Chapter 340 – You Have No Sincerity in Cooperation at All

“Cooperation?”

Lu Yuan was momentarily stunned, but then his interest was piqued, and a playful expression appeared on his face.

This hoopoe had been deliberately leading him to a certain place in the primeval forest all along because it needed something from him.

Why didn’t it just say so earlier…

“So, how do you propose we cooperate?”

Lu Yuan stopped walking, crossed his arms, and looked at the hoopoe in front of him, asking calmly.

“Cuckoo-Cuckoo-“

The hoopoe made “Cuckoo” sounds.

Strangely enough, when these sounds reached Lu Yuan’s ears, they were deciphered by his mental power, allowing him to barely understand the meaning behind the words.

The hoopoe roughly said that it wanted Lu Yuan to go with it to a certain place, and once things were accomplished, there would be many benefits for him.

Trying to sell me a dream?

Lu Yuan chuckled and said to the hoopoe, “We can cooperate, but you need to show some sincerity first.”

After speaking, he stared unblinkingly at the golden feather in the hoopoe’s beak.

The hoopoe sensed Lu Yuan’s intent, a trace of hesitation flashed in its eyes, and it slowly walked up, nudging its beak towards Lu Yuan’s outstretched palm.

“That’s a bit more sincere…”

Lu Yuan was just about to smile when, before he could finish his sentence, he saw a golden object rolling out from under the golden feather the hoopoe was holding.

“Are you playing with me?!”

Lu Yuan’s eyes turned cold, and his five fingers suddenly clenched, producing continuous explosive sounds.

Meanwhile, an orange blur had already darted out, stopping several dozen meters away, watching Lu Yuan.

“Do you call this sincerity?”

Lu Yuan held a golden fruit, about the size of a baby’s fist, between his fingers.

It was a wondrous item.

But it couldn’t compare to a Phoenix Feather at all; they were entirely different calibers of items.

“I want the golden feather in your beak. If you can’t give me that, then there’s no point in talking about cooperation…”

Lu Yuan straightforwardly and candidly told the hoopoe.

The latter immediately started Cuckooing.

“You say the feather is useful to you now and you can’t give it to me, but you can replace it with a similar wondrous item instead?”

Lu Yuan understood the meaning behind the hoopoe’s words, pondered for a while, then nodded and said:

“Alright, I’m not an unreasonable person…”

“Cuckoo-“

“Two hundred then, two hundred wondrous items at least of this quality, and I might consider giving up on that feather.”

“Cuckoo?!”

“Bang!”

Seeing the hoopoe not far away clearly caught off guard, even stumbling a bit, Lu Yuan instantly transformed into a bolt of lightning and shot forward.

“Zilaa-“

Platinum Thunder-like Qi exploded in the air, Lu Yuan’s figure appeared, and he glanced regretfully at his empty palm.

“What a shame… I was just a bit too slow to catch it…”

“Cuckoo!”

The hoopoe, which had narrowly dodged Lu Yuan’s “surprise attack,” let out an indignant Cuckoo.

Unperturbed, Lu Yuan replied with ease, “Just a little joke.”

“Back to the topic at hand.”

“If you can accept collecting two hundred wondrous items, then we can resume our negotiation…”

“Cuckoo-“

After much bird-to-man “haggling,” Lu Yuan and the hoopoe finally reached a tentative “agreement” that both could reluctantly accept.

The hoopoe would help Lu Yuan collect at least a hundred wondrous items. In return, Lu Yuan would help the hoopoe with one task, as long as it was within his capabilities.

“Alright then…”

Though Lu Yuan still seemed somewhat dissatisfied with the agreement, he said sternly, “But just to be clear, if the wondrous items you give me don’t meet my expectations, you’ll have to compensate me with that golden feather…”

The hoopoe gave Lu Yuan a “dream on” look, then flapped its wings and went off to collect wondrous items for him.

Once the hoopoe’s silhouette vanished into the primeval forest, the dissatisfaction and reluctance on Lu Yuan’s face swiftly disappeared, and his mind started racing again.

“A birdbrain is only as big as a walnut; how can it compete with my human brain… I’ll take advantage of it first. If the task it asks of me later is too difficult, I’ll simply tear up the agreement and run away…”

Lu Yuan still couldn’t stop thinking about the golden feather in the hoopoe’s beak.

Lu Yuan could tell that this bird probably had a lot of good stuff hidden away.

He was also quite curious about the origins of this mysterious hoopoe, what it actually wanted to do, and why out of all people, it had chosen him specifically.

He had a feeling that the bird had ulterior motives and pondered how he might find an opportunity to take advantage of it…

As Lu Yuan was lost in thought, an orange blur flashed before his eyes.

The hoopoe had returned, flying up to him and spitting out a few golden nuts, each the size of an almond.

Each nut gleamed with a golden hue, emanating strong evil deity factor and energy fluctuations.

Lu Yuan put these golden nuts together with the fruit it had previously spat out and crushed them before absorbing their essence.

Feeling the continued expansion of his blood sphere within him, he noticed that the one attribute among his four basic attributes that hadn’t undergone a second limit break-his strength attribute-seemed to be edging closer to that breakthrough.

Once he had finished absorbing the energy, Lu Yuan opened his eyes and, with a dissatisfied tone, questioned the hoopoe, “Didn’t we agree that each item should be at least as potent as the first one?

What you’ve brought me this time is too small, not even enough for a snack. This shouldn’t count as a single wondrous item…”

The hoopoe paused and then let out a “Cuckoo” before turning and flying away again.

Moments later, when it returned, it had a palm-sized, dazzling golden leaf in its beak.

The leaf had a shape reminiscent of a ginkgo leaf, and when Lu Yuan took it and tugged on it, he found it quite resilient.

He shoved the leaf into his mouth and chewed it like a piece of seaweed. The energy and evil deity factor nurtured his blood sphere, causing it to grow even more robust.

“Rumble-“

As thunder roared within his chest, Lu Yuan suppressed the ebb and flow of his Qi and blood while frowning at the hoopoe, saying, “This item is even worse…

It’s so light, it’s practically useless to me.

Are you just trying to brush me off?

If this continues, I believe our ‘cooperation’ is up for reconsideration.”

“Cuckoo-“

The hoopoe looked blankly at Lu Yuan’s “angry” outburst, then tilted its head thoughtfully, seemingly figuring out what Lu Yuan really wanted.

Leaving behind a look that said “wait here,” it flew off once more.

“Excellent.” Lu Yuan muttered, satisfaction spreading across his face as he watched the hoopoe fly away.

This was so much easier than tracking the flow of evil deity factors himself to hunt for wondrous items.

Sitting still while being “fed” treasures and growing stronger by the minute-what could be better?

From then on, the hoopoe brought back various wondrous items continuously, eager to show its sincerity in this “collaboration.”

Lu Yuan, meanwhile, continued to nitpick, deliberately finding flaws in the wondrous items the hoopoe delivered, while in reality, he was enjoying them thoroughly.

“This wondrous item looks impressive on the outside, but it’s practically useless to me. Not enough energy inside. Doesn’t count.”

“This time, the size and energy are fine, but it’s so ugly I can’t stand it. This one doesn’t count either.”

“This time, the size, energy, and appearance are all good. But when I cracked it open, it had an unpleasant odor. Absorbing its energy made me feel unwell, and my strength even regressed… You’ll need to bring at least two more wondrous items to make up for this one…

So you still owe me one hundred and one wondrous items…”

Unbeknownst to him, as a massive influx of energy and evil deity factors continued, great changes were taking place inside Lu Yuan’s body.

The blood sphere, swollen to its limit, suddenly contracted and collapsed inward, shrinking back to its original fist-sized form.

But whether in terms of density or the contained Qi and blood energy, it was several times more potent than before.

From the outside, it seemed as if it was beginning to evolve from a mere blood sphere into what appeared to be a grandmaster blood pill.

“Grandmaster blood pill?” Lu Yuan blinked, then instinctively checked his attribute panel.

His four basic attributes had indeed reached the heights of a second limit break.

[Strength points: 30 (Limit Break 2)]

[Agility points: 30 (Limit Break 2)]

[Constitution points: 30 (Limit Break 2)]

[Intelligence points: 31 (Limit Break 2)]

Attribute points: 7

Skill points: 1

[Martial Arts Grandmaster (Extraordinary)] showed no significant changes in the skill panel, but Lu Yuan had a premonition that his current execution of those skills would be far more powerful and precise than before.

He sensed a more harmonious and natural essence emanating from his grandmaster body.

The inherent “cycle” within him seemed to evolve into a more advanced and perfect state.

In other words,

His grandmaster body had “leveled up.”

“The more perfect it becomes, the harder it is to justify breaking it apart…”

Lu Yuan pondered the conflict and tension between activating the Star Acupoint stage of Starry Sky martial arts and the perfect harmony of his grandmaster body, a complex expression crossing his face.

He yearned for the grandeur of Starry Sky martial arts but was reluctant to abandon the allure of the pure martial artist system.

Unfortunately, one can’t have their cake and eat it too.

Moreover, at this stage, he wasn’t even qualified to trade the cake for something else.

“Cuckoo-“

Just as Lu Yuan was lost in thought, an urgent cooing sound echoed in his ear.

Assuming the feeding cuckoo bird had returned, he automatically uttered, “The stuff you brought back this time makes me want to throw up…

We agreed on a hundred wondrous items, but so far, you haven’t brought back a single one that satisfies me. A hundred is an almost unattainable goal…”

Mid-sentence, Lu Yuan realized the cuckoo bird had come back empty-handed.

His brow furrowed, and he said coldly, “Are you so insincere that you won’t even bother to placate me a little? You really have no intention of working together, do you?”

The cuckoo bird looked at him and let out a sharp “cuckoo” before dropping a crisp “Follow me” and turning to leave.

Lu Yuan was puzzled, wondering if he had pushed the bird too far this time, causing it to get upset.

Moreover, the time interval between the bird’s trips was getting longer, suggesting it had probably exhausted the nearby supply of wondrous items.

Some items were likely guarded by ancient evil deity creatures, making it impossible for the bird to retrieve them. Giving directions for him to collect them himself was an unexpected yet logical development.

With these thoughts, Lu Yuan followed the bird deeper into the original forest, a place marked on no map-a “Deep Mist Zone.”

The concentration of evil deity factors increased steadily, and the humidity and temperature of the air were also rising.

The signal on Lu Yuan’s communicator became intermittent.

At a certain point, Lu Yuan suddenly received a message from Lan Chen.