Abyss Tree Heart Soup

Er Dongsheng stood beside the section of tree trunk placed at the very center of the cave, green light radiating from both eyes. This only appeared when a demon was extremely excited. Ordinary demons would control their bodies and keep themselves from glowing, lest it draw predators.

But Er Dongsheng was inside the cave, so he had nothing to fear. The cave entrance had already been blocked again with a huge boulder.

He licked his lips as he looked at the thing that was nearly a cubic meter in size, grinning so widely his mouth could hardly close.

What was this?

"This is an Abyss Tree Heart—a precious treasure, and top-grade ingredient too."

Tree hearts generally only existed within Abyss Trees that had lived for countless years or undergone mutation. There probably were not many in this vast forest. Added to that was the formidable defense of living Abyss Trees; ordinary demons found it difficult to harm them. Only the violent lightning of the rain season that came once every three years could damage them. One could well imagine just how rare this thing was.

There had been no record of this in the inherited memories. Er Dongsheng had only discovered it by chance. After all, it was far too uncommon. Perhaps only third-level demons possessed such knowledge, and with the pitiful scraps of knowledge inherited by Er Dongsheng's demon body, how could he possibly have known?

He had found it half a year ago, while preparing for the coming Abyssal Rain Season, inside a dead Abyss Tree.

At the time, that tree heart had only been the size of a palm, the rest having slowly dissipated away. Yet that tiny palm-sized piece of Abyss Tree Heart had benefited Er Dongsheng immensely.

"Good treasure, what a good treasure! My internal and external cultivation can improve by leaps and bounds again! This time, I truly got lucky."

The Abyss Tree Heart could be called an exceedingly valuable treasure in the Abyss, with immensely powerful effects. Its sap contained potent life energy. Whether used as a nourishing medicine for external cultivation, or to expand the capacity of cells and strengthen sinews and bones, it was extraordinarily useful.

Er Dongsheng had used the previous tiny tree heart to strengthen his tail and his two pairs of demon claws. Combined with his external cultivation, those were now the most formidable parts of his body. Their hardness and sharpness rivaled the weapons used by demons.

Most importantly, this tree heart was also delicious. It tasted very much like bamboo shoots from his previous life, only even more flavorful.

After nearly three years of eating nothing but meat, he had encountered this kind of plant ingredient. There was no need to think about it—his saliva was already dripping.

"Never mind anything else. Eat first!"

Using the sharp tip of his tail, Er Dongsheng lightly sliced off a small piece from the top corner of the tree heart. Streams of white sap seeped from the cut, and Er Dongsheng hurriedly leaned his head over, swallowing every last drop.

The split wound had not yielded much sap in total, but Er Dongsheng swallowed it all without leaving a single drop behind. This was precious treasure; not the slightest bit could be wasted.

"Looks like the tree heart's sap is mainly concentrated at the very center. That's good—it won't go to waste!"

Holding the small piece of tree heart he had cut off, Er Dongsheng turned and walked deeper into the cave.

At the very back of the cave, under the flickering firelight, a smaller cave could vaguely be seen. This was Er Dongsheng's storage room.

The storage room was not large, only three or four square meters. It held all sorts of things Er Dongsheng had collected over the past three years, sorted into categories: animal bones, strange rocks, leaves, grasses, and more. Some handmade items he had crafted were in there as well.

There was actually another food storage room in the cave, specifically for the prey he brought back. That large pile of beast meat from today had already been placed inside.

Entering the storage room for miscellaneous items, Er Dongsheng began rummaging through it. He was an extremely organized person, so although the tiny room held many odds and ends, it did not seem cluttered. It could even be called impeccably orderly.

A short while later, Er Dongsheng emerged from the storage room. In his left hand, he held several strings of purplish-black pepper-like plants, along with various dried plants of different colors. In his right hand was a somewhat larger stone basin, containing the small piece of Abyss Tree Heart he had cut off.

Everything in his left hand had been accumulated bit by bit over the past three years. Take these purplish-black pepper-like plants, for example: they tasted somewhat like the little green peppers from his previous life, mildly spicy and a rare seasoning in the Abyss. Er Dongsheng did not have much of it, so he usually used it sparingly.

The Abyss had countless varieties of plants—toxic and non-toxic, edible and inedible—too many to count.

To determine whether a plant or animal could be eaten, unless one possessed an appraisal-type innate skill, one could only rely on knowledge accumulated through daily experience.

But Er Dongsheng had thought of a shortcut. Faced with all those countless plants, since he did not dare test them himself, why not find a creature to test them in his place?

If there was no opportunity, then he would create one. Three years of careful observation, along with occasionally catching animals to test things in his stead, had still allowed him to discover quite a few edible plants.

Enough idle chatter. By now, Er Dongsheng had returned carrying a chunk of meat weighing roughly five or six pounds. The things he had taken from the storage room earlier had been arranged atop a long, narrow slab of bluestone beside the fire. This was the chopping board he usually used for cooking.

Er Dongsheng planned to make some soup. Three years without water had nearly made him forget what soup even was.

"Tsk, tsk. I've eaten roasted meat for three years, and had to drink that disgusting beast blood too. It nearly drove me mad. It's a wonder I managed to endure it."

He grabbed his tail, washed its tip with a little water, then began chopping the meat on the stone slab with a rapid bang bang bang.

"This tail is much more useful than a knife—flexible and sharp. Though it feels strange every time I use it to cut meat, there's no helping it. Making soup comes first."

He chopped up the edible plants as well, then used both claws to gather the minced meat and plants into the stone basin. He added some water, found a few stones to use as supports, and set it over the fire.

The blazing flames burned steadily. Er Dongsheng added several more pieces of wood, making the fire burn even fiercer.

"Looks like I need to make a stove. After this Abyssal Rain Season, I'll be able to store a large amount of water. From then on, I'll mainly eat boiled food. Cooking things like this will be far too troublesome."

Thinking of the days ahead when he would have abundant water resources, Er Dongsheng could not help secretly rejoicing. After bitterness came sweetness!

"Finally, I've escaped primitive life. Three years..."

"Living is not easy."

"Come on. Keep striving to live."

Er Dongsheng's road through the Abyss was unfolding, one footprint at a time.

Starting with this soup...

The sunlight in his memories would not fade away in the end...

...He believed...