Translator: AstralGhost Editor: Kurisu
Bei Feng shook his head helplessly and allowed them to do as they wished.
“We’re still in the city, there aren’t any dangers here. How about this: we’ll split the team into two groups—the first will eat with me and the rest can pack the food back to the hotel to eat after that.”
Bei Feng was not a heartless person, so after some thought, he came up with this suggestion.
“Many thanks, Old Master.”
Lu Bu did not decline this time. Giving some instructions rapidly, five people sat beside Bei Feng and began to order their food as well while Lu Bu and the rest guarded around him.
The restaurant’s cooks were very efficient; in a short moment, a large plate of lotus shrimps and a clear sky albatross was served.
The lotus shrimp looked like a cross between a lobster and a crab, but its taste was incredibly delightful. This was especially the case for the shrimp roe. The roe was smooth and greasy, and tasted absolutely divine. These shrimps were only as big as an adult’s fist but they were extremely strong creatures, and were considered Grade 2 Demonic Beasts. One could easily fight 10 ordinary people on Earth without much trouble.
The other plate was lined with eight roasted clear sky albatrosses. This kind of Demonic Beast mainly ate nuts and dew, and without needing many supplementary ingredients, the complete taste of the dish could be brought out perfectly.
The vat of Hundred Flowers Wine was only one jin heavy, but it was more costly than all the dishes on the table combined!
This wine was a special brew made with a type of honey, which was formed from a hundred different kinds of spirit flower nectar gathered by Hunderd Year realm Second Layer Black Bees, followed by a complicated process of fermentation.
The wine’s texture was thick like jello; it was extremely light and gentle. Its clear fragrance lingered in the mouth like a breath of natural wind. The sweet aroma of the wine rose up into the nose like the mild redolence of a sea of flowers. Each flower’s taste was distinct and unique, like flower buds blooming together on the tongue.
Finally, when it was swallowed, the clear and cool wine burst out with an intense scorch, like a blaze of fire rising in the stomach.
The wine tasted exceptionally light yet was strong once swallowed. There wasn’t any nose-piercing odor that typically accompanied strong alcohol.
Bei Feng was extremely satisfied with this meal. Although the restaurant was a small establishment, their craftsmanship was impressive. The food was highly nutricious for martial artists; for someone like Bei Feng, who was at the First Layer of the Hundred Year realm, it was very satisfying.
After eating, Bei Feng returned to the hotel and sat down cross-legged. All the old cells in his body had been completely replaced already. If one used a microscope to observe his cells now, they would see that every single one was filled with energy and densely packed, like the seeds in a ripe pomegranate.
His blood and Qi was the same. After a long period of refinement, and eating large amounts of Demonic Beast meat to nourish his body, the blood-creating function of his bone marrow had improved by a great amount. Lu Qintian’s original set of blood had been completely removed by now.
The new batch of blood was filled with vitality and strength, and was as thick as mercury!
His skeleton was originally a dull white in color, but now, a faint light was shinning from it, and it had a jade-like luster.
“I’ve completely stabilized the foundations of this body. The next step will be to break past the Hundred Year realm Second Layer’s primary stage,” Bei Feng muttered to himself.
What he sought at this point was not speed, but stability!
If not for that, Bei Feng could easily cultivate to the Third Layer of the Hundred Year realm. But that was useless to him.
‘It’s a pity about my secret art.’
Bei Feng sighed with some pity. The Mixed Yuan Body secret art was extremely useful, and increased his chances of staying alive by a large portion.
And when he thought about the spatial ring that he’d lost, even his balls began to ache! There was the Illumination God Tree inside it!
Shaking his head, Bei Feng did not continue thinking about the matter. The more he thought about it, the more his heart ached.
‘This Yin-Yang legacy is instead very suitable for me. It’s just a pity that there’s no one to guide me in it, and I’ll need to rely on myself to understand it.’
Bei Feng felt like he was looking at a mountain of treasures but lacked the ability to retrieve it. The entire manual had been completely memorized by him, but memorizing and comprehending were two entirely different matter.
The Yin-Yang manual contained a large amount of wondrous and profound techniques, causing Bei Feng to drool endlessly. But unfortunately, without anyone to guide him, he could only rely on himself to try to decipher the techniques.
The more he looked at this Yin-Yang manual, the more he liked it. The techniques inside made full use of stellar energy, which meant that it complemented very well his Minor Dark Sky Breathing Technique.
‘But it’s fine, I should be able to gain an initial mastery in it soon.’
Bei Feng was not anxious about it. During this period of recovery, he could take some time to comprehend the manual.
The Yin-Yang legacy focused mainly on mental power and stellar energy techniques, and the moment Bei Feng gained an initial mastery of it, his combat ability would immediately skyrocket.
Early the next morning, Bei Feng opened his eyes. Although he hadn’t slept at all the previous night, his mental state was unprecedentedly good. Using meditation to replace sleeping, Bei Feng was in a state similar to cultivation the entire night.
The blood and Qi in his body was circulating the entire night, nourishing his body.
“Set out!”
Bei Feng waved his hand and all the guards gathered near Bei Feng.
The group stuck closely together as they stepped foot into the Hundred Break Mountain Range!
The mountain range was filled with tall trees that covered the sky. 99 percent of the sun was blocked by the thick foliage, and countless vines wound around the trees like huge pythons.
Strange cries and roars rang out in the forest from time to time, causing one’s heart to grow uneasy.
But Bei Feng’s group did not even hesitate as they marched forward steadily. Two guards scouted the way ahead, while Bei Feng moved in the middle with eight others surrounding him.
They were still at the outer fringes of the mountain range, and there naturally weren’t any Demonic Beasts that could cause them any trouble yet.
In the wilderness, it wasn’t just the Demonic Beasts that were dangerous. At times, the humans were even more frighening than them! If there was a sufficiently large profit, there wouldn’t be a lack of people willing to commit atrocious acts
A completely unique occupuation was even birthed out of this opportunity to earn a quick buck. Some cultivators did not come out here to hunt Demonic Beasts or collect spirit herbs; they were specifically hunting other cultivators!
The group was completely made up of cultivators, and the speed at which they travelled was very fast. However, the path was littered with large vines, and the road was very difficult to traverse. If it was an ordinary person, it would be impossible to walk even five kilometers in one day!
A colorful toxic spider the size of a palm suddenly dropped down from the branches above. With a flick of a finger by one the guards, the spider directly burst apart.
“Sou-sou!”
Lu Bu was walking right beside Bei Feng. Lu Bing, the vice team captain was in charge of commanding the team. A rustling sound suddenly rang out from the front, causing everyone to tense up.
“Be careful!”
“Tap, tap!”
A plump and fluffy huge rabbit hopped out of the bushes, looking about. A pair of huge teeth about 20 cm long protuded from its mouth, like a pair of sharp daggers.
“Whew, it’s just a gangster rabbit.”
Lu Bing’s tense face relaxed as he drew out a frosty sword. A burst of sword light flashed through the air, and a sharp Sword Qi instantly appeared before the human-sized rabbit, forming a cross sign!
“Ding!”
The gangster rabbit looked over with a stupefied face as it hugged a purple carrot in its arms. Seeing the danger approaching, its eyes turned red, and its muscles bulged upwards as though they had been inflated like balloons. A pair of large front teeth bit towards the Sword Qi without hesitation!
“Cang!”
The sound of a sword entering the scabbard rang out, and Lu Bing stepped backwards with a somewhat red face as he spat coldly at the rabbit.
The group had already gathered all the information on the Heaven Connecting Tower as soon as they entered. Everything from the types of known Demonic Beasts to spirit herbs and so forth was all recorded. The reputation of this species of rabbit was not very good.
Like its namesake, the gangster rabbit was simply too much of a gangster, which was why it was given such a name. While these rabbits might look innocent and dumb, these fellows loved to mate, and would do it with any species and race—whether human or Demonic Beast. If one could not defeat it, it would be better to just end their own lives than to suffer extreme humiliation at the hands of these rabbits.
Bei Feng had naturally done his homework as well, and with his powerful mental power, he’d memorized all 48,600 spirit herbs and 13,500 types of Demonic Beasts and their characteristics.
The information was all compiled by the professional exploration groups. If one found a new type of Demonic Beast, there would even be rewards if it was reported up to them. Of course, the information was not for the sake of charity. The compiled information cost over 10,000 HCD.
Although the price did not seem overly high, how many groups of newbies entered the Heaven Connecting Tower each day? Added together, the revenue from this business came to an incredibly shocking figure!
Even with Bei Feng’s mental fortitude, he still found this Demonic Beast amusing. This sex-crazed fellow was simpy too comical.
Not sparing another look at the dead rabbit, the group continued on.
Lunch consisted of a roasted black pig that the team caught and killed, as well as an emperor scorpion.
The group had prepared abundantly for this trip, and was already prepared to stay in the tower for a long time. They naturally brought a lot of cooking ingredients.
Only, the conditions here were not comparable to eating in the city. The black pig was a Third Layer Demonic Beast, and the fatty meat and the lean meat was well-balanced. The flesh was fat but not greasy, and the quality of the meat was top tier.
A Demonic Beast like this would be worth at least 100,000 HCD in the outside world. It was easy for martial cultivators to earn money here, but also extremely easy for them to lose it quickly. Martial techniques and equipment, as well as spirit pills, were a huge investment in and of itself.
The group made camp not far away from a small creek. This black pig, which weighed several thousand jin, was cleaned and readied in a short moment.
One person walked up to the pig with a sharp knife; after jumping through the air a few times, with a few rapid strokes of the knife, numerous large pieces of meat were sliced off and fell into a neat stack below. Each piece was similar to each other in size.
Another person found a black piece of rock; after cleaning it, he sliced the rock into thin stone plates.
On the side, the fire was burning almost at the appropriate temperature. Numerous pieces of carbon wood were placed under the stone plates to maintain the fire.
After smearing some pig’s oil on the stone plates, the large pieces of meat were slapped onto the stone plates to begin cooking.
In just a few seconds, the meat began to sizzle and change color.
A thick but not heavy aroma began to rise into the air.
Bei Feng picked up a piece of meat with his chopsticks, dipped it into the preprepared sauce and placed it into his mouth.
The moment he bit down on it, his eyes lit up as he immediately reached for another piece.
The fat percentage of the meat was perfect. A tiny bit more of fat, and it would be too fatty. A shade less fat, and it would be too lean. The freshness of the meat had largely been retained, and it was exceptionally chewy and tender.
A rich umami flavor burst out in the mouth when bit into, filling the mouth with all the meaty juices.
After eating a few pieces of the fragrant black pig, Bei Feng turned his attention to the deshelled emperor scorpion. From the taste of the black pig, he was quite expectant of the scorpion meat’s taste.
This emperor scorpion was extremely huge, and was similarly a peak Third Layer Demonic Beast. Its body was covered in golden patterns which contrasted with its black shell. It looked extremely mysterious; the look of the fellow itself was cool and ferocious.
The most terrifying thing about this Demonic Beast was toxin! Just a single drop was enough to poison a Second Layer expert to death. Apart from that, the next most powerful part of its body was its powerful pincers!
