Relying on the Mountain to Eat from the Mountain

He thought of this and immediately leaped up, leaping towards the world where the sunlight shone.

"Thump!"

He passed through the sunlight and the projection of another world, hitting the roof of the hall.

Chen Shi landed, rubbed his head, and looked up.

Sunlight came from another world, as if one could enter another world by following the sunlight.

He leaped up again, his palm gently passing through the sunlight, but the sunlight and the other world were like a dream or an illusion, visible but intangible.

"It seems the space-time in the temple is not another space-time, but rather that there is a mysterious power within the temple that allows me to see another world, and allows the sunlight and moonlight from that world to shine in."

Ever since he began transforming his true blood, his appetite had increased dramatically. He ate everything, whether it was the medicinal meals prepared by Grandpa or the dishes made by Granny Sha, yet he was still hungry soon after.

He got hungry too quickly, losing five or six jin in two days.

He originally weighed only sixty jin, so losing five or six jin made him appear even thinner and weaker.

Chen Shi also knew that he had reached a critical stage.

The first step in refining the Saint Embryo was transforming the true blood.

When humans are still infants, they have true blood flowing in their bodies, pure blood that requires no cultivation. Infants do not breathe through their mouths and noses; instead, they connect to their mother's breathing through their navels, which is called fetal breath. The qi needed for this breathing is transmitted to the infant's body through the mother's blood, and since the qi is filtered by the mother's body, it contains no impurities.

This is innate true qi.

However, after birth, one breathes through the mouth and nose, inhaling the impure qi of the mortal world, which is acquired qi. From then on, the body gradually becomes heavy and impure, and the innate true qi within the body decreases. By old age, when the innate true qi is depleted, one will die.

Cultivators who practice evil arts often exchange blood in their old age, injecting the blood of young people into their bodies to regain youth. This is done by supplementing their own innate qi with the innate qi in the blood of young people.

Even more extreme are those who refine the Purple River Cart, which involves digging up the placenta of a pregnant woman and refining the blood of an unborn infant to supplement their own body and delay aging.

Chen Shi's rapid hunger was also a form of nourishment, absorbing the essence from food to supplement his innate qi and refine his true blood.

However, the essence in ordinary food was mere grain essence, containing a pitifully small amount of energy. In contrast, Grandpa's medicinal meals contained complex medicinal power, suitable for absorption.

It was just that Chen Shi's cultivation was too fast, causing the essence from food to fall short. He then began to consume his own muscles and internal organs to refine his blood.

If he could not supplement enough food, he would instead "starve to death"!

The faster he cultivated, the faster he would starve to death!

Chen Shi had no choice but to slow down his cultivation speed, as he spent most of his day eating and searching for food.

The ducks at Grandma Yuzhu's house were almost unable to lay eggs from his extortions. Few watermelons remained in Granny Sha's melon patch. The fish in the Yudai River had also decreased by more than half in recent days. He even frequently rushed to Gangzi Village right at mealtime, much to Granny Sha's headache whenever she saw him approaching.

Chen Shi even considered using himself as bait to catch a Great Gu to taste.

He was too hungry.

One day, Chen Shi came to the Mountain Lord Temple. After cultivating for a short while, he felt very hungry. He stayed a little longer, and the hunger intensified.

He was so hungry he felt panicked and hurried out, intending to find some wild game or fruit to fill his stomach. However, this mountain was newly grown. Apart from the large trees in the temple, there were no other plants on the mountain, and not even animals were willing to approach it.

Chen Shi had no choice but to walk down the mountain path, towards the plump children in the woods. He was already dizzy and lightheaded from hunger. He persevered and walked a few more steps, when suddenly the world spun, and he fell to the ground with a thud.

In his daze, he saw blue skies and white clouds. He felt as if he were lying flat, but the moving leaves and grass told him that he was moving.

He was simply too hungry and fainted again.

After an unknown amount of time, Chen Shi dazedly opened his eyes again. He seemed to see the beautiful face of the Stream Maiden, but it quickly changed to Granny Zhuang's aged face.

"He's awake, he's awake!"

Granny Zhuang's voice came. Chen Shi felt his hunger slightly decrease, and his vision gradually cleared. He realized he was lying in Granny Zhuang's tree hollow, where mushrooms emitted a faint, soft light.

The Stream Maiden sat quietly beside him, and the tiger-headed, stout children were also gathered around the bed, staring at him with their large, dark, and concerned eyes.

Granny Zhuang was holding a plump child, pulling his hair and plucking a few bright red fruits from his head. They were about the size of a finger, and the child cried out in pain, opening his mouth wide.

Chen Shi rolled his eyes and saw that the red fruits on the heads of the other plump children had become much sparser, indicating they had likely been picked.

Granny Zhuang smiled and said, "You fainted from hunger. It was the fruit children who carried you here. The Stream Maiden made you a bowl of fish porridge, but you were too hungry and it wasn't enough. I saved you with Ginseng Grass Fruit."

Chen Shi sat up, feeling no hunger at all, and quickly thanked them.

The Stream Maiden's face flushed, she let out a soft laugh, and gracefully departed.

The plump children came before Chen Shi. Some jumped onto his knees, their faces serious, and earnestly babbled instructions to him, likely telling him to eat on time, before they also left.

Chen Shi watched them go and thanked Granny Zhuang again. Just as he was about to walk outside, he stumbled, almost falling.

Granny Zhuang grinned and said, "The medicinal power of the Ginseng Grass Fruit in your body has only just reached your stomach and has not yet circulated throughout your body, so you cannot exert strength. Rest for a while before you leave."

Chen Shi had no choice but to sit down.

Strangely enough, he hadn't eaten much Ginseng Grass Fruit, but he felt a sense of fullness. The Ginseng Grass Fruit in his stomach began to digest, transforming into waves of heat that surged throughout his body, providing an indescribable comfort.

"Grandma, what kind of Ginseng Grass Fruit did you give me?" Chen Shi asked.

Granny Zhuang seemed to rarely talk to people before and was not good at conversation. After Chen Shi asked, she finally said, "It's the fruit of the fruit children."

Chen Shi became even more curious. "And what are the fruit children?"

Granny Zhuang replied, "The ginseng in the mountains has been around for thousands of years. Ginseng Grass Fruit is the fruit they bear. One fruit can save a life. You were too hungry, so I gave you a few more."

Chen Shi was startled. Those plump children were thousands of years old?

It's impossible to tell.

"Granny Zhuang, do you know about the Mountain Lord Temple?" Chen Shi asked after thinking for a moment.

"I do. That's the place you've been going to these past few days. Not long ago, it and that mountain erupted from the ground, growing this tall overnight. It grew much faster than I did."

Speaking of which, Granny Zhuang showed a look of envy.

She grew rather slowly.

Chen Shi's spirits lifted, and he chuckled, "The Mountain Lord Temple emerging from the ground indicates it was here before, but sank underground later. So, Granny, have you ever seen the Mountain Lord Temple from that time?"

Granny Zhuang recalled carefully and shook her head, "I've never seen it. As far back as I can remember, it's always been flat ground there. The mountain only appeared recently."

Chen Shi was startled.

Granny Zhuang was the largest tree he had ever seen, likely thousands of years old.

However, Granny Zhuang was merely a new branch that grew from beside the stump after her main body died!

Her main body was even older!

Doesn't this mean that the sinking of the Mountain Lord Temple underground happened before Granny Zhuang was born?

How ancient must that have been?

"My main body was likely destroyed six thousand years ago."

Granny Zhuang pondered, "I should have grown my body six thousand years ago."

Chen Shi quickly pressed on, "Does Granny have any memories from before her main body was destroyed?"

This was the first time Granny Zhuang had encountered such a question. She tried to recall, and suddenly her expression shifted, showing fear. She couldn't help but tremble, her voice hoarse, "Fire! So much thunder-fire! It severed my body! It's burning towards me!"

Her body trembled, and she shrank into the corner, helpless like a little girl.

Chen Shi quickly went forward to comfort her.

"For Granny to be this terrified, it seems the upheaval six thousand years ago was no small matter. Could this be related to the Mountain Lord Temple sinking underground?"

Chen Shi mused, but quickly cast the question aside, "I'm just a child of ten-odd years, why should I concern myself with these adult matters?"

The medicinal effects of the Ginseng Grass Fruit were indeed potent, truly a divine medicine capable of reviving the dead and mending broken bones. However, after eating these fruits, Chen Shi felt hungry again after half a day.

"The Ginseng Grass Fruit's effects are stronger than Grandpa's medicine, but only slightly," Chen Shi thought.

Two days later, the Chen family was eaten out of house and home, and Huangpo Village was also eaten out of house and home.

Even Granny Sha from Gangzi Village found herself unable to make ends meet because of Chen Shi.

In the past few days, Granny Sha's gaze towards Chen Shi was no longer that of a loving son, but of a debt-collecting scoundrel.

"If I keep freeloading, the villagers will starve to death with me."

Chen Shi reflected. He couldn't just consume resources endlessly. He needed the crops to grow before he could harvest the next batch. Thus, he decided to go into the mountains to hunt.

The Great Serpent Xuan Shan coiled atop a peak of Ganyang Mountain, gazing into the distance. A rain had just passed, and now the clouds and mist in the mountains had dispersed. It was good weather.

It exhaled clouds, which were then blown away by the wind.

Suddenly, the ground in the valley shook violently, and a colossal beast, the size of a small mountain, charged out of the forest.

It was a Feng Xi.

A wild boar that lived for fifty years and grew to eight hundred jin was called a Xi, and could already be considered a spirit beast.

A Xi had a large head and a small body, with astonishing brute strength; even a fierce bull would be sent flying.

A Feng Xi, however, was a wild boar that had lived for over a hundred years. Its head occupied two-thirds of its body, its bristles were like steel spikes, its tusks were like ivory, capable of splitting mountains and shattering rocks, possessing boundless brute strength.

The Feng Xi charging out of the forest wasn't the largest; it stood nine feet at the shoulder, over two feet taller than an adult man. Its tusks were also over two feet long, as thick as an arm. It could easily lift several thousand jin of rock and knock down several large trees.

Yet, before this Feng Xi stood a small figure, its hands gripping the beast's two tusks, actually wrestling with it!

This figure was Chen Shi, thin as a rake, but possessing incredible strength. It was just that his size was far too small compared to the Feng Xi.

Man and beast wrestled. Chen Shi was pushed out of the forest by the Feng Xi, not because his strength was insufficient, but because he only had two legs. The ground couldn't bear the force transmitted from his legs, and he slid backward, plowing the earth.

"In terms of strength, you're no match for me!"

Chen Shi roared. He exerted force with his arms, prying apart the Feng Xi's two thick tusks. With a surge of power from his waist, with a rumble, he slammed the colossal creature to the ground!

The Feng Xi tried to get up, but Chen Shi's strength erupted as he pinned the pig's head and smashed its skull with several punches!

The Feng Xi twitched a few times and then lay still.

Chen Shi hoisted the mountain of meat that was the Feng Xi and strode swiftly towards a nearby mountain stream, fearing he would starve to death if he delayed.

The Great Serpent Xuan Shan watched from afar as Chen Shi busied himself by the stream.

It did not interfere with these matters.

It was survival of the fittest. Once, it too had its era of bloody meals and hunted other spirit beasts.

It was watching Chen Shi.

By the stream, Chen Shi cleaned and butchered the spirit beast Feng Xi. He meticulously divided it into cuts like ribs, loin, innards, cartilage, ears, head meat, shank, and ham.

He then chopped down several large trees. Those suitable for roasting were set up on a spit, while those suitable for stewing were placed in his large pot to cook.

He even brought over the pot Old Chen's family used for boiling medicine.

The fatty meat from the Feng Xi was being roasted on pine wood until golden and oily, with coarse salt sprinkled on the ribs as they grilled.

He knows how to eat much better than I did back in the day, the Great Serpent Xuan Shan thought.

He continued watching Chen Shi, who was brushing oil onto the roasted ribs. The first rack of ribs, the size of a table, was already cooked.

Although the Feng Xi is a spirit beast, its gamey smell is strong and its meat is tough, making it difficult to chew.

Fortunately, Chen Shi had been tempering his body these days, and his teeth were getting stronger, so he could eat it without issue.

Especially the parts that were roasted to a crispy golden brown, which lacked the gamey smell. One bite made a satisfying crunch, and the oil, roasted to be crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, exploded in his mouth, moistening the eight thousand taste buds on his tongue. Every taste bud instantly secreted saliva, a truly delightful feast.

There was spiritual energy within the flesh and blood. When it entered his stomach, the spiritual energy erupted, transforming into nourishment that moisturized Chen Shi's internal organs, and his hunger immediately lessened greatly.

Seeing this, the Great Serpent Xuan Shan, who had dined on wind and dew for three thousand years, suddenly felt a bit hungry.

After a moment, the Great Serpent Xuan Shan watched as Chen Shi lifted the hind leg of the Feng Xi and walked towards him.

This hind leg was already roasted to be crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Fearing it was too large to cook through and absorb flavor, Chen Shi had carved deep marks into the leg, rubbed it with coarse salt, and stuffed the inside with fragrant leaves from various plants for thorough marination.

The Great Serpent Xuan Shan sniffed the aroma wafting from the Feng Xi's hind leg. After three thousand years of dining on wind and dew, it actually made him a little greedy.

Thank you to the Alliance Leader Huohuo Changge for the reward, the patron is so handsome!

Everyone, check your pockets for any spare monthly tickets. The new book period needs everyone's monthly tickets for support~