If you want to work, you can."

"If you want to Awaken, of course, you can even more."

"But!"

He changed the subject. "People are iron, rice is steel. How can there be output without input?"

"Go! Call everyone over!"

"Prepare to eat!"

"Yes!!" The people responded in unison.

This time, everyone was significantly more enthusiastic than last time.

When the order to "eat" was passed down, everyone gathered at the fastest speed.

Before, eating was just to survive.

Now, eating?

What they were eating wasn't just food; it was Spiritual Qi! It was the hope of becoming stronger!

As for what they owed the City Lord...

Owe for one bowl, owe for two bowls, it didn't matter!

They already owed too much!

The moment the City Lord ordered the removal of the execution line, they already couldn't pay it back!

As the second luxurious meal of Spiritual Rice and Gold Rank Demonic Beast meat went down, the atmosphere at the construction site reached a climax.

These poor people who usually couldn't even get enough coarse rice to eat, when had they ever received such vast nourishment from Spiritual Qi?

And continuous heavy supplementation at that?

After less than a quarter of an hour, the light of Awakening began to shine one after another in the crowd!

"Hum!"

"Hum!"

"Hum!"

The lights rose one after another, as dense as fireflies in a summer night.

"Haha! I've Awakened!!"

"Hahahaha! I did it too! I'm a Warrior! I can also go crush big rocks!"

"Is this what it feels like to be a Professional? It's simply amazing!!"

Meanwhile, the System notification sound in Zhou Yun's ears kept ringing.

[Ding! You successfully gifted 1 jin of Red Flame Golden-Maned Pig meat, triggering a 100x critical reward, obtaining the qualitative change reward: 100 jin of Red Flame Golden-Maned Pig meat!]

[Ding! You successfully gifted 1 jin of Spiritual Rice, triggering a 100x critical reward, obtaining the qualitative change reward: 100 jin of Red Flame Golden-Maned Pig meat!]

[Ding! You successfully gifted 1 jin of Red Flame Golden-Maned Pig meat, triggering a 10000x critical reward, obtaining the qualitative change reward: 10000 jin of Red Flame Golden-Maned Pig meat!]

[Ding! You successfully bestowed 1 jin of Red Flame Golden-Maned Pig meat, triggering a 100000000x critical reward, obtaining the qualitative change reward: 10 purple jade glazed fruit * 10!]

[purple jade glazed fruit (Platinum Rank): The skin is as warm as purple jade, the flesh is as translucent as glaze. The taste is excellent, and the juice contains pure Spiritual Qi. After consumption, it can significantly improve Physique, wash away blockage in the Meridians, and is a top-grade auxiliary spiritual fruit for breaking through a Bottleneck.]

Platinum Rank spiritual fruit!

Zhou Yun was very happy.

Spiritual Rice and Red Flame Golden-Maned Pig meat were delicious, but having fruit to eat was of course even better!

He immediately took one out and took a bite.

Hmm~!

Indeed delicious!

On the other side, after a quick count by Wan'er, after this meal, another 2306 citizens had successfully Awakened!

Those who hadn't Awakened were not discouraged.

They touched their hot Dantian, feeling the rampaging hot current in their bodies, their eyes full of determination and confidence.

"Soon! I feel like I'm almost there too!"

"Just a little bit! This layer of window paper is about to be pierced!"

"Go to work! I'm just one breath away!"

Just as everyone was cheering each other on, preparing to use this heat to continue working, Zhou Yun's voice came from above again: "Wait!"

Everyone stopped and looked at their City Lord in confusion.

They saw Zhou Yun smiling and taking out fruits that looked as warm as purple jade, handing them out one by one. "Come, come, one for everyone!"

People looked at the fruit in their hands, swallowing their saliva repeatedly, but they were full of suspicion.

Because this thing looked like a piece of precious jade, but it emitted a mouth-watering fragrance that made them want to take a bite!

"This... can it be eaten?"

"It definitely can't, right! This looks like jade!"

"Jade? Such a big piece?"

"How can just eating rice and meat be enough? It's too greasy, and the nutrition isn't balanced." Zhou Yun said while handing them out: "This is dessert, one for everyone, to cleanse your palate!"

Zhou Yun's words gave everyone the answer.

But...

Cleanse... cleanse the palate?

Lei Lie looked at the extraordinary-looking fruit in his hand, his hand trembling slightly.

Although he hadn't seen this kind of fruit, his intuition told him that the grade of this thing... might be even higher than the Demonic Beast meat!

"City... City Lord..." Lei Lie's voice was dry, "This fruit... isn't it too precious?"

"What precious or not precious?" Zhou Yun laughed: "It's just a fruit! Eat it!"

Although they had realized from Lei Lie's words that this fruit might be extraordinary.

But, they really couldn't hold back anymore!

They could barely resist the fragrance of the Demonic Beast meat.

But they really couldn't resist the fragrance of this fruit!

Crunch!

They took a fierce bite.

Crispy, sweet, and juicy!

The fruit flesh melted in the mouth, turning into a stream of sweet nectar that went down the throat.

Delicious!

Delicious!

Too delicious!

It felt like jumping into a cool mountain spring during the scorching summer!

The whole person felt clear!

But immediately after...

Boom!!!

A gentle yet vast and pure Spiritual Qi began to wash through the Meridians, cleansing their marrow!

If the Spiritual Qi provided by the previous Spiritual Rice and meat was a trickling stream, then the Spiritual Qi provided by this purple jade glazed fruit was a great river, a great ocean!

"Ugh!"

"Mmph!"

"Ah!!"

One could hear a series of crisp sounds like popping beans from the crowd.

Hum! Hum! Hum! Hum! Hum!

Awakening lights of various colors erupted like a firework feast at this moment!

Patches of people lit up with the brilliance representing Professionals!

One thousand people... three thousand people... five thousand people!

A full five thousand four hundred people Awakened collectively at this instant!

Adding the previous two thousand plus people and the first batch of Awakened ones, at this moment, in this team of fifty thousand, the number of Professionals had already exceeded the ten thousand mark!

And the most shocking movement came from Lei Lie!

This City Guard captain who had been stuck at Bronze Rank was now wrapped in silver-white light!

A tyrannical aura soared into the sky from him, actually stirring up a visible ripple in the air!

"Roar!!" Lei Lie roared to the sky, his voice like a bell!

The light dissipated, and his muscles looked like they were cast in silver, radiating a unique sense of power.

"Sil... Silver Rank?!" Wan'er, who was counting the data, covered her small mouth, "Captain Lei Lie... has broken through!"

"Captain!"

"Captain?"

"Captain!!!"

The City Guards who had followed Lei Lie for many years were also extremely excited!

Only they knew how outstanding Lei Lie's talent was.

But out of sentiment, he hadn't left Flower City, always taking root in Flower City!

Day after day, year after year!

He welcomed one City Lord after another!

When Demonic Beasts came, he was the one they relied on!

When wild beasts came, it was still him!

He had given too much for Flower City.

And too many hidden injuries were left on his body!

Because of this, he, who should have been promoted to Silver Rank long ago, had been stuck at Bronze Rank Nine Stars, unable to advance an inch!

But now, he had broken through!

Broken through to Silver Rank!!