Zeal's dilemma

Just as Karl Zeal strolled a few meters expanse, he saw what looked familiar. It was a vigorous wood vine that was about thirty feet height. The alternate long petiole of the deciduous leaves appeared oval to nearly circular. It was cordate at the base and also four inches long. Seeing the fruit, Zeal realized it was slightly broad and had a fuzzy brown color like every other Kiwi tree. Zeal's expression changed vastly. In fact, he couldn't hide his glee because he couldn't believe he could see something like the delicious Kiwi fruit in this cursed place. Zeal could only pluck out to finally settle his unbelievable heart. After all, even though his heart was happy about the fruit, he couldn't still believe they were real. So he made sure he wasn't dreaming.

As he plucked it, he ate it from their outer layer (that had a fuzzy brown carcass) to their green inner layer and even to their black seed—the child was definitely hungry. After a few minutes of eating, Zeal sat satisfied and reinvigorated; now, he could carry on without scruples: he had restored his mental and physical strength. For once, the Ashura forest proved him wrong. In fact, Zeal felt his whole strength level had risen once again. It was like a suddenly flooded desert. Was it the Kiwi fruit? He couldn't believe that a Kiwi fruit could be that magical. How would Zeal know that the fruit he ate was more than a thousand years heavenly Kiwi? Nothing in Ashura forest was normal after all. So Karl Zeal's aura surged like a bottomless pit. In fact, he felt like if he ate another one, he might explode because of excess energy. The transparent world orbiting Zeal had now expanded to a few 500 meters. His Soul-eyes quantity had doubled again, and quality had greatly improved. Now, the Soul-eyes looked more like spiritual eyes that could behold everything in the world.

Karl Zeal decided to rest throughout the day; he intended to cultivate and stabilize the abundant energy surging all over his body. Zeal thanked heaven he opened all his acupuncture points; if not, the surging powers would have destroyed his whole energy vein and pathway. In fact, he might have risked his energy storage. Zeal formed a hand gesture and began to mutter the general cultivation mantra from his nine-heaven Divine sutra. Immediately, an uninvited white mist descended out of nowhere. It irrigated all parts of Zeal's body. In fact, from his right arm, his blindfolded eyes, his Soul-eyes, and all other secret cultivation he possessed—everything increased rapidly. They also stabilized on their own. Zeal sat muttering in silent and calm—he was completely unbothered. The following morning, Zeal woke from his cultivation with the sun. He stood up with a simple body stretch, and his body released a rustling sound. After that, he felt light and extraordinary.

"I don't know how many days it is now. Hmm, wait." Zeal spoke, then thought of something. He dipped his hand on his robe, brought out a yellow piece of paper, and tossed it into the air. Immediately, it burned and revealed the days that Zeal had spent in the Ashura forest. He had spent twenty-five days here. He knew he couldn't have spent that much time. But then, the thought of when he was poisoned and slept off nagged him. Zeal remembered he could have lost the trail of time during that period. Ashura forest had a fixed time, and he had to meet up this time, else he wouldn't tell what consequences would befall him.

.....

After a while, Zeal made another appearance in a completely different place in the Ashura forest—he raced and jumped among trees. But instantly, he noticed that the forest formation had changed once again. Which territory was he again? Zeal thought cautiously. Each time he entered new sovereignty, he would see a new enemy. And often than not, he would almost lose his life. He wasn't happy about it. Of course, if Zeal saw his old enemy (even though he wasn't guaranteed to fight equally), he wouldn't be helpless as he was previously. Well, now was not the time to talk. Zeal believed he would continue to face new enemies; it was not something to feel irked about because that's life.

The forest had taken the pattern of a triangle. What dangerous things could it be housing?" Zeal muttered in both fear and anticipation. However, just as he entered the formation range, he heard a threatening roar. Something quickly accompanied the roar. It was a palpable gravitation force. The force instantly pulled down Zeal from his cavorting display.

"What's happening?" He asked no one in particular. Zeal panicked but immediately controlled his aura. He had to fight the gravitational force and the fatigue he felt from the roar just now. Zeal struggled to run as he could afford to, as he regulated his body energy. At the same time, he peered his surrounding with his Soul-eyes.

"What the hell is this?" Zeal blurted out. "Just why would he meat the king of the forest here," Zeal felt troubled, but he wasn't about to hand his fate to something else. He would grab it with his hand and step on anything that wanted his life. In any case, he secretly cursed his bad luck. But was it really a stroke of bad luck? After all, the designer designed the whole forest in strata. He could only move forward and not backward. So no matter anything, he would continue to meet brutal enemies.

"Damn it, that old thing arranged all these things." Zeal cursed aloud.

However, at this moment, Sou Long, who sat lazily sipping his tea, sneezed at the mention of his name. "Did I just get infected by cold on a sunny day?" Sou Long questioned the empty cup of coffee in front of him. Seeing that no one answered him, he cleared his throat. "That brat isn't dead yet. He must be cursing me. How would he know he was cursing his father?" Sou Long muttered and poured himself another hot coffee from the silver jug before him.

When Zeal saw this beast, he couldn't believe his eyes. "What the hell is this thing?" Zeal asked his empty mind, hoping for something to enlighten him mysteriously. But he still marveled at such a beast. The lion was ash brown with a jet-black mane. The creature's length was 1.8meters long with a shoulder height of 1.3meters. The lion had the entire amber color eyes to himself. At this moment, Zeal heard another violent roar. It quickly ushered in the appearance of another lion. No, it was a lioness, Zeal thought. This one had an extensive deep orange-brown color; it appeared 1.5meters long with a shoulder height of 1.1meter. This one also glared at Zeal with her amber color eyes. It was as though their eyes were an amber moon.

"So I'm facing another male and female creature simultaneously. What terrible luck! Couldn't one go out to prepare dinner while the other goes hunting? Well, that's great. What rubbish am I blurting out now? Is this the irony of death?" Zeal couldn't stop yapping.

At this moment, Karl Zeal had stopped after struggling. Of course, he had cleared a considerable distance between him and the creatures. However, seeing their fangs and claws, Zeal thought they looked dangerous. There was nothing he could think of other than avoiding it with all his strength. In fact, just thinking about it made his heart shake. In the end, it only signifies he understood the meaning of death. Sweat dripped Zeal's body non-stop—he was indeed terrified. There was no use lying to himself. Even his heart understood the significance of death whisper.

"I could feel that after the triangular formation, I would see my exit. However, this triangular formation had become an impossible hurdle. Will I die here?" Zeal asked himself.

Even though Zeal had stabilized himself, he was still under the influence of the gravitational force. This unscrupulous existence naturally belonged to that animal's domain, and Zeal recognized it. Sou Long had vigorously taught him many things since his arrival. At this moment, the air shattered like porcelain material. It was as though they were under an illusion. 'It was no wonder their arrival looked off,' Zeal thought. But seeing the next scene, Zeal understood that he had guessed too little. Moving forward was his salvation, but the animals he thought were behind him suddenly stood before him—completely blocking off his path.

"What to do?" Zeal asked. His eyes held pent-up anger. He couldn't understand why these animals treated him like a plaything. It irked him so much. If he could kill these creatures, that would naturally let him release these bottled-up emotions of pain. But Zeal knew himself; he wasn't so foolish to recklessly pounce on a creature he couldn't be sure of one percent killing. And not to mention that they were two of them. Zeal wasn't a fool because he was always a level-headed child. He could thoroughly consider his advantages and limits before he acted. In fact, he would never strike because of impulse. And that wouldn't change now. But he had to move forward, nonetheless. So what would he do? He was in a dilemma.