As the two worlds connected and the spatial passage opened, some of the natural essence of the Hundred Broken Mountains Range poured into the Desolate Region, creating that peculiar tide.
Despite its name, the Hundred Broken Mountains Range actually contained an entire world. No one knew how vast it was, and no one had ever explored it completely. Otherwise, it could hardly have accommodated the hundreds of thousands of young people from various races who entered so easily.
The first thing everyone saw upon arriving was a lake as clear as a mirror. Its pristine waters were transparent to the bottom, wreathed in wisps of vapor rich with spiritual energy. Calling it a mist of essence would have been no exaggeration. It rose in hazy billows, like the immortal paradise of the Jade Pool.
Gentle breezes carried over the rich fragrance of ancient medicinal plants, refreshing their spirits. Judging from Xiao Tian's experience, the plants giving off that fragrance were at least eight hundred years old.
Farther away, savage beasts roared in fury. Clearly, someone had already begun fighting to harvest spirit herbs.
Looking into the distance, they saw peaks wreathed in clouds and radiant mists, overflowing with shimmering colors. In the outside world, every one of them would have been a blessed sanctuary. Spirit vines twined around them, lush greenery flourished, and drops of spiritual dew rolled over leaves, genuinely imbued with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Here, one could truly feast on rosy clouds and drink dew, dine on sunlight and sip the mists of night. This was a pure land, an otherworldly treasure ground like an immortal paradise.
"Ah, four spirit herbs!"
Yang Ying, their senior sister from the Heaven Mending Pavilion, exclaimed excitedly.
"Mine! They're all mine!"
Little Shi Hao cried excitedly.
Yet he casually tossed his sack aside with a clang and, instead of charging toward the herbs, rushed at a lush green tree beside them.
Crack!
Like a humanoid pure-blooded fierce beast, he swooped forward and kicked the tree down. With the sound of its trunk snapping at the waist, the tree instantly transformed into a treefolk, let out a wail, and lay there broken in two.
Xiao Tian walked over, his eyes brightening as he looked at the Tree Person. He gave him a kick. "Stop playing dead. Put yourself back together right now. You'll follow me from now on. Wherever I rest, you'll turn into a tree and give me shade."
"And don't even think about running. You won't get away."
No sooner had Xiao Tian spoken than he took a step, shattering the ground beneath his feet. In a single leap, he cleared a mountain and landed on a Unicorn Man-Bear that little Shi Hao had chased away. He thrust out a finger, piercing its skull and killing it effortlessly.
The Tree Person trembled in terror, so frightened that he even leaked tree urine.
The other senior brothers and sisters from the Heaven Mending Pavilion exchanged horrified glances. They seemed to have figured something out.
Shi Hao was still lamenting with a miserable little face, "My bear paws!"
But when he saw this, his eyes immediately curved into little crescent moons.
"Big Red, you're not getting away! Get in the pot!"
Shi Hao's shout shook the Fire Cloud Sparrow flying overhead, making him stumble in midair and nearly fall.
Just then, an azure moon flashed past. With a shhk, Big Red managed to turn his head aside, only for his wing to be severed. The poor bird saved his head but not his wing, and plunged from the sky.
"Don't kill Big Red. Keep him as our scout to find more prey."
Xiao Tian called out.
"Yes, don't kill me! I'm willing! I'll do anything! I can fly, so I can be your mount, scout for you, light fires to roast meat, and provide light!"
Seeing the three slain primordial remnants, the Fire Cloud Sparrow nearly wet himself in terror and hurriedly blurted out his offer.
Meanwhile, Xiao Tian returned to the lakeside with a Two-Horned Golden Sheep clamped in his hand, a Purple Camel over his shoulder, and a Unicorn Man-Bear dragging behind him.
He had kept his heavenly eye open when they first arrived and had long since spotted these hidden creatures waiting to rob the robbers. If his group had not been ruthless, the others would have been. They would already have been killed, and their treasured artifacts would have become these variant savage beasts' spoils.
As Xiao Tian returned, the Tree Person lying in two pieces hurriedly joined himself together and used his race's secret technique to heal rapidly. Plant races possessed tenacious vitality to begin with and were not so easily killed.
He scurried eagerly to Xiao Tian's side and waited for instructions.
Xiao Tian took a cleaver from his heavenly grotto. It looked like a glittering golden blade, marked with birds, beasts, insects, fish, medicinal herbs, and all manner of flying and roaming creatures. Now, however, it had returned to unadorned simplicity, with nothing else remarkable about it.
Next, Xiao Tian summoned his Silver Cauldron and enlarged it to two meters across. He looked at the Fire Cloud Sparrow and the Tree Person. "Fetch water. Light a fire."
The Tree Person immediately lifted the silver vessel with his vines, filled it from the lake, and set it down. The Fire Cloud Sparrow hurriedly breathed out a wisp of flame to heat the water.
Xiao Tian had already gotten to work. He took a chopping board two meters long and one and a half meters wide from his heavenly grotto, spun the cleaver once in his hand, and began preparing the ingredients.
The Unicorn Man-Bear's glossy black fur looked like black flames, sleek and shiny. Standing upright, it would have been five meters tall, but the Size at Will ability had reduced it to half a meter. He skinned it, washed it, and cleaned out its innards, feeding them straight to the Fire Cloud Sparrow.
Injured as he was, the Fire Cloud Sparrow could not afford to be picky. He accepted everything; it was a good chance to replenish himself. The Unicorn Man-Bear was a primordial remnant.
The Fire Cloud Sparrow pitifully wanted his wing back, but Shi Hao refused to return it. He could only circulate his power to stop the bleeding for now. Soon, Little One began plucking his wing as well.
The Fire Cloud Sparrow's feathers and the Unicorn Man-Bear's offal all went to the treefolk beside them, who had turned into a large tree to shade Xiao Tian. A huge mouth opened on his trunk. Neither follower could be favored over the other.
Xiao Tian's blade moved swiftly, unleashing the terrifying knife skills of Chinese Young Master Chef. The bear's body was quickly carved apart, while its two paws were set aside for roasting.
The poor Unicorn Man-Bear, a remnant of the bear beasts recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, even left its Primordial Treasure Bone intact. Xiao Tian had no interest in it, however, and casually tossed it into his heavenly grotto.
Next came the golden two-headed sheep. Its entire body shone brilliantly gold, like a work of art. It was three meters long and over two meters tall at the shoulder. He likewise skinned and dressed it, dividing its heads, hooves, and offal between the Fire Cloud Sparrow and the Tree Person.
Last came the Purple Camel. It too had failed to destroy its Primordial Treasure Bone in time, and this bone actually leaned toward light purple.
It was a tuotuo, a remnant of a fierce beast from the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
When Shi Hao brought over the four ancient herbs, Xiao Tian used them directly as seasonings, following the recipes from the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
The Unicorn Man-Bear and camel meat were suited to stewing.
The golden two-headed sheep was suited to roasting whole.
It was a bloodline remnant of the qian sheep from the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
The Fire Cloud Sparrow's wing was a full two meters long, and Xiao Tian roasted it as well. During the process, he also took the opportunity to teach Shi Hao a little, telling him to learn properly.
The Fire Cloud Sparrow was likewise a primordial remnant and, moreover, came from the renowned Vermilion Bird Descendants.
Shi Hao wiped away his drool and, together with the four senior brothers and sisters from the Heaven Mending Pavilion, washed the pots, bowls, ladles, and basins clean, ready to eat.
Perhaps because both the flames used for stewing and the pot itself were special, the enticing aroma of meat filled the air in less than five minutes. These were all primordial remnants, every one a precious medicine of flesh and blood.
"The meat in the cauldron is ready."
Xiao Tian spoke.
"Great! Let's eat!"
Shi Hao was overjoyed. He certainly would not stand on ceremony with Xiao Tian and immediately dug in.
The two senior sisters from the Heaven Mending Pavilion, Yang Ying and Zhang Lulu, immediately picked up their chopsticks and bowls. One took some Unicorn Man-Bear meat, came over to Xiao Tian, and held a piece out to him with her chopsticks.
The other, her delicate hand gleaming like jade, held a piece of Purple Camel meat. "Junior brother, have some."
"Thank you."
Xiao Tian thanked them and ate it straight away. "You two should eat too."
The tender meat had cooked to a translucent sheen and gleamed brilliantly in their hands. This was food that glowed, endowed with its own special effects after Xiao Tian's cooking. It melted in the mouth, sending divine essence surging through every limb and bone. Its color, aroma, and flavor were perfect, and it was extraordinarily nourishing.
Another two or three minutes later, Xiao Tian's carefully roasted whole sheep was ready too. The meat was sauce-brown rather than red, spicy, numbing, fresh, and fragrant. It sizzled as a drop of hot oil slowly slid along the grain of its plump flesh. When a piece was sliced off, the inside shone golden and glossy, its dazzling radiance making everyone's eyes widen. The fragrance seeped into their hearts and lungs and stirred their appetites. A bite was neither greasy nor gamey, crisp outside and tender within, delicious enough to make their mouths water.
Xiao Tian and Shi Hao feasted heartily, swiftly fishing out meat with their chopsticks. Stewed until wonderfully soft, it melted in their mouths. Golden sheep meat in their right hands also vanished rapidly into their mouths.
Naturally, their new followers, the Fire Cloud Sparrow and the Tree Person, were thrilled to discover that they too were allowed to share this food, whose aroma alone made them drool. Better still, it was precious medicine of flesh and blood.
A great quantity of divine essence poured into Xiao Tian's internal heavenly grotto. Once enough accumulated, it would grow little by little.
The medicinal potency of the four spirit herbs had fused perfectly into the broth. Xiao Tian and Shi Hao did not leave so much as a drop.
The four spirit herbs were called red crystal orchids. They looked as though they had been carved entirely from blood-colored diamonds, shimmering with translucent brilliance and dazzling radiance. Growing side by side, they were eight hundred years old, yet rivaled thousand-year-old medicinal plants. Blood-colored rings had already appeared on them, indicating a thousand years' medicinal potency, enough to help someone break through a cultivation realm.
As for the others, their bodies had begun glowing after only a little food. The four senior brothers and sisters from the Heaven Mending Pavilion were all handsome men and beautiful women, but their appetites were merely average. Together, they ate less than a tenth of what Shi Hao did.
And Shi Hao ate only a fifth as much as Xiao Tian.
The Fire Cloud Sparrow and the Tree Person, now named Big Red and Big Green respectively, ate comparatively more than the four Heaven Mending Pavilion disciples as a primordial remnant and a member of another race. Even so, each ate only a seventh as much as Shi Hao.
Now, all four senior brothers and sisters from the Heaven Mending Pavilion were glowing. The meal had been too nourishing, and they needed to enter secluded cultivation to refine it. They had already opened five heavenly grottos, and this time they might open a sixth.
The Fire Cloud Sparrow was also enveloped in flames, and the wing Shi Hao had severed rapidly grew back. Not only had he completely recovered from his injuries, but he had also improved.
The Tree Person was in much the same condition. His injuries had healed completely, and he appeared ready to break through as well, likewise opening a sixth heavenly grotto.
This gave Xiao Tian a rough understanding of the strength of the geniuses who had entered. Most were at the level of opening their sixth heavenly grotto.
The golden two-headed sheep, however, had already opened its seventh. Unfortunately, it had encountered Xiao Tian and become nothing more than a potent tonic of flesh and blood.
Meanwhile, Xiao Tian and Shi Hao's fearsome reputation had already begun spreading rapidly. On one mountain stood ancient pines, verdant and old, their trunks resembling several coiled horned dragons. Over thirty meters tall, with needles like steel pins glinting with metallic luster, they were nearly ready to awaken as spirits.
Several creatures stood there, discussing the matter animatedly. "Have you heard? Geniuses from the Treefolk, the Fire Cloud Sparrow race, the Unicorn Man-Bear Tribe, the Purple Camel Tribe, and the Two-Headed Sheep Tribe were all hunted down by two savage Human Race geniuses and turned into ingredients. Just now, I could smell the tempting aroma of roast meat even from far away."
"They even ate a Tree Person? What flavor could something that dry possibly have?"
A creature from another race asked incredulously.
"Those two Human Race geniuses hardly seem human at all. I think they're more likely some sort of Pure-Blooded Fierce Beast Descendants in human form."
"Everyone should be careful. We'd better travel together, or join some top geniuses as a group. We need to watch out for one another."
A crowd of creatures gathered and discussed the news, including members of the Two-Headed Tribe, the Winged Tribe, and other races, as well as primordial remnants.
PS: I originally didn't want to put this in the main text, but I still need to mention it. Qidian's current recommendation system is based on readers keeping up with the latest chapters. This book is now in the first round of recommendations, with fifty books competing for the second round. Failing to advance basically means GG.
So if you like a book, it's best not to stockpile chapters. Open the latest chapter and read it every day, or there's a very high chance you'll stockpile it to death. This is also why so many books on Qidian now get abandoned between fifty and a hundred thousand characters.
(End of chapter)
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