Daily Life in the Training Grounds

Daily Life in the Training Grounds

After cultivating for several hours, it was nearly time for lunch. Dugu Yan opened her eyes from meditation and looked at Chen Ming, her gaze somewhat complicated.

Although this kind of confrontational meditation was somewhat mentally exhausting, Dugu Yan could feel that her meditation speed had improved noticeably. But seeing Chen Ming still immersed in cultivation, she could not bring herself to ask anything further. She rubbed her stomach and headed toward the cave entrance.

Yet only a few minutes later, Dugu Yan, who had originally been heading for the cafeteria, returned even faster, her face filled with displeasure.

That rabble could not enter, but they had firmly blocked the entrance to the training grounds. The moment they saw her, every one of them began fawning over her. Some sang, some held flowers, and there were even some freaks who were neither man nor woman...

To Dugu Yan, this was more disgusting than ten thousand cockroaches.

"Were those people always this disgusting?" The moment Dugu Yan recalled it, her stomach churned slightly with revulsion. She simply stopped thinking about it, returned to her original spot, sat down again, and closed her eyes, intending to doze off for a while.

A few minutes later, Chen Ming woke from meditation. He stood up and stretched his limbs, and the sounds he made caused Dugu Yan, who was half-awake and half-asleep, to open her eyes.

Under Dugu Yan's watchful gaze, Chen Ming took a folding table from his Storage Soul Tool and placed it on the ground. Then he pulled out the food he had prepared, arranged it one by one on the table, and began eating.

Chen Ming had prepared some ordinary pastries, fruits, and specially made nutritional meals.

They were chunks of something resembling dried beef jerky. Their distinct medicinal smell made Dugu Yan, sitting nearby, wrinkle her nose. Even Chen Ming, who had eaten plenty of dark cuisine, had to take a bite of jerky, then a sip of fruit juice, followed by some fruit and pastries to balance it out.

Skipping one meal would not really affect anything, but Dugu Yan had been pampered by Dugu Bo since childhood. She usually ate and drank only the best, with fruits and pastries changing every day for all three meals.

It had been fine when Chen Ming was not eating, but now that he was, Dugu Yan found herself getting a little hungry too.

Feeling Dugu Yan's gaze, Chen Ming paused. He casually wiped his hands on his school uniform, then took out another set of bowls and chopsticks along with some jerky from his Storage Soul Tool and set them aside. Then he waved to Dugu Yan.

"If you're hungry, come have a little with me. It's just plain food, nothing good, but it'll fill your stomach."

"Sure." If Chen Ming had shamelessly insisted on treating her, Dugu Yan would never have eaten it. But this indifferent invitation piqued her interest instead.

She sat beside the small folding table, picked up a piece of jerky, sniffed it carefully, and then put it into her mouth. The pungent medicinal taste made her frown tightly, turning her pretty face into a rather comical expression.

From Chen Ming's reaction, she had known this stuff would taste bad, but she had never expected it to be this bad. It was far more bitter than any medicinal dishes she usually ate.

If Dugu Bo had been there, Dugu Yan would have acted spoiled and refused to eat it. But before a Soul Master her own age who, in every respect, was no worse than herself—or so Dugu Yan believed—she still cared about saving face.

She poured herself a cup of fruit juice from the jug beside her and rinsed her mouth, then ate several pieces of honey pastry. Only then did Dugu Yan's expression return to normal. When she looked again at the piece of jerky she had bitten, her eyes held a trace of curiosity.

She extended a finger, carefully tore off a tiny shred, and cautiously placed it in her mouth. Enduring the strange sensation brought by the medicinal taste, she began carefully savoring the ingredients in the jerky using the knowledge she had learned.

"Jade Phosphorous Serpent meat, vine-bone flower, Hundred Exhaustion Grass, Crimson Blood Lotus, and this bitterness... Blue Silver Grass? But why does the main ingredient feel so strange? It feels like I've never seen it before, yet why does it also seem a little familiar?"

Dugu Yan felt that the flavor seemed capable of stimulating her Martial Soul. Even if only by an insignificant amount, her Martial Soul seemed to become more active because of it.

"Just eat it. Once you've tried it, you won't have a word to say. This is good stuff. Even as the granddaughter of a Titled Douluo, you've definitely never tasted it. If I weren't favored at home, I wouldn't get to eat it either. You won't find a second source for this ingredient anywhere on the entire continent."

Chen Ming was not exaggerating in the slightest. Even though Dugu Yan was Dugu Bo's granddaughter, and Dugu Bo possessed the treasured land known as the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, she could never have tasted the primary raw ingredient.

What was the most important ingredient in this jerky?

The answer was Bilin Seven Absolute Flower juice!

Just as Chen Ming had previously guessed, the Bilin Seven Absolute Flower was also an Immortal Herb. However, ordinary people simply had no blessing to enjoy this Immortal Herb. If one wanted to eat it, the method had to be extremely particular, or it would literally kill them.

It was only after Chen Ming absorbed the Bilin Seven Absolute Flower's Soul Ring and gained a deeper understanding of its toxicity that the Chen Family developed the technique of using materials from the Bilin Seven Absolute Flower to create supplementary medicinal ingredients.

Though it was merely juice extracted from Bilin Seven Absolute Flowers that had not become soul beasts, it was still a rare and powerful tonic for Poison System Soul Masters. Long-term consumption could not only strengthen Soul Power, but even enhance one's Martial Soul.

If they had to name a drawback, the only flaw of medicinal ingredients prepared from Bilin Seven Absolute Flower juice was that they tasted extraordinarily awful. Even with more than ten kinds of spices added, it was difficult to conceal that peculiar flavor.

Eating just a little offered no real benefit, but the Bilin Seven Absolute Flower's inherent properties could still activate one's Martial Soul and temporarily increase cultivation speed.

Dugu Yan also wanted to ask what exactly the raw ingredient was, but considering that today was only their first meeting and they were not yet familiar with each other, she suppressed her curiosity and began eating the jerky bite by bite.

Chen Ming had five or six bottles of fruit juice stored in his Storage Soul Tool, each containing two liters. Normally, half a bottle was enough for him during a meal. Yet during this meal, Dugu Yan alone drank two whole large bottles of fruit juice.

After eating and drinking her fill, Dugu Yan leaned against the stone wall nearby. Feeling the comfort radiating from her Martial Soul, she could not help narrowing her eyes in contentment as she rubbed her round, full stomach.

Just as she was about to say something and share her thoughts, she suddenly remembered that she was not beside her grandfather, but in front of an unfamiliar member of the opposite sex. She immediately felt awkward.

Although Chen Ming had not looked in her direction at all, Dugu Yan still felt as if a burning gaze were sweeping over her body. For a moment, she did not even know where to put her hands.

After gathering herself for a moment, she finally sat up, thanked Chen Ming, and hurriedly left the training grounds, leaving Chen Ming, who had just finished eating and was preparing to drink some tea, completely dumbfounded. He had no idea what Dugu Yan was thinking.