"Whew..." The instant Ma Linya stepped out of the room, Zeng Mu rose and darted over to the pots.
There were six pots in all, yet he went to the smallest. This was not stupidity on his part. On the contrary, he had carefully watched the healers at work earlier and knew that this pot contained the most chunks of elemental meat. He held his hand above the broth and felt pure energy rising steadily against his palm-the energy of elemental power dissolved into soup. To an Elementalist like him, it was like meat broth placed before a starving wolf.
As the one who had proposed the plan, he naturally understood how precious and important these ingredients were as bait. But after questioning Ma Linya earlier, he had carefully worked it out in his head and reached a conclusion: A little less won't hurt. Having too much would just be a blatant waste.
When he thought about how he had hunted down Burche and brought it back himself, strictly speaking, it should have belonged entirely to him. He had only handed it over for communal use because of the army. Now that he knew the excess elemental meat broth would go to waste, he had no choice but to take a little action: put the unnecessary surplus into his own stomach, convert it into elemental power, and someday use that strength to kill more enemies.
"Just one ladleful..." Zeng Mu murmured earnestly. With that, he picked up the ladle beside him, dipped it into the pot, and brought it to his lips. Undeterred by the bubbling heat and steam, he gulped it down.
The rich energy entered his mouth, traveled down his throat into his stomach, and dispersed like a cloud, instantly spreading through his blood, muscles, meridians, and bones.