Starve to Death Rather Than Be a Slave

Late at night, Zhang Yuan tossed and turned on his bed plank, unable to sleep.

It was not because the weather was too hot, but because the raging heat in his body had stirred his qi and blood into a surge, leaving him drenched in sweat.

That evening, Zhang Yuan had eaten an entire large pot of braised venison.

For the first time, he had experienced the feeling of eating meat until he was stuffed!

Venison carried a fiery yang nature. He had eaten too much of it, and a young man already had vigorous internal heat to begin with—the result was easy to imagine.

Unable to sleep, Zhang Yuan simply got up and quietly left his room.

He came to the small courtyard outside and glanced around by moonlight, making sure there was nothing unusual lurking about.

Then Zhang Yuan activated the Divine Nest's first host—Black Giant Ant!

The next instant, a strange force surged out from his left hand, piercing through his Five Viscera and Six Bowels in the blink of an eye.

Straight into his Four Limbs and Hundred Bones!

Zhang Yuan could not help letting out a muffled grunt. Muscles bulged all over his body, thick tendons stood out beneath his skin, and every bone in his body rang out at once.

His body forcibly shot up a notch, while swelling a full size larger.

This was the extraordinary power the Divine Nest host, Black Giant Ant, bestowed upon Zhang Yuan!

He stepped forward, spread his now-thickened arms, and wrapped them around the stone mill sitting in the corner of the small courtyard.

"Hah!"

Zhang Yuan suddenly exhaled and shouted, forcibly lifting the stone mill, which weighed four or five hundred jin, into his arms.

To avoid waking his mother, who was sound asleep in the room, he kept his voice very low.

But the power he unleashed did not diminish in the slightest!

Hugging the heavy stone mill, Zhang Yuan made five full laps around the small courtyard.

If it had been the old Zhang Yuan, let alone carrying it around in circles, he would not even have been able to lift the stone mill at all!

Only when he felt his strength beginning to fade did Zhang Yuan steadily set the stone mill back where it had been.

Host: Zhang Yuan

Divine Nest: Level 1 (15%)

Host: Level 1 Black Giant Ant (1%) / 2x Strength

Qi and Blood: 10/75

Source Essence: 0

The Divine Nest Panel showed that Zhang Yuan's qi and blood had dropped to a very low level at this moment.

That was perfectly normal.

Activating the Divine Nest host's ability consumed qi and blood, and maintaining that ability required qi and blood as well.

Zhang Yuan estimated that the doubled strength could last for roughly five minutes.

This duration was undoubtedly limited by his own qi and blood.

As long as he kept increasing the upper limit of his qi and blood, the duration of his explosive strength would grow longer and longer.

So he still had to find a way to learn genuine Martial Skills and improve his own strength.

Zhang Yuan's resolve to become a martial artist had never been firmer than it was now!

After all that exertion, most of the raging heat in Zhang Yuan's body had been carried away by sweat.

He took a quick cold bath by the edge of the courtyard, then returned to his room and went back to sleep without being troubled by insomnia.

He slept straight through until broad daylight!

The next day, Zhang Yuan awoke to the crowing of roosters in the village.

Damn it!

Realizing he had overslept, he cursed under his breath and hurriedly got up to wash.

To deal with the county yamen's Corvée, Zhang Yuan had only three days to scrape together the five taels of Corvée Silver required for service.

Now, only two days remained!

After wolfing down the breakfast Zhang's Mother had prepared, he grabbed his Hunting Bow, Firewood Knife, and water pouch as quickly as possible, then set out from home for Thousand Peak Mountain to hunt once again.

What Zhang Yuan had not expected was that he had barely walked a dozen steps from his door when he saw the Weasel-faced Advisor from yesterday blocking his path with two household servants.

Zhang Yuan stopped and said in a deep voice, "The three days aren't up yet, are they?"

The Weasel-faced Advisor chuckled, narrowed his eyes, and said, "Zhang Yuan, fortune has smiled upon you. My family's young master has taken a liking to you. So long as you sign this contract, not only will you be exempted from this Corvée, you will never need to perform service again!"

As he spoke, he handed over a yellowed sheet of paper. "If you can't write, pressing your fingerprint will do."

Zhang Yuan accepted the contract without changing expression and quickly read it through.

Then the rage in his heart surged skyward!

Because this was a slave contract.

Once Zhang Yuan signed it, not only would he become the Chen Family's Young Master's servant, but there would be no end date!

The Weasel-faced Advisor swayed his head as he continued, "Not just anyone can become a Chen Family household servant. Aside from monthly reward money, you'll be issued clothes, and you'll never need to worry about food or clothing."

"If you serve well, perhaps the young master will show mercy and let you learn martial arts. Then you'll truly rise to prosperity!"

Spittle flew from his mouth as he spoke, while Zhang Yuan sneered again and again in his heart.

If he had guessed correctly, the Chen Family's Young Master should be one of the youths learning martial arts from Hunter Gao yesterday.

He remembered with perfect clarity how that person had stood with his arms folded, looking down on him with contempt!

If Zhang Yuan truly became that young master's servant, there was an eighty or ninety percent chance he would become a human punching bag.

A living target for the other man's martial training!

So no matter how extravagantly the Weasel-faced Advisor boasted, no matter how skillfully he painted castles in the air, how could Zhang Yuan possibly fall for it?

Expressionless, he handed the contract back to the Weasel-faced Advisor and said, "Thank you for Chen Young Master's favor, but the Zhang Family Ancestral Teachings say: starve to death rather than steal, die poor rather than be a slave!"

"So I can only accept the sentiment behind this kindness."

Let alone now, when Zhang Yuan possessed the Divine Nest—even without it, he would never, ever become someone's slave!

The Weasel-faced Advisor's expression changed abruptly. Pinching the contract in his hand, he asked in a sinister voice, "Zhang Yuan, have you thought through the consequences of refusing my family's young master?"

Zhang Yuan did not answer. He went around him and headed out of the village.

Seeing Zhang Yuan ignore him, the Weasel-faced Advisor was so furious that his two tufts of rat whiskers curled upward. "You've got nerve!"

"Advisor, should we?"

The household servant beside him made a chopping gesture.

"No need for that."

The Weasel-faced Advisor had not lost his reason. He said resentfully, "A thing like an ant isn't worth that much effort. In any case, in two days, that little bastard will have plenty of time to cry!"

He seemed to see Zhang Yuan, unable to pay the Corvée Silver, kneeling at his feet and begging bitterly.

He could not help giving several "heh-heh" chuckles as countless venomous thoughts turned through his mind!

After leaving Chen Family Village, Zhang Yuan quickened his pace into Thousand Peak Mountain. Following the path he had taken yesterday, he arrived once again beside that small stream in the forest.

This time, he did not immediately begin searching for traces of prey.

Instead, he looked about in all directions and waited where he was.

Before long, amid a burst of flapping sounds, a pitch-black Crow flew through the woods and landed on a large tree more than a dozen steps from Zhang Yuan.

It stared coldly at Zhang Yuan with scarlet eyes.

Zhang Yuan's gaze sharpened, and he immediately said in a deep voice, "You help me, and I'll help you. You eat the guts, and I eat the meat!"

The Crow Spirit tilted its head, seemingly weighing the matter.

After a moment, it suddenly spread its wings and flew toward the right.

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhang Yuan gripped his Hunting Bow and followed close behind.

The human heart was more treacherous than spirits, and more terrifying still.

He would rather cooperate with a dangerous spirit than bow his head to the Chen Family and become a slave!