Fire-Chick

The meat in the bowl was a pale golden yellow, crystal-clear in texture. It looked like a Chicken Leg, yet it was about as large as the pork knuckles Mo Hua had eaten in his previous life.

The broth was clear and bright, with a thin sheen of oil floating atop it—rich but not greasy. It was garnished with mushrooms and other vegetables, along with small pieces of emerald-green herbs.

Mo Hua had not eaten meat in a long time. The last time had been during the Monster Hunting Festival half a year ago.

Meat was expensive in the cultivation world. Unless it was a holiday or festival, ordinary cultivators rarely got to eat it.

The meat cultivators ate generally fell into two categories. One was the meat of spirit beasts.

Spirit beasts differed from demonic beasts. They were raised by cultivators and fed spirit herbs and all kinds of natural spiritual treasures. Their meat was tender, easy to cook, and contained spiritual energy, which made it extremely expensive—far beyond what Rogue Cultivators could afford.

The other kind was the meat of herbivorous demonic beasts.

All demonic beasts killed people, but not all of them ate people. Demonic beasts that fed on all kinds of spirit herbs might be violent by nature and slaughter cultivators, but they would not eat cultivators' flesh.

Carnivorous demonic beasts, on the other hand, had basically all eaten people. If one had not, it was not because it did not eat people, but merely because it had yet to encounter a cultivator it could eat.

Thus, although herbivorous demonic beast meat had a strange odor, cultivators could still eat it. Carnivorous demonic beast meat, however, was bloody and foul, difficult to swallow. If cultivators ate it by mistake, it could easily contaminate their blood and qi, throwing their meridians into disorder; some even lost their minds and went mad.

Though herbivorous demonic beast meat was not costly, ordinary cultivators still would not eat it.

The bodies of demonic beasts were far stronger than those of cultivators, and herbivorous demonic beasts were no exception. Their meat was too tough to bite through. To eat it, one had to stew it over a fire for a long time before it could be chewed and swallowed.

Rogue Cultivators simply could not spare that effort. And cultivators who could afford to spare it would choose to eat spirit beast meat directly.

Therefore, no matter what kind of meat it was, it was rarely seen on the tables of Rogue Cultivators.

Yet white steam curled from the bowl of meat before him. Though faint, it clearly carried a trace of spiritual energy.

Liu Ruhua beckoned to Mo Hua. "This is Fire-Chick meat. Your father bought it to nourish you."

As she spoke, she could not help pinching Mo Hua's pale little cheek. "Look at you. You've gotten so thin lately."

Mo Hua was somewhat reluctant and could not help asking, "This meat must be rather expensive, right?"

Mo Shan waved a hand. "We only bought half of one. It did not cost many Spirit Stones. Besides, we bought it from a friend in the Monster Hunting Squad. We'll be working together next year, so it was half bought, half gifted—just a way of building ties."

Mo Hua said, "Father, are you going into the Inner Mountain next year?"

Mo Shan nodded. "It's hard to get by in the Outer Mountain now. The gains from killing a demonic beast are too low. If someone gets injured, we may even end up losing more than we earn. The demonic beasts in the Inner Mountain are stronger, but if we get anything good from them, we can live easily for a while. So next year..."

Mo Shan suddenly stopped and could not help laughing. "Why am I telling you all this?"

Liu Ruhua cast Mo Shan a light glance and ladled a bowl of meat soup for Mo Hua. "Try it. See how it tastes."

Mo Hua took a sip of the soup, then a bite of meat. The broth was fresh, the meat fragrant, fatty yet not greasy—perfect in color, aroma, and taste.

It was the best meat Mo Hua had ever eaten.

Mo Hua narrowed his eyes and praised, "Mother, you made it so delicious!"

Liu Ruhua could not help smiling as well. "If it's good, eat more. This whole bowl is yours, so make sure you finish it." With that, she headed toward the kitchen. "There are still some other dishes. I'll bring them out..."

Mo Shan rose to his feet. "I'll help you..."

Seeing that both his parents had gone to the kitchen, Mo Hua picked out several pieces of Fire-Chick meat and placed them in his own bowl, dividing the rest into his parents' bowls.

When Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua returned carrying dishes, they found their own bowls piled high with meat.

Both gratified and amused, Liu Ruhua said, "This meat was bought especially for you. At our age, your father and I can no longer hope for much progress in cultivation. Eating meat with spiritual energy would just be a waste..."

Liu Ruhua picked up some meat to put into Mo Hua's bowl, but Mo Hua covered his bowl with both hands and shook his head. "I have enough. I can't finish any more."

Mo Hua covered his bowl and refused to eat another bite no matter what they said.

Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua had no choice but to give up, only to begin pushing the meat back and forth between themselves.

Mo Shan placed some meat into his wife's bowl and said softly, "You've worked hard all these years. Eat more and nourish yourself..."

Liu Ruhua put the meat back into her husband's bowl and replied gently, "You're the one who runs about outside, braving wind and sleeping in the open. You're the one who has it hard. You should eat more..."

Mo Hua's teeth ached from hearing it, and he could not help saying, "Father, Mother, if you don't eat soon, the meat will get cold."

Mo Shan and Liu Ruhua had forgotten that their son was beside them. Now, seeing his watery eyes watching from the side, Liu Ruhua's face reddened slightly. Mo Shan gave a light cough and began eating as though nothing had happened.

Only after seeing both his parents eat the meat in their bowls did Mo Hua nod in satisfaction.

Then he thought that although Fire-Chick meat was delicious, it was too expensive.

Demonic beast meat might not contain spiritual energy, but it could replenish blood and qi, so it would surely benefit cultivators. It was just that demonic beast meat was truly too hard to chew...

Was there any way to let Father and Mother eat more meat?

Mo Hua temporarily set that thought aside. The most important thing now was to finish drawing the Bright Fire Formation and exchange it for Spirit Stones with Fat Manager at the trading house.

After dinner, Mo Hua returned to his room and meditated for a while to digest the Fire-Chick meat. Since it did not contain much spiritual energy, it did not take long.

Once he had refined all the spiritual energy, Mo Hua continued drawing the Bright Fire Formation. Before going to sleep that night, he finally completed another formation successfully.

Afterward, Mo Hua went to sleep and continued drawing Array Techniques on the Dao Stele, reinforcing his memory of the formations over and over while reflecting on the flaws in his brushwork.

At dawn, he meditated and cultivated, then continued drawing Array Techniques. He completed one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Both succeeded, but his spiritual sense was somewhat depleted. After dinner, he had no choice but to rest for a while before entering Dream Entry that night and continuing to draw Array Techniques on the Dao Stele.

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By the fourth day, Mo Hua's brushwork had become much more practiced, and his spiritual sense also seemed a little stronger. Or perhaps he simply understood the Bright Fire Formation more thoroughly, so it consumed less spiritual sense. After drawing two formations during the day, he still had enough strength after dinner to draw another. However, because he was a little too eager, he made an error with his strokes, and the formation failed.

After falling asleep that night, Mo Hua continued reflecting and summarizing within his Sea of Consciousness, using the Dao Stele to practice drawing Array Techniques.

On the fifth day, Mo Hua spent the entire day drawing three Bright Fire Formations, and all of them succeeded. His spiritual sense was somewhat overdrawn, leaving him dizzy and muddleheaded, but he no longer suffered the agonizing pain of his head feeling as though it would split open. Closing his eyes and focusing his mind for a while was enough for him to recover.

By then, Mo Hua had used up all ten sets of formation materials entrusted to him by the trading house and had successfully drawn eight Bright Fire Formations.

Though they had some flaws and there was still much room for improvement, he was generally satisfied.

That night, Mo Hua indulged himself a little. Rather than continuing to practice Array Techniques on the Dao Stele, he drew several comic strips on it purely for amusement.

The next day, after Mo Hua got up and finished breakfast, he arranged to go shopping with Da Hu and the other two.

Mo Hua placed the completed formations in his Storage Bag and slung it over his shoulder. Before he left, Liu Ruhua tucked a Spirit Stone and five-tenths of a broken Spirit Stone into his hand, telling him to buy something if he saw any tasty food or fun toys. She also carefully reminded him to stay safe.

Da Hu and the others patted their chests and declared that they would protect Mo Hua and not let anyone bully him.

Mo Hua waved to his mother, then went out with his three little companions.

Da Hu and the other three were lively by nature, hopping and skipping all the way.

On the bustling stone-paved street, three sturdy, tiger-headed young boys and one porcelain-doll-like little child skipped along...