Chapter 4: Cow? Rabbit?
Fang Mu and Xiao Fan froze for a long time in front of Li Hao’s prey. The two then looked at Li Hao curiously.
Xiao Fan patted Fang Mu on the back. “Hey, I’m not seeing it wrong, am I? Did you see what I saw?”
Fang Mu stared at Xiao Fan for a moment before turning his gaze to Li Hao’s prey. “Child, do you know what creature you just hunted?”
Li Hao, who had been watching the two’s reaction earlier, was slightly surprised by Fang Mu’s sudden question. “Eh, eh, what’s that? I forgot. If I’m not mistaken, the name is cow or rabbit, but does it matter? I’m sure it’s edible and tastes good.”
“Cow?”
“Rabbit?”
Fang Mu and Xiao Fan looked at each other and then at Li Hao’s prey again, both of them quite sure that the creature lying lifeless was a bear. Not even an ordinary bear, but a bear-type Demonic Beast.
“There is something wrong with this kid’s common sense…” Xiao Fan scratched his forehead.
Fang Mu did not comment further. He took Xiao Fan to examine the creature more thoroughly. It didn’t take long before they discovered that the creature was indeed a Demonic Beast. Fang Mu used his sword to open the bear’s chest, digging out a red crystal.
“Ah, there’s that thing again in the meat, huh? Uncle, that’s too hard to eat. I usually throw it away.” Li Hao recognized the red crystal in Fang Mu’s hand.
Fang Mu and Xiao Fan frowned, as Li Hao’s statement made their heads start to ache. “Child, this crystal is called a Demonic Core. It can only be found in the bodies of Demonic Beasts. This thing has many uses and is a valuable resource for cultivators… You threw it away?” Fang Mu asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Oh, if you feel it’s valuable, you can keep it. I don’t need it.”
“It’s worthless for someone at my level, but…” Fang Mu had a hard time explaining it.
Li Hao watched and listened to Fang Mu attentively, but he could not understand the explanation immediately because everything was new to him.
Xiao Fan examined the Demonic Core they had just found. “Judging by its size and purity, this Demonic Beast should have a strength equivalent to a level three of Qi Forging. To kill this creature without any qi…”
“Qi Forging? Is it something that can be eaten?” Li Hao sucked his index finger. He was actually hungry, but the two uncles in front of him kept on talking and delaying his time to eat.
“Qi Forging is a stage of cultivation… Never mind, we’ll explain further later. Let’s eat first…” Fang Mu shook his head. Li Hao was not the only one feeling hungry, but Fang Mu and Xiao Fan too.
Li Hao enthusiastically cut up the Demonic Beast and separated the meat for cooking while Fang Mu and Xiao Fan were still discussing the Demonic Beast.
“This kid doesn’t have the slightest qi. Even though he has a special body, killing creatures that are at level three of Qi Forging… It’s hard to believe…” Xiao Fan shook his head.
Demonic Beasts were famous for being bloodthirsty and living in the wild, and they were generally stronger than humans at the same level of practice.
“This place has very little qi; it could be that the Demonic Beasts are weaker. In my estimation, the Demonic Beasts in this place can only use at most ten percent of their full strength.” Fang Mu conveyed his analysis.
“I still think it’s absurd. Ten percent of the strength of a level three of Qi Forging is still not something a mere mortal can deal with without qi. What type of body does he have?”
“Perhaps my guess was wrong. This kid named Li Hao doesn’t have a special body… His strength comes from other factors.”
“What do you mean? Another factor…” Xiao Fan realized what Fang Mu meant. “You don’t think…” Fang Mu and Xiao Fan then looked at the pile of meat in front of them.
“Demonic Beast meat is known to have good properties for people who consume it, improving the quality of the body, especially muscles and bones. But not many cultivators regularly consume Demonic Beasts. We prefer to consume pills, spirit herbs, or magic plants, right?” Fang Mu then turned his gaze to Li Hao.
“Imagine this—Li Hao said that he had spent his entire life in this place. In other words, every day for so many years, he consumed Demonic Beast meat. No wonder he has great physical strength.” Xiao Fan scratched his head. “In a ten-star sect like the Five Poison Valley or your Heaven Mountain Sect, perhaps only a few people can obtain resources like this kid.”
“For him who doesn’t belong to a sect, of course this is a blessing. But in the long run, he won’t be able to keep up with those from big sects just by relying on Demonic Beast meat.”
“Are you determined to bring him to the Heaven Mountain Sect?”
“We’ll see how the situation develops.”
Li Hao waved at the two while holding a large roasted meat on the other hand. “Uncles, the meat is cooked!”
Fang Mu and Xiao Fan chuckled at his antics. At the same time, they tried to remember when they last laughed and felt calm like this.
***
“Grooooarrr!”
The sound of loud roars echoed again, as usual. Fang Mu and Xiao Fan opened their eyes lazily. The two of them hadn’t slept for hundreds of years, but for the last few days, they couldn’t hold back the drowsiness that struck them because of their recovery.
A week had passed since Fang Mu and Xiao Fan fell on Peach Blossom Mountain. Seeing that there were no people looking for them, it made them more convinced that this place was indeed separate from the world they were familiar with.
Fang Mu and Xiao Fan’s condition had gotten better. At least the two of them could walk on their own without any problems and had some qi.
One thing that surprised them was that they couldn’t recover qi with outside help like pills or spirit stones. The two of them had to rely on their own abilities to absorb the meager qi in this place.
Their relationship with Li Hao also grew closer, considering that Li Hao had helped the two of them a lot.
“Hao Er, we’re both well enough. Can you take us down the mountain?”
“Ah, you two uncles already want to go home?” Li Hao scratched his head, looking a little sad.
Fang Mu stroked Li Hao’s head with a big smile. He had no intention of leaving Li Hao in this place alone.
“Hao Er, we have something to do…”
“Okay. I’ll bring you two uncles down the mountain after breakfast.”
