This Is Simply Too Delicious

This Is Simply Too Delicious

"Spirit Rice Meal?"

"Vitality and Blood Soup?"

As Zhang Xianzhong's words fell, Li Dingguo was somewhat startled.

His past incarnation had heard of these things before, but had never actually seen them.

These were the necessities for a martial artist's cultivation, and their preciousness meant that ordinary commoners could at least not afford them.

Generally speaking, precious resources of this sort were self-produced and self-consumed by those official gentry, powerful clans, aristocratic families, and the imperial lineage; they were rarely brought out to be sold or traded.

These were true treasures, and on the market, one would mostly only see them sold in special shops located within prefectural cities, commandery cities, major strategic towns, or the two northern and southern capitals.

The vast majority of towns and cities in the Great Ming Dynasty did not have shops of this kind.

Moreover, it was said that one could also use heavenly materials and earth treasures, spirit herbs and spiritual roots, and Demon Beast meat to conduct transactions.

Demon Beasts were different from ordinary wild beasts; they were beings that, like human martial artists, had awakened their spiritual intelligence and stepped onto the path of cultivation.

Demon Beast meat had a great effect on the cultivation of human martial artists, and the value of Demon Beast meat at various levels was basically on par with spirit rice of corresponding levels.

That Zhang Xianzhong was now willing to part with precious resources of this sort to nurture these orphan youths was enough to prove his determination to spare no cost and pour all his efforts into cultivating some usable people.

It was precisely because he had recently captured a county seat, sacked several major gentry households, and obtained no small amount of various cultivation resources that he could be so extravagant.

Yet apart from his trusted confidants and the three hundred veteran camp soldiers who had just finished organizing, it was basically impossible for the rest of those rabble rebel forces to ever enjoy these precious resources.

The total of about one hundred and eighty orphan youths like Li Dingguo, who had just passed the preliminary selection, had only been dismissed for a short while when more than ten cooks drove nearly ten large horse-drawn carriages into the large courtyard.

Clearly, the spirit food promised by Zhang Xianzhong had arrived.

Having undergone three days of preliminary training, these orphan youths, who already possessed a modest sense of discipline, began lining up to receive their meals as usual under the direction of a dozen or so military men.

"Whoa! This smells way too good!"

"Ain't that the truth! This spirit rice meal smells way more fragrant than any food I've ever eaten before!"

"I never thought there'd come a day when I could eat such precious spirit rice!"

"Don't forget, there's also a bowl of vitality and blood soup! Look, those few large urns over there must be holding the vitality and blood soup!"

"If... if I become a martial artist and a rebel soldier from now on, doesn't that mean I'll get to eat this often?"

Amidst the extremely excited and whispered discussions among these youths, everyone soon received their own share of the spirit rice meal and vitality and blood soup.

Holding the portion he had just received, Li Dingguo walked quickly as usual to a slightly secluded spot, squatted on the ground, and began to scrutinize this legendary spirit rice meal and vitality and blood soup.

Although spirit food and medicinal soups of this sort were not high in grade and were only first-level spirit food and spirit medicine, they, as ordinary youths, had yet to become martial artists, and their current physical strength could only withstand this kind of spirit food and spirit medicine.

Higher-grade spirit food would instead be harmful to their bodies.

One cannot bear tonics when weak; this was common sense.

This small bowl of spirit rice looked crystal clear and had very large grains, at least several times the size of ordinary rice grains.

It smelled wonderful, far more fragrant than ordinary cooked rice, and carried a very pleasant, refreshing scent.

"Gulp!"

Just like the other youths, Li Dingguo, who had just obtained this small bowl of spirit rice, couldn't bear to eat it right away. He examined the spirit rice inside the bowl closely for a moment and involuntarily swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

Let me taste it first.

No longer able to hold back his craving, Li Dingguo muttered to himself in his heart. Then, impatiently holding his chopsticks in one hand and his rice bowl in the other, he shoveled the food straight into his mouth!

"Mm-mm..."

"Delicious! This is simply too delicious!"

He dared guarantee with absolute certainty that even combining his past and present lives together, he had never eaten food this delicious!

Soft, glutinous, fragrant, and sweet—none of these words were enough to describe its delectable taste!

Indeed, legendary spirit food simply could not be compared with ordinary food.

The two were simply not in the same league.

"Huh..."

"I haven't even had enough, and it's already all eaten?"

After a moment, looking at the empty bowl in his hand, Li Dingguo thought to himself with a lingering sense of unfulfillment, What a pity. If there had been a bit more of this spirit rice, it would have been even better.

Yet he also understood that just this small bowl of spirit rice likely contained a nutritional value sufficient to satisfy the nourishment of his current body; eating too much would inevitably lead to being overwhelmed by rich tonics.

"There's still a bowl of vitality and blood soup!"

"Screw it, I'll drink it all down first!"

Giving it no further thought, Li Dingguo set down his bowl and chopsticks, picked up the steaming bowl of vitality and blood soup at his side, tilted his head back, and began to gulp it down.

"Gulp... gulp."

A bowl of dark red vitality and blood soup that was full of medicinal flavor yet not difficult to drink was soon finished by him.

The moment he set down the soup bowl, waves of heat surged from his lower abdomen to every part of his body, making him feel warm all over and extremely comfortable.

He even felt his spirit lift, and his thoughts grew somewhat clearer.

"This shouldn't just be the efficacy of the spirit rice; the effect of that vitality and blood soup is probably even stronger."

Clearly, vitality-and-blood-boosting soup of this sort not only required certain special spirit medicines but also needed to be prepared according to a special secret formula in order to be successfully made.

At this time, Li Dingguo glanced around and found that almost all the youths had finished eating and drinking the spirit rice meal and vitality and blood soup they had received.

Each and every one of their little faces had turned very ruddy, and their spirits were remarkably high.

Food and medicinal soups with such fast-acting effects were something Li Dingguo was experiencing firsthand for the first time in both his past and present lives combined.

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, they first took their bowls and chopsticks back to where the cooks were stationed and returned them, then rested in the courtyard in groups of three or five.

These youths chattered away, whispering animatedly and with extreme excitement, and another quarter of an hour or so passed unconsciously.

"All you little runts! Get over here! Fall in and line up!"

At this moment, Zhang Xianzhong and the others, who had also finished eating in this large courtyard and were sitting in rest, stood up, and those military men immediately strode over, shouting ceaselessly at the top of their lungs.

Li Dingguo hurriedly rose along with more than a dozen of his former lackeys, ran in a hurry to the spots where they had been lining up day after day, and stood straight and silent.

"Is it finally time to touch upon the magical side of this magical world?"

Like all the orphan youths, looking at the Eight Great Kings who had just flashed onto the high platform ahead, Li Dingguo was brimming with excitement.

He knew very well that as long as he truly became a martial artist, his own destiny from that point onward would begin to transform.

At the very least, when faced with impending danger, he wouldn't be like a lamb with no ability to resist, at the mercy of others.

Even as a transmigrator carrying a cheat, it did not mean he wouldn't die.

With good reason, the people, demons, and monsters capable of killing him in this magical, vast world were simply far too numerous.