Won't This Reach the Peak Martial Apprentice?

Little Rosie curled up in Ji Ruo's arms, clutching his clothes tightly with her eyes squeezed shut, muttering nonstop.

"Meow meow meow meow meow (Can't see me can't see me can't see me)."

Ji Ruo held a knife in one hand, cutting up the monster beast meat. Every time he sliced off a piece, Liang Shixian swiftly smeared the prepared 'seasoning' onto it—with so many Tree Demons waiting to be fed, there was no time for slow marination.

Besides, this was genuine monster beast meat!

Ji Ruo's palm glowed crimson as he channeled his full ten-percent power, rapidly searing the monster beast meat coated with 'seasoning.' The high temperature generated by the Iron Sand Palm cooked the meat at an incredible speed—even Ji Ruo himself hadn't realized that the Iron Sand Palm he'd unlocked through an achievement seemed to possess some remarkably peculiar effect when it came to cooking.

'Iron Palm Rice Insertion,' the achievement's note read: [Iron Sand Palm and fried rice are a perfect match~]

Judging by the note, this martial skill of Ji Ruo's was originally meant for cooking meals.

Because logically speaking, when he used the Iron Sand Palm to stir-fry raw rice, the cooked rice without water should have been very hard, but that wasn't the case at all.

The rice fried with the Iron Sand Palm was sweet and delicious, plump and soft, with an excellent texture.

This achievement martial skill seemed to have a special bonus in cooking.

An enticing aroma wafted out. Ji Ruo roasted a piece, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed heartily.

He ate one himself and handed one to Liang Shixian, seamless in his rhythm.

"Class monitor, hurry up, eat it while it's hot!"

"Uh, slow down a bit, I'm choking." Liang Shixian mumbled.

By now, he'd stopped worrying about safety or lack thereof—worrying was useless. Ji Ruo seemed to have his own unique way of living in the secret realm.

And from the looks of it, Ji Ruo's method was far better than his own ideas.

Little Rosie had been hiding in Ji Ruo's arms, muttering softly, terrified by the constant screams of the monster beasts around them.

But gradually, the rich fragrance flooding her nose made her grow confused.

She quietly poked her head out from Ji Ruo's embrace, then exclaimed in shock: "Meow meow meow! (Master! Why didn't you call me to eat?!)"

"Ahaha, forgot, forgot. Here, you eat too."

Ji Ruo laughed and handed Rosie a piece of roasted meat.

Rosie happily took the meat: "Meow~ (Thank you, Master!)"

For some reason, she forgot her fear.

The bound monster beasts had been struggling and screaming, but as the smell of Ji Ruo's roasted meat grew stronger, they gradually turned to stare at Ji Ruo, fixated on his hands.

"Roar~ (What's that?)"

"Chirp chirp~ (Smells so good!)"

"Awoo~ (Give me a bite! Give me a bite!)"

Ji Ruo couldn't be bothered to pay these provisions any mind.

You're all going on the table—what are you eating?

The two humans and one cat ate quickly.

Ji Ruo was astonished to find that his Iron Sand Palm's proficiency was steadily increasing at a decent pace, visibly nearing the 'Pure Mastery' level. The crimson deepened, and the temperature rose!

Roasting efficiency skyrocketed!

Ji Ruo understood.

So the Iron Sand Palm, besides frying rice, could also gain proficiency through cooking!

Liang Shixian ate with grease smeared all over his mouth, his whole body burning hot—monster beast flesh and blood contained a wealth of essence, the best supplementary resource for Martial Dao cultivation, since martial artists needed abundant blood and qi to train.

How could one practice martial arts without eating meat?

His heat came entirely from his blood and qi growing more abundant under the supply of monster beast meat.

Ji Ruo was in a similar state, his face flushed red.

Seeing that it was about right, he stopped roasting and began practicing martial arts to aid digestion.

He activated the 'Total Concentration Breathing,' created by referencing a large number of basic breathing techniques, and coordinated it with martial movements to digest the roasted monster beast meat in his stomach.

He chopped, kicked, and moved with wide, unrestrained motions, feeling thoroughly satisfied—the rule of not exercising vigorously after a full meal didn't apply to martial artists at all.

Martial Dao meant movement!

As long as energy was sufficient, one could keep training!

The recently promoted seventh-level Martial Apprentice realm began to loosen, visibly rising again at a decent speed!

After all, even though these were low-level monster beasts, they were still top-tier cultivation ingredients for Martial Apprentice-level martial artists!

'Total Concentration Breathing,' created by Ji Ruo to efficiently mobilize and control the body, combined with this, naturally led to a steady growth rate.

Of course, while the growth wasn't slow, the digestion speed was also very fast.

After more than ten minutes of such high-intensity practice, Ji Ruo felt it coming—martial artists already had strong digestive abilities, and 'Total Concentration Breathing' boosted it further.

With so many monster beasts waiting to be slaughtered, Ji Ruo didn't have to worry about waste at all—he digested at lightning speed!

A moment later, Ji Ruo found a slightly concealed spot and dug a simple latrine.

Liang Shixian's digestion was a bit slower. After Ji Ruo finished, cleaned up, and stood, he said to the Tree Demon leader, "Leader, the first batch of fertilizer is ready. Not much, so split it among yourselves."

"Rustle~ (Good, good, good! Brother, we're truly grateful!)"

The Tree Demon leader was overjoyed.

The other Tree Demons were also delighted.

"Rustle~ (The conversion speed is so fast!)"

"Rustle~ (Truly worthy of the Divine Tree!)"

In truth, these Tree Demons could simply kill the Monster Beasts directly and still fertilize themselves that way.

But then they'd have to wait for the corpses to rot and slowly absorb the nutrients—it took too long. They couldn't absorb them directly.

Feces, however, were different. They absorbed them quickly.

Ji Ruo cheerfully told Liang Shixian to dig his own latrine and relieve himself once he'd digested enough, then went to the stream to wash his hands. Returning, he casually picked two fruits and started munching—meat and veggies made for a balanced diet!

After resting a while, Ji Ruo began roasting meat again. It was a bit greasy, but hey, he was a martial artist! How could he not endure a little hardship?

Small problems, all manageable!

Little Rosie was a demon. According to the [Pet Details], the little one's innate ability was Illusion.

But Ji Ruo felt the little guy might have some hidden talent too—it ate until full, its little belly round and taut, yet it never seemed to go to the bathroom. It just lay on the ground resting comfortably for a while, then could eat again.

Eat but never excrete? A Pixiu relative, huh?

The two of them and the cat just kept eating, kept digesting at high speed.

By the time night fell on the fourth day, Ji Ruo had actually advanced to an eighth-level Martial Apprentice. Other changes weren't too obvious, except his appetite had grown even larger.

An hour later, Liang Shixian also completed his advancement.

After the seventh round of eating ended, Liang Shixian practiced martial arts to aid digestion, smacked his lips, and sighed, "Ji Ruo, I feel like by the time this Martial Exam ends, we might break through to ninth-level Martial Apprentice."

After eating nonstop for most of the day, he was starting to feel sick at the sight of meat, but the results were truly obvious!

Ji Ruo chuckled, "Small thinking, small vision. There are still over two days left in the Martial Exam. I think we can push for peak Martial Apprentice. Come on, keep eating."

"Meow~ (Eat, eat, eat!)"

Liang Shixian's expression was complicated. "Let me take a breather. Bleh~"

He never dreamed that one day he'd eat Monster Beast meat until he threw up.