The Uninhabited Realm

After eating and drinking his fill, he let the river breeze blow over him for a while before stowing the grill and other items back into his Qiankun Pouch. He returned to the Guardian Cave Abode, stumbling back to his room in a drunken stupor to sleep.

As for the incident with the gluttonous rat while grilling, he dismissed it as a mere curiosity of daily life and quickly cast it from his mind.

For the next three days, Shen Mo's daily routine remained strictly disciplined.

He spent his mornings refining pills, his afternoons crafting talismans, and his evenings practicing the Thunderbolt Quickstep to improve his proficiency in this light-body immortal art.

It was not until this day, when he had some leisure time, that he took out the last three jin of neck meat from the Two-Headed Silver-Ringed Python and prepared another barbecue.

"Once this meal is finished, there will be none left."

As Shen Mo skewered the meat with bamboo sticks, he sprinkled the barbecue seasoning over it.

Back when he had slain the Two-Headed Silver-Ringed Python in the Zhao Family Spirit Field, he had used a Separating Fire Talisman.

The flames of the Separating Fire Talisman were so intense that the Two-Headed Python, which weighed several hundred jin, had been reduced to charred remains, leaving not a single piece of good meat on its entire body.

He had spent a long time carefully dissecting it before he managed to salvage ten jin of prime meat that hadn't been ruined by the scorching fire.

With these few grilling sessions, those ten jin of python meat were finally exhausted.

"However, there is still plenty of seasoning left. Even though the python meat is gone, I can always use other meat for grilling."

Flipping the golden-brown roasted python meat, Shen Mo thought to himself.

When he had visited the market last time, he had confirmed the ingredients for the barbecue rub and bought a large quantity at once, ensuring he would not run out for at least a year.

And here at the Guardian Cave Abode, although there was no stock of spirit meat from second-tier monsters like the Two-Headed Python, the River-Facing Sect frequently sent people to deliver food, the most common of which was Red-Browed Deer meat.

The Red-Browed Deer was one of the most common types of low-tier monsters.

Its meat was firm and tender with a decent flavor, and most importantly, it yielded a large amount of meat, so there were people who specifically hunted it to sell as food.

Some cultivators even cleared land to raise Red-Browed Deer just like mortals raised livestock, specifically for consumption.

However, no matter how good the Red-Browed Deer tasted, it was still a low-tier monster; in terms of deliciousness and the spiritual energy it contained, it could hardly be compared to the Two-Headed Silver-Ringed Python.

While he was lost in thought, the grilled meat was basically cooked.

The aroma wafted through the air, making his mouth water.

Shen Mo wrapped the cooked python meat in a lotus leaf, placed it on the table, and was just about to start his meal.

Suddenly!

With a "whoosh," a black shadow darted in from afar and scrambled onto the table.

"What is going on?"

Shen Mo stared at the black shadow, stunned and utterly bewildered.

This black shadow was none other than the giant rat that had stolen his barbecue on the banks of the Shiping River three days ago!

"I've only just started, and you've already tracked the scent to my doorstep?"

This wasn't just absurd; it was completely off the charts!

One had to know that the Guardian Cave Abode at the Mystic Crystal Mine was protected by restrictions specifically set by a formation master from the River-Facing Sect.

Daily entry and exit required a token to verify and lift the barrier.

Without the token to deactivate the restrictions, it was impossible to enter the cave abode directly.

Unless one used brute force to attack the barrier and break into the cave.

But if that were the case, the moment the barrier showed the slightest fluctuation, disciples holding cave tokens like Shen Mo and Guo Zhao would have sensed the anomaly immediately.

Shen Mo was completely baffled: "How did you get in?"

With so many restrictions, how could this giant rat enter as if it were walking through an empty courtyard, appearing here so brazenly?

Facing Shen Mo's scrutinizing, suspicious gaze, the giant rat didn't care in the slightest.

Its mung-bean-sized eyes could only perceive the fragrant python meat barbecue on the table.

"Ying! Ying! Ying!"

It stood on its tiptoes and let out a few squeaks at Shen Mo, seemingly urging him to share the meat.

But this time, Shen Mo did not do so.

Seeing this, it plucked up the courage to run over to the python meat itself, tore off a small piece with its teeth, and began to chew it ravenously.

It seemed to be completely obsessed with the secret barbecue flavor Shen Mo had brought from Earth.

With its bulging cheeks moving constantly as it chewed the python meat, the giant rat's eyes curved into crescents.

It seemed to be deriving infinite joy from the delicious meat.

Shen Mo let it be, choosing not to stop it.

Mainly, he was busy opening his Destiny Panel to equip his special [Monster Knower] destiny.

"This giant rat doesn't seem like an ordinary Gold-Devouring Rat; I must take a look!"

As the [Monster Knower] destiny was activated, a screen of information immediately came into view.

[Monster Knower: Records of Observations]

[Silver-Ringed Demon Snake] [Two-Headed Silver-Ringed Python] [Stone Spirit]

[Gold-Devouring Rat] [Red-Browed Deer] [Spirit-Hidden Rat]

"Spirit-Hidden Rat?" Seeing this final, unfamiliar piece of monster information appear, Shen Mo raised an eyebrow.

As expected, the large rat before him was not the common Gold-Devouring Rat!

Check the information!

With a thought, he connected to the Monster Knower Manual, intending to view the detailed information on the Spirit-Hidden Rat.

[You are attempting to pry into the information of a First-Order High-Grade monster, the Spirit-Hidden Rat; this requires the consumption of one low-grade Spirit Stone.]

Shen Mo quickly took a low-grade Spirit Stone from his robes and offered it as a sacrifice.

"Hum!"

A golden light flickered past; the spiritual energy of the Spirit Stone was drained clean by the [Monster Knower Manual], turning into scattered dust.

At the same time, information regarding the Spirit-Hidden Rat appeared before Shen Mo's eyes.

[Monster: Spirit-Hidden Rat]

[Realm: First-Order Peak.]

[Brief Description: Although this beast mingles among Gold-Devouring Rats, it is no ordinary creature. It possesses a trace of the bloodline of an ancient remnant species and enjoys eating meat.

Due to ancestral bloodline reversion, it possesses the innate ability (Hide-Self), allowing it to ignore restrictive formations and making it most adept at finding all kinds of treasures.]

[Weakness: ???]

"This large rat actually possesses a trace of an ancient remnant species' bloodline and can ignore restrictive formations!"

"No wonder it broke into my Guardian Cave Abode so easily!"

After reading through it, Shen Mo finally understood the reason, and his gaze toward the large rat changed.

"Ying ying!" Seeming to sense Shen Mo's gaze, the Spirit-Hidden Rat, which was currently gorging itself and tearing into the roasted meat, suddenly paused. Its mung-bean-sized eyes stared nervously at Shen Mo, as if afraid the other party would drive it away.

"No need to worry." A warm smile appeared on Shen Mo's face. "Eat to your heart's content; today, it's my treat."

Having seen such an exotic beast with an innate ability for the first time, he pondered for a moment and already had some ideas, generously giving all the roasted meat to it.

"If you aren't full, there is more here; it's all yours." He pushed the plate of roasted meat toward the Spirit-Hidden Rat and spoke.

The Spirit-Hidden Rat was slightly stunned, then overjoyed. It pulled all the roasted meat in front of itself and began to gnaw on it happily once more.

Shen Mo stood to the side, watching it wolf down the food, his smile growing ever deeper.

This little rat was quite interesting!