c-7:Responding to Provocations

Li Taixing decided to test his own strength. He looked at the large tree behind him and punched it directly.

Boom.

Suddenly, a tree about as thick as a waist fell down with a loud crack.

'Wow, my strength is so strong?' Li Taixing waved his hand, fanning away the loose grass.

Moreover, it wasn't his full strength just now, just a tentative blow, but he didn't expect such an effect.

'If I strike with full force, even a boulder might explode under my punch.'

'Now I finally have some strength to protect myself,' Li Taixing thought, feeling happy. He planned to store the tree into his dimensional space bag.

[Cannot store living things.]

'...What? This tree is not a human!'

[Detected the presence of life in the tree.]

Green dots suddenly appeared on the tree, marking areas of life. Seeing those, Li Taixing was a little stunned.

'Damn, they're just bugs.'

[The host can forcibly deposit the materials, but the contents will be converted into materials. Are you sure?]

'Fine.'

[Ding! Congratulations on obtaining 10 billion sandalwood pieces.]

'Uh, sandalwood?' Li Taixing was a little surprised.

After taking care of the scene, he quickly left. He feared that his actions might attract unwanted attention.

Not long after he departed, a disciple on mountain patrol appeared, flying in on a sword.

From mid-air, he saw the stump of the large tree, so he landed and inspected the area. After a quick glance, he muttered to himself, "Damn it, who keeps sneaking in to steal wood? Didn't they say tree-cutting is prohibited here? What kind of person punches a tree down instead of cutting it?"

The mountain patrol disciple thought about reporting the situation, but considering that the person who could knock down a tree with a punch was likely a powerful figure, he decided not to press the issue.

"Forget it. One more tree or one less tree won't make much difference."

He flew off on his sword, leaving the matter behind.

Meanwhile, Li Taixing was heading back but suddenly noticed a foul smell. Realizing that his body was dirty, he looked for a way to clean up. Fortunately, there was a river nearby, so he ran over, checked to ensure no one was around, and went down to the water for a bath.

'Wow, I'm filthy!'

Li Taixing hadn't noticed until now, but his clothes were soaked with grime, and the smell was unbearable. He quickly discarded them.

However, he didn't realize that a woman was also bathing upstream, about 100 meters away. She spotted Li Taixing but made no sound. Jumping ashore gracefully, her body was soon wrapped in a pure white robe, draping over her figure like an ethereal shroud.

Li Taixing, oblivious to her presence, continued scrubbing and took out some bathing supplies from his dimensional space bag.

"Finally, clean again."

Unbeknownst to him, the woman, who had been silently watching from the shadows, blushed as her pretty face flushed. She had never seen a man bathing so freely.

'This guy's probably not from the Sect, but a new recruit,' she thought to herself, her eyes lingering on Li Taixing's figure. She couldn't help but stare, mouth watering at the sight.

Suddenly, she stepped on a dry branch, snapping it.

Crack!

"Huh?" Li Taixing immediately turned toward the sound, but the woman, quick on her feet, had already vanished before he could spot her.

'Weird. It felt like someone was watching me.'

'Oh well, I'm just a man. What's there to see?'

After bathing, he put on fresh clothes and pulled out a roast duck from his dimensional space bag. It was from the famous restaurant in Luoyue Town, and Li Taixing always enjoyed the taste.

Sitting under a tree, he uncorked a bottle of wine to accompany the meal.

Meanwhile, the woman in hiding sniffed the air, eyes gleaming as she caught the scent of the roast duck and saw the bottle of fine wine.

'This little guy has a dimensional ring, and he's carrying such delicious food and drinks too?'

She watched him longingly for a few moments but quickly vanished into the forest without a trace, disappearing into the shadows.

Li Taixing remained unaware of her.

After finishing his meal, he made his way back to the dormitory. It was nearly evening by the time he arrived, and as he approached, he could hear raised voices from inside.

"B*****d, who do you think you are?"

"Lu Tong, Sun Bohu, you'd better cooperate with us, or we won't let you off!"

"Hmph, don't even think about it."

"That guy's just trash. Why are you two being so stubborn?"

"He's our brother. If you bully him, we'll never forgive you."

Li Taixing, standing just outside the dormitory, quickly pieced together the situation. Xiong Hu and his brothers were trying to bully him again, and this time they wanted to drag Lu Tong and Sun Bohu into it. But the two of them, loyal as ever, were defending him fiercely.

The two groups were in a heated argument, neither side willing to back down.

At that moment, Li Taixing pushed open the door and entered, carrying two roast ducks from his dimensional space bag.

"So, Three Bears, you enjoy picking on the weak, huh?"

Li Taixing didn't hold back as he walked in, instantly mocking the three bullies. His tone was casual, but his words hit hard.

Immediately, Xiong Hu and his brothers' faces turned as dark as ink.

"Kid, what's that supposed to mean?" Xiong Hu glared at Li Taixing.

The last person he expected to talk back was Li Taixing, and yet, here he was, calling them Three Bears?

Lu Tong and Sun Bohu were also taken aback by Li Taixing's sudden boldness.

They quickly rushed over to him, and Lu Tong said urgently, "Li Dage, you're back! Hurry and get out of here!"

"Why?" Li Taixing asked, looking amused.

"They're coming after you!" Sun Bohu added.

"Hehe," Li Taixing chuckled, handing the two roast ducks to Lu Tong and Sun Bohu. "Relax, have some food. You must be hungry."

Then, with a smirk, he turned to face Xiong Hu and his brothers. "As for these three, I think it's about time we set some ground rules."

"Kid, you've lost it!" Xiong Er roared, striding toward Li Taixing.

Sun Bohu quickly stepped forward to intervene, but Li Taixing stopped him, saying, "You guys are hungry. Eat first. You were worried about my cultivation earlier, right? Well, let me show you something."