"Dad!"
"What is it?"
"I want to eat meat!" The child wore a patched-up hemp shirt and was covered in dirt. He bathed by splashing around in a pool, and his unruly hair was even worse—he'd never once combed it.
There was no need to explain who this was. It was Qian Wuhen, whom Chen Xun had raised in a decidedly rough-and-ready fashion. The two of them had made it through life relying on each other, and Qian Wuhen had turned out pretty well, all things considered. At least he'd survived and grown up...
"What?!" Chen Xun spun around with a roar, staring in disbelief. "Look at the state of our household! You want meat? Earn Spirit Stones and buy it for your old man..."
"Dad, w-we could go hunting." Qian Wuhen rubbed his hands together and smiled bashfully. His smile was utterly guileless. "Didn't you teach me how to make traps?"
"This is an immortal's cultivation grounds. We're here to help the immortals farm. This isn't a place to hunt. Those ferocious beasts could slap your old man to death with one paw."
Chen Xun pursed his lips and shook his head, waving his hand repeatedly. "We're grown men. If we want something, we have to earn it with our own skills. Once we go down the mountain to the mortal world of the Gan Kingdom, we'll be able to buy meat."
There was no way they'd eat meat in the Five Aggregates Sect. The spirit beasts and ferocious beasts here were all their own, and Chen Xun couldn't bear to hurt them.
Qian Wuhen nodded as though he understood. He didn't know what going down the mountain meant, nor did he understand what the Gan Kingdom or the mortal world was. He only asked, "Dad, then how can