Meat Distribution

There was no distinction between day and night in the secret realm. The world was forever dim and murky, yet several orange-yellow flames now flickered up, carrying the bloody stench of demonic beasts.

Clustered around several bonfires, the students from Field No. 8 occupied the largest area, their backs against the three-meter-tall trunk that remained after the Demon Plant had fallen.

The bald boy wiped the blood from his face and ran over to Jiang Qiu with a grin. "Brother Jiang, our Field No. 5 has already moved the remaining twenty-one Red-Armored Great Lizards."

Following the direction of his finger, Jiang Qiu saw a mound of dark-red corpses piled between the forks of two Demon Plant roots.

"Good. Thanks for the hard work."

"It was nothing, nothing. Whatever you tell us to do, Brother Jiang, we'll do it. You gave us these lives!"

The bald boy awkwardly rubbed his blood-smeared hands over his head. His torn left eyelid was swollen and red, half-closing that eye and making his eyes look uneven.

The first time they had encountered Jiang Qiu outside, he had saved them and kept them from being forcibly removed from the Practical Training Hunt.

The second time, Jiang Qiu had even broken a certain-death situation and spared them from dying.

What else could possibly be troublesome?

Before Jiang Qiu could say more, the leading student from another field waved and ran over. "Brother Jiang, the Iron-Armored Lizard corpses have been moved by all six fields!"

"Good."

"We've also dragged all the students who stopped breathing together. There are twenty-seven in total. Should we bury them here or burn them?"

"Leave them. When the secret realm spits us all back out, their parents can take them home."

"Alright!"

Having received his orders, the leading students from the various fields rallied those who still had strength left. Everything proceeded in an orderly manner. Jiang Qiu shifted his gaze slightly and saw Liu Zili strolling over, shallow bloody dimples on her cheeks and bright eyes gleaming as she held three jade-white fruits in her arms.

"Jiang Qiu, Xie Kuang found these Demon Plant Fruits and asked me to give them to you."

Jiang Qiu accepted the Demon Plant Fruits and paused in slight surprise. His gaze slowly swept over the figures sitting by the bonfires nursing their wounds, the Field No. 8 students cutting up the Red-Armored Great Lizards, and the people in the distance moving corpses. "Where's Xie Kuang?"

"He dragged off an Iron-Armored Lizard."

Following her slender, bloodstained fingertip, he saw a black sesame seed dragging a jagged black bean toward the edge of his vision. They were already a thousand meters away.

Going so far meant he was probably leaving. Every living thing that entered the secret realm would eventually be spat back out again.

After a moment of silence.

Jiang Qiu turned to Liu Zili, who always seemed to have a smile on her face, and the corner of his lips naturally lifted. "Thank you for the Blood Boil Liquid. You weren't seriously hurt, were you?"

"No, no. I'm just a little tired."

Liu Zili shook her head, the short hair by her cheeks swaying like a swing as starlight shimmered in her almond-shaped eyes.

"Eat more Red-Armored Great Lizard meat later. They're mid-tier demonic beasts, so they'll help restore more strength. We might have to survive on Beast Meat for the dozen or so days before the secret realm opens again. Rest properly and go sit by the bonfire."

"Mhm."

Liu Zili nodded, wiped the backs of her fingers across her eyes, leaving behind two faint glimmers, then quietly sat down by the bonfire.

Jiang Qiu stared at her back with pursed lips for a long while. The image of that crimson glass bottle flying across the battlefield replayed over and over in his mind, and the pounding of his heart in that instant still echoed in his chest.

He owed her more than just one bottle of Blood Boil Liquid now.

"If she ever needs anything, I'll help if I can."

Muttering to himself, Jiang Qiu strolled into the distance to search. Along the way, unfamiliar injured students grinned and called him Brother Jiang. He merely nodded and grunted in response.

Now that all the demonic beasts were dead and the strongest Demon Plant had also fallen, they had meat to eat and fires to roast it over. Once the secret realm opened in a dozen days or so, they could probably get out.

But the biggest problem now was, where was his spearhead?

Jiang Qiu raised his brows and cast a heavy gaze into the dirt pit on the ground. He turned over several stones and casually pushed aside a few fragments of the Demon Plant's main trunk, but found no trace of it.

When the spear broke, it had clearly flown in this direction. How could he not find it?

That was the most valuable thing he owned. It was worth hundreds of thousands and would have been enough for him to use until he became a martial artist.

Was it just gone like that?

Could some demonic beast have happened to swallow it? Wouldn't that scratch its throat?

"Jiang Qiu."

A vigorous shout suddenly called out to him. Jiang Qiu raised his head and saw a youth with blood flowing from both eyes walking over. In his right hand, he held the broken spearhead, cold light flashing across its twin curved blades.

"Li Juefeng." Jiang Qiu accepted the spearhead, the tension in his chest easing. "Thank you."

"No, I should be thanking you."

Li Juefeng bared his teeth in a grin. His vision had long been blurred crimson with blood, but he puffed out his chest as his bones crackled. "That spear technique you used after entering the Mastery Realm was the spear move I've seen in my entire life that best matched what I pursue. Maybe I don't even need Spear Spirit Incense anymore. I've already found the direction I need to work toward!

"You're a true heavenly prodigy. You're even more suited than I was to receive a chance to enter the Heavenly Prodigy Project!"

"The Heavenly Prodigy Project... perhaps."

Jiang Qiu's eyes remained calm as his thoughts drifted back to before he had entered No.8 Middle School.

His parents had still been alive then. He often watched news that had nothing to do with him and had once imagined what a heavenly prodigy was.

They were probably like those top academic students in Jiangnan Province Region who did not study martial arts. There were always people who stood out, relying on extraordinary talent to attain exceptional social status outside the martial path.

They were selected as early as middle school, chosen by the Military Department as special College Entrance Exam Candidates. They learned spear techniques, learned bow techniques that demanded even greater accumulation, gained access to more martial resources, and were entrusted with greater expectations.

They took the college entrance exams too, but for them, it was merely training. Their qualifications to enter Northwest Martial Arts University had long since been decided.

Back then, the words "heavenly prodigy" had been far beyond his reach.

"Brother Jiang, the meat's done! Come eat!" Zhang Shan's booming voice pulled Jiang Qiu from his thoughts. Jiang Qiu raised a brow. "Let's go eat?"

"Alright."

Jiang Qiu led Li Juefeng back to the bonfire area beside the Demon Plant's remains. The fragrant scent of sizzling meat drifted overhead as students everywhere pursed their lips and watched him, along with Hu Yeye and the other Field No. 8 students responsible for roasting the meat.

"Brother Jiang, this Demon Plant trunk burns hot. Even these Red-Armored Great Lizard heads have been roasted crispy."

Jiang Qiu took the huge lizard head from Zhang Shan's hands, three or four times larger than his own head, and smiled with raised brows. "Hand out the meat. Why are you all just staring at me? If there isn't enough, keep roasting. Once the Red-Armored Great Lizards are gone, eat the Black-Armored Lizards."

"Alright—"

"Yeah—"

Drawn-out cheers rose one after another and shattered the stillness. Every student by the bonfires received a piece of mid-tier demonic beast meat larger than their own stomach.

Jiang Qiu quietly sat within the bonfire circle belonging to the Field No. 8 students, his back against the Demon Plant trunk. Zhang Shan was on his right, taking huge bites of belly meat, while Liu Zili was on his left, bent over a lizard thigh as she gnawed at it.

There was little conversation around the bonfires. The sounds of chewing rose and fell, playing together in a strange chorus.

He tore off several huge bites. The hot outer meat needed to be chewed for a long time, its tough texture stretching between his teeth like rubber before finally breaking apart and sliding down his throat, gradually stirring warmth through his organs.

The depleted blood in his body began flowing again, like a channel gate being opened.

Low-Quality Body Tempering x1

Iron Flesh

Trait: Copper Skin Iron Flesh, battling beasts barehanded

23/1000

One session of low-quality body tempering added 2 points, twice as much as extremely low-quality tempering. The efficiency was twice as high.

Thinking of that, Jiang Qiu puffed his cheeks as he chewed and glanced toward a backpack lying beside his legs. A jade-white gleam showed from its opening.

How much would eating the Demon Plant's three fruits add?