Anthony discovered that after each beating session where he got pummeled to a mess, he actually got stronger. His physique got tougher, his mind became sharper, his foundation even became more solid. After each period of injury and healing, his strength increased by leaps and bounds. He had been confused at first, wondering why he got stronger after each battle, and his skills became better. His fighting abilities and battle techniques all improved after each sparring session. It was then that it clicked—body forging.

The old man's beating was forging him like gold passing through fire, squeezing out his inner potentials, and letting him wield his powers better, unleashing each attack with more precision and expertise. The incessant manual labour also helped him grow. Without his soul power, he was forced to personally carry out every task, exerting his physical strength continuously.

Fighting someone stronger increased his battle abilities and knowledge. He just experienced making profit from the midst of misfortune. So Anthony was not in a hurry to leave, he will continue enjoying the beating till he truly surpasses the old man.

Anthony pulled out a piece of grape from the fruits Lan Xuanyu packed for him. Surprisingly, it was still fresh, just like when he received it. Time didn't affect it at all. He popped it into his mouth and the energy melted, spreading to every part of his body.

"Mmm, I missed it. The feeling of overflowing Qi." He whispered, flexing his body. A thought occurred to him and he chuckled.

"Huo Fu, your days are numbered."

*****

The sun was high up in the sky as Anthony wandered through the forest, gathering immortal fruits. He had discovered the presence of a spiritual vein which was the source of the abundant spiritual energy present in the area. Because of it, many immortal fruits and herbs sprouted up, making it a semblance of a herbal paradise. Even mere radishes and carrots also absorb spiritual essence from the abundant energy, turning mere vegetables into precious commodities that increases life force and purifies the body. The properties of each plant were amplified. For example, the carrots growing on the spiritual vein were blessed with the ability of brightening eye sight.

The presence of the spiritual vein made Anthony even more reluctant to leave. Who knew when next he would chance upon such a treasure ground to freely loot.

"But how did this old man manage to keep this place hidden? Why didn't other power houses and sects try to take them away? I can't believe that no cultivator has ever stumbled upon this treasure ground. A thousand years old ganorderma, ten thousand years old flame radish root. A hundred thousand years old immortal ginseng. The treasures I have gathered here are numerous. If it ever gets discovered, there would be a huge problem. A heaven shaking battle will be inevitable, many will die because of it." Anthony whispered, stopping before a tree with fruits.

"Lychee fruit? It's the divine Phoenix Lychee with healing properties. And they all have auras of immortality around them, with gold, silver, and purple lights faintly glowing on them. Oh my goodness. Old man, I'm not leaving any time soon." Anthony muttered, his eyes shining with greed. He looked around for a while, and once he was satisfied that there was no trap or threat around, he got down to the important business of harvesting his good fortune. He focused on those of the highest qualities, which had ethereal glows of different colors on them. On second thought, he added a few younger ones. After all, dosage always varies and for younger people, the immature herbs were always better.

He had just landed on his feet when his eyes caught sight of a rare phenomenon on the tree. Without wasting time, he levitated towards the object to get a closer look.

"What's this? I have never heard of it." Anthony whispered. On one of the thicker main branches, a fruit was growing. It was oval and very plump. But that was not the eye-catching part of it. The lychee had the colors of a rainbow circling it. Apart from the rainbow color, there were gold and silver colors too.

"Elemental Lychee?"

Without further hesitation, Anthony brought out a special jade box modified to store rare treasures like the one before him. He carefully separated it from the branch and quickly stored it in the jade container before its essence could leak into the surrounding. As if the container won't be enough to protect it, Anthony placed a seal on it, before returning it to a cabinet in his storage ring.

****

Two hours later, Anthony stumbled on a baobab tree, wheezing and gasping. The two baskets he was carrying were filled to the brim, same with the jute bag. One of the baskets was slung over his shoulders, while he carried the other in his hand. He slowly set his luggage down and collapsed beside them. Body forging might have made his body tougher and increased his endurance, but he was still a human.

After five minutes of catching his breath, he opened his water flask and took some water. Next he brought out some fruits and meat from the stack Lan Xuanyu packed to fill his belly. This was the main advantage of regaining the use of his soul power. He could gain access to his storage ring and use his modern tools to make his life easier. Once he was done eating, he sat cross legged to circulate energy. He refused to immediately unseal his cultivation, preferring to let them float around in his meridians and eventually dissipate. Unsealing his cultivation without adequate preparation would definitely alert a certain someone.

Once he had regained his energy, the arduous task of sorting the immortal herbs and fruits began. For those with the highest quality and importance, he added them to the baskets to be taken away by him. While the least important ones like vegetables and younger ones like garlic, turmeric, and ginger with traces of immortal essence were stored in the jute bag alongside some fruits to be used in cooking and serving the old man. It could be said that Anthony was rewarding himself handsomely for his hard work.

He brought out a hundred different wooden containers with special properties that regulate temperature and pressure and got down to work. Each kind of herbs were placed in different containers with demarcations to differentiate those of higher qualities. The same went for immortal fruits, each type was carefully stored together with little demarcations between them to separate mature ones from the younger ones.

As for the herbs that were not abundant enough to take up one box, he stored herbs with similar properties together, with little demarcations, while making sure that he only stored herbs that do not have antagonistic properties, to avoid the herbs setting off mutual destruction between themselves.

Within thirty minutes, he was done with the sorting and stacked them in his storage ring. His once overflowing baskets became empty once more.

"Staying here for a while is not too bad. Two boxes of herbs will be able to make me a trillionaire on earth. And I will be able to use the rest for a very long time. Before they run out, I believe I will find another place to loot. All those beating were worth it. The herbs I gathered here will enable me to hold my own out there. If I have an adequate stack of herbs and elixirs, the next thing to hunt for would be weapons and techniques. If I stay for one more month, it will be enough to comb the entire forest and its surrounding to make sure I didn't miss any patch of herbs, or overlook any garden."

Although Anthony was greedy, he carried out his daylight robbery with tact. He knew that excessive removal of plants will cause a shift in the life force. So he used a new method. For every ten herbs he meets, he would pick seven of each quality of intermediate and higher ranking herbs. And for the lower one, he will pick five out of every ten. This will give room for the eco system to replenish itself after a few decades, while not leaving damage that will be easily noticed.

If a particular type of lifeform suddenly goes extinct, there would definitely be a result which will make the old man launch an investigation. And of course, he needed to leave some herbs for the future generations that will chance upon it. If the first person that saw the place picked everything, he wouldn't have found any to pick. He was greedy, but there was a limit to his greed. Being too greedy has dire consequences.

"Time to move on, there are still some areas to be covered before I go back to my chores." Anthony muttered and stood up.

As he travelled deeper into the forest, picking herbs, he suddenly heard a sound which made him uncomfortable beside him. He took a step back, and turned around. The sound felt like the squishing of a serpent, making him watch out for snakes. A monkey jumped before him, chattering as it moved from tree to tree.

Anthony hissed and exhaled in relief.

"It was just a monkey. I was scared for no reason. If I…"

The rest of his words got caught in his throat as he stared at the scene before him in horror. A strange plant coiling around a tree suddenly extended and caught the monkey. Before his very eyes, the vine tightened on the monkey and formed jagged points like poisoned fangs which sank into it. The monkey wailed and screeched at the top of its voice, turning towards the terrified Anthony as if asking for help. Blood began to drip out, staining the vines as the monkey struggled hopelessly while letting out sorrowful wails filled with despair.

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