I Start with a Mysterious Island-Chapter 91: The Small Black Fruit Matures

Lin Li considered it for a moment and ultimately decided to stick to hunting Tier One Mutant Beasts. There was no need to go out of his way to hunt Tier Two Mutant Beasts.

He figured that while Tier Two Mutant Beasts offered six times the progress of Tier One beasts, they were far more difficult to handle.

Take the gray Bear Beast he had fought today, for example. It had cost him more than half his Spiritual Energy just to kill it.

If he used the same amount of Spiritual Energy to hunt Tier One beasts instead, the total progress might be a little less, but the hunts would be easier and far less dangerous.

Being cautious and preferring a steady approach, Lin Li saw no need to take risks just to rush his progress. It was better to play it safe and advance slowly.

Standing before the Magical Little Tree, Lin Li took a moment to admire the new black fruit, his heart swelling with anticipation.

’What kind of Superpower will I awaken when I eat this little black fruit after it ripens? I can’t wait!’

Lin Li smiled as he gazed at the small black fruit for a couple of minutes before pulling his wandering thoughts back to the present.

He then carried a plastic bucket to the island’s edge, filled it with water, and watered the vegetable seedlings and fruit tree saplings in the field.

...

「Time flew by in the blink of an eye.」

Half a month had passed since Lin Li joined the Mutant Beast cleanup operation organized by the Exotic Beast Hunter Guild. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

During this time, Lin Li had consistently stuck to his plan of hunting Tier One Mutant Beasts.

He had wreaked havoc across a large swath of the wilderness outside the East District, to the point where many Tier One Mutant Beasts no longer dared to enter the area he frequented.

A frantic squawking.

A Luhua Chicken Beast let out a terrified cry, desperately fleeing for its life.

It had heard from its kin that a terrifying human roamed these parts. They said that any Luhua Chicken Beast he laid eyes on would not live to see another sunrise.

The beast hadn’t believed it at the time, but now, it had run into him for real.

The weapon-wielding human pursuing it had a greedy glint in his eyes. He was staring right at it, closing the distance with incredible speed.

PFFT.

In the end, the Tier One Middle Stage Luhua Chicken Beast couldn’t escape Lin Li’s relentless pursuit.

His Spiritual Longsword, glowing with a faint golden Spiritual Light, flashed through the air in a sharp arc of gold, piercing straight through the Luhua Chicken Beast’s little head.

Having hunted nearly a hundred Luhua Chicken Beasts over the past several days, Lin Li looked down at his latest kill, shook his head, and spoke.

"Why bother running? Once I’ve set my sights on you, did you really think you could get away?"

After nearly a month as an Exotic Beast Hunter, hunting Mutant Beasts alone in the wilderness, Lin Li had completely shed the last of his rookie greenness.

He withdrew his Spiritual Longsword, bent down, and placed a hand on the Luhua Chicken Beast’s still-twitching body.

With a single thought, both Lin Li and the Luhua Chicken Beast he had killed vanished.

...

「In the center of the Mysterious Small Island.」

Lin Li tossed the Luhua Chicken Beast he had just hunted down in front of the Magical Little Tree.

"Current progress: 99.5%."

The canopy of the Magical Little Tree began to glow with a faint golden Spiritual Light. The Luhua Chicken Beast on the ground instantly dissolved into wisps of white mist that surged into the canopy, where they were completely absorbed.

"Current progress: 100%."

Seeing the message that appeared in his mind, the corners of Lin Li’s mouth curled up involuntarily into a joyous, expectant smile.

The Magical Little Tree didn’t keep Lin Li waiting. The small, egg-sized black fruit hanging from a branch began to glow with a faint golden light.

Several seconds passed, but the small black fruit was still glowing, causing Lin Li’s joyous smile to freeze on his face. He was stunned.

’What’s going on?’

Thinking back to the first little red fruit from the Magical Little Tree, Lin Li realized he didn’t know what it was like when it had ripened.

But he had personally witnessed the entire ripening process for the second fruit, the cyan one.

When the cyan fruit had ripened, it had glowed with a faint golden Spiritual Light, but only for two or three seconds. Then the light faded, leaving only an occasional shimmer of Spiritual Light on its surface.

This black fruit, however, was acting strangely. Seven or eight seconds had passed since it ripened, yet it was still emitting a faint golden Spiritual Light. This was highly unusual.

’The little black fruit is ripe. Maybe it’ll stop glowing once I pick it.’

Lin Li had originally planned to wait for the faint golden Spiritual Light to fade before picking the black fruit from the Magical Little Tree.

But after waiting a full three minutes, the small black fruit was still glowing, showing no sign of stopping. He decided to just go ahead and pick it.

He raised his right hand, took hold of the glowing black fruit, and with a gentle tug, plucked the ripe fruit from the branch.

Picking the black fruit was effortless, just as it had been with the red and cyan fruits.

Lin Li had thought the fruit would stop glowing once he picked it, but that’s not what happened.

The plucked black fruit continued to glow with a faint golden Spiritual Light.

Furthermore, when he had picked the red and cyan fruits, they had both emitted a tempting aroma, as if begging to be eaten.

This time, however, the black fruit he picked had no scent at all.

"This..." Lin Li frowned, staring at the glowing black fruit in his hand, unsure whether to eat it.

’I should just eat it! This little black fruit is the result of more than half a month of hard work. I’d hate to see it go to waste! It’s not like I can just throw it away!

’The red and cyan fruits from the Magical Little Tree didn’t harm me before, so this slightly abnormal black one should be fine too.

’At worst... at worst, it’ll just give me a stomachache. If I really get an upset stomach from it, I’ll just spend some time on the toilet and take some medicine. No big deal.’

Lin Li gazed at the glowing black fruit in his hand. After thinking it over, he finally decided to eat the unusual fruit.

Just as he raised his hand, about to pop the glowing black fruit into his mouth, something unexpected happened.

...

PS: Thank you to "@@@@" for the 1666 book coins.