Xiaoba and the Eight-toothed Mammoth brought at least forty or fifty types of items, but the orange Huang was the only one Elder Tree specifically pointed out.

This means that this medicinal fruit is definitely at the Core Elixir level, perhaps even better.

"Let's go check that place out first," Zhou Leng said.

Xiaoba rolled up Huang and ran forward.

Zhou Leng followed behind.

They ran through the forest for over a hundred kilometers before Xiaoba slowed down.

After a bit more jogging, Xiaoba stopped and pointed his nose towards a patch of woodland ahead.

The way ahead was blocked by thick needle-leaved trees, but after passing through, dots of orange came into sight.

Upon closer inspection, there were a dozen or so trees adjacent to each other, bearing orange-shaped fruit.

Zhou Leng, Xiaoba, and Huang slowly approached.

Suddenly, Xiaoba let out a growl and stopped in his tracks.

Zhou Leng looked around but found nothing, and upon listening closely, heard no movement.

Everything was quiet, save for the rustling sound of the wind through the leaves.

Zhou Leng took a deep breath, readying himself.

Suddenly, five towering fierce beasts emerged from the orange grove.

Though not as tall as Xiaoba, each was over two meters high.

These fierce beasts were covered in black exposed bone structures that looked like cages or armor.

Inside the bones was a coat of white fur.

Their heads resembled tigers, with two black fangs protruding upwards from their lower jaws, the rest of their teeth pure white like jade.

"Black Bone Tiger..."

Zhou Leng immediately recognized the type of beast.

Common in the Fierce Beast Realm, these creatures are dominators in any world.

Standing two meters tall and reaching five to six meters when upright, they rival ordinary giants.

Xiaoba raised his nose and roared loudly.

The oldest Black Bone Tiger didn't care, while the relatively smaller ones roared at Xiaoba.

Despite their numbers, they dared not attack.

Gradually, the roaring diminished, seeming to turn into a form of communication.

Xiaoba glanced at Zhou Leng, then communicated with Huang.

After listening, Huang suddenly moved under Xiaoba, pointed at the Black Bone Tigers, then at Xiaoba and Zhou Leng, and finally mimicked an attack on Xiaoba.

Then he stood upright and simulated boxing motions in front of Zhou Leng.

Finally, he pointed at the oranges.

Zhou Leng said, "Those Black Bone Tigers want to settle who can pick the oranges through a combat challenge?"

Huang nodded repeatedly.

Zhou Leng looked at the Black Bone Tigers.

Aside from the eldest, who had a deep breath indicating an innate level, the other Black Bone Tigers, though powerful, did not exceed Xiaoba.

They were either in the Body Refining Stage or the Vitality Stage.

Zhou Leng turned his gaze to the smallest Black Bone Tiger, still two meters tall.

The gap between humans and fierce beasts, dragons, or giants is vast in the Qi Blood Realm, smaller in the Innate Realm, and significantly reduced in the Grandmaster Realm.

Without a complete odd body, a human in the Qi Blood Realm is no match for a fierce beast of the same realm.

Since there's no killing intent from the opposition, this was an opportunity for self-verification and familiarization with fierce beasts.

"We agree," Zhou Leng said.

Huang barked a few times and finally resigned to communicating with Xiaoba after Zhou Leng didn't change his stance.

Soon, the opposition sent out a Vitality Stage Black Bone Tiger and a Body Refining Stage Black Bone Tiger.

Xiaoba and Zhou Leng each faced one and began to fight.

The Vitality Stage Black Bone Tiger could be considered top tier in the Qi Blood Realm anywhere, terrifyingly strong.

In both combat style and experience, it far surpassed any Vitality Stage human Zhou Leng had seen.

However, in comparison to Xiaoba's absolutely superior size and strength, it was like a small soldier battling a giant fortress.

With a gentle foot, Xiaoba sent the Vitality Stage Black Bone Tiger rolling backward.

The Body Refining Stage Black Bone Tiger opposite Zhou Leng let out a low roar, lightly leaped, and extended its tiger claws, pouncing straight toward Zhou Leng.

Zhou Leng took a deep breath, gathered his True Qi, and fully prepared his palm, wishing to test the power of the tiger's claws.

This Black Bone Tiger was two meters tall.

Weighing over 10 tons, its body harbored the powerful force of a fierce beast.

Tiger claw and human hand clashed.

Zhou Leng felt as if a train had hit him, his vision went black, and he fell backward as the Black Bone Tiger pressed down.

Zhou Leng lay face-up on the ground, underneath.

The Black Bone Tiger's two claws pressed down on Zhou Leng's hands, dominating.

Man and beast stared into each other's eyes.

Everyone else froze, staring at this scene.

Xiaoba swung his nose, tossing the Body Refining Stage Black Bone Tiger aside with a low growl.

The Body Refining Stage Black Bone Tiger dared not roar at Xiaoba, turning in confusion towards Zhou Leng.

Zhou Leng thought he had understood fierce beasts by witnessing Xiaoba's power, but now realized that even an ordinary fierce beast, not a demigod descendant, was astoundingly strong.

Zhou Leng got up, clasped his fists, and said, "Let's go again."

Then charged at the Black Bone Tiger, this time avoiding direct confrontation and using flexible stepping techniques.

The Black Bone Tiger sneered, casually swatting, thinking it would be like before.

However, Zhou Leng easily dodged and slapped its outer tiger bone on the side of its lower leg.

"Hmm?"

The Black Bone Tiger blinked, thinking it was mistaken, and kept attacking.

Zhou Leng's stepping technique was perfect, nimble and graceful, while the Black Bone Tiger's large size and power hindered nimble maneuvers in small areas.

Next, the Black Bone Tiger leapt around, only occasionally injuring Zhou Leng, while most of the time it kept receiving strikes to its legs and palms.

It was still young, utterly frustrated, howling and attacking wildly.

To no avail.

However, although Zhou Leng could touch it, its bones were too hard, after half a day of fighting, it was unscathed.

Sometimes, through the caged bones, he hit its fur, but the Black Bone Tiger only let out a muffled groan, suffering only a very slight injury.

Before long, Zhou Leng estimated the strength of this Black Bone Tiger at the Late Stage of Body Refining.

Its power and defense were at least at the middle to late stage of the human Vitality Stage.

Its ability to maneuver and dodge was at the level of an ordinary Late Stage of Body Refining.

Its combat experience and skills were also at the level of an ordinary Late Stage of Body Refining.

If they fought desperately, it would be seven to three, with himself being seven and the Black Bone Tiger three.

If it was a sparring match, it would be zero to ten, because without using various linking techniques, he couldn't break through the Black Bone Tiger's defense.

Forget about Giant Skin or Fish-man Scales; they couldn't even compare to the Black Bone Tiger's exoskeleton, let alone its fur.

After Xiaoba defeated the first Black Bone Tiger, it made the other two search their teeth on the ground.

The Innate Black Bone Tiger wasn't angry; it was instead smiling cheerfully.

Zhou Leng sparred with the Black Bone Tiger at the Body Refining Stage for half an hour, neither able to overpower the other.

In the end, Xiaoba used its big trunk to wrap around the Black Bone Tiger at the Body Refining Stage, stepping in to resolve the issue.

Xiaoba proudly lifted its head, howling a few times.

Three wins and one draw.

The Innate Black Bone Tiger nodded, gently waved its paw, and the air, like a blade, sliced twelve oranges, having the smallest Black Bone Tiger deliver them to Xiaoba.

Xiaoba pushed them all over to Zhou Leng.

Zhou Leng didn't hold back, taking them all.

The Black Bone Tiger was puzzled, wondering how a small, hairless fierce ape managed to take more than the Eight-toothed Mammoth?

Xiaoba raised its trunk and roared, then turned and left.

Zhou Leng returned to the Frost Giant Tree, peeling an orange.

Inside wasn't pulp, but layers of orange blossoms.

Zhou Leng thought to himself that they couldn't be called Huang oranges anymore, and should be renamed Orange Blossom Fruit.

"Eat it directly?" Zhou Leng asked Huang.

Huang waited a moment, then nodded.

Zhou Leng ate the orange blossoms, putting down the orange peel.

The blossoms didn't taste like oranges but had a bit of a lemon flavor, slightly bitter, with an average texture.

Yet Huang pointed at the orange peel.

"Eat it too?"

Huang nodded.

Zhou Leng tried breaking off a piece and putting it in his mouth, slowly chewing. It had a moderately sour and bitter taste, like lemon-flavored traditional medicine, but fine.

After finishing the orange peel, Zhou Leng waited silently.

After a full half-hour, when the Orange Blossom Fruit entered the intestines from the stomach, the intestines started to move rapidly.

You could even see the intestines twisting through the belly skin.

Before long, it stopped.

Zhou Leng quietly manipulated his Qi, slowly absorbing the power released by the Orange Blossom Fruit.

The intestines churned hard, but the power emitted by the Orange Blossom Fruit wasn't much.

It was slightly cool and gentle, able to be absorbed autonomously without Qi manipulation.

Zhou Leng sat for an hour and quickly realized the Orange Blossom Fruit was different from other items, not requiring meditative exercises, and began his normal cultivation for the day.

Finally, he gazed at the Gate of Purgatory.

With a swish, he was sucked into it.

Before long, he was thrown out by the Gate of Purgatory.

Zhou Leng's eyes were dim, but he didn't faint.

He managed to withstand up to 8026 cuts.

After a month of honing in the West Sea Demon City battlefield, the results were significant.

The next day, Zhou Leng continued his date with Xu Qingjin, spending a whole day at the amusement park.

Though most of the time was spent waiting in lines.

Two days of play, and on the third day, he entered training mode.

Only in the evening did he have a meal with Hu Yi and Feng Wenhao.

Hu Yi recently became a taxi driver and talked about many things from the past he hadn't heard before.

Feng Wenhao steadily remained a Martial Arts School Student, with average grades, going smoothly.

Zhou Leng's experiences were the most complex. He spoke lightly, but the others found them thrilling.

Leaving the restaurant, a drunk Hu Yi asked, "Zhou Leng, when will that damn Third Young Master Zhao get out of Rucheng?"

"Hmm? What's up?" Zhou Leng looked at Hu Yi in confusion.

Feng Wenhao was also puzzled, asking, "What, has he offended you, Third Young Master Zhao of the respectable Zhao Family?"

Hu Yi snorted coldly, saying, "You guys remember, don't you? When we previously had a meal, I mentioned my family used the money meant for purchasing a Pill before my college entrance exams to pay off a debt."

"Yeah, I remember," Feng Wenhao said.

"Later I found out it wasn't about paying off a debt, it was wage deductions. My mom worked at Minghe Martial Arts Hall. Suddenly, that Martial Arts Hall said they were going to re-evaluate and inspect, and then my mom's past wages were inexplicably deducted, forcing her to pay back several thousand. Damn it."

Zhou Leng frowned while Feng Wenhao cursed, "Minghe Martial Arts Hall is so disgusting? I'll never go there again."

Hu Yi said, "I only found out after asking in detail. It was the Rao Family of Minghe Martial Arts Hall wanting to give gifts to Third Young Master Zhao but the funding was tight, so they played a trick of deducting wages from employees and even borrowing money everywhere. Now, just hearing the Zhao Family makes me nauseous."

"Sigh, I really didn't expect it. Suddenly I remember, several people were complaining about the Rao Family's Martial Arts Hall raising prices before. Could it be related to this?"

"Very likely," Hu Yi said.

Feng Wenhao asked, "You're a well-informed taxi driver, know why Third Young Master Zhao is staying in Rucheng?"

Hu Yi replied, "I really asked those veteran drivers around, heard all sorts of things. The most credible one is that there's a reform discussion going on above, and the Zhao Clan, along with some other Martial Clans, want a piece. Right now, Xiong City is in turmoil, so they sent him away to avoid trouble."

"No way, that possibility is too small, probably just a rumor," Feng Wenhao said.

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