Who? Evil God??

The three medicinal meals were brought out soon enough.

Zhang Fusheng looked at the broth in the dishes and fished around with his spoon. They were packed full of all kinds of herbs, but as for the meat...

After struggling for quite a while, he finally scooped up a slice of meat truly as thin as a cicada's wing.

It was practically transparent.

"Star Beast Meat is extraordinarily valuable. Gram for gram, it costs a hundred times as much as gold." Zhou Quan explained with a smile. "A single serving of specially supplied medicinal food costs ninety thousand. At least eighty percent of that price is in this slice of meat."

This world had abundant gold reserves—there was plenty of it in the starry sky.

But merchants carefully controlled the amount available on the market, so gold was still not cheap, at around one hundred Federation dollars per gram.

So even the cheapest Star Beast Meat cost ten thousand per gram??

Jiangzhou City might have been a small city, but its average wages ranked fairly high across the Federation.

Even so, an ordinary person from the Mid-Level District or Seventh District earned only around three or four thousand a month.

Take Mom, for example. An elementary school teacher, with all sorts of miscellaneous pay included, earned thirty-six hundred a month. Three months of wages could only buy one gram of Star Beast Meat!

Zhang Fusheng clicked his tongue in amazement, then carefully took a sip of the broth and chewed some of the herbs.

As the herbs and broth entered his stomach, they released a great quantity of Mysterious Factor. Although ninety percent of it slipped away, he still managed to intercept a portion of it!

"So this is medicinal food?"

He wolfed down the medicinal meal that was practically worth an entire term's tuition.

A great amount of Mysterious Factor filled his body. Under the herbs' effects, his blood and qi began to surge rapidly, carrying the Mysterious Factor evenly through every inch of his body.

After draining the bowl of soup and sweeping clean the many herbs, Zhang Fusheng finally put that cicada-wing-thin slice of Star Beast Meat into his mouth.

"One bite, seventy thousand."

Star Beast Meat itself had no particular flavor, but once swallowed, it erupted with Mysterious Factor ten times denser than an entire bowl of broth!

His blood and qi surged wildly. Zhang Fusheng's skin visibly reddened, and even the breath he exhaled became scorching hot!

"Star Beast Meat..." He panted, his eyes reddening.

It felt as if his internal organs had been pressed smooth by an iron, every part lying perfectly docile. The thirty-six thousand pores across his body seemed to have eaten an immortal fruit, every one of them utterly refreshed!

Most importantly...

Zhang Fusheng discovered that, within the Ancestral Aperture between his brows, the dim Contract Book was rapidly blooming with light.

What had originally required nearly another month before it could be used again had suddenly been accelerated by more than ten days!

In half a month, he would be able to [Trade] again.

"How was that specially supplied medicinal meal?" Zhou Quan leaned closer, asking with a beaming smile.

Zhang Fusheng braced both hands against the table, savoring an unprecedented sense of comfort as he sensed the faint glow upon the Contract Book.

He raised a thumb.

"Good stuff!!"

"Want another bowl?" Zhou Quan's smile grew even brighter, while Wang Xiangnan beside him let out a soft sigh.

Those who practiced martial arts—especially those obsessed with it—could never go back after tasting Star Beast Meat.

Just like he had back then.

"Can I?" Zhang Fusheng clenched his fists, feeling his strength had clearly increased by a small notch.

"Of course!"

Zhou Quan snapped his fingers, summoned a cafeteria worker, and handed over his Student Card.

"There should still be one serving of specially supplied medicinal food saved up."

Before long, another bowl of vivid red broth was brought over. Without a word, Zhang Fusheng picked it up and gulped it down.

The cicada-wing-thin Star Beast Meat slid into his stomach.

It was as though every limb and bone in his body had been unblocked. Without realizing it, he began circulating the Spring Thunder Technique. His sinews and bones trembled to the rhythm of his breathing, producing faint thunderous sounds, while his skin and flesh gradually toughened.

Strength—new strength, endlessly being born.

And...

Within the Ancestral Aperture between his brows, the Contract Book once again blazed with light.

The Contract Book could be used again.

"Do you want to eat specially supplied medicinal meals and Star Beast Meat every day from now on?" Zhou Quan murmured softly, like a brothel madam coaxing an innocent young girl into signing a deed of sale.

Zhang Fusheng pulled out a tissue, wiped his mouth, and let out a full belch.

"My father is a doctor. He told me that things that are too nourishing can't be eaten too often. They do more harm than good to the body."

"So, not really."

He flashed a brilliant smile, while Zhou Quan's smile abruptly froze.

By the time Zhou Quan recovered, Zhang Fusheng had already patted his butt and left.

"Brother Zhou, I'm heading home for a bit. I'll bring you local specialties when I come back."

"Brother Zhou, you really are such a good person!"

The youth's figure vanished through the cafeteria entrance like the wind.

Zhou Quan sat in his seat, falling silent.

After a long while.

"Ha." Wang Xiangnan laughed mockingly. "If only I could have been like that back then."

Zhou Quan shed his usual kindly smile-for-everyone demeanor and stared coldly at Wang Xiangnan.

The latter immediately fell silent.

After a long while.

Zhou Quan rose to his feet and said flatly,

"Two bowls of medicinal food, one hundred eighty thousand—it won't be so easy for Zhang Fusheng to swallow that down. Interesting."

"Xiangnan, I have a task for you."

He patted Wang Xiangnan's shoulder, reverting to his smiling expression.

"Doesn't your cousin work at the Martial Arts Academy's front desk? Go ask her for Brother Fusheng's information. No problem, right?"

Wang Xiangnan's lips moved, but in the end he said nothing and merely nodded lightly.

"Son, how's the Martial Arts Academy?"

"It's great. The dorm's a three-person room, bigger than our living room, and my roommates are nice too. One of them even treated me to some crazy expensive medicinal food today."

Zhang Fusheng grinned at his phone.

"You two old folks need to wear more clothes. Don't catch a chill on East Ridge Snow Mountain, or be careful you don't get through the Quarantine Station when you come back."

On the other side of the video call, Old Zhang moved the phone farther away and showed off the thick down jacket he was wearing.

"We were prepared ages ago! I just finished skiing with your mom. We're taking the cable car up to the summit later. You didn't see it—Teacher Zhou fell no fewer than ten times in half an hour of skiing!"

Mom squeezed into the frame and viciously pinched Old Zhang, then began fussing over Zhang Fusheng, asking after everything from his food, clothes, lodging, and travel to sunscreen and moisturizer, leaving no stone unturned.

"Mom!"

Zhang Fusheng was helpless.

"You've only been gone one day. It's not like I'm some little kid..."

"Fine, fine, now that you're grown up, you think your mother's nagging!" Teacher Zhou sighed dramatically.

Old Zhang smiled and steered Teacher Zhou away from Zhang Fusheng.

After Zhou Guifang had walked some distance away,

Old Zhang's expression turned solemn in the video call, and he lowered his voice slightly.

"Son, do you have anything going on tonight?"

Zhang Fusheng shook his head.

"No. Today's classes are already over. My next class is tomorrow afternoon, a combat techniques class."

Old Zhang gave a grunt and instructed him,

"We left in a hurry and forgot the important matter. At midnight on the first of every month, the clinic has to pay its regular dues. Go to the clinic tonight. Someone will come collect the money."

Zhang Fusheng nodded. Several times before, whenever his father had been busy, he had helped pay the regular dues.

They were called regular dues, but they were really just "protection money."

"Oh, and things should be fine for the next couple of days. But after that, don't go home, and definitely don't go near the Eighth or Ninth Districts. Just stay properly at the Martial Arts Academy."

Zhang Fusheng's heart stirred. He looked around before saying,

"Dad, is something going to happen in the Lower-Level District?"

In the video, Old Zhang furrowed his brows. After thinking for a moment, he said,

"I don't know the specifics. An old friend leaked me some information. Some cultists are going to hold a gathering in the Lower-Level District. They say it won't have much impact, but better safe than sorry. Remember to keep this information confidential. Letting it slip might bring trouble to your door."

"Cultists..." Zhang Fusheng pondered it. The Federation cracked down hard on cults, yet it also kept things under wraps. It loudly trumpeted its anti-cult campaigns while refusing to reveal even the slightest information about these so-called cults to the public.

In all his eighteen years, he had never even heard the names of any of those so-called cults.

"I'll remember it. Oh, Dad, do you know what that cult is called? If I happen to run into them, I can avoid them straightaway."

Zhang Wentao considered for a moment, then warned him first.

"Like I said, swallow it into your stomach. You absolutely cannot mention it to anyone."

He recalled it for a moment before continuing.

"My old friend said it's a cult called 'Dao.' They supposedly worship... the Three Pure Ones?"

"Yes, an evil god called the Three Pure Ones."

Zhang Fusheng nearly failed to catch his breath.

Who?

The Three Pure Ones? Evil gods?

I want to become a cultist!