Dilemma

Li Yu had numerous thoughts swirling in his mind, as he thought over everything that big sister 82 had said.

UserM78-' Destroying everything in the body and rebuilding it again? What does it mean?'

User F82-' If the five fruits are taken simultaneously, then they will explode everything within the body, excluding the soul sea. Then, the abundant life energy inside the fruits will rebuild everything within the body, remodeling it, and changing the body type.'

UserM78-' What about the Dantian?'

UserF82-' Of course, it will explode and be remodeled as well. But don't worry, the remodeling process will not have any adverse effect on your cultivation.'

Li Yu closed his eyes, and asked the question whose answer he didn't want to know. Or rather, he didn't want to hear the answer that he guessed it to be.

UserM78-' What if a crippled person takes the fruit?'

UserM82-' Crippled person? Hmmm, well, he/she will have his/her body and Dantian remodeled, but he/she won't be able to regain his/her cultivation, and will have to start from the scratch. Although, with the help of the modified body type and spiritual roots, along with the accumulated cultivation knowledge, the person's cultivation will be many times faster than before. Hence, he/she will have a better future than before. Of course, everything is under the assumption that the person did not have high tiered spiritual roots or body type, in which case the most that the person would gain was the ability to cultivate again instead of remaining a cripple.'

Alas, the answer he heard was the answer he feared. Taking a deep and long breath, he opened his eyes, which were filled with confusion after hearing everything that big sister 82 had said. His mind was filled dilemma.

The dilemma was very hard to get out of, as he did not know what to do anymore. He had to shoulder the revenge of his brother's death, hence he could not let go of any opportunity that allowed him to become stronger.

However, manager Ma's kind smile as he gave the spatial rings and the cultivation technique to Li Yu floated in his mind. Manager Ma would be able to cultivate once again, and even have a brighter future if he gave the fruits to manager Ma for consumption.

Manager Ma had treated Li Yu very well, and his kindness to Li Yu was enormous. Even the five fruits that he gained belonged to manager Ma. Hence, it was proper for him to give the fruits to manager Ma for consumption.

If he had consumed the fruits without knowing their value, then that was one thing, but if he were to do so now, after knowing their use, he would be racked with guilt throughout his life.

Li Yu was inherently a kind person, or he would not have gone to any extent to shelter his brother like he had done. Hence, he would never have even considered such a thing and would have directly given the fruits to manager Ma without the slightest hesitation if he wasn't burdened with vengeance.

He was filled with dilemma towards the choice that he had to make. Should he choose to let go of the vengeance and give up the fruits to follow what his heart considered right? Or should he choose to consume fruits for a higher chance of getting revenge and forsake the kindness that manager Ma had showed towards him, to be able to get revenge but be racked with guilt throughout the life?

Alternate images of manager Ma's kind smile and his brother's dead body came popping up within his mind, and he felt very hard to breathe, as if something heavy was pressing down on his lungs. Sometimes, his heart would be filled with hatred and vengeful thoughts, that would make him want to just consume the fruits on the spot; and sometimes, his heart would be filled with grateful emotions that he felt towards manager Ma, that would make him want to just rush back to the Yellow Leaf village and give the fruits to manager Ma for consumption.

UserF82-' However, I advice you to not eat the fruits now.'

Li Yu was startled out of his thoughts by the chat message. He found that his breathing was hurried, his heart was beating very fast, and he was covered with sweat all over. Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, he asked,

UserM78-' Why? Doesn't upgrading the body type and spiritual roots earlier bring more benefits?'

UserF82-' Obviously it does, but in the short term and not in the long term. You should remember that the main function of the five fruits is to upgrade the body type, and upgrading the spiritual roots is only the side function. If you eat a single fruit, the medicinal efficacy in the fruit will only be able to allow your spiritual roots to grow to the mid grade Elite rank at the maximum. It won't work if you have higher grade spiritual roots. While if you eat the five fruits simultaneously, your body type and your spiritual roots will both be transformed into low grade Profound rank at the maximum. It won't work if you have higher grade spiritual roots or body type.'

UserM78-' What do you mean by 'at the maximum', can the amount of increase in the spiritual roots and body type be less?'

UserF82-' Well, I have read the previous chats, and got to know from them your spiritual roots, body type and the soul type. As your spiritual roots and body type are the lowest possible rank, then the amount of medicinal efficacy of the fruits required to upgrade your body type to low grade Profound rank will be very large. Hence, the rest of the medicinal efficacy will only be able to increase your spiritual roots to high grade Elite rank instead of low grade Profound rank. As body type takes priority for the Five Life Changing Fruits, the medicinal efficacy will change the body type first, hence you can't have your spiritual roots become low grade Profound rank instead of body type.'

Li Yu now understood that the Five Life Changing Fruits were considered body cultivation heaven and earth treasures, and he was increasingly sure about his guess for the jade slip obtained by manager Ma which was left behind by the dead expert in the cave. Essence energy would be needed to read the records within it. Clearly, the Five Life Changing Fruits were a gift from the dead expert to a body cultivator, or they could make someone choose becoming body cultivator. And the jade slip contained the second part of the gift. Maybe it was a body cultivation technique or body skill technique, or some record that may help body cultivators. However, he couldn't understand one thing, so he asked,

UserM78-' So what is the problem from eating the fruits now?'

UserF82-' Idiot, didn't you hear what uncle 96 had said? It's progressively harder to increase the spiritual roots as you go higher up the rank. My advice for you is to use alternative methods to increase your spiritual roots to mid grade Elite rank, and then to use the fruits to upgrade the spiritual roots to low grade Profound rank in one go.'

Li Yu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He had gotten the Five Life Changing Fruits through a lucky coincidence, so where he will acquire something that can upgrade his spiritual roots again?

It seemed as if the alchemist big sister heard his thoughts, as she replied before Li Yu could say anything.

UserF82-' Little brother, you seem to have forgotten about GFCCG's exchange system, where you can use CGP to exchange anything from the GFCCG.'

UserM78-' What, GFCCG has something that can upgrade the spiritual roots?'

UserF82-' Not only the spiritual roots, GFCCG even has pills that can upgrade the body type and soul type. Of course, you would have to wait until you have enough points to buy them, and let me tell you, the amount of points required will be huge. But if you consider the bigger picture, then the wait will be worth it and more cost effective in the long run.'

Li Yu agreed with big sister 82, as using the fruits like she advised will allow him in squeezing out the highest value from the fruits, and eating them right away will be a waste, as increasing the grade of spiritual roots from the high grade Elite rank to low grade Profound rank will be many times more difficult as compared to increasing his spiritual roots to mid grade Elite rank and then consuming the fruits.

He closed his eyes for a moment, and made a decision that he will upgrade his spiritual roots to mid grade Elite rank first, as it was definitely beneficial in the long run. Maybe he will already have found his brother's murderer by then, and will not have to use the fruits, which he can return to manager Ma. There would definitely be a way out so that he can return the fruits to manager Ma, and he would find that way out!

Li Yu put the fruits back in manager Ma's spatial ring, and began checking out other spatial rings. As all the weapons of the group were already collected by manager Ma after the deaths of his friends, the rest of the spatial rings did not contain any weapons. All he found in the spatial rings that was worth noting were about eleven hundred low grade spirit stones and 33 Qi Condensing pills. He quickly emptied the rings of other useless baggage like clothes and dumped them within the cave. He also found the token given by Qing Mei to manager Ma inside his ring which he had ignored previously as his mind was occupied by the treasures.

Packing everything that he needed, he went out of the cave and went to fight some beasts within the Yellow Leaf valley to gradually adapt to his strengthened body and to the usage of spiritual energy. Uncle 96 had already advised him to do so before trying to increase his cultivation or trying to fight someone. As he would have to fight monstrous beasts in the Dark Forest, he decided to adapt within the valley first.

Destiny plays games with everyone. It was the good fortune of Li Yu in finding the Five Life Changing Fruits, but with the good fortune came a dilemma so big that Li Yu would rather have his fortune turn bad, as he didn't want to choose between the revenge for his brother and returning the kindness for the debt of gratitude he owed to manager Ma. If Li Yu didn't have to worry about manager Ma, he would have definitely eaten the fruits today. Who cared about short term benefits or long term benefits? He only wanted revenge! And it would be better if he could kill the culprit faster. He didn't want to become some super awesome expert pursuing the 'Dao'. He had always wanted to live a normal life, and maybe he would give up cultivating after his revenge. So he didn't have to consider the long term benefits.

The sole reason he chose to wait was not for the long term benefits he would have, but to have more options, options of a path that would make him take the revenge, as well as return the fruits to manager Ma. But he didn't want to think about what he would do if he can't find better options.

What Li Yu didn't realise, or maybe what he didn't want to accept in reality, was that his mind had made a subconscious choice. His choice was already apparent when he didn't rush towards Yellow Leaf village to give the fruits to manager Ma. His action of thinking about waiting for the long term benefits was in reality a subconscious action to delay the inevitable. It was a temporary relief from the heart wrecking guilt that he would have to bear. It was a temporary escape from reality.