Eating Meat (Recommendations Welcome)

Inside the market.

Fang Xi wandered around for a while. Although he took a fancy to several things, his purse was painfully light, and there was truly nothing he could do.

He was especially tempted by a damaged wine-brewing recipe.

"Forget it... As for brewing wine, I can give it a try myself... I'll just use Spirit Bamboo Rice as the base ingredient. At worst, I'll brew less in one batch..."

"Brewing it with Spirit Rice probably won't have any other effects, but it should at least fill the stomach and replenish Spiritual Energy..."

As Fang Xi pondered, his feet unconsciously carried him to the talisman stall.

This was Master Zong's usual stall. It was purely a matter of bodily instinct—he had come hoping to find a hidden bargain.

However, Master Zong was absent today, and his Dao companion, Lu Zhi, had taken over the stall.

There happened to be another person beside the stall as well.

"Huh? Isn't this Daoist Chen?"

When Fang Xi saw Chen Ping, he smiled and stepped forward to greet him.

"Daoist Fang..."

Chen Ping's smile was somewhat unnatural. After exchanging a few perfunctory words, he quickly left.

"What talismans did Daoist Chen come to buy? Or was he stocking up on talisman paper and Spirit Sand?"

Fang Xi gazed at Chen Ping's back, then asked Lu Zhi about him, deep in thought.

"Bah, he's nothing but a lecher."

Lu Zhi had a full figure and a fiery temperament. Her cultivation was a solid Qi Refining Sixth Layer. She cursed, "That Chen brat has such a shifty, rat-faced look. Back when he shamelessly begged to learn talisman drawing from my husband, his eyes were always wandering..."

"Oh..."

Fang Xi gazed thoughtfully at Lu Zhi. He had to admit that she was indeed a great beauty.

Though she was somewhat older, she possessed a mature charm.

I never would have guessed that Chen Ping was into this sort of thing.

"What about you? If you want to buy talismans, spit it out. Don't waste this old lady's time!" Lu Zhi planted her hands on her hips. If Fang Xi had not been a regular customer, she would have started cursing too.

"I'm leaving, I'm leaving."

Fang Xi wore an apologetic smile as he returned to the Spirit Farmer shantytown.

Next door, Chen Ping was pacing anxiously around his own courtyard. When he saw Fang Xi return, he immediately came over and asked nervously, "Daoist Fang... Did Daoist Lu say anything?"

"Nothing, nothing..."

Fang Xi shook his head.

Looking at Chen Ping, who had clearly let out a huge sigh of relief, Fang Xi suddenly asked pensively, "Daoist Chen, have you ever gone out to have some fun?"

"This... Of course not."

Chen Ping's face instantly flushed crimson. He looked just like an innocent young man, making Fang Xi struggle not to laugh.

As a senior, Fang Xi could not help offering him a pointer. "As far as I know, Daoist Hong from Room Three in Area B and Red Bee Fairy from Room Seventeen in Area C are both quite warm and hospitable..."

"This... I'm not into that." Chen Ping immediately waved both hands frantically, though his eyes began darting left and right.

"Haha... Don't be so nervous. Hear me out." Fang Xi knew that young men like this had the hardest time resisting the allure of mature women. "Although those two Daoists are somewhat older, they're both exceptionally considerate..."

"Really?" When Chen Ping heard the description "somewhat older," his eyes lit up, and he looked at Fang Xi as though he had found a kindred spirit.

Seeing this, Fang Xi inwardly chuckled.

The four great bonds of life applied even to interpersonal relationships in the Cultivation World.

After deepening his friendship with Chen Ping, Fang Xi returned to his room and went down to the basement, where he stared blankly at over ten jin of Taisui Meat.

Fatty Han was a generous man and had given him some extra Taisui Meat. Now, more than ten jin of meat lay there in two huge chunks, creating quite a shocking sight.

"Taisui Meat... According to Mu Piaomiao, it has to be eaten after being cooked. Roasting or boiling are both fine..."

Fang Xi cut off a strip of meat, built a fire, and slowly roasted it.

As the flames seared it, the pale Taisui Meat gradually turned slightly golden brown, releasing a unique fragrance that made one's mouth water.

"What a wonderful smell. I never expected Daliang to have such ingredients!"

Fang Xi's eyes lit up.

He glanced at the Spring Return Talisman and Clear Spirit Pill beside him, and his confidence swelled. He took a fierce bite of the roasted meat.

"Mmm..."

The moment the roasted Taisui Meat entered his mouth, sweet juices burst out. The savory fragrance of the roast continuously stimulated his taste buds, while an indescribable freshness spread through his mouth, even stirring an urge to cry.

He blew out hot breaths and, before he knew it, had finished the Taisui Meat in two or three bites.

The next moment, Fang Xi's expression changed, and he clutched his stomach.

He could feel that the originally delicious Taisui Meat had transformed into lumps of burning charcoal the instant it entered his stomach!

The scorching heat exploded, washing over his stomach walls again and again.

The heat spread uncontrollably, flowing into his organs and through every limb and bone...

Hot!

It was clearly only early spring, yet large beads of sweat began to seep from Fang Xi's forehead.

His clothes were already soaked through, and sweat poured from his body.

There even seemed to be faint traces of scarlet mixed into the perspiration!

"Even the so-called 'body-tempering elixirs' of Mortal Realm Martial Artists are probably only this potent, right?"

Fang Xi's heart churned like a furnace as well.

"On top of that, the roasted Taisui Meat has such an enticing fragrance. If someone couldn't control their appetite and ate too much... they'd die from it!"

"No wonder Fatty Han, who sold me the meat, was worried I'd eat myself to death... If this were an ordinary Martial Artist at the Three Changes of Qi and Blood, they really might be unable to resist the temptation, eat a few more bites, and then burst from overeating..."

Fang Xi was not merely a Martial Artist. He was also a cultivator.

He rose to his feet, forcibly controlled his muscles with Spiritual Awareness, assumed a stance, and began practicing White Cloud Palm.

Smack! Smack!

Both his palms turned pitch-black, and every strike sent powerful palm winds sweeping through the Secret Chamber.

Only after a little more than half an hour did Fang Xi withdraw his palms and stop his practice.

He examined his body internally and was immediately delighted. "My qi and blood actually increased this much in one go? Demon Meat truly is the supreme body-tempering medicine!"

After his delight faded, he frowned slightly. "The medicinal effect is still a little too fierce. No wonder only the Martial Hall Master dares to eat it regularly. A Martial Artist at the Three Changes of Qi and Blood only eats a tiny bit when breaking through..."

Through the Spiritual Awareness of a cultivator, Fang Xi even discovered that the rampaging qi and blood had caused minute injuries throughout his body.

If he left them alone, he would not feel much under normal circumstances, and they would not even affect his future martial training.

But once they accumulated to a certain extent, they would inevitably erupt violently. This was what it meant for small troubles to become an insurmountable burden.

"Fortunately, I can examine my body internally... I'll prescribe the right medicine and heal the injuries first."

This was a cultivator's advantage.

Not only could Fang Xi detect his current qi-and-blood injuries, he could also find and treat the hidden injuries and toxins accumulated while practicing Poison Palm, expelling them one by one.

As a result, his physical constitution far surpassed that of Martial Artists at the same level, and his condition was astonishingly good.

After examining himself and realizing that his injuries were only minor, Fang Xi immediately put away the Clear Spirit Pill and Spring Return Talisman.

After all, both had to be purchased with Spirit Crystals.

For ordinary injuries like these, he could simply circulate the Evergreen Art and heal them completely over the course of a few days.

The Evergreen Art was a basic Wood Attribute Cultivation Method. Although its progress and power were truly mediocre, Wood Attribute cultivation methods at least possessed the special effects of healing injuries and even nourishing the body.

With that thought, Fang Xi no longer hesitated. He immediately sat cross-legged and silently circulated his cultivation method.

The Evergreen Art was exceptionally balanced and peaceful, and it also possessed healing effects.

After one complete cycle, he opened his mouth and spat out a small mouthful of black blood.

"Cough, cough..."

He rinsed his mouth with a little clean water. As he wiped his lips, Fang Xi examined himself internally and nodded to himself. "Two more times should be enough to heal it..."

"At this rate, I can eat Taisui Meat once every three days."

"With this helping me, my qi and blood will accumulate at lightning speed. I might be able to challenge the Martial Hall Master realm next month!"

If it had been Mu Piaomiao, she absolutely would not have dared to eat like this. Otherwise, before breaking through, she would have suffered all manner of internal injuries and died from her blood bursting.

"Completing one body-tempering breakthrough in a few months. Not bad, not bad."

Fang Xi was extremely satisfied with this progress.

He had only been practicing martial arts for half a winter. After spending another month, he would be able to enter the Martial Hall Master realm.

The Martial Hall Masters of the Great Liang World, such as Mu Canglong, had already shown Fang Xi their strength. They were roughly comparable to cultivators who had completed one body-tempering breakthrough, equivalent to the early Qi Refining stage.

"This speed is actually astonishing... If it were Qi Refining, breaking through one layer in several months would make someone a rare genius, even in the early Qi Refining stage."

"And if a cultivator who has completed one body-tempering breakthrough got in close, they would be capable of threatening a Qi Refining Third Layer cultivator."

"Not to mention that there are even higher realms after the Martial Hall Master realm."

At last, Fang Xi understood the benefits of Blood Qi Martial Arts.

It was fast!

After all, it was a martial path created by mortals to compete and prove their strength. Its progress was naturally far faster than that of cultivation methods!

"If I can break through to the realm above Martial Hall Master, I might be comparable to a mid-Qi Refining body cultivator. Then I'll have struck it rich!"

"More importantly, it's a shortcut to success!"

"If my body becomes comparable to that of a mid-Qi Refining cultivator, perhaps I can slightly loosen my restrictions in the Green Bamboo Mountain Market and sell some Yao Beast Meat?"

Fang Xi's eyes gleamed faintly.

Yao Beast Meat was even more expensive than Spirit Rice!

More importantly, buying Yao Beast Meat in Daliang did not require spirit stones at all—only a little gold and silver. That was pure profit without capital!

As long as he could keep it up, perhaps even the resources he needed for Foundation Establishment could be accumulated with ease!