The Grimy Taotie

The next day.

When Feng Jiu came out of his room, he absolutely reeked.

All sorts of smells—fragrant, foul, sour, and spicy—had blended together. He was like a beggar who had slept in a garbage dump for ten days without bathing. The stench had soaked right into him.

The two maids attending him looked at him with inexplicable dread. They wanted to cover their noses but didn't dare.

They kept as far away from Feng Jiu as they could. Both held their breath with their lips pressed tight, their little faces flushed red. When they couldn't hold it any longer, they would suck in a sharp breath, then pull faces of agony. Being near Feng Jiu made it seem as though even breathing was a sin.

Feng Jiu was in high spirits and didn't care at all about how he smelled. He picked up the stone weights used for training in the courtyard and tossed them up and down, testing his strength.

The forty-pound stone weight felt weightless in his hands.

When he saw Du Ge come out of his room, Feng Jiu excitedly dropped the weight and ran over to him, like a child showing an adult how well he'd done. "Seventh Brother, it worked! I did it..."

A wave of stench rushed toward him. Du Ge's expression changed, and he shot far away in an instant. Pinching his nose with one hand, he stretched out the other in a stop gesture and said in a muffled voice, "Stay there. Don't come any closer."

The five senses included smell. The maids could still just about endure Feng Jiu's odor, but Du Ge couldn't bear it at all. To him, the stench coming off Feng Jiu was practically a biological weapon.

For the first time, Du Ge experienced the downside of having heightened senses. If Feng Jiu was going to smell like this from now on, he'd have to consider whether to give up on this little brother...

Taotie was a son of the Dragon, and he'd managed to turn him into something this filthy!

What a talent!

Feng Jiu raised his sleeve and sniffed it, then gave an awkward smile and took two steps back. "Seventh Brother, it is a little smelly! I'll go bathe in a bit. I just wanted to tell you that your method worked. Taking laxatives while eating like crazy really can make me grow. In just one night, my strength more than doubled, and my five senses became sharper too..."

You call those senses sharp?

You're nowhere near my level!

Du Ge froze, his eyes widening in surprise. "You really spent the whole night eating and shitting?"

The maids seemed to think of something. Their faces instantly contorted, and they couldn't help retching a few times.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained," Feng Jiu said excitedly. "That saying really is true. Seventh Brother, I've thought it over. Given my current condition, I'm not suited to traveling the martial world. I might as well stay here and guard the family for you! If the Feng Family really brings in other Heavenly Demons from outside, I'll deal with them..."

At those words, the maids outside Feng Jiu's room nearly blacked out. They looked at Du Ge with pleading eyes, as if silently begging him: Please, take him away!

If you were really going to spend the whole way eating and shitting, I wouldn't take you along. First, I couldn't bear the embarrassment; second, I couldn't stand the smell. Du Ge ignored the maids' looks and gazed at Feng Jiu with a complicated expression. He had to admit, the guy was tough as nails.

Too bad Du Ge had conned him into going completely off track.

When he'd first transmigrated, tricking Feng Jiu's intelligence must have been a stroke of inspiration!

If everyone in the Simulation Field was this kind of fool, then taking first place really wouldn't mean much...

If his Keyword were Taotie, he'd probably have focused on greed and savagery.

Still, Taotie really was hard to get a handle on...

Du Ge hadn't told Feng Jiu the secret to cultivating Taotie. They were competitors, and Feng Jiu had tried to set him up before. Du Ge had already been generous enough to spare his life; how could he actually help him grow stronger?

He couldn't let himself be taken in just because Feng Jiu called him Seventh Brother. If Feng Jiu stabbed him in the back and got him kicked out of the Simulation Field, he wouldn't even know who to take revenge on. What if Feng Jiu had two Keywords too?

Du Ge had brought Feng Jiu along because he wanted to gradually find out from him what the real world was like.

Now he'd completely abandoned that idea. He nodded at Feng Jiu. "That works. You'll have more resources staying with the Feng Family, and you're not really suited to coming out with me. Go wash up first, then come find me. We'll discuss what to do from here."

"Sure. There are a few things I want to talk to you about too," Feng Jiu said with a smile. Then he said goodbye to Du Ge, turned back, and asked the maids to prepare hot water so he could wash up.

Du Ge went to find Feng Yunjie. Martial Arts couldn't be mastered in a day or two, so he felt he needed to prepare some throwing knives to make up for his weakness against opponents with Lightness Skill. While he was at it, he'd tell the Feng Family to keep an eye on Feng Jiu and not let him get too out of hand—or stab Du Ge in the back again and give him a boost in experience.

He had to keep up appearances, but he couldn't neglect backstabbing either.

Even a mosquito's leg was still meat.

Half an hour later.

Du Ge and Feng Jiu met in the back garden of Feng Manor.

They had both changed clothes.

Clothes made the man, and the saddle made the horse.

Du Ge wore a dark blue robe, with a long sword slung across his back and a leather pouch full of throwing knives at his waist. Feng Qi had ordinary features, but Du Ge's modern-day air of confidence and swagger stood out. At a glance, he had the look of a young martial hero, nothing like the ragged sparring partner he'd been yesterday.

Feng Jiu wore a pure white robe and looked rather flashy. He was young and handsome, and could have passed for the young master of a wealthy family.

But he had a huge cloth sack full of food slung over him, bulging with its contents. It dragged his whole appearance down a notch, turning him from a young master into a silly farm boy.

Du Ge was now a guest elder of the Feng Family, with a status above the rest. Without his permission, no one would dare follow him around like the people who had spied on him yesterday.

"Seventh Brother, want some?" Feng Jiu pulled a roast chicken out of his huge sack, tore off a drumstick, and offered it with a grin.

"No, thanks. I've already eaten." Du Ge shook his head and flatly refused. Whenever he saw Feng Jiu, he couldn't help picturing him eating and shitting at the same time. He had no appetite at all.

"Seventh Brother, you were right." Feng Jiu glanced at Du Ge, smiled, and stuffed the drumstick into his mouth. He tore off a piece of meat and chewed with puffed-out cheeks as he continued, "Yesterday, I really did burst my stomach. It hurt so much I rolled all over the ground, thinking I was going to die. But then I forced myself to keep shoving food into my mouth, even through the pain. My stomach healed, and my physique improved tremendously. In that moment, I understood what Taotie really meant. You have to be greedy. You have to eat until you stuff yourself to death to succeed."

"Congratulations." Du Ge cupped his hands, then casually asked, "You were that ruthless with yourself. You must have awakened an Advanced Skill, right?"

"Not that easy. If one person out of ten awakens an Advanced Skill, that's already pretty good." Feng Jiu kept eating, tossing a chicken bone into his mouth and crunching it to pieces before swallowing. "But you, Seventh Brother—you've improved by leaps and bounds. You must have awakened a skill, right?"

His chewing slowed for an instant. His brow twitched without him noticing, and his pupils dilated slightly...

Feng Jiu had hidden it well, but it still hadn't escaped Du Ge's sharp eyes. That guy had definitely awakened an Advanced Skill!

Du Ge gave Feng Jiu a meaningful look. "I haven't either. Maybe I only maintained it on the surface and didn't put it into practice. I really wonder what kind of Advanced Skill a Keyword like maintaining will awaken. It'd be no fun if it were just a support skill."

Feng Jiu smiled. "Even without an Advanced Skill, with your physique and brains, you should be able to make the top ten. Seventh Brother, I've been meaning to ask—what's your current ranking?"

Du Ge opened his personal profile and glanced at the gleaming first-place ranking. Then he said casually, "Forty-ninth."

Feng Jiu fell silent. He looked at Du Ge enviously and gave a bitter smile. "So you really made the top fifty. Man, compared to you, I'm doomed. I ate like crazy all night and put myself through hell, and I'm only ranked somewhere in the two hundreds. You casually spun a few words, and you made the top fifty. Students from ordinary academies like us start so far behind those of you from the Elite Academy. It really isn't a gap you can close just by working hard..."