Mooches a Meal

Yi Yun knew he was just an ordinary person. In fact, his body could have been described as completely lacking strength just two months prior. The old man's evaluation of "also ordinary" was quite tactful.

Yi Yun was a little worried. The old man had already opened his Heavenly Eye, yet he couldn't see the Purple Crystal in his heart...

"Ordinary roots, poor background, yet able to..." The old man thought for a moment, then suddenly saw the pool behind Yi Yun, and a flash of inspiration struck him.

He reached out to touch Yi Yun's body again, causing Yi Yun to break out in goosebumps all over.

What is this old man doing? Doesn't he know men shouldn't touch each other like this!

"I understand now. You child must have consumed some kind of heavenly treasure, and then tempered your body at the bottom of this deep pool. The violent energy of the heavenly treasure and the cold pool water canceled each other out, and by chance, it refined your entire body, allowing you to reach this level!"

Hearing the old man's words, Yi Yun secretly marveled. This old man was too amazing. Although his guess wasn't entirely accurate, it was actually very close to the truth.

"Considering your young age, achieving this is not easy. Although it's due to your good luck in consuming a heavenly treasure, and although in the future... you'll probably just be so-so, it's still not easy!"

Yi Yun rolled his eyes at the old man's words. Was he praising me or insulting me!

"I say, kid, it's fate that we met..." the old man said, reaching into his embrace as if to pull something out.

Yi Yun's eyes lit up. Was this a windfall? Did this old man, because he appreciated him, want to give him some cultivation techniques, Savage Bone Essence? Even some elixirs would be fine!

The old man's hand was plump and fleshy, with a flashy Jade Thumb Ring on his thumb, not at all like the dry, withered hands of an old person.

He pulled out his hand, his chubby fist clenched tightly, like a white steamed bun, and placed it in Yi Yun's palm, then gently loosened his grip.

Clink, clink!

A handful of Copper Coins fell into Yi Yun's hand, still warm from the old man's palm.

Copper Coins?

Three black lines appeared on Yi Yun's forehead.

"Take this and buy some candy," the old man said with a smile, waving his hand as if he were being very generous. Beside him, the girl in coarse linen also smiled slightly, clearly treating Yi Yun like a child.

"Damn it!"

Yi Yun looked at the roughly twenty-odd Copper Coins in his hand, and a million alpacas ran through his mind.

In this world, mortals still used gold, silver, and copper as currency. However, in Yunhuang, gold and silver were merely auxiliary means of payment. The real hard currency was grain, Armor, and weapons.

This old man was clearly a master, but when traveling, it was inevitable to carry some mortal currency.

Using silver ingots to buy things was a large denomination in the mortal world. For ordinary inns or meals, Copper Coins were also essential.

So it wasn't strange for the old man to have Copper Coins.

But...

For those masters, let alone Copper Coins, even the value of gold and silver was actually very low. If you were going to give something, why not give a few Gold Ingots!

Yi Yun was speechless.

Actually, thinking about his own idea of getting something for nothing was quite demeaning. Poverty shortens ambition; it's true.

He had used up all his cultivation resources and had only reached the Meridian Realm. The perfection of body tempering looked beautiful, but if he didn't reach the Purple Blood Realm, how would he dare to hunt in the Great Wilderness? If he didn't hunt, what would he eat? Would he just eat coarse grain porridge?

And even with the coarse grain porridge, Jiang Xiaorou always gave the thicker portion to Yi Yun and drank the thinner portion herself.

Yi Yun endured hunger himself, and also made Jiang Xiaorou endure hunger with him.

Yi Yun grumbled inwardly, but still put away the handful of Copper Coins. It was better than nothing. He could give them to Jiang Xiaorou, or exchange them with the Tribe or his tribesmen for a meal.

Indeed, there was no such thing as free pie from the sky.

It made sense. In the eyes of this old man, he was still a child. Giving him some Copper Coins to buy candy was just teasing him.

Although he had achieved body tempering perfection, his roots were ordinary, and he had only reached this level through heavenly treasures. There was nothing particularly noteworthy about him.

He was young, poor, and weak. He had only met this stingy old man by chance. Why would the old man give him any benefits?

He was probably just amused and teasing him.

"Senior, where are you two headed?" Yi Yun asked, making conversation.

Getting to know this old man wouldn't hurt.

"We're going to the Tao Clan." The old man didn't hide anything.

"Tao Clan..." Yi Yun knew that the Tao Clan was a large Tribe near the Lian Clan, and it was the patron of the Lian Clan!

The Lian Clan usually produced weapons and Armor, which were supplied to the Tao Clan.

This old man and young woman were clearly people of status. Their ability to traverse Yunhuang at will was enviable.

Yi Yun suddenly remembered that a few days ago, Zhang Yuxian had instructed the Lian Clan that something big was happening in Yunhuang, and many important figures might pass by the Lian Clan. He had told the Tribe Leader of the Lian Clan not to neglect them.

Now it seemed that this old man and the girl were the so-called important figures!

The old man had originally intended to leave, but as he lifted his foot, he suddenly felt a bit hungry. He looked up at the sun, touched his plump, cleft chin, and said, "It's time for lunch again. This place has nice scenery, with mountains and water, and it's clean. Let's just eat here."

"Eat?"

Hearing this word, Yi Yun immediately felt... hungry. He was truly hungry.

For two consecutive months, he had been drinking coarse grain porridge, relying on the energy from medicinal herbs and Savage Bone Essence to sustain himself. But just last night, he ventured into the depths of the water pool and, in one go, digested all the energy he had absorbed.

Now, Yi Yun's body felt completely empty, inside and out.

"Sigh, disciple, let's eat," the fat old man called out to Jiang Xiaorou.

Jiang Xiaorou nodded and looked at Yi Yun, then said, "Young man, why don't you join us for a meal?"

"Huh?" Yi Yun was slightly taken aback, but his heart immediately rejoiced. He found the young woman's voice incredibly pleasant. "Uh... I wouldn't want to impose..."

Although Yi Yun said this, he had already found a spot to sit down.

This old man and this young woman were clearly no ordinary people. Their food couldn't possibly be ordinary either!

Even some casual dishes would be greatly beneficial to his cultivation!

The fat old man was about to start a fire when he saw Yi Yun was already planning to stay. He scoffed dismissively, but since his disciple had spoken, he had no choice but to accept.

He touched the Jade Thumb Ring on his right hand and, as if by magic, produced three plucked wild chickens. He skewered them with wooden sticks and propped them up beside the fire.

The old man's Jade Thumb Ring was like Doraemon's magical pocket. In no time, he produced a pile of bottles and jars, all filled with seasonings.

Yi Yun's eyes widened with envy. He had initially thought the old man wearing the thumb ring was just showing off, but he never expected it to be a treasure that could hold the universe in a mustard seed.

It seemed this was what legends called a "Space Ring" or something similar.

"Heh heh, today you're lucky, kid. Not many people get to taste my cooking!"

The old man said, rubbing his hands together, and picked up a wild chicken to start roasting.

Only then did Yi Yun notice that this was no ordinary wild chicken. It looked like a wild chicken, but it contained extremely rich energy. Yi Yun saw floating light spots on it; this energy was very pure and made him salivate.

Yi Yun felt his mouth water. What a delicacy!

He hadn't tasted meat in two months, and now seeing a plump, delicious wild chicken, one that contained pure energy at that, how could he not drool?

He wished he could immediately roast this chicken and devour it.

However, Yi Yun soon found himself speechless when he saw the old man's grilling method.

The old man's so-called "cooking skills" were truly... unbearable to watch!