Chapter 14

When Bai Zhen woke up, the first thing he saw through the gaps in the treetops was the sky full of stars. Then a strange smell wafted over, somewhat like the medicinal soup that ordinary people drink when they are sick.

He turned his head and saw the two medicine boys sitting by the fire, stirring a pot continuously. The medicinal smell was coming from the pot. This left him speechless. They were apprentices of a cultivation sect, yet they were using the treatment methods of ordinary doctors to boil medicine.

Even lying still, Bai Zhen could tell that the wound on his leg had been bandaged, but the technique was poor, and it was wrapped too tightly. After checking with his divine sense, he found that all the toxins in his body had been cleared. If he didn't remember what had happened, he might have thought it was just a dream, and he had never been poisoned at all.

His spirit veins were not damaged, but his body was severely weakened and very frail. He would need a good period of rest to recover.

Bai Zhen realized he was awake, but the two of them had no idea, which he found quite impressive. With such low vigilance, they hadn't encountered any beast here, which was quite lucky.

With a wound on his leg, he didn't want to force himself to get up. To alert them that he was awake, he let out a light groan and deliberately grabbed a handful of dry leaves to make some noise.

"Eh?" Lu Xiaodeng heard the sound, turned around, and saw that he was awake. She nudged her senior sister with her elbow, "Senior Sister, he's awake."

Finally, he was awake. For a cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage, to be unconscious for so long was unusual, just like an ordinary person.

Lu Yaohang directly ladled a bowl of soup from the pot and walked over, saying, "Senior Brother, drink it while it's hot. I put a three-year-old Tangxin grass in it, and all the medicinal effects are in there."

Tangxin grass is a medicinal herb used to refine healing potions, which is very effective for skin and flesh injuries, but that's only for herbs over ten years old and after refinement. A three-year-old Tangxin grass had almost no medicinal effect, no different from wild grass.

Speechless, Bai Zhen was helped to sit up against the tree and stared at the brown-green soup, unable to drink it. He glanced to the side and saw the corpse of the Fengjin Jiao Long still lying there. He said, "The best way to treat such injuries is to eat more meat, which can provide a lot of energy to the body. The medicinal soup that ordinary people drink is of little use to us cultivators. It's better to get some food to eat."

"You misunderstood. This isn't medicinal soup; it's our dinner. They are all things from heaven and earth. Eating them can absorb their spiritual energy, and when accumulated enough, it can become our own spiritual power." Lu Xiaodeng slurped the soup, finding it so delicious, how could it be medicine?

"You have such strange tastes. Even if you want to cultivate, there's no need to eat such things. Eating young spirit herbs directly is of no benefit to your cultivation. The meat of the Fengjin Jiao Snake contains spiritual energy and is much better than these wild herbs." If this was dinner, these two medicine boys must be crazy, truly ruthless and cruel.

Bai Zhen had seen many ordinary people who wanted to cultivate. Some practiced diligently, while the wealthy took large amounts of elixirs. There were also those who took shortcuts, doing all sorts of dangerous and stimulating things to open their spirit veins, with many dying or becoming disabled.

However, this was the first time he had heard of boiling cheap spirit herbs and wild flowers and tree bark together and claiming it could absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

Lu Xiaodeng and the other were stunned. Between meat and spirit herbs, did the meat of the beast contain more spiritual energy?

Hearing him mention this, Lu Xiaodeng suddenly remembered that when refining some elixirs, they would also add things like beast blood, skin, and bones. The poison she had extracted this time was also from a beast.

Lu Yaohang usually read elixir formulas, though they were just common ones, but many required adding parts of beasts. They both turned to look at the Fengjin Jiao Snake, thinking there was so much meat they couldn't possibly finish it all!

"Senior Sister, should we try it?" Lu Xiaodeng was unsure if they could eat meat; she had only refined elixirs before, not cooked meat.

"Let's try. If it doesn't work, add some spirit herbs. We dug up three spirit herbs. Don't put wild grass and leaves in; it would take ten thousand years to absorb any spiritual energy from them." Lu Yaohang, after listening to the senior, pinched her nose and drank two bowls of the mixed grass soup, which she couldn't swallow. After drinking just a little, she felt like she was turning into a sheep.

Seeing everyone agree, Lu Xiaodeng nodded and took the broken sword from her senior sister to cut the meat of the Fengjin Jiao Snake. Lu Yaohang, meanwhile, started to chat with Bai Zhen, though her attitude was cold, she just wanted to find out his name in case she couldn't find him later.

When Lu Xiaodeng returned, she heard Lu Yaohang stiffly praising him, "So it's you, this year's new talent, Bai Zhen!"

"Senior Sister, what new talent?" She threw the thing in her hand to the ground and asked curiously.

Lu Yaohang smiled faintly, "This senior brother is this year's new talent, Bai Zhen, who won third place in the sect's grand competition, defeating countless Foundation Establishment disciples. He achieved this with only early Foundation Establishment cultivation, defeating many middle and late Foundation Establishment senior brothers."

"Wow, Senior Brother New Talent is so amazing!" Lu Xiaodeng said casually. What was the sect's grand competition? She hadn't seen it. The competition had ended the month before she arrived, so she knew nothing about it, but she remembered the term "new talent."

Bai Zhen found it a bit awkward to be called "new talent," but he also learned from Lu Yaohang that the two of them were the new apprentices of Yu Daojun. He had heard of them but had never met them. The elixirs he took during the Qi Condensation stage were delivered to the peak by the Wuyao Hall and distributed by the duty uncles.

As for when they first entered the sect, Lu Yaohang was still a baby. Despite his appearance of being only twenty or so and quite handsome, he had been in the sect for over ten years. To advance to the Foundation Establishment stage at his age was already quite impressive, as some people were stuck at the Qi Condensation stage for forty or fifty years.

"Senior Brother New Talent, this is the meat you wanted. Do you want it grilled or boiled?" Lu Xiaodeng pointed to the snake meat she had dragged back and thrown on the ground.

Lu Yaohang and Bai Zhen looked down and saw the snake's tongue on the ground, as wide as a palm, like a large red ribbon. How could someone be so careless as to cut that part?

"This thing can't be eaten; it's probably poisonous." Bai Zhen refused to eat it, finding it disgusting.

"But the Fengjin Jiao Snake has hard scales, and this black iron sword can't cut through them. Only this part was hanging outside, so I cut it off." Lu Xiaodeng pouted,不服气地说，那东西的鳞片太硬了，不是谁都能割掉的。

Bai Zhen thought about it and agreed. This Fengjin Jiao Snake was at the Golden Core stage, so its scales were naturally very hard. These scales were good for making armor, and could be sold for a lot of crystal fruits whether the sect recycled them or they sold them outside.

He smiled faintly, raised his hand, and pointed at the Fengjin Jiao Snake. A spirit sword flew up from beside him and rushed over. With a few clanging sounds, it scraped off a piece of the snake's scales and cut a large piece of meat, which it brought back.

The meat was tender and free of any dirt, ready to be cooked without washing.

As expected of a new talent, even cooking in the wild was a first-class skill. He quickly sliced the meat, skewered it on a stick, and started grilling it. He asked Lu Yaohang for seasonings, and with a few flicks of his fingers, the seasonings fell like flower petals, adding a touch of elegance.

"Here you go." Bai Zhen gave them some of the grilled meat. The meat, dripping with oil and emitting a fragrant aroma, was truly mouth-watering.

Lu Yaohang was really hungry, and the grass soup had made her lose her appetite. After all the events, she needed something greasy to calm her nerves. She thanked him and took a big bite, but immediately froze.

This was too terrible!

The appearance and taste were completely different. The meat was very tough, and there was too much salt. Despite the beautiful way he sprinkled the salt, it was unbearably salty. Even worse, the snake meat had a strong fishy taste, making her want to vomit.

Lu Xiaodeng also took a bite, chewed for a while, and spat it out, handing the remaining meat to Bai Zhen and spitting continuously, "Senior Brother New Talent, the meat you grilled is too terrible. This kind of cultivation is too scary. You should do it yourself."

Bai Zhen had already eaten several pieces and didn't find it bad at all. He usually grilled like this, and the junior sisters at the Qi Condensation stage often came to eat, praising his grilling skills. These two must have heavy palates, probably damaged by the disgusting medicinal soup.

He didn't take it back but started grilling again. Eating the meat of beasts to enhance his energy was a unique cultivation method of his. Although it wasn't a high-level technique, it was very cost-effective compared to just taking elixirs.

Lu Yaohang had already switched to eating dry rations and forced herself to drink the strange-tasting medicinal soup. The meat grilled by Bai Zhen was really not something an ordinary person could handle.

"This Fengjin Jiao Snake, let's discuss how to handle it. After all, we three found the corpse. You can't clearly say who killed it, and I don't want to take advantage of you. Let's share it." Bai Zhen said casually while eating.

Hearing this, Lu Xiaodeng and Lu Yaohang both looked up at him. It was clearly they who had killed it. If not for their victory over the Fengjin Jiao Snake's soul, they would have been digested in its stomach by now.

She was about to speak but was pulled by Lu Yaohang, who spoke first, "Senior Brother Bai Zhen, how do you want to divide this Fengjin Jiao Beast?"

Lu Yaohang didn't want Lu Xiaodeng to speak recklessly. If they said they killed it, it would raise suspicion, as they didn't have the ability. Anyway, those who found the corpse could share it if it was unclaimed.

Moreover, this snake wasn't killed by Bai Zhen; he was just a scavenger and had been saved by them.

Bai Zhen said casually, "You have no use for the demon core, so it's mine. The scales are too hard for you to remove, and you can't refine them with your cultivation, so I'll take them. The snake bones aren't worth much, but they can be used to make array flag handles."

As the two of them stared in shock, he had already divided the entire Fengjin Jiao Snake, and then said generously, "I thought about it. You can't abstain from food, and you need to eat regularly. The meat of the Fengjin Jiao Snake is tender and abundant, and rich in spiritual energy, making it perfect for you."

Lu Yaohang looked at him in disbelief. This was a well-calculated move, taking all the benefits and leaving only the tough, fishy meat. Who would want that?

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